For some reason this didn’t post originally.
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Home from Paso Robles, and we had a one day turnaround before heading out again. This time to Las Vegas to see Garth Brooks in concert, then to Goodyear, Arizona to visit oldest son Jason and his family—well, with the last remaining granddaughter still at home. This was our longest trip to date.
First, the trailer turnaround went well. Preparation helped. A quick clean then restocked for a longer trip.
We had some concerns about both or total travel time from Clovis to Las Vegas and also where we might stop for lunch.
Travel time is more than just drive time that you can estimate from something like Google Maps. First, we generally need to go slower because of trailer speed limits. And, even when the speed limit is much higher, I won’t go that fast with this setup.
We also need to make more stops for fuel because the FJ Cruiser has a relatively small gas tank, so anything over 100 miles and I start getting a bit anxious about where we will fill up. For example, we had to fill up three times on the way to Las Vegas. We left with a full tank, filled up the first time at the Pilot/Flying J north of Bakersfield, the again at the Pilot/Flying J at Kramer’s Junction (US-395/SR-58), and the final time at the Pilot/Flying J in Primm, Nevada. But, when you only get about 9-10 MPG with a smaller sized tank, it is what is is.
We were worried about eating lunch in the trailer because once you head into the desert this time of year, welp, it can be miserably hot in a trailer with no air conditioning available. We don’t have a generator yet, so unless we are plugged in somewhere with power, nothing in the trailer running on shore supplied Alternating Current works, primarily the air conditioner.
We lucked out on the weather. I remembered a large gravel parking area at Kramer’s Junction at the junction of highways 58/395 where I stopped a few times when I was driving for Knight Transportation. We pulled in, the parking area was empty, and there was a nice breeze blowing. It created a very comfortable environment. After lunch, we fueled up just across the street. Easy peasy.
We stayed at the KOA at Sam’s Town in Las Vegas. As we checked in and drove to our space, I realized we stayed here once before. During the summer of 1993, we rented a little travel trailer to tow behind a 1991 Ford Explorer. We traveled around several states with Matthew, and spent our last night at this same park. It looks a lot better now. Thirty years can do that.
Off to see Garth, but first…
We were able to easily settle Parfait into her dog resort in Las Vegas. Las Vegas Dog Resort on S. Sandhill did a great job caring for her overnight, and would gladly use their services again.
Driving a higher profile vehicle like the FJ Cruiser with some added suspension height creates a bit of anxiety when trying to park at businesses locations with parking garages. It’s too tall to fit in the public parking garage at Caesars Place, the location of the concert. Fortunately, I just fit in the Bellagio garage which is conveniently next door. It’s an easy walk over to Caesars.
Kari found the Hells Kitchen restaurant out in front of Caesars Palace for dinner. It was packed, so we sat at the bar to eat. Phenomenal food!
Garth.
He was really good, yet I won’t say it was great. It was worth the time and money, but I don’t need to do it again. He is a phenomenal entertainer, but no flying over the audience anymore. 😂
In telling my son Jason about it, he said it reminded him of a special he’s on TV before.
Garth shared stories about others who influenced his musical life, George Jones, Bob Dylan, George Strait, James Taylor, Randy Travis, Bob Seger, and others. He sang covers of some of their songs and did a wonderful job of performing tributes to them. I would have enjoyed just a few more Garth songs.
Wife Trisha Yearwood came out and sang a selection of wonderful songs too, some duets and others solo.
