Armpit of the Southwest

Las Vegas may be the ONLY redeeming quality of Nevada.

MovinSue made her First Ever Big Mistake leaving Las Vegas.   For some reason, US 93 and US 95 ran together in her mind.   Not so--and the mistake cost me about 40 miles and a trip into .....the GREAT BASIN!

The GREAT BASIN is a No-Man's Land where neither man nor beast should enter without serious survival gear.  The basin is guarded by the Great Basin National Park, which gets about 43 visitors per year.  I guess few people are interested in visiting a place inhabited primarily by bacteria, bats and bobcats.

This is what the inhospitable landscape looks like;   even the elevated road is hostile with a very small shoulder sloping down to sand and rumble strips on both the edge and in the center.  There is nothing out here and one needs to keep a full tank of gas, a sidearm and her wits about her.

In making my correction, I had to take the infamous Extraterrestrial Highway.   The Extraterrestrial Highway was named for the many UFO sightings along this lonely stretch of road. The highway is close to the mysterious Area 51, a super-secret Air Force test facility, and in the 1980's and 1990's there were many sightings of unidentified objects near the base.

There were desert storms brewing during my drive--athough you don't really need a storm to experience odd weather phenomena.  To Wit:  Dust Devils.  They are actually kind of "cute" from a distance; they whirl and swirl and kick up some dust and debris, and **poof** just as quickly as they show up, they are gone!  One passed over me on the road; I could see we were going to intersect and white-knuckled the steering wheel in anticipation of the turbulence.  I figured that it couldn't be worse than a couple semis passing but dreaded what crap was swirling in the vortex.   Sure enough, I was buffeted and bitch-slapped in several directions at once!   No damage, but what a ride!

But,  the most disturbing phenom of all was Tonopah, NV--one of the most wretched towns I have ever seen.  The participating member RV park was so run down and ugly that I refused to stop.   So, I pulled into the only business that was open--McDonalds!  Great, a Wifi signal and some comfort food!  I could look for another place to squat for the night,  grab some fries and surf.

Tonopah NV was declared, by the pimply, baby-faced cashier, to be the ONLY McD's in the system to have NO Wifi.  Additionally, they had NO ketchup for the fries, and the fries were cold.  So, I headed for town where there were 2 casinos and plopped in the Truck/RV Parking lot at the Banc Club for the night.

Woke up to 43 degrees!  Yikes, Vegas was 93!

The morning ride was beautiful; the wind had died down and the mountains were pastel-pretty.

Gas was horrendous; $3.89 in Vegas and $4.49 in Tonopah.  Tonopah is obviously gouging travellers' anxiety about driving 200 miles to the next gas station.

(In the style of Donald Trumph)

 "Tonopah....you ARE the Armpit of the Southwest!"

Then, I approached Hawthorne-- place with a history.  The first thing I noted were large mounds in the desert with sharp cuts vertically in each mound and a sign that identified the area as a Navy Warfare Detachment.   This photo is from online as I could not get a decent photo from the road.  There were hundreds of these structures as far as the eye could see.


Huh?  The Navy has business in the desert?

So, I went online and looked up Hawthorne.  Very interesting.  There is also an Army Depot housing mines and ammunition but the interesting thing is a theory that this is a submarine test site.  It is theorized that Nevada and California sit on a continental shelf in this region and that the government has tunnelled underneath the shelf from Monterey CA, through Nevada and all the way to Missouri!

I departed to a delight to the eyes--Walker Lake Recreational Area.

Here is a the best I could do to get into the shot with my camera self-timer.   Usually, there is someone around who will take a photo...but not in Hawthorne.

And, then it happened.

Can you guess what the flying $72 means?

I think I have gotten 2 tickets in my lifetime; prior to the last two months, when I was in my 30's.  In the last two months, I have booked almost $300 in fines for non-moving violations.  My violation in Hawthorne was "Failure to Follow Rules" because my license plate was obscured by my container on my hitchhauler.   It seems as though my Life Lessons follow me as I travel.  These guys really need my money and the officer was quite handsome, so I just consider it a mostly-pleasant exchange and a public donation.

