March, LasVegas, Heading home

Thurs. Mar. 15

Today we got on the road at 9:00a.m. heading towards Boulder City and the Hoover Dam. Seeing Lake Mead (formed by the Hoover Dam) with the dropped water levels, it was interesting to see the lake nestled in the mountains. We proceeded along the winding road to the Dam. Having to stop at an inspection station to have all the outside compartments and inside of our rig checked (looking for bombs I think). Winding from there through some on the construction (they are building a new bridge for traffic just south of the dam) narrow winding road. Not a lot of places to park our rig until we began climbing the mountain on the east side of the dam where we were able to stop and take some pictures. This was a very awesome experience. We continued from the Dam the up the steep winding road to the Plateau, observing some real amazing scenery in the process.

By 12:15 pm we had arrived at Kingman Arizona, known as the Heart of Historic Route 66 which was the main highway from Chicago to Los Angeles in the 1940’s and 1950’s, with many old buildings and dinners along the way. In town the main street is Andy Divine Ave. A western movie actor who was born here (all of you older people will know who he is). We located the Wal-Mart in town (free camping) and settled in for the night with many other rv’s. Then we took the car for a drive around town, and back to relax in the cool shade of the parking lot and interesting scenery. It was 94 f again. We enjoyed some fried chicken and potato salad for dinner from Wal-Mart and a nice sunset.

pics Mar. 15

Fri. Mar. 16

From Walmart heading east to Williams Arizona on I-40, from 3,000 ft to 6,500 elevation all uphill for 95 miles. A little cooler here 74f during the day but 25f at night. Going to take The Grand Canyon Railway to Grand Canyon Village all day saturday should be a fun day.

Sat.Mar.17 GRAND CANYON

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

A beautiful day today (forecast sunny and 74f) starting with a western show by the train station at 9.15 am. Very entertainting and lots of people there. From there we board the train for Grand Canyon Village, 61 miles, 2 hours and 15 minutes. We had 2 seats in the coach car and the train was pretty well full, about 10 cars including a dining car. During the trip the scenery changed as we climbed to 7,100 feet above sea leavel and had free soft drinks and a wandering minstrel singing old western songs(very good). It was stated that Arizona is a free range state, meaning that cattle are allowed to roam freely and if you do not want them on your property you fence them out! If you had to hit one with a vehicle like a train or car etc. you must pay the farmer for the animal! Animal rights.

We arrived at the Village and proceeded to walk to the rim of the canyon. WOW!! what an impressive sight! About 10 miles across here and 1 mile straight down. There was very little in guard rails and some places none at all. Just warnings to stay away from the edge.We walked around some of the shops then boarded one of the free shuttles to Hermits Rest route. 8 miles with about 7 overlooks where you could get off and reboard another bus anytime. Every one was different angles and lighting, truly a Wonder of the World some 270 millions years old. A few places you could see the Colorado River at the bottom and if you look closely a few buildings. All of the pictures do not really do it justice. We spotted some Condors ( huge birds with a nine foot wing span that are a sight to behold).I had exhausted the battery in my camera by taking over 150 photos so we missed of few on the way back.

After 4 hours at the Canyon(not nearly enough time) we reboarded the train only to find out one engine broke down. After a delay of about 20 minutes a temporary fix was done and we proceeded slowly back to Williams. About half way back we met up with another engine to help us out and return home 1 hour late. On the way we had a mock train robbery. The train was stopped by 4 masked cowboys on horseback and they boarded the train to rob us all at gunpoint, lotsa fun. Returning back home at 7:15 we decided to go to the Route 66 Diner for some delicious BBQ ribs and Chicken. A lovely end to an amazing day of sightseeing.

GRAND CANYON PICS

Sat. March 24,

We spent the night at another Flying J Travel centre in Chicotah Oklahoma.

Last Monday we left Williams, Arizona following I-40 to Gallup, New Mexico Walmart, then Tuesday the stayed at the Walmart in Albuquerque New Mexico. A very friendly security guard there. Wednesday Morning we got at front end alignment on the RV and carried on to Amarillo Texas. Here we encountered a very heavy rain storm with hail, by the time we found a place to pull over it had mostly stopped We observed some amazing colours on the hillsides and mountains . We traveled most of the week with heavy winds and a couple of rainy days. Now we are down to elevation of about 800 eet from 7,000 at the Grand Canyon, The grass is green and colourful flowers on the trees. All the huge windmills were also an amazing site to see for miles. The rest area in Oklahoma with the 2 dog walks, one for city dogs and one for country dogs was cute.

We have been through 2 time zones now and are only 1 hour behind Ontario. Now we are planning to get to Memphis on Sunday for a couple of days.

more pics.

Graceland

Sun. Mar. 25

Arrived at Graceland RV Park , right behind the Heartbreak Hotel across the road from Graceland. Weather here is awesome around 90 f during the day 70 f at night. They say too warm for this time if year. Have free wifi at our site so is nice.

Mon . Mar. 26

Another nice day, did some grocery shopping then walked to Graceland (2 min walk) for 9:30 am. Line up for tickets and quite busy. We were allowed to take pictures without a flash so took lots and used up battery again over 100 pics, most turned out. What an amazing collection of Elvis’s life here. Apparently he bought Graceland when he was 22 yrs old for $100,000.(14 acres) Furniture and decorations in house etc from early 70’s, even kitchen. The tour was busy lotsa people all with a neat audio headset that you could control and supposedly go at your own pace. Thru the living room, dinning room, kitchen, jungle room, downstairs to TV room ( 3 tv’s), pool room,more collections, then out to back yard. We went to the office, recording studio, shooting range, and the inside Racketball court with a large collection of gold records, jumpsuits and possessions. Then out by the horse stable, pool and meditation area where Elvis and his mother and father are buried. This ended our tour of Graceland Mansion and back across the street, to the mall and his car collection, more jumpsuits and clothes and to view his 2 airplanes. What an overwhelming collection of such a great musician and person who lived such a short life. Graceland is a well preserved time capsule and well worth experiencing.

