Monday November 13th 2017

Yesterday’s cloud cover continued into today. The day started chilly in the low fifties. As the day progressed the clouds thinned allowing the sun to heat up the air into the low 70s. The inside of the RV got up to around 80 before darkness settled in. It will be back in the fifties or lower tonight.

For a change I found this pretty purple blossom on one of the bushes in the RV park.

Somewhere over the last few days I may have picked up a bug. This morning I resisted the idea of getting out of bed for a good hour. Once I got up, the sinus pressure I felt in bed turned into a runny nose. I started to fortify myself for a battle with a cold. As the day went by most of the symptoms went away, but I’m still on guard.

I spent the day reading and watching TV broken up by a couple of walks around the RV park. I checked the laundry on both walks. It was still very busy. There is supposed to be another laundry in the park that I have never checked out. It is way up by the main office which is very inconvenient. I’m really finding the run on the washing machines hard to understand. It’s only in the last week that it has been an issue and the park doesn’t seem to be any more populated.

Hopefully I’ll start the day tomorrow with more energy. I need to get back to the backlog of things on my wish and todo lists. After all that’s one of the reasons I’m stationary in Las Vegas for three months.

Sunday November 12th 2017

It was a cloudy day today. The high temperature was under 70 degrees. I’m glad I went to the air show yesterday. I think the clouds were low enough that it would have been difficult to find the planes at altitude.

Thunderbirds five and six just after a head on opposing pass.

I took more around 300 usable pictures and I deleted around 50 more that were nice pictures of empty sky. It is difficult to aim the camera in the glare of the bright sunshine. Often all I could do is point in the right general direction and click away. About half the time I got a usable picture. The rest were parts of aircraft, interesting cloud formations or blue sky.

Red Eagle Formation Team flying Soviet era Yak-52 trainers.

Vicky Benzing in a Red 1940 Boeing Stearman

I’m including a few more pictures from the air show in this blog entry. For most of these pictures I can provide a useful caption. One of the issues with this air show was that the aircraft on static display rarely had descriptive signage. If I didn’t already know what I was looking at I was out of luck. I’ve been to shows that were careful to make sure everything had a label. At this show it was guess work. This show did provide a newspaper with articles, ads and a map of the show grounds. I didn’t discover the content of the paper until I got home, but it wouldn’t have done much good. The map was lacking in detail and in many areas reflected a different idea than what actually happened. I also found reference to a smart phone App in the newspaper. It’s purpose was to provide updated information about the air show and on site announcements. A very good idea with poor execution. I checked out the App after the fact and found it had the same old information as the newspaper as well as a poor user interface.

This Coast Guard Helicopter was the most colorful air craft on the field.

Predator UAV

Plenty of Aviation Oil for the Warbirds.

Corsair with its wings folded

Spitfire and P51

C-17 transport

Part of the B-52 on display. It was hard to get far enough away for a good picture. Standing in the bomb bay was also an experience.

I spent the day in recovery mode. Yesterday’s air show really tired me out. My guess is that I walked around 5 miles between the show and the hike around the speedway parking lot. I also never got to sit down from the time I got out of the car until I got back to it six plus hours later. To recover I watched a lot of TV today. I made one attempt at the laundry, but once again it was full. If I was desperate for anything in the dirty clothes I’d try harder or probably just wait at the laundry for the next available machine. Tomorrow I’ll try again.

Saturday November 11th 2017

Today I went to the Aviation Nation Air and Space Expo at Nellis Air Force base. It was a long day and I came home exhausted.

They encouraged you to enter the air show by walking through the C-5.

I left home at eight this morning stopping on the way for breakfast and gas. I was in line to park at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway by 9am. Everyone parks at the speedway and passes through security screening before boarding buses for the approximately two mile run to the air base. Once at the air show security continued to be visible and I suspect invisible as well. Armed airmen were patrolling the grounds with combat weapons and some of them even had dogs. In a couple of areas they were even visible on the roofs of nearby hangers.

F-16 painted to honor victims of the October 1st shooting.

F-15 painted to honor victims of the October 1st shootings.

F-22

F-35

B-24

Stearman

At ten am the show opened with US Air Force Academy cadets parachuting in with American Flag and the service flags. Prior to the opening I wandered around the static aircraft displays. Since it was located on an air force base and was celebrating the 70 anniversary of the Air Force, it is not surprising that most of the aircraft on display were Air Force. Active Naval aircraft were not present although naval war birds were. I also saw a Coast Guard Helicopter, a local News Helicopter and a National Parks service amphibious plane.

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This show had action on the flight line scheduled from the opening ceremony until the US Air Force Thunderbirds were through flying after 3PM. I’m used to air shows that squeeze most of the flying into a shorter period of time and allow more time to see the static exhibits. At this show you needed to tour the static displays while watching the action in the air.

