November 27, 2005

November 27, 2005

Hatch, Utah to Tuba City, Arizona

YEAR 2 DAY 163

 

WHOA ! ! ! We just found out ( at 7:30 P.M. ) that the temperature overnight in the Bryce Canyon area where we were, dropped to -2 degrees F. ! That would explain some of today's problems.

When I showered this morning, I filled the shower waste water holding tank, and used up the rest of the water in the fresh water holding tank. < sigh > There was an inch or so of standing water in the shower stall, so I had to drain the holding tank before we departed. I couldn't get the drain valve open. It was frozen. I pulled and pulled, worried that I would break the valve, or the valve handle, or tear the rubber seals on the valve. I finally managed to get the valve open, and drained the bathroom grey water. Before we left I went over to the Class C from B.C. with the couple from England to give them some tourist information booklets from Las Vegas. There was snow on the ground, and it was very cold.

Between very cold temperature, and high elevation thin air, I had a lot of difficulty starting Dee-Dee. Diesels are hard to start in cold temperatures, and at high elevation, it was particularly a problem. Belched a lot of black smoke into the campground. We departed Riverside Resort & RV Park, heading south on Hwy. 89. We stopped for diesel in Mount Carmel Junction. The Chevron station we were at had a trailer dump station, so it gave us an opportunity to refill the fresh water. We tried to drain the kitchen grey water tank, and the black water tank, but the black water tank valve was frozen shut. I was unable to get it open, so we had a full fresh water tank, but only 2 of the 3 waste holding tanks emptied. Oh, well. I was hopeful that it would thaw by tonight. The Chevron station didn't have propane, so we drove across the street to Texaco and refilled a propane tank. We continued south on Hwy. 89 to Kanab where it turned east. Bo got sick and vomited in the truck. He's never done that before. We stopped for lunch, and to clean up the truck, at a BLM ( Bureau of Land Management ) Information Centre at the entrance to the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument area. It's an area where archaeologists have uncovered dinosaur bones and fossils.

We cleaned the mess Bo made in the truck, had lunch, then continued east on Hwy. 89. We had descended from about 8000 feet to about 5000 feet, so itwas a little warmer, but very windy. Shortly after Hwy. 89 turned south again, it crossed from Utah into Arizona. We crossed the Glen Canyon Dam at Page, where we stopped to buy some groceries at Safeway, and a few supplies at Wal-Mart, as well as take some photos of Glen Canyon. As we were leaving Page, Lorri phoned. Joanne chatted with her for awhile as we headed out of Page, continuing south on Hwy. 89 through bright red cliffs and canyons. Fascinating scenery ! We were hoping to make it all the way to the Grand Canyon today, but we didn't make it. As it was getting dark about 5:30, we turned east on Hwy. 160 into the Navajo Nation area. We stopped at Tuba City, at the Quality Inn which has a very nice RV park. We checked in at the hotel front desk, then found our assigned site in their RV park. We extended the slides, and connected the power, and decided that was all we were going to set up for tonight.

Joanne took a shower, since I used up all the water this morning before she showered, and I went to the hotel lobby to sign onto Wi-Fi to update my blog, send and receive e-mail. By the time I returned to the trailer, Joanne had finished showering and preparing supper. We had supper. I worked on today's journal, then did today's accounting. I downloaded and processed today's photos while we watched the news and weather on TV. Tonight's overnight temperature here will be 21 degrees F.. If the black water tank valve thawed today, it will be frozen again tomorrow morning. The temperature is supposed to be very cold, for this area, for the next week. Darn !

I've just walked Bo ( 10:45 P.M. ). Since there is Wi-Fi in the hotel, I'm going to the lobby to get online and post this entry to my blog before reading today's newspaper in bed.

DSK

November 26, 2005

November 26, 2005

Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah

YEAR 2 DAY 162

 

We are at a much higher elevation today then we were yesterday. HA ... it was Joanne's turn to get sprayed with toothpaste exploding out of the tube due to yesterday's higher air pressure trapped inside.

Today was sunny and cold. The weather forecast on TV last night predicted severe winter storms just north of us, but it hasn't quite reached as far south as this yet.

