Fools Hollow Lake Recreation Area, Show Low, AZ

When we packed up this morning to leave Cattail Cove State Park, I was pleased to notice the leveler jacks are retracting silently and completely since I greased them a couple days ago. So it seems that little issue is resolved!

We made our way to Fools Hollow Recreation Area in Show Low, AZ which is in the White Mountains of Arizona. This is a beautiful area that ranges from around 5000 ft to more than 7000 ft above sea level. This region is typically 15-25°F cooler than the rest of Arizona and is a popular year-round recreational area. Although the drive was easy and the scenery was lovely, the 360 mile distance is longer than I normally care to make. We got a very early start leaving Cattail Cove so we could arrive in the Show Low area around 4PM.

So here we are now, settled in to a very nice "side by side" campsite - that is, two sites sharing the same pad. I guess these "side by side" sites are intended for a couple of families who are camping together. These were the only type of sites available so we decided to go for it. If we get a neighbor the space will be very crowded, but if we don't get a neighbor we'll have plenty of room. We'll see if someone shows up over the next couple days.

The campground at Fools Hollow Lake Recreation Area is clean and well-laid out, and the camp hosts and rangers are very pleasant and helpful. I think we'll like it here.

Oh yeah, we had to put the front tires up on wood again. What is up with the unlevel campsites we keep getting?

Waterdoggies, Cattail Cove State Park, Lake Havasu City, AZ

Sydney and Barley had such fun swimming in the lake today!  And then they had a bath...

London Bridge, Etc., Lake Havasu City, AZ

Believe it or not, London Bridge is right here in Lake Havasu City, Arizona!

It is an interesting story of how this came to be: In 1962, the bridge built in 1831 over the River Thames in London was determined not to be sufficiently strong to support the growing load of modern traffic. And so the City of London put the bridge up for sale and it was bought by Robert P. McCulloch, the man who founded Lake Havasu City in 1964. To transport the bridge to Arizona, it had to be dismantled block by block, each one meticulously numbered. McCulloch had the exterior granite blocks transported to America and reassembled around a reinforced concrete structure to rebuild the London Bridge in Lake Havasu City.

We drove into town from the campground, and spent some time in the Lake Havasu Visitors Center and browsing around the London Bridge. It's a neat area, with some shops and a couple casual restaurants - including Bridge Burger, where we had lunch.

Our next stop was Home Depot for some wood; we had an associate cut down a 16-ft piece of 12x2 into several 30" and 12" pieces. We should now have enough wood to tackle just about any unlevel campsite!  I also bought a hand-type grease gun and grease to service the leveler system.

After Home Depot, we made a stop at the local Walmart for some supplies and then headed back to the campground, where I greased the leveler jacks. I won't know until we retract the jacks whether this will resolve the issues - will have to wait until we pack up to leave.

Settling in at Cattail Cove State Park, Lake Havasu City, AZ

After a very fun time in the Las Vegas area, we left today and made our way to Lake Havasu, AZ. The drive was pleasant and easy and we got to the Cattail Cove State Park campground around 3PM this afternoon. We had reservations for site #53, which is very large and set off from the others so it is also quite private.

The only downside to this campsite is that it is extremely unlevel. So there we were again, putting the front wheels up on wood so they would not be off the ground when we raised the front end with the leveler jacks.

After much huffing and puffing, and more than a little cursing, we got the motor home situated. The camp host lent us some additional wood because we did not have enough. We will make a trip to the local Home Depot tomorrow to get more wood.

Anyway, this is a really nice campground and I would be happy to stay here again. Despite having to put the Dolphin up on blocks, site #53 is still the best. The campground is immaculate, nicely laid out, and sits on Lake Havasu.

Regarding the issue with the noisy and reluctant Power Gear leveler jacks: I did a little research on the manufacturer's website and discovered the jacks should be greased every 20-30 uses. Interesting... the printed Power Gear documentation that came with the motor home makes no mention of this!? Sure enough, when I scraped off the road grime around the leveler jack cylinders, I found a grease fitting on the bottom of each one. Guess I'll buy a grease gun tomorrow.

Showtime! Cirque du Soleil "O"

We returned to the Bellagio last night and easily found a parking spot in the Hotel's parking garage. After making our way to the ticket counter to pick up our show tickets, we had a couple hours to kill so we walked around the casino before settling in at the Baccarat Bar to people-watch and enjoy a couple drinks.

