Some beautiful scenery about 40 miles from Vegas!

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Hoover Dam is a ‘must see’ if you’re spending any time in Las Vegas.

It was built during the Great Depression and was originally referred to as Boulder Canyon Dam, even though it is in Black Canyon. The Dam created Lake Mead on the Colorado River, which is the largest reservoir in the United States. It’s neat to remember that we saw the beginnings of the Colorado River when it was barely more than a creek!

The Lake Mead side of the dam

The River continues on

The dam was constructed as a means to control flooding and allocate water to seven states and Mexico. Additionally, it provides power to Arizona, Nevada, and California. The Dam paid for itself long ago by selling electricity and remains fully self funded for its entire operating budget. Unfortunately, the water levels have been decreasing for decades and the amount of electricity is diminishing. Currently, the level of Lake Mead is down about 100 feet and it is estimated that if the level drops another 35 feet, it will cease to be able to generate power.

We decided to take a fully guided tour which takes you through many of the tunnels and goes to a depth of 500 feet! Luckily, we didn’t have to take the steps – known as the Stairway to Heaven, or Hell, depending on which way you were going! We had 2 great tour guides and felt this tour was well worth the $30 price tag.

Of course if you come to Vegas, you have to visit the famous strip! We decided to take the public bus so we didn’t have to worry about driving or parking. It took a little longer, but was a great way to get there. The stop is about a quarter of a mile from the RV Park and we got off right on the strip.

We spent the afternoon and evening walking the strip and getting a few munchies and drinks, then had no problem catching a bus and heading back home.

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Since we toured much of Californina last summer we decided to head to the Northwest this summer, staying in as many Thousand Trails parks as we can. Our first big stop on the way north is in Las Vegas. We had been to Vegas once for a few days, but this time we’ll be here for 3 weeks so we can see more of the area.

The drive from Mesa was pretty uneventful, through a whole lot of desert and a few medium sized mountains. Fortunately, our new truck had no problem with the hills – and it’s SO much quieter than our old one!

As we were researching the Thousand Trails park in Las Vegas we heard a lot of negative reviews, and also a few positive ones. We debated and decided to give it a try. Now that we’re here we really don’t understand what all the negative reviews were about. The sites are definitely tight, which we expected, but the park is fine. We have been here a few days now and our only complaint is some barking dogs, which is an issue in many RV parks and campgrounds. Fortunately, they don’t bark all the time, just a lot! We’ve had a lot of really windy days since we’ve been here, one with gusts up to 75 mph! It makes us think maybe it’s not so bad being close to our neighbors – it helps buffer the wind some!

After spending another winter in Mesa, we were definitely ready to hit the road again!

Our first long stop will be the Thousand Trails park in Las Vegas, which is about 320 miles from Mesa. We don’t like to drive more than about 200 miles a day, so we divided the travel into 2 days and stopped at a Harvest Host location for an overnight stop.

The Desert Diamond Distillery was the perfect distance between Mesa and Las Vegas! It was a great place to stay overnight since it’s only 4 miles off the highway and easy to get in and out of. Other Harvest Host members must agree, there were 3 other RV’s also spending the night in the parking lot.

We got set up in the area they showed us, then got a late lunch which they serve in an old Pullman Dining car. Afterwards, we went into the distillery for a tasting. They are a small batch craft distillery specializing in rum. They even have a vodka that is made from rum. In case you didn’t know, we love rum and their products were some of the smoothest we’ve ever tasted! They also sell olive oils and balsamic vinegars that are very good!

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We decided one day to take trip down to Nogales Mexico which is south of Tucson. That trip in and of itself pretty much turned out to be ‘eh’ … Nogales really isn’t worth it compared to some of the other Border Crossing towns we’ve visited in the past. However, on the way back up I-19, we spotted a small sign on the side of the road that said “Titan Missile Museum“. Mike retired from Lockheed Martin, the “Martin” part of that was Martin Marietta which originated from the Glenn L. Martin Company.
The Martin Company/Martin Marietta built the Titan Missile and in fact they were originally built at the plant in Baltimore where Mike worked. Long story short, we just HAD to stop!