Oh, gee ... I've just walked Bo ( 8:15 P.M. ). We're having a blizzard. The last time I was outside was about 5:30 P.M. and I could see approaching clouds, but it was still sunny. I came inside, it got dark, I closed the blinds, and got a huge surprise when I stepped outside just now.

This morning while Joanne prepared a picnic lunch for a day trip to Bryce Canyon National Park, I reinstalled the bedroom ceiling roof vent handle that came loose and fell off yesterday, then installed the floor register that I bought yesterday at Home Depot. We unhitched the truck from the trailer, and headed off for Bryce Canyon. On the way out of Riverside Resort & RV Park, we stopped at the office and paid for 2 nights. I was annoyed that there was no reduction in their rate, considering the water is turned off, and the restrooms / showers are closed for the winter. We headed north on Hwy. 89, then east on Hwy. 12 to Bryce Canyon National Park. Before we got to the park, we passed through Red Canyon, where we stopped and took many spectacular photos. Once in Bryce Canyon National Park, out first stop was Sunrise Point. We took more photos, then hiked along the rim of the canyon to Sunset Point. More spectacular photos walking along the rim, and at Sunset Point. We hiked back to the truck at Sunrise Point, ate our picnic lunch, then drove to Inspiration Point. The hike up to Inspiration Point was short, but the trail rose from about 8000 feet to about 8300 feet. GAD ! My lungs were screaming for air, and my knees were throbbing ! More spectacular photos. We hiked back down to the truck, and drove over to Bryce Point. More photos at Bryce Point. By then we were quite tired, and decided we had seen the 4 main attractions of Bryce Canyon, so we would head back to the trailer. On the drive back to Hatch, we stopped and took more photos at Red Canyon.

Once we got back to the trailer, I was so tired I decided to take a brief nap. When I got up, we hitched Harvey to Dee-Dee again, to save time tomorrow morning, and just in case the weather is poor tomorrow morning. I phoned Passport America and renewed our annual membership. I phoned Sharon to have a chat. While chatting with Sharon, a Class C rig pulled into Riverside Resort & RV Park. Oh, goody, we won't be all alone here tonight. We noticed that it had B.C. license plates, so while I continued chatting with Sharon, Joanne went over to say hello to some fellow Canadians. After I finished my phone call with Sharon, I went over to join her. As I approached Joanne, and the couple standing beside their rig, the woman recognized me. WOW ... I had assisted them last summer at West Hawk Lake. What a coincidence ! They actually are not from B.C.. They are a couple from England, travelling around North America for a year. They bought a used RV in Vancouver last spring, and will sell it there next spring before returning to England. We chatted with them beside their rig for awhile, about their travels and ours, then invited them into our trailer to give them some information about Las Vegas, where they're headed next.

After they left, I worked on today's photos, while Joanne prepared supper. We had supper, then I did today's accounting and journal entry. Joanne just peeked outside and said the snow is rapidly accumulating. Uh-oh !

DSK

November 25, 2005

November 25, 2005

Hurricane to Hatch, Utah

YEAR 2 DAY 161

 

Today was partially sunny, warm where we started from, and cold where we ended up.

This morning I phoned Arizona State Parks to inquire about campground host positions in January or February. Their campground host positions are all filled until April. DARN ! We really lost out by using the Good Sam RV Club Campground Host Program as a middleman. We should have applied directly, and next year certainly will do so, probably in July for a January / February assignment. As we were hitching up and preparing for departure, I ripped an almost new Eukanuba cat food t-shirt. DARN !

We left Zion's Gate RV Resort, heading east on Hwy. 9 through Hurricane to Leeds. We turned northwest on Hwy. 17 and took it to Interstate 15. We drove north on I-15 to the north entrance of Zion National Park, the entrance to Kolob Canyons. While Joanne prepared lunch in the trailer, I unhitched the truck from the trailer. We had lunch, and left the trailer in the parking lot of the Visitor Centre while we drove up into Kolob Canyons. Very scenic. I found it interesting that the road asphalt in this part of Utah is red, not black. The cliffs and canyons are red, the soil is red, so I guess the gravel used in asphalt must be red also. We stopped for many photos. It got colder as we drove higher. We drove back down to the Visitor Centre, and hitched up the trailer again.

