Jim and Ginny also took us to see a couple casinos near them where we ate a couple delicious buffets. At one of the casinos the have a huge pipe organ that came from the Roxy Theater in NY. A talented organist entertained us while we had pizza there in the Pipe Organ Pizza Parlor. We had lots of fun playing dominoes and laughing a lot during our two days of visitng.
During our 10 days in Las Vegas, we did indeed go to the Strip to see the sights and lights. We made it through most of the famous casinos. While each of them does have a different theme and interesting decorations, we quickly tired of the smoke and noise. We aren't gamblers, but we tried our luck a couple of times. We dropped a total of $4.65 in the slot machines (trying to win various convertibles) and won $35 back. We quit while we were ahead.
Our favorite time to go to the Strip was at night when the city was glowing. I've always loved twinkling colored lights, and Vegas blazed with them. Besides the lights, one of the things I had wanted to see in Vegas was a show or two. So, we went to Wayne Newton's show one night and to an oldies show with The Drifters, The Platters and The Coasters another night. Both of them were very enjoyable.
Another reason for the timing of our trip to Vegas was that we wanted to help Jennifer and Dan Vandersteen move into their first home. Jennifer is like an unofficial niece to me. I have known Jennifer since she was about 5 years old. Her mother, Jane, and I have been 'heart connection' friends since meeting in Iowa in the mid-70s. Jenny & Dan became the proud parents of twin boys last year, and they were moving from an apartment into a beautiful new home they had just purchased. We thought Big Red might be useful, plus extra hands are always a plus. I even got to hold and feed both boys--what cuties!
Of course no first visit to Las Vegas would really be complete without a visit to Hoover Dam. We took the regular tour and learned a lot about this huge project. (We would have taken the full hour 'hard hat' tour, but we would have had to wait 2-1/2 hours.) The dam is definitely worth visiting.
Northwest of Las Vegas is Mt. Charleston, a snow covered alpine area which was an unexpected surprise. As we drove up there, we experienced about a 40 degree drop in temperature! It seemed strange to drive from the brown desert to the white and green mountain in such a short space of time. Tom had fun playing in the snow before we returned to the city. We do like visiting snow--we just don't want a whole winter of it!
Before leaving Las Vegas, we had the chance to meet up with some other full-timers that we had been emailing with for a couple of years. Mark Sedenquist and his wife, Megan Edwards, are just a bit younger than us and are also creatively making a living along the road. Megan is a writer whose book, "Roads from the Ashes," was published last year. She is working on a fiction novel which is set in Las Vegas, so they are in the area doing research. It was really fun to get to meet them.
After leaving Las Vegas, we headed back into Arizona to check out the Lake Havasu City area. Friends had recommended Buckskin Mtn State Park, so we settled in there for a few days. This beautiful state park is situated on the banks of the Colorado River near Parker Dam, AZ. This was a quiet, restful spot to regenerate after the hectic feel of Las Vegas.
The main tourist attraction in the area is the London Bridge. Yes, it is the real London Bridge. It was dismantled in England and reassembled in Arizona. I must admit, we were intrigued to see it, just as thousands of other tourists are each year.
The Colorado River forms the border between Arizona and California. The drive along the river is very picturesque. This region is also home to many wild burros. Typically they come out at night, but we were fortunate enough to spot a family during the day--complete with a baby burro for us to oooh and aaah over.
From Buckskin Mountain we headed down toward the border to see Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument and to meet up with our friends, Ron and Sandy Hunter. That's where the next travelogue will pick up. Until then...
