On route home after leaving Death Valley

Tonopah Nevada, the large Banc Club Casino parking lot, they welcome overnighting RV's. It is morning around 9 AM or so & everyone else has left already.
A lunch stop at Walker Lake north of Hawthorn Nevada, would be a good overnight spot too.
Honey Lake RV Park, Milford, Calif. overlooking the lake which has dried up as far as we could see.
Baby goats at Honey Lake RV park
The final night in USA. Emerald Queen Casino parking lot, at I 5 exit 135 just south of Tacoma

Death Valley & Scotty's Castle

These two are of Scotty's Castle, North end of Death Valley. We were about 30 miles south of here when we had our tire blow out.

Here is where our left rear outside dual blew out and we were stuck overnight. Actually a great spot to experience the vast expanse & silence of Death Valley and the stars at night. The road wasn't busy during the day & nothing at night. The RV provided shade for sitting outside.

Sheila at a view point in south Death Valley

Death Valley, the above View Point video

Kingman Rv Park & The new Bolder Dam Bridge

Zuni RV Park Kingman AZ, in a pull through for the night
Only a small gap left to complete. The people in foreground are on the top of Bolder Dam as we are driving across it.
From up on the hill before going down and across the dam. The white lines are from aircraft.

Terrible's Casino RV Park Pahrump NV

From out on the lake in the paddle boat looking back towards the beach & the camp sites
Chasing ducks with the paddle boat (way too slow, ducks ignore us and drift out of the way)
Bren in the hot tub by the pool
Looking out the RV window from our camp site towards the lake
Close to shore, looking towards our camp site with our blue car in front of RV
Sheila in the paddle boat, free usage for campground guests

Sheila in swimming pool

I'm sorry, I don't know why it keeps posting with weird spacing, It looks fine in the prepost form

This posting may be the last as I doubt we'll get WiFi on route, but
you never know.

Saturday Apr 10 onwards
More 85F,(30C), degree plus weather forecast for the next few days
Sat morning started with the 8:30 coffee & donuts gathering at one of
the rec halls, $1.00 donation for the donuts. We met Jim & Ann there
and had a pleasant start to the day. The MC makes a gathering out of
it with announcements, calling for birthdays, anniversaries etc. then
singing Happy Birthday, they tell jokes, stories, updates on people
sick etc.
After that Sheila went out to shop locally & I went over to the pool
for a swim, a hot tub & a sit in the sun. Sheila came back, we had
lunch then went out together as I had some stuff to try to find.
Returned and Sheila went for her swim while I caught up on expenses
entries into Excel.
Relaxing time before heading over to the Steak Fry in the court yard at
5 to meet Jim & Ann & listen to music by Fall River, the western group from the dance last Thurs. We got a table on the patio, got our steaks, (cooked over mesquite
charcoal briquets), it came with baked potato, all the butter & sour
cream you wanted plus a salad, 3 choices of dressing and macadamia nut
cookies & choc chip cookies for dessert-- a great deal! Plus Jim & Ann couldn't eat all their steak so I got several more ounces, nummy. Fall River played till 7 PM and we had a great time, even danced a bit.

Sun
Sheila went out to the shop in the morn then we had lunch & off to the
Mesa Arts Centre for a matinee play called "Forbidden Broadway". It was
a comedy parody on Broadway shows & personalities, 4 actors and a great
piano player. They did some great take offs and satire. Back for supper &
then I went over to the hot tub across the road from our site as I had
a slight back ache. It was 8:30, nice & warm out. Sheila was working
on postcards, emails etc.

