From Las Vegas to the Grand Canyon

We pulled into Trailer Village at South Rim, Grand Canyon around 4:30.  It was snowing!  This campground is full, so lots of people besides us are willing to deal with snow in order to visit the Grand Canyon. 

We had to get hooked up, eat dinner, etc., so by the time we made it to one of the Rim viewing areas, it was too dark to see much.  After that we went to the Canyon Cafe because we heard they have wifi, but the wifi was much too slow to be of any use to us.  Now I am using my cell phone to connect to the internet, using a process called tethering.  Usually Dave and I share his phone when we are on tethering, but this time we turned my phone on for tethering while we are at the Grand Canyon.  I want to be able to update my blog, you know!

Last night, since we stayed an extra night in Las Vegas because of the wind storm at the Grand Canyon, we decided to bite the bullet and go see a show.  We went to the 1/2 price ticket desk at Tahiti Village and got tickets to see Cirque du Soleil's Mystere at Treasure Island at 7 pm.  The tickets cost $135 for the two us and our seats were in the second row, side of stage left, very close to all the action.  After buying the tickets, we drove to Treasure Island to turn the ticket vouchers into real tickets, and also to locate the theater and where to park.  That all went smoothly, so we had no trouble finding a parking spot when it was time for the show.

I don't know exactly what to say about Mystere.  Was it entertaining?  Yes.  Did we enjoy it?  Yes.  Would we go to it again?  Probably not.  Was it worth the price of the tickets?  I don't really think so, but all the shows in Las Vegas cost a lot of money, so it wasn't out of line with other shows.  It was an extravagance that we enjoyed, but we wouldn't do it very often, and next time we would see a different show, just for variety.

This morning the wind was still there but had gone down considerably, so we were able to leave Las Vegas and head to the Grand Canyon.  After about 10 miles, we saw Lake Mead, which is low on water right now.

Lake Mead near Las Vegas

Lake Mead was formed when Hoover Dam was built and dammed up the Colorado River.  They are building a new highway that will go above and past the dam.  But right now, you can still drive right across the top of the dam.  First we had to stop at an inspection station where they checked some of our basement compartments to make sure we didn't have any explosives with us.  Nope, just golf clubs and soda pop.  An inspector also came inside the RV and did a cursory inspection.  Very soon, we were on our way again.  For about 30 miles, it was slow going because of the construction of the new highway.

First, we saw part of the massive power grid of electricity produced by Hoover Dam.

Then we saw the dam itself:

Here's a picture of part of the bridge of the new highway:

And an even closer look at the bridge:

                          Then we got to drive over the dam:

As we crossed over Hoover Dam, we entered Arizona.  From there on, the trip was uneventful, except when it started snowing!

Entering Grand Canyon National Park:

Snow falling on our motorhome which is parked in site F31 at Trailer Village, Grand Canyon:

Las Vegas Motorcoach Resort Review

Before I begin my review of the RV park, I want to acknowledge that this is the 1st anniversary of my open heart surgery to replace my aortic heart valve.  Yes, it was April 28, 2009, when I had the surgery.  The surgery took about five hours and Dave and Tim, who were in the surgery waiting room, were relieved when they found out that I was off the heart-lung machine and doing well.  I don't remember that part!  The recovery from that type of surgery is rough and it took many days before I felt comfortable and many more days before I could manage to sleep in any position I wanted.  But now I am all healed and I feel great.  Once again, I give thanks to God for bringing me through the ordeal and also thanks to my family and friends for standing fast with me during that difficult time.

This used to be an Outdoor Resorts park.

A year later, here we are on a six-week tour of National Parks and fun places like Las Vegas.  I read the reviews of the RV parks in Las Vegas online at a great website called RV Park Reviews.  I looked at the website of Las Vegas Motorcoach Resort and thought that the place looked nice, but I couldn't find any rates, so I assumed it was way out of our league.  I called the resort and found out that they had standard (cheapest) sites starting at $49/night.  We decided to take a chance and reserved four nights.  The reservation went smoothly and the clerk was very informative, friendly, and efficient.

When we arrived, we checked in at this lovely building.  Again, the clerk was efficient and welcoming, which set the tone for the rest of our stay at this resort park.

We were escorted to our site, where we could have gotten amenities like a BBQ and table and chairs for about $5 more per night.  And for $20 or $40 more per night we could have gotten a prime location, overlooking the pool or golf course.  No thanks, we'll take the cheapest site, thank you very much.

