We Ain't In Kansas Any More Toto!

[FULLTIMEWANABE]

Purely ambling thoughts and observations - last time we were here was 5 years ago and things have certainly changed big time.   I think this will be our last visit down to Viva Las Vegas!   We used to come every year in the late 90's and early 2000's for 10 day road warrior trips back and forth with the kids during vacations but this time I think 12 days is going to be waaaay too long albeit we hoped to relax more and go a lot slower as our bodies now dictate.

Well, we left Alberta on 5th May, and ambled our way down to Las Vegas stopping a lot enroute to do things, like the Russell Museum in Helena, Prison in Deerlodge (looked in night before and decided not to bother in the end) and Idaho Falls and Fort Hall overnight and eventually to a couple nights rest in Mesquite before hitting LV RV Resort near Sams Town.   We don't normally stay in CG's except in very built up or wanting to feel safe areas = guards 24 hrs at LVRV  

Unfortunately when we got to LVRV booked in for 4 nights, they neglected when booked on phone to tell us the swimming pool had been out of operation for over 7 months and the wifi was more or less non-existent (OK, I know everyone says for past 15 years CG wifi etc .... but in this day and age!!!).   So we were quite disappointed.   Walking around that area we didn't feel very comfortable at all, and teens etc as well others following, screaming loud when we passed and so on.   Caught a bus to the strip along Flamingo = first one great, coming back, waited over 2 hours and poor girl would spend 4 mins at each stop    Had a rest day and then tried again, this time going up flamingo to the strip (20 mins ride roughly), took us forever, as a mouthy lady with medium size dog in pushchair wouldn't pay saying she'd paid last bus and of course you get no tickets, and then she got loud and mouthy (not too too bad but ....) and so the driver told her to get off the bus which she wouldn't.   Driver refused to move the bus and called for a team member to come and resolve.   We all sat there for over half hour with other buses passing and not stopping and finally we all got off and waved another bus (that was crammed to the rafters with folks) down and he let us jump on.   OK, enough of buses uber here we come.

Moved over to the Oasis LV Resort on Windmill = Oh my there's been a lot of road changes around there with widening and the price is roughly $100/night now but two lovely swimming pools and again non-existent wifi, which was better years ago here we recall.   Very frustrating when you can spit and hit the Silverton from here but there's no way to safely walk to it so Uber around the houses we did.

Up on the strip we visited many of the casinos to look at their "themes" really, but we did do a bit of gambling in Bellagio.   After 2.5 hours plus sitting at one machine desperate for a drink, pressed service and eventually someone came up switched it off and said not for drinks only machine issues.   Finally gave up and went to reserve the buffet for our upcoming 40th Ruby anniversary tomorrow = sorry it's closed today and tomorrow, call following day, asked for number and when I called it was for lost and found who put us on hold immediately then phone cut off after a long wait, called back asked to hold and said NO, we are after reserving buffet, so got transferred to front desk.   Girl at desk wasn't very sure where to put us through to and when she eventually did put us through "somewhere", rang forever and cut off again.

Lots of places we've gone to this time we've found that service has totally gone to "hell in a hand basket" as my older relatives would say.   Is it just us baby boomers that still look for good service and the newer millennials and generation X'ers etc that accept zero to no service as the norm nowadays?   Sigh .......

Like I said just my ramblings sitting here contemplating going out the RV to do battle again, and would be interested to hear what changes those of you that still travel after several years are finding today.

Stay safe, happy travels.

[Tulecreeper]

Apparently, different strokes for different folks.  In our 60's and we prefer RV parks with minimal amenities.  A laundry room is nice, but not necessary if there is one in town not too far away.  A pool would never be used.  Neither would a pickle ball court, a dance hall, or a shuffleboard court.  Yes, a laundry room is all that we would need.  If we relied on any more than that, we may as well stay in a hotel.  And if you stay for several months at a time and pay more than $40 per night for full hook-ups, they're ripping you off.