Category Archives: Nevada

Alpine SoCal Pahrump Grape Stomp Rally: 29 Sept – 03 Oct 2016 (Pahrump, NV)

2016/10/31 davidhobden@mac.com

I’m going to make this post short (very little narrative) and let the pictures speak for themselves since it’s so long overdue because of my laptop and photo download issues that I spoke about HERE.

Link HERE for website info on the Lakeside Casino & RV Park.

Our spot at the Rally:

Our schedule for the rally:

Boat House / Meeting Room where we had one of our evening meals and some of our breakfasts:

Alpine SoCal members:

Some views around the RV Park:

Pahrump Valley Museum (←link):

Happy Alpiner’s doing what we do best (eating and socializing) 🙂

Evening social hour:

Stilla and I visited the Chicken Ranch (made famous from the 1982 movie starring Dolly Parton & Burt Reynolds) located just a stone throw away from the RV Park. They give G-rated tours for the tourists and have a nice bar area for visitors.

Day trip through Death Valley National Park:

Back at the RV Park:

Pahrump Wine Stomp (←link):

Members at the Wine Stomp event:

Our final evening’s social hour gathering:

Another highly successful SoCal Rally thanks to host(s) Jim & Stephanie Archer along with cohost(s) Sandy & Debi Johnson! Read more about the Wine Stomp Rally on our Alpine SoCal Quarterly Newsletter “The Matterhorn” (←link here). Stephanie Archer did a great write up on our time here.

Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas

Westward Bound – Racing to the Rally (TX to NV)

2016/10/31 davidhobden@mac.com

After a good nights rest at the Amarillo, TX Elks Lodge on Monday the 26th, we continued west on I-40 where we stopped briefly at the Cadillac Ranch (←link). Check out the link to the left or click here for more information from Wikipedia® on this popular roadside attraction that was created in 1974.

We were able to park the Urban Escape Vehicle on the frontage road alongside I-40 and walk out to the cars.

We even added our proverbial “2-cents” worth of spray paint, which is encouraged by the way.

Look at the many layers of paint that have been applied by tourists over the years (below).

There was even a young entrepreneur, who had set up a temporary stand (on his tailgate) by the entrance gate. He was selling chunks of the multiple layers of hardened spray paint that had fallen off the cars. He carved these chunks of multi-colored spray paint into various shapes and made key chains, refrigerator magnets, etc., Pretty cool, but we didn’t buy any. And sorry, I forgot to take pictures of them.

Close up view of the hundreds, if not thousands of layers of spray paint on the old Cadillacs.

We finally made it to the New Mexico border around mid-day on the 27th.

Just after the Texas/New Mexico border we stopped at Russell’s Truck Stop & Museum (←link). Another cool Route 66 themed attraction, but this one was was free 🙂 We took a quick tour:

While at Russell’s Truck Stop & Museum, I noticed a tire service bay around back so I stopped to ask where I might be able to get a front end alignment and/or new tires. I’ve noticed that the Urban Escape Vehicle has been pulling slightly to the right ever since we left Bowling Green, KY and it’s been getting worse. I even wasted an hour or more a few days earlier when we were just outside Memphis because I stopped to check with several tire related businesses there to see if they did RV alignments and to maybe get it checked out. Every place I stopped at either didn’t do RV alignments and/or didn’t have reasonably priced new tires in stock. One shop recommended that I just rotate the tires because I still have plenty of tread depth, just abnormal wear. Anyway, I’ve been on the lookout for an RV service center or other qualified place ever since Memphis. Once again, this place (Russell’s) didn’t do alignments either, but they recommended a place just down the highway, Terry’s Truck Service.

Check out the unusual wear in the pictures below. The driver’s side appears to be wearing more on the inside of the tire whereas the passenger side is wearing more on the outside.

Left front tire as viewed from front of coach. Wheels are turned to the left for photo.

Right front tire as viewed from rear. Wheels are turned to the left for photo.

We found Terry’s Truck Service Center (sorry no website link) with the directions we got from the Russell’s Truck Stop & Museum service guy. Terry’s didn’t have the equipment to do an alignment but the technician checked out my tires and suggested I just rotate the tires and he commented that he’s seen this kind of wear before on some substandard brands of tires. My tires are 11R22.5’s made by Hankook. I had new tires put on a little over 4 years ago (March 2012) and have approximately 30k miles on them. As most RV’ers already know; it’s highly recommended that you replace tires every 5 years, 7 years at the most, regardless of how good the tread may still be.

