Well ! HELLOOOOOOOOOO LAS VEGAS ! ! ! ! !
Sunny and hot.
This morning we prepared for departure from Riverside Casino RV Park and about 10:15 AM left the RV park and drove across the street and parked in the casino parking lot. We went inside the casino to have Sunday Champagne Brunch in the Riverside Buffet Restaurant. After a leisurely brunch ... we ate and ate and ate ... HA HA HA ... and a champagne toast to friendship, we hit the road shortly after noon.
We left Laughlin and drove west on Hwy. 163 then north on Hwy. 95, reaching Las Vegas in just a couple of hours. We stopped and shopped at Camping World, then headed to Main Street Station Casino, checking into the casino's RV park around 4 PM. We got settled into our two assigned sites, a long "pull through" site for Laszlo's and Gail's truck and trailer, and a smaller "back-in" site for our truck and camper. While Joanne and Gail went to do laundry, I took a nap, as did Laszlo.
At 7 PM we left the RV park and explored the inside of the lovely Main Street Station Casino and the California Casino across the street, then walked two blocks over to Freemont Street. We spent about three hours wandering up and down Freemont Street, the old / original Las Vegas "strip". It's quite an experience, especially for "Las Vegas virgins" like Laszlo and Gail.
Monday ; Sunny and hot. WHEW ! Tiring but wonderful day ! About eight hours of doing "The Strip" !
We had an early lunch and left the Main Street Station Casino RV Park about noon. We walked a couple of blocks over to Freemont Street where we caught an SDX ( Strip to Downtown Express ) Bus. We rode the bus all the way to the MGM Grand. Our priority for today ... and certainly one of the two highlights of today ... was for Laszlo and Gail to buy four tickets to see Andrea Bocelli perform at the MGM Grand in December. Tickets went on sale this morning at 10 AM. We were at the MGM Grand box office about 1:30 PM and they were lucky to get four seats together. The concert tickets were probably going to be sold out before the end of today !
As we wandered through the MGM Grand we were handed four tickets to view and review a television show at the CBS Center in The District shopping mall area of the MGM Grand. We viewed and reviewed an episode of Life In Pieces. Interesting, but ... the experience gobbled up almost an hour of our time, and the "compensation" of some fast food coupons wasn't worth our time. Oh, well !
The MGM Grand ... the District shopping mall ... the Coca-Cola Store ... Hawaiian Marketplace ... Planet Hollywood ... Miracle Mile Shops ...Cosmopolitan ... and finally ... the true highlight of the day ... the Bellagio ! For us, the Bellagio has always been a highlight of Las Vegas. We spent quite awhile in the floral conservatory. And we viewed the Bellagio's "Dancing Waters" fountain show three different times ; once as we arrived and twice as we departed. WHEW ! WOW !
We caught the SDX Bus across the street from the Bellagio, in front of Paris Las Vegas, and rode it back to Freemont Street. We walked the short distance home from there and arrived home about 8:15 PM. While Joanne prepared a quick, simple, late supper
I downloaded photos from my camera. They are shared photos, a few are mine, but mostly Laszlo's. His camera broke, and so he has borrowed my camera for the duration of our Las Vegas visit.
Tuesday ; Sunny and hot.
We spent the morning at home taking care of chores. We went with Laszlo and Gail for a late lunch at the Main Street Station Casino's buffet restaurant. At 3 PM we left to catch the SDX Bus to "The Strip".
We got off the bus at the Bellagio, crossed the street, and walked to the Flamingo. We walked through the Flamingo to view the "wildlife" display area, a man made tropical rainforest area filled with pink flamingos and turtles and ducks and swans and pelicans and macaws and large koi and ... lots and lots of Japanese tourists. HA HA HA ! We wandered around the Flamingo until about 5:30 and then headed for Caesar's Palace.
From 5:30 until 7:15 we wandered around The Shops At The Forum in Caesar's Palace, browsing the very expensive clothing and jewellery stores. At 7:15 we headed to The Colosseum entertainment theater for ... wait for it ... < insert drum roll here > ... Rod Stewart ... The Hits !
Great concert ! ! ! Merry Christmas, Joanne. I'm still ( at 1 AM ) humming "Forever Young". HA HA HA !
After the concert we found our way back outdoors ... not as easy as it sounds, in Caesar's Palace ... HA HA HA ... and on impulse, got onto a Deuce, the double decker bus that runs from one end of The Strip to the other, and then "downtown" to Freemont Street area, stopping every block or so, so taking much longer than the SDX Bus. We got onto a Deuce heading in the "wrong" direction, so we rode all the way to Mandalay Bay, where the bus emptied out. Then we moved to the front seats on the upper level of the empty bus, for a "bird's eye view" of "The Strip" at night. We rode from Mandalay Bay all the way to the opposite end of The Strip, and then "downtown" to Freemont Street. It was a great way to get an inexpensive night time tour of Las Vegas ! And what a lot of "entertainment" on a Las Vegas bus from 10 PM to 11:30 PM !
We got off the Deuce bus at the "far" end of Freemont Street, slowly walked the length of Freemont Street, then home to Main Street Station Casino RV Park.
Quite a day ! ! ! ! !
Wednesday ; Sunny and hot, a really beautiful day. The weather while we've been here in Las Vegas has been great ! When we got home at 10:30 PM tonight the outside temperature was still 82 degrees.
Laszlo and Gail did their own thing today. We seemed to have "burned them out" a bit over the last few days. HA HA HA ! At noon Joanne and I caught an SDX Bus and headed to The Strip. First we explored The Venetian, then caught a Deuce bus over to Circus Circus. We had a late lunch at Subway, then explored Circus Circus. Every half hour Circus Circus presents a free ten minute circus act. We watched two of them, a female solo trapeze artist, and a male hand balance duo. WOW ... those guys were good ! Circus Circus is very child friendly, and is obviously the best place for families to stay on the Las Vegas Strip. Around 4 PM we got tired and decided to return home by SDX Bus and take a rest.