Mon
On route back from the play yesterday I saw a Camping World store only
4 kms from our park. Today I went over there to see if I could find a
replacement screw-on hold down for the bike rack. They didn't have one
but found a nut & washer that would work which they gave me. I came
back & put the bikes up on their rack & the nut worked perfectly on the
stud. I also checked all tires & did some other prep work before going
over to the ballroom for the Wii bowling. I have never seen a Wii set
up or tried it so seemed a good opportunity. Out of 4 players I came
second & Sheila came third. It is kind of fun but don't think I would
buy one. Then over to the patio for lunch, I had their terrific taco
salad & Sheila had a cactus burger, (beef, but it came with real cactus
strips). They were like sauteed green pepper but with a sweeter, nicer taste.
Then we played our last Water Volleyball game till 4. Next it
is a short hot tub dip then meeting Jim & Ann to go to The Organ Stop
Pizza. A really neat place, they have the world's largest Wurlitzer pipe organ and the
organist plays requests plus his own selections. I took a couple of
videos of that as well but like the steak fry event ones I can't seem
to get all of them to load so I can post them. The shorter ones
sometimes will load & I can post them but the longer ones, (over 20
to 30 seconds), will not, that, plus the WiFi keeps going on & off so there
may be some videos & pictures after this, or not! We left Organ Stop Pizza
after an enjoyable hour or so so that Sheila & Ann could watch Dancing
with the Stars. Jim & I had coffee in their unit until the girls were
finished. Finally it is late Mon eve, we leave tomorrow so this will
be the "Last Post". I may be able to put the videos on when I'm home &
will let everyone know if I can do it.

Prickley Pear Cactus in bloom, (at Jim & Ann's place

The court yard Steak Fry with Fall River entertaining

Bren & Sheila dancing at Steak Fry night

At Val Vista Thurs & Fri Apr 8 & 9

At Val Vista in nice 85F (30C), or more, weather, we actually are running the A/C a few times and don't need the furnace in the morning at all.

Thursday started with coffee & donuts hosted by the park in the main ballroom. It was at 8:30 but for free coffee & donuts I made the supreme sacrifice & got up early.
Sheila went to get her nails done & had to wait to go in the water so I went to Volleyball at 2, Sheila finally arrived about 3 & did a video of the game then joined in. She met Jim & Ann Polluck who had just arrived, (Dogwood Roamers RV Club), so we met them in the court yard after the game to listen to Curtis Knox, have lunch & visit with them. In the eve it was TV, planning next day, & uploading blog videos,- very slow & tedious.

Friday
We picked up Jim & Ann & drove 5 mins to Towerpoint RV Resort, (Owned by Cal-Am company as is Val Vista). We were invited by our Val Vista activities director to go for their Pizza lunch & entertainment. We picked up a rate sheet for them as we like this area & there is a lot to do in Mesa besides the RV resort activities. We came back to Val Vista in time for the water Volleyball game. After that we sat out by the outdoor pool in the sun & had a $3.50 & a $2.50 Pina Colada. Then we got ready to go to the Broadway Palm Dinner Theatre about 10 mins drive away. They were putting on "George M", the story of George M Cohan. Great buffet & great show. Finally home to plan tomorrow, we may or may not go to the big Mesa Swap Meet that runs Fri-Sun. We've been before, great bargains plus they put on good entertainment by the food concession. More in the next posting.

Water Volleyball at Val Vista

Sheila shot this of how they play at Val Vista. It's an indoor pool, small, so max in water is 9, 3 rows of 3 and they keep score. At game end the front row goes to the other side & play starts. They play 2 till 4. every day except Sunday I think. The ball is a larger one than at GVP and you can hit it over in one shot but one person can only hit it twice & there can only be 3 hits per side before hitting it over. I like GVP's play better.

free entertainment at Cacus Ranch grill at Val Vista

They have an outdoor grill with a patio here. The Cactus House Ranch Grill serves a reasonable variety of food at good prices, ( I had a great taco salad for $5 & Sheila had a BLT that was stacked for $3.99). They have mixed cocktails - Pina Colada, Margaritas, Mai Tai, Daiquiri, Mojito - all $3.50 each, virgin is $2.50. Beer is $6 a pitcher, mini bottles of wine $2.50, screwdriver, bloody mary etc all $2.50. It's like going into a bar 30 years ago! On Thursday they had entertainment out in the court yard. Curtis Knox won 1st runner up at a local senior idol contest. He is great, we got a CD of his for $5.00. We missed the first part as he started at 3 & we were in the VB pool which is behind glass doors at the back on the court yard so we could see the action outside, but couldn't hear.