They (Terry’s Truck Service) charged me $53 to rotate the front tires. It made all the difference in the world… the Coach tracks straight and true once more. It’s like driving a new Coach again. Weird, huh?!? But I’m still going to get an alignment soon along with new tires. I think I’ll just replace the front tires in the very near future and wait until next year to replace the rear ones in order to spread out the financial burden.

We continued on and finally made Albuquerque by the evening of the 27th. Another long travel day – about 290 miles.

We chose to stay at the Enchanted Trails RV Park & Trading Post in Albuquerque and paid $18 with our Passport America discount. The main reason we chose to stay at this park is because some friends and fellow Alpine Coach Owners, Mike & Donna Kuper happened to be there. I follow Mikes blog at FlyingtheKoop.com and was aware of their location which happened to be along our route.

(L to R) Stilla, Donna & Mike Kuper in front of their Alpine Coach.

Mike & Donna graciously invited us to eat with them outside their coach after we got parked and settled. We enjoyed some adult beverages while we caught up with each other’s recent travels since we were last together in Lake Havasu at the Fireworks Rally back in February. Thanks Mike & Donna! It was great seeing you again, and hopefully it won’t be so long to the next time 🙂

On the morning of the 28th, we hit the road again and set our sites on reaching Kingman AZ. We heard of an Elks Lodge there that has dry camping spots available to travelers at no cost. Additionally, we knew that if we reached Kingman, we could easily make the final leg of our trip to Pahrump NV in order to make it to our Alpine SoCal Rally in time for the scheduled Rally kickoff on the 29th.

View of I-40 nearing the New Mexico/Arizona border.

470 miles later, yup! – you heard right – 470 miles later we pulled into the Elks Lodge in Kingman, AZ on the evening of the 28th.

We drove onto their old (no longer used) tennis courts and dropped jacks, put out the slides, and ran up the satellite dish. We went inside the lodge for a couple adult beverages and then went back to the coach for some much needed rest.

On the morning of the 29th, we left Kingman and headed north on Hwy 93 towards Las Vegas. The following pictures are coming up to and crossing the new bridge by Hoover Dam. This was the first time we’ve used the new bridge (←Wikipedia® link), on previous trips we always had to drive across the dam itself.

Hoover Dam as seen from Mike O’Callaghan-Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge.

After skirting Las Vegas we continued west on NV-160 and made Pahrump by early afternoon… plenty of time to check in and join the Alpine SoCal group for social hour (meet & greet) and pizza.

My next post will cover our fun times at the Alpine SoCal Rally in Pahrump, NV. I promise to get caught up soon as I continue to work through the computer and photo issues that I discussed earlier in this post (←link). Stay tuned…

Nevada

Scumbag Bicycle Thieves & Saying Goodbye to the Kids (Main Street Station RV Park – Las Vegas, NV)

2015/10/30 davidhobden@mac.com 2 Comments

No post yesterday (Thursday) because I was at the police station first thing in the morning reporting the theft of our bicycles 🙁

We did a lot of running around all day with the kids to various places in Las Vegas and when we got back to the Coach late Wednesday night we found the bicycle lock on the ground between our Coach and Steven/Cheryl’s Class-C. Some scumbag(s) cut the chain. We could clearly see the tell-tale signs of bolt cutters on the tumbler portion of the lock.

Cut bicycle chain on the ground where our bicycles used to be.

We flagged down one of the security vehicles that occasionally roamed the parking area here at the Main Street Station RV Park and the guard went to get his supervisor. When they returned, they took my statement, a couple pictures, and left again. They returned later with a copy of my report.

I also called the police to report the theft of our bicycles and was told to go online to fill out a report.

As you can see from the screenshot (above), that didn’t go too well… so I called the police again and was told I had to come to the station in the morning to fill out a report. Luckily, the police station was only a few blocks away, but it took a while and then we still had to break camp to check out by noon. We were scheduled to leave and convoy with my Mom, Stepdad, Aunt Kathy, and brother Steve & Cheryl to visit my brother Ronald in Westley, CA. He was waiting on us.

Unfortunately, I only had paperwork on my bike. I couldn’t find a receipt or serial number for Stilla’s. Another lesson learned! I also quickly came to the realization that I didn’t have good photos of the bikes. I had to browse through my photo albums for a long time to find the following ones:

Older photo (earlier this year) of our bicycles on the bike rack.

