Las Vegas Vacation - Take 4

We have almost had all weather hit us, today we saw a mini funnel cloud, and ran smack into a dust storm. So we have had rain, extremely heavy wind, snow, and now dust to top it all off. No wonder my Van needed work in Las Vegas just to get us this far home. Mental note to self: get air filter changed as soon as we hit home.

We are now in Willcox Az with hopes to hit Van Horn Tx or further depending on when we can get out of here. As predicted Val spent time at the Gem and Art show this morning so our departure time was not until 1110 am. We got a text from Val’s sister that Vegas had a few minutes of snow flurries today and while it is what I am being told “unusually cold down here” I am still glad that Val came up with the idea of taking the southerly route. I know all of my northern family (over 90% of the family) is now going to laugh their butts off, I am no longer at all used to this type of cold cruddy weather. I have made a promise to myself to never travel this time a year again.

Well this take is for day 3 of our trip which was the snowy part of the trip headed to Vegas.

The next several shots are of the hotel we stayed in Gallup NM. It was a very nice hotel and the prices this time of year were just above good but they were reasonable. The hospitality was fair to good. I think this is really a party place in the summer. The food was again what I would call fair and the staff over loaded but they seemed to take it in stride fairly well. Over all I would suggest going there again, but take a room with a bigger bathroom. It was hard getting off the john. The hotel is very rustic so if you are into modern this may not be the place for you, but we over all enjoyed it.

To stay on the first floor we got 2 double beds. A bit small but it worked.



The outside shots are for the value of snow. I know not much for you northerners but for me any is too much.






Now for the cozy in door shots.















They name the rooms and this was ours.



The name of the hotel is next.



You have all seen this picture of the front before.


Some road pictures of Day 3 will be in take 5.

Las Vegas Vacation - Take 3

This is the rest of day 2, mostly all shots.

The next two shots are at another stop and then the rest are all Val shooting while on the road.




Now the rest are on the road as we approach the end of our day in Gallup NM, it has been so cold today that we did not take many pictures as we stopped so hence Val shot some while on the road.






















Well for sure that is all for tonight as it is now 12:10 am local time.

Pj

Las Vegas Vacation - Take 2

Las Vegas Trip 11/27/10 Entry

We are now on our way back home and here is the current map plan to head back.


View Larger Map
If you look at the map you will no doubt realize we did not make that many miles today. I think it was a little less than 230. First as usual our first day out on any trip, heading out or returning home Val takes forever to get ready. We did not leave the hotel until 1005 AM and we lost an hour just about 1 hour into the trip headed back East. But the biggest problem was the traffic getting through Boulder City Nevada. For some reason they have two lanes out of Arizona but one lane headed from Nevada. We ran under 15 MPH for about 30 minutes; I think I figured we got 24 miles in about 1 hour from the hotel to just about the dam.

Also if you look at the map (pictures to come in future takes) you will notice we only plan about 262 miles tomorrow. Why you ask, we are now in Wickenburg which happens to have some kind of Gem and Art fair tomorrow so Val wants to go to that, so needless to say it will be a late start tomorrow so I know we will not get very far plus I want a good spring board to get us past El Paso well into Texas the following day.

Here is a Map of our Journey to Las Vegas.
View Larger Map

Now that I know how to put maps on my blog site I now know I can use them for reference when remembering what pictures were associated with part of the trip based on the date. I have a bunch of pictures to publish and to go through and that does take time. At any rate here are a few shots of the trip on the way to Vegas from Clarendon Tx to Gallup NM.

Our first stop on day 2 was at a rest stop and man it was already getting cold. The cold on the way to Vegas as well in Vegas was so bad that we (thanks to Val's idea) decided to take the longer but warmer southerly route home.





Our second stop on day 2 again was at a rest stop. The last two shots are of a dinosaur bone that had been bitten by something bigger in its time. This rest stop was the first in NM at the welcome center which I was very impressed with as I am with Texas welcome centers. The wind was so bad half my coffee got spilled from the center to the car so Val also brought me another cup to fill my roader cup.





Our Third Stop was at a gas station further into NM.



Our 4th stop in NM was a place called Clines Corner, over all I was not all that impressed. But here is a couple of shots.




Well its getting to be about 10 PM local time here in Wickenburg AZ so I am going to call it a night. I will put more out on day 2 in take 3. It was a great Thanksgiving visit with the family which I will get in to that on the following takes. Have a good day and I hope this was worth viewing.

Pj