Monday, October 29, 2007

Kickin Back in Death Valley

Location, Death Valley, CA

Sometime during the night we had a few drops of rain and a small gust of wind. It cleared up by morning and was very warm by 9 AM. It may get to 95 today. It is really nice in the shade.

About 9:30 AM we got ready to move to Furnace Creek Campground for the next 2 weeks. Our favorite person, Sharon is on the gate so check in is a breeze. We all have sites near each other and as we planned before making the reservations, we “control” a shade tree as our sites surround it. Shade is important if it remains warm. It also helps if it gets windy.


This is our position for the next 2 weeks.

By noon we had everything set up and the wood stacked ready for campfires each night. We have lots of wood this year. Everyone brought some.


Wood pile at camp.

There are changes to Sunset campground this year. All spaces are now angled and made wider to accommodate larger rigs. This means the total number of campsites was reduced from 445 to 245. Also, the overflow areas have angled sites and are larger. They have started striping the overflow lots but are not finished yet. These lots will also hold less rigs.

However, Sharon at the gate said that this is the fewest number of reservations for Furnace Creek Campground that she has ever seen for this time of year. I know some of my friends planning to come later would like more information but not much is available yet. I will call if things change.

For some reason Blogger won't upload pictures this morning. I will try to add them later. Sorry!

Saturday, October 27, 2007

Death Valley

Location, Death Valley, CA

Wonder of wonders! There is WiFi in Death Valley at the Furnace Creek Visitors Center. I will try to briefly recap what has happened during the last week. The “gap” in the blog is due mainly to the lack of an internet connection.

Clyda flew home on Wednesday the 17th and my friend Dick arrived while I was at the airport. We ran errands on Thursday and Friday, picking up maps, visiting Harbor Freight, buying groceries, getting fuel, and eating. On Friday night we ate at the Bay City Diner in the Golden Gate Casino and had the prime rib special for $6.95. It really was good. This little diner has excellent food and good service.

On Saturday morning we checked out of the RV Park and drove to Tonopah, NV where we camped at Joy-Land RV Park. This is a so-so park but suited us just fine as we were able to park 6 rigs together. We had camped here years ago on one of our fall desert trips. The temperature was quit a change from Las Vegas as it dropped down to 27 degrees Saturday night. It did however warm up during the day and never got below freezing at night for the rest of our stay.

For the next several days we drove back country roads using 2 4x4 vehicles and GPS maps to locate old railroads, mines, and old town sites. We also visited 2 local mining museums. The biggest find was a large railroad turntable and engine bays of a roundhouse located West of Tonopah.

A loading tipple.

Looking down a shaft.
Yesterday, Friday, Oct 26th, we drove to Death Valley via Beatty, NV where the temperature was around 90 degrees late in the afternoon. We are camped at Texas Springs and will stay here 2 days until our reservations start on Sunday. Last night we had a nice campfire and didn’t go in until 10 PM. This morning it is hazy and over caste from the Southern California fires.

There are several changes here at Furnace Creek but I will talk about them in a later blog.

Wednesday, October 17, 2007

Cruisin Las Vegas

Location, Las Vegas, NV

We picked up cousins Bob and Marlene and drove to South Point Casino at the south end of the Las Vegas strip. This is a fairly new casino with and equestrian theme. They have a big horse arena connected to the casino which is evident as soon as you walk in by the barnyard smell, as in horses. They were running a calf cutting event so we watched for a while.

The remainder of the casino was nicely laid out and fairly large. We tried a few slots but with little luck.

We drove back to MGM Grand and parked in the parking garage at the back of the property. We just walked through to the Las Vegas strip and stopped at a food court for a quick lunch. We visited the M&M store, all four floors but didn’t buy anything.

We crossed the strip to New York-New York and tried a few slots but again no luck. Marlene called her friends who were part of the tour they came out on and found out everyone was at the Monte Carlo so we returned to the parking garage and I drove them to the Monte Carlo. Construction at the new MGM City Center on property next to the Monte Carlo presented quit a challenge to exit the property to Industrial road. City center is HUGE.

We returned downtown in late afternoon and walked to Fremont Street to pick up 2 for 1 coupons for casinos on Fremont Street.

