Thursday, April 28, 2011

Home For A Visit

Thursday: (04/28) Home for a while to prepare to leave for Alaska in very early June. Courtney and Dawn had a campfire dinner planned for tonight. Hot dogs toasted over a nice fire. The fire was typical with the smoke following me in any direction.

Wilton Arbor
We got  to see how the arbor looked with the wisteria blooms even thought it's a little past prime viewing.

Friday: (04/29) Granola with yogurt and honey for breakfast. I spent the day going through the mail and other business related tasks. Lou was busy washing and cleaning out the RV. A ham sandwich for lunch. Spaghetti for dinner.

Spunky The Kitten Spunky The Kitten
The kitten with no name seems to have picked up the title "Spunky" thought maybe it chould be called "Thrifty". it does have a lot of spunk.

Spunky The Kitten Spunky The Kitten
The kitten is always busy when awake and demands attention. Since it is so small, it's easy to pack away for travel, or a shack? It was found with the odd lion hairdo. The rear of the kitten was close cropped with a tassel on the end of the tail. Sorry for the fuzzy pictures but the cat is faster than the camera on my phone.

Saturday: (04/30) PBJ English muffins for breakfast. I started the day with some weeding in the back yard. I tried to fix Ernie's macerater but couldn't get a replacement impeller easily so loaned him ours. I then vacuumed, washed  and detailed the Jeep, also washed the Volvo and the RV. There were several other tasks that occupied part of the day as well. Lou was busy with the laundry, servicing the cooler and other tasks. She and Dawn also had their hair cut. I had a ham sandwich for lunch. For dinner we all had cabbage with onions and hot dogs.

Sunday: (05/01) Lou fixed a toasted bread with hot dog, cheese and onions for breakfast. After breakfast we went upto the Hidden Villa farm in Los Altos Hills. It has a working farm and lots of hiking trails in addition to a hostel and education center. 

Hidden Villa In Los Altos Hidden Villa In Los Altos
We enjoyed a little walk on one of the trails. the water was flowing really well. They must have had  some good rains recently.

Hidden Villa In Los Altos Hidden Villa In Los Altos
There are several garden areas. You can even buy some of the vegetables.

Hidden Villa In Los Altos Hidden Villa In Los Altos
Also some nice flowers in the garden.

Hidden Villa In Los Altos
This miners lettuce was seen on the trail.

Hidden Villa In Los Altos Hidden Villa In Los Altos
They use natural fertilization with this moving chicken coup (left). It's much like ours was when we had chickens. There were several guided tours going through the farm like this kids birthday party. (right)

On our way home we stopped at the Original pancake House in Los altos for lunch. Lou and Dawn shared an apple pancake while I had some Swiss pancakes, only because they had just the one apple pancake which is like a Dutch Baby with apples on it. For dinner we had sausage with Spanish rice and fresh asparagus.

Monday: (05/02) Lou and Dawn were off early to Mountain View. Lou had a doctors appointment and Dawn checked out the book store. They enjoyed breakfast at the Hong Kong bakery. I was off to San Jose to visit at where i used to work. Nice to see everyone. While much is the same lots has changed as well. No, I don't miss work! I checked some work that the city was supposed to do at the house there and then stopped for lunch downtown at Super Taqueria for a burrito. I worked in the office all afternoon doing trip research and uploading recent pictures. For dinner we went over to Stanford and had dinner with a friend. Lou catered salmon, broccoli and carrots, and rice.

Tuesday: (05/03) I had a doctor's appointment today. Nice to get them out of the way without having to drive a few hundred miles to the office.

Wednesday:
(05/04) Oatmeal and yogurt for breakfast. I pruned the tree that bothers the RV in it's space. For some reason that wore me out so I didn't do much else until late in the afternoon when I started to clean out the sump for our sump pump. It's a five foot deep 3'x2' pit that fills up with leaves and other debris over time.

Thursday: (05/05) Ernie and I installed his new cooler. I welded up a stand for it. It works nicely and even the doggies like it. In the process I made three trips to the hardware store and a stop by the welding supply store. On the first trip I stopped by the Subway sandwich shop for breakfast. It's nice to get a breakfast sandwich just like you want. On the last trip I stopped by for lunch at Costco. I like the chicken bake there. I also checked on new tires for the Jeep there. Lou and Dawn were out all day. Lou had a couple of doctors appointments. Lou made chicken fettuccine for dinner.