Site 112, one of the "cheap" standard sites

What we like about this park is that the wifi works extremely well and is included in the price.  Our Verizon cell phones work well since we are in the city.  Of course, we have full hookups with 50 amp power.  The cable TV is excellent with many channels.  Garbage is picked up every day in front of our site.  The amenities of this park are great:  1 main swimming pool and 4 ancillary swimming pools with showers and laundry area.  Wide, paved streets for the motorhome which are also good for bicycling, a 9-hole, well-maintained golf putting course (lighted), and two lighted tennis courts.  In addition they have an excellent work-out room with sauna, and a large dining/meeting room with stage.

Security gates going into and out of the park.  A friendly attendant was present every time we came in or out.

The main swimming pool with 3 jacuzzis and lots of tables and lounge chairs.

The clubhouse with large meeting room, stage, restrooms and showers, and exercise room.  A group barbecue area with tables and chairs is located on the other side of the pool fence.  The pool was very uncrowded while we were there and most of the time we were the only ones using it.

The exercise room and sauna in the clubhouse.

The pristine 9-hole lighted putting course.

One of two lighted tennis courts.

The park is located about 4 miles from The Strip, but in a quiet location that is near near shopping.  There's a diner onsite which is open for breakfast and lunch.  The park has 24-hour security with gates, so the park feels very safe despite being in Las Vegas.  This park is meticulously maintained.  Only Class A motorhomes over 25 feet in length are allowed in this park, but age of the coach doesn't seem to be a factor as long as it is presentable and well-maintained. 

Many of the sites here are owned by RVers and the sites have been improved according to the taste of the owners.  Many of them contain palapa style umbrellas, with built-in barbecues, wet bars, refrigerators, and even fireplaces, as well as comfortable tables and chairs.  Many of the owners travel throughout the park by golf cart.  It was amusing to see several golf parks parked at someone's site when they were entertaining at their improved patio area.

An improved site with palapa.

Another improved site.

This park isn't for everyone as it is truly a resort, not a campground.  We felt like we were on vacation while we were here, and we made good use of all the amenities.  Despite the fact that many sites are owned, everyone we met was friendly and we didn't feel like second-class citizens while we were here or because our coach was one of the least expensive ones in the park.  We look forward to returning to this park!

Las Vegas Hotels, Part 3

Before I write more about the Las Vegas hotels, I will mention that our son, Jonathan, completed one of the final stages of his application for the Washington State Patrol today, the psychological exam.  He had to travel to Olympia to take the test and it was supposed to take up to five hours, but he finished it in three hours.  He said the test was boring.  He finds out on Monday if he passed.  He has been offered a position at the academy as a cadet and will start on July 15, conditional on passing this psych exam.  He first applied for the Patrol last July, so this has been a long process for him, but he has passed every one of the many stages of the application.  We're proud of you, Jonathan!

Dave wrote about the windy weather and our decision to postpone our trip to the Grand Canyon by one day.  He's right, we aren't too unhappy about having to spend another day in Las Vegas.  Everyone is telling us that six days is too many for the Grand Canyon, so this will whittle our time there down to five days.  We had four days (nights) in St. George, which wasn't quite enough, five in Zion and Bryce, which wasn't enough, and now we'll have five nights in Las Vegas, which should be just right. 

Dave finished his blog before me today because I decided to take a nap this afternoon, and yes, it felt good.  The lack of sleep at night and our busy days finally caught up with me.  Now, on to posting about the today's hotels.

As Dave blogged, our attempt to get show tickets didn't work out.  We are just cheapskates, I guess, but $70 or more per person just seemed like too much to pay for tickets, even if they were good seats. 

We got an excellent parking spot at the Bellagio and went to the conservatory to enjoy the flower display.  It was wonderful and smelled great!  I would have liked to stay there all day. 

The Bellagio Hotel and Casino, which turned out to be one of our favorites.  Light, airy, smelled good, what's not to like!  We didn't get to see the famous fountains because we were there too early.  We saw them Saturday night when we drove The Strip and I definitely want to return to see the full display.

We went across the street to Paris.  We went on the Eiffel Tour ride.  We had a 2 for 1 ticket, so we both rode for $10.50 total.  This ride was the only Las Vegas ride we experienced, and it was well worth the price.  It would have been even more spectacular at night.  We enjoyed looking at the 360 degree view of the city.

