February and early March in Phoenix

We haven't fallen off the face of the earth and we haven't had any major catastrophe.  I've just been pretty lazy about posting our trip this winter.  Some of that is because we've been to Phoenix so many times that our trip this time seemed pretty boring to write about.  This trip we did a lot of visiting with friends who either came to visit, or winter in the Phoenix area.  We didn't do a lot of sightseeing and touristing around like we've done in the past.  Some of our activities (or lack of) were also a result of the unseasonably cold and windy weather.

Our house before the 2nd storm

Pueblo El Mirage

Brrrr.....Phoenix was cold this year.  The afternoon we arrived was in the mid 70s.  We actually put on our shorts and sandals to set up because we were too hot in long pants.  After that day, temps hovered in the mid 50s to low 60s.  The sun was shining, but most days were really windy, followed by some days of rain.  We even had some nights in the 30s.  I guess I shouldn’t be complaining as our friends and neighbors at home were trying to dig out from historic snow accumulations and freezing temperatures.

First semi-warm day (notice the fleece with shorts)

When we booked our reservations at Pueblo El Mirage, we asked to stay until mid-March.  They could only accommodate us until 3/1, so our plan was to move south to Casa Grande for a couple weeks.  We got a call from the office asking if we still wanted to stay longer as they could accommodate us in our existing space until 3/11.  Perfect!!  We cancelled Fiesta Grande in Casa Grande.  We decided to stay at Pechanga in Temecula for a week instead of staying so long in San Diego.  It’s closer to Dave’s mother and other family.  We booked Pechanga (casino RV resort) in Temecula no problem, and changed reservations at Santee Lakes (San Diego).  We also booked the continuation of our itinerary at Flag City in Buellton, Wine Country in Paso Robles and the 49er in Plymouth CA.

We golfed at Quail Run in Sun City one cool, sunny afternoon.  It was a beautiful little 9-hole executive course and we played it for $20!!   Not a bad place to warm up for the season.

The RV park had a wonderful selection of movies for rent for $1 for 2 days.  I rented 2 movies only to discover our DVD Player no longer worked.  It was probably a combination of hard wear and tear going over many bumpy roads and the fact that it was about 10 years old.  We decided it time for an upgrade and bought a new one.

Since we got rid of cable at home and streaming over WiFi became our means of watching TV, we 

weren't sure how it would work while on the road.  We did keep our Direct TV subscription in the motorhome but didn't intend to activate it unless all else failed.  Not only did we get rid of our cable, but we also switched to T-Mobile with unlimited data for phone service.  Another unknown.  We tried to hook up Hulu with our Roku stick using our phone.  Poor T-Mobile service in our area so we didn't have a strong enough signal to use that option☹️.  At least we had cable from the RV park and our antenna, but limited channels.

We spent a good amount of our time this trip, visiting with friends we know from home.  We have friends that live in our neighborhood at home and winter in the Phoenix area.  We have friends from our RV club at home that winter in the Phoenix area.  We have friends from our golf club at home that winter in the Phoenix area or come to visit for a week.  We sometimes see more of them while in AZ than at home😄.

Tom Rodewald

We met our friends Tom and Cheryl Rodewald for dinner one night and then we all golfed the next day at Quail Run, where Tom proceeded to get his first hole in one on the very first hole!!



My good friend Linda and her family moved to Phoenix a year ago and we had a couple good visits with them...once at their place and once at ours.  I realized that in all the 19 years Linda and I have known each other we've never had our picture taken together.  So here we are:

Our friends Jack and Joyce Hayashi flew down for a week of golf.  Not the best weather, but we all bundled up and played Hillcrest with the Rodewalds.  A couple days later we all played golf again at Cave Creek.  As you can see by the pictures, we were in fleece again.  Lots of wind!

Sandy Donogh from our RV club stopped by for one night at our RV park.  She was heading from San Diego to a park south of us and had one night to kill.  Fortunately, Pueblo El Mirage had space for her so we visited and then met for breakfast the next morning before she had to check out and move south.

