Sunday
; Las Vegas, Nevada
Sunny and warm, a lovely day
for long walks.
After an early lunch we set
out on foot to walk to the Smith Center For Performing Arts about a
mile from Main Street Station Casino RV Park. WHEW … pretty hot
walking in the desert sun at 1 PM. Our entire reason for being in
Las Vegas was to attend this afternoon’s matinee performance of the
50th anniversary “revival” of the musical / rock opera
Jesus Christ Superstar. The vinyl album of the soundtrack was one of
Joanne’s prized possessions back in high school fifty years ago.
Well ! Joanne enjoyed today’s
performance immensely. I thought … if ever
I needed a
reinforcement of my atheism … this was it ! HA HA HA ! A hundred
minutes of incomprehensible musical theater to showcase three or four
brilliant pieces of music. With a story line that makes about as
much sense as the story of Trump’s recent assassination of
Al-Baghdadi.
The walk back home was a
little easier than the walk to the theater. We took a different
route home from the theater, and were shaded by tall downtown
buildings. Once back home Joanne did laundry in the RV park’s
laundromat and
I went to the casino to use Wi-Fi.
HMPH ! When I went to post
last week’s journal entry to my blog I discovered that … I
apparently forgot to post my journal from the week before ! So … I
had not posted anything to my blog since before we left home on
November 1. HMPH ! Sorry !
Monday
; Las Vegas to Laughlin, Nevada
REMEMBRANCE
DAY ; LEST WE FORGET !
Sunny and very warm,
temperatures up into the 80’s F.
This morning at 11 AM we
observed Remembrance Day with a minute of silence “to remember”
and a recitation of the poem “In Flanders Fields”.
Joanne walked over to the
casino to pay our RV park bill at the hotel registration desk while I
took care of departure preparations. I refilled the camper’s
freshwater tank and emptied the grey and black waste holding tanks.
I disconnected the electricity and checked the air pressure in the
truck’s tires. And we were ready to go around 11:30 AM.
As were driving the short
distance from the RV park back to the Interstate we were blocked by
roads closed due to a marathon being run in downtown Las Vegas. Our
GPS helped us find an alternate route back to the Interstate. We
headed south through the city on Interstate 15 and then south on Hwy.
95. After turning east on Hwy. 162 we stopped in the desert to have
lunch and a nap for me.
When we arrived in Laughlin
around 4 PM we stopped at Laughlin Outlets Mall and I shopped for
shoes at SAS Shoes Outlet. I decided to order shoes in a couple of
weeks on Black Friday and have them shipped to Yuma. We drove to the
Colorado Belle Casino Hotel and parked in their RV parking lot.
We took Ozzie for a long walk
around the Colorado Belle’s large parking lot, then across the
street to see the Veteran’s Day event taking place on the
Tropicana’s outdoor patio. There was a live band playing old time
rock & roll, and a pig roast barbecue “pop-up” restaurant.
Hard to tell who appreciated the smells of the pig roast barbecue
more, me or Ozzie. HA HA HA ! We returned to our camper and enjoyed
the live band’s music through our screen door. I worked on my
laptop while Joanne went into the Colorado Belle looking for spumoni
ice cream.
< shrug > Yeah … I don’t know ! HA HA HA !
Our plan was to have supper at
the Passagio Restaurant in the Tropicana. Monday evening is their
bottomless pasta bowl special. MMMMM … my choice is always angel
hair pasta with basil cream sauce. Soup and salad bar is included.
BUT … at 6 PM as Joanne was reading the Laughlin Entertainment
Guide she had picked up inside the Colorado Belle, she discovered
that the Avi Casino on the other side of town had a 2-4-1 buffet
special on Veteran’s Day ( today ). So … off to the Avi we went.
It was about 15 miles from “downtown” Laughlin where the
Colorado Belle and Tropicana are on the north end of town to the Avi
Casino on the south side of town.
Usually the Avi Casino’s
Native Harvest Buffet is crowded on the “2-4-1 special” nights.
Not tonight though. As always, the food was spectacular. Oddly, the
service was very poor. So … no tip for the very disinterested
Native male server who ;
- served me a glass of sour milk. Maybe not his fault, but still … !
