Tag Archives: Alpine Coach

R & R with Family and some Welding (Westley, CA)

2015/11/06 davidhobden@mac.com

Our fun-filled family time here in Westley, CA has almost come to an end. 🙁 We’re still parked at my brother Ronald’s house – my Mom, stepdad, brother Steve & Cheryl, and my Aunt Kathy left yesterday (Thursday) to head back to Casa Grande, AZ. I just got a message this morning that they’re still on the road after spending an overnight in Quartzsite. They should be back home by the time we leave here today (Friday).

Urban Escape Vehicle parked outside Ronald & Terry’s house in Westley, CA.

We will head over to San Francisco from here (about 90 miles). Our destination is the Elks Lodge in San Jose where I have a couple cousins from my Dad’s side of the family that we have to visit since we’re in the area. We’ll also check out some of the sites in San Francisco, like Alcatraz… always wanted to take that tour. 🙂

The last several days have been great spending time with family! 🙂 And since my brother Ronald has a Welding & Machine Shop onsite, I took advantage of his skills and hospitality to ‘beef up’ my hitch extension.

I need the hitch extension for a couple reasons. Whenever I haul the Harley or the ATV in the bed of the pickup, the tailgate has to be down, so I need the extension to be able to use the bike rack. And yes, I know… why do I need a bike rack since our bikes were stolen in Las Vegas?!? 🙁 I wrote about that HERE. But, it also doubles as a tie-down for the ATV because it has an adjustable ball-hitch on the upper part that secures the ATV when it’s in the bed. It basically clamps down on the ATV’s tow ball to secure it while traveling. I keep the ATV stored at Steven & Cheryl’s in Casa Grande, AZ and swap out the Harley with the ATV whenever we’re in the area as the situation warrants (for example; if we’re headed to Quartzsite).

My brother Steven used to work here in years past. He used the lathe to machine and thread some new ‘beefed-up’ adjustment bolt points for the ATV hold-down portion.

Brother Ronald worked the welder.

The almost finished product (below), the tall upper portion is removable and has a trailer hitch portion that slides up and down as needed for securing the ATV.

Grandpa John checked progress…

And then we put it all back together after a fresh coat of paint.

Thanks for all the help Ronald! The last time we were here, he helped me ‘beef-up’ the mount for my motorcycle ramps on the truck rack. (link HERE). It’s good to have brothers 🙂

Ronald also had other work going on… here he is unloading a commercial sander/blaster for some welding repairs.

Otherwise, when we weren’t playing in the machine shop, we hung around the fire barrel because evenings have been getting pretty cool.

And here’s Steven & Cheryl’s Class-C pulling out yesterday (Thursday) to make the trip back to Casa Grande…

We all said our sad farewells and ‘see-ya-laters’…

BTW – With regard to the bikes being stolen in Las Vegas (link HERE), I highly recommend Miller Insurance for all your full-timing insurance needs. They came through on our claim and we’ll be getting a check to help us replace the bikes. They covered the bikes up to $1000, but we’ll only get a $750 check since our deductible is $250. I just hope our rates don’t go up as a result of the claim, we’ll have to wait and see… the agent I talked to didn’t think so, but you never know.

Stay tuned… our next post will be from the San Francisco area where we’ll visit with some more family…

California

Spending Halloween with Relatives (Westley, CA)

2015/11/02 davidhobden@mac.com

Happy Halloween everyone 🙂

It’s been a few days since my last post… we’ve been busy visiting with relatives here in Westley and Patterson, CA.

We left the Main Street Station RV Park around noon and drove straight through to my brother Ronald’s house in Westley, CA. As I mentioned in my last post, we convoyed with my brother Steven, his girlfriend Cheryl, my mom, stepdad, and Aunt Kathy who joined us in Las Vegas in their Class-C from Casa Grande, AZ.

