Wednesday December 20th 2017

It warmed up into the mid sixties today, but it came at a cost. The winter strom passing to the north has produced a major wind event in this area. The wind during the day was out of the south at a velocity in the mid 20s with gusts around 40 mph. As the evening approached the wind moved into the west and around to the north. The gusts have increased as well. Areas in the valley have experienced sixty mile per hour gusts.

Dust and debris have been blowing all day. Visibility on the roads has its moments of near zero feet ahead. Here at the RV park I was OK during the day with the wind out of the south. Other RVs and structures give me a little shelter. There are also fewer things on the motorhome to catch the wind on that side. This evening with the wind out of a more northerly direction the wind is shaking the rig and causing the slide out awning to flap in the wind. It is noisy rough ride and I’m parked.

O-grill 500 with the lid closed. It has a large cast iron surface area and 9000 BTUs of heat output. The legs fold for transport.

Today my year long search for a new gas grill has come to an end. I bought an O-grill 500 by Iroda. It has the compact size I was looking for and the online reviews are pretty good. While it’s made in China, the quality looks pretty good.

O-grill 500 with the lid up. The lid isn’t high enough to cook a whole chicken, but that is one of my menu items.

I was almost ready to buy a Weber Q-1000 series grill, but wasn’t happy with the amount of space it was going to take up in my basement storage bins. The Weber is very popular with other RVers. Monday when I was at Camping World to buy Windshield Wipers I saw the O-grill 500. I liked what I saw, but wanted to do more research. After all I already been shopping for a new grill for over a year. What’s another few days. A couple of minutes on the Internet yesterday convinced me that the O-grill 500 was a good choice. So I went back to Camping World today and bought one. It was on sale for a lot less than the cost of a Weber Q1200.

When I got home from Camping World I unboxed and setup the grill. The only assembly was putting the grill grate in place. It came wrapped in bubble wrap outside the grill unit. The box also contained a bag with carrying strap for the grill. The bag will help protect the grill while traveling. I added a disposable propane tank and fired it up. It seem to produce good heat, but actually using the grill to cook a meal with happen another day. Today’s wind and grilling don’t go together well.

O-Grill 500 in the box.

Tuesday December 19th 2017

It is getting cooler overnight so it is downright cold in the morning. I was greeted by the low forties inside this morning. Outside the sun was starting the process of warming the day. With a little help from a heater or two the inside was warm and toasty in a few minutes. I have to turn the heat off by eleven or so to prevent it from getting to hot inside. The solar gain from the sun keeps the inside in the low eighties until it starts to set. Tonight and each night going forward toward Christmas Eve is forecast to get cooler. Christmas Eve is forecast below freezing.

Two blossoms on my Christmas Cactus. There are a few more buds yet to open.

I have a minor horticultural miracle going on in my RV. The Christmas Cactus that I’ve been dragging around the country with me for the last three winters is in bloom. It hasn’t bloomed since the winter of 2013-2014 and that wasn’t around Christmas. I transplanted it into a new bigger pot in the summer of 2016, but I haven’t given it any plant food other than the nutrients that might be in the tap water. Getting some indoor plant fertilizer was one of the things on my to do list. The plant sits on the passenger side dash when I’m parked and on the floor in front of the passenger’s seat while I’m traveling.

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In addition to admiring my Christmas Cactus I got some chores done. The laundry was over due. The hamper was full and I was on the third towel rack searching for a clean bath towel. It went a little quicker today only taking an hour and a half. There wasn’t as much of a rush on the laundry facility as there has been. I have a feeling many of the residents have left for the holidays. Walking around the RV park, many rigs don’t have a car at the site. This is one indicator that there may be no one home.

Monday December 18th 2017

The temperature started in the 40s and peaked just above 60 this afternoon. A very nice day weather wise.

I’ve fallen into a daily pattern of behavior that doesn’t take advantage of the sunshine and nice weather. I’m getting up a little late by my standards around 9am. Breakfast, catching up on my Internet reading and watching TV seems to drag out until one or two in the afternoon. When I finally leave my RV home I’m already fighting the setting sun. There is around two and a half hours of daylight left.

Little animated deer fawn in the Sam’s Town atrium.

