Arizona Charlie’s Casino & RV Park, Las Vegas, NV, to 29 Palms Golf & RV Resort, 29 Palms, CA:  Left Las Vegas shortly after 8:00 this morning.  Took 515 south through the urban sprawl of Las Vegas and Henderson which turned into 93/95 and then we headed south on 95.  Pretty good road until we crossed the California line and the road degraded some.  Just a two-lane road.  When we got to I40 we took it east and stopped and fueled up at a Shell station.  One of the guys there told us the shocks on the RV were bad.  So we had four new shocks put on.  Went across the road to a little restaurant and had lunch.  Walked back after lunch and they had just finished the job.  So, an hour and a half and $600 later we were back on I95 heading south.  Still just a two lane road with quite a lot of traffic.  We’re now in a much more mountainous terrain.  Arrived at 29 Palms and were set up by 3:30.  93 inside the fifth wheel which only came down one degree in an hour.  So, we decided to drive down to Palm Springs and check it out.  A pretty drive through Morongo Canyon.  Huge wind farms around Palm Springs.  I’ve never seen so many in one place.  Hundreds of these huge things.  Drove around Palm Springs for a while and then back to 29 Palms. 

In a high valley between two mountain ranges.  This ribbon of asphalt seems to go on into infinity.  No signs of life out here at all. Not even any road kill.  Not a good place to break down out in this searing heat and unrelenting sun.

Started seeing these odd trees again that we saw in the desert south of Las Vegas.  And, guess what?  They're Joshua Trees!  We're going to the Joshua Tree National Park tomorrow.

Part of the wind farm outside of Palm Springs.  The wind whipping through this valley was daunting, blowing sand across the road and pushing the truck around quite a bit.  Good place for a wind farm I guess.

Arizona Charlie’s Casino & RV Park, Las Vegas, NV:  Up early and back on the strip by 9:00 a.m.  It was fairly cool (90) and not too many people.  Probably because the bars aren’t open yet.  Guess they don’t open until 11:00 or so on Sunday.  Parked behind Excalibur and walked down to Luxor. Then took the tram back up to Excalibur and walked the rest of the way to Paris Casino.  Had lunch there at the Eiffel Tower Restaurant, 200 feet up with a beautiful view of Las Vegas.  We started out with a champagne cocktail which consisted of strawberries, raspberries, and blueberries soaked in vodka and then covered with icy champagne.  Served in a brandy-snifter-type glass.  Delicious!  For lunch I had parmesan encrusted chicken with vegetables and Mike had a lamb burger.  Then they served these pastry-type rolls which were delicious.  After lunch we walked back to New York New York and played some roulette.  Then back to our parking place and back home.  It’s so dry, my hair is all static.  I look like some scientific experiment or something. Only 99 today.  Tomorrow we leave for Joshua Tree National Park in California.

Paris Casino complex

Eiffel Tower in Paris Casino complex

View from the Eiffel Tower Restaurant--The Bellagio in the background

Ladies Room at the Eiffel Restaurant.  After that potent cocktail I could have taken a nap on that chaise lounge.

Luxor Casino

 

Sat, 6/11/11
Arizona Charlie’s Casino & RV Park, Las Vegas, NV:  Had a relaxing morning and then left for Caesar’s Palace at 4:00.  Did valet parking and picked up our tickets for the Celine Dion show at The Colosseum and then had dinner at The Palm restaurant at Caesar’s.  A great dinner—really expensive.  After dinner we walked around all the high end shops—Dior, Fendi, Cartier, etc.  We decided Caesar’s is very upscale.  Played some slots and then headed to the Colosseum at 7:15.  We had great seats and the show was wonderful.  What a performer! She was accompanied by a 31-piece orchestra.  And the Colosseum itself was beautiful.  After the show we played some more slots and then went home.  As usual, Mike won.  

Arizona Charlie’s Casino & RV Park, Las Vegas, NV:  Up this morning and quickly realized we had ants everywhere.  Discovered a few years ago that if you spray insects with Fantastic or 409 it kills them instantly.  And you clean at the same time. Cleaned up the worst of them and then headed to the grocery store to pick up some groceries and get some ant traps.  Came back, put everything away and set out the traps.  After lunch we headed down to Hoover Dam.  It’s now 102 out there.  About an hour drive from Las Vegas down to the dam.  Pretty impressive.  And the new bridge is finished, which is way high.  After walking around the different vantage points of the dam and the bridge, we headed back to Las Vegas.  It’s now only 100.  Back to our site and walked over to the casino right here in this park, had some dinner, and played some slots.  Ate in the fancy restaurant.  Had the best meal we’ve had since we got to Vegas.  I had surf and turf and Mike had steak Dianne.  Really good.  As usual I lost money at the slots.  Mike was having much better luck, so I walked back. It would be fun to win big—just once.

Lake Mead

Way high bridge on I93/I95--just opened

This bunker is high on the canyon wall overlooking the dam  and was used by sharpshooters during WWII to take out anyone on the dam that shouldn't be there.