Friday: (05/06) Lou fixed a chicken, cheese and sprouts omelet for breakfast. I took a walk around the neighborhood mostly to check on a construction project a few blocks away to see what's going in to an old auto dealership. Turns out two dealerships are going in where the one was. We were hoping for a nice restaurant. Other than that I did a couple of little projects in the yard and not much else. Lou did some gardening and then went out shopping in the afternoon. Cabbage and sausage for dinner.

Dawn took this photo of Spunky on the scale Courtney took this photo of Spunky at his new home
Saturday: (05/07) Lou and Dawn took care of a necessary project. Dawn's allergy to cats has been too much so a good home for Spunky had to be found. Dawn's friend Courtney stepped up to take Spunky and they delivered the kitten to it's new home this morning. Spunky has been gaining weight, a couple of ounces per day, up from just one. Later, they went to a Pow-Wow at Stanford university. They topped off their day with visits to some garage sales and some homes being salvaged.

I intended to do a couple of things at home then go out for the day. It didn't work out. I got carried away. I started with the idea to use the "Webster" brush and clean the dust and spider webs off the siding of the house. That led to cleaning the leaves off the sun room roof. Next, I installed a new impeller in Ernie's macerator pump. It now works like a champ again. That's where I should have stopped. But, I then I thought I'd move some of the plants out of the green house into the yard. That took the rest of the day. I also picked up some molding from the neighbors house. She's replacing all her windows and the molding is being replaced as well. The salvaged molding matches our five flute pattern and I may need some more when I rework our closets so I grabbed it and pulled out the nails and placed into storage. 

Don McMuffin's for breakfast. Sausage, garlic fries, and corn on the cob for lunch. Dinner BBQ ribs, baked potatoes, and fresh spinach.

Sunday: (05/08) Happy Mother's day! Dawn and Courtney were busy early fixing peach crepes for breakfast. Lou and I visited Spunky the kitten over at Courtney's place. For lunch we went to Harry's Hofbrau in Redwood City. Lou really likes prime rib but we (I) are too cheap and Lou accepted a rain-check on the rib until one of our favorite places has a special and no crowds. Dawn and I had stuffed peppers and Lou had pastrami. Dawn went to a story telling meeting in the evening so Lou and I had our usual Chinese dinner at the New Tung Kee Restaurant. After dinner we took a walk in Walmart's and found a screened dining canopy that we wanted to add to our RV stock so we can enjoy dinners outside when the creatures are out for their dinners as well, We've gotten by until now with the ocassional retreat to the inside of the RV but in Alaska there might be even more need.


Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Pismo Beach

Tuesday: (04/26) My birthday today! I'm about to enter my seventh year of retirement. Doesn't seem like it's been that long. I fixed spaghetti for breakfast. It was supposed to be fixed last night but I was too tired. Had to be cooked. Spaghetti is good anytime. This version used some of the fresh choriso mixed 50/50 with hamburger. Quite good. We were finally ready and left about 11:30. We headed out Highway 58 to McKitrick then Highway 33 through Dusty Acres, Fellows, Taft, and Maricopa. Then West on Highway 166. We stopped for lunch about 30mile before Santa Maria along the river. Lou fixed ham sandwiches. We didn't get much further before we were stopped by a construction project for about 30 minutes.

North CG, Pismo Beach, Ca
We arrived at our new home. Pismo Beach North Campground about 4:30. Nice clear skies today. Of course, we went to Pismo Fish And Chips for dinner. Great clam chowder, great coleslaw and outstanding fish.

Wednesday: (04/27) Our last day for this trip. Tomorrow we make the final link back home. We took a walk on the beach up to the pier and around downtown. I stayed at home this afternoon and played with Spunky, the new kitty. Lou made a thrift store run into Grover City. Today was a replay of yesterday, at least for breakfast and dinner.  Our breakfast was spaghetti and our lunch was at Pismo Fish and Chips. Dinner was so good we repeated it for today's lunch. Dinner was roast chicken and a green salad.