And she moved on...

Las Vegas

I stayed at a great RV park called Blake Ranch RV.   This is one of the nicest campgrounds I have been in and is also a Horse Motel.  I was advised their showers were a Texas-sized 10' X 10' and of course, I checked that out.  I wondered if the shower size had anything to do with horse-guests. 

They had TWO pristine Dog Walks with shade and benches so I took Cassie for an off-leash run.

The Wednesday drive toward Flagstaff was a nightmare; look at the dust cloud ahead which was bad enough to drastically reduce visibility.  The wind gusts blew RV's all over their lanes and it was nerve-wracking sharing the road with the semis.  Additonally, I-40 was quite damaged in some sections.

Even with teeth-jarring bumps, my sue-engineered fixes remained intact; my antenna, the awning and my cabin desk!

It was a beautiful drive to Las Vegas via US93; leaving Kingman, the topography changed abruptly to rugged southwest beauty and breathtaking scenery when summitting a crest.  The winds were quiet for the ride and I thought maybe the weather front had passed.  Yay.

NAY!  Crazy wind is back with a venegance on Friday!  Rather than get on the road, I decided to stay an extra day in Las Vegas.  Winds are steady 25-35 mph with gusts to 50mph!  I thought I would go on the Suicide ride on the Stratosphere but the high wind gusts changed my mind.    Humidity 9-16% --time to break out the body lotion, Chapstick and eye drops.

Enroute to LV, I stopped in a Cracker Barrel for rest and a Cassie-walk.   I opened the screendoor and a nice-looking native gentleman knocked.  I stayed in the RV and listened to his "story".   He had quite the tale, which I tried to imagine and considered without comment.  Finally--the "close".  He asked for "a couple dollars".

While he was weaving this fantasy story, I was reminded of the Judge Judy TV program where litigants tell strange and inconsistent versions of their predicament and "Judy-isms" are born.  So, when he finished, I channeled my inner Judge Judy and said to him "Sir, the story you tell me is not believable!  I see before me a well-groomed man in apparent good health, shaven with trimmed mustache,  wearing fashionable, clean and well-fitting clothes and boots that show no evidence of having walked on anything except carpet.

You are obviously creative and smart enough to tell a great story.   I imagine there is a cell phone in your pocket and that your truck is parked nearby.   I simply do not believe that you are homeless and penniless".   Surprisingly, he protested and tried to convince me that I was wrong.  Extra points for persistance! 

At about that moment, a guy who had pulled up in another RV got out of his rig and "hovered" near our conversation.   He heard me say to the beggar man "Cracker Barrel would not be happy to get a complaint about their customers being solicited in their parking lot".  Unbelievably, he said he was not soliciting and I said "What do you call asking someone for money?"  At that moment, I could see resignation in his face and suggested that he move along off private property.  He walked off in search of an easier mark--or at least someone who didn't watch Judge Judy.

 Las Vegas News:

...Elton John was hospitalized 4 days ago with a respiratory infection and all his concerts are cancelled, so my plan to go to his Million Dollar Piano concert--gone!

...Roy Horn of Siegfried & Roy has been accused of multiple complaints of sexual misconduct, several by his male nurses and caretakers.

..Las Vegas is hosting the first annual "BBQ & Beer for Boobs" festival, a fund-raising event for breast cancer.

Since I am missing some of my planned activities in Vegas, I treated myself to a casino Memorial Day Special--a steak and lobster dinner with all the fixin's.  It was yummy and, of course, I brought plenty of food back to the RV.  Thanks to Dr. Ortiz--"Stomach Seamstress to the Stars", I have two additional meals and Cassie gets some tidbits too!

Of course, I played the latest electronic video poker machines but got over 2 hours of game play before my $20 was gone.   I think the trainee poker games on my smartphone helped my percentage and extend my playtime.

In honor of Vegas, here is my most favorite version of PokerFace; I included lyrics because they are so cool!  I like the Glee version better than Lady Gaga's.  Poker Face - With Lyrics
 
Fuel update:  cheapest in Arizona/Nevada $3.60 and most Purveyors of Petrol ask for $3.79 to $3.99 in LV.