Old photo (last year) of our bikes on the bike rack.

Old photo (circa. 2 yrs old) of our bicycles.

So, if anyone sees these bikes running around Las Vegas or on the road somewhere, please let someone know…

They were both Specialized™ bikes:

Mine was a “Rockhopper 29er”, Black/Grey color. Ser # WSBC602362842F, It had a Topeak rack on the back and a “Criterium” sticker near the neck. This sticker was the logo (it looks like a Colorado license plate) from the bike shop in Colorado Springs where it was purchased in 2011 for ~$1,300. Another identifying feature is the rear-mounted kickstand.

Stilla’s was a female bike, primary white color with purple and green accent stripes. We think it was a “MYKA” model. It had a removable metal mesh basket on the front that we used to transport little Coach in (below):

Anyway… we still had a lot of fun with the kids and my relatives here in LV with the exception of the bicycle thefts and the stingy slot machines 🙂

The kids did the haunted house thing at Circus Circus and we all met up there to say our goodbyes late Wednesday night.

(L to R) Dylan, Joleen, William, Jasmin, and Stilla.

Some of us even toured the lower part of Fremont Street later where the Container Park (←link here) is located. Here’s some more pics of that:

A giant praying mantis mounted on a truck spewed flames at us in front of the Container Park. Pretty cool…

And our time here in Las Vegas has come to an end. William & Jasmin took their rental car and headed back to Colorado Springs (COS). They will stop at Grand Canyon on their way back and will still have a few days in COS before they have to fly back to Germany. Joleen & Dylan rode back with their friend, Dalton. We heard they made it back to COS late Thurday evening.

And oh, by-the-way… we never went back to the Neon Boneyard Museum. We found out that tickets are ~$25 and you have to schedule far in advance for the hour-long tour. Maybe another time…

We convoyed straight through to Westley, CA from Las Vegas yesterday (Thursday) with my Mom, stepdad, Aunt Kathy, Steven & Cheryl. We got here at 9:30 PM. I wrote about our last visit here in this post. I’ll update you on our visit here in my next post. Stay tuned…

Nevada

Alpines & Buffets (Main Street Station RV Park – Las Vegas, NV)

2015/10/28 davidhobden@mac.com

We got to meet Larry Lewis and his wife Rita from the NorthWest Alpine Coach Association (NoWACA) Chapter. It’s always good to meet other Alpine owners 🙂 Larry & Rita did an overnight stay here at the Main Street Station RV Park on Tuesday and Larry came over to introduce himself after they pulled in. I got the chance to talk with them more this morning (Wednesday) before they pulled out for the Phoenix area. Larry showed me the really cool MCD shades they had recently installed in his 2007 Limited SE. I really liked the electrically operated shades on the inside of his windshield.

Larry & Rita Lewis’s Coach at the Main Street Station RV Park in Las Vegas.

Safe Travels Larry & Rita! See you in Quartzsite next year 🙂

The big event for the day on our Tuesday here in Las Vegas was a visit to the Bacchanal Buffet at Caesars Palace (←link here).

According to the website: “Leave it to Las Vegas to revolutionize the classic buffet concept. Using a $100 million budget, Bacchanal completely reinvented the traditional buffet in 2012, with modern food presentations and an upscale setting. Approximately 15 daily chef’s specials are added to the daily menu, and they change depending on products, season and chef’s whims. Can’t choose between the truffle scalloped potatoes and sweet potato tots? Try both! Mini salads such as the watermelon and feta let you try several separately dished items at a time. Fill your plates to the top with prime rib, chilled king crab legs and roasted South Carolina shrimp and grits, or oak-grilled lamb chops, hand-made dim sum, pho and baked-to-order soufflés. Read more about Bacchanal Buffet on Total Vegas Blog.”

Entrance line to the Bacchanal Buffet at Caesars Palace.

Sample of a serving line at the Bacchanal Buffet at Caesars Palace (I think there were about 10 of these!)

Waiting in line at the Bacchanal Buffet, Caesars Palace LV.

(L to R) My Stepdad Jim; my brother Steven; my youngest daughter Joleen’s boyfriend Dylan; son William; and myself)

(L to R) My Aunt Kathy (my Mom’s sister); our youngest daughter Joleen; my Mom; Stilla;. and my brother Steven’s girlfriend Cheryl.

Man was it good! But, also pricey… we paid ~$95 for two people after they tacked on an 18% gratuity since our party had more than 8 people.

