We left the Sedona, Arizona area and drove less than an hour west to our friend, Bill's house in Prescott Valley. Again, Al threaded our RV into Bill's back yard.
It amazes me how he's able to back the RV into such tight spots!
While at Bill's we did a hike at Watson Lake.
We also took a road trip for the day up to check on the conditions at Temple Bar Marina on Lake Mead.
Bill's truck was in the shop for repairs so he had a rental car which we used for the trip. So the three of us did the trip in a Prius.
The launch ramp is over by the marina and not the usual location again this year.
 |
| Launch ramp |
This is the "normal" launch ramp which is still way out of water. Even though the water level is up, it's not up enough!
 |
| That is the dock on land instead of floating on water |
We had a good visit with Bill and got some of our own projects completed while at his house. Then we drove up to Las Vegas and parked at the Thousand Trails campground on Boulder Highway. We had a lot of activities planned for the 17 nights we were parked at this campground.
 |
| The sites are very close at this campground |
Our friend, Linda, is a retired teacher and has a student who now works for MGM Grand and gave her two tickets for FlyOver Vegas. It's just like the Soarin' Over CA ride at CA Adventure but different locations. It's like a big Imax screen and you sit in a row which lifts off the ground with your feet dangling. Of course you are seat belted in. Linda couldn't go so she gave the tickets to us. Thanks, Linda and your student!
After the "Fly Over", we walked on the Vegas Strip.
 |
| Inside Caesar's Palace Forum Shops area this guy was picking up money that people threw into the fountain. |
 |
| The Las Vegas Golden Knights won the Stanley Cup in June. Caesar was supporting the local team. |
A favorite place for us to visit when we're walking around on the Vegas Strip is the Bellagio Conservatory & Botanical Gardens.
The gardens are amazing to view.
Five times a year:
Chinese New Year, spring, summer, fall and winter, the Bellagio
Conservatory team creates a full-blown floral production. For an entire week,
the staff work 24 hours a day to transform the nearly
14,000-square-foot space with tens of thousands of flowers, trees, and
plants.
One night we met an old co-worker of Al's, Song, for dinner at the famous buffet at Caesars Hotel called Bacchanal Buffet. Song also brought along some friends so there were 7 of us for dinner. Dinner costs $79.99 each and Song treated us. Song wanted to check out this buffet and we enjoyed it! Thanks Song!
 |
| Al and Song |
.jpg)
 |
| Seafood |
 |
| My dessert sampler! |
The buffet was fun and we tried a lot of different foods but did not eat $79.99 worth!
Then the next day we went to SK Seafood, a Chinese food restaurant, with Song and his friends.
Next on our agenda was to meet up with our friends, John & Sandy, who we know from church in California. They moved to Tucson a few years ago. They were coming home from a wedding in Utah so we met up in Las Vegas. They were staying at the Delano hotel which is part of Mandalay Bay. We spent the day at the Mandalay Bay Pool and Beach with John & Sandy and their friend.
 |
| Wave Pool |
John & Sandy reserved a cabana for the day so we were living in style. That gave us a reserved area to hang for the day with shade and to store our stuff, a table to eat lunch, mini fridge for drinks, and a safe to store our valuables.
 |
| Al, Nancy, John, Sandy, and Renee |
 |
| Our favorite campsite at Temple Bar |
 |
| Al |
 |
| Nancy |
I want to give a big thank you to my buddy Song for taking us out to one of the top Buffet's in Las Vegas. This would be something that we would not normally do but it was a good experience, and it was great to hang with Song.
ReplyDeleteI would also like to thank John and Sandy for there friendship over the many, many years we have known each other. We meet in a small group in Costa Mesa and we have made lots of memories together. They are wonderful people and if you are ever in need of an insurance person John would be your man to get in touch with.
Thanks to Bill for having us over time and again at your house as we have made this trave journey over the years. Not only that but for making me into a better water-skier from when we fist meet to our current trips on the lake.
And to our newsiest friends Linda and Randy, thank you for the tickets, it’s aways great to hookup over the winter, and along the way as our travel paths cross on our journey’s.