Our friends, Bill and Cindy Knight and Greg and Renee Schaut were staying south of Casa Grande and came up for a day to visit family.  They stopped by for a quick visit on their way home.  It's always fun to see these four.

One day we went out to Sun City Festival to visit with some friends from our neighborhood that have winter homes there.  Jim and Ivene Morris and Gary and Deb VanWieringen (and a few dozen other folks from Trilogy) have homes in this beautiful golf course community.  The guys went golfing.  Deb was flying back from Seattle so we caught up with her at dinner.  Ivene and I enjoyed a good visit and then went up and walked through the 16 model homes.  We all met for dinner later at the restaurant in their community center.



Because we were able to stay in our RV park past the 1st, we were able to participate in the annual Trilogy Golf Tournament.  28 wintering Trilogy residents all went golfing at Wigwam Golf Course.  What a fun annual event put together by Bill Hilton.







We also went to a party hosted by Gary and Deb VanWieringen at their home in Festival.  Again, the crowd was all current or former Trilogy residents wintering or permanently living in AZ.  Some, but not all of the folks were participants in the golf tournament.  Some folks we'd never met.
 


Some of our RV club members were staying in a park called Cottonwood Lane just a few miles south of us in Goodyear.  We met at their park for a BBQ one day when we knew the sun would be out.  Dennis and Kathy Oelrich (and their dog Chester) from our RV club were also staying at El Mirage, so we all drove down together.  Good food and a fun day of catching up on stories as well as journeys taken or still to come.

Our niece, Clarissa, was working on assignment in Phoenix, so we met her a couple times for dinner.  We don't often get a chance to visit with her one-on-one, so we enjoyed catching up on family chatter and getting to know her better.





Jerry and Judy Karwhite, friends from our golf group at home, come down each year and stay at Pueblo El Mirage beginning March 1.  Because our schedules only overlapped by a few days, we made plans to have drinks at their place one night.  They have an older motorhome and they've really upgraded the inside.  It is beautiful and I'm so impressed with how creative Judy got in squeezing storage out of every nook and cranny.  Had a great visit.

Driving the Apache Trail:  We'd done this excursion once before, but decided it would be fun to do it again.  We almost turned around when we got to Apache Junction because the traffic going south was bumper to bumper.  Come to find out, there was a Renaissance Fair being held out in the desert and they had thru traffic funneled down to one lane.  Once we got past that long backup, we moved right along.  For those that don't know about the Apache Trail, it is a scenic drive thru canyons, past geologic formations, desert plants and trees, desert and lake views and wildflowers.  The challenge is that of the 50 miles, 22 miles of the road are narrow and unpaved.  It was a little nerve wracking at times,  especially this year with all the heavy rains having washed pot holes and ruts into the already rutty road.  The state had graded the road where it could so, considering, it was fairly well maintained...not a road for nervous drivers.  For the most part, drivers were pretty courteous and, when possible, pulled over or at least slowed down when approaching.  The crazies were those in rented ATVs or off-road vehicles.

      

the road

Fording flooded road at Tortilla Flats

Wide spot in the road

   

Canyon Lake

 

One very warm day, we went to a spring training baseball game.  We picked a stadium that would offer some shade in the stands (some do not) and it happened to be the Seattle Mariners hosting the Padres at Peoria Sports Complex.  We had good seats in the shade and some really good pulled pork sandwiches...and, of course, baseball beer......and the Mariners won!!

  

Our good friends, Scott and Donna Clausen were in town from Seattle.  Their son and daughter-in-law live in the Phoenix area and they'd been staying at their house for a week.  They were on their way to Sedona for a few days, so we met them for lunch enroute.  Timing worked out perfectly as we were leaving Phoenix the next day.

We always celebrate Valentines Day on the road.  Rained All Day!!!  Hmmm...just like home.  Oh well, off we went for our Valentines lunch.  After wandering around  and checking out all the restaurants at Kierland Commons, we decided on  Tommy Bahama’s.  Excellent food and a table with a nice view too!

