What Happens in Vegas, Stays in Vegas !

A very slow paced day.  Ahhhh.


When we checked in yesterday we were given some doggy treats and advised that there was a Horse and Dog Lovers park close by.  I am beginning to think this trip is all about Kyle. Who would have thought!  We took him to the park this morning (Sat) and we all had a blast.  There were lots of big and little dogs and they all ran and played like long lost friends.  The park was very well laid out, three different grassed training areas with rock walkways in between.  The park is used for training and competitions as well.  Two ladies were on staff and there was no cost.  Very nice find in the middle of a concrete desert.


We headed to 'the strip' for the afternoon and parked the white beast at "New York New York" Casino.  It has really changed since I was here, over 25 years ago.  Not so much from Kaye's last visit in 08.  We walked and poked our noses into the Excalibur, Tropicana and the MGM.  Just cruising the menus and the mood of the crowds.  Mood?  Did I mention that this place has changed since I was last here.  It caters to families and kids!  Weird assembly of values.   Gambling, drinking, smoking, and the dress code that goes with those habits, all intermixed with baby carriages and kids play areas; one that included a roller coaster; all within the confines of an overhead sign that warned: "Cell phone use to discuss the odds on Sports Betting is illegal".  I thought Sports Betting was illegal?


We had a nice lunch at the MGM and then just ripped the Penny slots apart wherever we went.  OK, my version of 'ripping' is investing $3 and getting back $5.20,  then loosing a $1 and then another $1 and then just throwing caution to the wind and pumping $2 into a $.25 machine and playing double credits...Can you feel the excitement building.  Won 80 credits ($20) on the second spin and cashed out !  Free lunch. 


After the sun dropped, along with the temperature, Kyle was treated to a second visit to the dog park. The parking lot was packed, there were hundreds of dogs.  We stayed for over an hour, walked constantly and met a very nice bunch of fellow dog lovers.  They come in as many different shapes and sizes as the dogs.  In all the insanity of that many different breeds, sizes and ages, all playing together, there were only two pocket sized dogs who barked constantly.  It was unbelievable and a true testament to the fact that all dogs are inherently friendly it is just humans who make them aggressive.


So as the title says, What really happened in Vegas, stays in Vegas...We will be staying at least another full day and night.

ps. Got the hot tub gossip low down on Sunday early dinner Prime Rib buffet; $9.95 just blocks away.  Quiet don't tell everyone.

Vegas Baby !

Welcome to Vegas!


Back to normal temps of 80F and it will get a little hotter every day over the weekend.  We only moved 25 miles from Boulder City (Lake Mead) to Vegas but as the 25 miles were all downhill into the desert, the scenery is totally different than the mountains.  The first thing we noticed was the lack of visibility.  We could not see the towers of the strip casinos until we were within 6 miles of downtown.  I hope it was due to heat haze and not pollution!


We are staying at the "Las Vegas RV Resort" right beside Sam's Town Casino.  It is a large resort, very nice and their web special price is $29 for full services for any site in the park! (Times are tough)  Back to having a pool and a hot tub.  Yea.

When we pulled into the park to register, the unit ahead of us looked familiar.  It was an identical trailer !  We are now parked close to Larry and Virginia from Oregon who are also enjoying their 'Outback'.  Great minds think alike.


We made it a quiet day today.  Having the satellite is a nice perk.  I was able to watch PGA in HD and 'Yes' Kaye has figured out how to find 'Survivor' too!    Our only bitch is that Dish Net has tons of sports, but it is very shy on hockey.  We have only been able to catch a few of the playoff games on local channels.

We may just stay put here for a little relax time.  Hopefully there will not be any more 'wardrobe malfunctions' like we saw at the Dam yesterday.  May the Slot Gods be with Kaye !

Racing Across the Mesa

I was able to sort through our photos from the Grand Canyon and selected a group of big picture scenes that I feel you would enjoy.

I made another album of fun shots of our travels.   We thought we would be able to just relax and enjoy the evening and morning but the weather forecast had caught up with us again.  We set the clock for 0630 and I prepped all the outdoor pack up before we headed to ground.


The winds came up but no rain throughout the night.  A hint of sun sent me in shorts and sandals out with Kyle for his morning excursion. Halfway to nowhere the blackness took over and the two of us picked up our pace and raced back to the trailer with small pee hail beating down on us.  We fought the weather for the rest of the pack-up and hook up.  Kaye is very good at trailer hitch alignment now.  Of course she is outside and I am inside, so there is an incentive to get good!


