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Hot Vegas.

One of the many ways to get to Las Vegas is following the i40 cross country for over 1000 miles untill you get to the town of Kingman AZ. There is onto the 93 for 110 miles .

No big deal right.?

The road up to Kingman has been pretty good , occasional bumps and repairs . Now , getting on the 93 is an altogether different story. For 56 miles , yes I checked , it was a true to life washboard from the Wild West. Speed down to 35-40 miles /hour and everything that could shake loose , did shake loose. My center A/C kept tripping the breaker and temperature was slowly rising. My goal was to make a quick stop at the Hoover dam, it has RV parking on the Arizona side only . No signs and before I knew it the damn dam was on my right and disappearing in my mirror. No problem , on to the Campground and checking out the A/C problem. It really was getting a bit hot. Dash A/C was blowing cold and beau was laying next to me . Hmmmm , why next to me if you have a perfectly good bed in the back. shaking for 2 hours must have cured him. That wasn’t it , the second A/C stopped working as well. Now we’re in trouble. Only one A/C left and a heat warning in Vegas and the whole south west. Temperatures up to 115 Fahrenheit (46 Celsius) and it really is that hot!! Yeah but it’s dry heat!!! My ass dry heat. It’s hot !!its very hot .

Arriving at the RV resort , on the phone for the recommended rv mechanic, they were here in 3 hours , analyzing the issues and I’m on the phone with the warranty company for two new A/C units. Good experience with them this time . Friday I can have it inspected and new units installed.

Beau and I are locked into the bedroom with the only working

A/C and keep somewhat cool (82 degrees cool) the front of the RV is a balmy 101 degrees . No fun.

I got up at 4 am , beau deep asleep and got my first taste of Vegas . a bit overwhelming but pretty spectacular. Walked the strip in front of Paris and Bellagio at 5:30 in the morning , saw the sunrise over the strip , had an early morning coffee at subway with my homeless buddies and all was good with the world.

7 am back to the RV to make sure beau is ok and feed and poop him early before the fiery heat comes back.

Welcome to the west!

Into the fire

The fourth travel day took me into Arizona and a first visit to a state park. A few hours at Painted Desert and Petrified Forest was a welcome change to straight roads and happy truckers passing me by. A leisurely 29 mile track through the park with many stops was just what the boredom doctor ordered. First time I took my camera out and tried to get in the groove. It always takes me a while to catch the photo bug .

Rig runs great , no issues , generator hums right along and keeps Beau cool in his king size bed. Dogs have it made!

No idea what’s coming later that day and the coming three days .Stay tuned.

Petrified Forest National Park is a unique and captivating natural wonder located in northeastern Arizona. It encompasses a vast expanse of 346 square miles, showcasing a remarkable array of petrified wood deposits and the breathtaking Painted Desert. The park’s main attraction is the fossilized remains of ancient trees that have turned into colorful and intricate stone formations over millions of years, creating a surreal and otherworldly landscape.

The park is divided into two distinct sections: the northern area features the iconic Painted Desert, a mesmerizing badlands region with vibrant hues of red, orange, and purple, sculpted by wind and erosion. The southern section boasts the most extensive and well-preserved petrified wood forests, including the Black Forest Bed, Blue Mesa, and Rainbow Forest, where visitors can marvel at the petrified logs, stumps, and fossilized plant remains dating back to the Late Triassic period. With its rich geological history, archaeological sites, and diverse flora and fauna, Petrified Forest National Park offers an unforgettable experience for nature enthusiasts and adventurers alike.

What a country it is !

After the long tire changing, nerve racking,first night . Days 2&3 were a breath of fresh hot air , we had a herd of black cows on the highway , big hail storm and lots of open easy driving roads . Hit Memphis midday , good memories of our first visit at Huck Finn campground on the mighty Mississippi. Visiting Graceland all by myself , private tour due to Covid and no visitors early morning . Stayed overnight at a pilot gas station . With about 150 trucks and many dog friends for Beau , today was even better through Oklahoma City to Amarillo and another 100 so miles to another gas station and a comfortable overnight . Having a shower , toilet, kitchen and comfortable bed is true luxury . Time for a show and bed early . Tomorrow a quick trip to Petrified forest National Park. And on towards Flagstaff . Wednesday arrival scheduled in Vegas ,

Talk soon with more exciting stories !😁

Day one…..

