Yesterday I realized that we were having a déjà vu experience, wondering if we would get out of Las Vegas today or not. Exactly five months ago we were in Indiana at Elkhart Campground with Greg and Jan White, watching the weather and wondering if the high winds there would die down so we could hit the road! Now here we are with Greg and Jan in Las Vegas, wondering if the wind will die down so we can hit the road. History does repeat itself! 

Yesterday the wind blew hard all day, and we were glad we were not out on the highway in a high profile vehicle. Today the wind is supposed to be considerably lighter, and if it is, we’ll pull out about mid-morning and head for Kingman, Arizona.

If we take the direct route, over Hoover Dam, it is 106 miles to our destination in Kingman, Arizona.  RVs can cross the dam unless there is a heightened alert status, but traffic can get very congested going down to the dam and back up. The longer route, through Searchlight to Laughlin, Nevada, and then to Kingman, adds an extra 25 miles to the trip, but usually has much less traffic congestion. We’ll probably choose that route.

But again, it all depends on the weather. If the wind is still blowing hard, we’ll just pay the Thousand Trails preserve for an extra day and wait until tomorrow. One of the great things about living in an RV is that you have your house with you, so it doesn’t matter where you are, because you’re at home. So why press our luck driving in hazardous conditions if we don’t have to?

We have had an absolute blast playing tourist here in Las Vegas with Greg and Jan. It has been like going on vacation from our permanent vacation, and all four of us agree that we have seen things and done more than we would have if we had not all been together. But I have to be honest with you, I miss working. I couldn’t do this on a regular basis.

I have been able to get enough information for several stories for the next issue of the Gypsy Journal, but I usually spend several hours a day at my computer researching and writing. We’ve been so busy for the past two weeks that, except for writing my blogs, I haven’t gotten much work done at all. I’m not complaining, it’s been a lot of fun and we have made some incredible memories. I’m just ready to get back to my regular routine.

The last time we were in Kingman, the service on our Verizon air card was terrible, and from what I understand, things have not improved since then. Mohave County, Arizona seems to be stuck in the dark ages of technology, and nobody told the folks in charge that it’s not 1950 anymore. So if the connection is as problematic as it was last year, there may not be as many photos on the blog for the next few days.

Of course, that all depends on if we actually do get out of Las Vegas today.

Thought For The Day – Forgive your enemies…once.

Yesterday Terry and I, along with Greg and Jan White, drove about 30 miles down to Boulder City, Nevada to stop at Bee’s Mail Service, which has handled our business mail forwarding ever since we hit the road. A new owner, Jean Wilson, bought the company a while back, and we wanted to stop and introduce ourselves, and put a face with the name. Jean is a very friendly lady with a strong business background, and we look forward to a long working relationship with her.

Boulder City was the base camp for the workers who built Hoover Dam back in the 1930s. At the time, it was the world’s largest concrete structure, and a statue at the dam honors the men who undertook this gargantuan task.

Another major construction project has been going on at the dam for a few years now, construction of a bridge that will bypass the current narrow, winding U.S. Highway 93 that crosses the dam, and is no longer adequate to handle the 14,000 vehicles that travel it daily.

Looking up from the ground, I can already tell you that this is one bridge I won’t be driving over, I don’t care how strong the supporting structure is. I’ll take the longer detour south through Searchlight and Laughlin and then over to Kingman, Arizona.

The project’s website says that the bridge will be finished by September of this year, and the bypass will be carrying traffic by November. I don’t know, it looks like there is still a lot of work to be done before that happens.

We wanted to see the progress on the bridge, so Greg drove us down to the dam, inching along in a long line of traffic moving at a snail’s pace. That was okay with us, we all four get along well, and we enjoyed the views of Lake Mead as we drove into the canyon.

I said that this area has a lot of bighorn sheep, and no sooner had I spoken than eagle-eyed Miss Terry spotted several of the animals lounging on a ridgeline a couple of hundred yards from the highway. We all scrambled for our cameras, but about then the traffic started moving and a horn honking behind us made us miss the shot.

