Saturday, February 21, 2009

More Las Vegas, RV Repairs

Saturday: (02/14) I left the Gold Coast Casino and went over toward the Sunset Station again. Lou is on her way back and will meet me there. She was worried that the heavy snow on Highway 58 over the Tehachapi mountains and the fact the road was closed last night might delay her but today its quite nice.

I stopped at Trader Joe's for a few things and at Walmart's as well for some extra oil. I may have a bit of an oil leak in the RV. Seems I'm loosing a lot of oil and it's not being burnt on the inside? I don't see any puddles though.

I tweaked the computer all day waiting for Lou to arrive. She arrived a little after 4pm. We had dinner at the Guadaljara Restaurant in the Casino. We each had the Pollo Enrique Relleno.

Sunday: (02/15) I fixed a couple of Don McMuffin's for breakfast. Lou looked around the stores nearby including the thrift stores. I tinkers on the computer a while until she called and said she found some wool shirts at Savers. I met her there and picked out three good ones. Greak selection for $6-10. We stopped by the local IHOP restaurant for breakfast. Dinner was a salad. We tinkered at home the rest of the day.

Monday: (02/16) I did a little search for a place to get the RV oil loss fixed. I decided on Don's DI Auto Shop On Desert Inn near Maryland. I called and they could see us today for a free estimate. That was faster than I planned. We planned on the brunch buffet this morning at the Sunset Casino. 2 for 1 so we couldn't miss it. We are cheap, and love it. After breakfast we unloaded the expensive stuff from the RV and took it over to the garage. We went ot a nearby laundromat and did our laundry and then looked around the mall on Maryland at Desert Inn nearby. After a while the garage called and said we had a leaky oil cooler line. They could fix it tomorrow.

We took the RV back for the night. I visited the WWW truck stop and did the tank duty  and then headed over to the Gold Coast for the night. We visited both the Gold Coast and the Rio casinos in the evening but turned in early. no need for dinner because brunch still lingered.

Tuesday: (02/17) We got up early, had to use an alarm clock, a very rare use. We drove over to the Don's DI Auto Service to get the leaky oil line replaced. They open at 0730 and we were there. We left it in their care and headed over to Sam's Town for breakfast at TGI Friday's restaurant. They have a normal breakfast for $3.99. No buffets today. We also walked over to the new Eastside Cannery Casino to see what it was like. Nice and new but not many people there. Next stop was across the street to Walmart. I need a new thermometer for the outside window of the RV. I blasted the old one apart when i washed the RV a couple of days ago. They didn't have one so it's on the list. We also tried to get an oil change in the Volvo but they couldn't handle a Volvo, something about an unstocked odd oil filter. oh well!

We stopped at various thrift stores, Rv stores, hardware stores etc ending up in North Las Vegas at Jerry's Casino for lunch. It's one of our favorite restaurants here. We each had their special steak and shrimp dinners served all day for $7.99. Excellent shrimp and the best steak I've had in a long time. It was only 2pm and they had baked potatoes. We had leftovers and took a slice of cheesecake to go, no room. When we had just sat down, the garage called to say the RV was ready. That was fast.

After lunch we headed over to get the RV and then returned to the Sunset Casino for the night. We worked at cleaning up the RV vacuuming and dusting. Carpet cleaning will have to wait until tomorrow if it's sunny.

TV reception here at the Sunset Station is very good, much better than the un-watchable signal last night at the Gold Coast. We're up on a hill here so no obstructions. We enjoyed TV the rest of the evening.

Wednesday: (02/18) Lou and I were enjoying an easy morning. no rush to do anything. We intended to go over to WalMart to get some carpet cleaner. While we were still thinking about starting to do something, brother Ernie called. he's in town for his break and after settling in was going to come over to meet us here at the Sunset Station Casino. Lou and I went over to Walmart and got the spray carpet cleaner, checked on getting an oil change at this location for the toad. They had plenty of the oil filter we needed so I'll return later with the car since we were walking.

Ernie arrived and we all had breakfast at the casino buffet after which we walked across the street to look at the Galleria Mall. Neither Lou nor Ernie had been there before and we needed to walk some after the nice breakfast. Lou continued to look around including getting some things at JoAnn's fabric. Ernie was off to do his usual home visit stuff and I took the car over for the oil change. Another needed task accomplished. I'm so proud. I then went over to Camping World and talked to them about the generator. It looks like there's no easy fix. I need to get my hands dirty. It only has about 10 hours on it since the last service which included a fuel filter. Having another service seems wasteful and costly. it seems to me that it is most likely the fuel filter so I'll just need to find it and replace it. It probably was a defective filter with some debris in it. Fortunately, it works well enough most of the time.

Ernie came by for dinner and we went over to the Sweet Tomato's Restaurant nearby. it seemed like tome for a salad.

Thursday: (02/19) Ernie came over and experienced a Don McMuffin for breakfast.

Ethel M Chocolate Factory
We then went over to the Ethel M candy factory. Odd place for a chocolate maker to setup camp, in the hot desert, but here it is a short distance from the Sunset Station Casino. The "M" is for Mars, the big candy company. Ethel M is a high quality candy maker like See's.

Candy Facrory Cooling Tables Finished candy bars
They have a factory tour

Ethel M Cactus Garden Las Vegas Ethel M Cactus Garden Las Vegas
and a nice cactus garden. It was an interesting stop.

