April 17 to 23, 2011 ; Las Vegas to Jackpot, Nevada

Sunday ; Today was sunny and hot again, temperature well into the 90‘s.

This morning I did some routine minor maintenance, did an obedience session with Bo, and did some online work including posting my weekly journal to my blog. I worked in the trailer using my ReadyBroadband USB modem which was a lot faster than the RV park’s Wi-Fi signal.

Yesterday I was attracted to an ad in the casino for their Sunday afternoon Champagne Brunch. It’s not often one has an opportunity to have Eggs Benedict and Oysters Rockefeller. So this afternoon we went for brunch. It was really quite good, but there were no Oysters Rockefeller. I wanted to complain to management that one of the two menu board items listed that lured me in wasn’t available and I wasn’t happy about that. I asked our waitress to send a manager over to hear my complaint. A manager came over and listened to my complaint, then said she’d be right back. She returned a minute or two later with the chef. His response to my complaint was … “yeah … Oysters Rockefeller was last Sunday’s special item” … and then there was a looooong silence while I and the restaurant manager waited for something more. After a long pause, I told the chef his response did absolutely nothing to appease my dissatisfaction. The manager looked absolutely appalled at the chef’s response. As she should have been ! She … the manager … apologized profusely, and as she and the chef were walking away, I could see that the chef was in trouble ! As he should have been ! His inadequate response to a simple and legitimate complaint far outweighed the initial transgression ! Yup … it’s still hard to get good help !

After brunch we bought a Sunday newspaper in the casino gift shop, then as we walked back through the casino we succumbed to the temptation of the slot machines. Joanne played penny slots until she lost a dollar. I played penny slots until I tripled my dollar, winning an additional two dollars. Big 200% winner today ! HA HA HA !

We spent the hottest part of the afternoon at the pool. I worked on our income tax returns, completing them as much as possible … which wasn’t all that much … with the income tax information slips that we have already received. The rest of our income tax information slips will be in the “lost in space” batch of forwarded mail stuck / waiting for us at the Keremeos Post Office.

We spent the evening watching TV ; Amazing Race and Celebrity Apprentice.

Monday ; Las Vegas to Valley Of Fire State Park

Today was sunny and very warm. This morning we departed Arizona Charlie’s Casino & RV Park and spent about half a day running errands in Las Vegas. With the trailer in tow ! Which really does make shopping and running errands in a big city much more difficult. First stop was Big Lots to look at folding lounge chairs on sale. We didn’t like them. Next stop was a Post Office to buy a stamp. WAAAAAY too long a line-up ! No stamp today ! Then Albertsons for groceries. And … < sigh > … of course, Wal-Mart. Last stop was supposed to be Fastenal to look for the correct brake caliper bolt. When we got to where the Fastenal was supposed to be … it wasn’t there ! We phoned them and got directions to their nearby new location < sigh >. And after all that, they didn’t have the bolt I needed ! BUT … they directed to me a nearby competitor, Nevada Bolt & Hose. Who had the correct bolt ! YIPPEEEEE ! ! ! ! ! Finally !

We headed northeast out of Las Vegas on Interstate 15. And within a few minutes stopped in a truck stop parking lot right beside Las Vegas Motor Speedway to have a late lunch. We drove northeast on I-15 then east on Hwy. 169 to Valley Of Fire State Park. WOW ! We selected an unserviced site in the campground … water and electricity, without sewer hook up, didn’t seem worth an extra ten bucks … and before we even got set up in our site we went hiking around the campground area. What stupendous red rock formations ! Including right in our campsite ! Bo was so excited to go hiking. I guess he’s had too much “city time” this winter season. HA HA HA … no, Bo, you’re just not fast enough to catch those little lizards.

We hiked and climbed on rocks and took photos and chased lizards until we were all tired. And all of that was within the campground area. We returned to our campsite and unhitched Harvey from Lanoire. I sat down at the picnic table under the ramada in our campsite and worked on the computer … downloading photos, credit card accounting, daily journal … until it was time to barbecue supper. As the sun was setting, and striking the red rocks at a low angle … WOW ! ! !