North CG, Pismo Beach, Ca North CG, Pismo Beach, Ca
Thursday: (04/28) Granola with yogurt for breakfast. We took a walk down the beach and back on the boardwalk across the dunes. Then we went across the street to the new RV dealer to look around. They had mostly Fleetwood and Airstream motorhomes and trailers. We did like the layout of the Storm class A, a nice floorplan in a 27 foot length  but the quality isn't there. We returned to camp and prepared to leave. We headed out at 11:30 stopping in San Luis Obispo for lunch at the China Garden Restaurant. We fought strong winds all the way home. We managed to come back into the bay area during rush hour arriving home about 5:30pm. Nice to be home. Ernie's dogs were glad to see us and everyone was pleased to meet Spunky the kitten.
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Saturday, April 23, 2011

A Kitten In Bakersfield

Saturday: (04/23) We had the last of the choriso potatoes and eggs for breakfast then left Las Vegas about 07:30. We wanted to get across the desert before the winds pick up in the afternoon. We made a beeline to Baker and stopped for a short walk then on to Tehachapi where we stopped for another walk around downtown and a snack.

Highway 58 West of Tehachapi
We picked up an apple cinnamon roll and a chocolate walnut bar at the Apple Shed. The winds had been picking up prior to Mojave but all was nice from Tehachapi on.

Helen's Campsite
We arrived at my Aunt Helen's place and set the motorhome up for our stay.

Thrift Store Kitten In Bakersfield Thrift Store Kitten In Bakersfield
While Helen and I Chatted, Lou headed out for a visit to a thrift store. Bad mistake.

Thrift Store Kitten In Bakersfield Thrift Store Kitten In Bakersfield
Someone had abandoned a kitten at the store and Lou decided to rescue it. It is cute, but it is a pet. Hopefully she can find a good home for it when we get home. For dinner we cleaned up most of the remaining leftovers, macaroni and cheese. chicken, spinach, and zucchini with choriso.

Sunday:
(04/24) Lou fixed potato pancakes with yogurt and apple sauce with sausage for breakfast. We made a run to the local Winco market to stock up on a few things for home. Winco has some great prices and we don't have on near home. Lou fixed Chinese tofu, peanut, and cabbage salad for lunch.

Helen's Garage Cleanup 1250.jpg
After lunch we all attacked the garage. It needs some cleaning up. Helen doesn't need all the spare parts and a lot of the shop tools anymore. Uncle Doug had many interests and his tool and junk collection showed it. For dinner Helen BBQed some steaks and Lou fried some potato wedges and steamed some veggies. The weather was very nice all day, overcast much of the day and a nice low 70's.

Monday:
(04/26) Strawberry pancakes for breakfast. We all spent the day working in Helen's garage and got it pretty well cleaned up and stuff ready for a garage sale in the future. Cottage cheese and fruit for lunch. Helen took us out to dinner at the China Town Buffet nearby.
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Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Lake Mead, Las Vegas Wash

Blue Water Casino
Wednesday: (04/20) We enjoyed the Blue Water Casino's buffet breakfast this morning. After a walk down by the river we hit the road North.

Lake Havasu Flowers
We stopped in Lake Havasu at a few thrift stores. We had to park a ways from one of them and on the walk to the shop I spotted some nice cacti in bloom like above.  Then we continued up highway 95 to I40 then East to Kingman turning onto highway 93 Northbound to Boulder City. There were two stoppages for our direction. One was shortly after we left Kingman and the other was near the dam where a lane disappears. We also started having high winds coming down toward the dam and the new Memorial bridge. Even high up in the RV, which is required to move to the left lane crossing the bridge, there was no view. What good is that bridge? Cars get even less of a view due to the high barriers on the bridge. Only pedestrians get a view and then only North toward the dam. We turned onto Lakeshore Rd and checked the campground at Boulder Creek. Our beloved campsite was occupied so we continued up to Las Vegas Wash CG and got a good site, #62 overlooking the wash. Las Vegas is closer to this campground and Lou has a class there Friday. We'll do our Las Vegas visits from here. Lunch was olive loaf, cheese, lettuce and tomato rollups. For dinner Lou fixed zuchini, onions and chorizo.