We spent one afternoon at an art show on the grounds of  the historic Wigwam Hotel.  The hotel was built in 1918 by the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company:
   

Our historic hotel in Arizona is a direct descendant of the state’s early cotton ranching business.  When Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company discovered that long-staple cotton extended the life of its tires, the company bought 16,000 acres of Arizona land for cotton farming. In 1918, the company established the Organization House, the first building on the site, as lodging for ranch suppliers. These guests suggested that it would be a great place to spend a winter vacation, as did Goodyear Tire & Rubber executives, who sometimes brought their families when visiting the farm. On Thanksgiving Day, 1929, The Wigwam officially opened its doors as a guest ranch with enough rooms for 24 guests. The first nine-hole golf course was built in 1930, expanding to 18 holes in 1941. Although this resort and hotel in Litchfield Park has steadily grown over the past 85 years, a portion of the original structure,The Organizational House, remains as the cornerstone of The Wigwam’s authenticity and southwestern charm.  Today, The Wigwam features 331 elegant rooms, three championship golf courses-including the Robert Trent Jones Sr.- designed Gold and Blue Courses; nine tennis courts; three swimming pools including a 25′ dual water slide; fitness center; award-winning dining; 29 fireplaces and fire pits; 30,000 square feet of indoor meeting space with 25 separate meeting rooms and 55,000 square feet of outdoor meeting space.

 

We discovered some new restaurants this trip.
  Bisquits Café -highly recommend for breakfast...but be prepared to wait for a table
  State 48 Brewery - good selection of beers and pub food...be prepared to wait for a table at dinner
  Two Brothers Tap House and Brewery - good selection of beers and pub food (kinda noisy)
  Firebirds Wood Fired Grill - good happy hour...but be prepared to wait for a table
  Lou's Bar and Grill at Papago Golf Course - excellent!!!
  North Italia (Arcadia) - very good contemporary Italian

We did a couple of cultural events this trip and purchased tickets through Goldstar.  If you haven't tried Goldstar, I'd highly recommend it.  https://www.goldstar.com/seattle#   It's a great source for discount tickets in lots of cities - not always, but quite often close to performance date.  We attended a dinner/theater at Arizona Broadway Theater in Peoria with the Rodewalds and Hayashis.  The performance was "An American in Paris" and was preceded by a very nice 3 course dinner that you selected from a menu.  Dave and I also went to The Phoenix Theater Company's production of Jersey Boys.  I'd seen the musical in Seattle, but Dave hadn't seen it and I thought he'd really enjoy the music.  We couldn't find a decent place to eat near the theater, but found that there was a bistro inside the theater and had dinner there.  We had great seats and the production was excellent.

Cold or not, we had plenty of clothes of varying weights to accommodate the hit-and-miss weather.  Dave went out on a couple little morning hikes and we both spent a morning hiking around Papago Park.  We did the 3 mile Papago Elliot Ramada Loop Trail.  It was partial dirt/paved trail with great views of downtown Phoenix as well as Papago Golf Course.  We had lunch afterward at Lou's Bar and Grill at Papago Golf Course.

    

 

Somebody's really enjoying this sunshine...

Next stop California.  Stay tuned.

🎵 🎵 On The Road Again 🎵 🎵

....like a band of gypsies we go down the highway.....

Looking at our car packed to travel, we do look like a couple of gypsies.  The back end is packed full of golf clubs and carts.  The back seat is packed with golf gear, bike gear, beach chairs and other car stuff.  There is a bike rack on the back with 2 bikes.  You'd think we didn't have any storage space under our coach.....we don't.  All the bays hold necessary RV stuff like tools, cleaning supplies, chairs, tables, BBQ, extra beer (yes, that's necessary RV stuff), water, cat litter (can't forget the kitty supplies) and whatever else doesn't fit inside.  Doesn't look very pretty, but we make it all fit.