Greg made a U-turn at the dam and we drove back up to the Lake Mead Visitor Center for a potty stop, and to take some photos of the lake’s deep blue water. Then we drove down to the shore, where we saw this sailboat heeled over to the side, barely moving, with little breeze to fill its sails.

Our next stop was the Camping World in Henderson, where we didn’t find anything that we couldn’t live without. By then it was late afternoon and we were all getting hungry. Jan was in the mood for Mexican food, so we stopped for an early dinner at Lindo Michoacan in Henderson, which was named Best Mexican Restaurant in a Las Vegas newspaper survey.

As I’ve said before, Miss Terry loves Mexican food, but after living in Arizona for years, she is a bit of a snob about it, and it takes a lot to impress her. I asked her how Lindo Michoacan rated on a scale of 1 to 10, and she gave it a 25! Our waiter was very attentive, the portions were huge, and the view of Las Vegas from the windows that make up one wall were magnificent.

As you can see in this photo taken with my Blackberry, Jan, Terry, and Greg look well fed. Even after eating as much as we all could, there was still enough left over to take home for lunch today. Jan and Terry assured Greg and I that this was a place we’d be going back to before we left the area!

Thought For The Day -You may have a screw loose, but that’s okay, you still have that screw, you haven’t lost it .

Many of you know that I have a phobia about driving over bridges. Yeah, I know, that bridge has stood for years, it’s inspected periodically, and a thousand cars a day drive over it. But I just know that if that darned thing is going to commit bridge suicide and collapse, it’s waiting for me to come along so it can take me with it!

Yesterday on our drive to Nevada, we crossed Hoover Dam and Miss Terry got some great pictures of the new Colorado River Bridge project that is being built to span the canyon above the dam to divert traffic away from the dam itself.

 I can tell you right now that there is not enough money in the world to pay me, or enough drugs to calm me down enough that I’ll ever drive or ride across that bridge! I think the guys building that thing must be half monkey and half mountain sheep, and whatever they’re paying them isn’t enough. The bridge is erected on both sides of the canyon, and the center sections still have to be put up. It’s a massive engineering project, and there were crowds of people stopped at the dam watching the progress.

Speaking of mountain sheep, we had to stop at the safety inspection checkpoint a few miles from the dam on the Arizona side, and just as we pulled back onto U.S. Highway 93, Terry spotted a beautiful ¾ curl ram standing on a hill right beside the highway! What a beautiful creature!

I mentioned yesterday that we were going to look at a RV for sale in the Las Vegas area. What a fiasco that was! Folks, I have met some hustlers in my time, con men who could charm the ears off the Easter Bunny. But I think we encountered the king of crooks. A week or so ago I saw an ad for a 2002 Winnebago Ultimate Freedom motorhome in the Phoenix newspaper, listed as like new, with 28,000 miles on it. I called the number in the ad, which was in Las Vegas, and was told that the rig was being sold due to a death in the family. The price and terms were right, so I said we’d come by and look at it.

Monday evening I called to say we’d be there yesterday, and arranged to call the seller, who said he was a relative of the owner, at noon when we were in the Las Vegas area.

When we got to town, I called as agreed, and he said he was hung up on something and to call back in an hour. Okay, unexpected things happen, no problem. We dropped off a sample bundle of newspapers at the Thousand Trails campground, stopped at a couple of stores, and then called back. All I got was voice mail.

We grabbed a bite to eat, and at 2:30 I had not received a call back. I tried one more time, reached the seller, and he asked if we could meet at 5 or 6 p.m. I told him no, we were headed back to Kingman if we couldn’t get together. He said he was having the rig detailed, and gave me an address to meet him at.

