This is not the way to rest up

RVing has been hard on Nicole.  She has always been a night owl.  Nancy and I are morning people.  We had hoped that after awhile, her sleep pattern would fall into sync with ours, but this has not happened.  When we are on the road day after day, she is unable to get the sleep she needs and eventually is so sleep deprived that she feels exhausted all the time.  Our stay in Florida was long enough to get her back on her feet, but the eight days on the road since then have taken their toll, and at the moment she isn't up for much.

Just about anyone who has been here knows that Las Vegas means sore feet.  Just to get from your hotel room to the casino can be a major hike.  Though we were at the Circus Circus KOA, even Nancy and I never bothered to go inside Circus Circus because the effort to get there exceeded our interest.  Needless to say, Nicole never even left the RV.

Since being conveniently located right on The Strip doesn't seem to working for us and the daily rates are on the high side, we decided that all we really need is just some place decent where we can while away a few days in the Nevada sunshine.  Tonight we will give a park in North Las Vegas called The Hitching Post a try.

We still wanted to show Nicole something of Las Vegas, however, so when we checked out, we drove down The Strip.  I had come away from my previous visits with a decidedly negative attitude toward this town--it seemed like a monument to greed, glitz without substance, and a huge waste of electricity--so as we set out this morning, I blithely informed Nancy and Nicole that I would be happy to attend to the driving while they sat back and rubber-necked.

We started from the north end of The Strip where Circus Circus is located.  In about 15 seconds, I was rubber-necking right along with them.  Damn you, Las Vegas!  I could not avert my eyes.  The place is mesmerizing, even in the cold light of day.  If all this is nothing but evil conjuring to steal your soul, I guess I just kissed mine good-bye.

I had hoped for very light traffic--after all, it was 10:00 on a Sunday morning--but "Vegas never sleeps" is not just a catchy slogan.  There were three lanes of traffic; I got in the middle one and stayed there.  The farther south we went, the busier it got.  As we neared the southern end, I suddenly occurred to me that I had not seen another RV of any sort since leaving the KOA.

Over the last several years, Kroger has expanded nationwide by buying up other grocery chains.  We needed some groceries, so we asked the Garmin to find us a Kroger, thinking it was safe to assume there was one nearby.  What we failed to realize was that Kroger has chosen to retain the old chains' names on their acquisitions.  Here they own Smith's and Food For Less.  Despite this, the Garmin found us a Kroger.  It sent us to some guy's house in a residential neighborhood that clearly wasn't now, nor had ever been, a grocery store.

We also needed gas, so we asked the Garmin to take us to the nearest Costco.  It did, but the store was no longer open, so we parked by the gas pumps and ate some lunch.

We wanted to visit Red Rock Canyon.  Still needing gas, we asked if there was a Costco on the way there.  This time, the Garmin took us by way of yet another residential area.  We did find the Costco and filled up, but when we left, we realized that we were right on the highway to the canyon.

I visited Red Rock Canyon on my trip here in 1997.  It is 17 miles west of The Strip and, back then, about 15 miles outside of Vegas.  Today, it is only 5 miles beyond the last subdivision.  Somehow, that made it seem a lot less special.  We only went in as far as the visitors center because the road beyond that point is a 13-mile, one-way loop, and Nancy, who has a problem with steep drop-offs, didn't think she was up to that.

The view from inside the Visitors Center

We drove back to town and checked into the new RV park.  The Hitching Post Saloon and Steakhouse  is on the premises and was one of the reasons we chose this location.  It turns out that Steakhouse is a bit of a stretch; Saloon with kitchen is more accurate.  As soon as we stepped inside, everyone at the bar (all men) turned to look at us.  The barmaid greeted us with a surprised expression.  We announced that we were looking for some dinner.  The barmaid looked at Nicole and said okay but she's can't stay.  Nicole hadn't bothered to bring any ID, but we reassured her that she was 27.  The barmaid compromised by seating us in the adjacent pool room, thankfully sans pool players, and we decided that carryout would be just fine.  We sat there for almost an hour before the food arrived, but, steakhouse or not, the guy in the kitchen knew how to cook and the food was delicious.

Day 64
Las Vegas, NV to North Las Vegas, NV

Daily Mileage:  59.0
Total Mileage:  10,905.6