Sat, Jan 19

Trilogy departure

Left on a cold drizzly morning and drove south of Portland to Portland-Woodburn RV Park.  They gave us a nice pull-thru space so we didn't have to disconnect.  We got semi-setup (as much as we do for a one night stay) and walked over to the adjacent outlet mall for some exercise.  After much walking, window shopping and no purchasing, we decided to stop in Red Robin for dinner.  Neither of us could remember the last time we were in a Red Robin so you can see it is a restaurant we don't normally frequent.  Food was good but we reminded each other that it's always very noisy at Red Robin and difficult to carry on a conversation.

Sun, Jan 20
The RV Park was convenient, but wasn't the quietest place to stay.  There was freeway noise but we expected that due to the proximity to the offramp.  What we heard all night was the train and the fire/aid trucks.  Wish we weren't such light sleepers.  We do have a white noise machine, but didn't think to turn it on.  Though it was pouring down rain, we decided to walk the short distance to Elmers for breakfast.  Used to eat at Elmers all the time when we lived in Medford.  Missed it.  Had a great breakfast to get us going for the day.  Sloshed back to the coach and disconnected.  Started the engine, turned on the wipers....and nothing.  No wipers.  They'd worked all the day before.  Dave thought it was a fuse, so put on his rain gear and got out in the sloppy rain to troubleshoot.  Not a fuse.  He started wiggling some wires and discovered 3 wires loose.  "Mr electrician" reconnected them and "voila" wipers again.  Must have hit just enough potholes to jar things loose.  Headed I-5 south to Medford.  Lots of flooding in Southern Oregon.  Parked for the night at Southern Oregon RV Park (Jackson County Fairgrounds) for the night.  The park was virtually empty.  It's a very nice park and we've stayed there a few times.

Mon, Jan 21
Relatively quiet night.  Knew we would have some freeway noise (most RV parks are sandwiched between the interstate and rail line) but it was tolerable.  No train, no firetruck, no noisy neighbors.  It was a clear and frosty morning.  We checked the weather forecast for Siskiyou Pass and it looked good.  Double checked the car and discovered a low front tire.  Dave didn't want to disconnect to go get air, so took out the bicycle tire pump and proceeded to put air in the tire.  That warmed him up in no time!  Left around 9am for Lodi's Flag City RV Park.  Pretty uneventful drive over the pass.  Road was wet but not icy, with very little snow on the shoulder.  We'd read that the roads around Shasta were icy, but by the time we got there, everything was just wet.  Yay!!  All that deodorant for nothing.
Stopped at Blue Beacon Car Wash in Lodi before pulling into our space.....car in tow!  Both were filthy.



Tue, Jan 22
We've stayed at Flag City RV Park a few times.  This was the noisiest we could remember.  Maybe it was the days of the week we were there or the wind direction or just increased traffic, but we noticed an increase in road noise and the train.  We knew the train was close by, but had only heard it early in the evening and mid-morning before.  Now we heard it in the middle of the night (maybe we're getting oversensitive as we get older??).  Anyway it was a nice sunny, but cool day so we went for a drive along the Delta levee.  Quite a narrow, windy two lane road with drop offs on both sides.  The locals weren't accustomed to going 35mph but I didn't dare go any faster.  Fortunately there wasn't 
Stopped on our way home for a glass of wine at one of our favorite wineries in Lodi:  Michael David Winery.  It's just down the street from the RV Park.  If the traffic wasn't so crazy on Hwy12, we could have walked there.  We each got a glass of wine and walked out back to view their gardens.  We'd never been behind the tasting room before and were pleasantly surprised to find a whole summer patio area, pool and tasting room outside.  Many of the flowers in the garden were still in bloom and it was warm enough (with a warm jacket on) to sit in the sun and enjoy the grounds.  We agreed that we need to stop in Lodi in the summer or fall to enjoy the outside patios at many of the wineries.