Thursday: (04/21) Spinach omelets for breakfast. We went down to the Sunset Casino for lunch. I had hoped to enjoy some chili rellenos but unfortunately the menu has changed at their Mexican restaurant so we enjoyed the buffet. The casino sits in the middle of the best shopping area in Las Vegas including the Galleria mall. Most importantly, there are three good thrift stores there. Lou enjoyed the thrift stores and the Hobby Lobby store while I visited thee book store and Dick's sporting goods. I found a good book with the best hikes in the Southwest so I bought it for use on our next visit.
I also found a nice canoe at a good price but will continue looking for now.

Las Vegas Bay CG
We returned to camp and enjoyed the last light looking out over the wash from camp. Here's a view from our campsite out toward Lake Mead or at least where it would be if the water was higher. Actually the water is just the flow of Las Vegas Wash, which is a good creek.

Las Vegas Bay CG Las Vegas Bay CG
Our campsite is like an oasis in the desert. Lots of bushes and trees alive due to the drip irrigation system installed by the park. Those buffets really last so no dinner needed.

Friday: (04/22) Leftover choriso with potatoes and eggs for breakfast We pulled out and headed down to Henderson to Lou's glass craft class at Aardvark Clay and Supply. I enjoyed shopping around. I returned to the Sunset Casino for lunch at the buffet. Lou had a salad at her class. When Lou was through we move the RV down to the Gold Coast Casino. We went downtown to look around the casinos there then went up to North Las Vegas to Jerry;s Nugget Casino for dinner. Lou had steak and shrimp and i had fish and chips. We both had their outstanding clam chowder and topped it off with a shared piece of coconut cream pie.

Las Vegas Bay CG Rio Show In The Sky
In the evening I went over to the Rio to see their Show In The Sky. We're now ready to leave tomorrow morning. One of the shortest visits to Las Vegas we've ever made.
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Monday, April 18, 2011

Back To Algodones Mexico To The Dentist

Sunday: (04/17) On the way in to Blythe we noticed a sign to Mayflower County Park. We turned off the highway to take a look. Very nice park with extremely nice rates right on the river. We may return here on a future visit to the area. Right next to the park we noticed an open house sign so we had to stop for a look. it turns out it wasn't really an open house but the realtors house. While it wasn't for sale he did show us around and we discussed local real estate for a while. We then continued on to Blythe. we stopped at the Steak and Cakes Cafe on the way in to town. Lou had a dinner salad and I had a bowl of chicken rice soup for lunch. We added a little of the expensive California gas to the tank, just enough to assure arrival at Yuma. Then we were off South on Highway 78 to Ogilby Road then on down to I8 then East a little to the Quechan Casino right near the border crossing.

Quetchan Casino Yuma Az
We had intended to try staying at the Quechan RV park but they were closed and there weren't any signs. We did hear that they charge $50/night plus electric and that was enough to convince Lou that we could spend the night at the casino. It's 96 degrees here and she had wanted the Air Conditioner. Fortunately, it does cool off when the sun goes down and there is a breeze up on the hill by the casino. Now we'll stay cool inside the casino until this evening then cool off the coach with the AC after the sun departs for the day. If we need to be here more than Monday we'll find a place in Yuma to stay. For dinner we had leftover stir fry vegetables with fresh sprouts and chicken.

An interesting note. Algodones, Mexico is noteworthy for more that just the cheap medical and dental services. It is also the Northern most city in Mexico and the Northern most place in Mexico is in the city. But even more interesting is the fact that a person can travel in any of the four cardinal directions (directly North, South, East or West) from anywhere in Algodones and they will have to cross a U.S. border. Another fact is that the city isn't really named Algodones but rather is officially named Vicente Guerrero. Reference here.

Monday: (04/18) "Nice" sunny day. After our chorizo and eggs breakfast we headed off to Algodones to visit our dentist. We arrived at the office at 08:30. By 09:00 my teeth were clean and checked OK. Lou's were clean and she had a broken crown. By 9:45 she had a new temporary crown. We return tomorrow to have the permanent crown installed. With our work done, we stopped by the taco vendor for some shrimp tacos and a milk shake then, possibly due to the early departure before 11:00 or because of the late season, there was no line to get back home to the US.