No More Drama

The inverter drama is finished and I spent a wonderful, drama-free visit with Tuna, Laura, Theresa and Christopher in Edgewood NM.  Tuna declared, more than once, that among the many things he appreciates about living in NM is "lack of drama"!  Life there is pretty mellow!

The weather was "chamber of commerce" beautiful so we went to garage sales where I found the waterproof carrier for my hitchhauler I was looking for.  We had ice cream at the DQ.  We went to a beautiful garden center referred to as the Oasis, due to its lush landscaping in the middle of the desert.  We watched the solar eclipse while doggies played in the backyard.   This is Tuna hugging his best doggie, Charlie.

We ate homemade guacamole (what a yummer!), pork chops and ribs--all a treat for me as my diet on the road is even more disastrous than at home!

During naptime, I got a chance to repair my TV antenna which was hanging on by a thread and thumping on its roof mount from the minute I entered east Texas!

But ALAS!   The weather forecast has brought drama:  The southwest is getting crazy bad wind starting Weds for 3 days and I will have to drive in it.  I already had Awning Angst before I heard the weather forecast; now I have Awning Paranoia.

I left Tuna's on Monday and settled in at the Dancing Eagle Casino in Casa Blanco, a favorite stop on my route.  Casino is generous with freebies and gives out gas vouchers and a quality keychain shaped like a red hot chili pepper.  I won $1.05 on Video Poker (I always walk away when I am ahead.)  The RV Park is adjacent for $10 which includes wifi.

While there, I used the wifi to research how RV awnings transform into Killer RV Awning Sails in high winds.  What happens is that the awning fabric is wound around a roller that has a clutch mechanism that is tightened "just so" to allow operation but, in a microburst of highway wind, the clutch resistance is overcome and the awning suddenly unfurls-becoming a safety hazard.  There are afterproducts costing around $50 but they are only available on the internet.   Albuquerque Camping World  had nothing--unbelievable!  In this part of the world where "Severe Crosswind Signs" pop up every 10 miles!

So, I thought and thought...  Finally, I came up with a workable solution.  Here it is and cost about $5 and a couple trips up the ladder to the rooftop.  It consists of a hitchpin on the cap end secured with a hose clamp.   The hitchpin goes into the roller hole and prevents the clutch from disengaging and the hose clamp keeps the hitchpin from tearing or vibrating loose during travel.  No more drama!

Another item off my Bucket List--I wanted to go on the SkyWalk at the Grand Canyon.  I looked it up and it is operated by an Indian concessionaire and you have to buy a "package" of tours to get on the SkyWalk; it is not available as a single item purchase!  Price tag of least expensive ScamPak is $80 and they add in an impact fee and a couple other scam fees so you are looking at about $100 just to walk on a plexiglass surface at the Grand Canyon and, OH!  By the Way NO CAMERAS ALLOWED but you can buy pictures that the concessionaire will take of your experience.   Also, there is a Mega Lawsuit over this structure and the empty building adjacent to the SkyWalk Indians Seize Developers Assets!  Too Much Native Drama!

I got several emails in response to my last blog where I described this creature I spotted in an East Texas rest area--a half hairless dog thing with a wild pig face.   Incredibly, I might have seen El Chupacabra-- a hairless, snarly-looking four-legged creature said to suck blood from goats.
This is a photo of a dead one that is similar to the horrible creature I saw.  The one I saw had a fuller chest.

I am now in Arizona and here are a few road trip pics; a Welcome to Arizona rest area...

...and one of a never-ending series of tourist Indian Gift Shoppes.

Staying with my theme of No More Drama for this Blog, I thought I would post Joshua Ledet's FanTastic studio performance of No More Drama at the AI Final Three.  It begins with the tunes of the theme song from One Life to Live and it is a perfect cover of Mary J. Blige's original!  Joshua's "No More Drama"  Here is an exerpt of the lyrics:

Uh, it feel so good
When you let go
Of all the drama in your life
Now you're free from all the pain
Free from all the game
Free from all the stress
So find your happiness
I don't know
Only God knows where the story ends for me
But I know where the story begins
It's up to us to choose
Whether we win or loose
And I choose to win

Self Inflicted Wounds

I left Dixie RV in Hammond LA Wednesday morning after two nights; it is my home away from home on the road for all things RV-ish.