Michael David Winery (summer)

Wed, Jan 23

Our last full day in Lodi, we went back to Michael David Winery for one of the delicious breakfasts they serve in their cafe.  Excellent food!  After breakfast, Dave went to the driving range (he can hardly wait to get out and play golf but we didn't have enough time in Lodi).  We had researched a nature walk and headed out in the afternoon to Consumnes River Preserve in the afternoon.  The Preserve was Federal, so the parking lot and trails were open, but the Visitor's Center and restrooms were closed.  We spent quite a bit of time wandering the boardwalk trails through wetlands, grasslands and forest that were teeming with wildlife.  It would be a great place to be during migratory seasons.   http://www.cosumnes.org/

After our nature experience, we decided to explore a couple of wineries we hadn't visited before.  Our first stop was Oak Ridge Winery.  We didn't stop there for the wine, but because of the tasting room.  Oak Ridge Winery is the oldest operating winery in Lodi and the tasting room is in a 50,000 gallon California Redwood tank.  The tank was originally used for wine storage and makes the perfect place to taste wine.  We were the only customers there, so we spent quite a bit of time talking to the hosts about wine making and Lodi in general.  It's always fun talking with the locals.

Our next stop was Klinker Brick Winery.  I often pick wineries that have interesting stories or architecturally interesting tasting rooms (can you tell?).  Klinker Brick Winery is named for the highly prized Klinker Bricks that grace many of the historical buildings in Lodi.  Craftsmen architects of the 1920s used these bricks for their unique shapes and dark rich color.  "Klinker" refers to the unusual sounds made when banging them together.  The winery thought the Klinker Brick qualities of rich, deep color, density, unique and distinctive features were the same qualities found in their specialty Old Vine Zinfandels and Farrah Syrahs.  Pretty interesting analogy.  
After wine tasting we went to dinner at a downtown restaurant/winery/brewery called the Dancing Fox.  A family owned restaurant, they make their own beer, wine, bread and wood fired pizzas.  The food was excellent and we each tried one of their house made beers.  Cute atmosphere too.  Would be fun to be there on a nice warm day to sit out on the sidewalk patio.
   

Thu, Jan 24

Another travel day.  This time heading south to Bakersfield.  Nice sunny clear day for travel.  Reservations for the night were at Bakersfield River Run RV Park.  Checked in mid-afternoon.  Beautiful park and our space was a nice long pull-thru on the end with a large lawn and shade trees. How did we luck out?  Anyway....we only had a neighbor on one side and it was tight next to them so we opted to hug the paved patio/parking area.  It wasn't a high curb by any means so we hugged the curb side to give us enough room to put out our driver's side slides and not encroach on our neighbor.  Put the stairs out and bam....they slammed right into this inch high concrete pad and broke.  Wouldn't go in or out.  Damn!  How did that happen?  Neither of us thought there was enough height there to be of any issue.  We got set up and Dave walked up to the office to see if we could get a repairman out same day 'cause we were only staying one night.  He did find someone who came at dark and wasn't sure if he had the part.  That meant he would be back the next day after he finished 2 other jobs in the park.  What to do?  We had only scheduled one night in Bakersfield and were to continue on to Pahrump for 3 nights.  River Run said they could accommodate us for an extra night if we needed to stay.  Our question was whether or not we would want to to go to Pahrump for just 2 nights...probably not.  Decided to wait until we knew more about the repair.

Fri, Jan 25

Kern River

We decided that if we could have the repair done and on our way by 10:30, we would continue with our reservations to Pahrump.  We saw our repair guy go by about 9:30 enroute to his other job.  We waited and waited.   Finally decided if the park could accommodate us, we would stay 2 more nights in Bakersfield, cancel Pahrump and add 1 extra night on the front end in Las Vegas.  Bakersfield was no problem.  Lost our deposit at Pahrump and couldn't get in a day early in Las Vegas.  Went back to Bakersfield River Run and added one more night.  Our repair guy showed up after noon, replaced the stair motor and $270 later we're good as new.  The weather was nice and sunny, mid-60s, so we BBQd for lunch and went for a walk.  The park was on the Kern River with a walking trail just outside the park gate.  From the looks of it, the Kern River hasn't seen water for many years. The trail was dirt and pretty overgrown, so we opted to walk out toward the street and see what was around us.  Dave said his lounge chair and a beer were calling him, so we went back and sat around enjoying the sun.

