Viva Las Vegas

After overnighting in Springville and then Cedar City at Walmarts, we arrived on Tuesday at our RV park at Arizona Charlie`s Casino in Las Vegas. We checked in and discovered a nice RV park, with lots of greenery, a very nice pool, a clubhouse and a clean laundry which also happened to be the cheapest laundromat so far.

After getting set up, we did a few loads of laundry (2 weeks worth), and had a couple of drinks before setting out to check out Arizona Charlies hotel/ casino. What a nice little place. We signed up for players cards, and immediately got 25% off buffets and 10% off all other meals. We had a couple of 50 cent draft beers, then went to the buffet. We pigged out on a HUGE variety of foods, including such delicacies as smoked brisket, Pork roast, smoked sausage, several types of fish, pastas, salads, soups, etc., etc.

After dinner we waddled back to the motor home and watched TV for a while before bed. We are going to get spoiled: fifty-three TV channels on the free cable here!

Wednesday we slept in, then decided to stay in during the day when the temperatures soared to 107, and go out in the evening. After a day of laying around, and napping, we caught the public bus and went downtown (an hour ride). This year the downtown casinos are having a ``summer of the 70`s`` promotion. We wandered around people watching (lots of weirdos here) and then watched a Rolling Stones tribute band. We realized that all the people dancing in the street and singing along looked really old, and we wondered if that`s what we looked like, so we retired to the sports bar at the Fremont for a 16 inch pizza and pitcher of beer for $9.95. Actually, the pizza was quite good, very cheesy, and we couldn`t eat it all.

Thursday we stayed in all day, except for Marlene`s expeditions to the pool for some swimming. She really enjoyed the pool. We had a seafood pasta for dinner, with some of our $2.97 wine, then we went to the hotel and had a couple of $2 margaritas and listened to the band. These were good margaritas, made with Jose Cuervo Silver tequila, not your usual cheapo drinks like you get downtown, even served in a real glass with salted rim! The band was OK, a Phillipino group playing stuff like Lady GaGa. Not our taste, but they were alright. We returned to our comfortably air conditioned motor home, and went to bed.

Friday, Marlene went swimming again, and took Ben for a long walk. We lay around again, and then Marlene cooked up a spicy rice dish. We had a nap, then got up and caught the bus to the strip (an hour and a half). We went to Bellagio, and had a couple of $7 beers in the lounge and listened to a couple of bands, then we went south to the new City Center development. It has come a long way since we were last here, but it has a lot of construction to go. We walked through the Aria hotel. Very fancy, lots of young (20 somethings) people hanging around, but not doing a lot of gambling. Very expensive restaurants and no entertainment in the bars!

Next we went to the Monte Carlo, which has been renovated again. We checked out the pub there, but it has gone downhill with only a DJ making music. New York New York was next. There was a very long lineup to get into the pub there, so we moved on across the street to the Tropicana. This venerable old girl is getting a facelift, and major market shift. No more grey haired grannies here, now they`re after those 20 somethings like all the other hotels.

We were tired, and a bit disappointed, so we walked to the bus stop and caught our bus home. One transfer and an hour and half. Back at Arizona Charlies we were hungry now (it was 1 am) so we stopped in the restaurant and had steak and eggs gambler`s breakfast. A 6 oz. steak, 2 eggs, a mound of hash browns, toast and jam for $3.99. A bit more reasonable than $32 for a pork chop at the Monte Carlo!

Saturday we decided to party at home, and save our money. I cooked up some steaks on the barbecue, and we enjoyed a nice meal and some wine.

Sunday morning we rose late. We lazed around, then in the morning we took the bus to Walmart and picked up some necessary items, then bussed it back home. Marlene swam in the afternoon, and we napped for a while. At around 6 pm we caught a bus and headed to our destination for the evening. We`d decided to go to an Asian Buffet, that had good ratings online. By mistake, I got us off at the wrong bus stop, and we had to walk a few blocks to the restaurant, which was OK because we worked up appetites. The food here was very nice. Over 150 items, including cooked to order steaks, mongolian beef, shrimps and veggies. There was crab legs, oyster on the half shell, clams in garlic sauce, sushi galore, teriyaki chicken, several varieties of shrimp and beef dishes, a couple of fish dishes, salads, deserts, the whole groaning table! All for $12.99 including beverages. We made pigs of ourselves, and thoroughly enjoyed the meal. Marlene snuck some meat for Ben, and we crossed the street to catch the bus.

