5C's Que Pasa

Woke up cold at 7AM this morning with 20F/-6.6C.  All vehicle windshields were frosted over as well as many RV windshields. We got lucky and  had no frost on ours vehicles.  Maybe because of the slight different direction we were facing.

The power in the park went out for a while this morning due to a camper flipping off the breaker for the entire park.  Colin managed to get us back on track despite being very cold heading up to the office.  No one else cared to check out the issue.

Lovely snow scenes for most of the day.

No idea where the red colour came from but most striking.

Welcome to Idaho. So many stickers on the sign that you can barely see ‘Idaho’.

Last April we decided  to turn off onto HWY 30 to get back to I84.   Today we went back through Twin Falls and over to I84.  We wanted to check which was longer or quicker.  Turns out that via Twin Falls it was an extra 4.2 miles but we arrived at our destination for the night about 45 minutes earlier.

Everything is so very green.

So very many calves have been born recently.  We can see the wee ones laying next to their mom.  Difficult to take a photo while driving.  The babies are mere dots in the photo. But so special to see them all.

Our first bit of precipitation. About 20 minutes worth.

Oregon already!!  We are spending the night in the Visitor Centre, just a mile into Oregon.  Free wifi!!!  But slow this year.  No worries, I still have some GB’s left on my ATT hot spot device.

As we were settling in it was impossible to not notice this semi driver.  He had first washed his hair and now he was washing his feet.  Perhaps he just woke up from a deep sleep.  About ten minutes later he was off, heading north.

We headed out about 7PM last evening, parked at the free parkade at the Tropicanca and walked over to the New York, New York Casino.

The inside of NY,NY from the top of the escalator.

The Hershey store is two levels and we are at the bottom where we each scored four kisses just for stopping by.  I sure would have liked to get that big one on top.

We walked through the Tropicana, nicely renovated but it felt so different to us. We used to stay there before our  RV days when we flew in for the weekend.  We walked around the NY NY Casino and were not taken by any machines until we got to this one.

It is a penny machine based on a gorilla climbing the Empire State Building.

The maximum  play is $1.25 per spin so actually playing a quarter machine is often cheaper per pull.  Anyway this machine caught our eye.  We played for an hour or so.  Then we stopped to go have dinner at the Broadway Bar and Grill.  It was just okay but we likely won’t go back.  Wine was $10.00 per glass.  Fortunately we each had a glass of the house Pinot Grigio that we got for the price of a tip at the slot machines so did not spend money on wine. They were good salmon burgers.  This photo is showing how we won 8000 pennies or $80.00 dollars which we did twice as well as other smaller winnings.

We called the gorilla a monkey which is one of our pet names for each other.  If you get two monkeys after your spin you get to climb one more level up. There are 9 levels and then you get to spin for a variety of bonus points.  When you get three monkeys you get to go directly to the top.  This is rare.  So we returned here right after our dinner as it was great entertainement for mere pennies.  Also we got to sit side by side on a bench seat.  It really was fun.  Almost three hours later I checked my watch and it was past midnight.  We reluctantly tore ourselves away but with a promise of dinner at Battistas and then a session with the monkey machine next November.  Such a fun evening and it never cost us anything except for our dinner.

We had only been underway a few minutes when this came up.  Low front left tire.  Now what?  Another sharp rock or a nail or?

I spied this sign and we quickly turned in.

Hmm were we not just having Jeep tire issues a few days ago????

Yup that is me sitting in there at about 1AM.  I’d rather be back playing with my monkey machine.  Bottom line, the tire was taken off, checked and nothing wrong was found.  It cost us a whopping $10.00.  Home, showers and bed by 2:15AM.  Likely our latest night before heading off in the morning.

We were right on schedule, driving out about 11:20AM.  I was tired and the barking dog at 6:25AM was not a pleasant wake up call.  Colin checked the Jeep tire before we left and it was very overinflated by 18 pounds.  Fortunately he did check and got the tire ready for travel. So much snow in the local mountains.

Several Harley bikers had been alongside us for the past few miles.  They were turning left into Loves @ I15 and Hwy 93 which is directly in front of us.  To the right you might see what appears to be a blue lake.  In fact that is  actually a solar farm.

This site has been completed since we saw it last April and appears to be a very large electrical project.  I would expect that the solar panels move/swivel based on the  position of the sun but perhaps  I am wrong??  Does anyone know?

A short lovely stretch of road about two hours North of Vegas.

However since the solar panel project we have been getting hit with many yellow/green bugs.  We stopped at the Sinclair Fuel Station in Alamo.  Fuel was .24cents less per gallon than @ Loves and we saved $12.12 and were still able to use our Visa and collect travel points. Colin told me that these were small Monarch  butterflies. So sad to have been involved in their demise.

Approaching the 7316′ summit just before Ely, Nevada.  We drove though a few low clouds that actually were snowing on us, as we passed through that particular area.

How fun to be able to see the shadows of the clouds on the snow on the mountains.

Just a mile before Ely.

Most homes here in Las Vegas have two air conditioners on the roof.

Many homes have their roof covered with solar panels.  I bring this up because of the number of solar panelled homes I have seen here in Vegas versus the very few such homes in Lake Havasu.  I mentioned it a few times while we were in Havasu, “why don’t they use solar”?

The material that Erik made the dash cover from, where I rest my feet, came from this shop.  Colin had picked that up as well as the material for our new slide out end covers.  Yesterday he picked up 3 yards of the creme leather like material, as the colour matches what we already have inside the RV.  Great to have for future needs.

Next stop was Home Depot to pick up 1/4″ stapes for his staple gun.

Best Buy was yet another stop.