Here’s the probable set list:
1. Against the Wind (Bob Seger Cover)
2. Don’t Close Your Eyes (Keith Whitley Cover)
3. She’s Every Woman
4. Rodeo
5. Two of a Kind (Workin’ o a Full House)
6. Two Piña Coladas
7. Much Too Young To Feel This Damn Old
8. The River
9. Night Moves (Bob Seger Cover)
10. That Summer
11. Turn the Page (Bob Seger Cover)
12. Thunder Rolls
13. Wolves
14. I Told You So (Randy Travis Cover)
15. Pleasure in the Pain (New Song)
16. Change the World (Eric Clapton Cover) by Gordon Kennedy
17. Callin’ Baton Rouge
18. Shallow, with Trisha Yearwood
19. Golden Ring (Tammy Wynette / George Jones Cover), with Trisha Yearwood
20. Whiskey to Wine, with Trisha Yearwood
21. She’s in Love With the Boy by Trisha Yearwood
22. Papa Loves Mama
23. Shameless
24. Troubadour (George Strait Cover)
25. Fireman (George Strait Cover)
26. You Look So Good in Love (George Strait Cover)
27. Amarillo by Morning (George Strait Cover)
28. Fishin’ in the Dark (Nitty Gritty Dirt Band Cover)
29. The Dance
The audience was prohibited from taking photos, but Garth provided photos at no extra charge that were taken during our show.
He also did a couple touching tributes to some audience members, one couple celebrating their 20th anniversary who had been to eight of his concerts.
After the show was over and some of the audience started leaving, he came back out just by himself with a guitar and had a conversation with a Canadian woman in the audience who’s in chemotherapy and will be so “for the rest of my [her] life.” He sang her request “If Tomorrow Never Comes.” Everyone was in tears and I’d don’t know how it h my add it through the song. Garth told her to keep fighting the cancer to survive another year, and he’ll fly her to any of his concerts next year.
Kari, who’s definitely not a country music fan, was the one who really wanted to see him and made it happen. I’m glad she did.
The next morning on May 26, we picked up Parfait from her resort and headed into Arizona.
Traveling to Kingman and then south on US-93 through Wickenburg is a drive I did several times when I was with Knight. It’s not the best or safest road, yet I like driving it. We stayed at Cotton Lane RV Park in Goodyear, very close to Jason’s home. It seems to be primarily a senior mobile home park, and the landscaping is appropriately desert themed. We got an end spot, so no neighbor on our starboard side. What a great stay. It is a beautiful spot and great showers too.
I met Jason and Avery the following day at Desert Mirage Golf course for a round of golf. It was a blast. I couldn’t help but sense my late father was watching on and pleased.
Later in the day we all went to Jason’s home to socialize, get caught up, have a delicious dinner, and then we introduced them to the dice game LCR, hosting $3 starting pots for three games. We had a blast and did it again the next evening.
We bid adieu to Goodyear the next morning. Apparently it was my great idea to travel on Monday, Memorial Day. In my preplanning, I wanted to avoid going through the Los Angeles area. Heading west on I-10, we turned off the interstate in Quartzsite, Arizona and went north. When we arrived in Parker, AZ it was lunch time. I’ve pulled in to the vacant lot of the Visitors Center to eat. It was really warm outside, but surprisingly the breeze made the tin can of a trailer comfortable enough to make a sandwich. Nonetheless, we were thankful to get back into the air conditioned FJ Cruiser an on the road again.
Our Homeowners Assn only allows us to have our RV in front house for four nights in every calendar month. Because of projects and prep for the trips, we only had one night available for the remainder of May. I wasn’t keen on driving from Goodyear to Clovis, arriving late, then need to demobilize the trailer the next day. As a result, we planned a stop along the way. Barstow, CA seemed like good midpoint. If you know the area, there’s not much—of anything. Nearby Newberry Springs has even less. Yet, since we just needed a place to park and sleep, I wasn’t picky. I just needed electricity to run the air conditioning.
In my preplanning, Newberry Mountain RV park came up. Sparse would be a generous description. Surprisingly, it was a great place to spend the night. I’m sure years ago when the road was the main highway, it was much much more well polished, but I’d definitely stop here again for an overnight stay.
Home at a reasonable time on Tuesday, May 30 gave us a comfortable window to demobilize and clean the trailer before taking it back to storage the next day.
All in all, a wonderful trip!
