Geocaching gremlins grab GPS giving Gerri gross grief

A catastrophe struck in Yuma - one so traumatic that I pushed it deep back into my psyche. Only now can I face it. I lost my GPS’r - my handheld location finder, my geocaching tool. Without it I’m not a whole woman. There was only one way to save my sanity - I had to get a new one. I scouted the shops in Yuma after checking online to see who carried them. They’re usually found at sporting goods stores rather than electronic shops which usually just stock auto navigation units. But I went everywhere and all I found was a really basic model. It just wouldn’t do.

Then a light bulb (a theoretical one) went on! Months before I’d read about the new Garmin Colorado handheld which did absolutely ‘everything’ and more. I coveted it but how could I justify spending more than $500 when my Magellan Meridian was a pretty top notch unit…….but with it gone, I could now have the Colorado. But what to do in the interim? Not many shops stock it and to find one would be almost impossible. I knew I could order it online and I even found one merchant who was selling it for almost $100 less. I had to have it - it was imperative………. but we won‘t be home until April.

Aha! We would shortly be visiting our friends, L&J in Las Vegas and when I asked them if I could have it shipped to their address, they kindly assented. I had my order in and paid for within minutes and a week later, it was delivered. It arrived in Las Vegas three days ahead of us.

Bargain buffets bulk up bodies…….


I don’t know what Laughlin would do without the snowbirds, who flock to the casino parking lots and boondock. They might have free parking but most of them pay their way at the slots which are clanging and ke-chugging away from the onslaught. The buffets provide almost every meal. Laughlin casinos hand out 2 for 1 coupons for their ‘all-you-can eat’ extravaganzas. They’re ridiculously cheap before the additional discount - $5 or $6 for lunch and $8 or $10 for dinner. You can’t make a meal that cheaply. So I broke my golden rule and we had a buffet lunch at a different casino each day (for 3 days). It seems my frugality won out over my abhorrence of buffets. I made my usual mistake - I can’t seem to put a decent meal together - a little of this and a little of that makes for a hodge podge of flavours and nothing goes together. I would much rather have a meal prepared for me and served to me in a proper portion.

There are a lot of choices on where to boondock in Laughlin. Harrah’s at the far south end of the strip is a little off the beaten path; the River Palms high on a bluff affording boundless views but with the necessity of driving everywhere; the Tropicana which seems to be the most popular & is the busiest but RV’s are crammed in tightly; the Riverside had lots of space and the river walk was easily accessible and that’s what we chose. The breeze wafting down the Colorado River was appreciated as the temperature shot up each afternoon. The mercury soared to about 88 degrees F but then dipped again down to a much more comfortable 72 degrees F. It was pretty quiet and we got a spot right beside the river walk with a view over the river to Bullhead City. However, late at night, the chatter and laughter from the night owls strolling along the river walk was a bit aggravating but once we were asleep, they didn’t disturb us.

Fernie’s favourite poker room is at the Edgewater Casino so every afternoon he’d disappear for about three hours leaving Caesar and I to our indolence. No great wins for him overall - he does better online. There’s not much to keep me occupied there without my GPS, so I window shopped at the outlet centre and strolled the river walk and read a book. I really miss geocaching.

Luscious, lascivious, luminescent Las Vegas


Las Vegas is only a hundred miles north of Laughlin so we arrived there about 1pm after a late start gassing up, dumping and watering. Our friends J&L (AKA L&J) welcomed us to park in front of their house. They live on a short, wide and quiet street so I don’t think Maggie caused a problem with the neighbours.


As we pulled in, the landscaper was just pulling out. J&L had their lush lawn torn out and replaced with a rocky desert landscape, much easier to maintain especially with the amount of travel they do. The city of Las Vegas offered a rebate of approximately one half the cost. Water is such a precious commodity that they’re willing to reward those who conserve..
“But you didn’t get rid of all the lawn” I said pointing to the thick emerald patch in the centre.
“It’s artificial - Astro turf” they chorused, pleased that I couldn’t tell the difference. I immediately spread out on the turf and announced I was the first to do so. It was amazingly soft and seemingly authentic. Not to be outdone, J sprawled out too. As an elderly neighbour lady said on her evening stroll “It’s just like a park!”


