Wednesday, October 9th - We left Leeds RV Park in Leeds, Utah around 9:00 in the morning and the drive to Nellis AFB was smooth and uneventful; exactly how we like it. Highway 15 between St. George and Las Vegas has a stretch of road through the mountains that is super beautiful. The mountains are high and the canyons are deep. Extremely pretty.


The people at Nellis AFB are very friendly and accommodating. Desert Eagle RV Park at Nellis AFB has two sections. One is newer and more traditional with the Rvs side-by-side. The sites are nice with paved slabs and full services. The older portion of the RV park is set up in four circles with a circle in the middle. Set up as a circle, we have much more space between our RVs . We asked for another week of stay on top of the two that we already have and they accommodated us. It is possible to stay hear for the entire winter. We are looking into that as a possibility.


Thursday, October 10th - As of now, we do not plan to remain here at Nellis over the winter. We took a drive into the center of Las Vegas yesterday and we were not impressed with the area. We saw considerable poverty and homelessness as we drove along the length of Las Vegas Boulevard between Nellis and Las Vegas. The crowds were very heavy on the strip, even on a Thursday evening. Since Lisa and I do not smoke, drink, gamble, or eat extensively, the Las Vegas strip does not command much appeal for us. We plan to travel around the area to see Lake Mead, Hoover Dam, Death Valley, and other local areas of interest for us.


Our first day hear was consumed mainly on Lisa working and for me getting chores done. We made a list of "to-dos" and we are working on them. The rules for this RV park require that we turn weapons in at the armory on base. It is located just down the road from us. I turned in the guns yesterday. Now we have to remember to get them before we leave. We drove the flight-line here at Nellis and saw that the flight-line is covered with fighter aircraft. We also saw the "Home of the Thunderbirds" and their associated museum. We plan to visit the museum in the next couple of days. I want to wash the trailer here, but it is not allowed. A commercial service will come to our parking spot and wash it for about $140 which includes the top of the RV. That is not a bad price. There are places along the major highways designed for washing trucks and trailers. Most do RVs to for about $80, but it is a nuisance to hook up and move it just for a washing.


Friday, October 11th - So far, we have stayed in the RV with Lisa working and me doing chores and updating the blog. We want to visit with the base outdoor recreation center to see if we can rent an ATVs. We can also see if they have any good prices on shows in town.


Saturday, October 12th - We decided to take the kayaks and go to Hoover Dam to take the tour of the dam and then go to Lake Mead in the afternoon for a kayaking excursion. The dam is definitely an impressive project. As we travel around the country, it is amazing to see all of the huge projects that were built by Americans in the early 1900s. Dams, bridges, roads, and more. It seems that many of these projects cannot be built today due to environmental regulations, planning regulations, and cost. Hoover Dam (originally Boulder Dam) is amazing. Four massive tunnels (56 feet in diameter and over 4000 feet long) were built to channel water around the construction site and to feet the turbines. The dam was then built in this location that was quite narrow and had solid base rock. The dam is interesting in that it is not attached to the sides; the water behind it holds it in place. It actually moves just slightly as the water level changes behind it. We go to go inside down elevators and then through tunnels . It is quite amazing. There are 17 turbines at Hoover Dam. We were able to see the turbines and learn how the operate. I recommend a trip to Hoover Dam for anyone who is interested in massive projects like this one. It is amazing.


After we left Hoover Dam, we drove to the Lake Mead Recreation Area and explored their large RV park and the marina. We walked out to the marina to change into swimsuits and there were lots of large catfish, carp, and striped bass swimming along the walkway. Made me want to get my fishing pole out. We had a perfect day for this kayaking excursion; no wind. The winds can come up quickly on this huge lake and the waves can grow large quickly, so we stayed attuned to the weather. It remain perfect for the entire kayaking trip. The mountains around the lake were beautiful and the water was clear. There were wake-boarding boats on the lake, but we stayed close to the shore and they were not a problem for us. It was a fun afternoon on the water. See the photos in the photo gallery.


Sunday, October 13th - We took the day off and stayed around the RV to do chores. We cleaned, re-arranged some things, and planned and schedule our next steps for our trip. Jeff and Cherekee are scheduled to come stay with us on Wednesday and we will check out the local area with them before we travel together to the Grand Canyon next Monday. We are looking forward to spending some time with Jeff and Cherekee. Also, we read about a salsa dance at a local casino that began at 9:00 at night. We went to this dance and the crowd was mostly older (than us??) people was focused on Cumbia which is a dance that is popular in Mexico. We danced two cha-cha-chas and then sat through several Cumbias until we left at about 10:30. Bummer. We have not danced much on this entire trip.


Monday, October 14th (Columbus Day) - We cannot clean the RV at most park and this is true at Nellis too. We can have a commercial firm come and wash the trailer though. I set up a cleaning for Monday morning. They clean the roof and the sides for a cost of $160. The young man to did the work was super nice and did a great job. I cleaned the tires and rims and applied tire-black to the tires. It is always nice to have a clean RV, especially when you have company coming.


Tuesday, October 15th - Lisa is working to start the day and I am working on chores. Since it is a work day for the base, they start the day at 0700 hours by playing reveille over the base public address system. Also, at 1630 hours (4:30 pm), the base sounds retreat followed by the National Anthem. It is pretty neat to hear these traditional expressions of patriotism at the base. Nellis RV Park has a service that will come to our trailer to fill propane tanks, so I plan to fill our tanks today. We will likely need the propane as the temperatures near the Grand Canyon are much colder due to the increase in elevation. I plan to take a bike ride this morning while Lisa is working.