High scalers that removed the loose rock on the canyon walls--high bridge in the background.

Arizona Charlie’s Casino & RV Park, Las Vegas, NV:  Woke up really early again this morning.  The sun comes up so early, and then I can’t get back to sleep.  After lunch we headed back to the old part of the strip to see the Gold & Silver Pawn Shop featured in the History Channel “Pawn Stars” show.  Mike wanted to see it.  It was only a couple of blocks from Fremont St. where we were last night, but we didn’t know it.  A lot of people there.  We walked around the shop a little and then headed down to the main strip.  Wanted to check out the parking situation at Caesar’s Palace before we go to the Celine Dion show on Saturday.  Got the lay of the land and then went and parked behind the New York, New York Casino.  I love this casino!  On the outside it looks like the NY skyline and on the inside it looks like little NY neighborhoods, including subway stations, and there’s even a replica of the lobby of the Chrysler building.  Left there and then walked over to the Excalibar Casino where we split up and I played the penny slots and Mike played the 25 cent slots. Back to the NY Casino and had dinner at a really nice Italian restaurant.  Really good food and excellent service.  Then walked over to the MGM Grand Casino which is really huge.  Got lost in there.  Played electronic roulette.  That was really fun.  Mike was winning big time.  I lost of course.  Walked back to where we parked and back to our site.  Did a lot of walking.  Tired.

The motor home around the corner from us has three bulldogs on the dash waiting for their owners to return.  There's a fourth dog peeking out on the left.  Wow!  Four dogs!

New York, New York Casino

Inside NY, NY Casino

Brooklyn Bridge, NY, NY Casino

Statue of Liberty; NY, NY Casino

MGM Grand Casino

Wed, 6/8/11:


KOA, Laughlin, NV, to Arizona Charlie’s Casino & RV Park, Las Vegas, NV:  Really hated leaving the Avi Casino and RV Resort.  It’s out in the middle of the desert, miles from the cacophony of the Laughlin strip, right on the pristine Colorado River, and we had all the privileges of the resort.  Peaceful and quiet.  . Anyway, we left around 11:00.  Short drive, so Mike drove all the way.  Left the Colorado River valley and climbed up over the mountains.  Temperature dropped 10 degrees. Took I95 north through a high valley with mountains all around.  Drove over some more mountains and then down into Las Vegas.  The park we’re staying in is quite nice.  We were set up by 2:00 and then just relaxed for a while outside.  We were finally able to put the awning out and it was quite comfortable in the shade.  Around 5:00 we headed to the Las Vegas strip.  What a place!  We drove all the way down to the old part of the strip, parked, and walked around Fremont St. which is a covered pedestrian mall and they have light shows on the ceiling at night.  Had dinner at Tony Roma’s, played some slots, and then went out for the 8:00 show.  Quite impressive.  Then drove back down the main strip which is quite different at night with all the lights.  Amazing really.  Back to our park and crashed.  95 today.

Over the mountains again

Started seeing these cactus-looking trees.  Not sure what they are.

Our site--we actually have some grass!

Fremont St. Pedestrian Mall--Las Vegas

Light show on the ceiling of the pedestrian mall.
Fremont Street, Las Vegas

KOA, Laughlin, NV:  This morning we headed over to the Feathers Café in the casino for breakfast.  After that we drove down to Lake Havasu City, AZ.  This pretty little city was founded in the 60s by Robert McCulloch.  He also bought the London Bridge and had it disassembled and shipped through the Panama Canal to California and then trucked from Long Beach to Arizona where it was reconstructed.  Total cost was $5.1 million.  This is now the second most popular tourist attraction in Arizona—Grand Canyon being the first.  This pretty place is like a huge oasis in the middle of this arid place.  We took a little boat tour out on the lake and down to Copper Canyon.  The lake and the Colorado River are so pristine and the most beautiful blue-green.  In fact Havasu is Mojave for blue-green.  The road going in to Lake Havasu City has signs all along it indicating there are open range mules in the area.  I guess when they closed the mines in the area they just let the mules go and now they range this vast desert.  We didn’t see any unfortunately.  Came back home to our site, freshened up a little and over to the casino for a fancy dinner at the Moon Shadow Grill and then played the slots.  98 today.  Beautiful, sunny, and nice. 

This entrance gate was once the gate at the entrance of Witley Court in Worcester, England.  McCulloch bought it and had it shipped to Lake Havasu City.

Historic London Bridge over Bridgewater Channel, Havasu City, AZ
This bridge used to cross the Thames River

Bridgewater Channel leads from the lake and under the London Bridge.  A favorite spot for boaters to come in, park their boat on the sandy shore and spend the day swimming and partying.

Copper Canyon

Golden eagle nest

Brave girl jumping off one of the high rocks.  Look close,
she's in mid-air.

Beautiful Lake Havasu with the desert mountains in the background.