So, we plugged Maggie in, pirated a neighbour’s strong unsecured Wifi signal and settled in. The weather during the week emulated the stock market in its volatility. Pleasant when we arrived, it disintegrated to clouds, high winds and even rain for a couple of days but returned to the usual sunshine and warmer temperatures. One night after we’d been in bed for a few hours, we were awoken by the wind battering Maggie unrelentingly and wildly swaying the palm trees in a wide arc creating a loud rustling and swooshing sound through the long dry fronds.


Each day, we celebrated ‘happy hour’ with margaritas some days, ruby or cranberry vodka tonics others and sometimes just wine and beer. It’s not just the Bobs that lead us astray or perhaps, it’s us - perhaps we lead them off track……hmmmmmm! Dinners were always together; a couple of nights L&J prepared dinner; another night we brought in barbecued chickens and made a salad; the other nights we dined out. We went back to our ‘regular’ haunt, the Cortez Room at the Gold Coast. J&L took us there the first time we visited them five or six years ago and we’ve gone there every year with them since. It’s a touch of old fashioned Las Vegas with the big curved booths and prices that have gone up little over the years. Unbelievably, dinner for four with a litre of chardonnay came to $70 - and that was prime rib for two and Chicken Cortez for the other two with salad, warm bread and all the fixings.


In the daytime, Fernie and I would go off geocaching - - - Oh yes! My GPS - my Garmin Colorado arrived at J&L’s and it is such a wonder. It is a learning experience though….every night I’d tinker with it and learn what it could do. It’s taken geocaching to a whole new level. YIPPEE!


A glorious sunny morning beckoned us out to Red Rock Canyon - only a half hour west of our Las Vegas abode. Earth caches are like virtual caches where there is no hidden treasure but they are all about natural phenomena. The circular route around Red Rock Canyon was riddled with earth caches which made us hike, climb, seek and learn. It was exhausting but fun and interesting.


Of course, a couple of days on ‘the strip’ were mandatory as was a visit to the ‘Gambling Store’, Fernie’s paradise where he picked up two books he’d been looking for. Las Vegas Boulevard (the Strip) is ever evolving. This year, the Palazzo a blah addendum to the Venetian had recently opened. Other than the huge faux Lalique statue of a couple of well padded female forms, it was not memorable. The Wynn has developed a mirror image by the name of the Encore which looks to be close to completion. The Aladdin has completed its transition to Planet Hollywood; the décor is art deco and is well done - big improvement. I was disappointed at first to see that the Desert Passage shops had been ‘art deco’d’ too but was pleased that they maintained the Arabian desert theme further back. But the most exciting of all is the huge work in progress between the Bellagio and the Monte Carlo. Finally, they’re filling in that long barren space with MGM’s Civic Centre. It’s a massive development of many buildings and I hope it’s complete by our next winter’s visit. A series of virtual geocaches led us along the Strip from the Welcome to Las Vegas sign all the way to downtown. It was a fun way to see it differently.


Note from Fernie: Surprisingly, there are lots of 2-4 Texas Holdem tables on the strip, whereas most native casinos have scrapped them for 3-6 and 4-8.


J&L loaded us down with additional goodies that they’d gleaned from casino giveaways - a pasta cooker, a set of square lock’n’lock plastic containers, a battery operated screw driver, a set of four coffee mugs with ceramic spoons and spoon holders in the handles and the best of all - a canister of pastel jelly bean Easter eggs - I just can’t stop nibbling them.



I didn’t spring for any shows this year. I was really tempted to see Bill Maher on whom I have an unlikely crush - it’s certainly not his looks that attract me but his opinions which usually agree with mine, his candour and his brilliant mind. He was playing at the Hard Rock - cheap seats were $45 and good ones $95 plus booking fees but he was only appearing on the 13th and 14th and we’d already made plans.


