Our Last Leg

Oct 24  This morning we left Grand Canyon and drove back to Nevada. We got to drive on the new road at Hoover Dam. Now we can bypass all that congestion. We're staying a couple of nights at Terrible's Lakeside Casino and RV Resort. Mom and dad is happy because there is a casino. The food is really good, we had a prime rib buffet for dinner for 10.99....what a deal. Joe & I really like it here, we'll probably come back. On Monday we'll head on back to Las Vegas and stay the rest of the week at Main Street Station. Then back home on October 29th.

The new freeway by Hoover Dam

Grand Canyon South Rim

Mom would get nervous near the edge

Oct 21-22  We spent these two days at the Grand Canyon South Rim. Was really cold, high 54 and low 30. We never thought it would be this cold at the Grand Canyon. The first day was also raining, but Joe and I tried to do a little sight seeing but was just miserable because of the weather. Mom and dad was smart, they just stayed in the rv and waited for us. The second day was better, still cold but at least not raining. I had on 3 shirts plus a jacket and still was freezing. We did get to go on the shuttle and cruise to one part of the canyon. We had a really good driver, he was entertaining. When we got back to our campsite, somebody grumbled to the park ranger that we had our generator running in a "no generator loop". Joe was really pissed. It wasn't even our generator, just our motor idling.

Santa Rosa, New Mexico

We're making our way to the Grand Canyon and today we drove as far as Santa Rosa, New Mexico. We covered about 400 miles. Joe and I went swimming at The Blue Hole. This is a fresh water spring that is 80 feet deep and very cold; 61 degrees. It was like taking an ice plunge. The water is very clear, can see everything underneath. We're staying at the Santa Rosa Campground that is located on the famous Route 66. As you can see, we are definitely not losing weight during this trip.

New Orleans

We spent the last two days in New Orleans. Staying at a nice RV park with excellent amenities. We're 2 blocks from the French Quarter. Had dinner last night at a restaurant called Oceana right in the heart of the French Quarter and had jambalaya and seafood gumbo for the first time. Was really good. We also tried the famous beignets at Cafe Du Monde, messy but so ono. Got to gamble today at Harrah's casino and 3 out of 4 of us came out winners.The buffet at Harrah's was really, really good. Snow crab, oysters, stuffed crab, clams, prime rib, shrimp....we tried it all. This city is very dirty, but at the same time fun and interesting. Dad wanted to check out Bourbon street at night, but nobody wanted to go with him. Tomorrow we have a long day of driving, we want to reach New Mexico in 2 days to go to Carlsbad Caverns.

Some more updates....

Oct 9   Today we arrived in Swansboro, NC. We're staying at Auntie Doting's house because we can park our rv in her driveway. Auntie looks really good, and happy to see us. We drove to Auntie Shirley's house because everybody was waiting for us there. There was Auntie Shirley, Uncle Fanning, Annette and her husband Sam, Debbie and her husband Barry, Bill and his girlfriend, and Karen came a little late because she was working. We had a wonderful afternoon just visiting. Dad was really happy to see his sisters. We were surprised to find out that Uncle Fanning is 88 years old.

Oct 10-11   Just spending time with the Aunties. It's good because Auntie Shirley lives only about 15 minutes away so we're seeing a lot of her and Uncle Fanning. Took a drive to Atlantic beach and the pier on Emerald Isle. No can beat Hawaii beaches. The water was green and murky, and people was swimming. Had a feast at a crab house the last night. Everyone loves crab, (except Joe and Sam) so we stuffed ourselves. After dinner we had dessert at Auntie Dotings and visited some more. Was sad to say good bye the next morning.

More updates

Oct 1   Today we arrived at Niagara. We're camping out at a KOA in Canada. Niagara falls is just spectacular.
Viewing it from the Canadian side is awesome. I wish everyone in Hawaii could see it. Did some gambling at the Falls Casino at Niagara Falls. Still very cold.

Oct 4   We're driving to Pennsylvania to see my cousin Kiko and his family. The drive through New York and Pennsylvania is beautiful. All the fall colors....just amazing. Visited with Kiko, his wife Chris and their 4 children.

Oct 5   Today we drove to Baltimore, Maryland to visit Joe's dad and his wife Mary. Took us about 3 hours. Dad has gained a lot of weight and he has a weak heart but he is very glad to see Joe. They took us to a crab house for dinner and we made pigs out of ourselves. My dad, Joe's dad, Mary and myself managed to eat 2 dozen crabs.

Oct 6   We drove to DC today. Joe's dad let us use his car and it took us about 1 1/2 hours. When we got there, we found out that we forgot the seat and the keys for dad's scooter. We took a long time getting around but at least we got to see the Washington Monument and the Lincoln Memorial.

September updates

Been slacking because we've been enjoying ourselves.

Sept 26    Drove to Iowa and ended up gambling and camped overnight at Prairie Meadows Casino. Had fun doing that. Had dinner with Bob Barefoot and some friends the following night. They were in Iowa working for FEMA. We cooked out in very cold weather, probably in the 50's.

Sept 29    Spent the next couple of nights in Port Huron. This campsite is kind of close to Lisa. She came out and had dinner with us. Was really cold, about 60 degrees.

Mt Rushmore, Crazy Horse in South Dakota

Fri, Sept 24  Today we went to Mt Rushmore and said hello to George, Tom, Teddy, and Abe. Then we moved on to Crazy Horse Memorial. These 2 sights were really something to see. We're camping out tonight in Custer State Park at a place called Blue Bell campgrounds. Really nice facility for a state park. Lots of wildlife roaming around. Saw a deer, buffalo, lots of squirrels. Will probably see a lot more when we drive the second half of the park tomorrow morning on our way to the Badlands.

Montana at Yellowstone RV Edge Camprounds

Papa Rudy taking a breather outside the RV

We arrived late yesterday at 8:00 p.m. after a long day at Yellowstone Park and finding out that all campgrounds were full so we just kept on driving.  We went the wrong way due to our ace navigator, Mama Janet.  She fell asleep while navigating and we ended up in Montana.  The facilities at this RV campgrounds are excellent with all amenities except TV hookups.  It costs $44 dollars a day and we will be staying another day due to the cleanliness of the park.  We are right next to the Yellowstone River with wonderful mountain views.  Night temperature is 39 degrees. Lucky we get heater.

Start in Vegas

We arrived in Las Vegas late Saturday, early Sunday, September 12, 2010. When we picked up our RV on Sunday, we discovered the air wasn't working. It was blowing hot air. Instead of starting our road trip on Tues, we had to wait for the air to be fixed. We finally got going on Thurs.

Sept 16 - Finally left Vegas about 1 pm and officially started our road trip. We drove to Zion, took about 3 hrs to drive. Spent the night at Zion Canyon Campground. Decent place to stay.

Sept 17 - Went to Zion National Park. Very beautiful. This was a good park for mom & day because they had a shuttle that ran through the whole park. Joe wasn't up to doing any hikes, so we had lunch and starting driving towards Wyoming. Camped at East Bay RV Park in Springville, Utah. Very nice park w/ clean bathrooms and had handicap showers.

Sept 19 - Today we arrived at Grand Teton National Park, saw the Teton range which was awesome and camped out. Tomorrow we'll do Yellowstone.