Not many stops this month as we try to further adjust to life on the road and work towards slowing it down a bit, to take time to relax, sight see and just enjoy our days and nights. http://www.rvparky.com/trip/6390545205690368
Oatman was just a short bike ride away so we saddled
up and headed back in time. Oatman is a “A living ghost town” from the early
1920’s or so. If you have never been to Oatman you probably should put it on
your list. It is just a tourist stop now but there
were many little shops that
Susan enjoyed, a gunfight in the street and the burros run loose and do
whatever they want …lol! These burros were actually brought to Oatman by miners
back in the day. Once the mining was
complete and most everyone left the town, they left the burros behind. Needless
to say future generations of burros have decided to stay and now they are the
hit of the town.
A few days before we departed to head to our next
destination we met another traveling couple. Orvin and Barbie have been
traveling together for “a long time” and have this life pretty well figured
out. One of the they learned was that Orvin needs a hobby, something he can do
to keep busy if he feels like being busy but doesn’t have to do if he doesn’t
want to. Sounds pretty good, huh?
Orvin’s hobby is applying vinyl window protection
that aids in reduction of the amount of heat entering the motorhome. We asked
if he would be interested in giving us an estimate and yes, we did get the
vinyl covering installed. Susan was hesitant at first because she was used to
seeing dark window on the coach but once the application was complete – the new
look grew on her. Like many of the places we have visited, Bullhead City also has a Veteran's Memorial - so you know we had to go. Again, nice to see people showing respect for our troops and honoring those who have served. I Love This Country!
Time flew by quickly and before we knew it May 10th was here and again we were on our way… Kona appears to be having a super time adjusting to his new life of travel and adventure. Not sure what we can do to help him be more comfortable...
VEGAS BABY! Sin City! The town that never sleeps! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Las_Vegas
We arrived for our 21 day stay in Las Vegas with only a few plans
for things we wanted to do and believe it or not gambling was not on our list. You
may recall that in April we had made a pre-visit to check out our campground
options. It was a difficult decision. Being members of Thousand Trails our stay
there would be virtually free - $63 or $3 per day for 50amp service and that’s
it. Or we could stay at the Desert Eagle FamCamp on Nellis AFB https://www.nellisforcesupport.com/desert-eagle-rv-park.html for $22 per day.
We decided that sometimes you just have to spend a
little more money to get what you want and set up at the FamCamp – very glad we
did. The FamCamp on Nellis really should
set the standard for not only DOD RV camps, but camp grounds in general. This
place is great, huge spaces, quiet, well kept, friendly and just a good place
to be. The sounds of jets flying low every morning just made this the perfect
choice. Believe it or not some of the reviews we read complained about the jet
noise! Seriously?? It is on a US Air Force base! Susan and I look up and simply
say Freedom Birds flying low and fast, we love it.The first few days in Vegas were somewhat uneventful. But right off the bat I had an appointment at the Honda dealership for an oil change, a recall repair and a new front tire install on the Goldwing. I would like to thank Ridenow on Rancho https://www.ridenowrancho.com/ for doing a great job on the bike and being a superb service shop. Our service writer, Dominic, took good care of us – and with a name like that, I’d expect nothing less. Our oldest son is a Dominick.
For Mother’s Day I took Susan for a motorcycle ride
around the area and again – we
saw snow! Our ride started out nice with a bit
of wind but as we traveled northwest the winds increased and the temperatures
dropped. Between the 40MPG crosswinds and the cold temps this was probably not
Susan’s favorite ride.
If you have never ridden in a cross wind like that
you have no clue. If you have and it was not on a Goldwing, you still have no
clue. Wings are awesome touring bikes and ride like a big sport bike but wind
cannot pass through them like it does on the v-twins. This makes it a handful
at times to say the least as the bike acts like a sail catching the wind as you
ride along. So we reduced speed to about 45-50 and continued - even though
there was a time I was about ready to turn around. I kept thinking if we could
make it into the mountains one of two things would happen 1) the mountains
would either block some of the wind, or 2) the wind would be unbearable, but I
had to find out…
At the turn from highway 95 onto NV 156 you climb
from roughly 2000’ to almost 11000’ atop Mount Charleston http://www.summitpost.org/charleston-peak/150959
in only a few miles, most all of which were straight. At about 6000 feet we
decided to stop and put on another layer of jackets. Snow was just ahead and it
was getting considerably colder…lol I remember asking Susan if she was doing ok
and instead of the normal “great” I was greeted with “Nope, not really!” I knew
then that something had to change…
As I had hoped once we reached the mountains the bulk
of the winds were blocked and riding conditions improved. It was still cold but
we continued and it turned out to be a beautiful drive. Did I mention Susan
does not like to ride in the cold? Regardless, the views were worth the trip
and of course we made a few stops for pictures.
Once off the mountain we turned toward the desert
setting. Yes, temperatures improved and Susan began to thaw. Our second destination of the day was our
first trip to Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area https://www.blm.gov/site-page/RRCNCA.
