Viva Las Vegas!

Mike's version:

Hi, its me Michael yet again.  So my last post was about Tombstone.  So then from Tombstone, we went to the Grand Canyon.  On the train there, we had an attendant named Shea.  He was really nice.  On the train, we had music and entertainment.
Then we arrived at the Grand Canyon itself, we could look to the bottom, but not long before fright of heights pushed us back, then we took the train back.
A few days later, we were in Vegas, yeah you heard me, Vegas!
Although I couldn’t gamble, I didn’t really care, because what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas, especially Money.  We didn’t stay in a hotel, they could accept dogs, but we can’t leave them alone when we leave, and we can’t bring them into stores and stuff, so we just stayed at a Campground.  But we did do so much, and I got a special collector card from a comic store that my dad bought me for 40 dollars, the card name is Tezzeret, agent of bolas.
We left Vegas and  I was surely sad to leave, but life is life, and thats how life goes.

Kelly's version:




This was our very 1st visit to Vegas...WOW...quite the place!


We spent 4 days in Vegas @ the KOA campsite on the Circus Circus property.   It was more or less just a huge parking lot but we did have a palm tree beside us and a bit of grass....luckily we backed right onto the pool and K9 park...we could watch people bungee jumping off the Stratosphere right from the RV!


We walked everywhere the 1st day then decided that the bus was a better idea for all the rest of the days!  We went through the majority of the casinos and hotel lobbies, watched as many of the free attractions as we could....we missed a few hotels due to being so tired we didn't feel like crossing the road, it was enough effort just to find a bus stop!  


We ate dinner at the Mandalay at the House of Blues, and had pizza and Chinese food from Caesars Palace. I think if we ever fly back I would like to stay in either one of those 2 hotels! 
Gambling isn't really our thing either but I did donate a few dollars to the slot machines!


Michael went to the Adventuredome and also ziplining on Fremont St and he also had his face sculpted into clay!  




Terry's version:


Big city, not enough money in my pocket to do it right!  Will fly back here at another time!  Loved the live blues music at the Mandalay and Fremont St was the best place to hang out.... 2 large beers for $5 !!








Sampson's version:


The K9 park was great, but just as soon as I get used to a new area we are always leaving...I hate it when my people leave me all day long to go out and have fun...what about me???

our RV park

The Adventure dome

Mike's winnings!

Fremont St

going ziplining

Fremont St

The Grand Canyon

The Grand Canyon was beyond words....


It had snowed heavily the day before and we woke up to a clear crisp day.  We started off the morning having the best breakfast of our entire trip, the buffet at the train depot in Williams AZ.  


We boarded the train at 0915  to the Grand Canyon's south rim which was approximately 2 hours each way, covering the 65 mile trip.     The scenery from the train was fantastic and once we arrived at the Canyon at 1130 we were speechless,  what a sight!  We walked  the rim trail for 2 hours one way to the Yavapai Point approx 1.5 miles away from the depot and then walked back in time to catch the return train at 1530.  This was easily one of the best days of our entire road trip, the canyon was a close match to the Carlsbad Caverns for their beauty and awe.  Can't really say which was was better, they are both so different, we spend half the day oohing and ahhing at both places.


Pictures really do not do the canyon justice, it is too large and incredible to capture with photos! 

at the train depot in Williams AZ

getting ready to board the train

the train was right out of the 50's!

The conductor came to talk to us!

we woke up to a huge snowfall!

the 2nd best breakfast we had at the Pine Country

downtown Williams AZ

The Mother Road, Route 66, right through Williams, AZ

The weather has played a very cruel joke on us!

We left the Painted Desert yesterday, we were wearing shorts, t-shirts and flip flops.  We drove to Meteor Crater just outside Flagstaff last night and the winds started...I mean really started...

This morning when we woke up at 6 AM the winds were even more fierce so we decided to skip seeing the crater and head straight to Williams AZ to the Grand Canyon RV Park.  The Interstate 40 was a mess, cars everywhere in the ditch, some had rolled over...police cars and snow plows everywhere...

We had a train trip booked for Saturday to the Grand Canyon and thought that it might be a bit cool...after this mess that we arrived in we have rescheduled the train trip for Sunday...