Apr 7 - at Val Vista in Mesa

April 7 dawns bright & sunny. Forecast high today is 78F(25.5C). The wind seems gusty & periodically strong enough that I am not going to put up the awning.
Sheila is up & off to the 8AM pool exercises whereas I pursue more leisurely activities like having my morning coffee. However at 9:05 I find that I too am in the pool after the exercises finish and Sheila insists on running me through some of them for 1/2 an hr. This climate is ruining my morning sleep-in routine!
After a leisurely lunch & some housework, we head off to water volleyball, (2-4 pm) to see how they play here.
OK, local rules are: you can hit ball twice only and a total of 3 hits on one side of the net. If there are 4 hits the ball goes to the other side. You can hit the ball directly back as well--no passing is required. The ball is a large beach ball & very light. The pool is indoors, and small so they play 3 across and there's only room to go 3 rows back so if there are more than 9 a side, players have to rotate in. WE had a max of 8 on one side but mostly there were just 6.

After Volleyball there was a dance from 4-6 PM in the ballroom with a western group called "Fall River." Cost was $4 each, which included all the popcorn you could eat--good popcorn too.
Back to the RV afterwards. Sheila is wiped out & laying on the bed.
I have put 3 pictures on of our two RV Park sites. The one with lots of grass is in the Palm Springs area, the other is the one in Mesa which, while a really nice place with lots of activities, only has crushed rock around the sites.

There are lots of activities planned over the next few days, a report will follow eventually.

2 of our camping spots

The first two are our Val Vista site in Mesa, AZ, the last is our Emerald Desert site in Palm Desert, CA

Palm Springs to Phoenix(Mesa)

April 5 overnighting at Fantasy Springs Casino off "I" 10

We had our morning swim & hot tub and away Emerald Desert RV Resort by 12:15. We didn't hook up the car as I needed to put gas in the RV & maneuvering in a gas station with car in tow can be awkward sometimes. Then as the casino was only 15 miles down the highway we decided not to bother hooking up at all. Arrived OK, lots of room in the RV parking lot. Into the casino to check it out. No deals on food, lunch buffet was $13, so we got our players club cards & came back to RV for lunch & then back to check out gambling. They had a deal where if you played $20 in a slot the casino would give you $50 in free slot play. I put in my 20, played $20 worth of bets, I went up & down & finally I ended up even when I had "earned" my $50.00. It was a all bit confusing following the directions to play & collect & retrieve"free" plays but I eventually played my free $50 & took out $35.25 in winnings. Sheila, on her free 50.00 "won" $12.50, she also broke even on the original money she put in. So a net gain all round. And we were able to play on the video poker machines, even the 25 cent ones despite the note on the instructions that "free" play was not applicable on video poker machines, worked for us! Back to the RV for an early to bed & early start in the morning, (our type of "early", probably 9:30 if were lucky).

Morning comes, I am drinking my coffee at approximately 9:00 when Sheila says, "I'm ready to go hook up the car" I just about choked on my coffee, she was ready before me! We actually got away at 9:20! Uneventful run to Phoenix down a dead straight road, on cruise control & I was trying to figure out if I could lash the wheel straight & go back for a nap. We didn't loose an hour because Arizona does not move to daylight time so it's the same time as PDT here. We are checked in, on free WiFi & set for 7 days of sun, (around 75F 24C). The local activities report will follow in a few days.