That address turned out to be his home, and his wife/girlfriend/bimbo said he would be there in 20 to 30 minutes. I learned a long time ago that if a deal feels bad going in, it won’t get any better once you’re stuck. By now I already knew we were not going to deal with this clown, but I wanted to play it out and see what happened. Finally, at 3:45 the rig pulled up, ran over the curb, and a guy stumbled out who probably spent the morning on a street corner with a sign that said “Will Work For Food.” As it turns out, he was not the seller, but the fellow who “detailed” the rig.

When we stepped inside, it reeked, it was filthy, and it was beat to pieces.  The carpets were stained, the curtains were falling off, the counter top was cracked, it smelled of sewage, and crud was everywhere. The guy tried to tell Miss Terry that all RVs smelled that way when you drive them, and she quickly cut him off and told him that we’re in the RV industry.

Looking at the odometer, the rig actually had 59,833 miles on it, the sliding side window was smashed, and the data plate identified it as a 2000 model, not a 2002. To top it all off, there was a Las Vegas Auto Auction bid sheet on the dashboard! Yeah, right, a death in the family. I’d have had to been brain dead to believe any of this crap!  

It didn’t take us long to get out of the piece of junk, and then I looked at the street side, and one bay door was completely caved in! I teach a class on how to buy an RV, and this heap was worse than any example I’ve ever given my students. It was junkyard material, as far as we were concerned.

As we were leaving, the seller called me on my cell phone, and was amazed that I wasn’t falling all over myself trying to get my checkbook out fast enough to complete the deal! I was born early in the morning, but it wasn’t early that morning!

Thought For The Day – He who dies with the most experiences wins.

Register Now For Our Ohio Gypsy Gathering Rally

Arizona is an amazingly diverse state. Those unfamiliar with the Grand Canyon state might think that is it all cactus and sand, and there is certainly no shortage of desert here, but there are also towering mountains that are covered with dense forests, and snow capped much of the year. This explains Arizona’s climate, where you can build a snowman in the morning in the high country, then drive a few hours and have a cookout wearing shorts and T-shirts in the desert that afternoon.

We had temperatures in the 80s in Apache Junction just a couple of days ago, here in Kingman I dug our Olympian catalytic heater out of one of the bus bays to keep us warm last night, and our daughter called yesterday to report snow at her home in Show Low. I told her that had better end soon, because we want to get over there and spoil those grandkids, and Grandpa doesn’t approve of being in the snow.

A while back I listed some of my favorite RV blogs and websites, and readers keep asking me for more. There are so darned many that I could spend hours a day just trying keep up with them all, but for your reading enjoyment, here are a few more that I check in on often:

White Truck Blog – Bob and Jan have converted a vintage 1965 White semi truck and a moving trailer into a beautiful home on wheels, and share the stories of their travel adventures.

Hitch Itch - A great collection of RV blogs and information can be found on this site. Give yourself plenty of time to explore it, because it has a lot of good information and links.

Backroad Chronicles - Our friends Joy and Phil have been faithful Gypsy Journal supporters for years, and their blog is always fun to read.

Traveling USA – Bob and Donna have wandered America from coast to coast, and I enjoy seeing the country through their eyes.

Moon River And We – Bob and Molly are wonderful people, and I always enjoy checking in with their blog to see what they are up to.

So what are we up to? Terry and I are going to take a day trip up to Nevada today to touch base with Aunt Bee’s Mail, the mail service that handles our business mail, and to check out an RV that we are interested in. I always enjoy the trip up to Lake Mead and across Hoover Dam. It has some of the most dramatic scenery in this part of the West. One of these days we want to camp at Lake Mead and do some kayaking on its awesome blue water.

We have a terrible internet connection here in Kingman. It’s one of the few places we have been where our Verizon air card is darned near useless. About half the time we get knocked offline when we try to open a website or even an e-mail, and it’s incredibly slow all of the time. So I’m going to close this post and try to get it online before we lose our connection yet again.

Thought For The Day - The successful person will learn from their mistakes and try again in a different way.

Register Now For Our Ohio Gypsy Gathering Rally