Wednesday Catchup, Grand Canyon, More Fun with Family

We were up all together by 7 am with the exception of Gerry. He was awake behind the curtain but still in bed when Clemson had to join his buddy.

 We had a good day yesterday and I apologize for the short summary of what we did. In case you're interested, here is a bit more detail. 

Donna and I walked first thing on Wednesday morning, around the park, me showing her where things were. We were invited to join in the exercise class in the clubhouse but kept on moseying after checking out the puzzles etc.

The boys relaxing while we did dishes up
after brekky

 At 11 am us girls took part in the clubs Water Aerobics and the water was nice and warm compared to the outside temperatures. We hopped into the hot tub to warm up and then wrapped a towel around our wet suits and walked back feeling quite refreshed and warm. While we were getting fit, the boys were doing the same thing and took a really long walk around the park perimeter and roadways.

Happy Hour

We had a bacon and egg lunch, cleaned up and headed into town. We shopped at Smith’s, saved $18 with our savers card and then saved another .10/gal to top the fuel tank up. I love these savings cards and feel like I’m becoming a real snowbird, collecting them all. At the Thrift Shop I found a pretty turquoise windbreaker and a John Deere mug for Bill. It is the perfect size!

Last night we had grilled sausages with a salad. The boys had theirs in a bun. After dishes and my blog was finally posted we all took a walk around again. When we got back we had a banana oatmeal muffin with Tillamook ice cream. Yum. We were all in bed by 10:30.

No words to explain Wednesday night's sunset

Back to Thursday. We were ready and in Black Beauty at 8:45 am for our touring day to the Grand Canyon. The weather at home in Bullhead is calling for a warm 74F and 60F at Grand Canyon Village with mostly cloudy skies. We can handle that but still dressed appropriately with long pants, extra layering and hats. This will be fun!

Gathering of the Gambel's
(thanks FG)

 At 11 we were all ready for a break so we took Exit 164 at Williams to a Mcdonald’s for a nature break and bought coffees and teas for the road. I had brought some muffins and granola bars so we had a bar each. We kept driving and turned onto AZ-64 towards Grand Canyon Village. We are now in Kaibab National Forest. We were all surprised to see the gorgeous sunshine, blue skies and non-windy day.

the scenic drive never lets me down

At 11:50 we found the Fire Road 688 that we overnighted at in March and pulled in to show Donna and Gerry how nice the spots are. We also had our sandwiches, that we (Donna) made up for us last night, before driving further. We were on the road again at 12:20 and happy to have stopped. We discussed that this will be our 4^th National Park and we’ve already gotten the benefit of our $80 pass. This one is FREE. Yay!

What a difference today was from the last time we visited. It was the same kind of weather, blue sky, 15 degrees cooler but no wind. Actually, a perfect day to walk around the canyon rim. Today being Thursday, we found that parking was a snap, pulling into the 3^rd lot instead of the 6^th or 7^th like last time. We walked to Mather Point and then .7 miles along the Rim Trail to the Yavapai Point and Geology Museum before turning back.

Kaibab Ntl Forest for lunch

Lunch break

On the way back, we sat and listened to a geologist giving us a talk on the details of the canyon. The basics of what I can remember and tell you is that it is now 10 – 18 miles wide, roughly 1 mile deep and 277 miles long. It was very interesting to hear how it was all formed from as far back as 1.5 billion years. As we were walking, Bill stopped when he saw a Desert Bighorn Sheep. It was just a small one but very exciting to see.

Donna and Gerry were as awed as we were the first time, it was fun to see the excitement in their faces.

their first sight

For us, our second time, it was almost as thrilling and we are so glad we all decided to make the 3 ½ hour trip while they were here. We were back at the truck by 3:15 and had a snack before heading back to Williams. We’ll all sleep tonight!

I texted Lori to check on Clemson as we were approaching Kingman. She was keeping an eye on and feeding our little guy today for us. Thanks Lori! She said he was fine and encouraged us to grab supper before coming home. He is lapping up their attention I’m sure. We arrived at Bullhead City at 6:25 and drove to the Black Bear Diner to eat. We were all hungry and looking forward to a good meal.

We sat and listened to the geologist

The sights looking over into Laughlin, Nevada are awesome at night. Casinos attracting patrons. We had a very friendly waiter named Devon who offered the special of the night, liver and onions, so Donna and I were set. Bill ordered the Tribeck Sandwich with fries and Gerry ordered the Pot roast meal. Lots of food and I ended up with a doggie box with a piece and a half of liver.

Can you say Forest Gump?

Bighorn sheep

He was so pretty and close to us

What looks like a newspaper was really 

is their menu

My liver and onions
this was after a cheddar broccoli soup and corn muffin

Bill's sandwich

We were home by 7:30, unloaded the truck and downloaded our pictures. Donna and Gerry went for a brief walk before returning to the Suite for the rest of the evening.

 

Since it was Nov. 30^th and our last day for the month’s wifi on our hotspots, we opened it up to our guests to take advantage on their phones. Who says us seniors are not social-media-savvy? Ha ha, there we sat, either on laptops or phones playing on the internet.

So, this has been a great day, another great day I should say. Clemson was good again and Bill walked over to thank our ‘dog-sitter’ and to pick up our key. I hope you have enjoyed your last day of November too.

Goodnight from Ridgeview RV Resort

Thank you for reading. I appreciate all your comments. 

