Vegas, baby
So, after our gorgeous weekend in Santa Fe, J’s work summoned him back to Texas. We looked over our options, and decided that it would be best if I continued westward with the rig while he was in Dallas. I stayed in the campground at Cochiti Lake for a few more days, then made a short drive down to a casino campground just west of Albuquerque.
Dancing Eagle Casino RV Park, in Casa Blanca, NM; not a bad place for ten dollars a night with full hookups. The casino (with decent diner attached) and the grocery store it supports are both within easy walking distance. Gas station with cheap diesel across the street. Calling the RV park a campground would be a bit of a misnomer, though; it’s a fenced gravel and sand parking lot with utility posts spaced just a little over one rig-width apart. The pull-through sites filled every evening by about five o’clock and emptied just as quickly every morning. I was there for longer than planned since J’s work decided to cut him loose after one week rather than two, and flights into Albuquerque were much easier and cheaper than flights into the next city over.
J got back on Saturday and on Sunday we pulled out, headed for Flagstaff. We had a great couple of nights there in the pines. It’s interesting, driving along I40 in Arizona; the terrain goes from barren to scrub to all of a sudden pine trees as you climb into Flagstaff. Heading west from there is the same process in reverse. We took a look at our options while we were there and elected to go a little north and stop in Las Vegas for a few days.
I love Las Vegas; it’s always a fun time. We’re in Oasis Las Vegas RV Resort just south of the Strip and it’s very nice. Grassy strips between concrete parking pads, pool and hot tub, café. Expensive, but so is everything else here. The route up from Kingman on 93 was an easy drive. It used to be that going that way you had to wend your way over Hoover Dam on a narrow twisting road; definitely not advisable for us, fifty-two feet long when towing. In 2010 they opened a new four lane bridge; the grades and curves on the approach are entirely reasonable. The only bad moment was when I spotted the wind advisory sign just before the bridge. The one that says “High profile vehicles not advised”, with no place to actually get off the roadway. Fortunately the wind didn’t really put in an appearance, despite the sign.
We made good time and checked in early, leaving enough of the evening to squeeze in a trip to one of our favorite restaurants in Las Vegas, yay! We drove up the Strip in the evening, went into the parking garage with great trepidation (the truck is seven foot two; we don’t fit in too many parking garages) and successfully avoided being shunted onto the ramp to the seven foot one upper levels. (I am reminded of Mister Micawber’s advice to David Copperfield on income.) Eventually we settled on valet parking as being the easiest way to keep the truck where it would fit, and went in to dinner.
Where I got to play food roulette. Sigh. I am allergic to avocados. It’s very sad, I didn’t used to be and I love them, but several years ago I had a very nasty reaction to them on two separate occasions and now I avoid them. Except when they’re not listed on the menu as an ingredient. Fortunately, J and I had ordered the same thing, and when he hit the bite of avocado in his, he insisted I stop eating and checked with the waitress, who said of course not, and then checked with the chef, who said, basically, uh, yes there are avocados in that dish. Grrr.
Thankfully there weren’t many slivers of avocado in the dish, and judging by the non-reaction I didn’t get any. The restaurant was quite concerned and I appreciated it, but really there was nothing for it but to go home and take some allergy meds and wait and see what happened.
We won’t stop eating there; the rest of the meal was excellent. But I’ll be sure to mention the allergy next time, you can bet on that.
I’m really looking forward to the rest of the week here in Vegas, sans allergens, thank you very much.