The bus arrived on time, and we relaxed in the air-conditioning. We didn`t get far though, and the bus had to stop because the police had closed down Flamingo street due to an accident involving a police motorcycle. We had to get off the bus, and walk about a mile or so and catch another bus. Of course, we missed our connection for the next bus, so we walked another mile to get home.

Monday it was time to pack up and do the last laundry. Marlene and I cleaned, serviced and prepped the motor home for the road. In the evening we went to the hotel and got a couple of those 50 cent beers, then we went to the restaurant and had a last meal. Marlene had chicken soup, home made with tons of fresh veggies and chicken pieces. She also had wings, and they were very good too. I had the gambler`s dinner: Prime rib and shrimps, with french fries. Total bill for dinner was $20 with tip.

This morning we packed up and headed southeast to Phoenix. There was a lot of road construction, and the short drive seemed to take forever, but we arrived at the Flying J truck stop in Phoenix and we`re settling in for the night. Tomorrow its off to Tucson, where we`ll stop into Walmart to stock up on groceries (because we don`t have a car and can`t easily go shopping), then on to Desert Pueblo RV park where we have booked the same spot we left in March.

Above, you can see pics of rock formations on the road to Phoenix, $10 pizza and beer, Rolling Stone tribute band, fountains at Bellagio taken from the terrace in the lounge, and the band at Bellagio. Stay tuned...

Disappointment in Pocatello

We ended up staying 3 nights at the Jerome Walmart. This is a nice, quiet store, staffed by really friendly people. On Wednesday morning we moved out, stopping in to Twin Falls to dump and fill tanks, then to the liquor store for necessary supplies, as well as to the bank to deposit our pay. Then it was westward bound to Pocatello. We followed the GPS to the area, but still had a hard time finding the track. They have no signs out. Oh-oh, not a good sign (no pun intended).

We met the husband of the owner at the track gates, and he led us to a spot in the pits with power for us. Bonus! We settled in, then checked out the track. A good track surface, and everything else was bad. The stands haven't been painted in years, the weeds under the stands are waist high, there's no electronic timing system, there are no restrooms, only smelly old porta-potty's, the concessions didn't have fresh cooked food, just packaged. The whole place looked like an abandoned race track.

The location is great, at the airport just outside the city, with a potential market of 120,000 people. I went online and found out the track operator, Claudia, only pays $3000 a year to lease the place from the city. The property is 18 acres, and nice and level. Too bad Claudia doesn't have a clue that she's in the entertainment business. We sat at the track, and on Thursday afternoon she called and said we were to display the car the local Toyota dealership, a track sponsor. When the fellow from the dealership called me, we laughed at how Claudia had made it sound the we were doing the dealership a favor, and the dealership thought they were doing us a favor! After dealing with the dealership, I next heard from the local newspaper sports reporter. He wanted to interview us and take some pics, so we told him to come out and see us. He got lost trying to find the track too. He wrote a nice piece, but he is prone to embellishing quotes. Here is a link to the article: http://www.journalnet.com/sports/local/article_2c2f97be-ac20-11df-a411-001cc4c03286.html .

Friday morning and of course Claudia had arranged nothing. No signs, no shelter, no handouts, no publicizing the fact that we were going to be at the dealership showing the car and signing autographs. Nothing. We sat there for a couple of hours, then packed up and went back to the track. And waited. We expected to hear from Claudia, or see some sign of preparation for the "biggest race of the season". All we saw were the snakes and the rabbits, and we watched the activity at the airport, including a large autocross club having a race meet. Lots of people there. We saw not a soul on Friday afternoon. We eventually gave up hope and had a nice Shabbat dinner of BBQ steaks, potato salad, green salad and mushrooms, complemented by our favourite red wine.