The week flew by and J reminded us as we were leaving to watch for a ‘cheapie’ cruise that the four of us could take together…..not the Caribbean or Mexico or Alaska…..maybe if that ‘28 day around Australia’ one drops it price………That’s how we met J&L on our 28 day around South America journey in 1998.



Dry distant desert days ………

We looked forward to some desert boondocking where we could veg out reading and writing for a few days. We drove west from Las Vegas to Tecopa where there’s some beautiful high desert BLM lands open to boondockers. First we stopped to dump in Tecopa and an old fellow in bib overalls and plaid shirt sauntered over to chat. A set of shiny stainless steel cutlery peeked out of his chest pocket ready for his next meal.
“So, you’re from Canada?” he asked rhetorically “I was born in Canada and lived from the east coast to the west” he continued “I rode the rails across the country in the thirties - - I’m 91 you know”
I gasped because I took him for 75 at the most. His smooth apple-cheeked face exuded a smile which displayed his gappy worn down teeth.
“That’s my trailer, over there” he pointed to an old dented green one parked in one of the county campsites. “I come down from Utah in November and I stay until the end of March - only $205 a month to park here and I get to go in the hot springs every day any time I want. Them springs cost $5 each person every time you goes otherwise.”
“Do you drive down yourself?” I asked amazed at this old geezer.
“Well, I did ‘til I had an accident - last year” he said sadly “they took away my license - but my daughter and her hubby drive it for me now.”
“You gotta go in them hot springs “ he carried on “Some folks go for their rheumatism and their bursitis but I got none of them things - I go because I like it.”
He chatted on with barely a stop for breath.
“I rode a horse down to Bella Coola in the forties” he told us “with two pack horses behind - now that was a journey” he grinned nostalgically. Bella Coola is on the mountainous coast of British Columbia and today it’s an extremely steep mountain road to access it - not for the faint of heart. I can’t imagine what it was like in the forties and on horseback. What an amazing 91 year old!


The BLM lands known by locals as Dodge City sit high up in the wide valley only a few miles out of the town of Tecopa affording a vista almost unimaginably stunning. That’s where we camped and the nearest other trailer of which there were only two was a half mile away. In the vernacular of those younger than us “It was totally awesome!” We spent the first day as planned - a couple of prone vegetables. That night the moon was full and so bright it cast our shadows on the desert floor as we took a stroll before bedtime - it was magical.

A bevy of geocaches in the area organized our proposed foray into the desert realm. Caesar was walked, the car was loaded and I was ready to go when Fernie suddenly doubled over in agony. “Oh no! what more can go wrong with him” I fought off a panic attack - after all, there was nobody else around. I had to be the strong one. I thankfully found out it wasn’t chest pain that crumpled him but more like his gall bladder attack only he doesn’t have a gall bladder any more. I made him pop an aspirin anyway, even though I didn’t think it was his heart. It’ll be my heart that gives out if he continues panicking me like this. We couldn’t help but think that if it were gallbladder related, we have no medical coverage for it now - we’d been warned by BCAA Medical that after the surgery’s follow up appointment for stitch removal nothing else concerning his gallbladder would be covered. So the decision was made on Fernie’s insistence. “We’re going home”. The pain abated slowly but it didn’t disappear and we left the wild open desert and drove back to civilization staying the night at Bakersfield. So instead of four glorious days in Dodge City then two more in Amorgosa at Marta Beckett’s Opera House and a few more idyllic days in Death Valley, it was galloping up Interstate 5 towards home. It just wasn’t worth the chance of Fernie needing hospitalization without medical coverage. Talking to our daughter, Tracey the following day, we were somewhat relieved to hear that she’d been told by her surgeon after her gallbladder removal that sometimes gallstones remain in the ducts and pass later - I‘m not sure where they go???. Hopefully they wait until Canada to pass.