One of the things on today’s agenda was a trip to the Camping World Store in Henderson NV. I had a coupon good for $25 off that I needed to use. There is always something I need for the RV. Today I bought two thirty two inch windshield wiper blades for the RV. It’s a good thing I had the coupon, they were $25 apiece. The wiper blades on the RV got cooked in the summer sun. I knew it was advisable to cover the blades from the UV in the sun, but it wasn’t high on my list of things to do. I have a couple of pieces of pipe insulation that I used my first winter in Florida, but I haven’t put it on the blades since then. Now that I know how quickly the blades dry out and crack, I’ll start using the pipe insulation covers more often.

I don’t plan on putting the new blades on until it is closer to my departure date from Las Vegas. That is closer than you might think. I plan to start for Florida on the 17th of January. It is hard to believe that it is only a month away. I am emotionally ready to leave, but I have a number of tasks to complete before I hit the road. My plan is to take my time returning to the east coast. I’ll stop for two or three nights here and there. I also have to account for the weather. Even on the southern route along Interstate 10 winter storms can bring bad weather conditions for travel. I have plenty of time. My first Florida reservation is February 25th. Dodging Mardi Gras on February 13th in the south and the Presidents day holiday are other considerations in my travel planning.

Here in Las Vegas the Christmas visitors are starting to arrive. One telling sign is the increase in out of state license plates. There are always a lot of California, Arizona and Utah plates, but today I was seeing many plates from the next group of states. In this tier are the states of Colorado, New Mexico, Idaho, Oregon and even a few from the country of Mexico. The always bad traffic is going to be worse until after the new year.

Sunday December 17th 2017

It was sunny with cooler temperatures today. The high for the day was just under sixty, right above the normal high for the day. The area is starting another warming trend for a few days.

I spent most of the day watching football. Watching the Patriots squeak out a win against the Steelers was a very entertaining. If the Patriots and Steelers meet in the AFC championship game, the Steelers will have the extra motivation of their belief in a “bad call”. The Steelers pass that was ruled incomplete after review with under a minute to go was good for the Patriots today, but may come back to haunt them in January. Some of the other games were less dramatic.

After the games I drove over to the Ethel M Chocolate Cactus garden winter display. This time I took my new camera to take more pictures of the lights on the cactus plants. There were many more people tonight than my visit a couple of weeks ago. Families with little kids were lined up to visit Santa Claus and a few brave souls were putting on ice skates to try their skill on the artificial ice being used for skating. It is fun to walk the pathways and look at the lights. You see something different from every angle.

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Saturday December 16th 2017

It was a cloudy day. This was one of the few days that the sun hasn’t shown brightly all day since I arrived in Las Vegas the third week of October. According to last nights TV weather forecast they are currently in there third longest stretch with no measurable precipitation at ninety three days. A cloudy day is nothing to complain about, but it did have an impact on my day.

First the lack of direct sunshine on the RV slows the process of heating up the inside of the RV. I need to run the heater longer before the inside temperature climbs from the high forties to comfortable room temperature. The dull day also doesn’t do much to encourage activity. I spent the day at home watching TV and doing odd jobs around the RV.

The excitement for the day was the arrival of paramedics and an ambulance for the lady in the motorhome at the next site. I’ve known that something wasn’t right since I arrived at the RV resort. They rarely came out of the RV. The male member of the couple came out to complete an occasional chore or to run an errand. I saw his wife a few times as he helped her into the car for a trip somewhere. Generally there was not a lot of activity. I exchanged hellos with the gentleman the day I checked in, but have only seen him to wave at since then. She appeared kind of frail when they took her out of the motorhome, but there didn’t seem to be any urgency to the transport. The man followed (I assume) about a half an hour later, but hasn’t returned as I right this. It has been several hours.

The generally cloudy day produced a nice sunset tonight.

As usual I broke up my day with a couple of walks around the RV park. I get some exercise and things to ponder from these walks. Today I continue to ponder the ebb and flow of visitors to this RV park. Many of the sites typically used for shorter term stays are full tonight. In contrast several of the longer term residents have departed. I’m guessing the new arrivals are traveling for the holidays, but I don’t have a theory about the departing longer term residents. This isn’t really a snowbird park, it has a real diverse combination of resident types. Some people live here year round. Others stay here while completing different forms of temporary work in Las Vegas.

Friday December 15th 2017

The weather is starting to cool down a little. The temperature peaked about sixty today. Tomorrow and Sunday are forecast to be cooler and windier.