One of the beauties of this area right now is the abundance of white blossoming flowers coating the desert floor. We have just returned from a long walk around the campground as the evening turned from dusk to twilight. The white blossoms have opened wide as it got dark, and are emitting a strong fragrance that makes the whole desert smell wonderful !

Tuesday ; exploring Valley Of Fire State Park

Today we learned that the flowers with the white blossoms that open wide at dusk, and emit a strong fragrance, are called Dune Primrose. They open at night and emit a fragrance to attract the Sphinx Moth to come and pollinate them.

This morning before setting off for a day of exploring Valley Of Fire State Park we did pet dental care, I greased the trailer’s front jack’s gear wheels, and I removed the second temporary brake caliper bolt and … < insert drum roll here > … installed the correct bolt ! WOO-HOO ! Wouldn’t have thought I could get that excited about a damn brake caliper bolt. Joanne prepared a picnic lunch and off we went. Bo was sooooo excited. He must think that every time we go out and leave him alone in the trailer we must be going out for an exciting day of exploring like today … and he doesn’t get to come along. HA HA HA … no, Bo, we’re usually just going out to run errands.

We spent the day exploring Valley Of Fire State Park. Mostly by road, but also a lot of exploring by hiking. And … while the temperature was only in the low 80’s, hiking in this kind of desert, with soft, deep sand, and intense sunlight, was brutally hot and tiring. I don’t understand how people can hike in the desert in the summer. I guess that’s why every year some goofball dies hiking in nearby Death Valley.

We started by driving around the campground adjacent to ours. We’re in Atlatl Rock Campground. Atlatl Rock contains ancient Indian petroglyphs
( rock art ) including depictions of the atlatl, a notched stick used to throw spears. The adjacent campground is Arch Rock Campground. It’s not suitable for RV’s. From Arch Rock Campground we drove a two mile scenic loop that provides views of Arch Rock and Piano Rock.

We drove past the Beehives and Petrified Logs to the Visitor Center. We walked around inside the Visitor Center for a short time looking at exhibits then headed up the road to Rainbow Vista and Fire Canyon. I took a lot of pictures., They’re probably all going to look the same, but … the geological features are so … astounding ! We drove up to White Domes where we parked and went hiking. WHEW … we hiked only as far as a view into a deep canyon overlooking an abandoned movie set from a movie made in the 1960’s entitled The Professionals. Holy Mackerel … how the hell did they get all the way down there to shoot a movie ? ! ? We turned around and hiked back to the parking lot. And I’m glad we did ! We hiked no more than about a mile, but it was exhausting !

We drove down the road to Mouse’s Tank parking lot and trailhead where we had our picnic lunch at a picnic table under a ramada, so we could escape the intense sun. After lunch we went hiking to Mouse’s Tank, a natural basin in the rock where water collects after rainfalls, sometimes remaining for months. Mouse was a renegade who used the area as a hideout in the 1890’s. Another mile or so of hiking in the intense sun through soft, deep sand and … we were finished hiking for the day ! We tried hiking without our sandals on, but the sand was so hot that it burned our feet.

We continued exploring the park by road, viewing Seven Sisters and Cabins before heading out of the park through the east gate. Joanne wanted to explore the nearby Lake Mead area. We thought Lake Mead was going to be an upscale enclave for the rich and famous of Las Vegas. We were wrong. We drove about 14 miles along Northshore Drive to the town of Echo Bay. It seemed … mostly deserted. Mostly abandoned RV Parks, and mostly abandoned marinas. HUH ?

By then I was becoming somewhat concerned about whether or not we would have enough diesel to return to the campground, and leave tomorrow, with the trailer in tow, and make it to a fuel station. The one fuel station in Echo Bay did not have diesel. So … we drove all the way to the town of Overton to refill with diesel. Since the town of Overton had a decent looking grocery store we also bought a few groceries as well.

