Saturday, April 26, 2014

Apr 23rd to 25th - Palm Springs to Las Vegas

Apr 23rd – Wed
Skip & Kathy asked us to play golf tomorrow so we went to the office to extend our stay a couple of days.  The lady in to office had changed our site before we arrived and had a heck of a time trying to add a couple of days and get the money on the correct site.  Gotta love computers!!
We took the motorcycle and went looking for a motorcycle shop to find the type of protective glasses that we want.  We stopped for gas on the way & Terry put his sunglasses in his pocket as he couldn’t read the pump display with them on.  When we got to the Harley dealer using instructions from a lady at the service station, Terry realized he didn’t have his sunglasses so now we were looking for 3 pairs of glasses!  The Harley shop had zero glasses with yellow lenses so we continued on to a restaurant in Desert Hot Springs for a late breakfast.
We stopped at the Aqua Caliente Casino and returned some of the money that we took from there on Monday.  We went to Skip & Kathy’s and had a drink with them and then followed them to Pat & Donna’s for dinner.  We also met Bob & Lana Worley from Bellingham.  They have a condo here and stay for about 6 months each year.
We had the grand tour of the huge house that Pat & Donna built recently before settling down on the expansive patio – guys in one area, ladies in another – to chat, drink & eat appies.  We had time for a game of bocce ball before dinner.  It was quite different for us as the base is crushed granite rather than the artificial turf that we have at Val Vista.
We took 2 vehicles from Skip & Kathy’s place as Skip was waiting for a phone call notifying him that the cabinets were here for their new house.  As it turned out, the cabinets were to arrive at midnight so we all left at the same time anyway.  It was a lovely evening.

Apr 24th – Thurs
We went to the Classic Club golf course for 10:30 & 10:40 tee times this morning.  It is a very nice, newer course just north of the I10.  It also has a very nice price if you are not a resident of the area!  We were quite early so we had time to hit balls at the driving range, do some chipping at one of the 2 chipping greens and try the incredibly fast grass (mowed to 1/8 inch or less!) on the practice green.
The women played ahead of the guys.  There was a slow group ahead of us that was quite irritating but the marshal couldn’t get them to speed up.  The course is beautiful with lots of water & sand but not one palm tree – the only course in the area without any.  I was quite happy with my drives and intermittently happy with other shots.  It got very hot but the high green fees include coolers of icy bottled water and ice at every third hole.
Donna had to fly to Spokane this afternoon and had to skip the 18th hole to make her flight.  She & Lana went back to the guys’ group, swapped golf clubs and Pat & Donna took off.  The rest of us went to the restaurant at the golf club to have a late lunch since part of your green fees are returned as a $15 voucher each for food or drink.
Then we all went to Skip & Kathy’s new house to look at the cabinets that did get unloaded at midnight.  Also, their front door & huge side panel had been installed.  They are etched & colored glass – very different & eye catching.  We hugged everyone goodbye, stopped for fuel & berry pies to cook later, and came back to crash.

Apr 25th – Fri
We got up and going early this morning – we drove out at 7:10.  We decided to go to Parker AZ because we kind of forgot that my driver’s license expires in July and I want to get an AZ license so I can get a motorcycle endorsement later.
We stopped at the Bluewater Casino for breakfast and didn’t lose any money playing a short time at the casino.  We fueled up, found the licensing office, took a number and waited.  I got my driver’s license and then failed the motorcycle test for my learner’s permit.  I went through the manual at least a month ago and for someone who hasn’t driven a motorcycle for a long time (and not much then) the answers are not obvious.  I can take the test again on Monday.
We decided not to wait in Parker but to go to Laughlin instead and then to Bullhead City on Monday.  Wrong!!!  We started seeing lots of motorcycles on the road and at service stations and discovered that it was the HUGE River Run motorcycle event.  The sites at the Riverside RV park were $75 per night and it was questionable whether we would get any sleep when we saw the number of party-ers already in full swing.  So we decided I would get my motorcycle permit whenever we return to AZ and we headed for Las Vegas.
I called to get a reservation at Main St. Station, the first call got dropped and on the second call I was told that the park was full.  So I started going through our RV book.  We stopped for fuel just out of LV and Terry called again.  Surprise! – there were lots of sites available.
We registered, set up and RELAXED.  Drinks, dinner, games & TV.

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