We continued north on I-15 to Cedar City. We stopped at Cedar City to fill up with diesel, and shop at Wal-Mart and Home Depot. Joanne went to Wal-Mart while I went to Home Depot next door. At Cedar City we turned onto Hwy. 130 going north for a short distance, then turned east on Hwy. 14. Dee-Dee faced her toughest challenge yet. An 18 mile long ascent, at an 8% grade, to an elevation of 9900 feet. Whew ! It was brutal, but she was up to the task, although barely. By mile 14, the maximum speed we could achieve was down to about 40 km./hr. / 25 mph, in first gear. We made it over the summit, and continued on the High Plains to Hwy. 89. We turned north on Hwy. 89 and drove to Hatch, where we stopped for the night at Riverside Resort & RV Park. The office was closed, so we found ourselves a site. We were the only rig here. The water was turned off, so all we hooked up was electricity. It was very cold. We had the furnace running all night, and turned on the Arctic Pack to heatthe holding tanks and plumbing.

I did today's accounting and photos while Joanne prepared supper. We had supper, then I worked on today's journal entry while Joanne washed dishes. I printed the MasterCard statements I downloaded about a week ago, and have already paid. Tonight I reconciled them. I don’t usually pay bills before reconciling them, but I wanted to get the bills paid while we had Wi-Fi access, and good cell phone service.

Tomorrow we'll take a day trip to Bryce Canyon National Park.

DSK

November 24, 2005

November 24, 2005

Zion National Park, Utah

YEAR 2 DAY 160

 

Happy American Thanksgiving.

Today was sunny and warm.

Yesterday when we arrived here it was already dark, so we extended the slides and connected power only. This morning I completed our arrival procedures, connected water and sewer, and unhitched the truck from the trailer. I did preventive maintenance, did a tiny maintenance job on the water heater exterior access door, then applied the Utah decal to the map on the side of the trailer. That makes 24 states we've visited so far ... and 5 provinces. Oh ... and Mexico. That's half of North America. In 17 months.

Joanne prepared a picnic lunch, and we set off for a day trip to Zion National Park. As we were walking out of the trailer, and getting into the truck, my Ottawa investment broker's assistant Rhonda phoned with details of my latest investment transactions. Oh, goody ... the exchange rate is quite favourable. The Canadian dollar must be strengthening. We drove about 25 miles east on Hwy. 9 to the eastern entrance to Zion. We thought we would have the place to ourselves today, considering that today is Thanksgiving. We were wrong. There were a lot of people visiting Zion today. After entering the park, we stopped at the Visitor Centre to get some information, and have our picnic lunch. Zion is at the confluence of 3 ecosystems : the Mojave Desert, the High Plains, and the Colorado Plateau, whatever that is. The result is such strange sights as Prickly Pear Cacti growing beneath deciduous trees. The deciduous trees this far south are still bearing leaves, in fall colours. Quite lovely. Joanne said she was glad to see fall colours, as we sort of missed fall in Canada this year, spending most of it in the cold rain of British Columbia. There were 2 routes to drive through Zion, but we were prohibited from driving on one of them. On the one we were not allowed on, there is a mile long tunnel that is not wide enough to accommodate a dually. Must be an awfully narrow tunnel. There is a $15 fee to be escorted through the tunnel. We spent the afternoon exploring the Zion Canyon Scenic Drive. We stopped frequently to take photos. We took a short, steep hike to the Court Of The Patriarchs viewpoint. We took another short, steep hike to Weeping Rock.

Weeping Rock is a cliff face that water seeps through. The trail leads under a ledge, where you stand behind the falling water. At Weeping Rock, as I was preparing to take a photo, a man with a large family group asked if I would please take their photo. Sure. As the family group was assembling for the photo, a woman in the group handed me another camera. Now I had 3 cameras in my hands. Mine and 2 of theirs. While attempting to put my camera into my fanny pack, of course I dropped one of their cameras. The battery popped out, and the camera was covered in mud. Underneath the ledge the ground is wet. The woman, and her husband, put the battery back into the camera, cleaned off the mud, then fiddled and fiddled with the camera, but it wouldn't work. I apologized profusely, took their picture with the first camera given to me, then apologized some more. I waited around for awhile while they fiddled with the broken camera, then left, feeling absolutely terrible. There's nothing I hate more than damaging somebody else's possessions. It bothered me all day, and still does !

