LVMS and Nellis AFB

We arrived at Las Vegas Motor Speedway shortly after noon on Monday following a short drive from Henderson Nevada.

Here is a picture of our rig in the parking lot at the Railway Pass "Casino" and Hotel  before we left Henderson, Nevada.

  Finding our parking spot was easy since there were only about 20 campers in the parking lot that holds about 1500.

We set up quickly and settled in for a week of dry camping.  Then the jets from nearby(across the road) Nellis Air force Base started taking off.  There must have been at least a dozen of them at first followed by another half a dozen or more.  Pretty cool except for the noise.  Come to find out in addition to there regular schedule of flights this week there are pilots and aircraft form other countries are here for some war games.

So far we have seen F-16s, F-18s, A-6s, A-10s, B1-bs, a KC-135, and today the Thunderbirds were out practicing there routines.  It is nice to get three or four good air shows a day for free! 

I have taken tons of pictures of the various aircraft we have seen, but the best ones are on my Meade binocular camera, in the on board memory, and I forgot to bring the cord to plug into the computer to download them, so unless I can find a compatible cord, I will have to wait till we get home to download them.

The days here have gone by fast.  We really didnt do much on Monday or Tuesday as Ann was busy with work, and by the time she finished her work day, and we had some dinner it was close to dark, and there wasnt really much going on here, so the evenings were spent relaxing and keeping up with things on the internets.  Fortunately the the war games ended about 10:30PM each evening, so getting a good nights sleep wasnt a problem.

Here is what the parking lot looks like from the roof of our motorhome today.

On Wednesday after Ann finished work we decided to go into Vegas to see the sights and try our luck in a few of the gambling establishments.  Our first stop was the Stratosphere where we parked the car.

 

Then it was off to the Sahara to get on the monorail to take us too Ballys.  We wanted to check the place out again as that is where we got married in December of 2001.

 

After donating a few dollars to Bally's we went to Caesers Palace to make a donation as well. It is an awesome place to see, but the slots are as tight as I have seen except at the Railway Pass Hotel and Casino, which didnt even have a machine to cash in your tickets.

 Our next stop was Bills which is close by Bally's.  We wandered around a bit until we saw the sports betting area, and thought that it might be interesting.  We noticed on the big board that they were taking bets on the NASCAR races this weekend.  After visiting with a young man who worked there, we decided to place some bets.  Ann wouldnt tell me who she bet on, but I put some money down on some longshots.  The odds for the better drivers were so close that in order to win much you would have to bet a ton of money.  The drivers I bet on had odds of at least 30-1.   By the way I see the odds of Danica Patrick winning the Sam's Town 300 on Saturday are 75-1.  These are some generous odds makers.

Then it was back on the monorail to return to the Stratosphere.  Ann took this picture of me waiting for the train.

We bought tickets to go to the top of the Stratosphere.  I got a senior discount.  The first one ever, I believe.  We had to go through security before riding the elevator to the top.  It was almost like getting on an airplane with the metal detector and all.  The views from the top are incredible, however, I was not steady enough with our camera of full zoom to get many good pictures, but I did get a good picture of Ann standing by this ride called "Insanity", which is a well deserved name, as it goes out behond the railing and the riders are suspened in mid-air, and here are some pics of it, if you dont believe me.

After riding the elevator back down, we thought a little more gambling may be in order, and this time I found a machine that actually worked!  Worked meaning one that paid off occasionally.  I recouped some of the evenings losses and then  it was time to head back home.  A great evening all things considered.

Thursday morning started with a knock on our door by the guy who is parked behind us complaining that our generator exhaust was causing his carbon monoxide detector to off.  I know it is good camp ground etiquette to see to it that your generator exhaust doesnt affect anyone else, but this guy would probably not have a problem had he not opted to park is camper perpendicular to ours, instead of backing it in his camping spot.  So being the good neighbor, I shut off the generator, went to a local auto parts store and bought a piece of flex tubing to put over the generator exhaust that would direct the fumes away from his poorly parked camper.With that problem solved it was mostly another quiet day with Ann working diligently, and me mostly relaxing and visiting with neighbors.

Thursday evening we thought it might be fun to go to the nearby dirt track to watch the USAC midgets and sprint cars. We have seen these cars before and they put on some of the best racing there is on the planet.  We went over to the track about 4:00PM to watch qualifying which lasted about an hour.  Since the heat races and feature races were not going to start till 7:00PM, we returned to the motorhome, grilled some brats and fried some potatoes for a nice dinner.  Then it was back to the track.  As it was pretty cool and windy at the track Ann chose to add a couple layers of clothes and get out her arctic parka so she would be sure and stay warm at the races.

