Mix of sun and clouds, warm.
We slept late this morning. While I did some battery maintenance work on the camper Joanne took Emma for a leash walk in the desert. Emma didn't like the open desert much, but she liked going down in the arroyo ( dry wash / dry creek bed ) behind our campsite and exploring. She was afraid of the noise created by nearby ATV's.
We left Hi Jolly BLM Campground about 1 PM after having an early ( for us ) lunch. We drove north, then west on Arizona Hwy. 95 to Parker where we refilled our freshwater tank at Running Man Fuels. We crossed the Colorado River for the first of three times today, into California, then drove west on Hwy. 62 for twenty miles or so then turned north on California Hwy. 95. When we reached Needles, a scruffy little desert town that I have always disliked, we turned east on Interstate 40 and headed about ten miles or so until we crossed the Colorado River once again, back into Arizona. We turned north on Arizona Hwy. 95 again to Bullhead City.
We refilled with diesel at Maverik Fuels in Bullhead City, then crossed the Colorado River for the third time, this time west into Nevada, at the Avi Casino a bit south of Laughlin. We drove to Laughlin, and found our way to the Riverside Casino, arriving there about 5:15 PM. I am typing this about an hour later, still 5:15 PM, because when we crossed into Nevada the time zone changed. Joanne has gone inside the casino to check some things out while I stayed in the camper with the animals, and reset clocks and watches.
We had dinner at the Riverside Casino Resort's buffet restaurant, called ...
< blink blink > ... the Riverside Buffet. DUH ! We used the last of our free buffet vouchers, left over from previous stays in their RV park.
Emma has had another great day ! It seems as if she is going to enjoy travelling ! Hallelujah !
Monday ; Laughlin to Las Vegas, Nevada
Sunny and warm.
We had another late, slow start to the day. Before leaving the Riverside Casino parking lot we went for a long walk, with Bo, on RiverWalk, the paved walkway along the Colorado River. We hit the road about 12:30 PM. Joanne and Emma stayed inside the camper. We wanted to find out if Emma preferred to be in the camper while we drove. She did not !
I drove west on Hwy. 163 for about half an hour or so until we reached NV Hwy. 95. Too many Hwy 95's around here ! I stopped at the intersection to allow Joanne and Emma to get out of the camper and into the truck cab. Emma was much happier !
We headed north on Hwy. 95 until we reached Las Vegas and Hwy. 95 merged with Interstate 515 heading through the city. We saw a mall with a Wal-Mart so we stopped to have a late lunch in the parking lot, then went inside to buy a few grocery items. By the time we left the shopping mall it was 4 PM and rush hour was starting ! Six lanes of traffic, bumper to bumper, seventy miles per hour, and ... < sputter > ... drivers all around me with their heads down, texting on their phones ! ! ! ! !
The exit that we needed to take to get to Main Street Station Casino Hotel & RV Park, was closed due to construction. < sigh > Story of my life ! We merged onto Interstate 15 and took the next available exit, then found our way on city streets back to Main Street Station. Not that easy ! < sigh >
We parked in our assigned site in the Main Street Station Casino's RV Park. While
I dumped waste holding tanks and refilled our freshwater tank Joanne went across the street to the hotel's front desk to register our arrival. HMPH ! No cable TV. No Wi-Fi ! I raised the camper's roof top antenna and set up the TV. Joanne made supper. We "channel surfed" until it was time to watch the season finale of Celebrity Apprentice.
Tuesday ; Valentine's Day ; Las Vegas
Sunny and warm.
We got a slow start to the day. After lunch we walked a few blocks over to Freemont Street and bought two transit passes, then caught an overcrowded SDX ( Strip to Downtown Express ) bus ... double length, articulated in the middle ... and rode it from “Downtown” ( Freemont Street area ) to “The Strip” ( Las Vegas Boulevard ), getting off at The Bellagio, Joanne’s favourite Las Vegas Casino Hotel.
