Archive for the ‘Arizona’ Category

Hello! I’m in the middle of Texas somewhere. We pushed the truck with miles behind us today, took two drivers to get over 450 miles today. You may not think that is a lot but we got a late start (9am) and finally parked the RV at a KOA Campground off the highway somewhere off I-10. Our choice was to either find an RV park in the dark (ugh!) or park in a rest area somewhere listening to engines running all night long (ugh!).

So I guess this is the part of the trip where I know we are heading east bound (Florida bound), but not sure where we are going tomorrow or what we are going to see tomorrow. A part of a trip where wandering aimlessly becomes a daily habit. But everything is good here, OH, I’ve got pictures for you from Tombstone!!!!!

Oh, gosh, I just went thru all my pictures and there are a lot….and I do mean a lot……

Our campground spot is less than 100 feet from the Tombstone attractions….

Just leave the RV and walk one block to see this street…..

This town is full of history……it’s amazing…..

Ohhh, Ghosts!!!

This is the carriage we rode on to take a trip around the town learning new information about what this town holds…..Wow, is that sky white!!

Bird Cage Theatre – We heard a lot about this place……history at it’s finest!

This is considered a state park – read about it HERE……..

We are taking our tour……

This is the place I was talking about…Big Nose Kate’s Saloon! Neat place. Live music, delicious drinks, and OK food…….

Ha! This was outside one of the stores……

Yep, we took this trolley ride…..another narrated tour of the town. This trolley will take you to Boothill Graveyard……..

Oh, I’m gonna be rich!!! I’m gonna be rich!!! Pan for Gold!!!!! Ewwwww, I’m not putting my hands in that sand!! I asked if they could dig the Gold out for me……well, neatless to say, I’m not rich.

We are walking around…..looking around……

Oh boy…….

There’s Boothill Graveyard……

The Graveyard…….

Ohhh, a gun fight…….

Let me tell ya, it’s freezing out. I couldn’t put enough layers on and it was cold to my bones….I just couldn’t warm up at all……time for some hot chocolate. They had a petting farm here too, we just looking at the animals and moved on……

Time to explore a mine……

That’s what they were looking for – Silver! I’m rich! I’m rich! I’m so rich!! What do you mean this pile is only 4% Silver and that’s why it was left behind by the miners????

This guy was part of a tour I went to…..not sure who he is…..oh well, you get to see him too

The OK Corral Gun Fight Show…….this display is where all each of the Cowboys and Law men actually stood that deadly day that took down three Cowboys by the Law men……

Here’s the show getting ready to start. The show was good, the movie displays what happened better. Watch the movie!!

Doc Holliday!! Wow! Too Cool!

Well, the show went on and they showed how 4 Cowboys and 4 Law men came to clash that day. I took all the pictures I could to show you.

Well, this is a short blog posting because I’m off to watch “Tombstone” again! Have a good night. I’ll erase all the pictures on my camera and start taking pictures again tomorrow. I’ll be back. Enjoy your weekend!

Hi! Sure is a lot of Cowboys in this town. I could get use to this! In a town that purely survives from tourists, they know how to make you feel welcome! Survival of this town tetors between admission fees, shops, and the “tips” jar.
We started today out with a trolley ride around town, giving us another narrated guide tour on the history of Tombstone, Arizona. Every minute that passed today made me more and more interested in the history of the Outlaws and Law men that once stepped foot here and did about their business over 130 years ago. From Doc Holliday to the Earp Brothers, a legendary story that was brought to life for us today.
Our day was extremely touristy as we hopped from attraction to attraction covering everything from touring the mine that brought hundreds of thousands of dollars to Tombstone, to the showdown of the infamous shootout at the OK Corral that brought down Frank McLaury, Tom McLaury, and Billy Clanton (Billy was only 19 years old at the time of the gunfight that ended his life). History magnified by dedicated actors that showed how the gunfight erupted and how it went down.
We stopped for lunch at Big Nose Kate’s Saloon. They only called her that because she had her nose in everyone’s business. Running a bar and keeping Doc Holliday (and many others) satisfied was her only job. I have to mention here (just from me to you) that we have been to three restaurants here and other than the homemade chili, the food served here is very….ummmmm…. commercialized. I hope that sums it up, because I don’t want to insult their food, but you won’t find too many home cooked meals here. So go easy when going out to eat here, enjoy it, and definitely stop by Big Nose Kate’s for a drink! Well worth it!
Moving on, the mine tour was amazing taking us over 100 feet under earth’s surface to a world of minerals and veins of hollow passages that once held Silver that was transported, exchanged in hands of money, to make US currency coins. Old mining tools were shown to us that over 400 miners used to work with only by candle light. It was 30 years later, gas combination was introduced to keep a lantern lite and 20 years after that came similar to battery operated lanterns. But let’s stay in the late 1800’s for a minute when working with tools caused serious health issues with dust and an inventor from Denver introduced new tools to work water in with the working environment while digging and chipping thru solid rocks. Water didn’t kick up dust, so while using water in with chipping at rocks caused mud, these miners sure didn’t mind working with mud one bit. Oh, and payday came around shelling out big bucks to miners in the 1800’s at exactly $4 dollars a day. $4 dollars was a lot of money those days when enjoying a beer cost less than a quarter. Well, obviously all this information was from our friendly tour guide and I’m happy to share with you all that I’ve learned today, so on your way out near the exit door is a tip jar for you to show your appreciation on all the fun and entertainment I have walked you thru. Have a great night and y’all come back real soon now, ya hear!

