Road Trip To Vegas , Bryce , Zion & Yellowstone

Well we are finally on the road . We crossed into USA June 3 and spent the night at Menard's with Managers permission . Blew a front tire the first day and ran on the spare until we reached Fargo ND . We could not find any tires to fit before then .In Fargo we put 2new tires on the front .
Hopfully no more blow outs . They are no fun .

We spent the night in Fargo 13st Walmart with permission ,

June 5 we spent the night at NorthPark Camp Ground Dickinson ND , it was ok but nothing special .
June 6 we spent the night in Gillette WY Walmart with permission . The manager said they have a 24 hour rule . That was fine with us as we were gone by 7am .

We went to Perkins Restaurant in Gillette hoping for a nice meal . We have never turned back  meal but this was the exception . You wouldn't believe how much salt they put in their butterball turkey dinner . It was just like they dumped a full salt shaker on it. We just couldn't eat the dinner's . Needless to say we left , not very happy campers and cooked a meal in our motorhome .

It was good day driving . There was a tornado watch alert on our weather radio going through Casper , so we were keeping our eyes open .
June 7 we are at RV World Campground in Rawlins WY , the people are nice and the campground is nice and has a closed in dog run .

Tomorrow we are off to Deer Creek State Park & then Bryce for 3 nights 8)

We arrived at Deer Creek State Park June 8 . It is a nice park overlooking the lake  . We will be staying here again on our return trip .
At 6AM we woke to start our next days adventure to Bryce Canyon . When I opened the door I could here a lot of yelling out at the hi way .
When we drove out around 7 we seen runners for miles up & down the Hi way so we sat at the exit for about half an hour waiting for a break in the line .
I have never seen so many people running in my life . We drove slowly all the way to Provo and there was a solid line of people running all the way .
I hope they raised a lot for their charity as they earned every penny .  The hills were steep and the temperature was in the mid 80's .

June 9th .  We arrived at Ruby's Inn RV Park . It  is a very nice place and would definitely visit again .
I started the evening off with a bang . Well no just a little jump and bump . Taking the car off the dolly one my safety chins some how got jambed and tightened up . I decided to just move the car ahead to loosen it up a little . Well it was a little to much and I was over the front of the dolly .  I was able to get a tow truck to pull me off and we were able to take in the Bryce Canyon splendor that evening and the next day . I would definitely visit Bryce Canyon again .

On a side note . My motor home is insured with CAA- AAA as is my car but they said they would not cover me as I was stuck on the dolly . The AAA tow driver said I should have been covered as it was a very easy removal

I will be contacting them for a reason ,

June 11 .  We decided to take a trip on Route 12 from Ruby's INN to Boulder Utah . The trip was quite scenic and enjoyed the trip over the hog's back , although it wasn't ne'er as scary as some make it out to be.  went to the Museum in Boulder , Not that interesting in my case but some may like it.

Below is a nice little falls not far from Ruby's Inn on 12 & it was not too long of walk for us old timers .

Tomorrow off to Vegas

Nice waterfall picture. You're enjoying some of the country's prettiest scenery.

Wendy

Yes Wendy the scenery is unmatchable and every area is so different .

Bill

June 12 , Las Vegas .

This is a day I will remember for a long time , a bit stressfull and also interesting .