We got off the SDX bus right in front of The Bellagio’s “Dancing Fountains” a few minutes before 4 PM, just in time for the hourly dancing fountains show. We found a good place to view the show and ... watched a couple of weddings take place in front of the fountains / “lake”. First wedding was being officiated by some manner of “Rent-A-Priest” ! Black fellow, long black robe, white cleric collar, briefcase full of Nevada marriage documents, photographer sidekick. HMPH ! Who knew ? ! Welcome to Vegas, baby !
After watching the dancing fountains show ... ( Man, I never get tired of that ! ) ... we went inside The Bellagio to marvel at their astounding interior, and ... to visit The Conservatory and see what this season’s floral theme and displays were. OH ... Chinese New Year ! We spent time viewing The Conservatory’s floral displays, then began wandering through The Bellagio’s casino and shopping areas, moving in the general direction of Caesars Palace, the next casino hotel. Eventually we made it over to Caesars Palace. We found our way to The Colloseum, the venue for tonight’s show, our reason for being in Las Vegas, then wandered off to explore The Shoppes At The Forum.
We had a lovely dinner at The Cheesecake Factory. We had eaten here before and liked it enough to return. Good food, reasonable prices, excellent service, and close to The Colloseum. After a leisurely supper we headed back to The Colloseum for ...
ELTON JOHN ... MILLION DOLLAR PIANO ! Two tickets to see Elton John perform in Las Vegas on Valentine’s Day were my birthday gift to Joanne on her recent 63rd birthday. Happy Birthday ... and Happy Valentine’s Day, my love. You know ... when we were dating 45 years ago, and I was listening to Led Zeppelin and Iron Butterfly, your fondness for Elton John’s music was ... a tad annoying. It’s amazing how much the years have mellowed me ! HA HA HA !
This is the second time we have seen Elton John perform at the Colloseum in Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. The first time, a couple of years ago, the show was a little bit better than tonight’s show. AND ... < sputter > ... tonight’s show was marred by two disturbing incidents in the audience near us. What a rough crowd ! First ... some manner of dispute took place a few rows ahead of us. Some fellow was loudly screaming “shut the **** up” at people behind him. A fight broke out. A large group of security people rushed in, wrestled a bunch of people out, and evicted them. That incident caused us to have difficulty seeing and hearing the show for a few minutes. Not too long thereafter, some Valentine’s Day drama unfolded a few seats over from us. Some young woman began sobbing very loudly and moaning about “what a piece of shit you are” to the young man beside her. He stood up and left as Security arrived to quiet her down. They failed to be able to do so, so ... they removed her and evicted her from the show. Another couple of minutes of the show was disrupted for us.
My theory is ... some people drink way too much ! ! !
After the show we walked back to The Cheesecake Factory to share a piece of really decadent Reese’s Peanut Butter Chocolate Cake Cheesecake ! Afterwards we walked through Caesars Palace, outside, across the street, and a long way down Las Vegas Boulevard looking for a bus stop. WHEW ... angina ! Must have headed in the wrong direction ! We caught The Deuce ... a double decker bus that made a lot more stops than did the SDX bus. We arrived back “home” at Main Street Station Casino RV Park about 12:30 AM.
Wednesday ; Las Vegas
Sunny and warm.
We slept late this morning and got a slow start to the day. After an early lunch we headed for an afternoon of exploring "The Strip". We left "home" about 2 PM, caught an SDX bus about 2:15 PM, and got off the bus at the Fashion Show Mall about 3 PM. We wandered around the huge, three storey mall for an hour or so, browsing, not buying.
We crossed the street and entered The Wynn, one of The Strip's large, luxury casino hotels. We wandered around The Wynn's shopping areas, then walked over to the next casino hotel, the Palazzo. More wandering around. Then The Venetian. More wandering around ! Bought some cookies at Honolulu Cookie Company. Watched some entertainment at The Venetian's version of St Mark's Square. It's hard for me to be appreciative of a Las Vegas version of St. Mark's Square in Venice when I've been to the real St. Mark's Square three times.