Saturday morning Marlene cooked up a great breakfast of huevos rancheros, with bacon, and we showered and prepped for race day. We had been told that the gates opened at 1pm, but no one showed up until 4pm. Nobody cleaned the track, or anything, and we didn't hear from a single person. At around 6 a couple of race cars showed up, and the drivers stood around talking. At 6:45 we'd had enough, and I walked around to the office and met Claudia in person. She weighs over 400 pounds, and can only walk 10 steps at time. I introduced myself, and told her we were wondering what was going on. She shrugged and said no other race cars were coming, so she was canceling the event. I told her I understood the problem, as I looked around her cluttered office. Claudia told me that she had had a lot of phone calls asking when the jet car was going to run. Some fans also were turning up at the gate. We met one family who we had spoken with at the Toyota dealership when they were buying a car.

Claudia pumped me for information about how poorly the other 2 local tracks were doing. I burst her bubble when I described their prosperous operations. She was especially proud of her big marketing gimmick this year: she hands out strips of condoms imprinted with the name of the track! Marlene went ballistic when I told her about it. I mean this is a family sport, and a large number of the young families here are Hispanic Catholics. Not condom users.

Anyway, we were canceled. I told Claudia we would pack up and be off in about half an hour. I walked back and explained to Marlene, and she was not surprised. We gave some cards to the forlorn looking fans, and hit the road. We went 5 miles to a dumping station, then another 5 miles to the Walmart, where we had a light supper of soup and grilled cheese sandwiches, served accompanied by a Manhattan and a Martini.

Sunday morning we rose early and packed up to hit the road. Tonight we are in Springville, Utah. We're going to move slowly, taking a couple of days to reach Las Vegas where we will stay a week and lick our wounds. The pic above is the view from our living room towards the airport.

Stay tuned...

We meet some really polite people

We arrived at Meridian Speedway in the center of Boise, ID, to find an older, but nicely refurbished track with two large grandstands. Next door is a park, with pools, fountains, and nice lawns for Ben. The other side of the track was a ball park, schools and river winding through an old well kept cemetery. We could see the mountains on the horizon. It was a gorgeous place to stay. We arrived early, but already there were people working at the track. This is very unusual. We met the promoter and he assigned us a choice area in the pits, right where we could watch the action from our living room. We were lucky to also have power here.

This is a big event for Boise. The promoter told me that there would be over 3500 spectators and 1000 total drivers and crew. The event is billed as the "Eve of Destruction" and there is lots of preparation going on. Cars are being stripped, ramps are being placed and boats are being attached to cars. There will be a 200 foot car drop, a dominoes car jump,(see before and after pics above), a kids bicycle race, a gauntlet race, a wonderful jet car show, and a boat race. Plus fireworks and much more, all right outside our windows.

Thursday night we had our usual pasta night, this time with shrimps in red sauce, accompanied by our favourite red wine. Friday we cleaned the car and fired it up for a couple of minutes. We dined on steaks and ceasar salad for Shabbat dinner while racers were setting up for next day's activities. Some of these guys have very pricey race rigs. Saturday morning and the racers are arriving early. We watch them set up through the day. We also finalized preparations for our part in the big show. We inspected the burn car, and supervised its placement. We also coordinated with the pyro technicians and the announcers.

At 4 pm the gates opened and the stands started to fill. At 4:30 we had the driver's meeting right outside our door. This is a really well run operation, everything is pre-scripted and everyone knows the plan. At 6 the kids had their bike race, followed by the national anthem and then the series of races. In between the serious races, the car drop occurred, which was really cool. The falling Mazda totally flattened a mini van. Then the hornet cars (small 4 cyl junkers) were each given 4 pieces of duct tape and a bicycle. The object was to tape the bike onto the back bumper of your car. You are to knock the bikes off your competitors cars. The last car running with a bike attached wins. Really funny to watch! The crowd was getting excited.

More serious racing followed, then we had the domino jump. A local fellow jumped a station wagon through three cars standing on end. The pics above show the result. Next was the gauntlet race. A van races around the track, full of melons and cantaloupes and two guys to throw them. The little hornet cars chase the van, and try to block it in so it can't move, while the shooters hold them off by throwing melons at them. A real hoot, except we were on next and the track was now covered with melons and the 3000 gallons of water that they'd sprayed on the cars as they raced by. Oh well, the show must go on.

I was towed to the front stretch where Marlene supervised my car placement, and checked the burn vehicle. The promoter was on the track announcing live from in front of the car, and he read our whole Mike Flambet bio. Marlene's part of the story got some reaction from the crowd, and she even gave them a royal wave when they laughed and cheered.

