11/1/07 - It is beautiful in November in the desert. Still blooming.





11/2/07 - Mesquite, Nevada - We decided to take Highway 215 to Mesquite so we could see a little more of Las Vegas. Yes, it says 215 West, 215 East AND 215 South. That is because Highway 215 almost encircles Las Vegas. The same is true of Loop 101 in Phoenix, Arizona. It is rather nice if you want to avoid the "downtown" traffic. The thing I have found interesting in Las Vegas is it is the only place I have been where they actually put in the left turn lane so you can make a U-TURN. It goes nowhere -- just allows you to make a U-turn.

Here is a geography question. Where can you drive 35 miles and travel through three states? If you drive from Mesquite, Nevada to St. George, Utah you will go through Arizona to get there. Yes, it is three states in 35 miles.


11/4/07 - Took a trip to Boulder City. On a suggestion by my sister, Teri, went to the Hoover Dam/Boulder City Museum. It was great. They had a short film that tells you about how Hoover Dam was built. A great, interactive museum. We stopped at the Hoover Dam Visitor's Center. It was a beautiful structure in itself. It was made with the red rock clay and nestled into a ridge near the Dam. This is Lance challenging me to a race (I was on the escalator). He won but I wasn't sweating!!



They are building a new bridge not too far from the dam. It is going to be huge! I am sure it to allow them to close the dam to traffic. As it is you cannot take trucks or RVs over Hoover Dam.






11/5/07 - Nellis Air Force Base - We are staying the Nellis Air Force Base Desert Eagle RV Park. Everyday we hear and see the jets practicing. I love the sound. Have not seen the Thunderbirds yet. Going to see their museum soon.

11/7/07 - Nellis Air Force Base - I have been busy working on the website and continuing to organize the "office". The weight of the desk and all the files on the slide was making me nervous. We got the rig weighed on the way here. After talking with a few people and Tiffin feel pretty comfortable we are within good limits. I still decided to lighten the file drawer -- that huge one that is over 30" long. There were a lot of files I don't use that often so I pulled them out and put them in the basement storage.
11/8/07 - Las Vegas, Nevada - A lot is going on in Las Vegas these days. The O. J. Simpson preliminary hearing is headline news. Robert Goulet's memorial service is tomorrow. Then next week the Democrats running for President will be in town for a debate narrated by Wolf Blitzer of CNN.. You just have to look at the entertainment magazines and you see names like Queen Latifah, Wayne Brady, Billy Joel, Howie Mandel, Rita Ruder, Rich Little, Barry Manilow, ZZ Top, Ozzy Osbourne, and even our favorite orchestra - The Trans-Siberian Orchestra -- is in town. Most amazing.
11/9/07- Nellis Air Force Base -- The big air show is tomorrow and Sunday to celebrate Veteran's Day. They are also celebrating the Air Force's 60th birthday. The Thunderbirds were out practicing today. The RV park had a BBQ. They treat us really good here. It is all so cool.




Met another couple with a Phaeton. There are several other Tiffin rigs here too. Dave & Pricilla have had their Phaeton for two years. He is a retired air force plane mechanic. He offered to help us if we had any questions about our motorhome. We are feeling pretty comfortable with the day to day things. The maintenance has us a little concerned. Found out at 5000 miles (only 50 more and we will be there) we need to have the transmission filter changed. And, the valves need to be checked between the 1st and 4th oil changes. We are getting there with the maintenance too.
Next week we are going up to Mesquite, Nevada for a few days to shoot five beautiful golf courses. It is so amazing out here in the desert. You see all this sand and rock and cacti and desert bushes -- then suddenly you see this amazingly green golf course. It is like a beautiful oasis.

11/10/07 - The sun came out for the air show. It had been really grey yesterday. The air show was spectacular and we did not even have to leave the rv park. The park is across the street from the flight line so we had a great view. They had everything from biplane acrobatics and parachutists to WW I & II to Viet Nam planes to the Thunderbirds. Nellis AFB is the home of the Thunderbirds. The flew so fast over our motorhome it was just pure luck to get a picture of them.



11/14/07 -- Mesquite, Nevada - We spent four days in Mesquite at the Virgin River Casino Hotel. They had the typical great buffets and the room was very nice especially since it only cost $24.99 a night.
Palm trees and grasses are the two most popular foliages found in the desert after the catus.


11/11/07 - I have talked about how lovely and spacious our Desert Eagle RV Park is. Here is a picture as an example of how much space is in between each site. Pretty big, huh!