Kofa Koop Yuma Az
We returned to the Casino, picked up the RV and drove over to Yuma's Escapees RV Park, Kofa Ko-Op. Much nicer park and only $20. Actually, the weather is not too hot. The high today was only 91 degrees. I washed the RV and the jeep since they allowed it here at the park. Dinner was pork chops, broccoli, macaroni and cheese. We had some pretty good winds this afternoon. We took an evening swim before calling it  day.

Tuesday: (04/19) Leftover pancakes, English Muffin and sausage for breakfast. We prepared to leave, did our tank duty, and also filled up with LPG. We had to pay for our electric usage before we left, less tan $2 to run the AC all afternoon and evening. Lou noticed they have cheap LPG while at the office, $2.25 gal, so we took advantage of it. We left th park by 11am, stopped for some cheap Arizona gas and headed back into California to the Andrade border crossing into Algodones, Mexico. We were a few minutes early for Lou's appointment to get her permanent crown installed. While she was busy there, I went over to the taco vendor to get my lunch. Poor Lou won't be able to eat for a while and we won't be hanging around Algodones just so she can. I enjoyed by two shrimp tacos and hadn't even finished by vanilla milk shake before Lou met me. Less than 20 minutes. Then things got a little interesting. We stopped off at the purple market to get a couple of bottles of coffee liqueurs and a six pack of beer. We haven't seen the liqueur in the US and Lou has bought two before. The six pack of beer was because they don't sell six packs of beer in markets in the US anymore, or at least at none of the markets we've visited in months. You have to get at least a twelve pack. (and they wonder why there is a drinking problem?) Like everything about what we've seen in Mexico, they seem to be smarter there. Anyway, that's not the real story. Lou took the two bottles of Liqueur and i took the six pack of beer. i went first and the inspector asked if i was with anyone and were they bringing in any liquor. I said yes and he said i was only allowed three beers. I explained we had enough of a problem even finding a six pack in the US let alone a three pack.  He relented and let me through. Meanwhile Lou had passed on the liqueurs to other previously non liquor bearing mules in the line. Why do policy makers make such stupid policies?

Of course we should have read the rules but, with the quantities we smuggled in, why are they even concerned. In addition, the penalty would have been to pour the stuff out. Why couldn't one just pay the liquor tax that is paid by the distributors of booze purchased in the US. The government would have gotten their taxes and that should be a all they are worried about rather than that their political contributor distributors are able to prevent  US brewed beer purchased in Mexico from reducing their sales. Am I confused or are they?

We were off North by 2pm. We headed back up Ogilby Road (S34) and highway 78 to Blythe. In Blythe we stopped at Steaks and Cakes again and Lou got to eat lunch. She enjoys their dinner salads which are mini chef's salads. I had a bowl of vegetable beef soup. We took Highway 95 North from Blythe and stopped and found several geocaches on the way up. We then caught highway 62 over to Parker to the Blue Water Casino for the night. Dinner was a couple of slices of pizza from the snack bar.

Saturday, April 16, 2011

Blythe Intaglios

Blythe Intaglios Sign
Saturday: (04/16) We stopped to look at the Blythe intaglios or geoglyphs just North of Blythe, Ca.

Blythe Intaglios Man Blythe Intaglios Woman
Not too impressive and probably not really very old being most likely images of the Spaniards and their horses. The one on the left is distinctly male due to an extra appendage. The one on the right could pass for an alien. These images are nearly 100 feet long (tall).

Blythe Intaglios Sunset Blythe Intaglios Sunset Campsite
Since we were at about the halfway point on our trek to Yuma we decided to spend the night next to the Intaglios just off the road. Lou fixed salmon and stir fried vegetables with bean sprouts for dinner.

Blythe Intaglios Sunrise
Sunday: (04/17) We also enjoyed a nice sunrise tough we had to get up way too early to see it. Lou fixed chorizo potatoes and eggs for breakfast. After breakfast we did a little geocaching nearby before relaxing at home a while before departing. One thing that had to be taken care of before we left was to clean the windshield. Yesterday, South of Searchlight, we had a deluge of bugs. In 2 seconds we wiped out a couple of thousand bugs. Unnoticeable additions to the windshield before and after. Quite unusual for the desert. We fianlly departed a little after 11am.