Can somebody please explain why we voluntarily left +30C weather the other day (and we needed our air conditioning on all day) to arrive to this mess we are in now?  It is snowing, really snowing (sideways snowing)...full winter mode here.  All we can do is look outside and laugh at ourselves for being so dumb... Our RV wasn't made for winter weather, our pipes are freezing, we are all stuck inside 189 sq ft with nothing to do, even the dog doesn't want to go outside!  We have 3-4 inches on our RV, the forecast is supposed to go down to -8 C tomorrow and we have the heater cranked...good thing I packed all our winter gear when we left last year...I didn't thinkwe would need it...some cruel joke...I guess being a weatherman's daughter is my curse...get me out of here!!

through the forest and over the hills..to the Petrified Forest we go...

We left Tombstone and headed to the hills...we went through Clifton AZ and up on HWY 191 towards Holbrook.  Hwy 191 was the longest, windiest, curviest, highest mountain pass that we have even driven on...over 9500 ft and 200 km's long!  We spent the 1st night at the peak at 9500 ft, at a little pullout...believe me, there was NO traffic coming by that night to tell us to move on.....the next morning we descended on downwards to Holbrook and the entrance to the Petrified Forest and the Painted Desert.  We met another family, Greg, Danielle, Curran and Zane, in their class C motorhome also road tripping for one year...we spent a good part of the day talking with them and let Mike play with their boys...it was so nice to meet them...too bad we are going in opposite directions....

We drove through the National Park, took lots of pictures and then decided that the winds were too strong to go any further North...so Monument Valley will have to wait for another trip...we have now switched directions to Flagstaff and are going to the Grand Canyon tomorrow!!

We only have 3 weeks left in the USA!!

a rest stop in southern AZ

Hwy 191

Our new friends!  click to see their website

The Petrified Forest

The National Park

petroglyphs

petrified wood

Tombstone Arizona - Michael's blog

We arrived yesterday here at Tombstone, Arizona.

Now for a few seconds, you might think that Tombstone is like some sort of major Graveyard, no, in fact, it’s a town, and it was matter of fact burned down three times.

And that isn’t even the reason it is called Tombstone, its called that because the first person to discover it was going to mine for silver, but other people told him, that he’d only find Indians and his Tombstone, and so he called it Tombstone.

We only planned to stay one night at Tombstone, but once we saw the town, we changed our minds to two nights.  Many stores and buildings at Tombstone were very interesting, and we liked the place a lot.   Anyway, my mom and dad bought me a toy rifle and a pistol, unfortunately later, the pistol’s trigger couldn’t go back so now I only have the rifle, but that will have to do.   Anyway, we went to do two plays, well I mean watch.  So the first one was about good guys and bad guys, I can’t explain every detail in the play, because that would take forever and take up to may pages, but any way, it was pretty funny, and the gun shots really made me jump, I laughed a few times when one the actors didn’t have a gun, but he needed one so he went to the gun shop, but he went banging into the door beside it, the laundry room and banged himself.  Near halfway through the play, he said holding his gun “A man’s gotta do what a man’s gotta do.” And tried to shoot his opponent (Of coarse with fake bullets, any way his opponent shot him a few times and he fell down.

Then next play was very similar, anyway I can’t tell everything about Tombstone and whatnot because like I said that would take forever and Page consuming, and I can’t take up all the room on the blog, but atleast you know where we went.

Seeya!

New Mexico

We left Carlsbad and traveled through the desert, a mountain pass and then back to the desert once again, all in one day!

We ended up at Oliver Lee State Park in the Chihuahuan desert.  The park is on the side of the mountain overlooking the desert and has a beautiful view.  We saw some coyotes, different types of cacti, lots of birds and a few geocaches. 

After 4 nights there we went to White Sands National Monument.  300 sq miles of white gypsum sand dunes…very cool…Michael enjoyed rolling down the hills…we had to make him strip off his clothes before he could go back into the RV…once the sand gets wet it sticks like cement…

We then drove further west to Rock Hound State Park, another beautiful state park on the Florida (Flo-rita) Mnts approx 45 km’s from the Mexican border and an hour from El Paso, TX. The price per night for a site with water and electricity is only $14, unbelievable for the views that we have!

The park is known for  its collection of rocks to be found within it; geodes, thunder eggs, crystals, agates, jasper etc.  We are allowed to take 15 lbs of rock with us but unfortunately we haven’t the slightest idea what to look for!

Oliver Lee State Park

Oliver Lee State Park

Oliver Lee State Park

White Sands National Park

Rock Hound State Park