Sat, Jan 26
Because we weren't in a hurry to pack up and go anywhere, we had a leisurely morning.  We grabbed an early lunch and headed out to the Kearn County Museum.  The museum focused on the history of Kern County and one of the prominent features was a self-guided tour through 19th Century Pioneer Village featuring over 60 historic buildings on 16 acres.  

             
Black Gold:  The Oil Experience was an exhibit devoted to development and operation of the oil industry in Kern County.  A movie, interactive exhibition and outdoor oil pumping exhibits gave an overview of how oil is created, different methods of discovery and extraction throughout history, and the changing role of industry workers and their families.  Another exhibit, Bakersfield Sound was a collection of memorabilia from some of the most influential voices of the era called "Bakersfield Sound".  Stage costumes, sheet music, instruments and other memorabilia from such artists as Buck Owens, Merle Haggard, Red Simpson and Bonnie Owens wee displayed.  One of the most noticeable structures at the museum was the Beale Memorial Clock tower.  The clock tower was originally constructed in 1904 in the center of downtown Bakersfield.  It was destroyed in the 1952 earthquake and rebuilt at the museum site in 1964.  We spent over 3 hours at this museum.  Well done exhibits.

Headed downtown for Happy Hour at Tower Craft Bar and Grill.  Once the First Baptist Church of Bakersfield, the building was built in 1931 and is now listed on the National Register of Historic Places.  In addition to a fine restaurant and bar, the landmark building also houses offices.  Had some great food and wine.  The bartender was delightful and gave us the history of the building as well as information about the area.  Nice find.


Sun, Jan 27

Golf day!  The weather was in the mid-60s, so we headed out to North Kern County Golf Course.  For our first outing of the year, we decided on a laid back kind of course where we wouldn't embarrass ourselves too bad.  The drive took us through Oildale with all of it's oil pumpers and derricks.  Pretty stark country.   We weren't sure what to expect of the golf course, but it turned out to be a decent course with rolling hills and mature tree-lined fairways. The only bad part about this course was that we were paired with a young couple that didn't know how to play golf and had no clue about the rules. Don't get me wrong. Everyone needs to get out on the course to learn to play, but preferably after lessons and lots of time at the driving range/putting green. They were sharing clubs, hitting everything but the fairways (or correct fairway) and after just a few holes we were at least 3 holes behind the group ahead of us. The poor group behind us must have finally complained because the Marshall came out on about the 5th or 6th hole and told us to pick up the pace. I don't think they even knew what that meant. We had planned to play 18, but Dave said it was way too painful and we quit at 9.  Tomorrow Las Vegas.

Mon, Jan 28

Travel day to Las Vegas.  We debated about where to stay in Las Vegas and everyone said stay at the Oasis.  The thing about the Oasis is that it is a barrier-wall behind the freeway and right on the flight path for Las Vegas airport.  We decided that sounded too noisy, so decided to try the KOA at Sam's Club.  It was not a bad park.  Adjacent to the hotel/casino, free shuttle service to the "strip", across the street from Walmart and pretty quiet.  Nothing fancy...just a gravel parking lot, but pretty adequate.  The front desk told me that they were running a "stay 4 nights, get one free" special and she changed our rate for us.  That's good customer service!  

Tue, Jan 29

Today's itinerary was Lake Mead and Hoover Dam.  We took a scenic drive along Lake Las Vegas and Lake Mead before arriving at the dam.  

