RED ROCK CANYON

Red Rock Canyon lies twenty miles west of Las Vegas. You drive through gray desert and suddenly this huge outcropping pops out of the desert floor. Its on BLM land and is preserved for all to enjoy. The way to see it best is stop at the visitors center first. Great paintings and a video of wild life, wild flowers shows and critters run on a continuous loop. You pay seven dollars a car load to get into the gate. Its a thirteen mile drive with many pullouts for photo opportunities and entrances to marked hiking trails. People come here to hike, bike, ride horses and rock climb. The other alternative is to take a Fifty-nine dollar tour bus into the site.

The first area, called calico, we hiked a bit. I have to be careful because my right arm is in a sling and I can't take a chance on falling. We enjoyed watching the climbers practice on an easy perpendicular wall.

Jim enjoys taking photos and he is very good at it. Here the rocks look like pudding has puddled into great flat pancakes.

Well, maybe that isn't such a good shot of the pancakes.

Just add syrup.

The colors are incredible. One moment you are looking at white or beige and immediately next to it is deep red rock.

It appears as though a giant paint brush swabbed on the red.

The drive takes you on a loop that rises to 4,447 feet where other formations appear.
 
 We only spent a couple hours here, but I could easily have spent the whole day and hiked in to some of the interesting canyon sights, like petroglyphs.

 

When I spotted this rock from a distance, I thought it was petroglyphs, but it wasn't. The natural coloring is interesting even so.

The textures etched by sand and wind; the plants that survive severe climate, amaze.
This land is occupied by a host of animals, most likely visible by chance when hiking in the wilderness. And, wild burros are common here, though obviously not native. Signs on the road warn you to watch for burros crossing. The visitor center warns you not to feed them and how to avoid encounters with them.

The day was windy and cold. We strained to see mountain goats where grazing plants were obvious.

The sky was a stunning blue, the rocks will stand for centuries, and we can return another day.

BELLAGIO RESORT GARDEN AND FOUNTAIN SHOW

Bellagio's idea of a botanical garden is nothing like one would expect. Its themed, and though they advertise 7,000 plants and trees, they may only have about 50 different varieties. Not that it matters, the beauty of this garden is because of its themed "props", which, by the way, change over the seasons and years. You enter facing this colossal Chinese emperor or Mandarin surrounded by the gardens and the sails of a Chinese junk in the background.

 It has much of what you would see in an imperial garden and many themed items you wouldn't see in a Chinese garden, such as these wonderful bunnies cavorting around under the giant mother bunny actually alive with plant life.

 The Chinese Junk sits in a koi pond.

 

Shallow water allows you to gaze with fascination at the colorful fish swimming in view.

In china, gardens like these were built for the wealthy with much consideration for balance and beauty and longevity. Women, with their bound feet, were often confined from the rest of the world and only had their gardens to walk in and enjoy. Thus the views were varied as much as possible.

The props included some credible likenesses of the famous clay soldiers discovered in modern times. When I visited China I learned that each clay soldier was modeled after a living man, thus all the faces are different. An incredible, wondrous feat. When in Vegas, don't miss the Bellagio.

The lobby and entrance to the hotel continues the Chinese theme. Behind the check-in counter are these larger than life "boys".

Central to the lobby stands a glittering, mirror tiled Chinese horse under a spectacular Dale Chihuly art glass, lighted dome ceiling.

We sat in an opulent lounge, and enjoyed a drink while waiting for the Bellagio water fountain display to start outside of the hotel entrance. The entrance has two Chinese lions.
 

When in China I learned that the now famous pug faced lions were drawn and sculpted by Chinese artists from a description brought to China by explorers. They had no idea what a real lion looked like. They incorporated the fierce beast into their own culture though there are no lions native to China.

A lovely lake in front of the hotel entrance gives a beautiful view of the surrounding casinos. The water begins, to music, with lights, in gentle spurts.

Soon a fusillade of water commands the view...

reaching incredible heights.

Then it whimpers away, making its own rainbow in the afternoon light. Its worth seeing in the daylight and, again, at night with the lights. Such beauty.

SOLAR COOKING

 We returned to Thousand Trails Las Vegas for another two weeks. As it turned out, we are parked in the same spot, with the same neighbor as when we left 10 days ago. Yesterday was a sunshiney, warm day, a nice long walk and and the laundry done, sets us up for another chance to play in a city that is primed for fun.
 And we got information from Judy Price about how to never run out of milk. There is a product called Real Fresh, from Holland, PA. in 8 oz. containers that keeps milk shelf fresh. I'll let you know how it works. While talking to Judy, she had never heard of a solar cooker. At one time I used one frequently and I love them. They never over-cook your food or burn anything. Food tastes so good from a solar cooker and the work savings alone is worth giving it a try.