This afternoon I decided on a whim to go to the Cowboy Christmas Sale. I went once a few years ago. It is a part of the National Finals Rodeo. The south exhibition hall at the Convention Center is a dedicated to all things cowboy. The convention center is about five miles away and should take twenty minutes in Las Vegas traffic. This afternoon it took over forty minutes.

At the convention center there were people in cowboy hats all over the place. There was a steady line of people going in and coming out. What there wasn’t was any place to park. The two nearby lots were full even at a ten dollar charge. I wasn’t expecting to pay ten dollars to park for an event that is free to enter. The northwest lot about half a mile away from the south exhibit hall had room, but I was loosing interest fast. The thought of paying for parking to fight the crowds walking around an exhibit hall full of stuff I’m not going to buy just didn’t appeal to me anymore. I have no use for a saddle or custom shaped cowboy hat.

I turned the car around and fought the traffic back home. I was in the car around two hours driving five miles toward the strip and five miles back by a different route. This was normal traffic in the middle of the afternoon not Christmas traffic.

Well decorated park model trailer.

A couple of palm trees (out of focus) are the center piece of this motor home’s Christmas display.

Walking around the RV park this evening I tried to take a few pictures of the way people have decorated for the holidays. Most of the displays are simple and rather subdued. Many people are using the light projectors to cover the sides of their RVs with twinkling lights or snowflakes. Only a few of the sites are over the top with lights. My Christmas tree and LED lights in the front window are about the right level of decoration for this park.

Thursday December 14th 2017

Today’s weather was more of the same nice slightly above normal temperatures with lots of sun. The only wrinkle in the pattern was a strong wind out of the north. Wind gusts made things interesting from time to time.

It was a slow day. For exercise and diversion I went to the Wetlands park again this afternoon. I hiked the trails and watched the birds in the ponds. Even with good pictures of the water based birds and the internet I haven’t figured out what I’m watching beyond diving ducks. Regardless of what you call them, they are entertaining. Here are some of my duck pictures.

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There are four ducks in this picture

“You go that way and I’ll go this way.”

Testing the water before taking the plunge.

Wednesday December 13th 2017

The weather continues to be mild for the season. It topped out in the upper sixties after a cool start around forty. As expected the sun was out all day. Since I arrived in Las Vegas at the end of October it has been sunny most days. Only a handful have been cloudy and none of them have been wet. It hasn’t rained a drop since I got here. The forecast raises a remote possibility of rain for next week. I’m not going to hold my breath.

Santa’s Elves load the sleigh for his Christmas Eve deliveries.

The day started with a reminder that I have been neglecting one of my chores. The water didn’t drain out of the shower as fast as it should. It was a clear sign that the gray water holding tank was getting full. I keep the valves for both tanks closed so that sediment doesn’t get an opportunity to build up. I usually empty the tanks when one of the gauges shows two thirds full. I must have missed my cue. There was still room in the tank for my shower, but the first task of the morning was to empty the tanks.

After breakfast I got to work on preparing dinner. I was running late, but not that late. The other day I bought stew beef so I had to brown and load the slow cooker with the meat and onions. Later in the day I added carrots and later yet the potatoes. The smell of the cooking stew was a pleasant addition to the RV during the day. It was finished somewhere around four. I over indulged, but have plenty leftover for future meals. Using the slow cooker is a new approach for me, but it allowed me to leave the RV while it was cooking. It was good and the meat was tender. So, I’m declaring success.

I went over to Sam’s Town Casino in the middle of the afternoon. Wednesdays are “Young at Heart” days. Anyone who has been on this earth more than half a century qualifies for a few promotions including a drawing for cash. I spent my entertainment budget for the day in the slot machines, but didn’t win anything from the slots or the drawing.

The casino was more alive today than it has been on past Wednesdays. The National Finals Rodeo has a lot of people in town. The main lounge has been closed on past Wednesdays, but today it hat a country band playing. There were a lot of cowboy hats sitting in the audience listening to the music. The event ends this weekend so next week will probably be dead again.

Tuesday December 12th 2017

Last night was the first night that I felt cold in the RV. Just before dawn I had to either add another blanket or turn on the heat. I’d been getting away without having heat overnight up until this morning. I turned on the electric space heater and added another layer on the bed. The outside temperature of thirty nine wasn’t the lowest I’ve seen this fall, but the inside temperature of forty five may have been.