About 65 miles out of Vegas I decided to pull into a truck parking stop for a rest before entering the city . When I went to start the motorhome it didn't turn over . No problem I always carry a 800 amp booster just in case . Well I boosted and it started but I then noticed that my alternator wasn't charging . I decided to leave my booster on and equalize my battery and make a run for it . Well as luck of the Irish would be I took the exit 1 before the KOA exit and ended up on Freemont Street . That's OK , only a couple of blocks from KOA . Well I had to stop for a red light in front of the Golden Nugget Casino and the Freemont WalkWay . Guess What !!! The battery gave out and was stone dead . I then tried the booster but it didn't have enough juice . So there I was ,Parked in a bus stop in front of a walkway with hundreds of people crossing every few minutes and a lot of good people offering suggestions .
No problem I figure I have AAA  . Give them a call and tell them where I am . They ask is this emergency . I tell them I think so a I am in a bus stop ,blocking 1 lane of traffic and sitting in 1 of the busyest spots in Vegas . They say OK , where are you again . I tell them the 4 Casino's surrounding me some that have been there forever .
They don't know where I am . I then give my phone to a local person from Vegas and he explains the location to them after talking to them for about 10 minutes . It would almost be funny if it wasent ridiculous .
After about another 20 minutes AAA shows up and I told them just put another battery in and I can drive out of there .
No they have to test this and test that and then finally put a battery in . Mean while the bus drivers are getting upset and threatening me to have me towed .
Hey I have AAA working on it .
With the new battery in it fired up and I then drove to Circus Circus KOA .
YEA BABY we are now in Vegas
I am beginning to think it is time to cancel my membership in CAA-AAA . They are good outfit as long as you dont need any help.

You really should consider getting CoachNet. When you call the first question is always "Are you in a safe location?" They are the best roadside assistance program in my opinion. I have used them several times and they always come through with flying colors.

June 13th Las Vegas .

Woke up to a day of 108 degrees and called Car Doctor on the suggestion of AAA . They came and replace my alternator . I usually do that type of work myself but being on vacation I thought , hey it cant cost that much to install a alternator . Wrong !!!!
Not counting the price for the alternator there was a $55. service call then $139. labour charge .
Fine $55. service call to find and bring the alternator . A $139 labour charge . I wish I hadearned that kind of money as I could have installed it in a half hour , 45 minutes max .
Oh Well lesson learned . Do it yourself .

Anyway now we had all the problems out of the way so we went into Circus Circus , played a few slots and watched a couple of circus acts .
When we got back to the camper the airconditioner was blowing warm air . The coils had froze up even though I only had it set on 70 degrees . Went in the fridge to get a cold pop and noticed it was defrosting .
I said to my DW " I am canceling the remainder of my reservations at KOA and booking a motel .

The remainder of are time in Vegas was great ,airconditioned room . The pets were happy , we were happy , did a little gambling , pretty well broke even in fact came out a little ahead . took in a Beatles show and the giant tigers , seen a lot of great sights in the city .

zzyzx said:

You really should consider getting CoachNet. When you call the first question is always "Are you in a safe location?" They are the best roadside assistance program in my opinion. I have used them several times and they always come through with flying colors.

Click to expand...

Hi Tom ,

Yes I have been thinking that I will try CoachNet . I an definitely not happy with CAA-AAA .

Take Care , Bill

I said to my DW " I am canceling the remainder of my reservations at KOA and booking a motel ."

Click to expand...

I wish I had a nickel for every time I have told people not to try and stay in an RV in Vegas in the summer time. I would have at least a dollar. It will be 106 today in Vegas so if your A/C works perfectly and you have your RV very well insulted it might get down to 86 inside the RV. Maybe. Depends on how much shade you can park under. But Vegas RV parks aren't world famous for their shade.

zzyzx said:

I wish I had a nickel for every time I have told people not to try and stay in an RV in Vegas in the summer time. I would have at least a dollar. It will be 106 today in Vegas so if your A/C works perfectly and you have your RV very well insulted it might get down to 86 inside the RV. Maybe. Depends on how much shade you can park under. But Vegas RV parks aren't world famous for their shade.

Click to expand...

I have sure learned my lesson . Too darn hot .  We were in Vegas 2 years ago by car and it was 2 weeks earlyer in the year . it was around the mid 90's and we didn't find that too bad so we thought we would be OK . As you say LV RV lots are not designed for summer and 104-110 Temps.

If a person goes in with a RV & Pets a good place to stay is Motel 6 on Tropicana .The rooms were clean in the upgraded section and the price was around $15. cheaper then KOA . They do not have a 110 hook up for the RV but a person can leave the fridge on propane ( It was able to keep up when we were no longer opening it )
Another great thing about that location is it is only a short walk to MGM & the Monorail , Or you can drive the car and park at MGM if you have a hard time getting around like DW and it makes the walk much easier

Bill

http://www.vegas.com/attractions/freeattractions.html

This is a list of free attractions in Las Vegas. I thought you might like to check some out if you are going to be there awhile. This is not a complete list of free things in Vegas. If you Google "free las vegas" you can find more.

