Las Vegas Here I Come

I left the campground early to get into the gas station just down the road.  It was Saturday and I thought it would be an easy in and out.  Well was I wrong.  There was a big transport truck parked right in front of the gas station so I couldn't get in.  When I asked the guy how long he would be he said about 20 minutes, ya right.  An hour later he left, but in the mean time another truck parked on the road, no access.  He did move and I managed to get in.  Some of these stations are very small and if you don't get close enough the hose will not reach.  It took me three times to get at the right spot and the hose just reached.  Guess what Visa card wouldn't work you know the drill, finally was on my way just after nine.   The scenery was very boring, flat and desert, and no rest areas.  I finally reached Kingman and found a place to pull over thank goodness, I have my bathroom with me.  As you come into Kingman there are big signs saying no transport trucks, trailers or buses are allowed over the Hoover Dam.  mmmmm does that mean motorhomes?  It doesn't say.  I don't want to go the long way around because the hills are really steep and from Laughlin up to Vegas it took me 20 minutes the last time to get up the hill.  Sooooo I took the short route and wondered all the way if I would have to turn around and come back.  I didn't see a lot of RVs on the road.  To get to the dam you have to go down really big hills and they curve around the mountains.  Brakes are pressed to the limit, but what a beautiful view.  At the bottom I breathed a sigh of relief they let me through.  I had to get out and open up all my storage bays plus they went inside to look around and I had to open up my car.  The security here is very tight since 911.  I have nothing to hide so just did what they wanted. I commented to the guy that I smelled something - da it was my brakes he said.  Talk about feel stupid. 

It took me almost an hour to get through this two lane highway, it was Saturday and crowded with people.  Lots of signs saying give way to pedestrians and they do move slow. 

Here is some information on the dam - It was built during the depression to give people jobs.  It was started in 1931 and took 5 years to build.  It is 726.4 ft. high and weighs more than 6,600,000 tons and was finished in 1936.  They employed 3,500 people and it was the first man made structure to exceed the concrete mass of the Great Pyramid of Giza.  Dam tickets are $9.00  for Seniors and the Visitors Centre is $8.00 for Seniors.  The Power Plant Tour is not listed so it is probably a lot more.  They are building a bypass around the dam and it began in  January 2005.  The finishing date is late 2010, but that is questionable.  The winds that blew hard a few years ago blew over some of the spans so they had to repair these before they could continue.  This bridge will span the Black Canyon 1,600 ft south of the dam.  It will connect Arizona and Nevada with approaching highways 900 ft above the Colorado River.  If you want more information go to http://www.hoverdambypass.org/.  I am not interested in this stuff so have never taken the tour. 

I stayed at the Boulder Dam campground with a group called the Wandering Individual Network  WINS for short.  It is a group of singles that are very active with Kayaking and hiking.  They do a lot of over night trips, I don't have a kayak and don't have the stamina they go for hours.  This is a National Park called Lake Mead.  I used my pass and saved $25.00 and $6.00 everytime I went out.  The sites are in the trees and quite big.  You pick a spot you like and then take an envelope from the box they provide and put your money in it.  Not being an American I had to pay $10.00 a day U.S. seniors get a Golden Age Pass they can use at any National or State park and they pay half price.  The campground used to be at the edge of Lake Mead, but now with the water down so far you have to drive to the beach about a quarter mile away.  These sites are dry camping, but they have a dump station if you need it. There are two casinos just down the road so we went for breakfast a couple of mornings.  You don't need lunch after that.  You get two eggs, hashbrowns (these are really good) the size of a small plate and bacon. All for $2.99.  The other casino had 99 cent draft beer, hot dogs, shrimp cocktail and a humungus strawberry shortcake made by the waitress.  Almost too big to eat it all, but I finished it, it was so good.  One night we went to the Elk's for a dinner and dance.  They had BBQ pork on a bun with coleslaw and potato salad, desert was ice cream.  A great dance band, yes I did get to dance, haven't done that in a few years.

Of course I had to find a Wal Mart and a Bath and Body Works store.  For years I have been stocking up on my special body lotion when I come to the states because they weren't in Canada.  They have finally came to Toronto and they opened a store in the Georgian Mall just before I left so I don't have to bring any back.  My car needed an oil change so found the Honda Dealer and spent a morning getting that done.  It was fast and when they were finished they even washed my car.  It didn't last long with all the dust around the west. 

