Summer Camping Adventures Part 4

Arriving in Vegas on Tuesday to 113 degree temperatures was not so awesome.  But after dropping Benny at the Luxe Pet Hotel, we checked into Bally's and went out to get a late lunch at Cabo Wabo.  The heat was oppresive.  But at least it is not humid as well.  Then we played in the casino for a bit until LW's brother arrived and  we had a quick bite and done for the night. Here is the view from our hotel room on the top floor of the Jubilee Tower at Bally's.

Wednesday the boys had to bowl so I was on my own.  What trouble can I get into?  I walked from Bally's down to MGM and over to New York.  Checked out the Hershey store and was going to go to M&M World but the line to get in was crazy long and they were standing in the sun so forget that.  I played a little in the casinos as I walked back to Bally's to wait for the boys.  Won a little, lost a little and ultimately ended up down for the afternoon but had a lot of fun on my own.

These were at the Hershey Store.  The chocolate Statue of Liberty is sculpted from 800 pounds of Hershey's milk chocolate or 8,258 bars.  Fun fact:  The actual Statue of Liberty weighs approximately the same as 4, 645,161 Hershey's milk chocolate bars.

The Twizzler Statue of Liberty was created from 23,000 Twizzler ropes or 1,300 pounds of Twizzlers.  It took 6 weeks and 6 artists to create her.  She is 9 ft tall.

For dinner Wednesday night we went to Lawry's Steakhouse.  It was a very expensive meal but so so delicious!  This is the guy cutting off a piece of prime rib tableside.

By the end of Wednesday night I had lost a good sum of money.  But I had also learned how to play a new game...roulette.  

On Thursday I began at the pool for a few hours.  After showering and getting ready for a late lunch with the boys, I went down to the casino and won a lot of money!  By the end of the night I was the big winner.

Once the boys left for bowling I headed over to the Aria Casino to attend the Van Gogh exhibit that is traveling around the country.  I raced over there in the heat but could not find the exhibit and was worried I would miss my entrance time.  After pulling out my ticket and rereading the directions, I realized my ticket is for July 29.  The exhibit does not even open until July 26.  Talk about disappointed!  I was looking forward to seeing it so much.  Now I have to see what I can do about my ticket.  Maybe change location or get a refund.  Ugggh!

I did come across this interesting display of tornadoes though.

One last interesting Vegas fact.  Now there is a Chick-fil-a on the strip!!

In the morning LW will take his brother to the airport, come back and get me and we will go get Benny from the pet hotel.  Then we will drive back to Trailer Village in the Grand Canyon for one more night before heading out to Colorado.

Stayed tuned for more fun!

**On our way back to the Grand Canyon we drive through Bearizona. There is a drive thru park and a walk thru park. We couldn't do the walk thru park because we had Benny with us. We have been here before but I love this place. Here's a photo dump of the animals we saw today.

Summer Camping Adventures Part 3B

The 4th of July in the Grand Canyon was kinda low key since no fireworks were allowed due to recent and ongoing fires in the area.  We ran an errand into Flagstaff and came back to the trailer for lunch and then walked 6 of the 8 miles on the Rim Trail and Hermits Rest route. The scenery was gorgeous.  Have a look.

On Monday, we drove to Page, AZ to go on a river float trip. It started at Glen Canyon Dam and floated about 15 miles to Lee's Ferry before returning us to Page via bus. Here are a few of the photos from that trip.

Tuesday we left the trailer sit at Trailer Village in the Grand Canyon and picked up Benny from the kennel in Williams. Then the three of us drove to Vegas, BABY!  LW has to bowl in the USBC Open Championship  on Wednesday and Thursday. So Part 4 will be about our adventure in Vegas.  Stay tuned.

Summer Camping Adventures Part 3A

 After packing up and having lunch with the parentals, we left them behind and headed for Williams, AZ. 

Saw this at the entrance to Holbrook.

First stop was the Geronimo Trading Post outside Holbrook to see the world's largest petrified tree. 

Next we made a pit stop in Winslow for a treat.

Root Beer Float

We arrived at Trailer Village in Grand Canyon National Park and got all set up. Later that afternoon we had some visitors.

They are going around to water spigots that we have for our water hookups and trying to drink from the leaky ones.

Here's Benny looking at the elk as they wander by. 

 They come everyday all through out the day.

On Saturday we dropped Benny at a kennel for a few days and we headed to the Grand Canyon West to go to the Skywalk. This is a horseshoe shaped glass bottom walkway protruding 70 feet out over the canyon. It can support the weight of 70 Boeing 747 passenger jets.  It hangs about 4000 feet above the floor of the Colorado River Valley.

Once we arrived, we had lunch with a view and then stood in line for 1.5 hours to walk out on the Skywalk. It was so cool and so worth the wait.  There were a lot of people who were afraid or nervous walking out there but not us! I loved it!

More to come in part B.

Summer Camping Adventures Part 2

Part 2 of our adventure, has us traveling from Caballo Lake State Park in NM to Springerville, AZ to stay for a few days in the same RV park as my parents.

On our way there we encountered a thunderstorm that dumped tons of rain and even some tiny hail on us. One town we drove through, Magdalena, New Mexico, had deep water running downhill at every intersection. They got enough of the tiny hail that it gathered on the ground and looked like snow. My picture is not good but maybe you can kinda see it.  Crazy!!

Once we arrived in Springerville, my parents were waiting for us. They helped us get the trailer backed in and we started to get it set up. But we had a little incident.  After getting it up on the leveling blocks on the driver side, LW went to unhook the hitch. When it came loose from the ball of the truck, the trailer rolled backward and sideways and fell off the leveling blocks. It bent one of our stabilizer jacks. It still works. It was a little scary, especially since mom was sitting inside the trailer to get out of the sun. But she was ok and the trailer is ok. Just another learning experience.

While here I have helped mom and dad with a few things, the boys played golf in Show Low AZ, we have played cards, gone out to eat, shopped, done laundry, and just enjoyed being with each other. I last saw them in January of 2019. We were scheduled to come visit in the summer of 2020 but had to cancel due to the pandemic, so it's been too long and a much needed visit.

We also did a balloon release in honor of what would have been my brothers 50th birthday.  (There's a post on FB about this release.)

Here are few things we saw in Springerville...a yard full of metal art, an old cemetery, and the historical village.

Wednesday we went to the Petrified Forest and Painted Desert.

Petrified wood

Petrified wood

Painted Desert Inn

See the petrified wood log up on the top?

Thursday morning we  pack up and head out for Williams Az on our way to the Grand Canyon.

Stay tuned for Part 3.