The racing was awesome except for a horrible accident in one of the midget heat races when one of the cars hooked a tire used to mark the edge of the track in turn four and took a violent series of flips, with the car coming to rest of its side.  The safety crew to a long time to get him out of the car.  The only report we got from the track announcer was the driver was going to be transported to the infield care center at the big track which is a fully equipped emergency room, for further observation.  The rest of the evening was great with caution flags flying with less than five laps left in each of the features, which lead to passes on the previous leader to the delight of the crowd.

To show you how small the world is, one of the track announcers is from Iowa, and announced at the small track in Stuart Iowa the times we have been there.

By time the races were over, it was 10:30PM and time to end another great day on the road.

Friday the real festivities begin with NASCAR practice and or qualifying most of the day starting at 11:00AM, and running till about 6:00PM.

I will reprort on that later.

Paul

North Ranch to Henderson aka Picture Day

We left North Ranch RV Park a few minutes behind schedule today at 8:20 AM.  It was a little foggy the first twenty miles or so.  The weather was foggy, not me.  Ann got these pictures as the fog was lifting.

As we drove farther north on state highway 93 toward Wikieup, the scenery changed form mostly scrub brush and saguaro cactus to Joshua trees and green mesas.

We decided to stop in Kingman Arizona at the Flying J to get propane, have some breakfast, and to top off the gas tank.  Here is a street sign where we turned left to the Flying J.  Andy Devine was an actor who grew up in Kingman, and he is mentioned in some song I have heard, but cant remember the song?  Any help?  Anyone...Anyone...Buehler....Buehler..... 

 

After leaving Kingman we decided to go through Bullhead City and over to Nevada state highway 95 and then north to Las Vegas, so we wouldnt have to endure the slow down in traffic caused by the searching of vehicles before they are allowed to go over Hoover Dam.  The way we went is about twenty miles farther, but an easier drive.  Here is the turn off from Interstate 40 to highway 93 that goes north to highway 68, which goes west and turns into highway 163 once you cross into Nevada before you get to highway 95.

Here is a pic going north on 93 just before we got to 68 looking west at highway 68 as it traverses the valley and heads uphill to Union Pass at 3721 feet above sea level.

From Union Pass it is all downhill to Bullhead City; about 3200 feet down in about twelve miles at an average grade of 6%!

 

 

 

Here is a pic of the runaway truck ramp.  It is filled with soft gravel that is supposed to slow you down if you have to use it.  Nice that they have such nice things.

  

We finally arrived in Laughlin Nevada, and got to see the casinos, and and RV park right on the shore of Mojave Lake which separates Arizona and Nevada.

The rest of the trip was fairly uneventful except for this dust cloud that blew up just south of Henderson.  Luckily it wasnt too bad, and was gone by time we got to where it crossed the highway.

Ann took this pic because when she first saw the road going up the mountain, she thought it was the highway we were on and we would have to drive up it.

The plan today was to get an early(relative term) start, get somewhere close to Las Vegas by the time the NASCAR race started, stop and watch the race either by using local channels, or if not that then use the DirecTV system.  So when we got to the Railroad Pass Hotel and Casino on the south side of Henderson, we thought this would be a good place to stop and watch the race.  It was a good idea!  But after messing with the Directv dish for about half and hour and even moving to a different location in the parking lot, I finally got a signal on the tv, only to discover we had driven out of our "home area", and couldnt receive network channels, all this was after first attempting to get local channels on our over the air antenna.  A call to DirecTV confirmed that we were out of our home area, but we could get the east and west network feeds if we filled out a form they would send to us, return it, and then wait ten to fourteen days for them to approve it.  I know the Daytona 500, was long, but even the Paris to Dakar Rally doesnt take as long as this would take.

Then Ann had the idea of trying to see if the tv in the bedroom would be able to get any local channels.  Sure enough it was finding plenty of them.  So I tried again to get them on the front tv, and sure enough it worked!  Found the local Fox channel, and I was able to finally see the last 100 laps of the NASCAR race from Fontana, California. A pretty good race.  It was worth the wait and effort to get to see at least some of it.

After the race Ann had some work work to do, and I started working on this blog.  It takes quite a while to do a good blog with pictures, at least for me anyway!  In a few minutes we will probably go into the casino, make a cash donation, get some dinner(they have a $7.99 steak special form 4:00 PM to 10:00 PM), or depending on how things go, we may have to settle for the $1.00 Hot Dog, then call it a night.

Here are a couple of pics of the Railroad Pass Casino and Hotel.

