It sure has been great being on the road again. Everything was terrific from the minute we left Valle del Oro. We had an appointment at Earnhart RV for 7:30 a.m., on our "take-off" day so we were up and off early. All of the parts that had been ordered were in (four things) and we were done with everything fixed and on the road by 9 a.m. For any of you that have had RV repairs done, you know that just going in for a little thing can mean a long day of waiting. Needless to say we were very happy.

We arrived (without reservations) at the Coast to Coast campground in Bullhead City and were given a wonderful spot where we had a view of the casino lights across the river. Of course we went over and played a little. The thing we like about Laughlin is there are only 8 or 9 casinos and they aren't that big. We like walking along the Colorado River (behind the casinos) at night and of course duck into a casino to throw away a few quarters. Neither one of us had any luck there, but it was relaxing.

One day we took a drive to Oatman, Arizona. Have any of you ever been there? I wrote about it in the Places part of the web but many of you are on the road and can't do any surfing so I will just tell you that it is a neat place. Oatman is an old mining town south and east of Bullhead City  on what used to be U. S. route 66. We had a good hamburg at the Oatman Hotel and Restaurant while listening to some toe-tapping country music preformed by a barefooted duo called Double or Nothen.  Upstairs in the hotel we peeked into the room made famous as the honeymoon suite of Clark Gable and Carol Lombard. Room 15 has been sealed off and saved for all to see. Burros roam free in Oatman and are one of the tourist attractions. Left behind by miners long ago, they are fed and pampered by the tourists. I have some pictures of them on the web page. http://www.concentric.net/~Movinon/Places/Oatman.htm

On the way back to Bullhead City we noticed that the road to Oatman continued west and into Nevada; there was a sign for a new Laughlin Casino so we checked it out. The Ari Casino, RV resort and golf course is closer to Needles, California, and looked very nice. We did not go into the casino, but noticed how nice the golf course and campground were from the road. In fact we continued into Laughlin on the Nevada side and the road was terrific. Much better than Arizona 95 which was under construction.

I could not get my email while at the campground so didn't try anywhere. I knew we would have a phone hook-up at Silverton in Vegas and we did. Silverton is the new name for Boomtown. We were pleasantly surprised that the RV spaces were only $9.95 per night. We had a wonderful time in Vegas. It is always fun to see new things and of course, we had a grand time with Ron's daughter, Marty and her husband, Bryan. No one would go on any of the thrill rides with me though so I am pouting. At one of our reader's suggestions we checked out the ride at the MGM amusement park. It is awesome and I really will do it even by myself next time we go. There are four huge new casinos going up. One, called the Venetian, is slated to open in the spring of 1999 and will be like a Venice in the desert. They will have canals and gondola rides all around the casino/hotel. These hotel/ casinos are getting way too big and it is too difficult to walk from one to another. I won a couple of times, even hit a jackpot of $250 from putting two quarters in a machine, but gave it all back to help with the building programs. Wasn't that nice of me?

We left Vegas Sunday morning and instead of taking I-15 and going the direct (but boring) route, we jumped on U.S. 93 and took that and Alternate 93 all the way to the Utah border at I-80. There was only one stop sign the whole way and very little traffic. The road was new and smooth and although there were only narrow shoulders, there were plenty of pull-offs where one could stop and eat or just stop. We call U.S. routes "red roads" and were tickled that at one stretch the road was actually red. There were three small towns which had gas and diesel at reasonable prices.

Our Map n Go map program only listed one commercial campground (a KOA in Ely) along the way and several forest campgrounds which were off the beaten path and had only small sites. Although we could have made it all the way to Salt Lake City in one long day, we intended to take two but didn't know where we would spend the night. The Trailer Life Campground directory mentioned that the Holiday Inn in Ely had RV spots but no price was listed. We checked it out and discovered that the campground is free. Full-hook-ups (50 amp at that) and free. Such a deal. Not only was it free, but we were given a coupon for a roll of nickels (remember we were still in Nevada and of course there were machines in the small casino there), and a coupon for 10% off our meal in the restaurant, and finally a coupon for a free drink with the purchase of another drink from the bar. We didn't have to un-hook the car, ate a nice dinner in the hotel, took their nickels and transformed that into 795 nickels and patted ourselves on the back for traveling red roads and finding such a gem. We would go back and spend a little more time in this historic area of Nevada.

We are in Salt Lake City at the VIP RV park. It is big, close to the city and airport and we will pick the boys up today. At this campground they have two phone jacks for computers so that is nice.

We are having fun even though it is cold and a little rainy. When we take off for Zion tomorrow morning we expect it will be a little warmer. I still miss my telephone, but like being on the road.