Afterwards we hung out with the kids at Caesars Palace and supported the slots and electronic BlackJack table for a while. Later on, the kids all came back over to Fremont Street to close out the night. Fun times for all 🙂

Check back later for more LV adventure… We’ll have to say goodbye to all the kids tomorrow (Thursday) and then we’ll convoy with my brother Steven, Cheryl, Stepdad Jim, Mom, and Aunt Kathy (in their Class-C) on to California to visit our brother Ronald. We have a 90th birthday celebration for an Uncle to attend at his place there in Westley, CA.

In other news: my IPhoto Library got corrupted somehow this morning, so I had to perform a work-around to get a few pictures on today’s post. I had to email myself pictures from my iPhone. Hopefully, I can get it fixed again for tomorrow… because as usual – I always have lots of pictures to share 🙂

Nevada

The Gang’s All Here ! (Main Street Station RV Park – Las Vegas, NV)

2015/10/27 davidhobden@mac.com

On Monday morning we said goodbye to the new friends that we met at the Saint George, UT Elks Lodge (Don & Fannie France). I mentioned them in a previous post HERE. They were also here with us at the Main Street Station RV Park, but unfortunately we didn’t find time to get with them again due to the kids arriving and all our other activities. Maybe we’ll see them sometime down the road in the future. Safe travels Don & Fannie!

Don & Fannie France’s HDT and 5th Wheel.

Don & Fannie France’s HDT and 5th Wheel. (Notice the Smart Car on the back of the HDT.

We just hung out at the Coach most of the day and waited for the gang to arrive from Casa Grande. My Mom, Stepdad Jim, Steven & Cheryl left the “dirt farm” at 6 AM and stopped in Phoenix (Sun City Grand) to pick up my mom’s sister, Kathy. They finally got here in the late afternoon and parked next to us 🙂

(L to R) Cheryl, Steve, Jim, Mom, Aunt Kathy in front of their ‘new-to-them’ Class-C.

We all went over to Circus Circus to get some food and meet up with all the kids, who were expected to be there. You may remember from my last post that our son William and his girlfriend Jasmin took a room at Treasure Island with our daughter Joleen and her boyfriend Dylan. The kids showed up and everyone got to see them for a short while before they headed over to the Stratosphere. We finished a good meal at the Circus Circus restaurant, Vince Neil’s Eat•Drink•Party and spent a little time checking out the slots before we headed back to the RV Park.

My younger brother Steven and his long-time girlfriend Cheryl.

Once back at the RV Park, Steve, Cheryl, and Aunt Kathy turned in early while Stilla, I, Mom, and Jim walked over to the Fremont Street Experience which is only a couple blocks from the park. We left a little more change in the slots and had a late-night snack before turning in ourselves.

Check back tomorrow to see what we get into next…

Nevada

Willi Moves Out & Haunted House Visit (Main Street Station RV Park – Las Vegas, NV)

2015/10/26 davidhobden@mac.com

Stilla went shopping this morning (Sunday) with William and Jasmin while I finished up yesterday’s blog post. When they got back to the RV Park, Will & Jasmin packed up their stuff to move over to the Treasure Island Hotel & Casino. They will share a room with Joleen & Dylan for the next several days. For those of you just joining the blog – Joleen is our youngest daughter and Dylan is her long-time boyfriend since high school. They flew in from Colorado Springs while William and his girlfriend Jasmin drove their rental car to get here. William & Jasmin are on a three-week vacation from Germany.

Here’s their view of the strip from the 34th floor of Treasure Island (TI):

After moving Will & Jasmin into their room at TI, we all drove over to Dylan’s grandparents house on the outskirts of Las Vegas. ‘Mike & Karen Early’ invited us all to their house for a quick visit and then dinner at a small local pizzeria.

Dylan’s parents were already at Mike & Karen’s house when we arrived after going through the stringent security at the gate. Mike gave us the nickel-tour of their beautiful home that backs-up to the 18th hole on the golf course.

Mike treated us all to a great dinner. Thanks Mike & Karen! 🙂

After a great meal of pasta, pizza, salad, and more, we said our goodbyes to Mike & Karen and the rest of us drove over to a haunted house.

The Trilogy of Terror is rated as the best haunted house in Las Vegas and according the Freakling Bros. website; the “4th Best Haunted Attraction in the World.”