I did our usual Fire and Fury show, with a change to suit two separate grandstands. The crowd seemed to love it. I did get into a four wheel slide on one corner due to melon and water problems, but survived to finish the show. After us there was the boat race, where each of 22 cars tows an old boat (NOT on a trailer) around the track. The object is to be the last car running with at least 4 ft. of boat still attached. What a riot. Marlene loved it!

After the boat race was a fantastic 10 minute fireworks show, then they opened the pits for fans. We were deluged by the crowd, all wanting autographed cards and to talk about the car. They sure liked the show, and we heard: "Thanks for coming here for us" from lots of nice folks. Marlene got some hugs from a few grandmotherly types who sympathized with her over my callous purchasing of the car without her permission! I signed over 600 cards for people.

After putting the car away for the night, we had a light supper of soup and grilled cheese then listened to some music while having a couple of drinks. The race crews were partying it up in the pits. I took Ben for a walk, and ran into the promoter, who was effusive in his praise for our show. He seemed to be really impressed, and had already been hearing lots of good feedback from fans. All in all a great night, and we even stayed up til 3 am partying!

We pulled out of Meridian at around noon, a little hungover but happy, and drove to Twin Falls where we deposited our check and dumped our tanks. Went to the liquor store, but it was closed, then went to the Jerome Walmart for the night. We stayed here before and it is a nice spot. Too bad we were hit with a HUGE windstorm around 11:30 pm when we were asleep in bed. It was the strongest wind either of us ever remember witnessing. Thought we were going to blow over. Took in the bedroom slide and the TV antenna and weathered the storm. In the morning the rig was half buried in tumble weeds. We'll stay here a couple of nights before moving on to Pocatello for our next gig. Stay tuned....

Spending some time in Idaho

Our next overnight stop was slightly before Twin Falls, at Burley. This is a Supercenter but has a surprisingly small parking lot. It was also noisy at night. In the morning, after a nice breakfast, we went further west, stopping at a truck stop in Jerome, ID to wash the rig. This time we had it RainX'd to make the wash last longer (we hope). It gets expensive at $75 a wash!

We reached Twin Falls, and stopped at a liquor store for some necessities, then followed the GPS to the track. Well, not quite. Following the GPS we ended up at the landfill, 5 miles from the track. The gate operator at the landfill was using his binoculars to watch several grass fires burning around the area. We turned around after getting directions, and found our way to Magic Valley Raceway. What a nice facility. Newer buildings and stands, all well maintained, and a great asphalt track surface.

We were assigned a nice pit area with power, and settled in and started cleaning and prepping the car for the show next night. Lots of out of town racers coming in for a big Pro 4 race. Crews ignored us, as they always do before they see our show. We barbecued some nice sirloin steaks, and had a nice evening watching TV with a bottle of wine.

Saturday morning and we took the car out of the trailer and started it up. A great wake up call for those crews still asleep in their rigs! Then we settled in to wait for our show after dark. The waiting is always hard. Racing started a 6 pm, and moved along well, until the two main events races. Both were long races, and plagued with wrecks, dragging things out for a long time.

Finally, racing was over and it was our turn. While one fellow dragged our burn victim car onto the track, another nice guy towed me in the car around the track where Marlene helped them line things up. They were supposed to water the grass in the burn area, but had not, and now we were all set to run they were trying to get the pump to work. Marlene took charge and told them to clear out, the fans weren't going to be happy waiting any longer. I fired up the car, and made another of our great performances. I immediately pulled off the track and into the pits, ran to the motor home to make a quick clothing change, then ran back to the car to sign LOTS of autographs. We had people lined up for half an hour waiting for an autographed card. Also had some nice comments from the previously aloof crews. When we had finally signed all the cards, we pushed the car to the trailer, and retired to a dinner of Minestrone soup and fresh French bread. A couple of cocktails followed, and a little TV viewing, before we collapsed into bed, exhausting. I think the most tiring thing is the waiting all day and evening to finally run the car.