We caught an SDX Bus again about 6:45 PM and returned to The Strip yet again. We went to The Mirage to see the free, outdoor "erupting volcano" show at 8 PM and then headed over by Deuce bus to The Bellagio to watch a night time performance of the "Dancing Fountains". It was so captivating ... we stayed for a second performance fifteen minutes later. We did not know until tonight that in the evenings the Bellagio's Dancing Fountains perform every fifteen minutes. We wandered around just a bit more then caught an SDX Bus and returned home to Main Street Station Casino RV Park about 10:30 PM. Whew ! Tired ! Soup and a sandwich as a late, light supper, and we called it a day !
We've had a wonderful four days in Las Vegas !
Thursday ; Las Vegas to Valley Of Fire State Park, Nevada
Sunny and hot in Las Vegas, very hot at Valley Of Fire State Park.
This morning we prepared for departure and left the Main Street Station Casino RV Park about 11 AM. We were ready to depart a few minutes before Laszlo and Gail were ready, and as we waited for them I received another request by phone for a quote for a trailer towing job back home in BC.
We departed Las Vegas heading northwest on Interstate 15, stopping for Laszlo to refill with diesel at a large truck stop travel center right beside Las Vegas Speedway. We continued northwest on I-15 for an hour or so, then turned east on the Valley Of Fire State Park Road for another half hour or so. When we arrived at the state park, there were only two campsites unoccupied and available. One large campsite and one small campsite. Perfect !
We had a late lunch, then everybody napped. Mid-afternoon Laszlo went off with DeeOJee to explore by truck while Joanne and I, and Gail, and Bo went for a long, leisurely hike around the large campground and then out into the desert to see wildflowers and cacti blooming. The scenery in Valley Of Fire State Park is astounding !
Around 6:30 PM I lit a campfire. Just before it got dark I performed a magic trick for Laszlo and Gail. Joanne had prepared foil wrapped packets of vegetables and a foil wrapped meatloaf for me to cook on the campfire. Gail had prepared foil wrapped potatoes to be baked and hamburger patties to be grilled on the campfire. I cooked everything and we were all pleased with the results. We spent the evening chatting around the campfire.
All of us were tired from four days of Las Vegas and glad to be here today enjoying the tranquility of an evening campfire.
Friday ; Valley Of Fire State Park to Amargosa Junction, Nevada
Cloudy, cold, windy, intermittent light rain. We travelled separately from Laszlo and Gail today, meeting them again late in the afternoon at the rest area where we boondocked overnight.
This morning we departed Valley Of Fire State Park's Arch Rock Campground about
11 AM, dumping our waste tanks and refilling our freshwater tank at the park's
sani-dump station as we left. We headed east on the Valley Of Fire State Park Road to Hwy. 169, then north to the town of Overton. While Joanne went into the town's grocery store to buy a few grocery items I went into the McDonald's and used their ( extremely poor ) free Wi-Fi to get online briefly and obtain the mileage data I needed to prepare a Similkameen Trailer Towing quote.
We continued north on Hwy. 169 until it reached Interstate 15, then west on I-15 back to the Valley Of Fire State Road junction where we stopped at the Moapa Paiute Travel Plaza, a no tax "rez" fuel bar where we refilled with cheap diesel. We had lunch in a gravel parking lot adjacent to the travel plaza.
After lunch we continued southwest on I-15 almost back to Las Vegas, then turned west on Hwy. 215, sort of a bypass road around the north side of Las Vegas. When Hwy. 215 ended we got onto Hwy. 95 heading west. At Amargosa Junction, the junction of Hwy. 95 and Hwy. 373 which heads south towards Death Valley, we met up again with Laszlo and Gail at a very scruffy rest area where we boondocked overnight.
Saturday ; Amargosa Junction, Nevada to Death Valley, California
The day started out cloudy and chilly, but was sunny and hot in Death Valley. We travelled with Laszlo and Gail again today, our final day together.
This morning we refilled with fresh water and dumped our grey waste tank before leaving the scruffy rest area this morning. We headed south on Hwy. 373 and Hwy. 127 then west on Hwy. 190 into Death Valley National Park. When we arrived in the National Park village of Furnace Creek we went to the full service / full hookups Furnace Creek Campground, but it was full, so ... we went to Sunset Campground and got ourselves parked in a couple of adjacent unserviced campsites. We had lunch and then set off in Laszlo's and Gail's truck for an afternoon of exploring Death Valley.
We explored ...
- Devil's Golf Course
- Badwater Basin
- Artist's Drive and Artist's Palette
- Dante's View
- Twenty Mule Team Canyon
- Zabriskie Point
Whew ! Great afternoon ! We returned "home" to Sunset Campground about 6:30 PM.
I planned and prepared a special surprise farewell dinner which we ate in Laszlo's and Gail's fifth wheel trailer. Gail prepared sweet potato fries and mashed sweet potatoes. Joanne prepared coleslaw. And I surprised Laszlo with a favourite dish of his that he has not had in many years. I cooked our last four Lake Winnipeg Pickerel fillets. Despite having been in the freezer for six months, they were still very good ! We spent the rest of the evening chatting with Laszlo and Gail in their trailer.
And ... as we were all ( except Laszlo ) busy preparing supper, I was hired to do another trailer towing job soon after our arrival home. WOO-HOO !
Tomorrow we leave Laszlo and Gail here in Death Valley National Park and we begin some serious driving northward !
DSK
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