We Are Not In Santee.....

I just turned the iPad on to do this entry and apparently last night's post did not publish until just now.  Sorry.  So, go back and read the previous post before you read this one.

We are in Jean, NV - 30 miles south of Las Vegas tonight.  Jean has two gas statiions, one casino/hotel and a state prison.  Nothing else.  We are comfortable in the casino/hotel for the night and will continue our journey tomorrow.  We are fine, the RV is fine, the truck is fine.   No worries.

As mentioned in previous post we did not take into consideration the possiblility of traffic between LV and Santee until we thought about it yesterday.  Well, traffic wasn't/isn't horrendous - it is mind boggling.  We left Nellis, which is north of LV, at 0830.  At 0930 we were about 20 miles south  of LV when the traffic became bumber to bumper and 10 miles an hour.  Three lanes!  Stop and go.  Only tail lights in our vew through the windshield.  The truck wasn't happy, Roger wasn't happy, I'm feeling crummy and Maggie can't figure out why we are poking along and she can't get out.  At 1030 we reached an exit for Jean.  Off to the right is a Shell station with traffic backed up to I-15.  Across from it is a graded pull out for big rigs.  We pulled off to take a break and decide what to do.

We ate our lunch in the RV.  It was cold and windy outside.  We could see the highway, all the cars trying to merge back on and we just decided we wouldn't make Santee before dark and we really didn't want to sit in the traffic.   We called them and told them we would be in tomorrow.  Our first thought was just to dry camp, but we have a minimal amount of water in the fresh water tank - just enough to flush the toilet when we make a pit stop.  Rog hasn't sanitized it yet this year, either.  We don't carry a generator and we knew it was going to be quite cold during the night and we have no idea how long our batteries would last with the furnace fan running and us using lights in the evening.  

Across the interstate from where we were is the Gold Strike Casino and Hotel.  Aha - warm room, showers, TV, etc.  We pulled into the parking lot next to some semi trucks.  Rog asked one guy if he knew how long and far the traffic mess was.  He had heard it was all the way to Barstow which is 125 miles.    So, we checked into a room about 1100.  Since it is a casino, the room is bare minimum and well used.  No fridge or micro and the tv is not very sharp because they want you downstairs and not in your room!  But, hey, we are ok with that.  We spent the afternoon dozing, reading, watching football, doing crosswords and taking the Maggs out for pee breaks.  We went out to the RV and made dinner -  spaghetti and green beans - and packed up our over night stuff.  At about 5pm we took a walk around the parking lots with Maggie and the traffic on the interstate was still at a snail's pace and the line to get out of the parking lot and onto the on ramp was probably a 20 minute wait.  As I said, the whole thing is just mind boggling.   

All these people from LA and San Diego went to LV for Thanksgiving?  Maybe some went to Grandma's house but I'm guessing that 95% didn't - just a long weekend in Vegas.  So, that brings up a question Roger has - surely these people have done this before on long holiday weekends.  Surely they know about the issue of returning home and having to go to work the next day.  If they have done this before, why, for goodness sakes would they opt to do it again?  You would think they would have learned their lesson.   We, being newbies at this, have no excuse but ignorance.  You can bet next year we won't be trying it again - we learned our lesson!

Maggie freaks out on elevators!!  We are on the 3rd floor.  She doesn't like the stairs either as they are cement with no risers and she can see between the treads.  She was a little spooked out by the whole thing.  We brought her bed in, but she wants to be on the big bed next to us.  Sounds from the next room and the hall have her on alert.  She has relaxed somewhat as the afternoon has progressed to evening, but every time a door slams her eyes fly open.  

Hopefully we will get some sleep tonight - last night wasn't one of our best sleeping nights.  My stuffy nose and full bladder made for an up and down night and every time it woke Roger up.  So, being tired today to start helped make our decision to call it a day at 1030.  I found some NyQuil in the gift shop, we got two beds, and we will be warm so we should have a better night and be ready to start again early tomorrow.  

I'm on the iPad, so have trouble figuring out to caption photos so here they are: 1) the line of traffic as far as the eye can see, 2) the line from the interstate to the gas station, 3) Maggs not getting far from Roger, 4) Maggs not getting far from me, and 5) Maggs able to relax and not be on top of us.