Ernie had other tasks as did Lou and I so we went our separate ways after the tour. Lou and I finally stopped by a Fresh and Easy Neighborhood Market. We see them everywhere around these parts and had never stopped. They are a market something like Trader Joe's. We also visited a nice statuary shop. When we got back to the RV it was time for popcorn for lunch. I found the stash of popcorn the other day while cleaning out a cabinet. Then, with full tummy, it was nap time.

Later I worked on this blog, email and other computer tinkering while Lou visited some more of the nearby shops.

Ernie came over to meet us here at the Sunset Station Casino for dinner. We all went over to the Guadalajara restaurant. Ernie hadn't been there before and we had to show him the place.

Friday: (02/20) We got up early and drove both vehicles down to the Wild Wild West Casino on Tropicana East of I15. We met Ernie who treated us to breakfast at the WWW. We also enjoyed a long shower in his room. Ernie is returning to the road again this morning. We left the car and set out in the RV. We want to be sure the thing holds it's oil.

Our first stop was the newly reopened Costco on Martin Luther king Blvd near downtown. You might ask WHY? Well, it is a new Costco Bussiness Center. there are no hot dogs, no jelery, no pharmacy. Not really too much of the normal Costco fare. But, if having to buy mayo by the gallon or chilli by the six-pack then or simply anything in too large a quantity then this is the place for you. You can but it by the gross here or by case quanity only here. You can also by the industrial deep fryer, comercial grill and all sorts of other stuff suited to a business needs like a dozen identical salt and pepper shakers. It includes a full copy and printing center and office supplies. Interesting place. It's evidently intended to take on Staples and restaurant suppliers. We then headed out Ranco Drive stopping at several of the Station Casinos along the way as well as a Savers. We also Stopped at K-mart to get some Lock&Lock storage boxes. These are the refrigerator storage boxes we have standardized on because they can be dropped without any danger of leaking. The bigger containers are excellent for storage which is what caused the curreent need. I needed more containers for the additional space in the cabinet that contains the much saller satellite modem and equipment.

We made our way to the brand new Aliente Casino in very North Las Vegas. It's a new Station Casino that has an Art Deco motif, kind of a nice change of pace for the all too common western,  spanish or glass wall designs. Unfortunately, all these casinos visited today are not really RV friendly. Very little uncovered parking, narrow isles and too many islands. The only two Station Casinos that seem to be big rig friendly are the Palace Station and the Sunset Station.

We stopped a a community park for a while and I raised the front of RV and wiped down the oil as best I could so that any continuing leaks are apparent. There was a puddle on the fron axle frame. When we stop we still see a small puddle but the 60 miles today have only used approximately 1/8 of  quart, much better than before but probably still a leak. We returned to the WWW and picked up the car and returned to the Gold Coast Casino for the night.

Dinner was leftover dinner from last night.

Saturday: (02/21) Breakfast was yogurt and canned  grapefruit. We drove back over to the Sunset and left the RV. We then drove over to the Green Valley Ranch Casino in Henderson, a couple of miles South of the Sunset. It's another Station Casino and is situated next to a village like shopping center. We walked the Casino and had lunch at the Turf Grill. Lou had a grilled cheese sandwich and fries ($3). I had a grilled hot dog with chilli, cheese and fries ($3). Both came with a deli dill pickle wedge. A nice cheap and very good lunch. We walked the mall which had a Mutts In The Mall Day today. Lou managed to discover why that isn't a good idea and spent some time cleaning her shoes. Also a good demonstration of why waffle stomper shoes shouldn't be worn near dogs. There were some cute dogs though.

On our return we looked at a garage sale and a couple of open houses. While Lou continued or intensified here examination of the nearby thrift stores I spent some time on the computer among other things doing this post.

We drove back to North Las Vegas to Jerry's Nugget Casino for dinner, again. We watched a couple of CSI Miami episodes on DVD the rest of the evening

Sunday: (02/22) Lou saw a sign for a $4.99 steak and eggs breakfast here at the casino. Lou loves steak and eggs, or any steak. She inquired and learned that that it required the casino's Boarding Pass as the players club card is called here at the Station Casinos.

We've survived all these years without joining any of these clubs even though we do frequent casinos. We thought that we don't gamble enough to benefit. Our total points at then end of the first day was 5, 3 of which we were given for getting the card. If we had gotten it when we arrived we probably would have more than a couple of dozen points. It takes 1000 points to start to be useful (good for about a $1). But we were wrong. It provides two things that will be useful to us even though we don't gamble much. It provides the discounts at their restaurants and it provides a win/loss statement when needed. That might be useful to prove losses if we do gamble and do win. Taxes are on winnings minus losses. We were always concerned about having to fill out the applications but the only information they wanted here was the drivers license as ID. Almost too simple. We'll see how much it really does benefit us.

Anyway, Lou got her cheap breakfast which was very good. We also had dinner at the buffet in the casino for another discount. We're now a little richer because of the $2 savings each on the buffet and the probable $3 savings each on the breakfast. Every little bit helps!

The day was otherwise spent mostly relaxing at home. I did look at the oil leak again. It is still present. I wiped the hoses again. I also looked at the generator. I tried to find the fuel filter and have to conclude there is none, at least nothing from the gas tank to the carburetor. Luckily the generator ran better after the search. Maybe it will heal itself?

Lou went over to Super Cuts and got a hair cut. It's much shorter now.

We enjoyed a Will Smith movie on "MyTV" called "Enemy Of The State". It was very good. There don't seem to be many good movies on broadcast TV anymore.

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