What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas but we happened to be here at the same time as these family friends (Max and Sandy) from Ipswich, Suffolk England. Had a great lunch at Mimi’s in Summerlin, and a nice afternoon drive around the city!
Enjoying the city, weather, friends, and relatives, during our week at Arizona Charlie’s, we decided to take an additional week at Sam’s Town. Both are great locations and adjacent to the attractions. Winter is a great time to visit Las Vegas, evidenced by the multitudes of snow-birds who congregate in the Las Vegas Valley during the winter months. Real winter weather is nonexistent in Las Vegas, it might get cold but it does not get the freezing temperatures and the days are sunny and warm. We meet people from around the country and around the world at Las Vegas and they all agree that “Fabulous Las Vegas” provides events and activities, going on in the city and the surrounding areas in the winter, that never fail to entertain. This way, you can make the most of your trip over the festive season. From seasonal attractions to day-trips worth checking out, you’ll have no problem keeping busy.
Tuesday, October 22, 2019
On Max and Sandy’s last day in Vegas, we made a day-tour to Ethel’s Mars Chocolate Factory and Botanical Garden. Ethel says: “Ethel M Chocolates' breathtaking Botanical Cactus Garden is Nevada's largest and one of the world's most prolific collections of its kind. Based on the English landscape model of naturalistic design, the Ethel M Botanical Cactus Garden features three acres of drought-tolerant ornamental, cacti, and other succulents. Over 300 species of plants can be found on the grounds. Half are cacti and succulents largely native to the American Southwest, and the rest are desert trees and shrubs from the Southwestern United States, Australia, and South America. All of these plants were chosen both for the beauty of their floral displays and their ability to adapt to the climate of Southern Nevada.
Come visit Ethel M Chocolates at the factory location in Henderson. Take a leisurely stroll through the cactus garden, and view the botanical desert terrain, enjoy the self-guided chocolate viewing aisle (get samples) and see how we make the best chocolates we know how to make.”
After lunch, we visited the Mermaid Aquarium at Silverton. We just had a real fine day with Max and Sandy! We just by chance met-up in Vegas and had a nice visit!
10-23-2019 Wednesday
We had a nice lunch with Larry and Deborah at the Hitching Post in North Las Vegas. As full-time RVers, these “Terry” cousins, shared lots of travel-stories and experiences they have encountered around the country. At the Hitching Post, adjacent to Nellis Air Force Base, we got to see powerful military jets roaring around the area. Following lunch, they gave us a tour of their rig, currently located at the Hitching Post RV Park. A good outing and fun visit!
10-27-19 Sunday
Yesterday, we moved down to Sam’s Town for a week, a favorite RV Resort on Boulder Highway, just east of the “Strip”. Today, we met with the “Terry” cousins at Blaze Pizza on Decatur, in North Las Vegas. We had a comprehensive group and enjoyed several hours of dining and visiting with the cousins, (Jones) children of Terry’s Aunt Pat. We enjoyed spending time with Aunt Pat when we worked in Las Vegas several winters back. Aunt Pat spent most of her adult life in Las Vegas and she knew and was part of the fascinating history of the early founders (some memorialized in the “Mob Museum”) of the hospitality industry. We sure miss Aunt Pat!
Monday, October 28, 2019
At Sam’s Town, we are enjoying the attractions and the valley. Got our annual Flu Shots today at the Walgreen’s. Winter weather has come to the valley, with nighttime temperatures down in the thirties. We have recurrently frequented Henderson because it has loads of new shopping, dining, and entertainment venues.
Our Henderson favorites:
Ethel M’s Chocolate Factory- a world of chocolate and extensive outdoor “Cactus Garden”. Always good for free chocolate samples!
Acacia Demonstration Gardens is a collaborative effort among the City of Henderson, Conservation District of Southern Nevada and several other local organizations. The gardens provide a wealth of landscaping examples that are water efficient for this dry desert climate. In addition to providing visual examples of landscape possibilities and information about the plants displayed, Acacia Demonstration Gardens also hosts a variety of workshops every spring and fall.
Galleria at Sunset- A upscale shopping mall in Henderson. Great place to walk, eat, shop, people-watch, and bench-sit!
We drove the “strip” several times enroute to or from North Las Vegas but we only stopped-off on Wednesday, when we had “coffee and Chihuly” at the Belagio. Dale Chihuly’s interpretation of Italian flowers in the spring, permanently adorns the overhead-lobby with thousands of massive, colorful, hand-blown, glass flowers.
The awesome Bellagio Conservatory & Botanical Garden had the “Fall” seasonal display, an indescribable creation of a magical “Fall Scene”. Ed Libby leads a staff of 120 in designing, creating, and maintaining each unique, seasonal display in the giant garden space. (Having met Ed several years back, he has a contagious enthusiasm for this art.)
At the Bellagio Starbuck’s Coffee, a couple of conspicuous, feather-clad show-girls were just outside, in the chilly, windy promenade, promoting the entertainment aspects of the casino. We wondered if they received supplementary remuneration on cold mornings. It was a great morning-visit!
Saturday, November 2, 2019
After two fabulous weeks in Las Vegas with family and friends, we had a McDonald’s breakfast and headed south on US 95, working our way to our winter-place in La Quinta, California. The drive down the Mohave Desert was scenic and we played identify the desert plants and mountains, as we traversed the eastern Mohave. Many people zoom across the desert seeing only an austere, sterile place of nothingness, when in reality, its teaming with life and amazing stories! At Needles, California, on the Colorado River, we had lunch at McDonald’s, the second McDonald’s meal today but that was our best choice, and it was good!
From Vidal Junction, we caught CA 62, along the Colorado Aqueduct, southwesterly past Joshua Tree National Park, then CA 177 on down to Desert Center, where we took a walk in the desert, and rested in the shade of our rig. Next, we took I-10 to La Quinta and Riverside County’s Lake Cahuilla. We had a brief reunion with our friends at the office, then set-up for the night on the lake, under the Eucalyptus trees. This closes the loop that we began on April 1st, 2019, upon completion of our past winter at Lake Cahuilla.
We enjoyed our summer experience at Ridgway State Park, working with the Colorado Department of Parks and Wildlife. With an emersion experience in park, community, and Colorado towns, it was informative, revealing, and appealing.
Our Fall vacation through Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, Utah, Nevada, and Arizona was entertaining, engaging, peaceful, and very enlightening. It was hot, it was cold, it was high-altitude, it was strenuous, it was dangerous AND, it was GREAT! Now, we begin a new winter in La Quinta! Our first day at Lake Cahuilla reminds us that November in the Coachella Valley requires the furnace in the morning and A/C in the afternoon! It’s good to be back in southern California!
“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one’s lifetime.” – Mark Twain, The Innocents Abroad
“Good judgement is the result of experience and experience the result of bad judgement.” ― Mark Twain