We were on the road by 0800 fighting 25mph SW winds gusting to 40.   Very happy that we are driving a dually and that Kaye has filled the trailer with 'stuff'. Heavy enough that the wind was not an issue for the trailer and the truck just did not care either way.  The other good news was that we were headed from nearly 7000ft to about 2000ft.  It felt like we drove down hill for five hours.  Note to self; don't head to the Grand Canyon from Vegas from the West unless you own shares in a gas station!


We checked into a beautiful RV park in Boulder City.  Small, managed by an older lady, very clean and tidy.  No hot tub but the water pressure of their showers made up for it.  We left Kyle at home and spent the afternoon back tracking to the Hoover Dam.  It was 72F but with the high wind most folks were finding it cool.  I posted lots of photos and a story line in them, so enjoy.


This travelling during the 'off' season is great.  Sorry for you folks with kids at school who can't take advantage of this.  We had no parking issues, got to take advantage of the state free areas (which are small) and did not have to fight the tour groups at all.


Tomorrow we head to Vegas !  Ya !

A Very Special Day at the Grand Canyon

Someone is smiling upon us, especially after the weird weather that has followed (or haunted) us on this trip.  We woke early this morning to chilly overcast skies.  Jeans and long sleeved jackets were the order of dress (56F).  At first we were disappointed that the sun had left us but as it would turn out, we could not have been more fortunate.  We packed a nice lunch and treats for Kyle and then headed out for the 60 mile drive to the Canyon.

Our fist stop was about 5 miles from the Canyon itself in the Grand Canyon Village.  The village outside the park gate has many hotels, shops, restaurants and is home to the National Geographic IMAX Theatre.  McDonalds even gave us free coffee.  We had a $7 off coupon from our RV park but IMAX honours military and veterans service cards so we both got in for under $20.  The lady who served us also informed us that this was National Park Free Week and there would be no charges to get into the park!  That was a $25 vehicle and $12 guest fee saved!  WaHo! However, the self serve Kiosk outside did not have a sign saying it was “Free Week” and there were a steady stream of people buying tickets! Oh Well.

We quickly got our IMAX tickets and headed into line as a couple of tour buses overflowing with Japanese tourists had flooded the gift shop and were headed for the ticket booths.  We had suffered their wrath on our visit to Thailand so knew what to do!

The show was 35 minutes long and breathtaking.  Kaye felt a little queasy, especially after some of the fast moving flying shots down the canyon valleys.  If you do visit, do not miss this video experience, it is not just video, it has a storyline and the story adds to the understanding of what you will see at the canyon itself.  

The best part of the gift shop was that it was a tourist trap without gross tourist trap prices.  We found the merchandise to be well priced.  Our only disappointment was that many of the goods were; Made in China, or Printed in Korea. A shame at one of the Wonders of the World located in USA.

We followed the advice of our RV Hosts and went to the Desert View tower at the East end of the South rim first.  This is about 25 miles East from the main village.  At this time of year, parking was a non issue and we did not have to wait for anything.  The tower has been restored by a philanthropist lady whose name escapes me now. However, it was a wonderful way to first experience the canyon.  The tower allows you to climb about 25ft above the edge and provides a protected view of the East end of the canyon.

From the tower we worked our way back to the village, one vista viewpoint at a time, with a stop for lunch at a small museum on the way.  Each vista point has a slightly different angle on the canyon.  There were no fees for anything, not the museum, parking or the guided tours.

At the Grand Canyon Visitor and Historic Centre we came across an outdoor display that described the effects of air pollution, temperature and other factors affecting the clarity of the view.  On a good day in the summer, you can expect to see 85 miles and on a good day 130 miles. On our day, due to the overcast sky and the lower temperatures, we were treated to a view of over 240 miles.  The mountains in the far distance were clear and we could see to the bottom of the canyon without the use of binos!  We did not have the unique streaks of light that are the highlight of the most popular photos but it did allow us to see the full canyon with the naked eye.

Kyle was a hit as usual.  It turned into a long day of exploring and walking with a total cost of under $50 and that included the IMAX and gifts!  We took hundreds of pictures and lots of HD video that will have to wait until we are home to process.  I will see what photos I can quickly cull to provide you with some sights.  Ah, a great day. 