11/14/07 - Mesquite, Nevada - Known for the "Big Break Mesquite" (a popular golf show). Mesquite has two main attractions -- golfing and gaming. Their golf courses are like an oasis in a dry desert. The Falcon Ridge golf course is fabulous and is part of the Golf Mesquite Group. They are all tough too! There are more bumps and curves that we have ever seen in courses. This casino is the Casablanca. In Mesquite there is also the Oasis, Virgin River and Eureka casinos plus many, many smaller ones. Mesquite's population is almost 15,000 yet it feels like a small town -- friendly and quiet.



11/15/07 - Well, it is back to our home, on-wheels that is. We were treated to a beautiful sunset coming into Las Vegas. That is some gift pollution gives to us.
11/19/07 - Headed up to St. George on the second leg of the Golf Mesquite golf course photo shoots. Took a new route out another base gate and saw acres of solar panels for the base.
One of the things I was very surprised at when we first turned onto the highway coming into Las Vegas was all the plastic bags laying along side of the road. This picture doesn't even begin to show how bad it can get. We see people out cleaning but it seems to be a never ending job. So, I guess the moral of the story is throw those plastic bags away or use paper ones

11/20/07 - Bought a new lens for Lance's camera -- a polarizing lens. The sun is so bright in this desert environment everything seems washed out. It seems to help. Will save me time "fertilizing the courses" with a little blue hue to darken the greens.
While Lance was taking pictures and playing yet another free round of golf I went to the Rosenbruch Wildlife Museum. Pretty cool. They give you a radio and you punch in the section number and get all types of information about the different areas. They even have a "bug" room that includes a beautiful display of butterflies of all colors and size.
11/21/07 - Lake Mead, Nevada - I was feeling all golfed out. For several weeks I have been uploading all our golf pictures to an online backup service. After our "gas" scare I decided having a backup drive in the motorhome was not a good idea so I looked into several online backup services. I decided on Media Max. It gives you 25 GB free. They also have the capability to hold 1000 GB for you. With so many pictures we thought it would be prudent to do this. The only problem is having so many pictures from the past four years. With both computers running it takes all day to upload 15 or 20 courses. Once we get all the past pictures up keeping up with it will not be too bad.

So, Lance suggested a little diversion on our way home by a detour to the Lost City Museum which led us to the Nevada Valley of Fire State Park. It was very unusual and beautiful. I tried out Lance's new filter on his camera. I took so many pictures that I used up four batteries.
Here are a couple of pictures from the Lost City Museum

and a few from the Valley of Fire.


11/22/07 - Las Vegas, Nevada - Hope you all have had a Great Thanksgiving. We had a turkey dinner at the Nellis Air Force Base Mess Hall around noon. We were served by the Generals and officers. Plus the governor of Nevada was there. Then for dinner we went to the Country Cafe. They made you feel right at home. They did four sittings of a turkey dinner buffet. When you arrived your table had deviled eggs, veggies, pickles, and green and black olives. This was like being at home with the family. Then a traditional turkey dinner. We were even given a box to take home leftovers. All that was missing was the family.....

This was our first holiday without the family. We called everyone and had a nice visit. Looking forward to seeing everyone in December.

11/23/07 - Las Vegas, Nevada - Started to look into the next leg of our trip to Southern California. A little nervous about the fires. Well, I am sure it will be okay.

11/26/07 - Las Vegas, Nevada - Lance's brother, Ron, asked if we could put up some pictures of our motorhome. Since we did not get a chance to connect before we left here you are Ron.

This is Tiff'n (masculine for Tiffany which means manifestion of God). It is a Tiffin Phaeton 40 ft, with four slides, ceramic tile floor, 32" screen TV in front, one in the bedroom and one outside in the basement. It has in motion satellite and we have Direct TV. The interior is natural maple.


This is from the galley forward -- the leather sofa on the left was replaced with a custom desk.




This is our HHR that we tow. It tows great with four wheels down. We are real happy with it.





11/27/07 - Las Vegas Strip - We have gone up and down the strip a number of times. We would have to stay a lot longer to even touch all the places and things to see. The other day we decided to check out the airport so we went down one of the strip cross streets - the Tropicana. Oh my, a whole new Las Vegas. A different view. Here is the side of the MGM and across the street New York, New York even with a roller coaster.


11/29/07 - I love looking at the trees and cactus in new areas. They are so different than the Pacific Northwest. I do not even know the names of them yet they fascinate me.