This is a fancy solar cooker, meaning complicated for doing a lot of heavy cooking. You can fry on this solar device which  you cannot on mine. (Pictures courtesy of Solar Cooking International.)

 This smaller solar cooker is similar to the one I use.  Its obviously home made. I've made a couple myself, devised out of a tinfoil lined cardboard box. They don't cook as consistently as the foil-lined cardboard box types sold by Solar Cooking International. Nor do the home made ones store well. The 501c 3 organization, Solar Cooking International,  is promoting buying solar cookers to donate to hurricane ravaged  Haiti or other parts of the world where they benefit third world peoples who have thin resources. Instead of buying candy on valentines day, buy a solar cooker for yourself or someone else. When you buy one, it provides four to a needy family in Kenya. A good way to spend $25.
They have an interesting website at:

http://solarcooking.org/

Their newsletter is always full of family stories about people who benefited from solar cookers.

SUPER BOWL VEGAS STYLE, (OR THE DANGER OF PIZZA & BEER

If you are betting the game in Vegas, there are 700 ways to do it. Its hard to imagine betting on the toss of the coin, what player will or will not run 30 yards on his first pass. Who will or will not complete a pass, and so on and on and on. My son, Ken,  had his betting receipts taped to the bar and as the game proceeded, he would say, "Ah, I just won $11 on that." Then,  "That play cost me $26 bucks," and so on through the game. Egads, Murgatroyd! He considers it a fun way to win or lose money. In my book there is no fun way to lose money. He and Laurie are Steeler fans, but, being a Yooper, I have always liked the independent Green Bay Packers. (I didn't cheer too much because I didn't want to be banished to the garage before the food was served.)


My daughter-in-law, Laurie makes great pizza from scratch.

I had to admire her pizza making ability because its nothing I'd try at home. But, with two teenage boys, I can understand why she developed that skill.

She also makes it look easy.

She invested in the pizza stones a long time ago. They do help the pizza cook properly.

And daughter Kristanne's son, Austin, practiced his tai kwon do with Laurie while it cooked.  He just signed up for a class this month. Austin spent the day with mom learning to paint at their new apartment and was very proud of himself.

The results were yummy. She made four different pizzas and it took just minutes to demolish them.

The snacks and beer were good too. Ken is a brewer and his new batch will be bottled this week and then left to ripen for three more weeks in the bottle. Maybe we'll get to taste when its bottled! But I have to warn you about pizza and beer.
My youngest daughter once raised hogs for 4-H. When it was time to butcher, the butcher couldn't round up the hogs. They avoided his truck. They were free range hogs without a pen. He asked me if I had some pizza and beer. I did. I warmed the pizza and poured the beer in a flat pot and they smelled and rushed to their fate. See what I mean?

BACK TO LAKE HAVASU

We woke up to a glorious sunrise at Dome Mountain; a clear, sunny day. Jim wanted to show me a signature cactus, one of the largest saguaro type cactuses identified in the area. He knew the exact spot, but it was gone. We asked around and from all accounts, it had fallen.  We were told that Huel Howser, who programs for Public Television, recently did a program about the giant cactus with fifty or a hundred arms?  Jim wasn't sure how many, except that it was an exceptional cactus much like these pictured above. One of them has 26 arms.
They do have predators as you can see from the base of this giant.

 

Its been chewed by some animal which will cause it to topple some day. From quartzite we spotted what looked like fog in the distance. I thought it looked like dust, hanging close to the ground, even though there was no wind. When we caught up with it, we found miles and miles of dust hanging in the air from recreation vehicles, those dirt bikes, racing through the desert foothills on the Colorado River Indian Reservation just north of Parker, Arizona. The destruction and air pollution was appalling but cheered on by an audience of aficionados sitting about the hillsides.

Our goal was to stop once more at Lake Havasu on our way back to Las Vegas. The country side is raw, jagged mountains,

 with the appeal of desert next to water in this beautiful lake.

 Some regard it as a vacation paradise.
 Our goal was to hook up with Ted and Judy Price who are camped here in their RV.

They hail from Lacey, Washington, Jim's former neighbors for 16 years. It was from Lacey he sold out and hit the road as a permanent RVer. Jim regards them as the best neighbors a person could hope to have. Judy is a music teacher and still works, but Ted is retired from the Washington State Forest Service and likes to vacation near water. He loves his boat. We had a great visit over a couple of brewskis at the VFW in Lake Havasu. They commiserated with us over my bike. They carry a couple bikes with them as well.

In the shopping center near the VFW, this woman was working painting four windows. It was fascinating to watch and when I told her my talented daughter-in-law does murals and paints windows for free at her kids school and library, she offered a lot of advice on how to make it a business. The types of paint, house paint for the base, oil tempura colors, water washable. The types of brushes, rollers, sponge brushes cut to size, etc.