Tuesday, October 16, 2007

Cousins in town

Location, Las Vegas, NV

Cousins Bob and Marlene arrived from Milwaukee late last night. We picked them up at their hotel in the afternoon and drove out to Summerlin on the far west side of Las Vegas to visit a fellow classmate Dave, from High School. Dave and Adele moved to Las Vegas years ago and live on the last street on the west side of Summerlin. We had a great visit and thank them for their hospitality.

We drove to Red Rock Casino for dinner and then played the slots until 10 PM. On the way back I decided we should go to the Rio for Masquerade in the Sky show. Unfortunately, the last show is at 9:30 PM. Bummer! We dropped them at their hotel about 11PM.

Sunday, October 14, 2007

Love Mesa Grill

Location, Las Vegas, NV

The local WiFi at Main Street Station works so well that I go over each morning to check the emails and even update the blog.

Yesterday morning we went to Main Street Station for a 2 for 1 brunch. That sufficed for most of the day. We did go to the Bay City Diner at the Golden Gate Club on Fremont Street for hamburgers last night.

I went looking for more 2 for 1 coupons, but all the books with those coupons had been pulled. I did manage to find 3 books this morning but don’t know if they will honor them. I will try tonight when we go to Fremont Street.

After church this morning, we drove to Caesars Palace and had lunch at Mesa Grill, Bobby Flay’s place, to celebrate our 45th wedding anniversary. Bobby is on the food channel and has restaurants in several cities. I had been wanting to eat there for some time so yesterday I made a reservation. The food is southwest in flavor and style except on weekends they only offer a brunch. I had Spicy Chicken w/Sweet Potato Hash topped by a poached egg and drizzled with a spicy sauce. Clyda had a southwest combination of blue tortillas with egg and cheese. This was accompanied by a basket of delicious small rolls and scones. I really want to go for a regular lunch during the week sometime.

After lunch we drove west on Charleston to check on one of our apartment complexes we are invested in as they had been repainting the exterior. I looked very nice. The area has really grown in the last few years.

We stopped at Costco for a few items and then returned to the RV. I have cousins arriving in Las Vegas late tonight so we will be busy with them for the next few days. I will update when I can.

Saturday, October 13, 2007

Back on the air

Location, Las Vegas, NV

For all who are wondering what happened to us since Oct 5th, never fear, we are still here but have been busy and have had computer problems. My WiFi card needed a new driver installed. I found a computer shop yesterday and lighter in the pocket book, I hope all is OK now. WiFi in downtown Las Vegas is everywhere but at a steep price.

We have been seeing the sights of Las Vegas and dropping a few coins in the slots at many of the high end casinos along with my sister Judy, brother-in-law Art, and brother, Ray. We have had a great time but put in some really long days. As anyone who has been here can attest to, walking is all you do, and walk we did. My feet were so sore by Thursday morning when they left that we did nothing all day.

We saw Las Vegas from the bottom of Hoover Dam to the top of the Stratosphere Tower and all places in between. The weather was nice with temps in the 80’s most days and warm evenings. We saw the light show on Fremont Street several times, in fact some nights it was several times.


We have been lazy the last few days, but I did get new tires for the truck, ouch! That really busts the budget. I have been working on my food lists for the desert part of my trip. I will buy groceries on Thursday or Friday so everything is fresh.

I will be here until Sat morning Oct 20th when I leave for Tonopah, NV. Once I leave, I will not have internet service until I return home about Oct 12th. I will update this blog when I get home. Hang in there.

Friday, October 5, 2007

Windy Day

Location, Williams, AZ

We had another thunder storm overnight. No hail but the temperature was only 52 this morning. I carried the laptop over to the laundry room so I could use the WiFi and post the blog.

We left about 9 AM with lots of wind. We had sustained winds of 25-35 MPH all the way to Williams. Needless to say, the fuel mileage suffered. The first RV park we checked with didn’t have room for a 5th wheel of our length but they called another park at the east end of town which has a new campground connected to an old hotel. The sites are large and pull thru so we are set. They do predict the possibility of freezing tonight so I will disconnect the water hose before I go to bed.

We drove through town and noticed many new buildings and upgrades since we were here 3 years ago. Also, new RV parks. In fact there are 2 new parks with a 3rd being built. All of the activity is because of the Grand Canyon Rail Road. Lots of people come here to ride the train. We did it 3 years ago. It is an all day trip but well worth it.

My computer is still giving me problems. When I plug in the WiFi card, I get the “Blue Screen of Death”. I guess I need to take it to someone in Las Vegas. Bummer.