We got here around 9:30 PM on Thursday and it’s been a virtual whirl-wind of activity since. I have a lot of relatives here in the area from my Mother’s side of the family… some of which I haven’t seen since I was a pre-teen, and others; I got to meet for the first time.

Halloween was also the 90th birthday celebration for Grandpa John!

Happy Birthday John! aka: Uncle; Grandpa; Great-Grandpa…

We all attended an awesome birthday celebration / BBQ at one of our distant relatives’ beautiful home in Patterson, CA.

Lots of fun! Lots of good food! Lots of characters… some even dressed up a bit:

Towards the end of the Halloween / Birthday Party; someone was even able to successfully herd everyone outside for a group photo:

When we weren’t out at parties, dining out, or sitting around the yard with a barrel fire, some of the guys could be found in my brother Ronald’s machine shop.

More good times to enjoy here in CA with close and not-so-close relatives 🙂 Stay tuned… we might head over to San Jose and/or San Francisco in a few days after this.

Nevada

Scumbag Bicycle Thieves & Saying Goodbye to the Kids (Main Street Station RV Park – Las Vegas, NV)

2015/10/30 davidhobden@mac.com 2 Comments

No post yesterday (Thursday) because I was at the police station first thing in the morning reporting the theft of our bicycles 🙁

We did a lot of running around all day with the kids to various places in Las Vegas and when we got back to the Coach late Wednesday night we found the bicycle lock on the ground between our Coach and Steven/Cheryl’s Class-C. Some scumbag(s) cut the chain. We could clearly see the tell-tale signs of bolt cutters on the tumbler portion of the lock.

Cut bicycle chain on the ground where our bicycles used to be.

We flagged down one of the security vehicles that occasionally roamed the parking area here at the Main Street Station RV Park and the guard went to get his supervisor. When they returned, they took my statement, a couple pictures, and left again. They returned later with a copy of my report.

I also called the police to report the theft of our bicycles and was told to go online to fill out a report.

As you can see from the screenshot (above), that didn’t go too well… so I called the police again and was told I had to come to the station in the morning to fill out a report. Luckily, the police station was only a few blocks away, but it took a while and then we still had to break camp to check out by noon. We were scheduled to leave and convoy with my Mom, Stepdad, Aunt Kathy, and brother Steve & Cheryl to visit my brother Ronald in Westley, CA. He was waiting on us.

Unfortunately, I only had paperwork on my bike. I couldn’t find a receipt or serial number for Stilla’s. Another lesson learned! I also quickly came to the realization that I didn’t have good photos of the bikes. I had to browse through my photo albums for a long time to find the following ones:

Older photo (earlier this year) of our bicycles on the bike rack.

Old photo (last year) of our bikes on the bike rack.

Old photo (circa. 2 yrs old) of our bicycles.

So, if anyone sees these bikes running around Las Vegas or on the road somewhere, please let someone know…

They were both Specialized™ bikes:

Mine was a “Rockhopper 29er”, Black/Grey color. Ser # WSBC602362842F, It had a Topeak rack on the back and a “Criterium” sticker near the neck. This sticker was the logo (it looks like a Colorado license plate) from the bike shop in Colorado Springs where it was purchased in 2011 for ~$1,300. Another identifying feature is the rear-mounted kickstand.

Stilla’s was a female bike, primary white color with purple and green accent stripes. We think it was a “MYKA” model. It had a removable metal mesh basket on the front that we used to transport little Coach in (below):

Anyway… we still had a lot of fun with the kids and my relatives here in LV with the exception of the bicycle thefts and the stingy slot machines 🙂

The kids did the haunted house thing at Circus Circus and we all met up there to say our goodbyes late Wednesday night.

(L to R) Dylan, Joleen, William, Jasmin, and Stilla.

Some of us even toured the lower part of Fremont Street later where the Container Park (←link here) is located. Here’s some more pics of that:

A giant praying mantis mounted on a truck spewed flames at us in front of the Container Park. Pretty cool…

And our time here in Las Vegas has come to an end. William & Jasmin took their rental car and headed back to Colorado Springs (COS). They will stop at Grand Canyon on their way back and will still have a few days in COS before they have to fly back to Germany. Joleen & Dylan rode back with their friend, Dalton. We heard they made it back to COS late Thurday evening.