Monday we left the track, and went 8 miles to the Walmart at Jerome. A nice store with lots of parking. We stayed there for 2 nights. On Tuesday morning I walked the 2 miles into downtown Jerome to buy a couple of things. What a poor town. Many closed down businesses. In fact, other than the thriving farm equipment dealers, only the Hispanic stores seemed to be doing well. Must be a lot of Hispanic people here judging by the large number of Mexican markets, restaurants, beauty parlors, travel agencies and accountants. Oh yes, the banks are all doing well offering refinancing of homes to pay down credit cards. Haven't we heard this before?

Walking the 2 miles back to Walmart, I saw a farm family in a parking lot selling corn off the back of their truck. Their young girl yelled at me as I walked by: "Hey, that's the jet car guy. Do you want to buy our corn?" How could I refuse. Six ears of sweet corn for $2. Marlene loves corn. This was my first encounter with fans away from the track... kind of weird.

On the way to our next stop at the Walmart in Meridian, we stopped to dump tanks and fill with water. We reached the Walmart at around noon and it was BUSY. It stayed busy until after 11:00 that night. We were lucky to squeeze into a spot. We left early Thursday morning so we wouldn't get blocked in by Walmart shoppers, and stopped for breakfast in an empty parking lot. Then we drove the 5 miles to the track. We reached Meridian Speedway without trouble, and discovered a nice, large track facility right in town. They have two large grandstands, which they tell me will be filled on Saturday night. Now we'll get the car ready, and watch the preparations for Saturday night's Eve of Destruction.

In the pics above you can see Montana riverside homes, a farm by the truck wash in Jerome, Magic Valley Speedway with double rainbows over it, and the Snake River Canyon.

Stay tuned....

On the road again

We left Edmonton at 9 am yesterday and headed south, stopping to fuel up in Camrose where gas was 6 cents a litre cheaper than Edmonton. Our drive to Taber was uneventful, and we spent a quiet night at the Walmart there. Both of us slept really well.

Today we woke early, ate breakfast and rolled south to the border. All went well until we reached the US border crossing. The officer there took our passports, asked us the usual questions about how long we were going for etc., then he ordered us to pull out of line, butt into the line of semis, and pass through the giant X-ray machine. After that we were ordered to circle around the entire complex, park in the inspection lane, and go into the office. They were still holding our passports. In the office, no one came to talk to us, so we asked an officer what to do. She told us to sit down and wait until someone called for us. We waited nervously for some time, until the original officer appeared and called us to the counter where he examined all our paperwork, asked more questions, and then left again to work on the computer. After waiting what seemed like hours, he came back, handed us our passports and wished us a good trip. WTF?! When we leave for Mexico in October or November we will stop first and ask if we'll have any trouble returning.

We stopped in Great Falls, Montana to refuel. 70 cents a litre here. We also filled our propane tank, about half the Edmonton price. We arrived at our night stop at the Walmart supercenter in Butte, to find that the grocery shelves were empty because apparently the trucks had not arrived with today's shipments. We bought what we could, and retired to roast a $3 chicken for dinner. Note: Our favourite wine is $3.97 here... highway robbery. At 6:30 pm I have counted 17 RV's here so far!

Tomorrow its on to Twin Falls, site of our next gig. We also got a call to do another job in Pocatello on August 21. Bonus. Stay tuned....

A fine time in Victoria, and some R & R

On Tuesday the 6th. we left Seal Bay and drove over the Malahat highway to Victoria, stopping in Duncan to pick up some groceries. Once again we were struck with a hard hit of sticker shock!

We arrived at Western Speedway in the afternoon, and tried to call the track owner, but with the lousy cell coverage at the track, and the fact that I kept getting his voicemail when I did get a signal, it was later that we finally heard from him. Turned out the reason I only got voicemail was that he was at his father's funeral! I felt bad to take his attention away just for us. We spent the night in the parking lot of the track, and next morning both the track owner and his manager, Harold, showed up. We sorted out arrangements for our Saturday gig, and they asked if we would display the car for that evenings hornet car races. We agreed, and said we'd even take the car onto the track and run a lap or two. They were really appreciative, and offered us a car to use while we were in town, so Marlene could visit her Mom.

