RV trip to Grand Canyon…err... Las Vegas, Pahrump and Calico Ghost Town

We set out with Mark & Linda Miller to go from Nipomo, to Lake Havasu City, to Grand Canyon, Pahrump, NV and Calico Ghost Town on the way back home.  We planned to leave on Saturday October 5 but Mark & Linda got delayed so the trip began on Sunday:  

Day 1 (Sunday) – Barstow  – swat team.  We parked by the Sizzler in Barstow, on the far side of the restaurant in order to be away from the more convenient customer parking.  

When we started walking towards the Sizzler a cop was driving around our RV and another cop came walking across the parking lot with an AR-15 type rifle.  He yelled “get back in your vehicle”.  My first thought was that I didn’t really think that I’d parked that bad.  But we got back in the RV and pressed nose to the windows.  We saw an employee walk across out of the Sizzler and approach the police officer.  

In a little while another employee, we later learned was the manager did the same.  After a few more minutes they went back in and the cop approached us and told us it was OK to return to the Sizzler. 

Overnight in Lake Havasu City.

Day 2 (Monday) - we had to find an alternative to Grand Canyon.  We hoped that when the Arizona Governor offered to pay to keep the park open we’d get in, but the administration wanted us to suffer.  Found a nice little park called Duck Creek RV Park in Las Vegas.

Day 3 (Tuesday)– saw Terry Fator at the Mirage.  Great show, watched Iron Man 3 DVD and got to bed after 1AM.

Day 4 (Wednesday) – slept in to 11, hung out in Vegas. Ate at Tuscany, Wednesday special steak and lobster for $12.95.  Played slots at Treasure Island and then walked the Vegas Strip to Caesar’s Palace.   Stopped  by Wal-Mart on the way back to RV park got a few things.  After getting back to the RV Park it started raining.

Day 5 (Thursday) – Drove to Pahrump, NV.  Staying at Preferred RV Resort again.  $16.50 a night on our Passport America card.  Stayed three nights while Mark and Don went to Frontsight’s 2-day Practical Rifle class. 

Day 6 (Friday) – Mark and Don off to Frontsight at 6AM, Linda and Robin hung out at the RV Park.

Day 7 (Saturday) – Mark and Don off to Frontsight at 7AM, Linda and Robin hung out at the RV Park.

Day 8 (Sunday) – Got gas in Pahrump for $3.39/gal. Travel to Calico Ghost Town RV Park.  Found out that staying at the RV park gets you inside the park saving $8 per adult on admission.  

Got parked and went to Peggy Sue’s Diner for a late lunch.  Neat! 

Day 9 (Monday) - We hit Peggy Sue's 50's Diner again on the way out of town.  While the girls flirted with Elvis...





 The guys guarded the table waiting for the food.

We got home Monday night around 10 PM.

All in all a pretty nice trip considering having to re-route.  We had a great time together.

Don and Robin's Roamings

OK, here we go.  We've got our new 2013 Thor Challenger (model 37DT if you want to look it up).  I wasn't sure about the "Thor" brand, we've had Winnebago products before.  Winnebago is synonymous with RV.  I thought they were the biggest in the industry.  Just this week I heard an item on the news that RV sales have been up this year and the biggest share belongs to ... Thor - that's right.  I think it said they had something like 25% of the RV sales in the first half of 2013 and Winnebago had 18%.  OK that makes sense, because we'd been looking for a while and this unit seemed like it had a great combination of features and reasonable price. That's what you'd expect from a leader. 

I've never done a blog before, so this is just the start. So - here's our floor plan. It is pretty accurate.  We don't have the washer/ dryer yet, but it is plumbed for a combo unit under the bathroom counter.  That will wait till we go full time, as will the satellite dish.  But we do have the large two door refrigerator, fireplace and three televisions!  One of them is outside under the awning - it doesn't show on the floor plan.  The awning is electric and so is the shade that covers the front window. Actually there are two shades.  One is a driving shade and then there's a night shade.  The leveling system is automatic too - just push the button and it levels!  How cool.  There's lots of basement storage and a few of them go all the way across.  

It has a rear view camera of course.  Actually it has THREE cameras.  The first time I drove it I had our Jeep "toad" in tow.  I checked to see how it was following behind in the monitor and when I turned the first corner I looked again and... it was GONE!  No wait... there it is in the monitor, but it is really small.  That's when I realized that I was seeing a camera on the right side of the RV.  As it turns out when you operate the turn signal the monitor changes to the camera in the mirror on that side of the rig.  Pretty cool! and I didn't loose my Jeep on the first turn. 

We bought it at Sky River RV in Dublin, CA.  We drove it home on Friday before Memorial Day 2013 and stopped at one of our favorite places in King City, San Lorenzo Park.  We spent two nights there.  As often happens we ran into some people from our area.  

OK - that's a start.  More later.

-don