And oh, by-the-way… we never went back to the Neon Boneyard Museum. We found out that tickets are ~$25 and you have to schedule far in advance for the hour-long tour. Maybe another time…

We convoyed straight through to Westley, CA from Las Vegas yesterday (Thursday) with my Mom, stepdad, Aunt Kathy, Steven & Cheryl. We got here at 9:30 PM. I wrote about our last visit here in this post. I’ll update you on our visit here in my next post. Stay tuned…

Nevada

Alpines & Buffets (Main Street Station RV Park – Las Vegas, NV)

2015/10/28 davidhobden@mac.com

We got to meet Larry Lewis and his wife Rita from the NorthWest Alpine Coach Association (NoWACA) Chapter. It’s always good to meet other Alpine owners 🙂 Larry & Rita did an overnight stay here at the Main Street Station RV Park on Tuesday and Larry came over to introduce himself after they pulled in. I got the chance to talk with them more this morning (Wednesday) before they pulled out for the Phoenix area. Larry showed me the really cool MCD shades they had recently installed in his 2007 Limited SE. I really liked the electrically operated shades on the inside of his windshield.

Larry & Rita Lewis’s Coach at the Main Street Station RV Park in Las Vegas.

Safe Travels Larry & Rita! See you in Quartzsite next year 🙂

The big event for the day on our Tuesday here in Las Vegas was a visit to the Bacchanal Buffet at Caesars Palace (←link here).

According to the website: “Leave it to Las Vegas to revolutionize the classic buffet concept. Using a $100 million budget, Bacchanal completely reinvented the traditional buffet in 2012, with modern food presentations and an upscale setting. Approximately 15 daily chef’s specials are added to the daily menu, and they change depending on products, season and chef’s whims. Can’t choose between the truffle scalloped potatoes and sweet potato tots? Try both! Mini salads such as the watermelon and feta let you try several separately dished items at a time. Fill your plates to the top with prime rib, chilled king crab legs and roasted South Carolina shrimp and grits, or oak-grilled lamb chops, hand-made dim sum, pho and baked-to-order soufflés. Read more about Bacchanal Buffet on Total Vegas Blog.”

Entrance line to the Bacchanal Buffet at Caesars Palace.

Sample of a serving line at the Bacchanal Buffet at Caesars Palace (I think there were about 10 of these!)

Waiting in line at the Bacchanal Buffet, Caesars Palace LV.

(L to R) My Stepdad Jim; my brother Steven; my youngest daughter Joleen’s boyfriend Dylan; son William; and myself)

(L to R) My Aunt Kathy (my Mom’s sister); our youngest daughter Joleen; my Mom; Stilla;. and my brother Steven’s girlfriend Cheryl.

Man was it good! But, also pricey… we paid ~$95 for two people after they tacked on an 18% gratuity since our party had more than 8 people.

Afterwards we hung out with the kids at Caesars Palace and supported the slots and electronic BlackJack table for a while. Later on, the kids all came back over to Fremont Street to close out the night. Fun times for all 🙂

Check back later for more LV adventure… We’ll have to say goodbye to all the kids tomorrow (Thursday) and then we’ll convoy with my brother Steven, Cheryl, Stepdad Jim, Mom, and Aunt Kathy (in their Class-C) on to California to visit our brother Ronald. We have a 90th birthday celebration for an Uncle to attend at his place there in Westley, CA.

