Monday October 10, 201-Moving Day-Las Vegas Nevada to Railside Ranch RV Resort, Williams Arizona

Today we made the uneventful 213 mile drive from Las Vegas to Williams Arizona. Please keep in mind that these photos were taken by Stella as we drove along the highway. 

The beauty of this area, actually from the trip to Utah, through Nevada and into the Grand Canyon are the most beautiful places we have ever been to.

My next post- the Grand Canyon- will likely stretch the limits of what Google Blogger can handle.

So long.

Sunday October 9, 2016-Oasis Las Vegas RV Resort

This will be a recap of the rally days. This was one of the best rallies that we have been to and everything ran well with no oopsies or serious problems.

The rally kicked off on Thursday with a hot dog meet and greet on the grounds of the park. I spent most of my time meeting new folks from the western part of the country that don't come to the Goshen rallies. It was good to finally put faces with names that I see on the Heartland forum.

There were seminars on Friday morning with the afternoons left open to explore Las Vegas. Since we had already gone to most of the places that we wanted to see, we could spend the time in the park, hanging out with friends. 

Friday night we went to a club-sponsored night out at the M Casino. This place is highly rated in Las Vegas and the food was outstanding! The buffet is huge and our tickets included beer and wine. After a very filling meal, we went into one of the lounges, which had been rented for our group with a California band that sang Beach Boys music as well as the Eagles. Actually neither Stella nor I remember their name, but they were very good. We had the entire lounge rented which included a balcony section that we ended up sitting in because the tables were all full inside. It was pleasant to sit outside because the weather was cool and we could hear the band just fine. 

On Saturday there were a few more seminars in the morning but I didn't go to any of them. It was nice to just walk around and chat with friends both old and new. The weather has been spectacular all week and we have enjoyed it.

Saturday night we had a catered meal in the rally hall and the outside patio. I went over over about 45 minutes before the meal was to start to get us a table but found a lot of people already there. I found a table that didn't have any chairs leaned over or any other sign that it was "reserved", so I sat down. In just a few minutes, a group came in and I was told that this was their table. I didn't want to make a scene, so I just gave it up and my friend Chris' wife told me to come sit at their table. 

The meal was good but it took a long time to serve as many people as we had in attendance. We ended up going outside, where there was a shorter serving line and got our food there. After the meal and introductions were made, they started the door prizes and we cleaned up! The best prize that we got was a folding wagon that will be useful for laundry runs, carrying groceries in from the truck as well as other chores requiring carrying items. 

Sunday morning was a full-on breakfast furnished by the club. It was really a simple breakfast of eggs, hash browns and bacon and sausage. It was very good but this was the day we had dreaded, the closing of the rally. After many hugs and handshakes, we said goodbye to many of the rally-goers. 

We went with Dave and Nancy to the Southpoint casino for their buffet and to get our free bottle of wine. We had gotten a coupon for this in our rally packet and the food was good as well. It was a nice way to end the rally.

So long.

Wednesday October 5, 2016-Oasis Las Vegas RV Resort

Today was the last of our tours that were part of the pre-rally events, to the Hoover dam. Although it wasn't that far to the dam, we were again glad that we had a bus to ride on. It was a pretty ride but one that we would see again when we leave on Monday.

These three displays show some of the information on the building of the dam. The model shown in the last one shows a scale model of the dam as it went up. 

These are the huge generators that produce electricity for Arizona, California and Nevada. Huge amounts of information can be found at THIS link to the Wikipedia article on the dam.

The entire dam is so massive that it is difficult to get it all in one photo. 

Here is Stella standing at the rail with the dam in the background. With so many people around it was hard to get a shot with just her in it. In fact, she had to move three times because a lady kept getting into the picture. Maybe she knew that I would put it on my blog and she would be famous.

This bridge is the Mike O'Callaghan-Pat Tilman Memorial Bridge or the Hoover Dam Bypass.