After turning up the heat, I went back to bed. Somehow I remained warm and comfortable way after my normal morning start time. Once I did get up the day pretty much followed the same pattern slow and lazy. I watched a lot of TV and took several walks around the RV park, but never ventured off the property. The setting sun starts to be a real issue around three in the afternoon. Most of the places I would go are to the west of here. The roads head right into the setting sun. Even with good sunglasses the glare makes the drive in heavy traffic very difficult. The cars are big enough to see in the glare but the people on foot are much harder to spot. It causes me to think twice before heading out late in the day.

Christmas Snoopy has replaced the Frosty the Snowman blow-up that didn’t make it through one of the wind storms.

Here at the RV park the population continues to fluctuate. Most of the remaining monthly residents won’t arrive until after the holidays. The travelers arrive in waves for some reason. The park will have quite a few vacancies for a few days then go through a period of heavier occupancy. It doesn’t seem to follow any obvious external reason like weekends or events in town. We are in a period of heavier occupancy right now. In addition to the states of Florida, Texas and South Dakota made popular by full time RVers there are license plates here from most of the West Coast from Alaska to California. Alberta, Saskatchewan and Ontario Canada are also popular provinces here. I’ve seen scattered visitors from the east coast states of New York, Vermont and Massachusetts. Other east coast states have probably been here, but these caught my attention. Most of the travelers stay for a week or less. My guess is they are heading for the truly warm areas of southern Arizona and California. They stop in Las Vegas to get their gamble on or to see a show.

Looking out the entrance road to the RV park just after sunset at 4:30pm.

Monday December 11th 2017

The weather in Las Vegas is in a nice rut. The temperature gets down into the thirties at night and peaks in the sixties during the day. These daytime highs continue to be above normal.

The big task for the day was resupplying the kitchen. I made a big grocery run to the Super Walmart in Henderson NV. The pictures in this blog post are from yesterdays visit to the center of the Las Vegas Strip.

Tunnel to the north pole at the Bellagio Conservatory.

Christmas tree in the Caesars Palace Lobby.

Christmas tree display in the Crystals Mall.

While I was negotiating the thick crowds along the Las Vegas strip yesterday, I had a lot of thoughts about my fellow pedestrians. Some of them good, but most of them total puzzlement. I suspect that the behavior is totally different than their normal daily behavior. I saw lots of different characteristics.

• The most common annoying behavior is the groups of three or more people that travel abreast slowly down the sidewalk. If you are behind them it is impossible to get by without rudely knocking them over. If you’re heading for the group from the other direction, they rarely move over. Usually you have to force your way between people or stop in your track and force them to go around you. Do you think they drive similarly?
• A variation on the slow traveling mob is the group that stops dead in the middle of the walkway to have a discussion. Why can’t they move to the side of the sidewalk? Everybody following has to stop or dodge around them. The worst variation on the stopping scenario is the people that stop at the top or bottom of an escalator. Stopping for the people coming behind them is not an option. I always worry about pick pockets or snatchers in these situations.
• Another annoying behavior is the person that suddenly changes direction. They always seem to forget to look around before turning into the path of others. Laser vision and confidence that everyone will get out of their way seem to be the thought process.
• Then there is the pedestrian that is in a hurry to get somewhere. They seem to weave in an out of traffic often cutting others off in the process. Sadly, I’m often in this group.
• Cell phones introduce another class of walkers. A phone to the ear holding a conversation as they walk produces a totally unaware pedestrian. This is accentuated when the pedestrian is doing something like texting on the phone.
• I didn’t encounter many parents with strollers yesterday, but they can be a real danger. What I did see yesterday were parents holding there kids hands while they hurry along. Some of the parents seem to forget that the child can’t move as fast and also takes up space. One mom holding a little boys hand passed a traveling group so close that the boy was dragged into the back of one of the groups members. Again I wondered about the kid being a pick pocket. He clearly wasn’t in this case.

In general I don’t think people exhibit the same level of patience and aggression when walking in crowds. There is a time for both. The biggest thing about these crowds in particular is to be aware of your surroundings. If you want to look at the sights step to the side of the walkway, preferable with your back to a wall and look at the sights from there. The same applies to decisions on what direction to go.   END of RANT.