Washington State

Near Randle, WA

We’ve been in Washington for about a month now and have been busy visiting friends and family.  Currently we are parked in Dave’s brother’s (Jim) backyard, same place we stayed last summer.  It’s a great spot, we even have our own little yard.  Cheye has a big backyard to roam and  a buddy to play with too.

Camping at Randle

Over Independence Day weekend we met up with our friends Mike & Joan (fulltimers we met in Arizona) near Randle, WA. Their friends Keith & Bobbi have some property there all set up for camping.  One other couple we hadn’t met before, Steve & Elaine, was also there and the 8 of us had a great time.   The weather was fabulous and scenery amazing.  On the 4th we moved the trailer back to Jim’s and then drove up to Tacoma where Keith & Bobbi had their 45 ft. boat docked.  We joined them and their family along with Mike & Joan and other friends for a 4th of July party.  Again, we had a great time, lots of delicious food and fun people.  

The time is flying by here…so far we’ve had a fabulous summer!

Views of  Keith & Bobbi's property in Randle

The Cowlitz River that runs through their property

Cheye enjoying the sunshine

one last pic  of Keith & Bobbi's property

A beautiful sunset in Randle, WA

see the moon between the pink clouds?

Keith & Bobbi's boat

In Oregon

Our site at TT Bend

After one night in Alturas, CA we arrived at Thousand Trails Bend on May 11th.  The park is actually in Sun River, OR which is a bit south of Bend.     This park closes over the winter , actually they haven‘t opened the whole park yet…there are probably only about 20 RV’s here right now.  It’s pretty chilly, we’ve had to break out our long pants and sweatshirts.  Today was especially cool, as a matter of fact we had some rain/snow mix fall this afternoon.

Except for one trip to La Pine we haven’t left the park.  It’s such a pretty park, very wooded and quiet…love the tangy smell of the pine trees.  It’s a great walking and relaxing park…which is exactly what we’ve been doing!

Along the way between Reno and Alturas

Scenery between Alturas and Bend

Near Alturas

In Thousand Trails Bend

Another pic taken at Thousand Trails Bend

More Thousand Trails Bend

Travelin’

We left Vegas yesterday, the weather was supposed to be cooler and windy... it was.  It’s downright cold!  So far we’ve driven through wind, sleet and snow…happily the snow wasn’t sticking.

Last night we stayed in Tonopah, NV at The Station Casino RV park.   We’ve stayed there before…just hook-ups in the parking lot behind the casino, but it works for a night. (here's the prior post & pics of The Station) Today we are just north of Reno at a cute little park called Bordertown Casino & RV Resort.  The nearby hilltops are snow covered but tomorrow it’s supposed to warm up.  I’m keeping my fingers crossed the forecast is right!  :o)

The entry to Bordertown RV Resort

Our site

Bordertown  RV Resort with the snowy hills in the background

The hills behind the park

Another view of the snowy hills

Laughlin and Vegas

Our trip north started with a 2 week stopover at Laughlin, NV.  We stayed at the Don Laughlin’s Riverside RV Resort again.  While there we took in the Extreme Bullriding event which was fun.  We bought tickets online and when picking up our tickets we were told the seats we picked didn’t really exist!  It was a boo-boo the online people made.  So they offered us VIP seats which included a couple drinks each and food…plus the seats were right up front by the chutes  :o)  very nice.

Yee haw!

Ouch!

Large moon rising over Laughlin

One of the casinos at night

From Laughlin we traveled to Las Vegas and are currently at Sam’s Town RV park.  While here we’ve gone downtown for a comedy/magic show at the 4-Queens, wandered around a bit on the strip, visited Boulder Station and of course Sam’s Town.   Tonight we are going to the Cirque du Soleil show O.  Tomorrow it’s back on the road making our way north slowly…

Treasure Island Vegas

Venetian Vegas

Some people on a gondola ride at the Venetian

More of Quartzsite

We’ve had a great stay at here at Quartzsite, AZ.  There have been a few days with wind, a couple with rain, but mostly it’s been lovely weather.  Our friends Dave & Anne did come for a 3 day visit which was a lot of fun.  During their stay Cheyenne stirred up another visitor

Yep…a rattlesnake.  It was not a happy camper!  Dave chased it away from our campsite with a shovel and we haven’t seen it since.

The area is rather empty , most of the snowbirds have headed north I guess.  We will be here a couple more days before we begin our slow trip north…just love this 80 degree weather and hate to leave it!

Our trailer and Dave & Anne's coach parked out in Quartzsite

Flowers in the desert

more blooms in the desert

out on a walk in Quartzsite

yet another fabulous Quartzsite sunset

One Big Circle

At Laughlin

We left Quartzsite on March 9 and traveled up to Laughlin, NV.  Friends Chad & Robin from Tri-Cities, WA were flying down to Laughlin for a few days so we decided to meet up with them.  We stayed at Don Laughlin’s Riverside RV Resort so we were within walking distance of the casinos and restaurants.    It was great to see our friends again, we had a fun visit, went to some yummy restaurants, strolled along the Riverwalk, took the water taxi to visit some of the far off casinos and just had a good time.

From Laughlin we drove to one of our favorite Thousand Trails parks… Verde Valley in Cottonwood, AZ.  The weather was good and the stay peaceful.  We did drive up to Flagstaff one day.  Another day we went to visit our friends Ron & Marilyn at Lake Pleasant.  Other than that we really didn’t do much that was blog-worthy!

A confused bird on our hummingbird feeder

Now we are back at Quartzsite…like the title says, one big circle!  It’s been a bit windy since we got here but that’s okay because it’s also been warm.  We can’t run our air conditioner while we are running on solar power and our generator isn’t powerful enough to run the air either….so a breeze is welcome!   We are expecting our friends Dave & Anne to join us here for a few days before they head home to England.  Looking forward to seeing them and catching up on what they have been doing.

Our site at Don Laughlin's RV Park

Not a lot of space, but it worked

The RV Park

Harrah's  Laughlin, NV

The Riverwalk Laughlin, NV

Another view of the Riverwalk

The water taxi

The Colorado Belle Laughlin, NV

On the water taxi
L-R  Lori, Dave, Marilyn, Robin, Chad

Happy dog in Cottonwood

Hills in Quartzsite

glowing hills while the sun sets

Another amazing Quartzsite sunset