The inverter system continues to confound me.

 

Situation Room:  my inverter, (a thingy that turns battery power into 110 for plugs) which also is a converter, had been put in control of the RV electrical system when it was installed.   The factory built-in vehicle converter was temporarily disabled by throwing the circuit breaker and duck taping over the switch.  Somewhere along the way, the tape fell off and my brain disengaged.

Fast Forward:  Before the trip, I checked everything and, when the reading lights in the slide would not work, I checked #1 on my Trouble List--the circuit breaker.  Voila!   There it is!   A switch was in the OFF position.   So, I flipped it back ON.  The light still didn’t work so I scratched my head and started to pick Basil’s brain for insight into my problem.  We checked the fuses.  All good.  Finally, the problem was identified as a hardwire problem and quickly resolved.  

However, when I flipped the circuit breaker back ON, I had unknowingly set in motion a battle of two converter systems. Darn panel looked like a pinball machine with lights blinking and racing all over!  I dug out the manual but it had no TroubleShooting solution for “pinball panel”, so I phoned my Dixie RV guru, CJ, who installed the equipment (under warranty) and made an appointment for Monday morning.

I spent  2 days suffering through country music piped into the Customer Lounge and the TV permanently set on the Travel Channel, repeating episodes of where to get the World’s Best Donuts, while Cassie slept in a shopping cart.    

CJ finally approached me with a finger wag and I knew I was about to get a verbal spanking.  He said “All your problems are self-inflicted” (he must be a Fortune Teller).  He patiently explained what happened.  Miraculously, he did not charge me for the time spent by the mechanic running down the problem and no damage was done to the equipment.  He even demonstrated what to do if it ever happened again.  Hugs for CJ!

Next day, I set a record travel day to make up for the lost travel time and also to reach one of my favorite RV parks in Longview TX.  I did have an agenda; I wanted to watch the final 3 perform on American Idol.   During results last night, I did not have any TV but skyped with my sister during the airing in California, and she gave me a blow-by-blow description of the show.    I was disappointed to learn of Joshua’s departure.  There is something  so wormy and bizarre about Phillip Phillips style; I don’t like to watch him.  Now, even if I hear a studio version of his music, images of him contorting his face will come.  Needless to say, I am rooting for Jessica.

Yesterday, I saw a varmit in a Rest Area that would inspire a Stephen King novel.  At first I thought it was a dog, but it had no collar and no owner around.  It crossed in front of the vehicle and looked up at me kinda nasty.  OH GROSS—it had the face of an ugly pig!  Body of a pit bull and face of a wild pig.  That is not an actual photo and the face was rounder and less hairy, but it is close.  Sweet mercy!  This abomination of Mother Nature will likely haunt my dreams! 

I stayed at the infamous AOK Camper Resort in Amarillo; it is a rundown dump off the interstate where you self pay (cash only) and don't even identify yourself or your vehicle; just drop the cash down the chute!  The 40+ mph winds that had dogged my trip all day became much fiercer after sundown and literally rocked my world!   The harsh gusts and severe crosswinds in this area are annoying and dangerous.  Staying in your lane is a challenge and tiring.  Cassie is grumpy with all the extra noise.  My antenna is barely hanging on and I will have to do a repair at Tuna's. 

Fuel Report:

Now in a Walmart fueling up at $3.36.  Averages for trip are $3.35 to 3.51—this is about the same as last year.

Heading for “Albuquerque” to visit Tuna’s family and staying 2 nights.   He is right under the main pathway of the solar eclipse on Sunday.   We also have his birthday to celebrate and Cassie will turn 8 yrs old on Sat.   

Good Times.

Internet compliments of Silver Moon Cafe, Santa Rosa NM