WE SHOULD HAVE STAYED IN BED

We are now in Las Vegas, NV. Several people from our Reunion in January are here and we decided we wanted to come up and join them. We also have really good friends who live here that we haven’t seen for a year. And besides that, I was ready to be on the move again.

We left on Tuesday, March 1, and planned on stopping in Chloride, AZ to boondock for the night. There was a lot next to the fire station that was supposed to be available to park for the night. Nope. When we got there we found a big “no parking” sign on the lot.

Chloride is not a big town, it’s really not even a small town. It’s just sort of a few people with a post office. We couldn’t find any other place to park and Jim didn’t have a real good feeling about the place so we pushed onward. There is absolutely no place to stop between Chloride and Boulder City, NV. We did get to drive over the new bridge at Hoover Dam but it was dark so we didn’t get to see much.

We pulled into the Elks Lodge in Boulder City and luckily they had a spot available. Really a nice RV park and we were tired. We covered more than 300 miles and that is a lot more than we usually drive.

The next day we tried to get into an RV park in Las Vegas but we definitely picked one of the worst times to be here. The Nascar race is this week-end and every place is full. We really wanted to be closer to the city because it was over 20 miles back to Boulder City to check on the girls. But we extended for another night. Still couldn’t get into a park in Las Vegas.

Bill and Jan had told us about the Clark County Shooting Range Campground in North Las Vegas. We thought that would be closer so on Thursday morning we headed out to find them. Definitely easier said than done.

This is a brand new facility and Lucy (our GPS) could not find it. We thought she had it but after driving for over 50 miles we ended up who knows where. Called the Shooting Range and they could not seem to give us directions to get there. Should have been our first clue. 20 miles later and two hours later we finally found the place. And I can guarantee neither Jim nor I could give you directions to find us.

It is a gorgeous park. Brand new. 80 pull through sites and by far the nicest shooting range Jim has ever seen. There was only one other RV parked up here so we had our pick of sites. Gorgeous views of the valley – we are waaay up the mountain side north of Las Vegas.

Things were definitely looking up. We met up with Jerry, Janice, Linda, Ed, Jeri and Terry at Ellis Island for dinner and gambling. Had a really great time and headed back home about 8:15.

Once again, we couldn’t find the place. We finally figured out where we went wrong and drove up to the gate which was CLOSED AND LOCKED!

Nobody told us that they close and lock the gate at 7:00 pm (can you believe that in Las Vegas?). And there’s nobody around. They have work campers here but they live on the other side of the check in area and you can’t get in there without a code. I forgot to mention, they have spike strips on all the exits so you can’t go in the exit either. After trying to make a few phone calls, I headed out to walk down to the work camping area to see if I could get some help.

It is pitch dark out and we didn’t have a flashlight (Note to self – put flashlight in truck) but I knew Jim couldn’t walk that far. Thank goodness it wasn’t uphill. I got to the first RV and knocked on the door. I’m sure the girl who opened it was really shocked to see me standing there. I guess she should be glad we hadn’t made a real night of it on the town. I explained our situation and she was able to help us get into the park. We finally reached the girls about 9:45.

Just when we think all is well and good and we’re back in bed, the wind hits. I don’t have any idea how strong it was howling but we ended up pulling in the bedroom and dinette slides. It had settled down some this morning – only 25 mph winds with gust to 30. And should die down later today. But that means I didn’t get much sleep last night.

We were not happy. Now we have to figure out what we are going to do. Do we move again today, if so, can we find a place, do we stay put and be home by curfew time. That will be another post.