A sampling of interesting restaurants.
We took a short hike in the Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes in Death Valley.
On the road:
Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes, another Star Wars filming location, where R2-D2 and C-3PO were lost in the Tatooine desert in A New Hope:
Heading to the Father Crowley overlook:
Stovepipe Wells:
Interesting lighting:
Our campground in Death Valley National Park was right next to the Furnace Creek Visitor Center:
Near the Visitor Center is The Ranch, an oasis with a hotel, shopping center, and restaurants:
Buffet at the 1849 Restaurant:
Nice gardens:
One night while staying in Las Vegas, we went to the strip for a nice steakhouse dinner and The Beatles Love Cirque du Soleil show.
The Mirage hotel:
The Mirage foyer:
We were early, so played some slot machines, to make an offering to the gods of luck:
Then checked out a swag shop:
And The Beatles Shop:
Then went to the Stack restaurant for dinner:
Martinis:
Salads:
Steaks:
Adult tater tots:
Desserts:
Professional photos:
Food and beverage:
The Love show (they were okay with photos, a little unusually, so of course I took a bunch):
The Mirage:
We stayed at Oasis Las Vegas RV Resort in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Campground Reviews listing.)
A large RV resort, just down the road from the Vegas Strip.
Dates:
Weather:
Noise:
Site:
Utilities:
Internet (in usage priority order):
Amenities:
Our ranty review on Campground Reviews:
Large resort, near The Strip
This could have been so much better than it was, but the annoyances started early and kept adding on:
– Upon arrival, we had to wait for a long line of RVs to be checked in. When it was our turn, we found out why it took so long: they checked every rig for the “RVIA sticker”. I’ve never had that before and it was weird because our rig was originally bought in Canada so it had a different sticker than they were used to. Look, if you’re just looking to keep Schoolies and homemade conversions out of the park “for insurance reasons”, I get it, but when someone shows up in a pretty well-known make and model, just wave them through.
– Once you get inside the gate, you have to sign some paperwork and head inside to registration, which was incredibly slow even with four people on duty. Got through that process where I signed as much paperwork as when we sold or bought a house.
– On our way out the door we were accosted by a “Good Sam Rep” that had obviously been waiting for the tired and weary travelers to try to Shanghai them into a timeshare presentation without knowing what was going on. We were halfway through signing up for the seminar when we cottoned on to the shenanigans and walked out.
– Got to our “Premium Pull-through site” and it was quite a squeeze to fit the 40′ motorhome and tow vehicle on the pad. We had to unhook and park the truck diagonally across the pad to keep our bumpers out of the road, also being sure to avoid the lamp post, the garbage can, and the sprinkler heads.
– They have an extensive rule booklet, but nobody else seemed to read it and nobody in the park actually enforced the rules.
– Went to soak in the hot tub, which is a welcome perk after a day of driving, and despite being “adults only” there were many, many children jumping into it with no parents around.
– Wanted to partake in the café, but it was only open sporadically. The one time we did get in, though, the martinis were strong and the tater tots were amazing.
– When you leave the park and come back you have to sit in the long line of RVs checking in because there isn’t a separate line for checking in versus returning.
– On the other hand, it was a conveniently short drive to The Strip.
We camped at Oasis Las Vegas RV Resort in a Motorhome.
Tip for Other Campers: Convenient to The Strip, but if you want a bit of nature and amazing scenery, Red Rock Canyon and Valley of Fire are each a decent day trip.
Interactive map:
Campground map:
Our site:
When one enters the park, they first need to check in with security, that hands over a registration form:
Then one parks in one of the several registration lanes:
And goes into the office:
To the registration desk:
They really like their paperwork and inefficient procedures. Perhaps necessary with such a large park, but it didn’t seem very streamlined.
Swimming pools:
We used the hot tub, though despite all the signs about no kids in the hot tub, there were several that used it:
They have family and adult swimming pools; this is the family one, which nobody was using as it wasn’t heated — so of course all the kids were in the adults-only pool. Yay:
A fairly large store:
Always nice to have an on-site restaurant too; we had dinner there once (and were going to another couple of nights, but they were closed — having an onsite restaurant is well and good, but having it closed unexpectedly is almost worse than not having one, though I know lots of restaurants struggle with staffing nowadays):
Tasty martinis; yes, they had a full bar:
Jenn’s sandwich and tots:
My burger and lots of fries:
Also nice when an RV park has a mail room; we got several packages delivered here:
Outdoor game area:
Bathrooms:
Other RVs:
The elevated freeway was very near, resulting in a constant hum of noise:
The big Las Vegas airport was also nearby, so planes would frequently fly over:
The entrance at night:
A nice RV resort; not great, but good, and close to the Vegas attractions. We might stay here again, but would probably prefer to try another place, or go back to Lake Mead.
After Grand Canyon West, we went back to Kingman, and had dinner at a classic Route 66 diner.
Welcome to Kingman:
Route 66 buildings in Kingman:
A drive-through Route 66 sign:
We had dinner at the Mr D’z Route 66 Diner:
Menus:
Special shakes:
I had (with Jenn’s help) a lavish Chocolate Pot of Gold shake:
Fries and burger with bacon, egg, hash browns:
French toast etc:
Route 66 truck:
Old police car outside the diner:
I may have knocked a few years off my life with that shake and dinner, but it was tasty!
