Back To Vegas

 24 March     Vidalia, LA - Decatur, TX      437 miles     8 hours 30 minutes

We left Vidalia, LA very early this morning. We're very concerned about the weather. As we approach Texas the wind is supposed to kick up. The drive was long but I enjoyed it. Lots of two lanes and very scenic. 

On the drive, there was some rain and it got pretty windy at times but Joe did a good job at driving. It wasn't nearly as bad as we thought it would be. We're just happy to be out of Vidalia. The forecast for this afternoon was thunderstorms, wind, possible hail and possible tornadoes. So scary!

Beautiful site at NRS Ranch

We're staying at another Harvest Host location. NRS Ranch is located in Decatur, Texas. Very big ranch, 400+ acres. There's a big event center, horse stalls, trailer/rv  parts store, and a big store to buy anything western. It's very nice. We're parked in a gravel lot near the event center next to an open field with horses grazing, so beautiful. 

We decided to stay an extra night because it's going to be very windy on the way to Amarillo. It's a good thing we did because this weekend is Vintage Market Days here at the ranch. It's a very big event that happens twice a year. We went to check it out. Lots of vendors and some food trucks and entertainment. We ended up buying something to hang on the wall in our RV. 

26 March     Decatur - Canyon, Texas    329 miles     6 hours 30 mins

Canyon, Texas is near Amarillo. I always hear about Palo Duro Canyon State Park and we're finally able to work it into our trip.

We're staying at Canyon Rim RV Park for 2 nights, $35 per night. Very old campground but full hookups and right next to the entrance of the state park.

We had dinner at Texas Rose Steakhouse in Canyon. Excellent restaurant with reasonable prices. The server comes around with a pan of fresh bread...so good. We didn't feel like a steak so we both had a burger......so good. Then instead of ordering  dessert they bring out fresh cinnamon rolls.....so good. We would definitely eat here again. 

Joe has been monitoring a slow leak in one of our tires for a few days. We ended up driving the rv into Amarillo to Southern Tire Mart to have it looked at. They found a nail in the tire and fixed it. The cost for the fix was $52. Glad we got that done!

Then it was off to Palo Duro Canyon State Park. $8 per person to enter. We drove around the whole park and was surprised to see 3 or 4 campgrounds, nice ones too. 

Sometimes referred to as "The Grand Canyon of Texas," Palo Duro Canyon State Park extends roughly 120 miles and has an average width of 6 miles. Descending more than 800 feet from rim to river, the nearly 16 miles of paved road in the park offer fantastic scenic views around every turn. Established in 1934,  many of the canyon's facilities, cabins, and campgrounds were built by the Civilian Conservation Corps. It's the second largest canyon in North America. 

28 March     Canyon, TX - Moriarty, NM      274 miles  5 hours

We're at another Harvest Host location. Sierra Blanca Brewery is located in Moriarty, New Mexico. Nothing fancy, parked in a dirt lot right next to the brewery. The ladies there are very friendly. After we checked in, went back to the rv to set up for the night. Joe started looking at the weather for the next couple of days and found there's another storm coming in from the west. We decided not to stay the night here and keep driving. I ended up buying a 6 pack of rootbeer that they make at this brewery. 

Parked at Sierra Blanca Brewery

28 March     Moriarty, NM - Flagstaff, AZ     339 miles     6 hours 30 minutes

What a long day! We finally made it to Twin Arrows Casino located right before Flagstaff, Arizona. We've boondocked here before. It's nice because they have separate areas for truckers and rv's. We arrived at 730pm but we gained two hours when we went through New Mexico, and now Arizona. So for us, it's actually 930pm. We'll get up early and try to hit the road by 5am. We can't hang out here, wind, rain, and snow is expected tomorrow afternoon. 

29 March     Flagstaff, AZ - Las Vegas, NV     

   Alarm went off at 430am and we were on the road by 5am. We're still watching the weather, wind gusts will be extreme between Las Vegas and Kingman, AZ around 10am. We should be in Las Vegas around 9am.....   cross our fingers!

We arrived in Las Vegas safely and  checked into Las Vegas RV Resort. We'll be here for 4 nights, about $40 per night. It's pretty packed at this RV park. The winds kicked up today just like predicted, so glad we left one day earlier than planned. We spent the next few days getting the RV ready for storage. 

We took time to meet Winky & Leslie for lunch a couple of times. We went to Osaka Japanese Bistro, the first Japanese restaurant in Las Vegas when it opened in 1967. The food was very good. 

Then a few days later, we went to eat at a restaurant off Sunset Road in Henderson. They served local food so we enjoyed that. 

02 April

We got 2 nights comp at The Luxor Hotel. We still had to pay the resort fee, $35 per night so not totally free. This was our first time here and we really enjoyed our stay. It's a smaller casino and we were pretty lucky with gambling. We'll definitely stay here again.

04 April

While waiting for our flight to Honolulu, we ran into some friends. Had a nice time talking story and made the wait go by quickly. Our flight was delayed about an hour. 

Last thoughts on our Spring trip...... We started out with a very bad storm while skiing in Brian Head, Utah. It was very cold and everyone got sick, don't know if it was altitude sickness or just a bug but everyone wasn't feeling good. We still managed to get a little skiing in and made the best of what we had to work with.

Then after the kids left, and we started our road trip, we both got very sick. It lasted for about a month. We still did a little exploring but nothing like our normal trips. Once we started feeling better, the trip was better. 

On this trip it seems like we had to constantly monitor the weather and make adjustments as we went. All in all, we enjoyed our Spring trip. We just love traveling in our RV and exploring new places. 

On the RV we put on 4,040 miles and on our truck 1,724 miles. 

It's all about the journey...life is good.