Monday, April 11, 2011

Lake Mead NRA, Boulder Beach CG

Our Campsite At Boulder Beach Next To Lake Mead Lake Mead beach Below Our Boulder Beach Campground
Monday: (04/11) We selected a nice site, #6, in the Boulder Beach campground. We'll probably be here a couple of days. We noticed a trail on our way here that goes out to the Dam, the Railroad Trail. We'll hike it tomorrow morning. Dinner was beef stew with pan toast. Our campsite at boulder Beach. Nice spot but no view of the lake. On the right is the beach at Boulder beach, about a 1/2 mile from the campground now due to the low  lake level.

Tuesday: (04/12) Leftover pancakes and sausage for breakfast. We headed out early to the Railroad Trailhead at the junction of Lakeshore Road and Highway 93.

Lake Mead Marina From Start Of Railroad Trail Railroad Tunnel On railroad Trail
It is a 3.5 mile hike out to the Hoover Dam Visitor Center. Most of way is via the old railroad path so a nice easy grade. the last 1/2 mile or so has some ups and downs until you arrive at the top of the Visitor Center Parking Garage. We walked the dam and looked around but didn't take any of the overpriced tours. You get a nice view of the lake from the trail like the marina on the left. There are five tunnels on the trail.

Railroad Tunnels On railroad Trail The Railroad trail Ends On The Top Of The parking Garage Coming Down The Path In The Center Rear
A nice thing about railroad trails is the easy grade. The trail ends at the top of the Boulder Dam Visitor Center parking garage coming down the trail in the center rear of the picture above.

Boulder Dam Low Water At Boulder Dam
The dam is still a marvel even in its old age, over 75 years old. the water is down over 120 feet now. the lake is much smaller. maybe someone needs a little less lawn?

Lou Looking Over Boulder Dam
We took a good look around the dam but didn't take any of the tours. We taken hem all before, when they were much cheaper and better. The tours used to wander through a lot more of the passages in the dam.

I hiked back to get the Jeep and pick up Lou. Her limit for hikes is 4-6 miles recently. They were having problems while I was gone. The power went out at the Visitor Center so everything was closed. Just imagine, No power at one of the biggest hydro electric generator plants in America? They the Visitor Center parking garage was closed due to a medical emergency. That's where I was supposed to pick up Lou so I had to continue across the Dam then call Lou and pick her up at the curb on the return crossing.

Memorial Bridge By Boulder Dam Lou Crossing Memorial Bridge
There is a lot less traffic over the bridge now that the new memorial Bridge has opened. It is a marvel of construction as well but i don't have the same confidence in it's longevity as i do the Dam. It's a concrete bridge designed to just meet the needs meaning a greater demand will eventually be placed on it and it will be just rubble in the canyon floor. We stopped and walked across it. You do get a good view of the dam from there. Too bad you can't look out on the other side of the bridge as well into the Black Canyon.

With all that accomplished, we stopped at the Hacienda Casino, the one near the dam and had their buffet lunch. When we returned home it was time for a nap. Dinner was a shared Cinabon roll. Lou planned ahead when we left Laughlin.

Wednesday: (04/13) We started with a walk down to the lake. With the water so low it's about a half mile out. We talked to a couple of fishermen and learned that the lake will be rising about 30 feet shortly. We also learned why there is a crane on a barge way out in the lake. Evidently a big deep water pipe is being constructed via tunneling under the lake. Sounds expensive and unnecessary but Las Vegas wants a reliable water source. A billion dollar pipe tunneled under the largest man made lake in the country isn't a simple task.

For breakfast, we went over to the Hacienda Casino and had a couple of their "Truckers" breakfasts. I. of course, had the chicken fried steak and eggs. Lou had the giant ham steak and eggs. We both brought home leftovers. Both were very good in addition to being huge. I worked on tax preparation all day. Can't put it off any more. For lunch Lou made a stir fry with pork. While i was doing my taxing task, Lou was busy studying for her real estate license renewal course.

Dinner was some of the leftover breakfast ham with leftover baked potatoes and fresh corn on the cob. In the evening we went back over to the casino. The group Kid and Nic , a five piece oldies group was performing on the stage behind the bar. It was also something like Karaoke. Some very good regulars and employees joined the group to do some numbers.

