So Far Behind

2012 June 27

In spite of intentions to keep up with the story of our travels, I am very, very far behind. 

Here goes:

When we left Grand Canyon National Park, our original plans included staying two weeks at Verde Valley Thousand Trails, where I had thought to rent a car and use VV as our base camp while seeing Sedona and other Arizona sights, including the Salt River and the wild horses there. Unfortunately, Raymond was Arizona'd out and wanted to go anywhere that wasn't AZ. I was disappointed, as I had hoped to meet up with my FB friend Mychal while we checked out Phoenix, but I understood, as I had felt the same way in Texas. So we decided to head to Hoover Dam, after a one night stay at Blake Ranch RV and Horse Resort in Kingman, AZ. We stayed there simply because it was easy access from the highway and because we liked the name!

Hoover Dam is a marvel and I love its art deco style. I had been there in 1971, but Raymond had never been there, so this was a first for him. Where I am awed by God's creation, as in the Grand Canyon, R is awed by human engineering. He took tons of pictures at Hoover Dam, although he didn't want to take the official tour, which I thought he would enjoy. I was surprised by how different everything was, compared to my first visit so many years ago; and, of course, the changes that have evolved since September 11, 2001. It was an incredibly hot and sunny day, so for much of the Hoover Dam visit, I stayed in the RV with Greyla, with the A/C running.

These pictures are Raymond's. You can tell by the date in yellow in the corner. He refuses to turn that feature off :)

From Hoover dam we traveled to Las Vegas Thousand Trails, as that was Raymond's choice. Las Vegas was another place that I had visited in 1971, but that Raymond had never been. We spent two weeks at TT Las Vegas and with the exception of four to fives days early in our stay, the weather was akin to hell. The daytime temps were often in three digits. Not much cool down at night, either. Our nighttime lows were generally around the high 80s. We spent a good bit of time in the pool, until we both began to react to the chlorine. Because we don't have a tow vehicle, we explored the public transit option for visiting the Strip, but in the end, R decided he didn't really care if he got to see it, so we didn't go. He did go to a casino within walking distance of TT to get his brief gambling fix. What to do with Greyla, also played into the decision, too. If we took public transit, we would worry about her being alone in the RV. If we drove to the Strip, I would have to stay with her in the RV anyway, to keep the A/C going. In the end, the Strip seemed unimportant. 

One really cool thing about the TT in Las Vegas, is that it is next door to a great Salvation Army Thrift Store. I spent an afternoon there perusing their huge book section and came away $6 poorer, but at least 9 books richer. 

After much discussion and research, we also tabled plans for California at this point in our travels since it would put a hit on our budget. Additionally, R seemed to want to head toward South Dakota because we planned to register our RV there and our current PA registration was valid only until July 30. I think all the heat of the places we'd been since late April, also contributed to a desire to head north :)

So, to recap, Blake Ranch in Kingman, AZ  on May 18, followed by Hoover Dam on May 19. Then two weeks at TT Las Vegas, from May 19 through June 2.

Off we went to Utah...