- was not able to figure out on his own that since I was eating very messy barbecued beef ribs I would need some extra napkins … and moist towelettes.
- tried hard to not notice when he was needed at either of the two tables he was serving. WOW … what an overwhelming work load ! < sarcasm >
After supper we returned to
our camper in the RV boondocking lot, I took my laptop and headed
back inside the casino to use their free Wi-Fi to check e-mail. Oh,
goody … it looks as if the Dodge minivan that I want to buy in Palm
Springs is still available.
Tuesday
; Laughlin, Nevada to Quartzsite, Arizona
Sunny and very warm,
temperature in the mid-80’s as we drove through Lake Havasu City in
mid-afternoon.
This
morning before leaving the Avi Casino we refilled our freshwater tank
at the Avi’s fuel bar. We drove east across the bridge over the
Colorado River, crossing from Laughlin,
Nevada into Bullhead
City, Arizona.
We
stopped at Smiths, a supermarket with a fuel bar. I
refilled the
truck with
diesel at
probably
the lowest diesel price we will encounter this entire winter season.
While Joanne went into the supermarket to begin our grocery shopping
I refilled our five gallon water jug at one of the reverse osmosis
water refill machines outside the store, then
joined her inside the store.
We headed south out of
Bullhead City, then took a series of “country back roads”
including Historic Route 66 east and south until reaching Interstate
40 at the Arizona / California border. We drove east on I-40 for ten
miles, then turned south again on Arizona Hwy. 95. Not to be
confused with the nearby California Hwy. 95. At the I-40 / AZ 95
junction we stopped at Love’s ( a chain of truck stop fuel stations
) and had lunch in the parking lot.
We drove south, then east,
then south again on AZ 95, through Lake Havasu City and Parker until
( almost ) reaching Quartzsite, Arizona. We stopped at Hi Jolly BLM
boondocking campground a few miles before reaching the small town of
Quartzsite, which turns into a city of tens of thousands of desert
boondocking RV’s all winter.
We
found a spot in the desert to park, beside a nicely constructed rock
ring for campfires. It was 5 PM Arizona ( MST ) time, although we
have kept our watches and clocks set to Nevada and California ( PST )
time, so … 4 PM on our watches. Enough time before dark to go for
a long walk in the desert with
Ozzie.
We finished our walk as the sun set behind the mountains.
I prepared and lit a campfire
at 5 PM just as it was becoming dark. We sat around the campfire and
chatted for about an hour, then I cooked supper on the fire.
Wednesday
; Quartzsite, Arizona to Palm Springs, California
Sunny and hot. How nice !
This morning we left the Hi
Jolly BLM unserviced camping area and drove a few miles south on Hwy.
95 into the town of Quartzsite. We stopped at one of the flea market
areas in town to shop at Grocery Liquidators, a “scratch &
dent” grocer. We bought a lot of grocery stuff …
for fifteen bucks ! I refilled the truck with diesel at Mobil …
fuel is a lot cheaper in Arizona than in California … and we headed
west on Interstate 10.
We crossed the bridge over the
Colorado River from Arizona into California. We got off the
Interstate at the bleak little town of Blythe, California ( called
“Blight” by some RV’ers ) to refill our freshwater tank at a
municipal park with a few potable water spigots for use by RV’ers.
Well … in the past that was the case. Not any longer !
We continued west on I-10,
stopping at a rest area to have a late lunch. We arrived in Palm
Springs around 3:30 PM. I was excited and eager to head to the car
dealership in Palm Desert to view and buy the Dodge minivan. We
spent forty-five minutes examining the minivan and … without even
taking it for a test drive, decided not to buy it. What a piece of
junk ! I am so disappointed !
Leaving the Palm Springs
“suburb” of Palm Desert we stopped at a Ralph’s supermarket to
buy groceries. Their deli section was unsatisfactory. Their bakery
section was unsatisfactory. HMPH ! I was already in a bad mood
before I even stepped into the store. We left and used our GPS to
find a Wal-Mart on the way back to Spotlight 29 Casino. We did our
shopping at Wal-Mart then headed for Spotlight 29, our boondocking
“home” in Palm Springs. Near Spotlight 29 we went to Love’s to
refill our freshwater tank. WOW … Love’s at 7 PM is gridlocked
with tractor trailers coming and going !