We chose to take the ‘scariest’ of the three haunted house tours. And it was definitely well done – if you’re looking for a scare, go on this one 😐 The cost was $15 pp and the photos afterwards were an additional $15.

Here’s the photos we bought after taking the tour:

Fun times ! We said goodbye to Dylan’s parents Kelly & Jeff. They’re flying back to Colorado Springs on Monday.

We went back to TI and spent the rest of the evening with Will & Jasmin, Joleen & Dylan, and their friend Dalton.

The Treasure Island slots weren’t very friendly to us and we called it a night after a few hours. Stilla and I drove William’s rental car back to the RV park and we turned in for the rest of the night (early-morning).

My Mom, her sister Kathy, my Stepdad, and brother Steve, along with his girlfriend Cheryl are on their way here from Casa Grande, AZ this morning as I finish up this post. The ‘Find My Friends’ app on the iPhone reports them as being near Wickenburg, AZ right now. Yoo Hoo! More fun-times to come…

Nevada

Hoover Dam (Main Street Station RV Park – Las Vegas, NV)

2015/10/25 davidhobden@mac.com

On Saturday morning we decided to go check out Hoover Dam. We haven’t been there since they completed the new bridge, and it would be the first time for William’s girlfriend, Jasmin.

We all – (Self, Stilla, William, Jasmin, and little Coach) piled into Williams’ rental car (a VW Jetta) and took lake Mead Blvd to Lakeshore Rd through Lake Mead National Recreation Area. I was able to save us the entry fees by showing my disabled veterans access pass.

Here’s a view of downtown LV from the outskirts (below).

The Lake Mead National Rec Area wasn’t too spectacular (no cliffs or cool rock formations)… but then again – we’re probably spoiled from the beauty and grandeur of our recent Lake Powell visit. We drove by the Lake Mead RV Village, but didn’t have time to stop and check it out this time. Here’s a map.

When we exited the National Rec Area near Boulder City, we stopped at the Alan Bible Visitor Center before heading over to the Dam.

Entrance to the Alan Bible Visitor Center near Hoover Dam.

There was a nice terrain model and interactive display of the Lake Mead area inside the Visitor Center:

Terrain model depicts the new bridge next to Hoover Dam.

View from the back of the Alan Bible Visitor Center. (Lake Mead in the distance on the left and Hoover Dam Lodge on the right).

I tried to get William & Jasmin to hug a cactus…

they didn’t fall for it 🙂

We headed over to the Dam.

Here’s the new bridge…

We couldn’t park in the main visitor center parking lot because we had little “Coach” with us. The parking attendant told us we had to go across the dam to Parking Area 9 and someone would have to stay with the dog 🙁

(L to R) Jasmin, Stilla, Coach, and William.

Jasmin & William at Hoover Dam (south-side).

Stilla stayed in the parking area with little Coach while the rest of us walked out on the Dam.

William & Jasmin walked across the Dam to the Main Visitor Center while I went back to Stilla and Coach at the car. I drove back across the dam to pick them up on the other side after ~15-20 minutes. Unfortunately, Will & Jasmin found the Visitor Center was temporarily closed for renovations.

We drove back to the parking area for the Mike O’Callaghan – Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge: “An arch bridge in the United States that spans the Colorado River between the states of Arizona and Nevada. The bridge is located within the Lake Mead National Recreation Area approximately 30 miles (48 km) southeast of Las Vegas, Nevada, and carries U.S. Route 93 over the Colorado River. Opened in 2010, it was the key component of the Hoover Dam Bypass project, which rerouted US 93 from its previous routing along the top of Hoover Dam and removed several hairpin turns and blind curves from the route. It is jointly named for Mike O’Callaghan, Governor of Nevada from 1971–1979, and Pat Tillman, an American football player who left his career with the Arizona Cardinals to enlist in the United States Army and was later killed in Afghanistan by friendly fire.” (ref. Wikipedia®)

Once again, we couldn’t take the dog along. Huge signs in the parking area prohibit pets on the bridge and leaving them alone in the parking lot. This time, I stayed with little Coach at the car while Stilla, Will & Jasmin walked up the steps to go out on the bridge walkway.

Hoover Dam as viewed from the Memorial Bridge Walkway.

After Stilla and the others returned from the walkway, we drove across the bridge to see what it was like… unfortunately, the bridge has high concrete sides so you can’t see anything while driving across 🙁 I guess they want tourists to stop at the walkway.