B-29 FiFi

E-3a

B-1B

One highlight of the show for me was a demonstration of air defense centered around a scenario of an attach on an airbase. It started with a couple of F-16 aircraft from the aggressor squadron simulating an attach. F-15s joined the fight and then two F-35s borrowed from the test and evaluation squadron gave chase. Obviously no air to air missiles were fired but plenty of flares were ejected to simulate counter measures. While those aircraft were out of the area helicopters and A-10 Thunderbolts came in for ground support. It really was a good demonstration of air power complete with explosions, fire and smoke.

Heritage Flight. P51, 2 A10s and an F-22

The heritage flight which highlights aircraft from various eras flying together wasn’t as good as some I’ve seen. This one was lead by a P51 with an A-10 on each wing. The slot was filled by the F-22 demo aircraft. Given the aircraft they had flying at this show it was an OK selection, but I’ve seen heritage flights with the Korean and Vietnam eras better represented.

The Thunderbirds close the flying part of the show. They were schedule to go on at 2PM. Most of the other flying was finished around 1:30. They had sweepers out on the active runway removing some of the desert accumulation before the Thuderbirds started at 2PM. They have an elaborated ground preparation that is part of their show. If you aren’t in the immediate area of their F-16s or near one of the video displays it is easily missed. I was getting tired by this point so I started back toward the bus pickup area. I watched the first part of the Thunderbirds show from the end of the flight line then boarded a bus back to the speedway. I’ve seen the Thuderbirds and the Blue Angles several times. They’re the best but they aren’t why I visit airshows. It’s all the other stuff.

Thunderbirds getting ready for their show

Four of six Thunderbirds flying by.

My adventure for the day wasn’t over. I took the wrong bus back to the speedway. There were blue flags all around where I loaded onto the bus this morning. I assumed I was in the blue bus area. Wrong! The Blue bus area was on the other side of the speedway. I was in the Red bus area. The walk around the speedway to get back to my car was interesting, but not something I needed at the end of a long day. Traffic leaving the area was also a pain in the you know what.

Friday November 10th 2017

The temperature was up a little bit today to the high 70s and the wind was also stronger. I’m not complaining it was a great day.

View of the Las Vegas RV Resort and the mountains to the northeast.

It wasn’t a very exciting day. For no apparent reason, I got up about an hour early. Rather than starting my day quickly it had just the opposite impact. I sat around watch TV before starting the coffee for breakfast. I’m usually very slow finishing my morning coffee. This morning I spent more time reading the news on the internet than I did drinking coffee. I had very little desire to do anything.

Eventually I went to the laundry to complete yesterday’s failed attempt to wash my clothes. Once again all of the machines were in use, but this time there was no one around to peak my interest in unusual laundry room behavior. Both yesterday and today I’ve tried to do the laundry in the late morning. I probably need to try a later time.

This afternoon I went out with the intent of filling the car’s tank with gas. The station I used last week was now a construction zone. They were digging up the underground tanks. I continued on to a couple of stores with the plan to stop on my way home for gas. Of course I forgot to stop. I’ll have to fill up in the morning on my way to the air show.

Overall this was one of those days that nothing bad happened, but it was far from productive. All I really did was read and watch TV between attempts at being productive.

Thursday November 9th 2017

Today was a little warmer than yesterday. I got up to the mid 70s, but the wind also returned. It was just strong enough that it wasn’t advisable to have the awning out. The wind is forecast to increase while the temperature remains the same for the next couple of days.

More desert flowers thanks to irrigation.

The first half of the day was dedicated to chores around my RV home. I successfully completed most of them but didn’t get the laundry done. When I went to the park laundry this morning two of the eight washers were already in use. A lady that arrived just before me took the other six washers. As I waited to make sure she really was going to use all six machines, I continued to see more unusual behavior in the park laundry. The lady had two buckets of dirty laundry. I don’t think it was enough to fill two washers if you chose to risk one load with cold water. She proceeded to sort her laundry into the six machines. I guess by separating the colors from the whites and using each of the three possible cycles you can make a case for six machines. She had a few almost empty machines that still cost the full fee to run. This is probably the traveling version of what she did for X number of years raising a family in a house that had a washing machine running almost all the time. It doesn’t seem like a good system to me and it certainly doesn’t consider the concept of sharing the laundry room resources. I didn’t wait around for another machine. I’ll try again tomorrow.

