Alaska 2011: April 21

We haven't had internet access for a few days, but we've covered some really fantastic places since our last post on April 21st.....

Here is where we've been:

April 21 - Valley of Fire State Park - Nevada for two nights - see pics below:

April 23 - 26 - Las Vegas: Original plan was two days in Vegas, but we stayed four nights and it was great. Sam's Town RV park was next door to Sams Town Casino which, in my opinion, was a better place to be than at one of the Vegas strip casino's.... We took a free shuttle down to the strip two days in a row and visited a number of casino's: Ceasars Palace, MGM Grand, Harrah's, Flamingo, Bellagio, Excalibur and a couple others I don't recall. We took in a show at the Excalibur - a Midevil Dinner show that was really good and a lot of fun too. Gambling (or losing) was done at Sam's town.

April 26 - Kyle Canyon State park - Just outside Vegas

April 28 - 29 - Death Valley.... What a neat place to visit..... We stayed two nights at Sea Level, and drove through several places in the park at 250 ft. or so below sea level. This is a dry, hot, desolate place - the name suits it well. The morning of our second day, we woke to very stong winds and sand blowing so hard most of the morning, you could not see the mountains surrounding us. By noon it was pretty clear, but it stayed windy the rest of our time there. One interesting tour was at the North end of the Park - Scotty's Castle. A real interesting place as well as the story that goes with it... Check it out if you're inclined by searching on the internet. http://www.desertusa.com/mag99/apr/stories/castle.html

April 30 - Red Rock Canyon State Park, California

May 1 - 2 - Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks; We stayed at the same campground two nights. The roads in this park are the windiest, and most treacherous I've ever driven ...... I had a ball. Just getting into the park was a great trip. The South entrance was closed to vehicles over 22 ft. We are 27 ft., so we took a route that brought us to the Northwest entrance. That road was no wider than 12 ft. in many places and that went on for miles. That detour was a 90 mile drive along the foothills at less than 1000 ft. above sea level, and then up into the Sierra Nevada Mountains at 7000 ft. that took us most of the day.... It was luck that we encountered only three or four other vehicles the entire route. I have to wonder how others over 22 ft. got there....