Leaving Las Vegas

Yep, we left Las Vegas...but a whole lot lighter than when we arrived because our motorhome didn't leave with us! Ok, before I get into that, let me catch you up to date on our travels so far. As Erik mentioned in the last post, we escaped Ketchikan on October 28th in the midst of a big storm (we're talking 50 mph wind gusts and driving rain). It was so bad that the ferry was 3 hours late and they were threatening to cancel the darn thing. But, our luck held and we made it to Prince Rupert the next morning...only to find that the storm that was dumping rain in Ketchikan dumped a good foot of snow across Northern British Columbia. Great! What made it so bad was that the snow caught Canada's road maintenance workers by surprise and most towns hadn't even pulled their snowplows out yet. Thus, the roads were akin to Lookout Pass after a good dumping. We took a deep breath and white-knuckled our way to Southern BC, swerving around a wayward moose and a rock slide along the way and nursing an increasingly sputtering RV (more on that later) and eventually made it to glorious sunshine and dry, clear roads.

We spent Halloween night in a tiny mountain town called Grand Forks located in Southern BC along the Crows Nest Highway. The moon was full, the sky was clear, trick-or-treaters were out in force and the beer was frothy at the local pub. It was heaven!The next day we rolled into Missoula like the Beverly Hillbillies with our motorhome sputtering and coughing and 3 dogs with tongues lolling and their heads sticking out the van windows. Thank god our friends, Kay and Terry, ignored the spectacle and welcomed us with open arms. Thank you, thank you, Kay and Terry!

And, geez, was it nice to be home! We spent our few precious days on doctor, vet and RV appointments with a bit of socializing thrown in. We thought we had the RV issues solved (after an additional day delay to finish up the work) and then hit the road again, heading to Arizona to spend some time with my dad before continuing on to California.

And that's where this little tale takes a bit of a turn. The RV's sputtering and coughing returned with a vengeance and it was on a hill outside of Vegas that it finally gave up the ghost. Hmm, our option was to limp into Searchlight and try to find a mechanic or coast back to Vegas where we were sure to find some help and I bet you can guess what we decided!

Yep, we coasted back to Vegas, planted ourselves at the Sam's Town RV Park and, after realizing we were going to be stuck there a few days, decided to enjoy the enforced break. Having a pool and hot tub stumbling distance away and the Vegas Strip nearby to take our minds off our RV woes certainly made it a lot easier! Let me just say, I walked into Sephora and really thought twice about ever leaving again. Ahh, civilization! I'm embarassed to admit it but, heck, I missed it!


After the retail therapy, we took a drive to check out Hoover Dam and Boulder City which really is something to see. They're busy building a new bridge to bypass the dam crossing and just looking at it made me dizzy. I can't imagine how the contruction workers manage to work on it day after day! Check out the pictures to the left if Art Deco and dizzying architecture is your thing.


By Wednesday, the vacation was over. We needed to get back to business and get this show back on the road. So, we dropped our RV off, piled a few articles of clothing and dog toys into the van and headed south towards Prescott, AZ.



And that's where we sit now. The RV is still in the shop, the van is in the shop (air-conditioning issue) but we had a great visit with my dad and Uncle Hugh and we're getting ready to head back to Vegas. Whether the RV is ready or not is still in question so, if not, we need to grab some clothes and our camping gear because Erik is due at work on Monday and the beach is calling my name. Did I mention we were on a Grand Adventure?