This facility is the last remaining of the 54 Titan II launch facilities that went on first alert in 1963 and stayed functional until decommissioned in 1987. These missiles were America’s “first line of defense” against a Soviet nuclear attack during the Cold War. They were intercontinental ballistic missiles capable of reaching the USSR within 20 minutes after launch.

Nowadays, it’s a tourable museum in which you can go down into the silo and the Launch Control Center. It’s a guided tour and we had the great fortune to have ‘Dave’ as our tour guide. Dave was retired Air Force and was part of the last Air Force crew to actually work at and man the facility before it was shut down. To say he was a wealth of knowledge about the life of a missile man would be an understatement. He provided a tremendous amount of information about the program, history, and what daily life was like 35+ feet below ground – next to a device that could level a city if it was ever to be used.

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Y’all know we loved our old truck, but, sadly, it was getting too old to keep pulling the trailer with, especially on long, remote roads. We finally decided it was time for a new truck. Of course, with Covid and all the shortages it was the exact WRONG time to buy a truck. New super duty trucks were just not available, and we would have been happy to buy a used truck, but they were selling for outrageous prices!

After doing some research and a lot of serious thinking, we decided to order a new truck. The process was a little bit easier because we knew we wanted an F350 diesel with 4WD. We also knew we didn’t want duallys or a crew cab. So that mostly left us with picking a color and options.

We ordered it from a dealer in Mesa while we were still in California, knowing it would be 3-5 months before it came in. After a couple of manufacturing delays, it’s finally ours! We took delivery on February 28th!

So, meet Rad – which is short for Radagast (The Brown) – who is Gandalf’s friend in Lord of the Rings. Since our Solitude is “Ollie”, named for Gandalf (see our earlier post), it is only fitting he begin his journey with his best friend pulling him along wherever he goes!

We sure did appreciate our old truck, The Beast. It was a great truck for us for 20+ years. Mike used to joke with folks “Yup, she’s old enough to vote and almost old enough to drink!” Hopefully it will have a nice easy retirement and not have to pull such a big load.

You may ask, “Why Fresno?” GOOD question! Way back, pre-COVID, we had tickets to The Doobie Brothers 50th anniversary concert in Denver since we spent last summer there.

Needless to say, the tour was canceled due to COVID and rescheduled for a year later. We knew we wouldn’t be in Denver this summer, so we looked at their schedule to pick a new place to see them. We thought we would be heading south from Vancouver (we had a cruise booked) and Fresno was on the way!

We stayed at Blackstone North RV Park, a small RV park with nice, large spaces. We didn’t eat out much, but we did go to George’s, a Mediterranean restaurant that was within easy walking distance. The food was excellent!

And …the perfect ending to our summer travels – The Doobie Brothers 50th Anniversary Concert!!

One of the ‘bucket list’ items in San Francisco is The Buena Vista, a historic restaurant that is known for their Irish Coffee. Honestly, we aren’t really whiskey drinkers and didn’t think we’d like it, but decided to give it a try. We loved it!

Apparently, almost everyone that comes here comes for the Irish Coffee. The first thing the waitress asks you when you sit down is “are you doing Irish Coffees?” – if you say yes they just yell the count out to the bartender who has preheated glasses ready and waiting!

And we had to get shirts to commemorate the moment and figure out how to recreate them at home!

You knew we wouldn’t be so close to Wine Country without tasting some wine, right?

We took a day trip from San Francisco up to Sonoma County. Turned out we picked a great day for the drive. The weather in San Francisco was cold and damp, but shortly after crossing the Golden Gate Bridge the sky cleared up and it turned warm!

We visited the Buena Vista Winery, the oldest winery in California. We spent some time wandering the grounds and bought a bottle of their Pinot Gris after sampling it.

As we were driving north on Sonoma Highway we happened to notice B. R. Cohn Winery. About 15 years ago we had gone to a concert there and saw The Doobie Brothers. So we had to stop and relive the memory a little, knowing we’re going to see them again in a few weeks!

Now …

And then …

On the way home we stopped and had an early dinner at B&V Whiskey Bar and Grill. They had some great Italian food – which really surprised us based on the name!