We drove back to Valley Of Fire State Park, and our campground. Sully wanted to come outside after being home alone all day, so I took him outside and let him climb all over the outstanding rock formations in our campsite. I hope some of the photos I took of him turn out well.

Wednesday ; Valley Of Fire State Park to Cathedral Gorge State Park

Today was sunny and warm at Valley Of Fire State Park in the morning, partially cloudy, mild, and windy at Cathedral Gorge State Park later in the day. This morning we departed Valley Of Fire State Park and headed north on Hwy. 169. We stopped in Overton to buy a stamp. When Hwy. 169 ended at Interstate 15 we turned southwest on I-15 for a few miles then turned northwest on Hwy. 168 to Hwy. 93. Driving north on Hwy. 93 / Great Basin Highway it was hard to stay awake. It was somewhat like driving through West Texas. Endless scruffy desert. No radio reception. At Crystal Springs Hwy. 93 turned east and at Caliente it turned north again. We are now travelling up the east side of Nevada near the border with Utah.

Immediately after the town of Panaca we reached our destination for the day, Cathedral Gorge State Park. As soon as we were backed into a site, I went to nap with Sully. After I napped we got set up in our site, bought some firewood, and I started a campfire. It’s been about a year since we’ve had a campfire. We decided to have a weenie roast for supper. HA HA HA … just like the “good ol’ days” of our youth, camped at Rushing River Provincial Park in Ontario. After supper we sat around the campfire for awhile … including Bo and Sully … but the wind made us cold. We went inside the trailer where Sully and Bo went to sleep, I worked on the computer, and Joanne baked cookies.

Thursday ; exploring Cathedral Gorge State Park

Today was sunny, mild, and windy. Except when we were deep in canyon caves. Which Bo loooooves ! HA HA HA … what a spunky little fellow !

This morning Joanne prepared a picnic lunch and we set off to explore Cathedral Gorge State Park. We drove over to the Caves Area where we explored in three different cave areas ; Cathedral Caves, Canyon Caves, and Moon Caves. They’re technically not “real” caves. They are canyon caves. They are extremely narrow ( a foot or two ) canyons with vertical walls that extend hundreds and hundreds of feet up. And they twist and turn. And sometimes the vertical walls meet, forming bridges overhead. When we went into the first one, Bo just … ZOOOOOM ! No fear, no hesitation. We struggled into these canyon caves, squeezing sideways through passages that we were barely able to squeeze through ( me scratching and scraping my fanny pack, Joanne doing the same to her backpack purse ), me holding a retractable leash with the cord extended out to its maximum 30 feet, Bo somewhere 30 feet deeper into the cave. And occasionally we would get to what would be the end of the cave for us, and there would still be 30 feet of leash extending off into a crevasse with Bo somewhere in there. Bo loooooved exploring in those caves ! As did we ! Occasionally, we could get as far as possible into a canyon, to where it would be about a foot wide, then look straight up hundreds of feet to see sunlight. It was awesome ! Good thing neither of us is claustrophobic.

We drove back to the Visitor Center where we ate our picnic lunch at a picnic table outside before going inside to watch a video on State Parks of Eastern Nevada. Then we drove to Miller Point Overlook, where a short hike brought us to an area looking over Cathedral Gorge from above. WOW ! Somewhat reminiscent of Bryce Canyon National Park in Utah. To see deep down into the gorge we had to descend a short series of steps. Made of out heavy mesh. So you can see through them. HA HA HA … BO NO GO steps. HA HA HA HA HA … similar to BO NO GO floating docks. But … HA HA HA … they’re only BO NO GO going down. He can’t resist looking through them while going down. They’re fine to go up. What a silly little dog !