Time for the Grand Canyon (and a peaceful drive)

We have left Sedona on our Bucket List to come back.  One day is total injustice.  I recommend that you plan to visit here; RVing or Hotels, you decide, and you can pick the price range of luxury that suits you. There are full spa resorts, B&Bs by the hundreds, even a Motel 6 plus RV parks.  Our RV park was a heavenly oasis compared to the concrete jungles we have been in to date.  There were many camping spots within the park but they were 'no service' sites.  The commercial RV parks are all located outside of the State Red Rock Park. Ours was about 12 miles from Sedona.


Kaye and her shopping/browsing friends could easily spend a week just wandering the hundreds of unique shops here.  If you like art, you could spend a year here studying the thousands of artists who call this area home. There are six major museums and we did not see any of them.  See yesterday's photos of the city scenes.


Well, our plan was to escape the heat of Phoenix, which we did, so now it is off to Williams, AZ; "The Gateland to the Grand Canyon" and an access point to old Route 66.  We only travelled 70 miles today but we took most of the day to do it.  The 28 miles from Sedona to Flagstaff was a drive that equalled our trip on Hyw 44 over to Reno from the I5 in Sept 2010.  This was 15Mph corners, on the edge of 1000ft cliffs.  Kaye did not like it.   We climbed from Sedona; 3800ft, to nearly 6800ft in less than 20 miles.  It was great fun.  Only had a few idiots on suicide motorbikes screamed by with no helmets and passing on blind curves and double yellow lines.  Future ink blots.


We stopped at Luke AFB recreation area just before we joined the freeway South of Flagstaff for a quiet lunch in the picnic area.   And we are still eating very healthy Mother. 


Kyle found some ant hills that drove him crazy.  He started to dig and dig and dig.  I had time to make a quick video while laughing myself crazy.  I don't have a high speed internet connection so I won't be able upload it till our next stop.


We were able to bypass Flagstaff completely and take the I40 into Williams.  We are at the Railside Ranch RV park.  Guess what? It is right beside the Grand Canyon Railway yard parking.  And Yes there are lots of trains on the move but only the tourist trap train blows its whistle at 1730 on its return from the canyon. We were disappointed that the park does not have a pool or hot tub but the showers and facilities are lovely and very modern.  The owners are incredibly helpful and have saved us hundreds of dollars in tour fees by explaining how we can do our own self guided tour of the canyon.  In this way we can take Kyle and the National Park is free till the end of the month!


We wanted something to do for the afternoon, the hosts recommended we take a drive up into the mountains to Dogtown Lake where Kyle could go for a swim and a hike.  We envisioned our lakes at home....wrong...see the photos...Right out of Burt Reynolds movie Deliverance.


 We shot a little video of old route 66 on our way home, if it turns out OK I will post it in a few days.  Night, night.  Grand Canyon awaits tomorrow.

Red Rock Canyon Awaits

This is definitely a Bucket List destination.  The physical decor of the natural scenery is breathtaking but huge credit has to go to the elected officials from many, many years ago who had the vision to put in place distinct building codes and restrictions that could be defended against the 'big boy' retailers and developers.

I did not have trouble finding the commercial stores that we were looking for and these included big name places, like McDonalds (for a Kyle ice cream) and high end groceries from Safeway and coffee from Starbucks.  We found them even without their mile high signs in the sky.  In my photo album you will see that signage is restricted to below the roof line, must be mounted on the structure and even the colours of the big boys has been restricted.  The buildings themselves do not look like the ugly box stores of other cities, there are strict height restrictions and blocking the view of the natural scenery is obviously a big concern.  Well done.


All commercial and residential building must follow the theme of the original adobe mountain dug dwellings.  There are no towering obstructions, no neighbours building obstructing stories to wipe out your views and the yards and gardens are all manicured in the theme of the area.  Wow.


The natural beauty of this area is something to experience first hand, so we entice you to plan a visit here.  There is an airport and hundreds of hotels, motels, spas, RV parks, state parks, no services campgrounds and .....The AAA book lists hotel rooms from $49 to $2500 per night !


We are in a beautiful riverside RV park about 12 miles from downtown Sedona.  The big CottonWood trees provide full shade and since it is blooming season they are driving my allergies nuts.  Kyle has swam the river, chased the birds and made friends with everyone.