When the time came, we made our way to the theatre and settled in for the Cirque du Soleil "O" show, An aquatic masterpiece of surrealism and theatrical romance. I don't know what to say other than it met our every expectation! Despite our seats being not-so-great, we still became immersed in the show. It was marvelous! I did take some photos but they did not turn out very well; here are a few anyway:

After the show, we made our way to Paris LV, specifically to find La Creperie  - a friend had highly recommended this place. I ordered the Nutella crepe with nutella, banana, caramel sauce, candied hazelnuts and chantilly cream. Lynda ordered the Roasted Chicken crepe with rotisserie chicken, sun dried tomatoes, asparagus, basil pesto & shaved grana padano. They were both delicious!

Nutella

I couldn't believe we were eating all that at 10PM at night - yikes! We waddled our way back to the car and got back to base around 11:30PM.

And now we're leaving Nellis AFB to make our way to Lake Havasu in Arizona. Stay tuned!

Roasted Chicken

A Night on the Strip

We had a big time in Vegas last night! We started out by parking by the LINQ's High Roller ferris wheel around 5PM and going into the Hotel & Casino to have dinner at Hash House A Go Go. It was a bit confusing finding our way into the building, but we managed to do so without looking like total hicks. Hahaha!

Not sure what to say about Hash House A Go Go. On one hand, the food was excellent and the beer was cold but it was so LOUD in the restaurant we could not hear each other speak. It was like having dinner in a nightclub. Having read that the food portions where insanely large, we decided to share the Sage Fried Chicken and Bacon Waffles crowned with fried leeks and a maple reduction (we agreed on this using lip-reading, sign language, and menu pointing). Yep, the dinner serving was insanely large and very very good! If they would turn the $#% music down, I'd go back in a heartbeat.

Ceasar's Palace - Somewhere in The Forum Shops

After dinner, we made our way over to Caesar's Palace. What a cool place! We went into The Forum Shops area and walked around... loved, loved, loved the painted ceiling and all the reproduction Roman statuary, etc. We also watched The Fall of Atlantis show, an animatronic display of fire, water and nine-foot-tall talking statues. It was kinda dated and the audio was pretty bad but, heck, it's free!

Back in the Casino area of Caesar's Palace, we put a $5 bill in one of the Penny slots and quickly realized we had ZERO clue about what we were doing. It took about 1 minute to lose the $5, but we had a good laugh over it.

Then, on to the Bellagio Fountains area to await
the display. By now it was around 8PM and dark. Lovely music and lovely fountains. We were a bit surprised, however, that the lights were not of various colors. Still, the Fountain display was beautiful.

We decided to go into the Bellagio and find out where to pick-up our "will call" tickets for Sunday's Cirque du Soleil show. Just as we were told by a friend, Dale Chihuly's glass sculpture blossoms that hangs from the lobby ceiling is gorgeous. And, Bellagio’s Conservatory & Botanical Gardens was featuring an amazing Japanese Garden - also something to see!!! My photos did not turn out very well, but here's one to you give some idea.

We left the Bellagio, bought passes for and boarded the Deuce (bus), and got off at the Venetian. We walked around inside this Hotel & Casino just to check out the beautiful decor. These Vegas Strip hotels are amazing! They are gorgeously decorated, and just about all of them have shops, restaurants, bars, big name shows, and (of course) casinos! I guess the idea is that you don't have to leave the Hotel for anything - it's all right there!

We re-boarded the Deuce and rode out to Fremont Street for the "Fremont Street Experience". Truthfully, we weren't that taken with this part of Vegas. It was past 10PM when we got there and the revelers had (apparently) been drinking for several hours so there was a lot of sloppy, somewhat belligerent behavior going on. We found a small Mediterranean cafe and ducked in for some hummus and a cold beer. The food was good, but one of the other customers (a scantily dressed woman of around 30) seemed to be looking for a brawl, so it was eyes down, drink your beer, and let's go! I'm definitely at a point in my life where this sort of foolishness is not entertaining.

All in all, we had a great time! The only thing I would do differently is go to Fremont Street much earlier, when the crowd is more sober and pleasant.

Later today, we will go back to the Bellagio in time to walk around and enjoy a couple drinks before the show.