Hi! Once again, I’m posting from my Blackberry and you won’t believe where I am! Tombstone! A 1/2 a day spent here and I love it already! This is where it all started, an old cowboy town with a couple of Saloons! I think I’ll order up a beer tomorrow at one of the local Saloons! “Bartender! I’ll take a cold one and my horse outside will take one for the road.” I love it!
I’ve got a ton of pictures to show you and my camera is back on the charger tonight for a big day tomorrow!
Tomorrow will be great! We’ve got a trolley ride to show us around town, a wagon ride thru the Silver mines, a haunted ghost tour (was told the ghosts will show up in my pictures!), and a reenactment of…..go ahead…say it with me….”On the count of three! Draw Your Gun!”. It’s a daily show right outside on the town road! Too cool!!
Oh, I got ahead of myself again, this morning we left Yuma at around 8am, stopped for lunch and made it to Tombstone at around 3pm. We are staying at Wells Fargo RV Park right against the Tombstone main street. We didn’t have to unhook the pickup because all the action is 100 feet away from us! I like this RV park, they are so very nice here….welcomed us with open arms. They talked our ear off for quite a while telling us everything that is going on, discounts on local restaurants, secret places on where to go first, and they walked us to our site to make sure we were happy with it.” Kudos!! I’m sure there are plenty of other RV parks out there that are just as friendly as this one and I want to visit them all!
Speaking of weather…..ugh, suppose to rain here all day tomorrow, so we will do as much as the weather lets us. We might hop over to the office and sneak in another night, but I’m not sure, Tombstone is so unique!
Other than that, I can’t wait to show you all the pictures I’m taking. Today we went for a horse drawn carriage ride thru town with a narrated guide telling us about the history here. Have you seen the movie “Tombstone”? I have, a long time ago, and I’ll have to watch it again now!
So, I’ll leave you with that and I’ll be back tomorrow. Have a good night!

Hi! Nooo, that’s not a typo or an old blog posting title up above. We are back in Yuma, Arizona again! We left Las Vegas around 8am and with a leisurely drive and a brunch stop at Denny’s in Laughlin, we made it to Yuma by 5pm. It was a nice easy trip down here and what made my day was that we made it “here” before 6pm so I can go to Bingo!! Yes, we are dry camping in the parking lot of the Paradise Casino tonight, then tomorrow off to Tombstone, Arizona!
I’m not a big fan of dry camping, but I make exceptions if we are in a casino parking lot. In this case, it’s okay!
With a quick phone call to my Bingo partner that stays in Yuma, she met us at Paradise Casino for some Bingo action that started at 6pm! I got so close to a $100 Bingo jackpot tonight….just one number off and they showed my number in the TV monitor and before it was called, and before I yelled “Bingo!”, someone three tables behind me beat me to it, calling out “Bingo” for the number just before mine! Arghh! Sooo close and very painful!
Anyways, the night wasn’t a total loss, we visited with our good friend here in Yuma at the casino and I won $50 bucks on the Wheel of Fortune slot machine! The whole evening was a lot of fun!
Hmmm, trying to think what else is new, but that pretty much sums up today. We did change all the clocks so now we are an hour closer to you all on the east coast. (Don’t bother looking it up, I’ll tell ya. We have a 2 hour time difference now instead of 3. So whatever time you are looking at right this minute, it’ll take us two more hours to get there.)
Tomorrow we will explore Tombstone and I will bring my camera with me to get some pictures. And then we will take our time heading towards Mission, Texas where we will stay for a little while.
I know for a fact that wonderful, reliable Nextel has no cell phone service all the way down the west border of Texas against the Mexico line, and I know this because I remember last winter’s panic attack I had from being cut off from online social civilization on this same trip. So this year I’m ready, I’ll hold my breath and my survival instincts will hopefully kick in as I live with my Blackberry being dead for a few long, long hours (maybe even a, a, a, *gasp*, DAY!!)
Okay, the generator is about to be shut off now and that will be the end of power to this RV. Have a great, great night. Have faith, check on me, as I will be back tomorrow!

