Vegas Happenings

Las Vegas, NV   High 97  Low 74

We have been to Las Vegas many times so we don’t go down to the Strip or to Fremont Street anymore. And with Jim having to fix things on the Bungalow, our time was rather limited.

When I posted on the Escapees Forum that we were in Las Vegas and that Jim was spending a lot of time in hardware stores, somebody replied that he really needed to visit the McFadden-Dale Hardware Store. And that is exactly what he did.

This is the ultimate hardware store.

If you can’t find what you’re looking for here, you probably won’t find it anywhere.

We also splurged our $5 at the Pinball Hall of Fame.

We visited this place a few years ago and had so much fun we just had to go back. They must have every vintage pinball machine that was ever made. And the place was really busy while we were there.

There are rows and rows of machines. Most of them cost 25 cents for one person and a few are 50 cents.

We had breakfast one morning at the Blueberry Hill Restaurant. This statement in their menu just cracked me up.

We have friends who live here but Steve and Peter were in Utah for a family reunion so we’ll have to catch up with them next time.

We did get to meet up with Key for lunch. He’s a poker dealer and we were glad he had time in his schedule to fit us in.

We stayed at Kings Row RV Park – $20 a night. Our site even had a little bit of grass for the pups.

We head further north tomorrow. Hopefully by Tuesday we are far enough north for the temperatures to cool down somewhat.

Las Vegas Fire Station 4 Guys are the Best

Las Vegas, NV  High 100 Low 77

Somewhere I read that when you come to Vegas you need to visit Frankie’s Tiki Room.

From their website

Frankie's Tiki Room is a unique combination of south seas exotica and modern primitivism, with just a hint of Las Vegas kitsch.  One hundred percent original and deeply rooted in tiki tradition, Frankie's is the place where you can escape to the fantasy any hour of the day or night and where you can order up your buzz from the menu of exotic rum drinks in the tiki lounge.

It is definitely a kitschy, throw back to the old days, type of dive bar. It’s been years since we have gone to a place like that so it was time to dive on in.

When you walk in from the bright sunshine you cannot see a thing because it is kept so dark in the bar. It’s not very big but we were able to find a table that we could sit at while our eyes adjusted.

This guy sat down at our table and asked us if we had ever been there before and started telling us about the different drinks. We actually thought he worked there but we found out that he and his crew were firemen from Station 4. The friendliest bunch of guys ever.

Once we picked out what we wanted to drink, Marty told us he’d order them for us because you have to go up to the bar to order. When he got them back to our table we found out that he had paid for the drinks.

Then he convinced me I wanted my picture taken with these absolutely gorgeous firemen and how could I possibly say no to that. Do I look like I’m having fun?

Marty Delgado is on the right in this picture. One of the nicest guys you could ever hope to meet. Thank you Marty for making our day (especially mine).

Jealous? Not Me!

I forgot to post the best picture I took at Hackberry’s General Store.

Continuing Down Route 66

Leaving Peach Springs, we continued along Route 66 towards Kingman, AZ.

At one time the Frontier Motel and Cafe in Truxton, AZ was a busy stop on Route 66. Today there isn’t much left except the old classic neon sign which is in pretty sad shape.

We also stopped at the Hackberry General Store.

Getting Jim and the pups to all look at the camera and stay still long enough to take a picture is a real feat.

Leaving Route 66 with good memories, we are on our way to Las Vegas.

We are in Las Vegas and it’s 100 degrees. We haven’t been doing much – at least I haven’t. Jim has had to fix our steps which broke and our water pump which decided not to pump. Hopefully that’s the end of our issues. Now to have a little bit of fun before we leave.

We Drove to the Bottom of the Grand Canyon

Peach Springs, AZ – High 100  Low 58

Warning – lots of scenery pictures

Did you know you could actually drive to the bottom of the Grand Canyon to the Colorado River? We didn’t until Marv and Donna (from our park in Apache Junction) made the drive and told us about it. This definitely went on our bucket list.

But before you start thinking about the scene from Thelma & Louise in their 1966 Ford Thunderbird barreling over the edge of the canyon, we found a better way down.

This is the main street in Peach Springs. Not even one stoplight.

The Canyon here is not as deep and spectacular as upriver and is about 3,000 feet shallower than what you see at the South and North Rims. But it is the only place you can say you drove to the bottom of the Grand Canyon.

The road is located on the Havaupai Indian Reservation so you need to get a permit from the Fish and Game Department in Peach Springs.

The permit costs $15 per person and is a permit to trespass. That’s right – trespass.

You turn onto Diamond Creek Road in Peach Springs and drive for about 20 miles.

The road starts by winding through some small canyons and hills before opening up to a wide canyon with lush vegetation. The closer you get to the bottom, the narrower the canyon becomes.

Jim removed the antenna for me so it wouldn’t show up in all my pictures.

Not many flowers in bloom this time of year. But we did see this one.

This bus passed us but we caught up to them when they stopped at a view point. I was glad they did because we would not have thought to stop and the above picture shows the fantastic view. These people are all headed to the river to do some rafting.

You cross the creek in several places near the bottom.

At the Colorado River. The current was really swift. No, Jim did not bring his fishing poles.

The rafts used for the river trip. These rafts are very different from the rafts that I had when I rafted the New River in West Virginia. We had to paddle those rafts all the way through the Class IV and V rapids. These rafts all have big motors to move them up and down the river.

It was now time to climb back up out of the canyon. The trip down took a little over an hour – had to take a lot of pictures. We did a video of our trip but we can’t figure out how to make it work. There is a really good video on YouTube – just search for drive to the bottom of the Grand Canyon.

We are really glad we made this trek but I need to warn you that the road is incredibly rough and rocky. I think it shook every bolt and nut loose on the truck and it definitely moved everything around in the back of the truck. We would not do this again because of the road.

Getting Our Kicks on Route 66

Peach Springs, AZ  High and Low – unknown because there was no internet, tv, or cell service. Hot and Cool at night.

The night before we were leaving Winslow we heard about a fire that had shut down I-40 between us and Flagstaff. Thought we might be spending another night in Homolovi but the next morning the fire was under control and the highway was open. When we went by the firefighters were still there checking to make sure it was all out.

We left I-40 at Seligman and started our trip back in time on Route 66. Seligman is one of the few Route 66 towns that have been able to survive the passing of time.

We had to stop at Delgadillo’s Snow Cap Drive-In for a milk shake. The Snow Cap was built by a guy with a sense of humor in 1953 from scrap lumber.

After leaving Seligman, we continued on Route 66. Several Burma Shave signs kept us entertained.

If daisies are your favorite flower

Keep pushin’ up those miles per hour

We arrived at the Grand Canyon Caverns RV Park which is a very interesting place. It has a miniature golf course filled with dinosaurs.

The RV Park is about a mile down a slightly bumpy road to the Caverns. (We did not take the cavern tour. We have been in a lot of caves and decided we didn’t need to see this one.)

Dinosaur Crossing

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We arrived safely at the RV Park without being attacked by any dinosaurs or stopped for speeding.

We spent two nights here at $43 per night. Very expensive for electric and water. Never did find the dump station. There were two other RVs our first night and we were all by ourselves the second night. Very quiet and dark which made for good sleeping. The nights cooled down into the 50s which was wonderful.

We had a beautiful sunset.

Tomorrow is another bucket list adventure.