The drive from Zion River RV Resort to Las Vegas, with a quick interlude in Arizona, was spectacularly scenic but a little scary. Driving through the gorge, along the mountain road, with lots of construction, was tense. Doug did fine; I white-knuckled it for a while.
Once we got into Nevada and near Las Vegas, we reminisced about our first drive here three years ago. That trip was Doug’s first time driving our RV. We took possession of our new home at Whiskey Pete’s Casino and suddenly it was ours and Doug had to figure out how to drive it. We took a few turns around the huge parking lot and Doug took a deep breath and went out on to the streets. Doug had carefully planned this first trip – with minimal turns and a well-thought-out route that avoided potential problems. But as we got into traffic, our GPS decided on another route – one that went through the airport, down busy rush-hour traffic streets with lots of lights and many more turns than he had anticipated. It was too crazy to fool around with the GPS unit to reset it, so we just went along with it. It is all a blur to me – but somehow Doug had the courage to keep going until we arrived at the Las Vegas RV Campground.
And here we are again! It’s a very nice park with a mix of transients like us and permanent residents. We are close to only two off-the-beaten-track casinos so it’s quiet around here. The facilities in this park are nice and a good place to get some laundry done and relax a bit.
LAS VEGAS STRIP
But we didn’t relax our first day! My phone pedometer shows over 7.5 miles walking. And that was all done on the famous Las Vegas Strip. We took advantage of the free parking at Circus Circus and walked down the Strip. It was very hot and very sunny, but we persevered. To cool off a little, we went in and out of a few of the big casinos: Circus Circus, Treasure Island, The Mirage, The Bellagio, The Venetian. We spent the whole long afternoon on the Strip and never bothered to gamble at all. This time we didn’t even sign up for a Players Card. We like to see the different themes in each of the casinos but the shops inside them are the same. And as far as restaurants go – like “Alice’s Restaurant” – “you can get anything you want”.
We keep remembering the time we were here with Amy and Julie. Poor Julie had just broken her arm and it was in a cast. We were in Las Vegas in July, camping in our pop-up trailer without air conditioning. Our campsite was in the asphalt parking lot of Circus Circus. It would have been nice to go in the casino pool, but with Julie’s cast keeping her out, the rest of us passed on the pool too. My memories of that trip were of long, hot days walking, walking along the Strip.
I did a little “gambling” on that trip. Before my father was too sick to travel, my brother Mike and his wife Theresa took Dad and Mom to MGM Grand in Las Vegas. My father was a gambler who knew “when to hold them and when to fold them”. He was always getting great comps in Atlantic City. I don’t remember how well the gambling went at MGM Grand, but I do remember how much he loved that trip. So, when Doug and Amy and Julie and I were in Vegas (my first time), we solemnly visited MGM Grand where I took a twenty-dollar bill, cashed it into quarters and sat at slot machine. I spoke to my Dad and asked him not to yell at me for playing the slots, which he had taught me have the worst odds. I told him I was too intimidated to play blackjack. Besides, I saw the whole adventure as donating the $20 to MGM Grand in his memory. I lost those quarters quickly, but it was a nice time feeling my Dad nearby.
FREMONT STREET EXPERIENCE
After a day off to hang out, do laundry and work on my sewing project, we went to the Fremont Street Experience. This is a whole different part of Las Vegas. Fremont Street is closed to cars and has an enormous arched ceiling over it – the world’s largest video screen. We started our evening with dinner at an all-you-can-eat buffet in the Main Street Casino. We ate and ate and then walked over to Fremont Street to see the light show on the arched ceiling and gawk at the other show – the people hanging out doing their thing – “nuns” swinging their breasts, body builders dancing, a guy playing drums on plastic buckets, a saxophonist, dancing girls in feathers and not much else, a “Red Cross Worker” with small red crosses on her breasts, plenty of people claiming to be veterans, or disabled firefighters, or homeless – who try to sell you sweet grass flowers – you get the picture. Anything goes on this street. We watched the light show complete with blaring music and folks ziplining the length of the ceiling. We stopped at Container Park and watched and listened to the Giant Mantis who blasts fire from her antennas. After we walked off some of our dinner, saw enough blinking lights and heard enough loud music, we walked back to our car and went home to crash. Las Vegas is fun but we like it in small doses.
We left the excitement of Las Vegas and drove across a desolate landscape of sage and sand to get to our next destination – Needles, California. We only spent two nights at a very quiet KOA. The air is so still there you rarely see the oleander leaves move even a tiny bit.
Then we drove to Blackrock, Arizona. Back in the desert and smelling the clear air of a desert night makes us feel right at home. We were in Blackrock for two nights. Then it was off to our favorite state park in the country: Picacho Peak!