Kansas City 2013

This is our 6th year starting our RV travels from Kansas City, but it is the first time we have been met by a winter wonderland. I was blissfully tapping away at my laptop during the last minutes before you get the call to turn off all electronics ready for landing on our flight from Phoenix to Kansas City, oblivious to what was outside the aircraft window. Murray happened took a break from chatting to the guy on his left, and looked out the window to our right and saw a white landscape. It was such a change from earlier visits. Once I recall we did have some snow flurries on a previous visit, but the snow melted before it hit the ground.

View from the air - just descending into Kansas City

Touchdown! 

Pretty snow along our route to pick up the RV

                                                                          

In the photo on the left Murray had driven the RV out to the front of the cave (the cave entry is under the yellow sign). He got up on the roof of the RV to sweep off limestone dust before driving to Ford for the usual RV service before we hit the road. The little red car behind the RV is our rental car for the next few days. It looks so tiny!

This is the view from our motel room out to our rental car after dinner at Red Lobster tonight. A bit messy getting our suitcases out of the boot and into the motel room through the snow. But we are enjoying the unusual white stuff! Thankfully the sun was out, there was no wind, and it was a delightful 5 degrees C (41 F).  We were heartened to see that petrol is $3.30 a gallon or 87 cents a litre. 

Mesa, Arizona 2013

Friends from North Dakota, Frieda and Lenny, spend their winters in Arizona or Texas. In previous years they would drive their camper down and live in it for 6 months each winter, but last year they bought a home in Mesa, Arizona - just  30 minutes drive from Phoenix. They have now sold their camper. We decided to drop in on them after we left Las Vegas, and we have just spent a most enjoyable 3 days with them in their Mesa home. 

Lenny, Frieda and Murray outside their Mesa winter home

On Sunday they took us to see some local sights, and our first stop was a Goldfield Ghost Town near Apache Junction. It had a huge Saguaro (pronounced sorroro) cactus in the middle of the town, and great views over to Superstition Mountain. 

Lenny, Frieda and Murray about to enter the Ghost Town

View over to part of Superstition Mountain

Saguaro Cactus in the Ghost Town

After we left the goldfield ghost town we headed further out to Tortilla Flats, north east of Apache Junction. The scenery was wonderful as you can see by the photo on the left - lakes, wildflowers, mountains, cacti...

Tortilla Flats is the last surviving stagecoach stop along the Apache Trail. It was originally a camping area for prospectors searching for gold in Superstition Mountain. Now it is a popular tourist stop where there is a bar and a restaurant, or you can buy a great burger and sit outside and listen to a few guys playing on their guitars and singing popular songs interjected with entertaining humour. We had glorious weather, so we sat outside to enjoy the music and the burgers!

Sitting outside having a burger at Tortilla Flats

The interior of the bar and restaurant area has walls papered with real dollar bills from around the world, but mainly US. I did see an Aussie $2 note amongst them.

 Dollar Bills pasted on all walls

Note $ bills on every wall

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Wood from inside Saguaro Cactus

Although Saguaro Cactus (largest cactus in the US) look spongy on the outside, when they die their internal wooden 'ribs' are actual wood, and are used to build furniture, fences etc). See photo at left. The Saguaro can grow to over 70 feet tall and can take up to 75 years to grow a side arm. They can live for more than 150 years. The Saguaro can only grow a from seed, never from a cutting. They take in water when it rains, and can be seen to visibly expand. They then shrink in girth when drying out.








On our last night in Mesa, Frieda and Lenny took us to a local pizza haunt that is a real tourist attraction. It is called the Organ Stop Pizza, and last night alone they sold over 500 pizzas! It was a Monday night and the place was crowded - people no sooner left and the tables were filled again - there are two floors of seating, so it was pretty impressive. The drawcard is the largest Wurlitzer theatre organ in the world, and 3 organists are on a roster covering play 7 days a week. The organist takes requests, and announces birthdays and other celebrations, and it is a very unusual venue to eat a pizza (or salad, or sandwich) and have access to a bar. At times while the organ is being played by the organist, various other musical instruments located around the room seem to play by themselves. Very entertaining. The combination pizza that we had was superb. In the photo below you may be able to pick Murray out in the very front row to the left of the photo, and Frieda (in yellow) is pointing something out to him. 

Organ Stop Pizza

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A few people have actually clicked on 'reply' to that notification email, and have made comments about the blog or sent me their latest news, thinking their email would come to me. Unfortunately a 'do not reply' address goes nowhere. PLEASE DO NOT REPLY TO ANY EMAILS FROM TRISH WARWAREK - AUSSIES RV USA!