Family Arrives, Carl's Jr., Fremont Street, Hoover Dam

When I woke up on Tuesday, Nov. 28^th I had three thoughts foremost in my mind. Today is the day my sister and her husband arrive from Ontario for 9 days, at 5:30 it was too early to get up and 6 years ago today I lost my brother, Bruce, far too young.

Bruce and I in 1975

I remained in bed and crept out ‘sneakily’ at 6:35. I felt the excitement for our company flying into Las Vegas at noon PST. I heard from Gerry as they were waiting to board their plane.

Pretty pigeon

It was still dark out but I opened the blinds anyway. I should have walked this morning to calm down as I know excitement also brings shingles for me more than worry. Bill wasn’t too long after me getting up and we had our drinks together while reading blog posts. After an hour I had my shower and emptied a few hangers in the closet for our guests and then did a quick dust through the Suite. It was mainly dusty from the winds yesterday and I had windows open on the west side.

Quails taking a drink 

Bill had his shower and took Clemson for a short walk down to the corner with the garbage. The winds are evident again this morning but so far not too bad and it looks a calm-down is coming today. That’s good. We are looking at temperatures here in the low 70’s and mid 60’s in Vegas so it sounds perfect with this blue sky. We were all cleaned up and ready to go when Bill took the key over to Lori and explained about Clemson’s food and stuff.

Crossing the bridge into Nevada

We hopped in the truck at 10:20 and arrived at McCarran Airport at 11:50. We parked in the underground parking and found their Gate E. After a bit of a kerfluffle and no clear markings, we finally found it. Donna and Gerry met Bill by 12:30 and we were loaded in the truck and on our way. Our destination was to Las Vegas Blvd and to find a place to eat. We were all hungry and of course, their times were way off, gaining an extra 3 hours to their day.

Bus boondocking

Carl’s Jr. turned out to be the spot. Donna was surprised to see that they offered an All-Natural Grass Fed Beef Burger so the two of us ordered that in a combo. The boys ordered a Big Carl Burger combo. Oh, they were so good! This would mean we wouldn’t need much supper tonight. Next on the agenda we needed to take part in The Fremont Experience! We found a spot to park a block away to park the truck.

We did a bit of gambling on the slot machines while waiting
I was up $1 and then spent it.

Yay!

A couple of happy campers

I’m glad they call this ‘an experience’ because we have never witnessed so many ‘strange’ people all in one place before. We all enjoyed this experience and will chat about it for years to come. Donna and I took pictures of some fun things and avoided some other things too embarrassing to record on film. We laughed a lot and had a good time before making our way back to Black Beauty.

A couple of happy guys

We drove from there to Boulder City where we found the entrance to Hoover Dam. We saw the new bridge, which was holy cow, SO big but surprisingly were able to drive across the dam. Things have changed again since our friends Judy and Oscar last visited the scenic area. The Hoover Dam is an arch-gravity concrete dam and is located in the Black Canyon of the Colorado River on the border between Nevada and Arizona.

Yup, he's real

We had a nice view of Lake Mead which is about 24 miles from the Las Vegas Strip as we drove by. The Dam, named about President Herbert Hoover, began construction in 1931 and opened for use in 1936 during the Great Depression. Over 100 lives were lost during this construction. It covers an area of 220 acres and is 726’ high. The base of this dam is 660’ thick.

I think this building is coming down, curtains and all

We were all fascinated with just looking at it and trying to imagine how they built it. It is an awesome thing to see if you haven’t been there. By this time, it was approaching 4:30 and we headed back towards Bullhead City for home. It is quite a different view coming through the mountains and down into Laughlin, NV in the dark and our guests wouldn’t get much of a view of things today.

this lady tried her darnedest to show us all 8 ways to wear this wrap scarf
she had us all laughing along with her

We moved inside and I showed them where things were, where they could put their personal items and then we sat and relaxed. Bill and Gerry had a toasted sandwich and Donna and I had an orange which was just the right amount for supper. Bill brought in our creation of a room divider and totally surprised them. This should give each of us some privacy during the overnight and early morning hours.

Action figures for my grandsons, oh and my son and my brother :)

They were tired and by 10:30 we were pulling out the sofa bed and settling in for the night. We had a great day and are anxious to show them around our area and this lifestyle. 

You need to view all 4 of these pictures to get his performance

And yes, there was music

Priceless!

So, on Wednesday, Nov. 29th we had planned a quiet day other than some walkabouts, grocery shopping and Donna and I took part in Water Aerobics from 11 to 12 noon. We prepared bacon and eggs for lunch and headed into Bullhead for shopping. The guys pushed the cart around and Donna and I ran here and there picking up things. We left there and Bill dropped us girls off at a Thrift Store while they went to put fuel in the truck.

Lake Mead

When we returned home, we put the food away and made ourselves a drink for Happy Hour here at the Suite. It was gorgeous outside so Donna and I sat in tankinis and shorts until 5 when it started to cool down. We've had a great day and put in a lot of walks together, and separately in pairs. Even Clemson got out for a walk today! We didn't take many pictures today so this part of the post contains pictures from yesterday. Enjoy!

sunset last night

the new bridge

Huge!

There are those happy campers again

Goodnight
Sorry if it is a jumble
Hard to post with 4 chatterers here. :)

Thank you for taking the time to stop in today. Please feel free to comment if you wish.