And what a perfect Day 1 it was ……until .

Left the love of my life at 7 in the morning , Beau and I drove off on our long haul trip to Las Vegas where we meet up with Dee next Sunday . Perfect driving weather , RV nearly drives itself , scariest part of the whole trip is the first half mile , the trees and its branches are trying to rip the AC units of the roof and scratch up the paint , turning right on Flamingo and this is of the past , clear sailing to Vegas .

Checked the weather and decided Atlanta to Memphis to Albuquerque to Vegas has the least chance on Tornadoes, storms and flash flooding ! I’m using Harvest Host for these overnights . Great system , you stay at people’s restaurants, farms, wineries , in parking lots of churches and golf courses , all they ask is to spend a little money with them in their stores restaurants etc .. around 3 pm I decided to stay 20 miles south of Atlanta , driven 620 miles and ready for a long night sleep . About 8 miles before landing at the overnight, an enormous explosion rocket the RV , in my mirror I saw debris flying everywhere behind me and steering became hard and harder still . I had a rear tire blowout and with it the whole trim around the two axle rear was ripped away and strewn across i75 . Traffic halted and was able to drive around . It took me about a mile to come to a stop safe in the side of the road . Long story but after 7hours I had two new tires installed and drove the last 8 miles to get parking .

That was scary , first time for everything .

Better day ahead tomorrow !

East Coast /West Coast

2023 , we spend 3 + months traveling up the East Coast as far North as Halifax , Nova Scotia and Quebec City .

Staying more than a week in Cape Cod , Maine , PEI, Mavilette Beach ( try finding that one!) ten plus days in the Paris of the North . One of the great cities and areas of North America .

Slowly down to Plattsburgh NY for our family reunion then back to North Carolina and back to steamy florida !

Here’s a little taste of the East .

Lunch at the magic garden

Found by accident , well not really . Mam knew where and what it was , a spectaculaire garden filled with the best trees bushes , rhododendrons in every color, beautiful statues everywhere ….. de Beeldentuin

A hidden gem tucked away between the “polders”of holland . Enjoy the images

Bitterballen in Zwolle

Another nice day trip in the old. It’s of Zwolle . Beautiful and different like all older Dutch cities . It’s pretty amazing that this small country hash’s such an influence on world trade in the 15-17 th centuries . Protest everywhere !

F 1 …wow!

I sprung for it , two tickets , one for my brothers first visit to the states in a long time with his family and one for me .

A Bucket list item for both of us . Unfortunately he damaged his ankle and couldn’t make it . Best friend to the rescue , buddy Pim jumped in the northsea and started swimming to Miami, he made it! And we had a great, very tiring, hot , $22 dollar burger $16 heineken long weekend

Fast , noisy and unforgettable!

Thanks Pim for making it last minute !!!

Springtime in Holland

Yes , it rains a lot , yes it’s dreary and miserable most of the time ( not for Dutch people!!) yes it’s cold and without sun most of the year ….. but o my , when you catch a sunny warm week in the spring it’s magical . Burst of color out of this world . Fresh flowers in the fields , on the markets and in people’s houses . It’s magic .

The sun comes up at 5 and retires around ten . We had the additional magic of the northern lights this far south ( my picture is fake , couldn’t stay awake !😂)

Visit springtime , visit keukenhof enjoy the flowers with smiles and wooden shoes . Great place and time to visit !!

Visiting Leo

My crazy friend Leo lives in Holland and has been to live music events his whole life . Thousands and thousands of small medium and humongeous shows . Both Pink Floyd and Springsteen are our favorites . This time a great festival in Nijmegen with 6 different awesome cover bands . Springsteen, Beatles , TTurner , Bowie, Queen and The Bee Gees . I lasted 4 hours , two shows and Leo lasted through the night . Beautiful Saturday