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Grand Canyon West, Arizona

360 view of the Grand Canyon West from our lunch table - the brown ribbon in front of Murray is the Colorado River. The pointy hill to the right of the trees is what Murray and Rainie climbed

The Grand Canyon is one of the seven natural wonders of the world. We have been fortunate to have seen the spectacular view from the South Rim twice before - once in summer and once in winter with my daughter Kim - and there was snow everywhere. This time we accompanied our friends Rainie and Tom and paid a visit to the West Rim. It is now spring, so the nights are very cold, and the days are glorious. It was a 2 hour drive from Las Vegas, driving right past Lake Mead and over Hoover Dam with only 9 miles of the route being on a gravel road. We went past so many Joshua Trees in bloom - they only bloom every second year - on the left I captured quite a thicket of them as we drove by!

The West Rim is the location of the renowned Skywalk - a glass bridge perched 4,000 feet above the canyon and managed by the local Hualapai Indians. We were all impressed with the professionalism of the tourist attraction, and compared to the South Rim where guard rails protect people from getting too near the edge of the canyon, here at the West Rim the Indians have left it more natural. It is very well organised - once you park your car, you enter into the gift shop and ticket counter, then out to the other side where shuttles run every 15 minutes taking you to various lookouts. We had lunch at Guano Point with views over the Colorado River, and where you can climb up on a rise to get a 360 degree view of the canyon. Murray and Rainie took the challenge and I was able to capture them up on top. We spent quite a while sitting there just absorbing the aura and majesty of the canyon. After we had our fill of Guano Point, we took another shuttle to the Skywalk stop for some more fabulous views of the canyon. Breathtaking - but obviously my photos could never begin to do the views justice!

Rainie and Murray at the lunch table at Guano Point

Here are Murray and Rainie (in yellow) up the top

There is the Skywalk glass ledge out behind us

After several most enjoyable hours enjoying the Canyon, we got back in our car and only had a 20 minute drive to our night's accommodation at the Grand Canyon Ranch Resort. It is actually a working ranch with about 20 cowboys working there. They have about 10 rustic cabins, each with an ensuite, with a dining room over in the main area. The view to Spirit Mountain was beautiful. Rainie and I mounted our horses at 6pm and Murray and Tom boarded a wagon and we all met up at sunset to enjoy a glass of champagne in the shadow of Spirit Mountain. When we got back to the Ranch we were eager to tuck into a cowboy's dinner of ribs, corn and beans before heading to the fire to hear Cowboy Dave entertain us with his guitar and singing and finish the night toasting marshmallows and making s'mores. It was cold!

Our Ranch Cabin on arrival

The wagon with Spirit Mountain in the background

Here are Rainie and I on our trail horses

Rainie toasting marshmallows around the fire

As we had our flight to catch to Phoenix the next day, we were up early and breakfasted with the cowboys at 6am. They were all in fine form - the sun hadn't come up, so it was quite cold. Thankfully they lit a fire that we all stood around with a coffee until the breakfast was served. Can't complain about a plate full of scrambled eggs, bacon, homemade country potatoes and a fresh biscuit (scone). Delicious.  

Death Valley, Nevada

We have visited numerous National Parks (22 at last count) during our visits to the USA, but none are hotter, drier or lower than Death Valley NP in Nevada. It is the largest NP in the lower 48 US states. 

According to Wikipedia, 'Death Valley is the hottest, lowest, and driest place in the United States. Daytime temperatures have topped 130°F (54°C) and it is home to Badwater Basin, the lowest point in the Western Hemisphere. There are canyons, colorful badlands, sand dunes, mountains, and over 1000 species of plants.' When we were at Badwater Basin the GPS (and local signs) read that we were 282 feet below sea level!

As we embarked on 2.45 hr drive north-west of Las Vegas, we thought of Leonie and Stan as we passed this friendly group of bikies. We also thought you may be interested to note that petrol was $3.69 per gallon (ie 97 cents per litre) - so still cheaper than in Australia where we were paying around $1.50 per litre in Ballina. Mind you, in Death Valley we saw unleaded for $5.69 a gallon!

We had always talked of visiting Death Valley NP, but we usually arrive in USA in early April and by the time we get the RV serviced and then hit the road, it is already too hot in Death Valley to consider doing an RV trip comfortably. This time we were fortunate to be travelling with our friends Rainie and Tom from Florida, and we shared a rental car and fuel costs. However when I saw this RV coming towards us (note the snow capped mountain directly behind it) I got a bit RV homesick. But then I considered some of the roads we had taken, and they were definitely not suitable for an RV, so I was relieved that we had the opportunity to travel in a regular vehicle. 

As much as we thoroughly enjoyed Yellowstone (and have visited it 3 times to prove it) and many of the other NP's, the Katmai NP in Alaska remains my favourite US NP, but Death Valley surprised me by coming in second on my list. I certainly didn't expect it to be as stunning as Monument Valley and many other Utah landscapes which I found so picturesque. Where Utah colours are very bold and striking, Death Valley is outstanding for it's pastel shades and colourings. There was hardly a mile of road traveled that we didn't find some aspect of the view amazing. The vegetation kept changing as we moved from one section of the valley to another, but the thing that we all commented on was the distinct lack of wildlife. Apart from the odd black crow, there wasn't much to be seen. Although when we visited the Ghost Town of Rhyolite, Murray did make sure I paid special attention to the warning about Rattle Snakes. The locals say the snakes are hard to pick out in their back yards as they blend in so well with the desert landscape, and once summer comes, locals usually don't venture too far outside without being extremely careful.  

Rattlesnake country

Ghost Town of Rhyolite - hard to pick out the buildings isn't it!

Zabriskie Point is one of the park's most famous views

We looked at the list of the 'things to do' in Death Valley, and managed to visit ten on the list including Dante's View, Zabriskie Point, Badwater, Artist's Drive, Artist's Palette, Devil's Golf Course, Ubehebe Crater and Stovepipe Wells Village. 

Dante's View is 5,000 ft above the valley below - we visited the valley below at Badwater

Artist's Palette - all the colours of the rainbow in these rocks

Check out these amazing sand dunes near Stovepipe Wells - against the backdrop of stunning mountains

This glimpse through our windscreen gives you an idea of just one of the views we had along the way. I lost count of the number of times one of us commented 'wow, look at that'! Our cameras were working overtime. The only other place that has happened to me was in Alaska.

Stovepipe Wells Village was the furtherest point West that we visited. It was a delightful village and we had booked into accommodation there for the night. The restaurant had delicious food for reasonable prices, both for dinner last night and breakfast this morning. We spoke to a chap at breakfast who said he and his wife visit Death Valley every year (although she didn't come this year) - when I asked him what was his favourite part he said it was hard to answer, as there were so many. When I asked why he returns every year, he said it was for the peace, quiet and beauty of the place. He takes lots of photos. I can understand why. 

Dusk - photo taken from the steps of the restaurant - looking out to the East over the pool

Stovepipe Wells looking to the West when the sun was almost gone - nothing else for miles 

One of our last stops in Death Valley was Scotty's Castle. A really fascinating story that you can read about on the link. Taking the tour gave us a great insight into the interesting life led in the Castle by the three key players. A highlight of the NP for sure. It had so many mod cons for its time and location in the desert!

Scotty's Castle

Check out this purple coloured cactus at the Castle 

Panoramic view of Ubehebe Crater 600 ft deep - caused by a volcanic explosion 300 years ago

Uh oh. Back to civilisation. Here we are entering the Las Vegas traffic at around 4pm today (Thursday here). Such a change from the tranquil, isolated roads of Death Valley.

Grand Canyon tomorrow.

Day 2 in USA at Shania Twain Concert Las Vegas

Rainie and Tom on escalator to cross the Strip

As we walked into Caesar's Palace this afternoon in readiness for our 7.30pm Shania Twain concert, I commented to Murray that it was hard to believe that this was only our second day in the US of A, yet here we were fronting up with our friends to a concert in Las Vegas. Mind boggling! As we entered the Forum Shops in Caesar's Palace I noticed Spago's Restaurant, which is one of Wolfgang Puck's and where we had a dinner with my brother Tony, his wife Yudian, my sister Ret and our aunt Dympna on our last visit here. Lovely memories. Then my eye was taken by Jimmy Choo's, so I thought it was high time I bought myself a pair of his shoes. The red ones were fabulous, but then I really liked the green ones...in the end I couldn't decide, so I walked out without buying a single pair. Oh well, thankfully I was quickly distracted by the Apple store - funny, I hadn't noticed it here before. It reminded me that my sister Rosemary recently sent me a photo of the Apple store near her home in Brisbane, so I took a photo just for her.

Tom, Rainie and Murray en route to Caesar's Palace

It turns out that our seats for Shania Twain were on Mezzanine Level One, in a 'Box'. Never had a Box before. We felt pretty privileged. We had no one behind us, and the seats in front were separated by a wooden railing. We had a great view of the stage, and Shania is as good, if not better than ever. She has an amazing voice, and I have to say she looks absolutely fantastic. Go Shania! After her concert finished we walked out in perfect time to catch the Bellagio water fountain display on our way to our shuttle.

Sorry, no purchase today Mr Choo...

Forum Shops in Caesar's Palace

For you Rose - I think our stores at home have more vibes!

Murray and Rainie about to enter Shania's concert

Bellagio Water Fountain Display

We weren't allowed to take photos so thanks for these two photos Google...

This outfit looked great. Shania was terrific!

We got the free shuttle back to our apartment, and after a game of Rummikub (yes AD, I taught Rainie to play last night and she has asked me to pack it for our overnight trip tomorrow!) it was time to hit the hay. Off to Death Valley tomorrow morning.