This is the Lake Mead side of the dam. Lake Mead is 110 miles long, with 550 miles of shoreline, with a maximum depth of 500 feet, with an area of 157,900 acres, containing 28,537,000 acre feet of water. It is the largest reservoir in the United States. I am sorry we didn't have more time to explore the lake.
We will return to this area.

So long.

Tuesday October 4, 2016-Oasis Las Vegas RV Resort

This was our second day of tours of attractions in Las Vegas as part of the pre-rally activities. We went to Rick's Restorations, the site of another television show.  

Here is the main entrance to the business. The business began in the owners back yard and has now expanded to this location.

They do amazing restorations to many items from toys from our childhood to gas pumps, cash registers, bicycles and soda machines from long ago. Many of these items have brought back memories for us.

The painting on these is amazing.

 

I had a Schwinn bike much like this one back in the 50's. Remember those big old tires and fenders?

This is Stella and I with Rick Dale, founder and owner of this place. We only toured a small area, seeing items that are being readied to be restored. We could not go into the actual working shop for safety reasons, but we were told that Rick never comes out to actually meet visitors but made time to come meet us. 

We also visited Count's Kustoms, an auto builder/restorer in Las Vegas and the Gold and Silver Pawn shop as part of our tours.

One of the characters of the show is named Horny Mike because of his love of horns of all kinds. This is a bus that he built with horns all over the thing. It's not my cup of tea, but some people evidently like them.

Again we were not allowed in the shop but did get to see the owners collection of cars. 

Our final visit to one of the reality shows in Vegas was to the Gold and Silver Pawn shop. This place was a disappointment for me because the shop is very small and there is only a small amount of items from the show, but it is a working pawn shop and since they make their money by selling items that have been sold or pawned, there is a constant turnover of items. They did have a large collection of jewelry including several Super Bowl rings and other championship memorabilia on display but this is also rather sad. A sports star earned a ring or other jewelry item and then for whatever the reason, they had to sell the item for pennies on the dollar value. 

It was still interesting to see the sites of the shows but we only saw one minor character at Counts Kustoms (Roli, the detail guy from Czechoslovakia) but no one at the pawn shop. The working pawn shop is roped off from tourists like us. I was glad to have gone to these places, as I had them on my bucket list for Vegas but was glad to have a bus to ride and not have to worry about parking my dually pickup. Absolutely worth the money to take the tour.

So long. 

Monday October 3, 2016-Oasis Las Vegas RV Resort

We started the pre-rally with some tours of attractions in Las Vegas, the first of which was the Carroll Shelby Museum. Since my Dad was a Ford dealer, I was q huge fan of the Mustang, and always wanted a Shelby Mustang GT350 or a Shelby Cobra. I drove several demos that Daddy gave me to drive but I could never afford a Shelby, so this museum was a treat for me.

Here I am, holding up a Cobra sign. I don't usually get pictures here because I am always on the other side of the camera, but I wanted this one as a memory.

They actually build both Mustangs and Cobras here in Las Vegas. Bob, our guide explained that they build the car with no engine or drivetrain, so it is not a complete car. When a customer buys one, the dealer makes arrangements for the engine and drivetrain to be installed elsewhere. The car is then titled as a brand new 1965 Mustang or Cobra with a current date of manufacture. Pretty cool huh! I still can't afford one...

A classic, white Mustang with blue race stripes.

This striking blue beauty caught my eye.

This is a Ford GT, a car built to compete in the famous race at LeMans, which it won on it's first outing.

The classic Cobra, which came with either a 289 or 427 engine. I would take either...

This is Bob, our guide. He worked extensively on the Mustang project and now works at the Shelby Museum. He worked on or around Mustangs for over 50 years, including time working with Carroll Shelby on designing and building the Mustang GT350 and the Cobra. He knows about every decision made on the Mustangs and was VERY informative.

More tour pictures coming.

So long.