ALMOST THERE

We stayed in Boulder City for a couple of days and did a little bit of touring around the outskirts of Las Vegas but didn’t go near the downtown or strip area.  They obviously have a smog problem in that city as you can see in the photos below.

On Saturday, we drove south and east on US 93 and were able to drive over the new Hoover Dam bypass bridge that was just completed.  It was a real treat to see the finished project after having seen it in the final stages March and May last spring.  Unfortunately, the concrete barriers on the bridge are so high that you can’t see anything to the sides and have no appreciation for just how high and how far across the canyon you are travelling. 

Here is the view from the bridge approach:

And this is the view of the completed bridge:

We drove through Wickenburg and Surprise, AZ which are west and a little north of Phoenix and then took a loop road that connected us to I 10.  We drove west towards Los Angeles on I 10 for about 7 miles and then arrived at the Leaf Verde RV Resort in Buckeye, AZ.  It is a winter destination RV resort with some of the usual amenities but not nearly as nice as where we’re headed in Casa Grande.  The resort is less than half full as it’s early in the season and they are still working on some resort improvements.  They are remodelling the showers and restrooms so they’ve closed the men’s restroom entirely for a few days and all guests are using the women’s restrooms on alternating hours--men on the even hours (e.g. 6 a.m. to 7 a.m.) and women on the odd hours (7 a.m. to 8 a.m.).  So sad if you need to go and you just missed your time slot!!  Actually, they have restrooms with no showers by the pool if you’re desperate.

The weather is great here, up to 82 F (28 C) and sunny.  We plan to spend some time at the pool this afternoon enjoying the sun and warmth. 

Here are some photos of our site:

Tomorrow we head over to Palm Creek in Casa Grande for our 2 month stay.  It will be wonderful to settle in, unpack the rest of our warm weather stuff, get the bikes out and set up the lounge chairs and BBQ for the long term.