We visited Grand Canyon West, a commercial operation of the Hualapai Tribal Nation.
On the way there, we enjoyed seeing lots of Joshua trees and snowy mountains:
The sign for Grand Canyon West:
The main terminal; there is lots of parking, an airport, large heliport, and gift store here:
One catches buses to reach the other two areas:
The first stop is Eagle Point:
Do you see the eagle?
A selfie:
The main attraction of Grand Canyon West is the Skywalk, a horseshoe-shaped glass bridge that extends 70 feet out over the canyon:
We went to the restaurant for lunch first, which had a great view over the Skywalk:
No personal belongings allowed on the Skywalk:
Line:
We put our stuff in a locker:
They have photographers on the Skywalk to take posed pictures:
Some stock pics of the Skywalk that came with our photo downloads:
After we experienced the Skywalk, we headed outside and looked at some Native American tribal structure exhibits:
Then caught a bus to Guano Point:
Posing ravens:
Nice Grand Canyon views:
This point is named for a guano mine (harvesting bat droppings for fertilizer); there are still some ruins of a tram used for that operation:
A long line for the bus back to the terminal (it was much longer when we joined it):
On the way back to Kingman, “Expect Cattle”:
Yep, cows were expected:
A fun experience, and a different perspective on the Grand Canyon.
We drove our coach 219 miles, about four hours of driving, from Tombstone, Arizona to Surprise, Arizona, to visit NIRVC there.
Here’s the map route, heading northwest:
An interactive map, with our stops marked:
There wasn’t room to “toad up” (connect our truck to our coach) at our site, so we drove separately to an open area by the entrance of the RV park:
Toading up:
An animated GIF of the brake controller operating; an air hose connected to the air brakes of our coach pushes the brake pedal in our truck for proportional braking:
On our way, with distant mountains:
A multi-vehicle accident at an immigration inspection station, caused by a car-jacking a few hours earlier:
Four visible crunched vehicles (apparently there was a fifth):
Hey, fellow Tiffin motorhome:
Overpass art:
We parked at a truck stop for lunch:
Jenn’s French dip lunch:
My BLT lunch:
Passing through Tucson:
Picacho Peak:
Rooster Cogburn Ostrich Ranch below Picacho Peak:
A rest area stop:
Phoenix Sky Harbor airport:
Tunnel:
Arriving at NIRVC:
Heading to a campsite:
South of Tombstone, near the border with Mexico, is a cute little historic town called Bisbee, Arizona. We went there for a drive and dinner.
An interactive map:
The historic Mule Pass Tunnel:
Entering Bisbee:
Bisbee buildings:
We had Mexican for dinner at Contessa’s Cantina:
Jenn’s dinner:
My dinner, stuffed potato:
Jenn’s dessert, sopapillas:
My dessert, Mexican deep fried ice cream:
More Bisbee buildings:
Back through the tunnel:
Sunset:
A cute artsy town; we quite liked it.
We visited Tombstone, Arizona, which has a few blocks of downtown devoted to an old west theme.
An interactive map:
And promotional map:
A classic old courthouse:
Wyatt’s saloon and hotel:
Horse-drawn mail coach:
Four Deuces Saloon:
Dirt road:
Ice cream parlor:
Good Enough Mine tour:
Library and railway:
Trolly tours:
We got some jerky and dried fruits from this shop:
Big Nose Kate’s Saloon:
Longhorn Restaurant:
More shops:
Hotel Tombstone:
Bird Cage Theatre:
Jenn enjoys her pressed pennies:
Crystal Palace:
The famous OK Corral:
We initially were going to have lunch at Big Nose Kate’s Saloon, but it was too busy:
So we headed to Crystal Palace, since they had outdoor seating:
A real touristy town.
We drove our coach 247 miles, about four hours of driving (and a couple of hours of stoppage), from Las Cruces, New Mexico to Tombstone, Arizona.
Here’s the map route, heading west:
An interactive map, with our stops marked:
We usually toad up (aka connecting the truck to the coach) by our site, but there wasn’t a great place to do that this time, so we went over by the office. So Jenn drove the coach, and I followed in the truck:
Toading up; hooking up the tow bar and cables, switching the truck transmission to neutral, disconnecting the battery (via a push button), and connecting the brake controller:
The brake controller:
On our way; there were lots of signs like these for several tchotchke shops:
Fireworks and tchotchkes:
Inspection station, with nobody staffing it:
One of several billboards for The Thing?
Our first stop, at a parking area (i.e. like a rest area, with no bathrooms):
Nice to see mountains:
Another tchotchkes shop, with a fun fence painted like storefronts:
Fuel stop:
A third of a tank (we actually paid less than this, thanks to the TSD fuel discount card):
Filling the Diesel Exhaust Fluid:
Then we parked at this truck stop for lunch:
Heading out:
Continental divide:
Lots of signs about dust storms; this one sensibly worded as “caution dust storms”:
Another sensible sign, “zero visibility possible”:
But “dust storms may exist”; yes, indeed, but kinda a clumsy way to say that:
Welcome to Arizona:
Another truck stop, just for a stretch and bathroom break (in our coach, of course):
An interesting and very sketchy-looking homemade trailer:
Benson, Arizona:
One lane roadworks:
Uncomfortably narrow for our coach:
St. David:
Our destination:
