Getting Our Kicks

Our next stop was Joshua Tree National Park in California, so we headed south out of Laughlin on route 95 and then Interstate 40 and then some other roads, and, eventually, found ourselves on The Mother Road, as Steinbeck called it, old Route 66, now, in these parts, San Bernardino County route 66.

The scenery is stark+++; Vicki singing "I've been
through the desert in a camper with no name
It felt good to be out of the rain
In the desert you can remember your name
'Cause there ain't no one for to give you no pain..."

We were not impressed with San Bernardino County route 66
until, at length, we crossed some of the old markers

Approaching the Amboy crater, deep in Mojave country

Unlike most establishments and settlements along old route 66,
Roy's still shows vital signs, just barely

Not so, the Amboy School

You leave route 66 en route to 29 Palms and cross Bristol Lake,
a dry lake that has been mined for (sodium) chloride for a
century or so

What contemporary chloride mining looks like to low-flying
extraterrestrials

The 50 or so miles around 29 Palms and the entrance to Joshua
Tree National Park  are studded, so to speak, every 5 acres or
so, with little cabins or huts or hovels, such as the above, mostly
boarded up or burned down; certainly one of the more interesting
sights along this otherwise, um, stark, drive; a park ranger later
explained to us they are vestiges of a homesteading act in the
50s, and some thousands of people, mostly southern Californians,
eager to build and prove up their five acres for free; sic transit,
Gloria

A Farewell To Laughlin

We had never heard of Laughlin, NV, until Vicki cut a coupon out of Trailer Trash magazine, entitling us to a week's stay at the Riverside RV Park (and Hotel and Casino) at half price, plus the equivalent of three free buffets, which we extended to four. At the time, we thought a week of doing nothing in a warmer climate might be great after a couple months' active traveling further north. As it turned out, the rest was good, we gained only a few pounds, and even made a modest profit in the gambling department. Very modest. I cannot say we left wiser. I struggled the whole time we were there to characterize Laughlin, especially in relation to its upstate rival, Las Vegas. Laughlin centers around Vegas- ("Nevada-") style gambling, entertainment, accommodations, eating, etc. It is all on a much, much smaller scale, with emphasis on the lower roller. Only a dozen or so casinos, at most. I'd say the average age in the casinos in Laughlin is 10 years older than Las Vegas. There appears to be far more emphasis on family. Less emphasis, if any, on prostitution. But a (relatively) huge population in Bullhead, AZ, across the Colorado River. And the river itself is actually scenic here, down from the dams.

By night; the RV Park is across the street

Thanksgiving dinner, for me, second or possibly third course

Bread pudding portion control

The seafood extravaganza was Friday night

Thus

For three consecutive nights we walked down The Strip to the Tropicana to hear
these guys--Little Elmo and the Cosmos--do their rock and roll stuff; they were
good, really good, especially considering they were our age or only slightly younger

But mostly we ate, and drank, and partially walked off the
effects of eating and drinking (Vicki set a personal best for
drinking; I'll never know what my personal best was...);
anyhow, above is part of the Sunday morning bottomless
champagne breakfast, served in little plastic flutes, two at
a time; as you can see, Vicki is mixing mimosas

Vicki's second plate or so

A table with a window view that Sunday morning, watching the ferry jet
customers back and forth to the casino over the Colorado

A panoramic shot, looking across the Colorado toward Bullhead, AZ...the IHOP,
the McDonalds, the Sam's, the Home Depot, and other fundaments of American
culture

Inside the Riverside..."Let's go bowling, Dude"; but we didn't

From the summit level of the RV Park, looking toward The Strip; there were a
couple pop-tops, so we weren't the smallest rig there

Last day, in the hotel parking lot; just one more spin...

The whole place is the work of Don (The Don) Laughlin

Better picture, off the web

Thus; a truly all-American story, at least as Wikipedia tells it

The monument to the Colorado River (driving by...)

Thanksgiving Greetings From What May Well Be The World's Largest RV Park

When you google “largest RV park” most of the results go to “best RV park.” Size apparently does not matter as RV parks go. But we are staying in what may well be the world's largest RV park, and I want confirmation. Still, the only thing I can find is an amateurish YouTube drive around the RV area outside the Talladega race track. This is not a permanent facility, I'll warrant, although I do wish to record that I am a huge Ricky Bobby fan. 

No, I think Don Laughlin's Riverside Hotel, Casino, and RV Park, with its 900 spaces (older literature says 740), is the largest. Certainly the largest we have seen on several continents, although I admit we generally avoid such places. Anyhow, check out Don Laughlin's Riverside Resort at http://www.riversideresort.com/. And let me know if you find a larger RV park.

Oh, and Happy Thanksgiving! We'll be dining over at the Riverside Thanksgiving Buffet. A prayer of thanksgiving from Ricky Bobby seems particularly appropriate:

“Dear Lord Baby Jesus, or as our brothers to the south call you, Jesús, we thank you so much for this bountiful harvest of Domino’s, KFC, and the always delicious Taco Bell. I just want to take time to say thank you for my family, my two beautiful, beautiful, handsome, striking sons, Walker and Texas Ranger, or T.R. as we call him, and of course, my red-hot smoking wife, Carly who is a stone-cold fox.”

So large it can be seen by extraterrestrial aliens from outer space

The 900 spaces do not include RVs parked overnight in the
hotel lot...thanks to this helpful legal interpretation

Death Valley Out-Takes

Extreme western scene out our window one morning

One day, to get our steps, we walked over to the ("historic")
Furnace Creek Inn

We got our steps

And passed by this historical marker
concerning the Death Valley 49ers, who had
a rough time crossing the Valley; they killed
their oxen and burned their wagons, having
resolved to make jerky and walk out (over the
Sierra Nevada mountains and Mojave Desert);
today's San Francisco 49ers are still in Death
Valley

Moon over the mountains

Best moon shot ever, so far, by me

Among the out-takes were ourselves, heading east from the
Valley, we drove up to a place called Dante's View (get it?),
which does provide an impressive look at the waste and
desolation below; more than impressive, it sort of redeemed
our visit to Death Valley

Badwater Basin from the heights

Closer up, including the line out which we walked a few days
before

Small crater in the Badwater area

Looking south, bad storms brewing

Us, there, already gale force

Driving ever on into the waste and desolation, approaching a
sand storm

Finally reaching our destination, Don Laughlin's Riverside
Casino, Hotel, and RV Park, the Caras Galadhon, the heart of
RVdom on earth...we have a coupon...900 campsites...Vicki
says we may have to stay more than a week...

Death Valley Days, 5

Our excellent Sunday continued with a drive up into the Stovepipe Wells part of the Valley and then a short hike in Mosaic Canyon.

Near the fair community of Stovepipe Wells, some small dunes

In Mosaic Canyon, you can see the stratum whereby it gets its
name

Beneath the mosaic layer is another, almost marble-like layer,
very smooth--a light, light, brown, of course

A narrow but not deep canyon

More marble, and a big step

Interesting layers

Looking back to the valley on our return

"Nevermore!"

Postscript: most nights here we stayed at the Sunset NPS
campground, just across the highway from Furnace Creek and
it manifold amenities; it is gigantic but minimalist, that is,
a place for hundreds of rigs to park, with toilet blocks but not
much else; $6/night for us Elders; the ranger said come winter
all of DVNP's campgrounds will be full (some require
reservations, some don't), including the huge over-flow lots

Postscript continued: one night we stayed at the much nicer
Texas Springs campground, just up the hill from Sunset; far
more scenic, with such amenities as fire rings and picnic
tables; $7/night; many tents-only sites and no-generator zones,
which is fine with us; anyhow, the point of all this is the
observation that, if El Nino plays out at worst (for us) and
there is insufficient snow in the Inland Northwest, then we'll
be looking for a warm place in the sun in February and March,
and a return to DVNP just might be in the cards...