She told me how she charges and said the advertising is word of mouth. You make cards and if you can point to something you've done, your are off and running.

Everyone who passed by enjoyed watching her work. No office hours, little overhead and talent. Then, she very nicely offered to take our picture as Judy and Ted were leaving.

I met Ted and Judy at their home, in Washington,   the summer of 2009. I'm hoping to get them to come to Murphys and visit us. (I guess you can tell we are no longer on a megabyte restriction.)

QUARTZITE, ARIZONA-GEMS AND FRIENDS

Quartzite, Arizona is a mecca for gem and mineral buffs as well as RVers. The gem and mineral show brings about 100,000 RVers to this port. It is then followed by a huge tent show of RV accessories. Suffice it to say, town is loaded with road warriors from all over the U.S. and Canada.

 Ever on the lookout for some oddball sign, I did a double take at an RV Proctologist sign. Hope it gives you a chuckle as well.

Arizona also has a number of nudist colonies and Quartzite attracts quite a contingent of nude RVers. This sign on BLM land warns you if you are sensitive to nudity. You may remember from a former blog the picture of Paul, the nude bookstore owner from Quartzite we met in January of 2009.

We weren't interested in the RV or Gem and Mineral show this year, but Jim wanted to catch up with long time friends, Joan and Jim Belluomini, now westerners, but originally from New York. Jim was also in the nuclear power industry. He retired at 51 years old, just before the Nuclear Power industry pretty much collapsed, and he hasn't looked back. The two Jims and Joan met in an RV caravan back in 1996. The Belluomini's now enjoy Washington State as their summer home and wherever they wander,  as their winter home, but they are considering going back on the road full time. Its an addicting lifestyle. Part of the joy of RVing is keeping in touch with old friends and you often do it on the road.

Just as we turned into one of the BLM roads to meet the Belluominis, Jim did a double take as he spotted his old rig going by. He was more excited than a kid at Christmas. He sold his Suncrest in September of 2009, and there it was zipping by. He only had Ned Bedinger's home phone number in his computer. Luckily, Ned's wife was home. We arranged to meet at the BLM camp area called Dome Mountain.

Here is Ned with the Suncrest. Ned and his wife,  Jane were Peace Corp Volunteers in the 1960's to the Phillipines. While there they explored Indonesia and Thailand, two places close to my heart. We enjoyed a beer and conversation. Ned invited us to his place in Washington later in the year.
The RV community is a friendly, engaging community.

BLM LAND AND A DANCE BAND

We left Horst and Margot yesterday, but not before Horst regaled us with more tales of a most interesting life while living in Russia and the difficulty of mastering the language. He gave me a copy of his book in manuscript form and they loaded us down with oranges, tangerines, lemons and grapefruits from their yard.

 He adores Margot and insisted on showing us a velvet shirt she had made him and his white sweater that she knitted for him thirty years ago.
Then we headed a short distance across town to a small 5 acre section of BLM land, next to the highway outside of Yuma, that is highly popular with RVers. Jim's former singles group, the WINS park here every year for their communal Christmas and New Years. Some WINS belong to the Escapees singles group as well and when we pulled into this popular free camping place, there were about ten WINS and a couple Escapees among the hundred or more rigs camped here. They limit people to 14 days, as do national and state camp grounds. There are no hook-ups.

We decided to walk the perimeter of the 5 acre plot (sans camera)  and then we stopped at the VFW, which sits next to this spot, for a couple of drinks. They have live music 5 nights per week, just one reason this place is so popular with RVers.  A lively band called Dakota was playing good swing, western, and polka music and the dance floor was loaded. They also serve dinner here and as it neared dinner time, the dancers lined up for dinner.

I talked to the couple sitting next to us and discovered she had a daughter that lives in San Andreas, 16 miles from my home in Murphys. Her significant other lived in Mountain Ranch for ten years before his wife died. He, a native of Bodett, Minnesota and she a native of Yuma.

Across from us, a couple, she from Embarrass, Minnesota and he from Alaska. I have two nephews who live in Alaska and have visited that marvelous state. It never ceases to amaze me when meeting people on the road, the connections you share.

We had a rockin' good time and most likely will pass this way again some time.

LIFE IS A TREASURE THE LONGER YOU LIVE.

Margot Schneider is 89 years old. She and her husband Horst came out of Germany after WWII with three kids and 17 cents in his pocket. Margot is nearly deaf and Horst is nearly blind. "Well, between the two of us, we are a whole person." she jokes. Margot says their philosophy of life is "Do no harm to yourself, to others, or to any living thing." Margot has a special gift with animals and birds. They seem to recognize immediately she will never hurt them.