We refilled our freshwater
tank, drove over to Spotlight 29 Casino’s almost empty RV parking
lot … that’s unusual … got settled in and had a late supper.
Thursday
; Palm Springs, California
Sunny and hot.
We slept late, then got a slow
start to our day. We drove a very short distance to the nearby T/A
Travel Center ( truck stop ) and refilled our freshwater tank. Then
we drove a few miles to a municipal sewage treatment plant where we
dumped our waste holding tanks at their RV sani-dump. Then it was
time to start our day of fun in Palm Springs.
First
stop was Las Tres Conchitas, a favourite panaderia ( Mexican bakery )
of ours in the suburb of Indio. WOW … one surely can get an awful
lot of pan dulce ( baking / pastries ) for ten bucks ! HA HA HA !
Joanne wanted to have lunch in a little “hole in the wall”
Mexican diner across the street. Okay ! I had a tostado ceviche,
sort of Mexican seafood salad made with whatever seafood happens to
be available that day. My ceviche today was made with … little
squid. HMMM … never had squid before. It was pretty good ceviche.
Joanne had a tostado pierna ( pork ). Also pretty good ! After
lunch we shopped for some household supplies at a Dollar Tree, then
went looking for a Bank of America to withdraw some cash. After
getting some cash we headed towards downtown, stopping on the way
when we saw a Goodwill thrift store. Before
joining Joanne in the Goodwill I went into McDonald’s and used
their free Wi-Fi to check e-mail. Joanne
bought a couple of clothing items at
the Goodwill.
Once we were downtown we
stopped to shop at our favourite thrift store ; Revivals. Joanne
bought a dress, I bought a pair of pants and a shirt. By then it was
6 PM and time to head to nearby Village Fest, the weekly Thursday
evening street fair in downtown Palm Springs. About a ten block
strip of the main downtown street is closed to traffic and becomes a
pedestrian shopping and dining street fair filled with vendors of
every sort imaginable. With some difficulty we found a parking spot
on the street large enough for our truck and camper.
I needed a bit
more than one full parking spot, with nobody able to park in front of
me and block me from exiting.
It
took us two hours to walk the ten block length of Village Fest, up
one side of the street and back down the other side. We ate supper
at an Ethiopian food stand.
< blink blink > Well … that was
interesting ! Joanne bought a tiny bottle of CBD oil to try on her
sore shoulders. When
we got back to where the truck and camper were parked we had some pan
dulce for dessert.
From downtown we drove north
back to Interstate 10, then about 25 miles east on I-10 back to
Spotlight 29 Casino, our boondocking “home”, arriving about 9:30
PM.
WHEW … tired !
Friday
; Palm Springs to Salton City, California
Sunny and hot again.
This morning after routine
chores I downloaded and processed photos from my camera before we
left Spotlight 29 Casino. Around noon we drove to nearby T/A Travel
Center and refilled our freshwater tank. Then we headed to Trader
Joe’s in the Palm Springs suburb of La Quinta.
We found a good parking spot
in the large shopping mall then went for a long walk around the
perimeter of the large shopping mall. We saw an El Pollo Loco and I
wanted to have lunch there. It’s been a long time since we’ve
eaten at an El Pollo Loco ( The Crazy Chicken ). The Yuma outlet
closed years ago. El Pollo Loco is somewhat like Canada’s Swiss
Chalet. But better ! We bought lunch and took it back to our camper
to eat.
After lunch I decided I
deserved a nap. After napping we went shopping in Trader Joe’s.
We restrained ourselves as we shopped because … we’ll be back in
Palm Springs from mid-December until the end of January. Before
leaving the shopping mall I started up my laptop computer to look for
an unencrypted / free Wi-Fi signal. Found one ! From the nearby
juice bar. Before leaving the mall I checked e-mail and got caught
up on some online work.