This afternoon I went of a scouting mission for Saturday’s outing to the Air Show at Nellis Air Force Base. I wanted to find the best route to the Las Vegas Motor Speedway parking lots. I anticipate heavy traffic Saturday and Sunday mornings. The Airbase and the Motor Speedway are located north of Las Vegas on the east side of Interstate 15. I don’t know if I should go via the highway or by surface streets. The distance is shorter on the surface streets, but there is a traffic light at every intersection. On the other hand it’s a one lane exit ramp from the highway.

Hopefully the media will provide some information about traffic patterns around the air show. At least two of the TV channels have really been talking the show up. The other TV station is talking up the Las Vegas Marathon which is also this weekend. After my scouting mission I have some familiarity with another area of Las Vegas. Maybe it will come in handy on Saturday. With all the traffic it took over two hours to go out twelve miles and come back fifteen the other way.

Wednesday November 8th 2017

This morning I was reflecting on my last visit to this RV resort in April. I had my entire summers travels in front of me with very few well defined plans. About the only thing I knew in April was that I’d be flying out of Salt Lake City at the end of July for a long weekend in North Carolina. Everything else was just an outline of a plan. I wanted to get to Glacier National Park in Northern Montana. At the time I considered everything else part of the journey.

Another picture from yesterday’s wandering in the Wetlands Park.

I had a great summer travel season. I made it to Glacier National Park by the middle of June. That was a lot earlier in the year than I originally thought I’d be there. On the way I stopped at Yellowstone National Park which was barely on my radar of possibilities in April. Most of August and September were spent at the national parks and monuments in Utah. Every place I visited was interesting and well worth the visit, but I could have done much better planning.

The primary lesson I learned was that reservations are necessary and the earlier they are made the better. Early in the year I was experimenting with travel distances and lengths of stay. This made planning ahead difficult. The down side result was that I often had to compromise on location, duration and timing of my visits to popular areas. For instance, I could only get five or six nights at Yellowstone and Glacier and the locations I picked for the Utah National Parks was often more than fifty miles away from the park. Today I started thinking about next summer. I want to avoid some of this years issues. Many places start booking a year or more in advance.

My area of travel for next summer is primarily east of the Mississippi. I have reservations booked from late February through the first week of April in Florida. I also have the Memorial Day holiday booked at the fair grounds in the middle of Missouri for the Escapees RV Club Escapade. My route of travel during the month and a half from the middle of April to the end of May is the first open question. My travels from there are wide open. The only other constraint is my desire to be back in New England for the fall season.

Today I’ve been researching what I’d like to see and the routes I might follow. One goal is to identify where I’ll be for the Fourth of July and Labor Day. Making reservations for those holidays was a big problem this summer. I ended up in the middle of the Nevada desert for the Fourth and an expensive gravel patch on a hill for Labor Day. The thing I need to keep in mind is that there are more and more people competing for the sites out there and a 35 foot class A motorhome can’t fit in every available site. I’ve already struck out attempting to get a two week stay in New England next October. Shorter stays and other places are available, but it goes to show I’m not looking to soon.

Tuesday November 7th 2017

The nice fall weather with highs around seventy continues. Today I found a nice county park not to far away from the RV park. It’s called Wetlands Park and is along part of the Las Vegas Wash. It actually has the babbling sound of running water at one of the drier times of the year in the dessert.

Green areas of the Wetlands Park with the mountains across the valley to the southwest.

Early this afternoon I drove over to the Wetlands Park to check it out. There are lots of trails for walking and bicycle riding. Today I walked a couple of the trails, but may ride my bicycle here another time. Some of the trails are wide concrete paths and others are gravel. Signage isn’t the best and the bushes along the trails are high so it would be easy to get lost. Most likely I’d just come out a long way from my parking spot if I made a wrong turn. I’ll print out a map before I return.

Duck swimming in the pond in the reflection of the sun.

It was nice to see all the wild life in the park. There were many birds in the trees and on the ground. I focused my attention to the ducks in one of the ponds. They seemed to be on a speed patrol of the little pond as they moved rapidly across and around the pond. Maybe they were trying to stay away from the impressively large turtles that were also residents of the pond. One turtle was so big it barely fit on the rock it was using to catch the sun.

Large turtle sunning on a rock in the middle of the pond.

Gigantic turtle on an even bigger rock in the pond.

The only mammal I saw as a rabbit, but I saw evidence of larger animals. At several places along the trail I saw scat that probably came from coyotes. Dogs are prohibited from the trails. One of the listed reasons was the presence of coyotes.

Overall I walked and wandered over a mile during about two hours. The area is very big. I saw very few people on the trails and I only wandered through a small part of the park. I plan to go back and “get lost” in more of the park and I’m going to look for other area parks. This is an area that tourists to Las Vegas don’t visit. It’s only by looking beyond the attractions that I found the park.