Thursday: (04/14) Leftovers for breakfast. We drove down to Boulder City for a look around downtown. Nice village. First we looked at some open houses. They were nice view sites so a little expensive for the area. We really enjoyed looking around the antiqu and craft shop called Goatfeathers. Of course, when it was lunch time we headed out to the Hacienda Casino to the buffet. we are cheap and the buffet is cheaper than McDonald's and so much better. The BBQ spare ribs were excellent.

Our Second Boulder Beach Campsite With A lake View Our Lake View
Our new campsite at Boulder Beach. this one has a view that Lou needed. Dinner was leftover stir fry from last night and cottage cheese and peaches. After dinner we went back to the Hacienda Casino to watch the Kid and Nic show again.

Friday: (04/15) Cereal with yogurt and honey for breakfast. I've been collecting local free newspapers and real estate magazines and had a stack to go through which i fianally took the time to do. not much news to be found but one had a tidbit i didn't know. The entire Las Vegas Strip is not in the city of Las Vegas, it's in Clark County. Quite odd. probably investying in politicians is cheaper than being taxed by the City. When we were in town yesterday We checked on when the mail would be available for general delivery. They said it would arrive at 4am and be available by 10am so off we went at 930 to see if our mail package had arrived. Dawn sent it Wednesday afternoon and it was in. Some post offices are good and this one in Boulder City is one of them! Now we can move on if we want but it's usually not a good idea on a weekend so will likely stay through Saturday night. We took a walk around the housing areas near downtown while we were there. Nice town. We returned home for lunch of chips and salsa and peanut butter apples. I broke out the vacuum and vacuumed the RV and jeep and finally cleaned of some of the nice dust we've added to the Jeep on our many dusty jeep treks recently. Lou's been studying out at our table overlooking the lake. She does like the view. Tonight, dinner was at the Hacienda Casino, again. Seafood night so Lou was the instigator tonight though of course I'm not fighting. That's one of the reasons we have to leave soon. It's too close to be able to resist.

I spent the evening looking in to fixing the Motosat satellite dish. If you're not a Motosat user suffice it to say i had problems with it but now it's OK. For those interested, sometimes waiting and thinking helps the problem. Since the wiring had tested good and The upper control board was new and I really didn't want to replace the D3 only to find it wasn't bad I tried some other tactics. I tried doing an update to the software in the upper  control board. Previously I had thought I just didn't have communications with it because that's what the D3 had told me. But, the update did work and I then had communications with the upper control board and dish mount and all should have been better. There was another problem lurking in that I had updated the satellite table in the D3 controller and every since the dish hasn't found the satellite without my intervention to stop it when it did find in and not know it. There was an error for my satellite (99W) and my transponder (1370). The manufacturer has since provided an updated file and I did another update. All should have been good, but. Then the controller started having an error in the dish elevation. It thought the dish was up 115 degrees when it was parked at 0. I tried to calibrate the dish but it wouldn't stay at 0 after calibration always returning to the 115 degrees. On the fourth calibration it finally held and everything worked properly. Now if it only stays working. I don't know why it had to fight so long?

Boulder Beach Sunrise Over Lake Mead
Saturday: (04/16) When we looked out the window at 6am we could see a long line of taillights headed down to the beach. Yesterday we had noticed a bunch of big tents had been set up down by the lake. We were worried that it might be some motorcycle convention of rap concert but it turned out to be a triathlon. From our campsite we watched them do their swim then ride or run along in front of our campsite. We enjoyed toasted PB&J English muffins for breakfast. Lou's tooth is bothering her so we decided to head back down to Algodones, Mexico to have it looked at. No need to get there before Monday morning but it is over 300 miles so we decided to start that way today. Before we left we drove over to the Lake Mead Marina to a boat show. We looked through some impressive boats and yaghts. All are out of our price range. No canoes there to be seen? We spent the rest of the morning in camp relaxing. At 11:30 we pulled out, did our tank duties and left Boulder Beach. We stopped at the Hacienda Casino for lunch. No, we controlled ourselves and didn't have the buffet. We had a couple of the $,99 shrimp cocktails and some chilli cheese fries. Nice healthy food. Then we hit the road South on Highway 95.