Good morning from the Mojave Desert!
We woke early around 6am to a beautiful coloured sunrise. Stayed in bed and had snuggles before Jonathan and Amelia got up and made the dinette bed back into the table/bench seating. The kids got into their lego again on the table, and Jonathan made coffees and teas for the adults. I cooked some eggs outside on our awesome little camp chef stove, and accompanied them with yogurt, fruit and granola.
We packed up by 9:30am and drove the half hour or so down the very bumpy/rough gravel road back out to the highway (on fumes). By 10:03am we were off the washboard road and onto the much smoother highway!!
By 10:40am we started seeing Joshua Trees at the side of the road again, and more grassland. We had high hopes that Cima would have fuel... but they didn't have any diesel, so we didn't take that detour for gas and headed for PRIMM where google and gas buddy advised us that they had diesel at the Chevron.
We took the I-15 North towards PRIM, Nevada and it was like a mini Las Vegas in the middle of nowhere! at 11:20am we crossed the Welcome to Nevada sign. We rolled into the Chevron in Primm on literal fumes and gratefully filled the tank! yikes!!
Close to noon we passed the "Seven Magic Mountains" - colourful stacked boulders on the side of the I-15 N. It was a tourist attraction that we didn't bother stopping to check out... I just snapped a photo from the distance.
Around noon we were driving into Las Vegas, Nevada! We could see the huge hotels from the highway as we drove into the city. Fun to recognize the various older hotels like Excalibur.
We arrived at Sam's Town KOA campground around 12:30pm... about a 20min drive or so from the centre of Las Vegas & the Strip. Got checked in at the friendly office/store and found our little patch of gravel to call home for two nights. We had the pool and hot tub to ourselves for quite awhile - almost 2 hrs! Mum and dad showered and went back to the rig a little earlier to get ready and pack their suitcases for their departure later this afternoon. A couple came to enjoy the pool and had two cute dogs tied up outside the pool fencing. The kids and I had showers and headed back to the rig while Jonathan stayed at the hot tub and chatted with the couple.
We checked at the office about best options for the airport and they recommended using Uber. It certainly was the simpler option to get mum and dad to the airport for their flight home than upheaving the rig for a 25min drive there and back. Perfecto.
We prepared a yummy easy dinner of pasta and veggie "meatballs" for 4:30pm as a quick meal before their flight. Poor papa had a throat issue and had trouble swallowing his food. Despite it being quite stressful situation, my dad handled it like a champ and was more concerned about not worrying anyone. Eventually things settled down and he was feeling comfortable enough that he'd be fine on the flight, etc.
Jonathan used the Uber app on his phone to call them a car for 6pm, easy peasy. We said our goodbyes and "see ya soons" at the corner of the Sam's Town KOA as the friendly uber driver rolled up. Off they went and were already there and checked in at Las Vegas Airport and waiting at the gate by 7pm. Awesome!
We decided to head into "Sam's Town" gambling hall to see a bit of the L.V. bright lights and bling. They had a neat Mystic Falls musical water/lights display with a Christmas theme (it was VERY christmassy there) that the kids enjoyed. We wandered the lobby and "stayed in the allowed zones" of the gambling hall for the kids to take in all the Vegas style sights.
We stopped at Dunkin' Donuts for a treat on the way out.
We walked back to the RV and the kiddos worked on some collage art (I loved Ollie's crazy face). Unfortunately, there was a kerfuffle over some of the collage magazine resources between the kids and they both got very upset and had a full on fight about it. Oliver was super upset. :(
Jonathan wanted to get out and see some sights, so he and Amelia went to Freemont Street together to explore for a couple hours (via Uber), and Ollie and I hung out and had some nice snuggles and chats. Amelia got to see the fun overhead lights show, zip lining tourists, girls in very skimpy outfits, and all range of interesting people!
Oliver's collage "postcard"
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