In other news: my IPhoto Library got corrupted somehow this morning, so I had to perform a work-around to get a few pictures on today’s post. I had to email myself pictures from my iPhone. Hopefully, I can get it fixed again for tomorrow… because as usual – I always have lots of pictures to share 🙂

Nevada

The Gang’s All Here ! (Main Street Station RV Park – Las Vegas, NV)

2015/10/27 davidhobden@mac.com

On Monday morning we said goodbye to the new friends that we met at the Saint George, UT Elks Lodge (Don & Fannie France). I mentioned them in a previous post HERE. They were also here with us at the Main Street Station RV Park, but unfortunately we didn’t find time to get with them again due to the kids arriving and all our other activities. Maybe we’ll see them sometime down the road in the future. Safe travels Don & Fannie!

Don & Fannie France’s HDT and 5th Wheel.

Don & Fannie France’s HDT and 5th Wheel. (Notice the Smart Car on the back of the HDT.

We just hung out at the Coach most of the day and waited for the gang to arrive from Casa Grande. My Mom, Stepdad Jim, Steven & Cheryl left the “dirt farm” at 6 AM and stopped in Phoenix (Sun City Grand) to pick up my mom’s sister, Kathy. They finally got here in the late afternoon and parked next to us 🙂

(L to R) Cheryl, Steve, Jim, Mom, Aunt Kathy in front of their ‘new-to-them’ Class-C.

We all went over to Circus Circus to get some food and meet up with all the kids, who were expected to be there. You may remember from my last post that our son William and his girlfriend Jasmin took a room at Treasure Island with our daughter Joleen and her boyfriend Dylan. The kids showed up and everyone got to see them for a short while before they headed over to the Stratosphere. We finished a good meal at the Circus Circus restaurant, Vince Neil’s Eat•Drink•Party and spent a little time checking out the slots before we headed back to the RV Park.

My younger brother Steven and his long-time girlfriend Cheryl.

Once back at the RV Park, Steve, Cheryl, and Aunt Kathy turned in early while Stilla, I, Mom, and Jim walked over to the Fremont Street Experience which is only a couple blocks from the park. We left a little more change in the slots and had a late-night snack before turning in ourselves.

Check back tomorrow to see what we get into next…

Nevada

Willi Moves Out & Haunted House Visit (Main Street Station RV Park – Las Vegas, NV)

2015/10/26 davidhobden@mac.com

Stilla went shopping this morning (Sunday) with William and Jasmin while I finished up yesterday’s blog post. When they got back to the RV Park, Will & Jasmin packed up their stuff to move over to the Treasure Island Hotel & Casino. They will share a room with Joleen & Dylan for the next several days. For those of you just joining the blog – Joleen is our youngest daughter and Dylan is her long-time boyfriend since high school. They flew in from Colorado Springs while William and his girlfriend Jasmin drove their rental car to get here. William & Jasmin are on a three-week vacation from Germany.

Here’s their view of the strip from the 34th floor of Treasure Island (TI):

After moving Will & Jasmin into their room at TI, we all drove over to Dylan’s grandparents house on the outskirts of Las Vegas. ‘Mike & Karen Early’ invited us all to their house for a quick visit and then dinner at a small local pizzeria.

Dylan’s parents were already at Mike & Karen’s house when we arrived after going through the stringent security at the gate. Mike gave us the nickel-tour of their beautiful home that backs-up to the 18th hole on the golf course.

Mike treated us all to a great dinner. Thanks Mike & Karen! 🙂

After a great meal of pasta, pizza, salad, and more, we said our goodbyes to Mike & Karen and the rest of us drove over to a haunted house.

The Trilogy of Terror is rated as the best haunted house in Las Vegas and according the Freakling Bros. website; the “4th Best Haunted Attraction in the World.”

We chose to take the ‘scariest’ of the three haunted house tours. And it was definitely well done – if you’re looking for a scare, go on this one 😐 The cost was $15 pp and the photos afterwards were an additional $15.

Here’s the photos we bought after taking the tour:

Fun times ! We said goodbye to Dylan’s parents Kelly & Jeff. They’re flying back to Colorado Springs on Monday.

We went back to TI and spent the rest of the evening with Will & Jasmin, Joleen & Dylan, and their friend Dalton.