Today we headed to Cornville and Cottonwood on our way to the Red Mountain Vistas.  Just had to shop at a WalMart !  Bought a scanner printer so I can send you all info from material we collect and of course Kaye can print her coupons.


Our cross country route took us through a long road construction phase (was gravel) where we had the pleasure of being the last vehicle through, so we were given a 'flag' to represent us as the last vehicle and asked to give it to the flagman at the other end.  The other end was about four miles away so it would have been a long delay if we had not showed up when we did.  We told the other flagman to 'smile' for a photo!  I wanted to ask if they had heard of Walkie Talkies or Cell Phones but decided the 'Flag' was the most simple, logical and cheapest tool to get the job done.  So who are the 'smarter' ones?


The next part of our day was stopping at the pull-outs along the road and taking pictures of the natural wonders.  We did a three mile hike with Kyle at one of the stops.  It was a great path, lots of people who all loved Kyle and just the right length for our plans.  


On our way back into Sedona we spied a fabulous tourist trap of artistic beauty.  We needed a place to hide in the shade and have a snack so this became it.  I ended up taking a bunch of photos as it was a mass of high end art with no "made in china crap".   Kaye found a cute cactus wall hanger, I was interested in a hand carved wolf cane but the girls on duty were not authorized to negotiate prices on behalf of the artists on weekdays.  Oh well, their loss.


We then focused on the residential and commercial properties in Sedona. We were so impressed with the building development codes that had ensured that not only would the views of the majestic mountains be preserved for all but that the commercial districts would not appear to take over the natural beauty.


This is truly somewhere you could plan a week long visit and not be disappointed.  Here is a link to the full album of photos from the Red Rock Canyon Recreation Area.

Sunday is Moving Day

We loved our visit with Joy and her mom (Bev) but the heat was just too much for Kyle.  The RV park was quite lovely and we certainly recommend it, but all of the parks close to the cities are mostly  concrete and asphalt.  Simple and easy to use but not nice in the blazing heat.


We had a wonderful day yesterday but the heat took the wind out of us both, so early to bed and early to rise was the order of the day.  It was 82F before the sun came up  (0530).  Phoenix set a record high temp yesterday of 103 for that day in April.  Proves that Dave's weather phenoms can work on the HOT end too.


With it being a Sunday, there was no rush hour(s) traffic.  I would recommend to all of you that if you are holidaying, you travel through major centres on the weekends or after 7pm at night.  Much less traffic and the highways are beautifully coordinated, there is never a stop light on an Interstate.


Joy told us to head for Sedona, not far, only 150 miles, but the elevation changes from 1100 to 4000 and we hit 5000 crossing one of the Mesa's.  Not a trip for the under powered, several gas motor homes and truck/trailers dead at the side of the road.  It was a magical drive of transformation.  The first 70 miles was the same South desert as Phoenix/Yuma but once we started to climb the Mesas, shrubs turned green, there was grass beside the road, and red rock started to appear.


The Ranger Information station about 15 miles from Sedona was tons of fun.  The Boy Scouts had a Sunday 'badge' earning contest on, the station was a mini museum that we could have spent all afternoon at and the volunteers could not help you enough.  The RV park we were trying to find did not show up on the GPS but our 'helper' knew it personally and gave it a 5 Star rating.  I will post pictures of the drive through the little towns and you will be amazed by the building code requirements and the beauty.  They have not let commercial businesses ruin this incredible place on the planet.


Our little escape from the heat is about 14 miles from Sedona, (click for map) right on a small river with flowering cotton wood trees. So much for the allergies.  It still hit 92 in town today but down here we have shade, a river, and a shot through the trees so the Dish Satellite TV works (Canuks we hope to find).


We needed vegetables and fresh dairy plus we spotted a Weekend Bazaar on the way out of town.  So Kyle got a swim, luxury AC in the trailer and we headed to town.  The bazaar had some incredible high end art work and jewellery.   Google Sedona, AZ and read about the history of the artists from this area and the societies that had been formed because of them.  Way out of our price range.


We were solicited with an enticing 'free' car wash by a young lady with a big sign, she had braces but was wearing a bikini!  I dropped off Kaye to shop and took the truck for a bath.  It was a high school fundraiser for summer camp.  Best $10 I have spent so far.  Enjoy the video.


Tomorrow I will be taking a lot of pictures.  I may not post them until I am able to link them to something that can properly explain them.  These are once in a lifetime views.