We returned to our spot at the Main Street Station RV Park and hung out until dark. Then we drove a couple blocks over to the Neon Museum Boneyard.

And just our luck… the museum was closed for a private event 🙁 We’ll have to come back another time.

I drove Stilla, Will, and Jasmin down to the MGM Grand Hotel & Casino on the south-side of the strip. They hung out with our daughter Joleen and her boyfriend Dylan (and others) until late in the night. I drove back to the Coach and watched some TV until 11 PM or so, and then tried my luck in a couple of the casinos near our RV park and Fremont Street. I’m still ahead (right now)… hopefully we can stay that way 🙂

Check back later to see what we’re up to next… my Mom, Stepdad, brother Steve and his girlfriend Cheryl are due to arrive here from Casa Grande, AZ on the 26th. I reserved them a spot. We’re looking forward to that 🙂

Nevada

Just Another Day in Vegas! (Main Street Station RV Park – Las Vegas, NV)

2015/10/24 davidhobden@mac.com

We had another busy, busy, day running around checking out the sites here in Las Vegas with our son William and his girlfriend Jasmin. Later on we met up with our daughter Joleen and her boyfriend Dylan, among others 🙂 Follow along…

After Stilla made omelettes in the Coach for us, we plugged Rick’s Restorations (←link here) into the iPhone to get directions and drove William’s rental car to their new location. Yup, that’s right – Rick’s Restorations recently (6-wks ago) moved to a new location. It’s a good thing I used the iPhone and didn’t try to navigate there from memory 😐 Check out my blog post from our visit last year, (HERE).

Rick’s Restorations (new location in LV)

We took the $5 tour and got to see Rick himself running around the shop several times. I like this TV series/reality show – one of my favorites. This new location is certainly larger than the old one, but the tour seemed shorter for some reason. Still cool to see tho 🙂

Old vehicles at Rick’s Restorations in LV awaiting possible possible resurrection.

William showed Jasmin this 1960 Cadillac… he used to have a ’62 for a short while when he still lived with us in Colorado Springs.

After our tour of Rick’s Restorations – we drove down Las Vegas Ave in North LV to the site of the Pawn Stars (←link here) TV show. I also wrote about our visit to this place last year (HERE).

We took the free tour which really just consists of a quick walk through the Pawn Shop, elbow-to-elbow with all the other tourists. I personally don’t watch this TV series/reality show very often – if at all. But it was fun to see.

Will & Jasmin posed with a cutout of Rick at the back of the store.

And then we drove over to Count’s Kustoms – the site of the TV series/reality show ‘Counting Cars‘. We also visited this place last year, click (HERE) to see that posting.

Will & Jasmin in front of Count’s Kustoms; site of the TV show Counting Cars.

This tour was also free, but we didn’t get to see any of the TV personalities or the shop itself, -just the cars on display along with the gift shop. I got the T-shirt last year. I also like this show and will watch it and/or record it when it’s on.

William & Jasmin at Count’s Kustoms in LV.

Here are some of the cars that you might remember from the TV series if you’re familiar with it…

After our tour of Count’s Kustoms, we met up with our daughter Joleen and her boyfriend Dylan at the Luxor Hotel Casino. Joleen & Dylan flew in from Colorado Springs on the 22nd and are staying at the New York-New York Hotel Casino next door.

We bought tickets for a couple of the exhibits on site at the Luxor. Click HERE to learn more about Bodies and the Titanic exhibit.

We couldn’t take any pictures inside either of these exhibits. They ask everyone to turn their cell phones off at the entrance. I’m guessing they don’t want people posting pics and videos to youTube, otherwise no one would pay for the tours. Both were pretty cool exhibits… I’d recommend them. The prices were a little steep tho 🙁

We went back to the Coach in North LV to get refreshed and check on little dog ‘Coach’ who was enjoying some alone-time in the air-conditioning. Then later on, we drove back down the strip (whew-what a long drive) to New York-New York and valet parked the car. Here we met up again with Joleen & Dylan. Their friend, Dalton also joined us… he drove straight through from Colorado Springs the day before.

(L to R) Dalton, Jasmin, Joleen, Dylan, Stilla, and William inside New York-New York Hotel Casino in LV.

We spent the evening together casino-hopping and walking (way-to-much) from casino to casino.

(L to R) Dylan, Joleen, William, Jasmin, Stilla, and self on the LV strip.

We caught the water show in front of the Bellagio.

Stilla, Jasmin, and William at the Bellagio water show in LV.

