Taking a bit of a break in Las Vegas

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After St George, we drove through some an area called “the Gorge” in the northwest corner of Arizona. The Gorge has even more interesting hills and rock formations. They were as dramatic, but not as nearly as colorful as the hills around St George and Zion National Park. And the highway follows a much more winding path through the hills making it an exciting drive with our luxurious 37-foot home attached.

Before leaving St George, the weather guessers and friends who knew where we were going suggested the winds could be a problem, so they urged us to be careful and take it slow. We did take it slower than normal, but the winds weren’t very noticeable we emerged from the Gorge into mostly flat. When our drive was over for the day and we were parked at the RV park in Las Vegas, the winds were gusting to awful, and we didn’t even put our slides out for fear of damage to the slide-toppers (small awnings which cover the slides) until the morning.

The site we were assigned is paved and mostly level, but we just couldn’t get our leveling system to call things good. With the gusty winds and sand and dust blowing, we finally decided to get as level as possible and make do with the slides in. It was a little bit cozy, and we couldn’t get into the refrigerator with the slide in because the counter blocks the door. Nevertheless, we had everything else we needed to make it a comfortable night and it gave us another fun experience as well as demonstrating how comfortable we can be in spite of the temporary inconvenience. We ended up enjoying the cramped quarters.

Since we couldn’t get into the refrigerator, we just had to go out for breakfast the next day. Oh dagnabbit. (Natalie had been wanting to go out for breakfast for months, so I guess it was supposed to be that way.)

When we returned from a very nice breakfast at the Black Bear Diner, we made a point to figure out the leveling system, and now know how to do things much better. So we were able to get the leveling system straightened out, the rig leveled, and the slides out for a very comfortable stay here in Las Vegas.

We had been working our way south, to warm, since leaving Lynden. We planned to visit friends in Coeur d’Alene and St George. Otherwise, just to keep from getting into too much of a hurry and prevent the stress it would cause us, we had been making a point to stay at every other stop for 3 nights. When we were planning our route after St George, though, we decided to spend a bit more time in Las Vegas, just to take a break from the hurry that 3 night stays had given us, and to catch up a bit on some of the stuff we’d been putting off, like getting our basement organized and getting caught up with this blog. (Though the blog needs more catching up than we’ve accomplished so far.)

Las Vegas is a place we never really hankered for, at least since our Navy days. We don’t gamble, and the most of the shows are out of our price range and too late for us. So it’s an excellent place to just sit back and enjoy whatever comes along.

However, several friends had suggested the Atomic Museum and Mob Museum were well worth the expense and the time. Otherwise, this RV park is called a resort for good reasons: there are 3 pools – a family pool, and adult pool, and a hot tub. There’s a café, and an 18-hole putting course we played several times with great pleasure, although even hackers like us recognize it isn’t 18 holes of high quality greens. And then, the resort has some special events, one of which was the Hawaiian-themed party we were able to enjoy.

When we moved into the RV for good, we had mostly taken things we wanted and stuffed them into the basements and other storage areas. Natalie did get to go through our basement and take inventory. She now knows what food we have, what food we need, and has a list to make it all perfect. We even took another load to Goodwill.

A week or so after we arrived, the park had their “Welcome Back” party, and we made a point to check it out. It proved to be a very enjoyable evening with a free t-shirt, a lei, bingo cards and pens, and dinner and soft drinks for everybody. There was a small group playing Hawaiian music the whole afternoon and evening, and the evening’s entertainment was several talented Hawaiian dancers and singers, as well as a fire dancer to top off the evening. There were at least a couple hundred people from RVs around the park. All in all, a very nice way to spend an evening, and all we had to bring was ourselves.

We also went to the Atomic Testing museum, which was very informative and well-presented. The museum touched on quite a variety of aspects of nuclear weapons development and testing with a few mostly unrelated sections. They included a piece from the Berlin Wall, a segment of I-Beam from the World Trade Center, Robby the Robot – a movie prop from a couple early science fiction movies. There was a fair representation of the Hanford Nuclear facilities and their role in advancing nuclear science knowledge. Interspersed along the historical timeline, they had videos and news articles of events many of us are already familiar with, so the museum connected nuclear history with our own memories. Very interesting for both of us.

A couple days later, we went to the Mob Museum, a very interesting presentation, and also well worth the time and expense. It is a mostly straightforward, just-the-facts, presentation of the history of organized crime in the U.S.A., presented in a mostly chronological sequence. There were 3 special, extra cost “experience” exhibits to give people something like the actual work of crime fighting: One to participate in a crime lab, one to experience a pistol training exercise, and one to spend time in a speakeasy, complete with tasting samples. The whole museum, beginning with the 1930s-era building, lent a sense of actually being in the middle of the times displayed.

Because the Mob Museum was just a short distance from the Fremont Street Experience, we walked down there for dinner. Dinner was hard to find, but the experience was that: 3 sound stages with live ear-blast music and a light show overhead, complete with casinos, bars, and people galore.

Our Uber driver told us on the way home it was also full of the aroma of loco-weed, though neither Natalie nor I noticed. Of course, we were back home by 6:00PM, and may have missed. More dagnabbit.

Now, it’s our last night in Las Vegas. We leave for Quartzsite, AZ tomorrow, and we’ll be staying at a much less expensive RV park for a month. After our luxurious 18 nights in Las Vegas, our month in Quartzsite will cost about what 3 nights in Vegas cost. Useful for the budget.

Natalie’s only been able to swim in the pool here a couple times, mostly because we were busy doing other things, but also because weather has not been sweltering at all. As a matter of fact, our last night here will be much like our first. We’re under a wind warning, with gusts up to 50mph, and possible thunderstorms. Always an adventure.

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Photos

Las Vegas Forest.
All in the 1000 site RV lot we're staying in

Oasis Party.
The T-shirts and leis were given to us for the party

Comments

[Bill Alderman]

Enjoying Life!
Thanks for the info. Seems as though it's, "Happy Trails" for you both. Well done.