Bellagio on left; Caesar's Palace on right

Paris LV

Bellagio Marquee for "O"

Thunderbird Museum and Show Tickets

We decided to begin our day with a visit to the USAF Thunderbirds' Museum. The last time I was in the Thunderbird's hangar was around 1987, when I was on temporary duty to train their communications team on some tactical satellite equipment. The hanger hasn't changed much - still impeccable, with fresh paint and a spotlessly-clean floor.

A sharp MSgt took us around and let me take photos of one of the two F-16s in the hanger undergoing maintenance. The other bird was off-limits for photography because panels were removed and you could see the "innards".

We also walked around the small museum with numerous photos, awards, newspaper clippings, flights suits, and other memorabilia on display. Here is a photo of one clipping in particular that caught my eye - Reagan is referred to as an Actor and so this had to pre-date his political years:

 After our visit to the Thunderbird Museum, we made our way to the ITT office and bought tickets for Cirque du Soleil's "O" show. The early (7:30PM) shows for Friday and Saturday were sold out and so we settled on tickets for Sunday's show.

Then off to the Commissary to restock the 'fridge and cupboards.

We've decided to wait until tomorrow afternoon to go into Vegas for dinner, and then explore the Strip and Fremont Street.

Settling in at Desert Eagle FamCamp, Nellis AFB, NV

We left California today after almost 8 weeks of meandering along that beautiful state, from San Diego to the Bay area, and southeast through the Mojave Desert.

When we got ready to leave campground this morning, the front leveler jacks made groaning noises as they retracted and the driver side front jack did not retract all the way. I'll need to make time sometime soon to work on this issue. Other than that, today's drive eastward to Nellis AFB was uneventful, just as we like it!

Some may disagree, but I do not find the Mojave to be as interesting as the Sonoran or Chihuahuan deserts: there seems to be less variation of foliage, mostly stunted Creosote bush. We did pass through, however, a few areas with Joshua Trees... a nice sight in otherwise plain surroundings.

We ran into some traffic going through Las Vegas but it wasn't too bad and Lynda was able to get a few photos of the Strip from I-40. See some photos below.

We spent a couple nights at the Desert Eagle FamCamp in 2010, and we're glad to be back. This is a great campground, one of the best we've stayed at since we began RVing six years ago. The sites are spacious and well laid-out, the office is manned by several very pleasant volunteers, and someone always answers the phone when you call during office hours... none of that "Out to Lunch" stuff we run into at many other military campgrounds.

Tomorrow we'll go over to the base ITT (Information, Tickets, and Tours) office to get our tickets for one of the Cirque du Soleil shows (probably "O"), do some grocery shopping, and maybe go  into Vegas... this strip is only a 25 minute drive from the FamCamp. How nice is that?!

Lunch at Peggy Sue's and Calico Ghost Town, CA

After doing a whole lot of nothing yesterday, we got out and about today. We started by having an early lunch at Peggy Sue's 50's Diner. The food was average but the ambiance was a lot of fun and we enjoyed being there.

Lynda with the Brothers

Peggy Sue's is an original roadside diner, built in 1954 with 9 counter stools and 3 booths. It was built from railroad ties and mortar from the nearby Union Pacific Rail yard. The current owners reopened the diner in 1987 and attempted to restore and preserve it in its original state. Thanks to the support of locals, truck drivers, service members from the nearby Marine Corp base, and tourists the diner prospered and became more popular. So the owners decided to expand the Diner into a real old fashioned tourist stop.

If you're ever passing through the Yermo/Calico area, I recommend you stop at Peggy Sue's for a meal or a milkshake - it's a fun place. Also, you can overnight in your RV in the big parking area next to the diner. Pretty convenient...

After lunch, we made our way to the nearby Calico Ghost Town, a former mining town located in the Calico Mountains of the Mojave Desert. It was founded in 1881 as a silver mining town, and today has been converted into a county park. Giant letters spelling CALICO can be seen on the Calico Peaks behind the ghost town from the freeway. Walter Knott (of Knottsberry Farms) purchased Calico in the 1950s, architecturally restoring all but the five remaining original buildings to look as they did in the 1880s. Calico was designated a California Historical Landmark in 2005.

Calico Ghost Town wasn't very crowded when we went there today, but based on the size of the parking lots, I suspect it gets very busy in the summer time and maybe the winter, when kids are out of school and families are traveling.

We enjoyed walking around and checking out the buildings, etc. We even rode the little train that takes you  outside the town area, where you can see the mine entrances.