Hi! Yep, you know I have to touch on football here. Amazing game today. I was for the Saints because I’m not a Manning fan (doesn’t matter which one).  And, I don’t know why, but I didn’t place a bet on this game. I never got around to it. I’m sitting in the middle of the gambling capital and I don’t make a bet on the Super Bowl. Ha! I wanted to, but the Super Bowl snuck up on me, and before I knew it, I was watching it. Trust me, I kick myself now, but if I had placed a bet on the Saints, they probably would of lost! That’s just my luck! So, I’m glad they won and I’m looking forward to a horse race coming up on April 3rd, if all parties show up. I’ll tell ya what I’m talking about if you click HERE. I’ll be keep an eye on this one.

Anyways, enough about sports! I’ve got some news for you! You will not be seeing any pictures in my blog postings for a few days because I’ll be posting from my Blackberry starting tomorrow! Yes, that’s right. We are leaving Las Vegas tomorrow. I guess we are all “Vegas-ed” out (I never knew that was possible) and there are other adventures and more casinos down the road to see. We are leaving tomorrow morning and heading back to Yuma, Arizona for the night (I’m hoping to go to Paradise Casino for Monday night Bingo!). I hope my Bingo partner in Yuma is reading this…..I’m on my way!!!

Tonight we went to Circus Circus  Casino and I lost $40 dollars, and then we hopped across the street to the Riviera Casino and I won $167 dollars. So, it was a good day today! I finished my night with this (took it with my Blackberry)…….

OH, I just saw now on the news that the new Hoover Dam bridge is set to open in November! Wow, neat. 1,900 feet across the Colorado River. So, if you are looking forward to seeing this bridge in action, then November will be your month!

So, bare with me for the next few days. I will blog from my Blackberry telling all the news, but no pictures. And, I like to yap, so don’t forget to check on me. Have a great night. I’ll be back tomorrow! OH, and don’t forget to leave me a comment, I can approve comments right on the spot from my Blackberry!

Hello and Welcome to Laughlin, Nevada! We have no internet access here so I am updating my blog from my Blackberry.
We left Yuma at around 10am and took our time getting to Laughlin at around 3:30. We stopped at Parker, Arizona to a casino named Blue Water. We have never been there before. It’s a tiny casino and there’s not much too it. It’s easy access from 95 (Nevada side, not California side). Nothing to really brag about there. We spent about an hour there and moved on.
So, we have reached Laughlin and I do love this place. I did get awesome pictures today but you’ll have to wait for me to catch a WiFi to see them on my blog.
We found a nice spot in an RV park here in Laughlin and it was enough space to back up the Montana and not have to unhook the truck. We are walking distance across the street from the casino. On Casino Drive, the street that we are staying on has about 7 or 8 casinos on it. We can easily walk to about five casino but the ones at the end of the Casino Drive is a little further out for walking distance.
Anyways, we are in Laughlin until Monday and then moving northbound to Vegas for about a month. I saw on the weather channel that there is rain in the forecast in Laughlin and Vegas for Monday thru Thursday. It’s okay with us because we are going to each buy a monthly unlimited access bus pass in Vegas for $55 to get around. Not a bad deal at all.
Tonight we visited two casinos and I lost about $40 overall. I’ll try to win something from the slot machines tomorrow. Tomorrow morning we are taking Jake for a walk along the boardwalk that runs right between the casinos and the Colorado River. I’ll bring my camera with me to catch some beautiful shots of the Colorado River and the casinos.
Well, I am a tad tired so I’m signing off for the night. I’ll be back tomorrow. As for my healing from my bike accident on Monday, everything is pretty much healed up and I can see that I will hold scars to never let me forget what happened. Jake’s doing awesome too. He’s asleep on the couch next to me. Have a great night!