At about 6:30 PM we decided we were tired and hungry and it was time to go home. We caught an SDX bus and returned "home" to Main Street Station Casino RV Park. Joanne prepared supper, I worked on my computer, and ... Emma pouted. It seems as if our absences yesterday and today have made her feel a bit abandoned and insecure.
Thursday ; Las Vegas
This morning we prepared for departure and left Main Street Station Casino’s RV Park about 11 AM and headed south out of Las Vegas on Interstate 515 for only eleven miles before getting off the freeway at Sunset Boulevard in Henderson to refill some water jugs at Wal-Mart. Then it was back onto the freeway heading south on Hwy. 95. We stopped to have lunch in the parking lot of Terrible’s Travel Center in Spotlight. Terrible’s is a Nevada chain of small casinos and fuel bar / travel centers. After lunch we continued south on Hwy. 95, then east on Hwy. 163, then south on Needles Highway to the Avi Casino on the south side of Laughlin.
We got ourselves parked in the Avi’s RV boondock parking lot, then I napped briefly before going inside the casino to spend a couple of hours working online using the casino’s free Wi-Fi in their front lobby. First time I’ve had access to Wi-Fi since leaving home a week ago ! At 8 PM we went for dinner in The Harvest Buffet. WOO-HOO ! 2-4-1 Thursday ! Half price ETYS !
Friday ; Laughlin, Nevada to Yuma, Arizona
Cloudy and mild early in the day. Extremely windy in the afternoon and evening.
This morning we left the RV parking lot of the Avi Casino about 11 AM. We refilled the camper’s freshwater tank at the Avi's fuel bar, then drove across the Colorado River from Nevada into Bullhead City, Arizona. We stopped at Smiths Fuel Bar where
I refilled Lanoire with diesel, then crossed the street to Safeway where Joanne bought a loaf of bread. We had lunch in Safeway's parking lot, then about 1:30 PM we headed south on AZ Hwy. 95, crossing the Colorado River again to Needles, California, then briefly on Interstate 40, then south again on CA Hwy. 95. At Blythe we turned east on Interstate 10, crossed the Colorado River ( again ! ), then at Quartzsite we turned south on AZ Hwy. 95 ( again ! ).
A few miles south of Quartzsite we stopped at the Roadrunner BLM ( boondocking / unserviced ) Campground where we were planning to stop for the night and have a campfire dinner. BUT ... by the time we arrived there ... around 4:30 PM ... the wind was extremely strong, with the radio warning of dangerous winds and heavy rain in the evening and overnight. This was the storm that was devastating Southern California today. We decided not to stay, and continued south on Hwy. 95, arriving home at Kofa Ko-op RV Park in Yuma about 6:45 PM just as it got dark.
Good decision ! The winds tonight were ... < blink blink > ... severe !
Emma was stunned and thrilled to be "home" ! When we thought about it we realized ... twice in the last year she has left home ... and never returned. Her first home, lasting some twelve years, and her second home, lasting seven months. She has no experience with leaving home ... then happily returning a week later. New experience for her ! Learning curve, eh Emma ?
Saturday ; Cloudy, chilly, raining all day.
The rain started overnight and continued all day, a pretty rare occurrence for Yuma. This is the killer storm from Southern California, although by the time Pacific storms reach us here in the Mojave ( California / west side of Colorado River ) and Sonoran
( Arizona / east side of Colorado River ) deserts they're pretty dried out, so to speak. The heavy rain all day brought to my attention ... < heavy sigh > ... a leak in the camper roof around the kitchen Fantastic Fan vent.
I spent much of the day getting caught up on online chores and processing photos. Joanne unloaded and cleaned the camper. Emma snoozed and snoozed and snoozed on her fluffy little yellow blankie on the rocker recliner, "her" chair. HA HA HA ... welcome back home, Emma.
DSK
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