We left the mall around 4:30
PM and arrived at the Indio Performing Arts Center, home of Desert
Theatreworks, around 5 PM, just as it turned dark. We found a good
parking spot in the theater’s empty parking lot, then went walking
around the slightly downtrodden looking Mexican neighbourhood. We
found an Angel View thrift store and went inside to browse … and
kill time. Well ! Joanne found a new silk shirt in my size. For
seven bucks ! With a pink price tag. Today’s half price tag
colour was pink ! WOO-HOO ! Merry Christmas to me ! I will be
getting a lovely silk shirt. That cost three fifty ! HA HA HA !
“Palm Springs thrift store” is sort of an oxymoron, n’est-ce
pas ? HA HA HA !
We returned to the camper and
puttered around … working on my laptop, walking the dog in the park
… until it was time for the 7:30 PM performance of “Murder On The
Orient Express”. The play was very good, we enjoyed it. It was a
new adaptation by a California playwright of Agatha Christie’s
classic murder mystery. This was the first of four plays in our
Desert Theatreworks mini-season ticket package
After the play ended around
9:30 PM we drove out of the Palm Springs area, heading south on Hwy.
86, about 50 km. / 31 miles to Red Earth Casino, near Salton City,
where we boondocked overnight in their RV parking lot.
Saturday
; Salton City, California to Yuma, Arizona
Sunny and hot. WHEW … long,
tough day !
We left Red Earth Casino this
morning about 10:30 AM heading south on Hwy. 86. I was running low
on diesel and did not want to buy diesel in California because it is
so much cheaper in Arizona. But … I didn’t have quite enough to
make it to Yuma, so … in Westmoreland I purchased twenty dollars
worth of diesel at Love’s. HMPH … should have bought twenty-five
dollars worth ! ! !
As we drove though the small
town of Westmoreland we could see that there was some kind of a fair
taking place. We found a place to park and walked over to where all
the people and vendor tents were. It was Westmoreland’s annual
Honey Festival. Westmoreland is a large honey producing area. Who
knew ? We wandered through the fair area, Ozzie in tow, somewhat
unwillingly because of the intense sun and heat, checking out the
vendors and displays. I bought a jar of home made jam.
We continued south until
reaching Interstate 8, then found our way to a rest area a few miles
to the west … the “wrong” direction, as we were heading east to
Yuma. But we wanted to dump our waste holding tanks at the rest
area’s
sani-dump station before we put the truck and camper into
storage at Kofa Ko-op. We decided to have lunch before dumping the
tanks.
Joanne went to the rest area
bathrooms and I took Ozzie for a walk. As we approached the door at
the rear of the camper … < sigh > … Ozzie and I both
stepped in a puddle of molten tar. Then Ozzie jumped up into the
camper and began to track little dog paw prints of tar across the
camper floor as he headed for where he expected his food dish to be.
To make a long story short … it took us a very long time … a
couple of hours … to get Ozzie’s feet, my shoes, and the camper
floor cleaned of tar ! ! !
Eventually we had lunch,
dumped the waste holding tanks, and headed east on Interstate 8
towards Yuma. At Holtville we got off the Interstate, drove into
town, and bought two huge carne asada burritos for
supper at Holtville Taco Shop. This is a regular stop for us ! We
returned to the Interstate, continued east a few miles to Holtville
Hot Springs, and went looking for our Riverside RV Park Resort
neighbours who are camped for the winter at the BLM long term camping
area behind the hot springs.
We drove around in the desert
camping area until we found Serge and Barb … and Loki their Border
Collie. Loki was thrilled to receive visitors that he knew. HA HA
HA … good dog, Loki ! We visited until almost 5 PM California time
/ 6 PM Arizona time. We left as it was becoming dark. We had
another hour to go to reach Yuma.
It was obvious as we
approached Yuma that our diesel “situation” was becoming
desperate. As I pulled up to the diesel pump at the fuel station the
truck computer’s “distance to empty” had been reading “2
miles” for about a half a mile already ! WHEW … very close call
! ! !
We arrived at our Kofa Ko-op
winter home about 7 PM ( Arizona time ).
I connected the fifth wheel
trailer’s electricity, water and sewer, and reinstalled the water
heater’s sacrificial anode drain plug while Joanne got the trailer
open and the slides extended and cleaned up inside a bit. We were
having our burritos for supper by 9 PM.
DSK
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