The Treasure Island slots weren’t very friendly to us and we called it a night after a few hours. Stilla and I drove William’s rental car back to the RV park and we turned in for the rest of the night (early-morning).

My Mom, her sister Kathy, my Stepdad, and brother Steve, along with his girlfriend Cheryl are on their way here from Casa Grande, AZ this morning as I finish up this post. The ‘Find My Friends’ app on the iPhone reports them as being near Wickenburg, AZ right now. Yoo Hoo! More fun-times to come…

Nevada

Hoover Dam (Main Street Station RV Park – Las Vegas, NV)

2015/10/25 davidhobden@mac.com

On Saturday morning we decided to go check out Hoover Dam. We haven’t been there since they completed the new bridge, and it would be the first time for William’s girlfriend, Jasmin.

We all – (Self, Stilla, William, Jasmin, and little Coach) piled into Williams’ rental car (a VW Jetta) and took lake Mead Blvd to Lakeshore Rd through Lake Mead National Recreation Area. I was able to save us the entry fees by showing my disabled veterans access pass.

Here’s a view of downtown LV from the outskirts (below).

The Lake Mead National Rec Area wasn’t too spectacular (no cliffs or cool rock formations)… but then again – we’re probably spoiled from the beauty and grandeur of our recent Lake Powell visit. We drove by the Lake Mead RV Village, but didn’t have time to stop and check it out this time. Here’s a map.

When we exited the National Rec Area near Boulder City, we stopped at the Alan Bible Visitor Center before heading over to the Dam.

Entrance to the Alan Bible Visitor Center near Hoover Dam.

There was a nice terrain model and interactive display of the Lake Mead area inside the Visitor Center:

Terrain model depicts the new bridge next to Hoover Dam.

View from the back of the Alan Bible Visitor Center. (Lake Mead in the distance on the left and Hoover Dam Lodge on the right).

I tried to get William & Jasmin to hug a cactus…

they didn’t fall for it 🙂

We headed over to the Dam.

Here’s the new bridge…

We couldn’t park in the main visitor center parking lot because we had little “Coach” with us. The parking attendant told us we had to go across the dam to Parking Area 9 and someone would have to stay with the dog 🙁

(L to R) Jasmin, Stilla, Coach, and William.

Jasmin & William at Hoover Dam (south-side).

Stilla stayed in the parking area with little Coach while the rest of us walked out on the Dam.

William & Jasmin walked across the Dam to the Main Visitor Center while I went back to Stilla and Coach at the car. I drove back across the dam to pick them up on the other side after ~15-20 minutes. Unfortunately, Will & Jasmin found the Visitor Center was temporarily closed for renovations.

We drove back to the parking area for the Mike O’Callaghan – Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge: “An arch bridge in the United States that spans the Colorado River between the states of Arizona and Nevada. The bridge is located within the Lake Mead National Recreation Area approximately 30 miles (48 km) southeast of Las Vegas, Nevada, and carries U.S. Route 93 over the Colorado River. Opened in 2010, it was the key component of the Hoover Dam Bypass project, which rerouted US 93 from its previous routing along the top of Hoover Dam and removed several hairpin turns and blind curves from the route. It is jointly named for Mike O’Callaghan, Governor of Nevada from 1971–1979, and Pat Tillman, an American football player who left his career with the Arizona Cardinals to enlist in the United States Army and was later killed in Afghanistan by friendly fire.” (ref. Wikipedia®)

Once again, we couldn’t take the dog along. Huge signs in the parking area prohibit pets on the bridge and leaving them alone in the parking lot. This time, I stayed with little Coach at the car while Stilla, Will & Jasmin walked up the steps to go out on the bridge walkway.

Hoover Dam as viewed from the Memorial Bridge Walkway.

After Stilla and the others returned from the walkway, we drove across the bridge to see what it was like… unfortunately, the bridge has high concrete sides so you can’t see anything while driving across 🙁 I guess they want tourists to stop at the walkway.