We had a chance encounter with Dylan’s parents (and their friends) while walking down the strip. They flew in on a different flight than Dylan & Joleen and are here to catch some shows, etc., Dylan’s grandparents also live in LV, we might get a chance to visit with them later.

Dylan’s parents: Jeff on the right, and Kelley in the center.

After a few more casino stops, one tram ride, and much walking… we ended up at the Linq Hotel & Casino.

(L to R) Stilla, self, Joleen, and Jasmin.

A fun day… albeit a long one 🙂 After we recover from all the walking, we might go check out Hoover Dam today (Saturday). Check back for a full update 🙂

Nevada, Utah

Yay! William and Jasmine are Here! (Main Street Station RV Park – Las Vegas, NV)

2015/10/23 davidhobden@mac.com 2 Comments

We left the Elks Lodge in Saint George Utah a little later than expected on Thursday. But it was for a good reason… we heard through Facebook that good friends Orman and Susie Claxton were coming through town on their way back home to Gold Canyon AZ. We know Orman and Susie through the Alpine Coach Association and have met up with them a couple of times in our travels., e.g., Hwy-101 (Tillamook, OR); the FMCA Rally (Redmond, OR); and most recently in Yellowstone. Orman is a factory trained and certified Aqua-Hot technician… he serviced ours in Quartzsite earlier this year (link HERE).

The Urban Escape Vehicle at the Saint George UT Elks Lodge.

We waited a little after noon-time for Orman & Suzie to arrive at the Elks Lodge.

Orman & Suzie Claxton roll into the Saint George Elks Lodge.

Orman’s new truck.

We went inside the lodge to get them checked in and found out the lodge had hot dogs and sliders at a buffet table for donations.

After catching up with Orman & Suzie, we headed on down to Las Vegas. Safe travels Orman & Suzie! See you in Quartzsite next year 🙂

After an uneventful 120-mile drive and a quick fuel stop, we checked in at the Main Street Station RV Park in North Las Vegas. We’re packed in like sardines here, but it’s only $19 per night for 50 Amp full hook-ups and only a block or two from Fremont Street.

Our son William and his girlfriend Jasmine arrived around 8 PM after their 2-day road trip from Colorado Springs. They drove through 4-corners and spent the night in Blanding, UT. Then they visited Goosenecks State Park, Monument Valley, and then drove to Lake Powell (Page, AZ) where we just were for the Alpine Coach Rally. They visited Antelope Canyon and Glen Canyon Dam before driving through to Las Vegas.

After Will & Jasmine got refreshed from their long travel day(s), we walked over to Fremont Street.

It was a late night. We gave Will & Jasmine our bed and pulled out the couch for us. They’ll stay here in the Coach with us until Sunday. Then they’ll share a hotel room with our daughter Joleen and her boyfriend Dylan over at Treasure Island until the 29th.

Here’s a picture of our spot at the RV Park this morning (Friday):

Urban Escape Vehicle packed in at the Main Street Station RV Park. (Will & Jasmine’s rental car is parked next to the SIlverado)

View of the Main Street Station Casino Brewery Hotel from the RV Park.

Stay tuned… we’re looking forward to spending time with William & Jasmine while checking out all the sights here in LV 🙂

Nevada, Utah

Ma Time (Las Vegas, NV)

2014/09/29 davidhobden@mac.com

It’s been a busy few days since my last post. I’ll try to get caught up here.

We found a (somewhat) quiet corner of the truck stop in Barstow for Thursday evening as I mentioned in my last blog post. Here’s a picture I took Friday morning before we headed on up I-15 to Las Vegas.

About 150 miles later we passed the Welcome to Nevada sign:

We found a RV park by using the “Points of Interest” option on the Rand McNally GPS. Of course, I researched it quickly on the internet to validate it’s authenticity. It was a very reasonable $20 per night.

We ended up at the Main Street Station Casino, Brewery, Hotel & RV Park near the famous (or infamous) Fremont Street. That’s on the North side of Las Vegas. I called ahead to confirm a spot and they assigned me to site 200… and what are the odds – we were parked right next to another Alpine Coach! With only ~1,400 Coaches ever built between the years 1999 and 2009, that’s a somewhat rare occurrence. Unfortunately, we never got to meet the owners in the two days we were there. They were always seemed to be out and about at the times we were in the park.