Update late evening: I deleted lots of old emails, cleaned out some other files and eventually picked a restore point from July and did a system restore. I will need to reload some software but so far I seem to have gotten away from the problem. Time will tell.

Thursday, October 4, 2007

Tire Problems

Location, Gallup, NM

We left Fort Sumner shortly after 8 AM as we had about 300 miles to drive today. We stopped in Santa Rosa on Interstate 40 for fuel. I couldn’t get to the pumps at Shell so went across the road to Love’s. Again, the RV diesel pumps are poorly located. They were on the car islands facing the station. I made 2 passes around the islands to get to the pump. Sheesh!! Why can’t they figure that out? RV’s need more room to maneuver.

We drove west on I-40 to somewhere near Grants and stopped at an Indian Casino truck stop for lunch. The amount of trucks on I-40 is unbelievable. Mile after mile of them. We also had wind from the southwest all day which didn’t help the fuel mileage or the speed. After lunch as we were getting in the truck, I noticed a round bulge on the truck driver side rear tire. I call it my bad luck tire as I have replaced the valve stem, repaired a nail puncture and now the bulge. The only recourse is to put the spare on which I don’t really trust as it is old. It looks like the original spare that came with the truck but has really good tread. I unhooked the trailer so I didn’t need to lift all that weight with the jack. I had the tire changed within a few minutes and we were ready to go.

We encountered a few rain showers east of Gallup but the sky to the west of Gallup was black. We pulled into USA RV Park west of Gallup and just pulled into our site when the rain started. We waited in the truck for the shower to pass and then hooked up the utilities. I no sooner got that done and it really rained hard along with pea size hail. After our problems a few years ago in Texas, I hate hail. It sounds like the skylights are going to come in.

When we opened up the rig Clyda discovered the sink had dropped on one side in the kitchen. Investigation showed the metal clips had bent from the weight of the thinks we carry in the sink while traveling. I will remove the clips and re-bend them for now but long term, they need to be replaced. Again, another place where the manufacturer skimps.

The park has WiFi but it doesn’t reach our trailer so I drove to the park office and used the laptop in the truck to download email. I will send the replies in the morning. This campground is full, in fact the guy in the office said he had 125 rigs in here last night. For all the people here it is very quit. I think all those old people go to bed early. Ha-ha.

Wednesday, October 3, 2007

Just Driving

Location, Fort Sumner, NM

The coolest morning we have had in quit some time with the temperature at 59 degrees. We got the rig ready to go then went to the park office where we were served free pancakes and coffee. Eggs and bacon cost $1 each. We still managed to leave around 9 AM.

Our route today continued north on Hwy 87 Lamesa, then north on 137 to Brownfield where we switched to Hwy 385 to by-pass Lubbek. From there we took Hwy 84 to Clovis and Fort Sumner, New Mexico.

The temperature remained at 74 degrees for most of the drive but eventually climbed to 84 later in the day.

Valley View RV Park in Fort Sumner had once been a mobile home park and still had mobiles in part of it. The sites were all pull thrus and long so we didn’t un-hitch for the night. There was good cable TV which helped pass the time.

My laptop quit while Clyda was using it. After trying several things, it seems it may be over heating. I tried it later with it raised higher off the table and that seemed to help. I don’t need PC problems right now. No WiFi so the blog didn’t get posted.

Monday, October 1, 2007

On the road and headed west

Location, Houston, TX

I drained what little water we had in the grey tanks and used my new air compressor to top off the air bags on the truck. After breakfast and all the outside connections stowed I started to back the truck under the hitch when Diane and the grandkids drove up. I guess Ivy made Diane promise last night that they would come see us before we left. It is really hard to leave them.

Eventually we got on the road about 9:20 and drove west on Hwy 290 toward Austin and arrived in Fredericksburg about 2:15. We are staying at Fredericksburg RV Park. We have free WiFi here so I can continue the blog.

We went out to dinner as we usually do while here mostly because of the German restaurants and beirgatens. Tonight we were looking for Texas BBQ but all the BBQ places are closed for dinner. Wonder why? So, when in Fredericksburg go for German. We ate outdoors at Alderdorf on Hwy 290. We have never eaten here before but the schnitzel was excellent. The town is getting ready for Octoberfest this coming weekend. The tents and sun shades are going up and I am sure there will be plenty of oompah music and beer.