That evening we got the car out and parked it by the ticket booth. People showed some interest, but not a lot. Our friends Ron and Cheryl arrived, and we had a nice visit with them, and shared a few beers. Then it was time to take the car onto the track. We had some help pushing into the track, and then I fired up the car. I made some fire, and started a fast pass, then the car died. No power... again. I was pissed. I knew it was probably a blown master fuse, but I didn't know what caused it. Anyway, I got to work trying to figure things out, and people were now leaving the track, and NOW they were interested in the car! Nobody seemed to realize that we had a problem, they were just wowed by the noise and fire we'd made. Some people who lived nearby came into the lot all white faced and worried about what all the noise was, and Ron calmed them down, explaining that it was a jet car.

Next morning I was up at 6 am working on the car before the day got too hot. I traced every wire in the car, and found what I believed to be the problem. After a few hours of working, it was time to clean up and go into town to visit Marlene's mom. We had a nice picnic in the park, and made arrangements for Marlene to visit again the next day.

Friday morning I drove Marlene into Victoria again to her Mom's place, and there she met her friend Nancy and the three of them went to a concert in the park. Apparently the music wasn't very good. Later, Nancy's husband Harley picked up Marlene and Nancy and they came out to the track. We had a nice little visit, and Nancy and Harley said they would try to come next night to see us perform.

Saturday we cleaned and prepped the car, and relaxed until it was time to move the trailer onto the track. Once set up there we relaxed and waited until show time. There was a good crowd in the stands, and the drivers and crews we met were nice folks. The announcer was the most professional one we've met yet, and he kept hyping up the crowd about our upcoming performance. They even played the US national anthem for us!

I made a run at half time, and then we waited through the racing, until it was over, then we pushed the car into position for our burn. The car ran well, the burn looked great, and I got to run a few laps. Then the fire crew tried to put the fire out using fire extinguishers. I'd warned them that wouldn't work, but they knew better. Well, they couldn't put the fire out. After using up 17 extinguishers, and trying the garden hose, they finally called the fire department who sent out two trucks which put out the blaze in about 5 minutes. All this time they wouldn't let the fans come down for autographs, so finally I took a box of hero cards and went up into the stands. I signed lots of cards, and was pleased to see Nancy and Harley had come, along with their son and his girlfriend. The fans had lots of nice things to say to us about the show, and we were really happy.

The folks at Western Speedway were great, and very professional. They were also the first track to tell us to get whatever we want from the concessions, on the house. We packed up and moved the rig near the parking lot exit for a quick getaway in the morning.

Sunday morning we were woken up by the sounds of arguing, coming from the vendors lining up for the flea market they hold at the track every Sunday. Since we were awake, we packed up and hit the road, arriving at the ferry terminal just in time to roll onto the 9 am ferry. Disembarking from the ferry at Tsawassen, we headed east towards the mountains and our first overnight stop in Kamloops. We were shocked to see the price of gas in Vancouver was even higher than Victoria, at $1.19 a litre.

Once we hit Merritt, we ran into extremely high crosswinds. I had to work to keep us on the road. Marlene didn't realize just how windy it was until she got out at the gas station in Merritt and just about blew away. Even the semis were having trouble with the wind, which lasted all the way to Kamloops. At the Kamloops Walmart we found a quiet corner and relaxed for the evening. The wind died down and we thought we would have a calm drive through the rest of the mountains, but we were wrong. About an hour after leaving Kamloops we hit the wind again, and it lasted all the way to our next stop in Airdrie, AB. It was howling mercilessly all night, and again in the morning as we drove the final stretch to Edmonton. We stopped to dump our tanks at Wetaskiwin and watched a fellow bravely climbing on his motor home roof to tape down a vent cover that had broken loose in the winds. We couldn't even keep our fridge lit, the wind was so intense! As we approached Edmonton the wind eased, but it started pouring rain, and continued to rain for our whole 2 weeks in town!

We had a nice visit with Miranda, and her boyfriend Colin. Marlene spent some time with her sister and we also got to visit with Danielle and her family and my nephew Brian. We had lined up a last minute job at Castrol Raceway, so we got to put on a show for family and friends on the dirt track there. The show went well, but we were not impressed with the operation of the track. Too much down time, and the fans got bored.

All in all we enjoyed our break in Edmonton, but now it's time to hit the road again. We have two gigs in Idaho next. We leave tomorrow early, and hope to cross the border on Wednesday morning. Stay tuned...