We'd driven across the dam once before, but hadn't stopped for any length of time.  Since we'd been to the dam last, they completed a brand new by-pass bridge to reroute traffic off the dam.  Heavy Hwy 93 traffic (including heavy commercial trucks) mixed with pedestrians was way too dangerous, plus with the increased national security risk, a way to limit traffic was necessary.  The construction of the by-pass bridge began in 2003 and was completed in 2010.  The bridge was the first concrete-steel composite arch bridge in the western hemisphere towering 890 feet above Colorado River.  It became the 2nd highest bridge in the United States.  The bridge approach offered an overlook and a walkway for pedestrians to walk out onto the bridge to view the dam.  We took the opportunity to venture out and get some photos.  
  

After, we went down to the dam and got a view of the bridge from the dam side.  There is now a security checkpoint to drive thru before arriving at the bridge.  Because we had so much “stuff” in the back of our car, we had to pull over into the inspection line where they opened up the back end to look at our golf equipment and scanned the back seat piled with hats, jackets, chairs, etc.  All clear, we drove over the bridge to the parking area.  We decided not to take the $15 Powerplant tour (Dave said he’d seen enough dams in his career).  We were going to go into the Visitor Center, but that was $10.  Decided to take a few more photos and because it was so clear and sunny, try to hit sunset at Red Rock Canyon.

elevator doors

Of course Red Rock Canyon was on the opposite side of Las Vegas from Hoover Dam.  It took us about an hour.  Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area (196,000 acres) was right in the middle of Nevada’s Mojave Desert, just west of Las Vegas.  Known for many geological features like red  sandstone peaks, petroglyphs and the Keystone Thrust Fault, we were really disappointed because the clouds moved in and we had absolutely no sun (or sunset) while we were there.  We went to the Visitor Center and learned about the history, geology and wildlife of the park and toured the inside and outside exhibits.   The park featured over 2,000 rock climbing routes and 26 hikes and trails.  There was a 13-mile one way scenic drive, but we couldn’t see much point in taking it as late in the day as it was and with no sun.  Our photos were all flat and blah.  We decided we’d come back another time when the sun was shining. 

Wed, Jan 30

Neither one of us are gamblers, so we weren’t interested in hitting the “strip” for gambling, but just to see the over-the-top hotels and restaurants.  We walked for hours!  What a fun day.  We stopped at the Bellagio, Aria, Cosmopolitan, MGM Park, Caesar’s Palace, Paris, Planet Hollywood, New York New York and shops and restaurants along the way.  A lot of the hotels were celebrating the Chinese New Year & Year of the Pig with exquisite lobby décor.  We stopped at the Paris hotel and sat in their outside restaurant overlooking the iconic Bellagio Fountains across the street.  Of course being on the sidewalk, we also saw all sorts of humanity go by.  Quite a dichotomy:  street people pawing the garbage cans for survival and folks dressed to the 9s, carrying shopping bags from the high-end exclusive stores that line Las Vegas Blvd.  We did a lot of people watching.  One of our last stops of the day was at Eataly at the MGM Park.  It’s the largest Italian marketplace in the world with more than a dozen authentic Italian eateries and hundreds of high-quality Italian foods and products.  It was like going to a public market only it was inside, shiny bright and new.  There were stalls selling pastries, fresh fish, meats, cheeses, wines, pastas,  If we hadn’t had such a late lunch, it would have been a great place to eat.

Downtown Las Vegas street now a covered mall:

Shops at Crystals (Aria Hotel) Las Vegas Strip:

Aria Hotel Lobby:

Chocolate Fountain at Bellagio:

 

Conservatory at Bellagio:

Thu, Jan 31

Today was Dave’s golf day at Durango Hills Golf Club, an executive length 18-hole course.   He golfed with 3 retired FBI agents.  He said they had a great time cracking jokes and ribbing each other.  

I was going to go, but two days of hiking did me in.  I stayed back at the coach and got caught up on domestic chores.  When Dave got back we did our usual prep for our early departure on Friday for Phoenix.