Here are some photos:

The Entrance... kinda hard to miss!

Main Street

Artifacts

Schoolhouse

Miner and Burro

Getting to Calico, CA

We departed Travis AFB on Saturday, April 18th and made our way to Edwards AFB, CA.

Our original plan was to go to Edwards a couple days sooner, to view the poppy bloom in Antelope Valley and check out the annual Poppy Festival in nearby Lancaster. We also had an appointment on Monday to get an oil change and lube on the motor home.

But the evening before we were to leave Travis AFB, we learned the poppies had bloomed almost a month early and there was nothing left to see. So we gave ourselves a couple "down days" at Travis, to recover from all the driving and sightseeing and catch up on laundry, bookkeeping, etc.

Edwards AFB is home to the Air Force Test Center, and is the Air Force Materiel Command center for conducting and supporting research and developmental flight test and evaluation of aerospace systems from concept to combat. It also operates the US Air Force Test Pilot School, is home to NASA's Armstrong Flight Research Center, and used to be an alternate landing site for Space Shuttle missions. While there is no doubt that Edwards is a very important and interesting base, it is also located in the Mojave desert, is very hot and dusty, and there doesn't seem to be much going on during the weekend.

We rolled into the FamCamp around 5PM to learn there were no campsites available, but we had expected this and so it was no big deal. We spent two nights in the overflow area, which is a big parking lot. We caught up on some online activities (the WiFi is fairly decent in the campground's community room), and watched a couple movies.

We left Edwards this morning, but first went over to the base Express gas station and had the on-board propane tank filled. I was glad to be able to do that on base as it was cheap and convenient. Then we drove to Javi's RV Service Center in Lancaster, arriving early for our 10AM service appointment. We put Celia in her carrier and left her in the motor home, and took the dogs to a nearby city park while the work was being done. Javi's did a good job and they were quick and inexpensive, charging only $89 (I provided the oil filter).

Back of KOA - Desert

We were on the road to the Calico area by 10:30AM and made our way to the KOA without incident... a relatively short drive of around 100 miles.

This KOA is nicely laid out with spacious sites, although some offer more shade than others. We were originally assigned a site with very little shade but were able to change to a more protected (cooler) site. The campground is not very busy - just as we like it! There's just a few other campers, including a group of German tourists in several rental Class C campers. They are a very happy group - lots of laughing and walking around. We are enjoying their excitement.

Other than going to the Calico Ghost Town tomorrow (or the next day), we don't plan on doing much else. Our next stop will be at Nellis AFB's Desert Eagle FamCamp, 30 minutes from Las Vegas - we are saving our energy for the Vegas strip!

A Visit with John and Linda, Pioneer, CA

We drove out to Pioneer today to visit our friends, John and Linda. This was about a two-hour drive through beautiful countryside, ending up in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada. What a lovely place to live!

We met John and Linda five years ago, during our RV trip to Alaska in 2010. John has been dealing with serious health issues for several years and so we were very happy to find him energetic and upbeat.

We got to meet their "girls", Kinley and Denali: two almost-grown Great Danes with boundless energy. They are all legs and tails! It's easy to tell that John and Linda love those doggies dearly, and are very entertained by their antics!

We went to lunch at a nearby Chinese restaurant and the food was very good. Afterwards, we went back to the house for a couple hours and just visited. Their home is set back on a hillside in a wooded area and it is a very peaceful setting.

We really enjoyed spending this time with John and Linda and hope we can see them again sometime in the near future. They are hoping to start RVing again soon, so perhaps we can meet up someplace during our travels.

Tour of San Francisco and Dinner with Teela

Yesterday, we puttered around taking care of some laundry and other chores and then met-up with Greg and Suzanne for dinner at Princess Garden Mongolian BBQ in Vallejo.

A couple weeks ago, we made reservations for a 5 Hour Premium City Tour of San Francisco. Although I visited the City numerous times while stationed at Travis AFB in the 1980s, I wanted someone else to do the driving so I could relax and enjoy myself. We decided to sign up for the 9AM tour, so we would still have some of the day left afterwards. BUT, this meant we had to be in the City by 8:30AM. I asked Suzanne how much time we should allow to drive into the city and she suggested we ride the BART instead. As she wisely pointed out, the train schedule is reliable whereas the horrendous Bay area traffic is very unpredictable.