Thanks Tom ,
We are out of Vegas now . We have seen pretty well every free attractions Vegas had to offer in the last couple of times e have been there . Some of there were pretty darn good .
When we go to Vegas we mainly go sightseeing and to some of the shows as we are not much of gambles .
As you say there are plenty of good free or next to free shows in Vegas . A person doesn't need to spend a bundle .


Bill

June 19th out of Vegas and arrived at Zion Canyon , Watchman Campground .

This is one of the places I have been waiting to see . The campground is nice and I couldn't believe the price . $54. for 3 nights , & in such a breath taking National Park . You do need a National Park Pass however . I purchased the Annual as I will be stopping in at least 4 parks on this trip .
The first thing we did after we got settled in was hop on a shuttel . They take you throughout the park except the main hi way . Wow what a place . If a person hasn't been to Zion I highly recommend a visit .

June 20 Zion National Park .

DW's leg is bothering her this morning as she had a knee replacement a little bit before the trip. I told her to lay back and rest for a few hours .
I hoped on the shuttel and stayed on until the far end of the rout . It is about a 40 minute ride . From there I walked the River Walk to the Narrows . It is about 1.5 miles I think and is a good walkway . Once I reached the Narrows I just had to go further . The place felt. I really cant describe how it felt but it was awesome for a better word .

I walked up the Narrows for about a half a mile wading through pools until it got about waist deep , then I thought I had best go back as I didn't have proper gear for doing this . My regular shoes and a old stick. I had left my good walking stick back at camp . ( a good spot for it I guess it wont get wore out there )

Anyway I headed back to camp and picked up the wife and we started hitting all the shuttle stops and taking in the magnificent sights .

Zion is a wonderful spot. I especially love staying the NPS campground and just hoping on the shuttles. Couldn't be easier. And the hike up The Narrows is spectacular....where else can you enjoy getting wet that much? Sounds like there was plenty of water there right now.

I'm enjoying your travels. Probably not as much as you are tho

Wendy

Yes Wendy , that water felt great as it was plenty hot out .  I just wish I had taken this trip when we were younger but raising the family comes first .
I would have liked to hike the full narrows and also Angels Landing . Trouble is with Asama I was limited to the small narrows hike and a hike up to weeping rock .

June 21 , Ride to Mount Carmel ,

Today we decided to go to the museum not far from Watchman and the go to Mount Carmel for icecream .
The drive though the tunnel was great and the scenery was entirely different and spectacular . The icecream was great also.
Tomorrow we are heading back to Deer Creek State Park for a overnight stay and then off to Jackson Wyoming

Departing Deer Creek State Park and arriving at the Virginian RV Park .

At least that is where we thought we were arriving .  We did arrive eventually .
The day's drive was good and I was happy I didn't have to pull the car up the long climb past Evenston . We tuned just before it .

Anyway , I use Microsoft Street to plan my trip & had a map printed showing where the RV Park was . It was detailed precisely . The only problem was it was sending us out some old gravel road out in the wilderness .
I followed the map as far as a little gravel parking lot and said to DW " If this is wee the RV Park is I think I will look fore another one  "
I seen a couple bike riders there so I asked them where the park was and they said the other side of Jackson . They did say that I had followed my map correctly . The only problem was it was sending us down a bike trail .
We did end up at the Virginian and I showed the owners the map . They couldn't believe it how something like that could happen .
On a side note .
We did see other cars on that gravel road also when driving in and they looked like they were lost . At the time we thought we knew where we were going.
I guess they were using Microsoft Street also .
We enjoyed Jackson Hole the rest of the day . Then off to Grand Teton National Parkin the morning
The map is attached #2 is supposed to be the RV park