Emerald Desert RV Resort, Palm Springs

The weather here is great, sunny & hot. We have done a lot of relaxing by the pool & lounging in the pool side cabanas, they even have pool side food & drink service. They also supply huge towels for your use at the pool. On Sat they had an Easter Egg hunt with eggs scattered all over the resort. We found 2 and one of them had a prize note which turned out to be a $10.00 gift card for "The Cheese Cake Factory", plus the jelly beans & you kept the plastic egg. Then Sat night we drove to the cheap movie place to see "When in Rome" for $2.50 each. It was a pleasant, amusing, movie. Sunday we went down to the Collage of the Desert open air swap meet/flea market. Miles of booths and interesting stuff from clothing to tools. Plus a food fair & live entertainment. It runs every Sat & Sun 7 till 2. On the return trip I went to a local branch of the Altura Credit Union I found in Hemet and took out cash from the ATM, no fee at all. Back to Emerald Desert & into the swimming pool. I was sitting on a lounge chair when all of a sudden the chair started to rock like someone was pushing the back of it back & forth. Then someone yelled out earthquake! The water in the pool formed small waves that went back & forth across the pool but they wern't big enough to spill up over the edge much. That all there was to it, just a little tremor. So our 4 days in Palm Springs winds down, we leave tomorrow but check out time is noon so we will go for a dip in the pool & hot tubs and leave at the last minute. It is about a 4 hour drive to Phoenix/Mesa and as I do not want to be driving through Phoenix at rush hour our plan is to drive 15 or so minutes down hwy "I" 10 to the Fantasy Springs Casino, stay there Mon night & get to Phoenix/Mesa early to mid afternoon on Tues.

undewater video

This was taken on the snorkeling trip out of Ft lauderdale.

Final day For Lauderdale and the trip back

Mar 30 - Mar 31

Into the motel and We have the afternoon & evening free & as we never got to go swimming much in the Bahamas, Sheila called & set up a snorkeling boat trip to a reef off Fort Lauderdale. We bought an all day bus ticket, ($2.50) and first went to the International Swimming Hall of Fame Museum which is just up the block from the boat pier. Sheila really enjoyed the museum & even I found some interesting info. The boat trip turned out great. We anchored in about 15 feet of water on a reef about a mile off Fort Lauderdale beach. we tested out the camera underwater, even took some video. I will try to post some photos but the blogger seems to take too long to upload and the computer times itself out & quits.
After the boat trip we started back to the motel. At a transfer stop we saw a neat cafe, (The Quarterdeck), with outside tables so decided to stop & eat sitting outside and had a great time. I had a great lobster biscue & calamari. We finally left about 7:45, caught the bus to the central terminal to connect with our bus to our motel only to discover that our bus stopped running at 8PM and no other bus went anywhere near. So we get a bus that goes somewhat closer & then have to take a cab.
Wake up call for 4AM is set up. We get up & have a cab to the airport, only 10 minutes away, about 4 miles; Sheila had checked with Expedia & was told cab fare would be about $5, which is why we chose this motel, we get there & the fare is suddenly $20.00. Sheila is planning on phoning Expedia, (she has the name of her contact), and blasting them for crap nformation. Anyway, through security, & on board & off. "Breakfast Service" turns out to be one small muffin. We land in Houston, change planes and get another "Breakfast Service" which is cereal, milk, & a banana. Next it is movie time. The seats have individual screens & we discovered that "Old Dogs" was on. For $6 you get Direct TV broadcasts. One flaw we discovered was that while watching the movie whenever the flight crew had an announcement the sound from the movie cut out so you had silent bits you never knew what happened. Then the movies and /or TV etc shows start & finish on Direct TV's schedule not the planes take off so you can be in the middle of what you want when it starts up on takeoff. Another lesson learned, don't pay to watch movies on planes. Otherwise flight goes OK.
We land, drive back to the RV, pull it out of storage & drive a couple of blocks to a side street where we park for the night, (the street is one with empty fields on both side where a lot of trucks park overnight all quite legal).

April 1 we get Sheila's bike wheel fixed (it was bent from having a broken spoke), then off up the hwy to Palm Springs & Emerald Desert RV Resort. It is a nice place and the weather is great. We set up then into town for the street fest., 4 blocks of vendors, entertainment, & food. We also went to LOOK Patio Bar but they had changed ownership & didn't have the super Flan/Creme Caramel they used to make, they also seem to have gone more "straight" so the fun ambiance was missing, too bad! They do make a great French Onion Soup & had happy hour 2.50 drinks plus a girl singing & playing piano on the outside patio so we stayed for a while.

Snorkeling trip photos

The following photos are:

Two yellow fish, lower center
Sheila diving
More fish

The captions will not space themselves with the pictures so sort it out by yourselves