Not The Thanksgiving We Were Planning...

We were planning to be at Zion River Resort in Virgin, Utah this weekend with my cousins from California. Late Tuesday night we checked the weather for that area and realized it was going down to 11 degrees there last night. We decided that was just too cold for our rig (and us) and we headed back to Ehrenberg, Arizona. We cancelled our reservation at Zion River Resort and are still trying to juggle the rest of our reservations. We will be having Thanksgiving dinner at the clubhouse at the park here. We are so sad that we aren't going to be with my cousins and also that we won't be able to visit Zion National Park. At least we'll see my cousins in February when we head into California for a few weeks. HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO ALL!

Las Vegas, Nevada

We spent all day yesterday in Las Vegas and did not step foot in ONE casino! We just really don't care for Las Vegas since it has become such a zoo. It's just TOO MUCH of everything now. We were really there to have Bob's hearing aids repaired and my wedding rings repaired. We had to wait 4 hours on my rings because once they reantique the wedding band, it has to dry for at least 4 hours. So, we went to lunch, went to Sam's Club and a few other stores. We were very happy to get back to Pahrump and the slower pace!!! We went to the Nugget Casino for their excellent prime rib buffet for the 3rd time this week. You just can't beat a good buffet that's only $10.70 (including tax) for 2 people! I'm sure I couldn't make a meal at home for that. When we first got there, I went into the restroom and Bob dropped $1.00 in a penny machine while he waited for me. When I came out, he had it up to $10.23. So, he cashed it out and we went to dinner. After dinner, he put that slip in a poker machine and ended up cashing out $249.23. YEAH!!! It's about time he carried his own weight! Especially since I didn't have a good night...I lost $45.00. :-( I apologize for some of these pictures not being centered too well. I was on the phone with a friend as we were crusing through Vegas and trying to take pictures at the same time. :-) At least I wasn't driving at the time!


This snow was on the side of the
road between Pahrump & Las Vegas.
YUCK!!! It was in the higher
elevation, but I didn't need to
see it that close up!


Red Rock Canyon between
Pahrump & Las Vegas

I remember when this jerk

had a TV show.

Pawn Stars, Baby!!!

While we were in Las Vegas, we just HAD to visit the "Pawn Stars" store. If you don't watch Pawn Stars, you don't know what you're missing! It's very entertaining and educational. We learn a lot about history by watching this show. The Old Man, Rick, Big Hoss & Chumlee were all there yesterday, but they stayed in the back room. The place is a zoo! It's not very big and it was wall-to-wall people. About 1/3 of this small store is devoted to selling t-shirts, mugs, etc. now that they are so "Hollywood".

We remembered this saddle

being purchased on the show.

This Coke machine reminded

me of the one that was at the

Amvet Hall when I was young.

Inside the store.

Bob inside the store.

The higher part of the building in

the back appeared to be brand new.

Check out the bullet holes

in the window.

Pahrump, Nevada

We've had a great time in Pahrump, NV. We've done our share of visiting the local casinos and have actually done quite well. The deals on dinners here are about the best we've found anywhere. The Nugget Casino has a prime rib buffet with an excellent variety of salads, entrees, sides, and desserts. All this is included as well as beverages for $9.99 for TWO!!! For both of our dinners it is only $10.70 including tax!

Tomorrow we are going to Las Vegas as Bob has an appointment there to have his hearing aids repaired. We have a few other stops to make while we are there. We really don't like Las Vegas, but we need to get some things done that we can only do in bigger cities.

We will be leaving here on Wednesday and travelling to Virgin, UT to meet up with my California cousins for Thanksgiving. There will be 19 of us there. The campground we will all be staying at is just outside Zion National Park, which is supposed to be one of the most beautiful places in this country, so we're really looking forward to it. We're just hoping that it doesn't get too cold there and we certainly don't want any of that white stuff to make an appearance while we are there!


This was a tree in our campground
that was changing colors and I thought
it was pretty.


This is a view from our campsite of
a snow-capped mountain. This is the
way I like to view snow...far away on
a mountain top!


Another snow-capped mountain
behind our RV resort.

Scotty's Castle at Death Valley National Park

While at Death Valley National Park, we took a tour of "Scotty's Castle". This castle was built in the 1930's by a wealthy Chicago insurance executive, Mr. Albert Johnson. It seems that Johnson had invested in a Death Valley gold mine that Walter "Death Valley Scotty" Scott supposedly owned. Scotty was quite the con man and his life was very colorful. Somehow, these two men ended up being very good friends and Albert Johnson didn't mind Scotty claiming that the castle was his. It was actually the vacation home that Johnson built for himself and his wife when he realized that the desert climate was good for his health. The stories of Scotty & Albert are almost more interesting than the castle. The guided tour was extremely interesting. Unfortunately, it was pretty dark in most rooms of the castle and my speed light was in the truck, so I didn't get pictures that were as good as I would have liked them to be.