Graceland PICS

Tues. Mar. 28.

Today we will take a drive to downtown Memphis. Everything else happens there. Once there we had to decide if we wanted to see the ducks march at the Peabody Hotel, Or do the sightseeing tour Ride the Ducks both happened at 11:00am. Well ride the Ducks was fun and got us around town. So off we went. The Duck is a WW2 amphibious vehicle that is open air, sits high and travels on land and water. Our tour guide took us around town for over and hour, passing all the places of interest, Sun City Records ( made famous by Elvis) ,The Pyramid (a sports stadium that became a white elephant), Mud Island Park, (where we entered the river and drove around a bit) Gibson Guitar Factory, the old trolleys, some old mansions, the National Civil Rights Museum at the Lorraine Motel, where Martin Luther King was assassinated April 4 , 1968. and the 2 block area of Beale st. where blues the began. All during the tour music was played for various areas that we passed with a few people dancing to music as we passed, only to be stopped when narration was required. It was a fun tour good value. Returning back home we relaxed and took a free Limo ride to Marlowes Restaurant for their award winning BBQ pork ribs, Awesome!!!!! and a Gigantic Brownie for desert.

MEMPHIS PICS

Wed. March 28

We left from Memphis this morning and traveled a short day to Matthews Missouri. It was a beautiful warm sunny day and we enjoyed the free hospitality of the Flying J Travel centre again. The grass was very green and blossoms on the trees, spring time.

Thurs. Apr.29

Was a longer day traveling to the Flying J in Indianapolis Indiana. The weather is still nice and warm.

Fri. Mar. 30

Up early and only a 3 hour drive to visit with a couple we met in Picacho Peak Arizona, Dan & Marsha arriving about noon. They have a beautiful place on a channel with access to a string of many small lakes. The weather was very warm for the whole afternoon and we enjoyed sitting on the deck just steps from the water and awesome scenery. The neighbours across the channel joined us as did their daughter Sissie for the rest of the afternoon and a delicious dinner of potato salad, beans and BBQ pork tenderloin. Even their friendly resident swan (Charlie) dropped by for a visit and Suzie managed to feed him. With a smaller home they have their heated garage set up with a kitchen table and chairs and carpet on the floor, for larger gatherings. It brings back memories of my cottage life as a kid congregating in the neighbour’s boat house for many hours of activities.

Sat. Mar.31

This was a cool overcast day and we enjoyed the hospitality of Dan & Marsha again. Relaxing, catching up, swapping stories and puttering about. Marsha made a couple of huge pots of vegetable beef soup that just simmered all day long, so we could eat whenever, no fuss, fantastic idea.
Before we know it bedtime again.

Sun. April 1

Another bright sunny day and we get ready to hit the road again. We reached the Flying J in Lansing Michigan by 2:00pm and decided to call it a day, was rather windy driving, so we stopped to relax, have supper and carry on in the morning.

PICS

Mon. Apr. 2

We arrived back in Plattsville at 2:00pm and parked in Jeff’s driveway (the nest) for the night. Many people in town welcomed us home and visited.

Tues. Apr.3

Had service done on our coach, filled it with propane and got it out to the farm and parked before the rain started. Then I got ready to run some errands on Wed.

Thurs. 5

We woke up to a blanket of snow -10c (14F) brrrr and a frozen hot water line. Hopefully we can thaw it out with no damage done. It was very cold with blowing snow. We are quite warm and cozy in our coach thou, no problem there.

Easter weekend.

Woke up again more snow but water lines have thawed out (no damage). We pulled our slide in to prevent more freezing.

We visited with mother and my family in Waterloo with a lovely Honey Ham for lunch on Friday.

Saturday we drove to Aurora to visit with daughter Kim & Brian, our 2 grandsons, Alex and Andrew. We had a great visit with the kids, grandkids and even my son Ken was there. An amazing pork loin roast was enjoyed by all.

Sunday was in Kitchener with Suzie’s family with a large gathering (about 27) and another excellent meal.

Then Sunday afternoon back to the farm, inspect the RV and relax after a busy weekend.

PICS

Laughlin to Las Vegas

Where are we today ?

Las vegas

Tues. Mar.13

We left Laughlin 9:00am for the 90 mile drive to Las Vegas. All uphill we did one stretch for 14 miles at an 5 to 7 % grade up to about 3,700 feet.(full throttle 45mph in second gear) Coming into Las Vegas was something that looked like smog or dust over the whole city. We arrived at Arizona Charlie’s Casino and Campground on the Boulder Hwy. at 11.00am and checked onto our site. We could get only 2 nights (most campgrounds were full) because of spring break and Nascar. We took a drive to the strip and Freemont St. in the afternoon. It was a very warm 92 F. On our way back we stopped at Sam’s Town, a huge Casino, hotel and RV park down the street from our place. Very nice.

After supper we went back for the Freemont St. Experience. An amazing video and sound show over the whole area of old Vegas about 4 blocks. The cost of this was 70 million dollars. A must do when in Vegas.

Then we drove down the strip to check out some of the lights and sights at night also very impressive.