We returned to our spot at the Main Street Station RV Park and hung out until dark. Then we drove a couple blocks over to the Neon Museum Boneyard.

And just our luck… the museum was closed for a private event 🙁 We’ll have to come back another time.

I drove Stilla, Will, and Jasmin down to the MGM Grand Hotel & Casino on the south-side of the strip. They hung out with our daughter Joleen and her boyfriend Dylan (and others) until late in the night. I drove back to the Coach and watched some TV until 11 PM or so, and then tried my luck in a couple of the casinos near our RV park and Fremont Street. I’m still ahead (right now)… hopefully we can stay that way 🙂

Check back later to see what we’re up to next… my Mom, Stepdad, brother Steve and his girlfriend Cheryl are due to arrive here from Casa Grande, AZ on the 26th. I reserved them a spot. We’re looking forward to that 🙂

Nevada

Just Another Day in Vegas! (Main Street Station RV Park – Las Vegas, NV)

2015/10/24 davidhobden@mac.com

We had another busy, busy, day running around checking out the sites here in Las Vegas with our son William and his girlfriend Jasmin. Later on we met up with our daughter Joleen and her boyfriend Dylan, among others 🙂 Follow along…

After Stilla made omelettes in the Coach for us, we plugged Rick’s Restorations (←link here) into the iPhone to get directions and drove William’s rental car to their new location. Yup, that’s right – Rick’s Restorations recently (6-wks ago) moved to a new location. It’s a good thing I used the iPhone and didn’t try to navigate there from memory 😐 Check out my blog post from our visit last year, (HERE).

Rick’s Restorations (new location in LV)

We took the $5 tour and got to see Rick himself running around the shop several times. I like this TV series/reality show – one of my favorites. This new location is certainly larger than the old one, but the tour seemed shorter for some reason. Still cool to see tho 🙂

Old vehicles at Rick’s Restorations in LV awaiting possible possible resurrection.

William showed Jasmin this 1960 Cadillac… he used to have a ’62 for a short while when he still lived with us in Colorado Springs.

After our tour of Rick’s Restorations – we drove down Las Vegas Ave in North LV to the site of the Pawn Stars (←link here) TV show. I also wrote about our visit to this place last year (HERE).

We took the free tour which really just consists of a quick walk through the Pawn Shop, elbow-to-elbow with all the other tourists. I personally don’t watch this TV series/reality show very often – if at all. But it was fun to see.

Will & Jasmin posed with a cutout of Rick at the back of the store.

And then we drove over to Count’s Kustoms – the site of the TV series/reality show ‘Counting Cars‘. We also visited this place last year, click (HERE) to see that posting.

Will & Jasmin in front of Count’s Kustoms; site of the TV show Counting Cars.

This tour was also free, but we didn’t get to see any of the TV personalities or the shop itself, -just the cars on display along with the gift shop. I got the T-shirt last year. I also like this show and will watch it and/or record it when it’s on.

William & Jasmin at Count’s Kustoms in LV.

Here are some of the cars that you might remember from the TV series if you’re familiar with it…

After our tour of Count’s Kustoms, we met up with our daughter Joleen and her boyfriend Dylan at the Luxor Hotel Casino. Joleen & Dylan flew in from Colorado Springs on the 22nd and are staying at the New York-New York Hotel Casino next door.

We bought tickets for a couple of the exhibits on site at the Luxor. Click HERE to learn more about Bodies and the Titanic exhibit.

We couldn’t take any pictures inside either of these exhibits. They ask everyone to turn their cell phones off at the entrance. I’m guessing they don’t want people posting pics and videos to youTube, otherwise no one would pay for the tours. Both were pretty cool exhibits… I’d recommend them. The prices were a little steep tho 🙁

We went back to the Coach in North LV to get refreshed and check on little dog ‘Coach’ who was enjoying some alone-time in the air-conditioning. Then later on, we drove back down the strip (whew-what a long drive) to New York-New York and valet parked the car. Here we met up again with Joleen & Dylan. Their friend, Dalton also joined us… he drove straight through from Colorado Springs the day before.

