Archive for the ‘travel’ Category

Hello! Well, today was mainly a traveling day. Leaving Tombstone this morning at around 9am we made it to El Paso around 4pm. Didn’t really see anything exciting on I-10, just a lot of freight being moved along by the truck drivers and the trains. We stopped along the way to put $200 dollars in the tank (we have an external fuel tank in the bed that feeds the main fuel tank below the truck). And diesel price isn’t too bad out here sitting at around $2.69 a gallon.
This is mostly going to be a short posting, because there’s not much going on. We got 15 channels on TV here from the antenna and just finished up a movie. We are dry camping tonight. I’m not a big fan of dry-camping, but I can’t complain because the temperature is very nice outside (t-shirt weather). We sure won’t freeze tonight, but it’s noisy outside with the running engine of tractor trailer next to us. Oh, well, take the good with the bad when we are making our way to our next destination.
I wish I had more news to tell you, but sometime no news is good news. We will see where we end up tomorrow. Have a good night!

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! Today is a good day so far! I say so far, because it’s only 3:09pm and we’ve got so much to do and see this evening and tonight. I think we are heading down to Fremont Street tonight and on a Friday night it should be a rowdy night. Not rough or dangerous, but if you are a people watcher, it will be a hot spot.

SO! What did we do this morning? We went to visit Hoover Dam. Last winter when we were here they were starting to build a new bridge that would funnel the cars over Hoover Dam and not against it. I’ll show you a picture of a year ago and I’ll show you a picture of this year’s progression. It was so exciting to see Hoover Dam and the building of the new highway.

These are 3 pictures from last year’s (and I do mean, exactly one year ago) of the new bridge they are building….

Okay, and these following pictures are from today’s visit……

So those are the pictures of what we did today! We had a nice time there and we brought Jake along to enjoy the weather with us walking around. We didn’t walk across the dam, but we went to one of the many rest area around the dam and enjoyed the area walking around and visiting the gift shop.

I’ve got pictures of when we went out last night! Take a peek….

This is a picture of outside walking along the Las Vegas Boulevard……

Paris Casino and Hotel. I didn’t win much money in here…..think I lost about $40 bucks……

We visited the Excalibur Casino…..very neat inside, but not paying out….

New York New York Casino! Nice and simple inside with a decent food court. Great pizza here! But, didn’t payout for me last night!

The Luxor! Very nice inside. I got some pictures of inside as far as I could go with a camera!

I didn’t win any money here, but I almost won this (yeah, right!)……

So, that’s what we did last night! The only place where I made some money last night was at the MGM Grand! I won about $200 dollars. So tonight we are heading down to Fremont Street. I’m not bring a lot of money to spend, because remember Friday night thru the weekend, I really don’t think the casinos are going to pay out that much. I think I’ll be staying with the penny machines tonight. Have a good night. And I hope you enjoyed the pictures!

Hi! Wow, what a great night we had last night. We explored a few casinos on the Las Vegas Boulevard. We went to Paris Casino and Planet Hollywood Casino and a few other little ones in between. I must of been feeling lucky because I put a $5 dollar bill in a $5 dollar slot machine (yep, just one shot) and it came out Triple Symbol, Bar, Bar on the three reel display and printed out a ticket for an even $300 dollars! Just like that. Couldn’t believe it! I don’t know what I was thinking! Ohhhh, yes, I knew exactly what I was thinking and I’ll share my secret with you……In my opinion and experience at Las Vegas…..Las Vegas does not pay out much on weekends at all. I’ve never, ever won more than $100 dollars on the weekend here, not just this trip, but all of my trips here. BUT, Las Vegas pays out during the week, and boy, does it pay out…..take a look at what my Dad did last night at the Planet Hollywood Casino!

Yep, that says there is $66 dollars in the slot machine that was left when he hit $1015 dollars!!!

Yep, it’s the lower amount progressive jackpot! I sure would of like to see that purple symbol show up on the last reel for the bigger progressive jackpot, but hey, he was sure happy! I think he was a little unsure if he had won anything, until I glanced at it and say, “Yep, it looks like you are a winner!” You know, now that I think about it, that slot machine didn’t even make a sound, no ringing, no binging, no nothing. I just lite up and said, “Jackpot” on the screen above, but not one sound. The supervisor had to come by and verify the winning amount thru the slot machine and handed the cash to Dad. He gave Mom and I a little bit of it, woo-hoo, and we walked around the casino a little bit more looking for more slot machines that might be willing to pay out. My dad saw a $5 dollar slot machine that seemed to be calling his name and he put some money in it and hit the button to spin the wheel and a yellow 7 showed up on each of the three reels!!! A payout of $500 dollars.

So, your lesson for today is that Las Vegas may look fascinating and hopping on the weekends, but save your gambling dollar for Monday!

Here’s some pictures of the Las Vegas Boulevard and of Paris Casino and Bellagio Casino……

They aren’t the best pictures, I think my camera is acting up again. This camera is one year old, but it has taken alot of pictures in one year. Actually I can check how many total pictures I’ve take with this camera….hang on….I’ve taken a total of 9573 pictures in one year. I’m one of those people who take two or three pictures of the same object and then download them sifting thru which picture is better than the others.

So between my Blackberry and my camera, I’m really not sure which one will outlast the other. Ha!

I would like to take pictures around the inside of the casinos, but I don’t want to get kicked out…….The pictures I do take inside of the casinos, I try to sneak it in quickly…..I’ll see what I can do….

Well, that’s it for today. I’ll bring my camera with me tonight in case we win a million! Have a good night. I’ll be back tomorrow.

Hi! I’m back online. We left Laughlin this morning and we are now in Las Vegas. Las Vegas for a whole month! Is anyone going to be in Vegas within the next 30 days?? Let me know!

Okay, first off, I think I will be turning the clock and I’ll be doing my blog postings during the day because we will all be running around wildly at night.

I wanted to show you some pictures from Laughlin!

See us? Second one in from the right…….

Laughlin sits on the Colorado River. So pretty…..

These next pictures are pictures I took with my Blackberry camera! Not too bad for a Blackberry, but I’m sure you can tell the difference between my camera and the Blackberry!

So those are my Laughlin pictures and we did have a great time there.

We are parked and set up in Las Vegas and I can not wait to hit the door running! I’ll bring my camera and show you everything I see.

It’s raining here now and it’s suppose to be raining until Friday.

Hope you are all doing good and thanks for checking on me. Have a great night!

Hi! Wow, we walked a lot today. There’s no shuttle or bus that takes you from casino to casino here, my poor feet. I don’t know how I’ll manage walking around Vegas. Oh, I won’t have to because my unlimited access month bus pass will be my best friend!! Ha!
Okay, today was a great day. Woke up feeling on top of the world ready to take on the casinos and mission accomplished! I won so much money, I gave some to Mom and Dad and took them to dinner tonight at one of the casinos buffet restaurant.
I also took Jake for a walk along the river boardwalk and got some great pictures along the way! I will have internet in Vegas to start posting pictures on my blog again.
Typical gambling day and being a typical tourist! Las Vegas here we come! Tell me, tell me, will you be in Las Vegas within the next 30 days?? Let me knowwwww….. I’ll buy you a free Margarita!!! Have a great night, I’m off to bed and can’t wait for tomorrow!

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!