We went to Freemont Street in downtown Vegas the Friday night before I left to see the laser light show, have dinner and just enjoy the crowd.  We went to Binions for prime rib, it was two for one so the cost per person was $6.95.  It was so tender it melted in your mouth, the size of a greeting card and one quarter inch thick.  Baked potato and veggies.  The picture on here is me beside $1,000,000.  Will never get that close again.  We wondered out into the street and checked out the people, some were dressed for Halloween and lots of Halloween things going on.  The Frankinstein rock band played the Rocky Horror Picture Show songs with some great dancers.  Another stage had a magic show where the guy drilled his body with a big drill and then ended with him being locked up in water. The end was the girl was in the water and he was out of his chains. Quite impressive.  I didn't gamble, you had to get a players card and needed ID which I didn't bring.  By the time you get a players card for all the casinos you would need a purse to carry all of them.  The laser show was great they did some Halloween things, a lot of the oldies songs with pictures.  They project pictures onto a ceiling that goes the length of Freemont St.  The colours are amazing.  One of the pictures had a rocket taking off with the fire following.  That night the parking was free which was nice.  We were out of there by 11, thank goodness I wasn't driving I would never have gotten out of the city.

As you can see left the ceiling over the street goes a long way.  It was hard to see it all it moved so fast.  You would need to be at one end for a better look.

The one thing I have found out here people eat early, which I like. You have to go early before the crowds or you wait in line. Everyone is home by 9.  I am still having trouble with the time difference.  It doesn't help that I have Eastern Satellite and by 11 o'clock Eastern Time it is only 7 here so nothing to watch.  I have started to use my Tivo and record the daytime shows, then I watch them after 7.  This year I am getting all the TV stations.  The last few years as you go west some of your eastern stations don't come on.  I was told that the satellite wasn't in the right place to get them.  I wonder why now.  Bell does like to play with their customers.  I can't complain about anything to them because we are not supposed to take our Satellites into the states it is illegal.  What they don't know won't hurt them.  Not nice Ma Bell. 

On to Pahrump and Death Valley next.  I am almost caught up with myself here in Pahrump.

GRAND CANYON continued

As one of my blog readers asked a question I thought I should explain why I have so much trouble getting my credit card to work at gas stations down here.  A few years ago some of the gas stations started asking for a ZIP code when you used your credit card at the pumps.  It wasn't a problem back then because I would just avoid them.  Well almost every one I went into this year asks for that ZIP and being Canadian it will not accept our Postal Codes.  They want you to tell them what price figure you want to put into your car, well I don't know and with an RV I try to fill it up then I know how long I can go before a fill up.  Gas guage isn't that accurate although I have never run out yet.  If you don't tell them what you want they want to keep your credit card while you pump the gas.  I will not do that at any time.  What I have done is put an American address as the prime address on my Visa.  I am hoping this will work and will find out after my next fill up.  When I come back home I will change it over to Canadian again.  I also do paperless bills so they don't send the monthly statement to the U.S. address.  I won't be at that address all the time.  The reason they are doing this is quite a few people fill their cars and then take off with out paying.  I think you will see this in Canada in the near future.

I parked near the Visitors Centre in the Grand Canyon and hopped on the shuttle bus.  What a great way to meet people, just ask a question and everyone jumps in.  I went to the far end of the Canyon called Hermits Rest and is only accessible by tram.  I walked back about a mile to the next tram pick up spot. The elevation is 7,000 ft (2,100 m) so even a small walk is an effort with the thin air. I did make it but was breathing hard and decided I wouldn't do any more.  They have beautiful walking paths with lookouts all along the way.  They also tell you how long it is from one tram stop to the next.  This closed part is open during the winter to passenger vehicles.  The temperatures range from 50-60F in the summer and 20 to 50F in the winter. So I got on and off on the way back.

I stopped at the Bright Angel trailhead and had lunch in the restaurant.  The meals are so big here that I hate to order anything big so ordered a chiefs salad.  It was big, but I managed to finished it.  I have to say it was the best salad I have had in a long time.  There is a history room in the same building filled with information on Fred Harvey one of the pioneers that made the Grand Canyon what it is today.  He saw that peopled were getting poor food and services and high prices so he took over and improved the services and food for the railway passengers.  He hired thousands of women to work in his restaurants, waitresses  known as the Harvey Girls.  He hired college educated women to conduct tours of the Southwest.  Mary Colter was hired to do all the architectural work on his buildings.  Her influence directed the early architecture in the National Parks. There were some interesting antiques from the past in this museum.  I looked through the gift shop and was looking through the kids books when a lady came over and showed me a book that her grand child loved "Who Pooped In The Park".  I figured all kids love anything to do with poop.  One Xmas present down a few more to go.

As I was sitting eating my meal the tables were full.  There was a table of German people who spent around $100.00.  The waitress's comment about the tip, which was only $1.00 was cheap.  I giggled to myself because German tourists have a lot of money. Picked the tram up and worked my way back.  It was really busy in the afternoon and was glad I got there early, everyone was looking for a parking space.  Some more information -  The South Rim and North Rim are only 10 miles apart as the raven flies.  It is 215 miles (356km) by road.  The South Rim is open all year and the North Rim is closed from Oct. to May because of the snow.  The South Rim gets a sprinkling of snow a few times in the winter. By four o'clock I was really tired, still fighing this darn flu I have had.  It's an hour drive from the campground I was staying at.

The day was great, missed most of the traffic on the way up and the way back.  Next stop Las Vegas.