Our Virgin Mobile cell phone and my ReadyBroadband USB modem both use the Sprint cell phone network. Neither device worked at the campground. And I needed to retrieve our MasterCard statement today. So we drove to the nearby town of Panaca. Well … still no Sprint signal, even in town. DARN ! I drove slowly around town with my netbook perched on the steering wheel, searching for an unencrypted Wi-Fi signal coming off someone‘s personal router. No, no … there wasn’t a Burger King or McDonald’s or Starbucks or even a library in Panaca, Nevada where I could find a Wi-FI signal ! It took a few minutes but I found a good Wi-Fi signal coming out of somebody’s house and retrieved the MasterCard statement. And did a bit of research on a casino that we have decided to head to for Easter Sunday, to have Easter Brunch or Easter Dinner. And watch Amazing Race. And do laundry. Before leaving town to return to the campground we refilled with diesel. GEEEEEZZZZZ … $4.299 per gallon !

Joanne so enjoyed last night’s weenie roast that she wanted to have a campfire cooked supper again tonight. So while I got a campfire started she prepared foil wrapped packages of chicken, rice, and carrots with diced onions, celery and tomatoes. I cooked them on the fire to perfection ! We ate supper at our campsite’s ramada covered picnic table, then took Bo and Sully ( in his sling carrier ) for a walk around the campground. We sat around the campfire until it got dark.

Life is good !

Good Friday ; Cathedral Gorge State Park to Wells, Nevada

Today was sunny and … cool. As we travel north, it’s definitely getting a lot cooler.

Today was a long, slightly tedious day of driving north on Hwy. 93 through the somewhat boring high plains scruffy desert of Eastern Nevada. A bit similar to driving across West Texas. We left Cathedral Gorge State Park heading north on Hwy. 93. And drove and drove and drove. We stopped for lunch at Ely. We stopped for the night at Flying J in Wells, where Hwy. 93 intersects Interstate 80.

After arriving at the Flying J I did about an hour of diagnostic work on the trailer battery charging system of the truck. The trailer battery condition gauge on the trailer’s monitor panel has been indicating that the trailer battery is not being charged when the truck engine is running. This same problem persisted in November as we travelled south. An hour or so of checking fuses and testing with a voltage meter convinced me that the only problem is an inaccurate gauge in the trailer’s monitor panel. I replaced the trailer’s battery in November. I replaced the trailer’s electrical converter panel in December. I replaced the trailer battery’s wiring. I replaced the truck’s two batteries. All components seem to be operating correctly except the monitor panel. And it’s 13 years old. And electronic. With aged wiring. And dirty connections that I can’t get at to clean.

I need a gallon of Lucas upper cylinder lubricant / diesel fuel additive. We went into Flying J to check their price on a gallon of Lucas. AND … found a Lucas clone. AND … the clone was on sale. AND … since the clone is on sale until the end of the month, I can defer buying it until we are in Oregon where there is no sales tax. We walked across the street to check the price of Lucas and the clone at Love’s. Both were slightly more expensive at Love’s.

Saturday ; Wells to Jackpot, Nevada

BRRRRR … sunny and cold today.

This morning we refilled with diesel before departing the Flying J in Wells. We continued north on Hwy. 93 to Jackpot, Nevada. We checked into Saguaro RV Park, part of Cactus Pete’s Casino. We had lunch and I napped briefly with Sully. Joanne went to do laundry and I went to the RV park office to work online using Wi-Fi. I had a lot of catching up to do online.

Ever since we left Las Vegas I have been unable to use my ReadyBroadband USB modem or Virgin Mobile cell phone. One of the things I wanted to do online today was find the Sprint network coverage map. HMPH … just as I expected. Sprint has no coverage in Nevada north of Las Vegas. And I won’t find any Sprint coverage until Twin Falls, Idaho, an hour or so north of where we are right now.

There are five casinos in Jackpot. Late this afternoon we went to each of them to check them out, particularly their restaurants and their Easter brunch or dinner specials. Cactus Pete’s is the most upscale casino of the five, and their buffet restaurant is the best, and has the best Easter special. So we’ll have a late brunch or early supper there tomorrow.

I spent quite a bit of time working on the computer this afternoon and evening, getting caught up on processing photos of Valley Of Fire State Park and Cathedral Gorge State Park.

DSK