Bakersfield

When I left Las Vegas, I headed for Bakersfield. I set up camp in an orange grove for a month.



In fact, the name of the campground is the Orange Grove RV Park and it is in the middle of an active orange grove. While I was there, it was naval orange season and you could literally open you RV window and reach out and pick an orange off the tree next to your rig and eat it. You can't get them any fresher than that.



Above, is one of the evening activities that had. A group of us would gather around a "fire ring" and enjoy telling stories and sharing laughs. Some of the people stay here for over a year. After a while you get to know most of the people staying here. They have another section where the "weekly" or "overnighters" stay.



One of the interesting places that I visited while in Bakersfield was the Chrystal Palace. This was build by Buck Owens (country/western star). It is a dinner house with live stage western music along with a Buck Owens museum. It is known for its good food. Behind the counter is a full-size, custom built car. I had to wonder how they got it in there?



Another place in town that I found interesting was the Fox Theater. I opened on Christmas of 1930 and functioned until 1977 when it closed. In 1994 a group of business people saved it from the recking ball and restored it. It seats 1500 people and is used for concerts almost weekly.






More Bakersfield Adventures Later

Viva Las Vegas

What Happens In Vegas Is A Lot Of Fun!

I spent three weeks in Las Vegas mostly having fun creating slide shows. I did one on Hoover Dam with the new bypass bridge. I took Pictures of the bridge while on it.....



....from it.....



....and of it from Hoover Dam.



I also took the Hoover Dam tour which covered again all the places that the tour went before 9-11. One of the places in Las Vegas that I enjoyed seeing was the Neon Boneyard.



This is a museum that has a large collection of old sings from extinct casinos and business in Las Vegas. The museum has restored about 15 or so signs to working order and has them displayed on the city streets and inside the Fremont Experience. It was like a treasure hunt to locate them. I photographed them for the slide show. Some of them I photographed in daylight and at night. Here are a few of the signs in the yard:

Here are a few signs from the Fremont Experience area:





I stopped in to pay a visit to the Pawn Star's Establishment.





Of course no visit to Las Vegas would be compete without a date with a showgirl.



I think we will just let that part Stay In Vegas!

Death Valley Continued

After descending back down to the valley floor, we continued our tour of the Westside Road. Our next stop was the grave site of Jim Dayton and Shorty Harris.



We also stopped at the Bennett's Long camp site where in 1849 the group almost died from the elements before they found a way to proceed west. They gave this valley the name of "Death Valley".



We completed the tour of the Westside Road and headed back to our camp in Furnace Creek. We stopped along the way at Bad Watter, which is the lowest spot in the U.S. (-284 feet).

The next day we headed to the ghost town of Rhyolite. I caught this picture of a ghost trying to get on a bicycle



Look what taking a picture of that ghost did to my camera!




There are just a few crumbing buildings left in Rhyolite, once a town of over nine thousand people back in 1909.





After Rhyolite we traveled through Titus Canyon and on to Scotty's Castle and took the Hourse Tour. We did not have time to take any of the other tours before they closed for the day.

We had a very enjoyable 4-day stay in Death Valley and we are planning to return next March.

Death Valley 2011

After attending a Bluegrass Festival at Lake Havasu City and spending two weeks in Laughlin, NV, I met up with daughter Shonda and her husband Jim at the Furnace Creek Campground in Death Valley National Park in the third week of March. After setting up Camp, we walked over to the Tent Area and met up with our friends Kitsy & Ray and Bill & Connie. We have been coming out to Death Valley and camping together in March almost every year for the past 18 years. Our fearless leader, Keith Knoche was with us in spirit only because he passed away in 2009 and was missed. We had pleasant weather, except for some windy conditions, all four days that we were there.

Jim and Shonda arriving with their trailer.







Tee-shirt decorating time.

One of the days we took our 4 X 4 vehicles and toured the Westside Road area. We took a side "road" up into a canyon about 3 miles to an old abandon mining camp. It was slow going and by the time we had finished looking around we ate lunch and headed back down to the valley floor.












MORE on our adventures in Death Valley to follow SOON!

Quartzsite, Arizona

I camped out on this 3-mile stretch of BLM land below (along with several hundred other RVers) that is about 5 miles north of the town of Quartzsite. This year, I had the opportunity for some aerial photos. I had a wonderful time with two groups of friends. Here are a few of the photos.



This takes a bit of preparation before take off, but it is sure a lot of fun once you are in the air.



Hang on. Here we GO!

NEWS

I have been busy doing things over the past weeks, but have not been able to post. I am currently in Laughlin, NV and will be leaving for Death Valley in a couple of days. I hope to be able to post more information about my activities when I reach Las Vegas in about 10 days or so.

See you then,

Bob