Scott's Castle


A view of Death Valley from the castle

1933 Packard in the garage

Scotty's bedroom. Once he was

finished entertaining the Johnson's

guests with his tales, he would retire

to his bedroom. Then he would exit

the castle through another door at

the other end of his bedroom and

go to his little cottage that Johnson had

built for him on the property. Scotty's

bedroom was really just a prop.

Part of the kitchen. They had the only

true refrigerator in the area at the time.

This trunk is the most valuable antique

in the castle. It was made in Spain in

1491. It has carvings of King Ferdinand

and Queen Isabella on the front. This

was the year before they funded Columbus'

journey to America.

The ornate woodwork on the ceiling in

the music room where a huge pipe organ

is installed.

The ceiling in the music room.

Death Valley National Park, California - November 21st

We spent today at Death Valley National Park in California. I was really pleasantly surprised at how beautiful the park is. I don't remember seeing any pictures of Death Valley that weren't of the desert and not really pretty at all. It truly is beautiful and it seems that each mountain range has a totally different look to it. Death Valley is the hottest, driest and lowest place in North America. We travelled through elevations of 190 feet BELOW sea level to over 3,000 feet ABOVE sea level and the temperatures changed accordingly.


The entrance to the park


One of the beautiful mountain views


Another beautiful mountain view

I thought this formation was very

different and interesting

One of the "20 Mule Team" trains

that carried borax from Death Valley

to the neighboring town

Another gorgeous vista

This is Ubehebe Crater which

was formed 2,000 years ago.

It's 1/2 mile wide and over

500' deep.

Sunset glowing on the mountains

Huge moon rising over the mountains

Yuma Territorial Prison State Historic Park

Yesterday we took a little road trip to Yuma, AZ. Our GPS (aka: The Bitch in the Box) routed us across the border into California and down through CA to Winter Haven and then back across to Yuma. It was nothing but hay fields and a few cotton fields on the drive there. We took another route back, up 95 through AZ and it was much more scenic. We stopped at the KOFA National Wildlife Refuge just before dusk. The road was terrible and we didn't see any sign of wildlife, so we left.

While in Yuma, we visited the Territorial Prison State Historic Park. It was really interesting! I must say that the City of Yuma was nothing like we pictured it. It is much larger and more modern than we imagined. I guess we've watched to many westerns (3:10 to Yuma, etc.)


Entrance to the park.


The base of this is an 85,000 gallon
water tank to supply the prison. The
water was dissapating in the hot, dry
weather, so they covered it with a guard tower.


Bob in a cell. I've finally
got him where I want him. ;-)

Bob inside the cell. Not much
room for SIX prisoners!

Several westerns have been

filmed at the prison. This entry

was lowered to make Alan Ladd,

Gene Autrey, etc. look taller. :-)
It's only 5' 3", the other side is 6' 4".

The silver bridge is the "Coast-

to-Coast bridge. It was named

that because once it was completed,

you could drive from the Atlantic to

the Pacific without using a ferry to

cross the Colorado river.

Yuma High School Criminals...

after the prison closed, the library

and some of the other buildings were

used as the Yuma High School and

the students were known as the

Yuma HS "Criminals"...and we thought

the Waterford Twp. HS "Skippers" was

funny!

U. S. Army Proving Grounds

north of Yuma

The big (over 175' long), white,

unmarked blimp north of Yuma...

it is a surveillance radar system

used to watch for drug runners

coming across the Mexican border

on land and in the air.

Miscellaneous Arizona Stuff

Here's some miscellaneous pictures I've taken in the past few days.


Arizona Sunset last night


Airzona sunset last night...north of Yuma

Beautiful sunset!

Why Arizona ROCKS!!!

Beautiful Arizona views!!!

Imperial (Inland) Sand Dunes

in California...just across from Yuma.

Mountain view...

Another mountain view.

Yet another one...

This is in Quartzsite, AZ...a plane

at an RV park. For those of you not

familiar with Quartzsite...thousands

of RVers converge there every winter

and most of them "boondock" in the

desert. You see a little bit of everything

there!

I called this one a "Quartzsite Special". :-)

Neat cutouts in the field between

Phoenix and Ehrenberg.

I never get used to how low the

planes fly over the freeway landing

at Sky Harbor Airport in Phoenix!

This huge saguaro cactus

was right behind our 5th

wheel in Apache Junction.