It wasn’t long after we arrived that we were met by my brother Steve, his long-time girlfriend Cheryl along with my Mom and Stepdad in their chauffeured Escalade. They have a time-share of sorts with Wyndham Resorts which is where they were staying. The limousine service is courtesy of the resort.

They took us to Caesars Palace to enjoy the Bacchanal Buffet.

The food was excellent albeit rather expensive. All the dishes are prepared by Chef’s. Here’s a link to learn more if interested: http://www.caesarspalace.com/restaurants/bacchanal-buffet.html#.VCorPUtGGQc

And then we supported the local economy by playing the slots.

Here’s an indication of how our evening went… notice that the “7’s” aren’t on the payline 🙁

Here’s my beautiful Ma and wonderful stepdad! Love ya mom & Jimmy.

Obligatory picture of one of the Las Vegas signs.

We spent the rest of the evening touring the Fremont Street Experience. For those of you that have never been, here’s a link: http://vegasexperience.com

The light show is pretty cool.

And there were lots of characters walking the street… many of whom I couldn’t post to this blog in order to maintain something less than an “R” rating.

This is the zip-line that runs above the street. You can see some people getting ready to go in the second picture below.

These folks got stuck and had to be rescued.

We ended up at the Heart Attack Grill, http://www.heartattackgrill.com for a late night “light” snack 🙂

On Saturday morning, we said goodbye to my Mom, Stepdad, Steve & Cheryl after a hearty breakfast at the Plaza Hotel’s Hash-a-go-go http://www.plazahotelcasino.com/dining/hash_house_a_go_go They have to get back home to Las Cruces to go on diets 🙂

After breakfast and goodbye hugs… Stilla and I then spent the rest of our Saturday checking out a few local tourist attractions… the first was one of my favorite’s, the site of American Restoration.

The free guided tour through the shop was really neat, but they don’t allow photos inside because customers haven’t seen their finished restoration projects yet.

I pulled the truck up front for a photo-op. Rick didn’t come out to offer to restore the Harley for me 🙁

I did get the T-Shirt at the gift shop though.

Next, we went by the site of Pawn Stars. I honestly have only seen a few episodes… not one of my favorites, but it was cool to see.

This Elvis painting was for sale at some outrageous price.

We must have arrived at just the right time… there was quite a long line forming as we exited. Must be a popular site, or a tour bus might have shown up.

Then I tracked down where Counting Cars is filmed at Counts Kustoms http://www.countskustoms.com was located and we headed over there. I bought the T-Shirt.

Stilla and I visited Fremont Street again to close out the evening and took in some of the street band music that plays in a few different spots along the covered street.

On Sunday, we hit the road again for Saint George Utah.

We continued on I-15 and went through the corner of Arizona after leaving Nevada.

It had clearly rained the day prior as evidenced by the very soggy desert.

Interstate 15 passes through a pretty cool canyon at one point.

And here’s the Saint George, UT Elk’s Lodge 1473. Now this has to be the most scenic Lodge we’ve stayed at to date. Travel distance for the day was around 120 miles.

We pretty much had the RV Park portion of the parking lot to ourselves. Only two or three other rigs there. We heard that we just missed a busy weekend, the lot was full this morning.

Here’s a couple pics of the lodge.

The view from their deck.

And this was our spot below the cliffs. It’s only $15. Electric hook-up only. Wish we could stay here longer, but son William is due in from Germany on the 5th of October, so we have to be back in Colorado Springs. Also, we have a small problem with the rent – we haven’t gotten any for the last month or so…

Til next time… stay tuned.

Urban Escape Vehicle .com

Category Archives: Nevada

Alpine SoCal Pahrump Grape Stomp Rally: 29 Sept – 03 Oct 2016 (Pahrump, NV)

Westward Bound – Racing to the Rally (TX to NV)

Scumbag Bicycle Thieves & Saying Goodbye to the Kids (Main Street Station RV Park – Las Vegas, NV)

Alpines & Buffets (Main Street Station RV Park – Las Vegas, NV)

The Gang’s All Here ! (Main Street Station RV Park – Las Vegas, NV)

Willi Moves Out & Haunted House Visit (Main Street Station RV Park – Las Vegas, NV)

Hoover Dam (Main Street Station RV Park – Las Vegas, NV)

Just Another Day in Vegas! (Main Street Station RV Park – Las Vegas, NV)

Yay! William and Jasmine are Here! (Main Street Station RV Park – Las Vegas, NV)

Ma Time (Las Vegas, NV)

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