South view of The Strip from the top of the 1/2-sized Eiffel Tower  at Paris Hotel

The Paris Hotel and Casino

Even the registration lobby was elegant

A necessary part of any hotel visit, but more fun when the sign is in French.

Even the inside of Les Toilettes was impressive and in keeping with the Paris theme!

We rode the tram from the Bellagio to the Monte Carlo Hotel and Casino but we weren't too impressed with that hotel, expect for the magnificent swimming area with wave pool and lazy river.

Swimming pool at the Monte Carlo.

The Venetian, Bellagio, and Paris were my three favorite hotels.  But we won't be staying in them because we are staying in our own, very fine Bounder Hotel without casino.  Tomorrow, I promise, I will write about our stay here at Las Vegas Motorcoach Resort.  And I will post pictures.  Stay tuned!

Las Vegas Hotels, Part 2

A big welcome to my latest blog followers, Happytrails and Randy and Pam Warner.  Thank you both for tuning in!  Click on their names to see their profiles and to check out their blogs.  Both couples have fairly recently become full-time RVers, and both are Christian.

This morning we followed the same pattern as yesterday, which was to get to The Strip as early as possible and then come back to the RV by 1 pm in order to avoid the hot afternoon sun.  It's 2 pm now, and 86 degrees, which I know is not hot for Las Vegas, but it's hot for us!  We have been enjoying the bright blue skies of Las Vegas, though! 

Today we parked at the Venetian, and upon our son Tim's recommendation, we made sure we checked out both the inside and the outside of that hotel.  It is a spectacular hotel and I think it's our favorite so far.  There was lots to see inside and the interior felt light and airy compared to some of the other, darker interiors of hotels.

The fountain outside the Venetian

The ceiling which imitates Michaelangelo is very beautiful in person.

St. Mark's Square at The Venetian Hotel.  This is indoors, so the sky is fake, but looks real.

Statue street art.  This was a woman posing as a statue.  We would have thought it was an actual statue except that people were taking pictures of her and leaving tips.

This was a walkway that we took on the way back to our car.  We were hot and tired and this area felt so pleasant and refreshing.

After thoroughly exploring the Venetian and it's sister hotel, the Palazzo, we walked across the street to The Mirage Hotel.

The grounds of the Mirage were beautiful, and so were parts of the interior of the hotel.  From there we walked south to Caesar's Palace.  That place is huge!  We took lots of pictures both inside and out.  To us, the casinos at all the hotels looked alike.  We aren't gamblers, so we don't appreciate the casinos.

One of the many views of Caesar's Palace.  The place is too large to fit in one picture.

Fountains outside Caesar's Palace.  All the buildings in this picture are part of Caesar's Palace.  I like to take pictures of water and waterfalls and fountains.  For one thing, it makes me feel cooler to be around water!

From Caesar's Palace, we walked back to the Mirage and took the free tram from there to Treasure Island.  That hotel interior disappointed us because it didn't follow the Treasure Island theme from the exterior of the hotel.  My pictures of the exterior, the pirate ship, etc. didn't turn out well.

Part of the exterior of Treasure Island

Stay tuned for Las Vegas Hotels, Part 3 tomorrow when we plan to visit Paris and the Bellagio.  I will also post some pictures of Las Vegas Motorcoach Resort.

Las Vegas Hotels, Part 1

I  will be posting more pictures of this magnificent RV park, Las Vegas Motorcoach Resort, formerly Signature Resorts.  We are enjoying this park very much.  Our site, #112, is a haven for us to come back to after the hustle and bustle and glitz of Las Vegas Boulevard (The Strip).

Our little slice of heaven, site #112

This morning we parked at Mandalay Bay, which is about 4 miles from the RV park. From there we saw that hotel and grounds, the Luxor, Excalibur, and New York, New York. After viewing those four hotels, it was getting hot out and we were getting tired, so we took the free tram back to Mandalay Bay and worked our way through the hotel to get back to where we parked our car.

Mandalay Bay Hotel and Casino

Waterfall outside Mandalay Bay

The Luxor Hotel with tram tracks in front

Outside the Luxor

The Excalibur Hotel

New York, New York Hotel

The Statue of Liberty outside of New York, New York

By now we were thoroughly hot and tired, so we decided to see the rest of the hotels tomorrow.  We had one final stop to make, the place that was on Dave's list of things to see in Las Vegas:

Gold and Silver Pawn Shop, as featured in the show Pawn Stars, shown on the History Channel.