The scenic loop is 13 miles long and only takes about 30 minutes, but the views
as you completely circle the canyon along the mountain walls were remarkable,
and Susan wasn’t cold! It is not a large
place but it quickly became one of our favorite locations in the area and we
made multiple visits there during our stay in in Vegas. 
 |
| Pano of Red Rock Canyon |
Mom (Bridget) flew in on the 17th and we
finally made a trip into town for a walk down the strip. For the next three
days we had a blast and we walked nearly every inch of the strip
This was a first time in person close up view of the
famous Las Vegas Strip for both 
We stopped at the Bellagio https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bellagio (resort) to see the blown glass ceiling flowers and the Conservatory & Botanical Garden – there were over 65,000 flowers in the Japanese Spring display and needless to say we were all awed. We did not get to see the famed fountain show as they had cancelled it due to high winds and over the next few days it was closed down in preparation for the Billboard Music Awards.
The next day we again met mom at the Bellagio where she spent the morning gambling and Susan found the Hyde nightclub. She insisted on having her picture taken outside of it. Why? Her maiden name is Hyde.
We eventually made our way back to the street and
further explored sights in the area such as – Treasure Island, the Mirage and some
plain and simple people gawking – this old country boy was dumbfounded by some
of the people.
I’d like to say that mom came to Vegas just to see
us – and that is part of the reason for her visit. However, us being here was
also an excuse for her to make a trip she had been wanting to make for some
time. Apparently she watched a program awhile back about a restaurant, Old
Homestead Steakhouse https://www.caesars.com/caesars-palace/restaurants/old-homestead#.WTsqm4WcFMs
, which is located in Caesar’s Palace. She was impressed enough by what she saw
on the show to decide she would someday eat there. So a couple of months ago
when she found out we were going to be in Vegas – she started planning. As soon
as she arrived at her hotel she made reservations for us to eat at said
restaurant.
Thursday afternoon, the day of our dinner, mom and
Susan plied me with plenty of alcohol to help prevent me from having sticker
shock at the prices. LOL – seriously! We looked at the menu a couple hours
before dinner and when I saw the prices I about fainted. Mom laughed and said,
“We’ll just have to get you a few drinks so you don’t care because WE ARE
EATING THERE.”
OMG! I’m not a steak person but the food was
fabulous, steaks melted in your mouth! AND they make the best creamiest macaroni
and cheese I have ever tasted! 
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| Filet Mignon, Susan's mushrooms and Mac and Cheese |
We did not hike Red Rock while mom was with us but we did hike the Ice Box Canyon trail while we were in the area - like I said before, we made several trips to Red Rock Canyon!
Did I mention Cher was in town? https://www.cher.com/#/ Ok, never been to Vegas,
After the show we hugged mom and said our goodbyes
as she was heading back to Oklahoma the following morning. I’m not a fan of
hotels but you do have to love the convenience of shuttle service to get to and
from the airport and being a practical person – so does mom. She declined our
offer to take her to the airport Saturday morning and while it was more
convenient, I think she may have also utilized the extra time for a few more
shots at the slots!
Once mom headed home, we spent a few more days of
relaxing (we are getting really good at that) then took a trip to visit Hoover
Dam https://www.usbr.gov/lc/hooverdam/service/DamTour.html
. It was incredible to see what previous generations were able to achieve with
the tools and technology they had available.
Hoover Dam is not a national park, rather it is a
part of the Bureau of Reclamation and operates as a self-sufficient entity –
aka they do not accept national parks passes so we did have to pay for
admission. We took the full Dam Tour which was $30 apiece but for a one time
trip it was worth the cost. Did I mention we got free parking? There are some
benefits to being handicapped. 
We were surprised to see that they do allow you to
drive across the dam. The dam road is no longer a through road to the highway
so now you are only allowed to go across the dam, follow the road to the top
and turn around to exit the way you entered.
We were able to see the dam from a different
viewpoint and take a few more pictures. Also – if you want to do any souvenir
shopping at Hoover Dam- there is a little gift shop up the hill that is WAY
less crowded than the one at the visitors center and prices are about the same.
After our dam exploration was complete we drove
along the shores of Lake Mead https://www.nps.gov/lake/index.htm.
Here we were able to utilize our parks pass so the $20 entrance fee was waived.
This was a more scenic and more relaxed ride than taking the highway and as
there are multiple entrances/exits we were able to take this route to within
about 15 miles of Nellis.
The day was nice and the ride enjoyable but it would
have been more so had Susan not vetoed the motorcycle for the day. She was
concerned about 100 degree temperatures and having to wear jeans and boots
during the dam tour or some such silliness. She was probably right but I’m
certainly not going to tell her J
Of course we had to visit the Thunderbirds Museum while we were at Nellis. It is not very big but we enjoyed it. Wish they had an observation window or observation walk to view the planes from the front but it was still a nice museum.
AND we were lucky enough to have completed our visit - just as TWO school buses full of little ones pulled up. WHEW!
We picked up our newly re-cushioned chairs from Upholstery Works on May 30th http://www.upholsteryworkslv.com/ We had considered getting the chairs completely recovered and had we called the shop the first day we were in town they would have had time. But we didn’t call until the following week so settled for new cushioning as our leather is still in good condition and it saved us $$$.
The chairs are rather heavy and it was just Susan
and I so it was a bit of a challenge. We have moved things together in the past
and usually do fairly well. This time for some reason we were not in sync with
our movements but we were able to get the chairs back into the RV without
tearing anything up and only a few grumpy words to each other. What a way to
end out the month.
We did not visit Fremont Street nor did we gamble –
not even at the penny slots! But we did have an enjoyable time and will consider
another visit to Vegas and another stay at Desert Eagle FamCamp.
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