Thats all for today.
Paul

The Day the Rains Came

Not much Arizona sunshine today!  Rainy and cloudy most of the day, but at least we didnt have to shovel anything. A nice rainbow after the rain.

Another after the rain picture.  This one shows "Methuselah", one of the oldest saguaro cactus in Arizona.

We did make a run into Wickenburg about 11:00 AM to get something to eat a the local Denny's, then it was off to Checker Auto Parts to get a couple of battery cables so we can hook up our extra batteries while we are dry camping at the race track in Las Vegas.  They only had two of the four we needed, so the next stop was the NAPA Auto Parts store.  They had the the other two cables, so we will be able to add another 150 amp hours to our current 420 amp hours of battery storage when I get them hooked up.

The next stop was at the Do-It-Best hardware store to get a few pieces and parts to upgrade our Wilson cell phone amplifier system.  The first few days we were here it worked fine, but a couple of days ago it started working intermittently.  My thought was that for some reason the outside antenna needed to be raised, and the only thing I had available to attach it to to raise it was the handle for the wash brush we had with us.  It worked fine except that it only raised the antenna about four feet, and may have looked a little tacky.

So after some in store brainstorming we bought a ten foot piece of 3/4 inch galvanized tubing, and some clamps to attach to the ladder on the motorhome.  With the clamps we can adjust how high we put the antenna, and we are able to lower it to a reasonable level for travel.  Of course getting a ten foot piece of tubing in Ann's car was the next challenge, but not to worry, we opened the trunk, put one of the back seats down, slid it in the car and up on the dash, closed the trunk and we were ready to go.

Our last stop was the Safeway where we dropped of our accumulation of plastic grocery bags for recycling.  That is one of the things that is so different in our travels.  At home we recycled almost every thing we could, but out here on the road those same opportunities dont exist in many places, but we do recycle what and where we can.

Then it was back home to watch the NASCAR Nationwide race from Fontana California, and install our new antenna mast.

Here is a pic of our new antenna mast in place.  I need to adjust how much cable I have on the outside of the RV, so it lays flat on the roof, and I can raise the mast up another five or six feet, if needed.

Got the new mast put up, but missed the first few laps of the race,no big deal.  In the mean time now that we had the handle back for our wash brush, Ann took the opportunity to wash some mud off the wheels of the motorhome that we picked up while looking for a place to camp on BLM land before we decided to come here to the North Ranch RV Park.  Then she was off to do laundry in preparation of our leaving in the morning and heading to Las Vegas.  We(read I), want to get an early start so we can be there in time for me to watch the NASCAR Sprint Cup race from Fontana California.

My birthday yesterday was a pretty laid back affair.  The day started with Ali(Ann's daughter) texting me with a "Happy Birthday!"  Then Ann  presented with a very nice birthday card.  About 110:00AM we went up to Congress where Ann treated me to a nice lunch.  The afternoon and part of the evening was mostly consumed by watching NASCAR practice and qualifying, and receiving birthday call from my son Adam, and my daughter Shanda, her husband Matt, and their three children, Claire, Camden, and Carolyne.

About 7:00PM Ann started to prepare a delicious birthday dinner for me, which included shrimp scampi with angel hair pasta,  a lobster tail, and a salad.  We ate about 8:00, then followed dinner with a desert of chocolate brownie cake with chocolate frosting with ice cream.  Truly scrumptious!  Thanks Ann!

Tomorrow we will packing up pretty early leaving North Ranch RV Park and heading north toward Las Vegas.  While it has been nice being in this area, it will be nice to be on the road again.


More later,

Paul

Still at North Ranch

 We are still at North Ranch RV Park just south of Congress Arizona.  We watched a lot of racing over the weekend.  Actually I watched more than Ann.  Wasnt the Daytona 500 a marathon?  With both over the air TV,  Directv , a converter box, and a VCR/DVD player that also controls the surround sound, it takes a lot of remotes to make them all work  Here is what it takes to get the job done.

 

Sunday being Valentine's Day we had to make adjustments for the Daytona 500, so I took Ann out for breakfast at a restaurant up in Yarnell, that specializes in giving you more delicious food that almost anyone can eat at one time.  Ann had the chicken fried steak which covered most of her plate including her hash browns, and it was a big plate.  I had the ham and eggs breakfast.  I got a whole center slice of ham with the bone in plus eggs and hash browns.  We still havent finished eating left overs.

 

We got back from breakfast just in time for the green flag for the race.  Perfect timing!  Then we settled in for the next several hours for the race.  A pretty good race, except for the two hour repairs.

As soon as the race was over we drove down to Wickenburg for Valentine's Day dinner.  We chose a place called "Azure" that advertised Italian food.  It was a remodeled house, with several small rooms.  The food was tasty, the desert was good, but everything was way overpriced, but those are the chances you take when eating in an unknown restaurant.