Monday November 6th 2017

It was a beautiful fall day. The high temperature just broke seventy degrees. The major event for the day was food shopping. The refrigerator was getting a little empty. I was out of OJ and the milk, eggs and butter substitute were getting close to the end. Outside the refrigerator, I was out of bread and cookies. I still had can goods, potatoes, onions and frozen dinners so I wouldn’t starve but clearly a grocery run was in order.

More color in the desert thanks to irrigation.,

One of the advantages to being in the urban area of Las Vegas is the shopping options. For groceries, I have options about a mile away in each of three directions. There is an Albertsons to the north, a Smiths to the west and a Super Walmart to the south. The east has nothing but residences and then mountains. Walmart is my usual choice. It has most of what I need and doesn’t require a discount card to get the best prices. Smiths will use a “store” card if you ask but that’s one more thing to remember. I suppose I could get a card but that also seems like a painful process. I’m not sure what the sale item process is at the Albertsons market.

The grocery run was my only event of the day. I am clearly in RV living mode. I’ve been here in Las Vegas for more than 2 weeks and have done very few tourist things. I’ve visited the strip and downtown to see what’s changed and I’ve been out to Lake Mead. I haven’t been to any shows yet and I’m only going to casinos when I have another reason than gambling for the visit. There are lots of tourist things that I may do while I’m here, but I’m not in a rush to see them. If I don’t get to see them while I’m here then they’ll be all the more interesting on a future visit to the area.

RV living mode means I may stay home all day or a I may go out at a moments notice on a whim. It also means that the content of this blog may be a little dull or different. I intend to keep writing a daily blog entry to keep up the habit and as a quasi social outlet. It serves as a substitute for morning coffee conversation with my imaginary friends. Another advantage of writing the daily blog is having to think about what I’m going to write about may keep me more active. If I don’t know what I’m going to write about by mid afternoon then I need to get out and find something interesting to do. It won’t always work, but at least it will get me out of my RV home.

Sunday November 5th 2017

It was another windy day with a high temperature around seventy. The return to standard time overnight left me a little disoriented all day. I think I’m just aware enough of the suns position that I know the clock is different than yesterday. When you throw in the ten o’clock starting time for football games I’ve watched at 1PM on the east coast for years, I am really confused. It got so bad that I had my main meal of the day cooked and ready to eat by a little after noon. For a normal Sunday I’d probably eat around two or three.

I had the football games on TV all day and even watched a series of downs now and then. Mostly I was doing other things. Around five I’d had enough and went to Sam’s Town casino resort to watch the fountain show. I wanted to see if anything had changed. They shut it down for maintenance shortly after I saw it in April. I think the animated animals are in better shape than they were in the Spring. The bear and wolf don’t seem to be as shaggy. I took a few pictures that capture the magnitude and color of the show. Next time I’m going to try to capture some video. It will probably be the Christmas show the next time I see it.

Fountains spray water high up toward the atrium roof.

Mountain lion above the rock water falls.

Bald Eagle watching over the area.

Lasers show the way.

Images projected on the rock wall by lasers.

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Wolf high above watches over the park.

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Saturday November 4th 2017

Wind influenced everything today. There were strong winds all day. Everybody in the RV Park has there awnings in and outside furniture secured. Some folks seem to have gone into hibernation mode. They have moved inside there RVs and don’t seem to come out for anything. It takes more than a little wind to keep me from walking around the park a time or two even when I’m in stay at home mode.

South end of he strip across the valley from the Green Valley Ranch Resort and Casino.

The wind is not real bad in this urban area. The worst of it stays above the surrounding buildings. Out in open areas with nothing to divert the flow, the same level of wind has more impact. If I didn’t already know this little fact I was reminded when I went shopping today. Keeping the car going in a straight line on the freeway took constant attention.

My shopping destination was Fry’s Electronics. It is located by the airport on the Las Vegas Strip. Fry’s is a west coast based electronics store that has a little bit of everything. If you super sized Radio Shack and put it inside a Best Buy, you would start to approach what this store is like. It is fun to just wander through the store and see for sale some of things I’ve only read about.

I was looking for solutions to get my DirecTV working on my living room TV. The current HDMI to Cat5e switches in my RV broke this summer after a particularly bouncy trip. I documented my diagnoses of the problem in Tracing Wires on A Rainy Day. Just replacing the existing failed equipment with the same thing would seem to be asking for a repeat failure, so I’m checking out other possibilities. I didn’t find anything specific to solve the problem, but got a couple of ideas to follow up on.

On the way home I stopped at Green Valley Ranch Resort and Casino. Yesterday’s eight cent profit and another nineteen dollars and ninety two cents went to the entertainment gods. The slot machines gave me more than an hour of play, but took my money in the end.