(L to R) Dalton, Jasmin, Joleen, Dylan, Stilla, and William inside New York-New York Hotel Casino in LV.

We spent the evening together casino-hopping and walking (way-to-much) from casino to casino.

(L to R) Dylan, Joleen, William, Jasmin, Stilla, and self on the LV strip.

We caught the water show in front of the Bellagio.

Stilla, Jasmin, and William at the Bellagio water show in LV.

We had a chance encounter with Dylan’s parents (and their friends) while walking down the strip. They flew in on a different flight than Dylan & Joleen and are here to catch some shows, etc., Dylan’s grandparents also live in LV, we might get a chance to visit with them later.

Dylan’s parents: Jeff on the right, and Kelley in the center.

After a few more casino stops, one tram ride, and much walking… we ended up at the Linq Hotel & Casino.

(L to R) Stilla, self, Joleen, and Jasmin.

A fun day… albeit a long one 🙂 After we recover from all the walking, we might go check out Hoover Dam today (Saturday). Check back for a full update 🙂

Nevada, Utah

Yay! William and Jasmine are Here! (Main Street Station RV Park – Las Vegas, NV)

2015/10/23 davidhobden@mac.com 2 Comments

We left the Elks Lodge in Saint George Utah a little later than expected on Thursday. But it was for a good reason… we heard through Facebook that good friends Orman and Susie Claxton were coming through town on their way back home to Gold Canyon AZ. We know Orman and Susie through the Alpine Coach Association and have met up with them a couple of times in our travels., e.g., Hwy-101 (Tillamook, OR); the FMCA Rally (Redmond, OR); and most recently in Yellowstone. Orman is a factory trained and certified Aqua-Hot technician… he serviced ours in Quartzsite earlier this year (link HERE).

The Urban Escape Vehicle at the Saint George UT Elks Lodge.

We waited a little after noon-time for Orman & Suzie to arrive at the Elks Lodge.

Orman & Suzie Claxton roll into the Saint George Elks Lodge.

Orman’s new truck.

We went inside the lodge to get them checked in and found out the lodge had hot dogs and sliders at a buffet table for donations.

After catching up with Orman & Suzie, we headed on down to Las Vegas. Safe travels Orman & Suzie! See you in Quartzsite next year 🙂

After an uneventful 120-mile drive and a quick fuel stop, we checked in at the Main Street Station RV Park in North Las Vegas. We’re packed in like sardines here, but it’s only $19 per night for 50 Amp full hook-ups and only a block or two from Fremont Street.

Our son William and his girlfriend Jasmine arrived around 8 PM after their 2-day road trip from Colorado Springs. They drove through 4-corners and spent the night in Blanding, UT. Then they visited Goosenecks State Park, Monument Valley, and then drove to Lake Powell (Page, AZ) where we just were for the Alpine Coach Rally. They visited Antelope Canyon and Glen Canyon Dam before driving through to Las Vegas.

After Will & Jasmine got refreshed from their long travel day(s), we walked over to Fremont Street.

It was a late night. We gave Will & Jasmine our bed and pulled out the couch for us. They’ll stay here in the Coach with us until Sunday. Then they’ll share a hotel room with our daughter Joleen and her boyfriend Dylan over at Treasure Island until the 29th.

Here’s a picture of our spot at the RV Park this morning (Friday):

Urban Escape Vehicle packed in at the Main Street Station RV Park. (Will & Jasmine’s rental car is parked next to the SIlverado)

View of the Main Street Station Casino Brewery Hotel from the RV Park.

Stay tuned… we’re looking forward to spending time with William & Jasmine while checking out all the sights here in LV 🙂

Utah

Hiking the Red Cliffs (Elks Lodge (Dixie) 1743 – Saint George, UT)

2015/10/22 davidhobden@mac.com

We’ve been at the Saint George Elks Lodge for 4 nights now. I took a break from the blog yesterday because there wasn’t much going on to write about unless you want to hear about me waxing the Coach and running around town to find parts.

