SW Trip Stop #11, Las Vegas—A Frustrating Stop

It was surprising just how frustrating our stop in Las Vegas was for us.  We planned to go to Laughlin, Nevada, but changed our mind after  experiencing a prior night without electricity and having concerns about the availability of hookups in Laughlin.  Instead, we made reservations at the Oasis RV Resort in Las Vegas.

The Resort was huge and inside the city.  Our site was #909, if that gives you any idea of its size.  We setup our site and headed to a nearby casino for dinner.

To understand my account of our experience at this stop, there are a few
things it would be helpful to know about us.  Neither of us has a good sense of direction, nor do we see well at night.  Lastly, we have been to Vegas before, but are not gamblers, so the city did not have a special appeal to us. We just wanted a good meal and the opportunity to do some laundry before getting back on the road the next morning.

First Frustrating Occurrence

Three negative things occurred during this stay.  The first was great difficulty navigating the area.

Dinner was okay, nothing special.  We used our GPS to get there and it was not particularly difficult.  It was still daylight then.

Upon leaving the casino,   it was quite dark. We did not program the GPS to get back because it seemed it would be a couple of right turns.  That did not work and we found ourselves on the network of roads directly above the big casinos on the strip.  We did a turnaround as soon as we could and were headed back in the direction of the campground.

I had GPS going then and there were a series of close interstate maneuvers needed for the return.  At one point you were to go right and then a very quick left.  I was not able to communicate the left in time and we found ourselves back at the casino.

Though we had GPS going, we did not make it back to the campground from the casino. I have no idea what went wrong, but we both were very frustrated.  Again, we were at the big casinos.  I was wondering if we were in a permanent loop, never to see our little camper again.

I am happy to say that we made it the next time back to the campground.  We did our laundry and turned in early, just grateful to be back.

Second Frustrating Occurance

The second negative about this stop was that most of the guests at this campground were quite unfriendly.  We would speak or wave and many would just look at you.  We have stayed at other RV Resorts where most of the people were friendly, but at this one, the opposite was true. Most of them were in enormous motorhomes.  I don’t think the unfriendliness was just our tiny trailer because it was often not around for the encounters.

Third Frustrating Occurance

The third negative was minor damage to our SUV.  We were driving down one of the roads in the campground when we encountered a couple working to install a big fifth wheel into a site.  It looked like it would be a good while before the road would be cleared and my husband tried to turn around in an open site.  He could not see a big round garbage can and it dinged the side of the car.  He is an excellent driver and this really upset him.

Lessons Learned

This was such a frustrating stop, I did not take a single photo. It likely would have been much better if we had went to Laughlin.  If we had brought solar panels and perhaps sleeping bags to keep warm, this stop would have been Laughlin instead of  Las Vegas.

In the big picture, this was not a major problem.  Under better circumstances and only daytime driving, this stop could have been okay.

At least we did not lose a boatload of money.

Next stop is Hurricane, Utah.  We are so happy that the weather is allowing us to make Utah a part of our trip.  If you are interested in how we planned this trip, this link outlines the process.   Planning That First Long Trip

We are so ready for Utah!