So we left Travis AFB at 6AM this morning and drove over to the North Concord BART station. We easily figured out the parking and ticketing system and got on the 7:15AM train into the City. North Concord is the second station from the beginning of that particular train route and so there was still plenty of seating. It was a comfortable 45-minute train ride... I even nodded off a couple times!

We arrived at the Embarcadero station with an hour to spare before we had to meet the tour guide for the City tour. We spent that time browsing around the Ferry Building's Farmers Market, which offers an awesome array of artisan breads and cheeses, fresh produce, grass-fed beef, wine booths, fine dining restaurants, cafes, etc. Wow, exploring this Farmers Market is an experience in and of itself!

In Front the Golden Gate Bridge

The City tour was fantastic! The driver did a great job getting us around the busy city, and the tour guide was very good - one of the best I've encountered. This particular tour is interactive. That is, you get off the shuttle several times and walk around, rather than just sitting on the bus and looking at things through the window.

We visited Chinatown and the Fortune Cookie factory (guided walk), Grace Cathedral (15 minutes to explore), Alamo Square Park (10 minute stop to view the Seven Sisters Victorian homes), Lombard Street (guided walk), Palace of Fine Arts (15 minutes to explore), Cable Car Barn Museum (15 minutes to explore), Golden Gate Bridge (drove over), and the Golden Gate Park (10 minutes to explore). We ended the day in Sausalito with an hour for lunch and exploring before taking the ferry from Sausalito back to the City. It was awesome! See below for a few photos.

Once back in the City, we took the BART to North Concord to get our car and drive back to Travis AFB. By this time it was around 5PM. We had about an hour and a half to walk the dogs and catch our breath before going back out to Vallejo meet our friend Teela for dinner. Turned out that the Indian restaurant we chose for dinner was nothing more than a sketchy-looking take-out place and so we ended up at a very casual Mexican place. It really did not matter as we just wanted to spend some time with Teela and catch-up.

By the time we got back to Travis AFB around 11PM, we were pretty worn out. It's been a BIG day!

Palace of Fine Arts

Twistiest Part of Lombard Street - we walked down

Grace Cathedral

Trolley

Chinatown

The Seven Sisters

Beautiful San Francisco Homes $$$$

Beautiful San Francisco Homes $$$$

Alcatraz with Greg and Suzanne, San Francisco, CA

Today, we met up with a long-time friend, Greg, and spent the day going into San Francisco to take a tour of Alcatraz. Greg and I go waaaayyy back - we first met in 1986 when we were both stationed at Travis AFB in the same unit, the 1901 Communications Squadron. The last time I saw Greg was in 1991, when he came to visit me in Germany.

It was great to meet Greg's wife, Suzanne, and the four of us had a lovely day together. Greg drove (thankfully) and we easily found a place to park. We enjoyed a nice brunch at the Butterfly Restaurant on the Embarcadero and then boarded the ferry to Alcatraz.

The first time I visited Alcatraz was in 1987, when my mother came to visit me from Barbados. I took her into the City and we were doing touristy things when she noticed a sign for tours out to Alcatraz. She really wanted to go, and so we bought tickets on the spot and went out to the island. It was all very impromptu and we had such a good time! Things have changed a bit since then: it's considerably more crowded, you have to buy tickets in advance because they sell out, and things are just a bit more "processed" than before. But we still had a good time.

Alcatraz Island is located in the San Francisco Bay, 1.5 miles offshore from San Francisco. The small island was originally developed with facilities for a lighthouse, a military fortification to guard the bay, and a military prison. It was re-purposed in 1933 as a federal prison. During the 29 years it was in use as a penitentiary, Alcatraz held some of the most notorious criminals in American history, including Al Capone, Robert Franklin Stroud (the Birdman of Alcatraz), George "Machine Gun" Kelly, James "Whitey" Bulger, and Alvin "Creepy" Karpis (who served more time at Alcatraz than any other inmate).

What many people may not know is that, beginning in November 1969, the island was occupied for more than 19 months by a group of  Native Americans from San Francisco who were part of a wave of Native activism across the nation with public protests through the 1970s.

See below for a few photos.

Arriving at the Alcatraz Dock

Post Exchange / Officers Club

Military Chapel

Cellhouse

A Hallway of Cells Inside the Cellhouse

Greg and Suzanne (wearing caps)

Leaving the Dock

San Francisco Skyline from Alcatraz