Horst, at 92, has magnifying glasses all over the house. He uses a computer program called Dragon made by Nuance. It recognizes his voice and types for him. Then it has a reader to read it back to him to make sure he didn't get misunderstood and typed in course for horse, or some such. Horst is currently writing a book, and has approximately 200 small short stories on his web site. (He used to build websites for companies at one time.)
He got his start in America by working as a mail-sorter for an insurance company. Before a year had passed, he was working in their accounting department.

He is a self taught computer programmer and built a program for Margot's knitting business. They had five knitting machines that he programmed for specific garments that she sold. Now, she knits beautiful sweaters, vests and scarves for her grandkids and great grandkids. Horst has met and worked with some of the famous programmers from Apple and Microsoft. He has technical articles published that are now out of date because technology changes so quickly.

Last year, Margot fell and broke her neck. So, at 91, he learned to cook. Not hamburgers or hot dogs. He likes gourmet food and prepares boef bourgignon, French onion soup and chicken straganoff plus German specialties they like. Now that her neck is healed, she says, "Let him cook. Its his turn." Nothing daunts them.

When he was in his eighties, he and Margot volunteered at a State Park. Their finances took a hit and he was looking for work and had applied at Hotels and places where his ability to speak five languages would be of help. "But, they hired young blondes," he jokes. He was about to take a job as a dishwasher at $5.15 per hour, when the Park Rangers came to him and said they wanted him to take on a ranger's position.
"A Ranger," he protested, "I'm too old for that."  But, it worked for everyone. He translated all of their literature and brochures into Russian and German versions. He taught rocketry to young kids and park biology to others.
 Jim wanted to visit one more time with them before they move to Louisiana. (Their house in on the market.) They inspire everyone who meets them. They are the treasure, because they inspire and challenge us to live fully with verve and dignity.

THE PAWN SHOP SIN

I'm sure at some point in my life, it must have been a sin to go into a pawn shop. At least for a "girl". Kind of like entering the Erotic Museum, or a bar. Heavy religion kind of does things like that to you.

We looked at cheapie bicycles yesterday.  They have them at several places around town. Its sort of a mixed bag, do you buy a good ride? Or do you buy a cheapie in case it gets stolen? Or a second hand junker?
The cheapie new ones didn't appeal to me. Heavy. You have to assemble them from the box. The second hand stores didn't have a one. Jim suggested a pawn shop. Whaa?

At Super Pawn, located in the middle of a respectable shopping center, was a Trek bike sitting in front of the entrance.  Hey!

I entered the place expecting a dim interior with a tough guy wearing diamond rings, a  cigar hanging out of his mouth in front of a counter filled with handguns, rings and watches. I guess the pawn shops I've seen from movies are from days long past. This was a modern building, with well organized items of every sort, generators, electronics, sporting goods, television sets. There were rifles in a case on the wall and a case with jewelry. I didn't see a hand gun. It had a spacious floor with two women helpers and a guy handling the cash register.It didn't feel sinful at all. Dang! I kind of wish it had been the place of my imagination, just for the fun of it.
The bike was a real bargain, but it needed a bit of work that we aren't prepared to do on the road, or wait for a bike shop. So, we passed on it.
 
I got a comment yesterday from a reader who said it appeared to her that my bike was stolen in San Luis. NOT!  For the record, it was here in Yuma where we are parked at the American Legion. Jim attached his severed cable to a post at the Legion warning others about the possibility of theft. This morning we are moving to a friend's driveway for one night before heading back to Las Vegas.

SAN LUIS, MEXICO

Yesterday, we drove over the border to San Luis, Mexico for me to have a mouth guard made. My dentist charges $235 for this bit of plastic formed to the shape of your mouth. Sergio Bernal charged me $30. It took 3 hours-fifteen minutes in the chair and the rest of the time for the clay mold to dry. We walked a good 3 miles around town, just looking around . We found a restaurant, no hard task since there are many. Sergio says most all of them serve good food and that has been our experience. The place we chose had an itinerant singer come in while we were eating. He played and sang for a few pesos.

"Hard life" was etched into his face. Half blind, and limping, everyone in the place dug into their pockets. For an old man, his voice was surprisingly strong.

The bougainvillea was in bloom, a cheerful sight in the middle of winter. The day was sunny and warm and enjoyable.
But, not all is paradise. My bike was stolen in the night from off the back of the Bronco. We heard the kids attempting to steal the bikes. Jim scared them off, thinking they wouldn't come back. Jim has them tightly secured with commercial cable into every part, the wheels, the seat, the sprocket. But, they waited and returned with a set of heavy duty cable cutters and removed mine. The cable was cut on Jim's bike, as well. He heard a noise and woke up-they ran. He had to move the bike into the motor home for the night.