I’m trying to get my break-away switch installed on the SIlverado. A break-away switch is the last line of defense to activate the brakes on the truck if the tow bar, safety cables, and the mounting plate safety cables all broke while towing. This is of course highly unlikely – but it is required by law in many states. I bought a (used) brake-buddy classic from a gentleman on the Escapees (For Sale) website three or four years ago. I got a pretty good deal but it didn’t come with the break-away switch, so I ordered a switch online and have been carrying it around with us all this time. Now I just have to mount it on the front of the Silverado somewhere; extend the electrical wires to feed through the firewall into the cab somehow; and put appropriate ‘bullet’ connectors on the ends that fit into the brake-buddy that sits on the drivers-side floorboard when we’re towing it. Click HERE for a picture. Check back later to see if I get all this accomplished 🙂

On Wednesday, we took a little hike and then enjoyed steak night at the lodge before turning in for the evening.

We started off at this parking lot (below) just around the corner from the Elks Lodge next to Utah-18 and N Snow Canyon Pkwy.

Bicyclists on the ridge (below).

The scenery turned from red sandstone to lava rock at some points.

Little Coach poses for a pic.

We didn’t keep track of how far we hiked and simply turned around and headed back once we got tired.

After our little hike, we drove along the Red Hills Pkwy which skirts downtown on the north side. Here’s some scenic pull-out views of downtown Saint George, UT:

In the evening, we went into the lodge for steak night. The food was OK, but the experience was a little frustrating because we were first-timers and didn’t know the routine. First, we weren’t sure if we were supposed to sit down in the dining room or wait to be seated because there were a few people standing at the entrance to the dining area and there were slips of paper with the menu items listed at the counter. Finally, someone told us that you’re supposed to find a seat, reserve it by putting a jacket, hat or something at it and then come back to stand in line to give the girl your order. You can fill out the paper menu or give your order verbally. After a long wait in line, we ordered and paid for the ‘surf-n-turf’ which was salmon and a steak. We also ordered an extra salad bar. Then we sat down at our table which had a number on it and waited until someone came by and gave us a ticket. We were told to take the ticket outside to a covered patio where they had several grills fired up. We presented our ticket and got our food. And, oh by-the-way, we finally got an extra plate for the salad bar. The salad bar was rather disappointing… sure they had salad and baked potatoes with a few different dressings, but that was it. No croutons, bacon-bits, cheese, chives or anything other than butter and sour cream. Hardly made a baked potato worth it. At least we had salt & pepper at the table 🙂 Oh well, the surf-n-turf was only $13 and the salad bar $6 or so.

Anyway, enough of that… we’ll head on down to Las Vegas later today (Thursday) and wait for our son William and his girlfriend Jasmine to arrive in their rental car from Colorado Springs. I’ll keep you posted 🙂

Urban Escape Vehicle .com

Tag Archives: Alpine Coach

R & R with Family and some Welding (Westley, CA)

Spending Halloween with Relatives (Westley, CA)

Scumbag Bicycle Thieves & Saying Goodbye to the Kids (Main Street Station RV Park – Las Vegas, NV)

Alpines & Buffets (Main Street Station RV Park – Las Vegas, NV)

The Gang’s All Here ! (Main Street Station RV Park – Las Vegas, NV)

Willi Moves Out & Haunted House Visit (Main Street Station RV Park – Las Vegas, NV)

Hoover Dam (Main Street Station RV Park – Las Vegas, NV)

Just Another Day in Vegas! (Main Street Station RV Park – Las Vegas, NV)

Yay! William and Jasmine are Here! (Main Street Station RV Park – Las Vegas, NV)

Hiking the Red Cliffs (Elks Lodge (Dixie) 1743 – Saint George, UT)

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