Since Monday was a holiday for Ann, we decided that we should do some sight seeing.  We left the motorhome about 10:00AM drove north to Yarnell, and had breakfast at the same place as on Sunday.  This time we only ordered the "short stack" of berry pancakes.  They were delicious, and we were able to eat most of our food.

We had heard of a place in Yarnell called the Shrine of St. Joseph of the Mountains.  We decided it was worth the effort to see it. After missing the turn and having to retrace our route for a mile or so, we found the turn, and followed the signs to the shrine.  It was quite interesting.  It was built by a World War I veteran and features statues of St. Joseph, and fourteen Stations of the Cross as you climb up the hand built stone and cement stairs.  At each station there is an explanation.  It was really quite moving and a very solemn occasion.

  

  

  

After that stop we headed on up the mountain through the twists and turn to Prescott.  Not knowing much about the city, we stopped at the tourist information center to learn what we could, and get some pointers on what we could see in an afternoon.  The lady at the information center was very nice and knowledgeable, and gave us a brief history of the town, and told us of the one museum that was open today.

We parked the car on the top of the five story parking garage and took a  picture of the county courthouse.

  

Then it was off to "The Palace" a bar on "Whiskey Row", which was the name given to all the bars on this street back in the early days of Prescott.  This bars claim to fame was that it once hosted Wyatt Earp and his friends, when they came up from Tombstone to party and gamble.  Even though the bar burned down in 1900, the towns people had time to carry the actual bar out of the building to save it.  When the building was rebuilt, the original bar returned, and is still there today.  Here is a pic of Ann at the bar where Wyatt and friends once sat.

 

Then it was off to the Sharlott Hall Museum, which is the original "Governors Mansion" for the Arizona Territory.  Quite a lot of Arizona history here.  You can really get caught up in it.  It was most interesting.

 

Got to love sundials.  It says 3:07PM if you cant read sundials.

After that it was off to Gurley's for a late lunch and a drink.

 

Then it was time to head back down the mountain.  We decided to take Hwy 69 to Interstate 17 to Phoenix, as Ann wanted to stop at Kohls to buy a new pair of walking shoes. I had remembered this Kohls being there as my brother Brian and I drove by it on our way back to Iowa with the Winnebago. It was a very uneventful trip home, and Ann got a pic of one the several hot air balloons we saw floating over North Phoenix as we came into the city.

 

The drive up to Wickenburg was peaceful as we drove into the setting sun.  A great ending to a fun day.

Paul

A Mundane Few Days

I looked at our blog today, and realized I hadnt posted since Monday.  Time continues to fly by!  We havent done much of anything exciting this week.  Ann needed to go into Scottsdale on Tuesday for a
Business Analyst meeting.  A drive that should have taken an hour and a half, took two and a half hours because some poor soul decided to walk across Interstate 10 at a place we needed to pass by on our way to Scottsdale.  Our solution, along with hundreds, if not thousands, of others, was to exit the interstate and take a surface streets to where Ann needed to go.  Not sure we could have done anything that would have made it faster, but it reminded me of why I hate driving in a city at rush hour.

On Wednesday after work Ann went into Phoenix to meet with a couple of business analysts that work for company does that does business with the company she works for. This trip to and from the city was uneventful and she had a great time meeting and visiting with some compatriots.

Today(Thursday) the TV was on about noon tuned to SpeedTV on Directv to watch the Dual 125s from Daytona Speedway.  The races were pretty good, and it nice to see a clean finish, and not have cars go upside down and every which way as we have seen in the past. Tomorrow, Saturday, and Sunday will also be filled with watching racing from Daytona.  The NASCAR Season has begun!

Speaking of NASCAR , we have purchased tickets and a camping spot for the NASCAR race in Las Vegas the weekend of the 26th through the 28th.  Ebay can be a wonderful thing!  The track will let people come into the camping area starting Noon on Monday, and we can stay till Noon the following Monday.  After we leave Las Vegas we are planning to head south to the Yuma area.

On another topic. Today I was thinking about the process we use to level the motorhome when we park.  Our Winnebago Voyage has an onboard leveling system made by HWH of Moscow Iowa.

 It has leveling indicators, but we dont find them to be very accurate, so we have developed supplemental methods of leveling.

One of them is using a small level on the counter.

 

Another method of leveling is the water in the frying pan on the stove method.

 

The final test of level is to use the bedroom and the bathroom door test.  We set the doors in different positions, and if they stay put, and if they dont try to open or close, we then decide the motothome is level.

That is about it for now.

Paul