A stop for some groceries and then for fuel and we are back at the trailer. I must say, I am tired tonight. I can’t imagine why? Could it be the grandchildren? No, must be old age. Ha-ha.

Birthday party

Location, Houston, TX

Today, at 2:30 PM is Matthew’s birthday party for his friends. But first, there was church in the morning. I also went to 8:30 Mass then drove several miles west of Houston to a Kroger Grocery store which had much cheaper diesel fuel than the local stations. With my 3 cent discount card I only paid $2.70 per gallon while every other gas station wanted $2.99 per gallon. What gives with that?

Back at the RV I started putting things in order so we can leave on Monday. I dumped the holding tanks, and the big thing was to pump up the tires as I let air out when I am not pulling the trailer to help soften the ride. While putting air into one of the tires, my air compressor quit. Well, not exactly quit, more like a scream. Obviously, the pump broke. What to do now?

I finished all the other chores and we decided to go over to Tim’s house a little early so I could stop at Sears Hardware and see if I could talk them into a trade for my broken air compressor. They actually had the same compressor on the shelf like mine. I took one to the counter but the computer wouldn’t let them make the trade. Sorry!!!

I next stopped at a gas station to use their compressor but it would shut off before I could get much air into the tire. My experience has been that I can’t get the required 80 PSI out of most air pumps at service stations.

We drove to Tim’s house where all the party decorations were done, the games all set out, the ice chests full of drinks, and chairs ready for parents to sit on. I was explaining to Tim my dilemma about the tires and he suggested we go to his local fast lube place where he has lots of work done, as they had a larger air compressor. It sounded good so off we went about 1 hour before the party started. Tim explained our problem to the “boss” and pulled up to the bay as the air compressor was inside. I said I wanted 80 lbs in the rear tires. When I looked around, one of the techs was putting air in the front tires. I told him to stop and let air out until I had 50 lbs. The rear tires were now pumped up when we heard someone under the truck in the pit ask a question. I looked under the truck and this guy had drained my oil and replaced the filter while we were pumping up the rear tires. I went ballistic!!!!!!!!! I had just had an oil change less than 100 miles ago. Not only that, I use DELO 400, and they had just drained it all into their sump. Here we sit, close to party time, no oil in the truck, and it is a Sunday. Where am I going to get oil????

It turns out they stock DELO 400, so 5 minutes later, I have had a complete oil change at no charge. As we left, Tim and I just looked at each other like, “What the heck just happened”?

I now have air in the tires but still have no way of putting air in on the road so we decided to stop at good ol Sears Hardware again and look at some higher priced compressors. They had a larger model which actually was on sale for $119. After looking around, we found a stack of them in an isle with a $95 price tag on them. GREAT! A bargain to boot! Tim carry’s it up to the register where it rings up at $119. We both say, “It’s on sale for $95”. The lady says, “Bring me the sales tag”. Tim’s gets the tag which the lady looks at and says “It’s out of date”. We both say, “Well, not our fault the tag didn’t get removed”. They sold it to me at the sale price and discounted the extra one year warranty to boot. I paid $117 for the compressor. It has separate meters for tank pressure and hose pressure, as well as 2 quick disconnect outlets for hoses, a water drain, and a complete accessory kit with all the fittings, etc. What a deal. I put oil in the compressor and tested it before I left Tim’s house.

Now it was party time as Matthew’s friends, 12 of them, showed up. They played on the trampoline, the cable slide, croquet, and polish golf. Inside there was a sign up list for the Wii. Kids love the Wii!!!

Dessert was homemade sundaes and cupcakes. Each kid got a dish of ice cream and then added whatever toppings they wanted. I think a lot of it went into the trash as their eyes were bigger than their stomachs. Diane had some science experiments for the kids. They made “flubber, silly putty, and gak”. The flubber was a big hit. Each kid got to take a baggy home. There was a piƱata which had to be taped up a few times as the first swing took the body off. Eventually, all the kids got to swing at it.


The party was a big hit and didn’t end until after 5 PM. We, the adults took a break after everyone left and then I grilled New York steaks, served with a salad and sourdough bread for dinner.

We played a few hands of “Impulse” before saying our goodbyes and going back to the trailer. It was really hard to say goodbye after 3 intense weeks with the grandkids.

Sorry about the length of this entry.