I wanted a second battery for my new camera and also found an even smaller camera case.  The new battery is not an original Canon one but a made in China knockoff.  It still cost $39.00US.  The original sells for between $50.00 – 60.00 US.

I really wanted as small a case as possible so that I can fit it into my purse.  This is how I hope to keep the dust off my lense.  Always always place my camera in this case or in a plastic bag.

Our stop at Costco was frustrating. They did not have our gourmet Caesar salad dressing ( must only be in Canada ) nor the frozen Michael Angelo’s Eggplant Parmesan.  They have it as we head south when we have little room in our freezer.  Now that I have freezer space for four boxes they don’t have any.  These are the employee lockers at Costco.  I loved all the different coloured locks.

Because I still needed to find a few frozen dinners we stopped at Trader Joe’s.

Now why would I take this photo?  Seems like pretty normal yard service.  All except for the last one, ‘Palm Trimming’.  That is something we never see north of the US border.

Finally our last stop. Walmart is just across from Sam’s Town and our RV park, the Las Vegas RV Resort is just a few short blocks away.  Still no eggplant parmesan ( they had tons at Lake Havasu Walmart ).  We forgot to get bananas but we did get my saline nasal spray and a runner to help keep our very recently cleaned carpets remain that way.

We have some patriotic neighbours behind us. This flag is incorporated into their side privacy screen.

Today was project day. Using some of the fabric he purchased yesterday as well as the shorter staples Colin recovered the panel that is behind one of our dining chairs.

This is what the panel looks like.  The stairs to the outside are on the other side.

It was an eyesore. I expect it got so very dirty partly because of all the various people who have been inside to do repairs.  I suspect that they ran their black greasy hands just over the wooden handrail as they entered and exited the RV.

Yet another successful repair project by Colin.  It looks brand new. Gracias.

Karen asked about our new LED lights.  They simply replace the same type of bulb we already had in the RV, same size of bulb and connection.  They are not cheap, we paid $36.00US for six bulbs.

However these lights have a one year warranty.  In your comment you mentioned buying some for much cheaper at the Dollar Store.  You have to know that you get what you pay for.   Hard to know how long the Dollar Store ones will last.

It was like Christmas yesterday when I opened all of our Amazon boxes.  I love the colour of my Otto iPad cover.

I also decided to order a HD Clear Ballistic Glass cover to protect the screen. So I am ready to use the iPad…soon I hope.  I really do want to read a book on it before we head to Europe in May.  Just to make sure that I have the know how.

A very special thank you to Shirley for this comment.  I finally got some of the saline spray for my dry nose and it truly does help. The will now be added to my First Aid stuff. Gracias.  Did you know that we lived in Tsawwassen for  many years?

I had been told about this famous restaurant just over a year ago but this was the first time we had time to go. Late afternoon yesterday I checked and there was lots of space but at 7PM when I went to make a reservation online the first time slot open was at 9PM. No worries, so very close to our normal meal time.

Battista’s opened on May 1, 1970 and only sat 14 at the time. Now over time they acquired more space in the strip wall and now they are able to seat 290.

Over the years many celebrities from Betty Grable to Jimmy Stewart to Ed Sullivian to Robert Redford and more have visited and the wall was adorned with their signed photos.

Somehow over time, the walls and ceiling have become home to lots of kitsch including license plates, baskets, wine bottles, fire hydrants and the largest collection of miniature liquor bottles in the world.  At last count, they totalled over five thousand.

Battista and his wife Rio retired in 2005.  He is 88 now and ran his last marathon on June 6, 2011 in San Diego.

From the very beginning, Battista’s has offered unique things.  All dinners include minestrone soup or Italian salad, garlic bread ( divine ), a pasta side and homemade cappuccino and free red or white House wine.  As much wine as you like.

They made us a special non meat Italian salad. Every ingredient was so very fresh.

I had the eggplant parmigiana.  The best I have ever had.  All the cheese in this dish was fresh mozzarella.

Colin had the ravioli with cheese which was very rich.  The meal portions were very generous and we ended up taking the leftovers home for lunch

The very famous homemade cappuccino.  The waiter called it dessert in a cup.  It truly was.

After that delightful meal we needed to stretch our legs.  This is quite the stretch limo with two doors, one in the back ( the shadow in front of the back tire ).  The restaurant backs onto the Flamingo Hotel on the strip so we walked through there for a while.

One of the original costumes worn several years back. Rather glitzy.

From there we walked over to Cromwell’s and into Bally’s.  I started with $20.00 = 80 quarters, lost and won and here was the big win of the night, 96 quarters.  Of course I played them all back into the machine.  But we did have fun and that was the most important of all.

We had a wonderful visit with Libby and Colin did a few tiny chores for her.

A very old Kodak.  Do you know the year Libby?

Sorry for the blurred image.  We now have this camera with us.  Does anyone out there collect something like this?

Lots of conversation and a great meal with some leftovers for my good friend.

Colin did a few other things for Libby after dinner including taking down this mirror.  Her home is full of antiques and she is just now starting to dispose of some.

We haven’t had a photo of the three of us before.

Yes those are red eyes with tears. Always so difficult to say good bye.

We left Lake Havasu a bit later this morning. I was having a credit card issue which took an hour to resolve.  The white you see in the upper third to the middle right are boondocking  RV’s.  Wildflowers line the road.

We have driven I40 quite a bit over the last months and there was no welcome to California sign and as this was our first time into California this trip, this was was the best substitute that I could find.  Someone really needs to talk to the California roads department about putting up a sign on I40 as you cross over from Arizona.

I made certain to capture this sign as we headed North.

Very modern rest area as we travel along HWY 95 North to Las Vegas.

We marvelled at being able to see the Joshua trees in bloom.

December 9, 2012, our last visit.