Hi! I put so much information in my title, huh? I say that because that’s basically all we did today – but I’ll walk you thru my day Hey, you’re checking on me, and I can’t ask for anything more than that
Okay, we went to Walmart (typical trip for our weekly stuff), and came back to the RV….real exciting, huh! Then we all (us and our neighbor) went to the Quechan Casino because today was Senior Day there, and if you are a senior you can get $10 free from the casino to play the slot machines with…..this was exciting to everyone but me….I don’t qualify for the free $10 dollars , but of course, I tagged along…..
I lost $80 dollars there (I figured I just funded 8 senior free plays). We left the Quechan Casino and went to the Paradise Casino (the Quechan Casino and the Paradise Casino is owned by the same indian tribe), and at the Paradise Casino, I lost $40 dollars more…..
So we returned to the camper and attended card bingo here at the recreational hall. That’s always fun! I like that. Tonight there was 172 people at card bingo! We didn’t win anything there……
After card bingo, we went to Walmart to pick up some water for our neighbor who is preparing her dry camping trip to Quartzsite. Yes, Quartzsite is coming up soon!! It about 1 hour ride north of us and it’s a piece of desert (yeah, I think it’s safe to state it that way, no disrespect to the town of Quartzsite intended), and for three weeks a year they have huge expos and trade shows. We will be attending the Quartzsite Sports and RV show, but we don’t dry camp, we try to avoid dry camping unless it’s en route to another destination and we have to stay in a Walmart or casino parking to get there – that’s the extent of our dry camping, so we will take the pick up truck and go up for the day to explore the RV trade show. I’ll bring my camera!
Okay, so I got off track a bit…..back to today…..Walmart was sold out of gallon containers of distilled water (for her RV battery), so we went to another Walmart and kid you not, sold out there too!
Between the two Walmart trips we detoured to Cocopah Casino for an hour and I was playing the Wild Cherry slot machine and hit a triple symbol on the first reel, a single bar on the second reel, and a triple symbol on the third reel, for a payout of $180. So I profited today, but not by much.
Yeah, pretty busy day, but uneventful. Tomorrow we are going to the flea market in the morning and don’t know what’s in store after that. Should be fun…..check back tomorrow! Have a great night!

Hi There! How we hanging in there? 2010 being good to you?? Yeah, everything is great here. So, where do I start….

First off, I got an email from a friend back home. Oh boy….this is why I love blogging – Feedback!!! He seemed to of taken a picture off my blog that I posted yesterday and told me what he thought about it….take a peek….

Too Funny! And I got a comment saying why I don’t post pictures of myself? I’ve gotten plenty of email  about this too – bottom line: I’m shy. Okay, moving on…..

Today, we went to Walmart and did some weekly shopping. I took a look at the Apple Ipod Touch! Oh man, I so want one of those so bad!!! Here’s a picture of it HERE. At Amazon it’s $269 and at Walmart they are $299 plus tax. UGH! I’m such a tech-geek! I guess I’ll wait until another big Keno win!

Tonight we are going downtown Yuma. If you’ve been keeping up with my blog, you’ll see that I’ve been to downtown Yuma twice and ate at Lute’s Casino twice (no, this is not a real casino). So tonight we are going to downtown Yuma and eat at Lutes casino. Oh, and Lutes casino sells lottery tickets. We have powerball here.

So basically, that will be my day. I will bring my camera tonight because you never know what’s going on downtown or where we will end up. Pretty uneventful day today, but thanks for checking on me. Have a great night.

If I do some snap some pictures. I’ll upload them to this blog tonight.

Happy New Year’s Day! I’m typing this from my Blackberry (yes, it’s still working ) because I didn’t feel like booting up the netbook at this hour, I’m sure you’ll forgive me this one time
I’m in bed and here in Arizona it’s 2:25am, at my home in New England it’s 4:25am – wow, now that’s staying out late.
So, tell me, how was your New Years Eve?? Mine was great! I did get pictures and I will post them all tomorrow. Tonight (or at this hour I should say “last night”) was great. We ate a wonderful Prime Rib dinner at the Yuma Military Base 20 miles north of where we are staying. Why a Military Base? Well, when in Rome…..I guess a lot of RVers go there to enjoy New Years Eve dinner and wow, what a nice restaurant it was with a very enjoyable atmosphere and setting. After dinner, around 10pm we headed over to the Paradise Casino, but nothing was really going on over there, so around 10:45 we ended up at the Quechan Casino and kicked in the New Year there. In their event center room, they had a band, dance floor and tables for everyone. I lost some money there, but finished up the night with a 50 dollar win at the Keno machine.
So, what is your New Years resolution? Mine is to get up earlier in the morning….boy, do I hate to start this year off with a lie!
Have a good night….I’ll be back tomorrow with pictures, I don’t think we are going anywhere tomorrow, I promised Jake a bike ride around the RV park.

Hi! I’ve never had Christmas dinner outside before. Normally there’s always snow around me back home, cold temperatures, and a warm home. Last winter we spent Christmas in Las Vegas and ate Christmas dinner at the Binion Casino. But today was a pleasant experience. Our wonderful neighbor made us Christmas dinner and, yes, we enjoyed it outside in the perfect weather with great company. I’ve got pictures……

Doesn’t all that food look great! Thank you to our neighbor for all her hard work cooking up a wonderful Christmas dinner!

We also had desert after dinner which was just as delicious, it was hard to decide what to save room for. There was 7 of us together today! Jake enjoyed the day too laying on my lawn chair, he behaved himself. I know you are wondering about gifts, but we didn’t exchange gifts at all. Just to be here on this trip is a gift by itself, I’m sure you would all agree with me about that

I’m stuffed with food and relaxing the rest of the night. I can see Jake is already sleeping, but it’s early and I’ll take him out for one more walk before calling it a night. I hope your day was just as enjoyable as mine.

And one more time before the day is out – Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!