We continued our exploring, stopping at Temple Of Sinawava and finally, The Grotto. Much of Zion National Park that we saw was stupendous red rock cliffs and canyons. On the way out of the park we stopped at a couple of rock and gem shops to browse.

We drove back to the trailer at Zion's Gate RV Resort, getting home just at dusk. I spent quite awhile working on today's photos. Joanne did a load of laundry, and prepared large turkey drumsticks for our American Thanksgiving dinner. We had supper, then watched Survivor and The Apprentice. I did today's accounting, then this journal entry. We're quite tired. We walked a great deal for 2 days in Las Vegas, and again today at Zion. Plus, I'm still feeling just a bit run down from having a cold.

DSK

November 23, 2005

November 23, 2005

Las Vegas, Nevada through NW Arizona to Hurricane, Utah

YEAR 2 DAY 159

 

Today was sunny and warm.

Poor Joanne. She was sick last night and this morning with food poisoning. Who needs California's colonic cleansers when you can just eat at a Las Vegas casino buffet ?

We were slow preparing to leave Las Vegas this morning because of how ill Joanne was. This morning I phoned Camping World Road Care to subscribe to their Emergency Roadside Service starting December 1. My Good Sam RV Club Emergency Roadside Service expires November 30. I'm angry at Good Sam about this campground host fiasco, so I took my ERS business elsewhere. Then I phoned Bank Of Montreal Direct Banking and paid my U.S.$ MasterCard. Apparently it's not possible to arrange to pay my U.S.$ MasterCard, from my U.S.$ bank account, online. I have to do it by telephone. Okay ! We prepared to leave, drained holding tanks, refilled water, hitched up, and left the Main Street Station RV Park about 11:00 A.M. heading northeast on I-15 out of Las Vegas. On the outskirts of Las Vegas, we stopped at Flying J to fill up with diesel. We didn't really need fuel yet, but Flying J's diesel price is always the best price around.

At Mesquite, Nevada, near the Arizona border, we stopped at the Nevada Tourist Information Centre to pick up a Nevada map and campground book. This is not the first time we've picked up the information we need, on our way out of a state, as opposed to on the way in. Hey ... better late than never. We also went to a supermarket in Mesquite to replenish our groceries. We continued northeast on I-15, crossing into the northwest corner of Arizona, and crossing from the Pacific time zone into the Mountain time zone. We were only in the corner of Arizona for about half an hour, but it was a spectacular drive through the Virgin River Canyon in the Virgin Mountains. Today's drive took us out of the fairly flat desert area of Nevada into the canyon lands area of Arizona, then Utah. The cliffs and canyons are all red rock, and the valleys are red soil.

As soon as we crossed from Arizona into Utah, we stopped at another Flying J to fill with diesel again, in the city of St. George, Utah. Saw Mormons for the first time. Seventy percent of Utah's population are Mormon. At Hwy. 9 we turned east towards Zion National Park, tomorrow's objective. We stopped for the night at Zion's Gate RV Resort, in Hurricane, Utah, just as it got dark.

Joanne was feeling better by then. We had a simple supper, then I worked on downloading and processing all my Las Vegas photos. That took up quite a bit of the evening. Next was today's accounting, and the MasterCard payment accounting. Then I did today's journal entry while Joanne baked cookies.

DSK

November 22, 2005

November 22, 2005

Las Vegas, Nevada

YEAR 2 DAY 158

 

Today was sunny and very warm. But, hey ... this is Vegas. Who cares ? Inside these huge casino hotel complexes, there is no sense of time of day, day or night. No clocks on the walls, no windows. Just keep pulling that handle, Bubba.

While walking The Strip last night, hawkers kept handing me coloured photo "business cards" advertising ( AHEM ) "private dancers". For only $69, they'll come right to your hotel room, and dance their little hearts out. Hey ... this is Vegas, remember ? For the special price of only $129, you can get 2 of them. I'll bet 2 at a time can really dance up quite a storm.

While looking through some tourist info booklets, I discovered some interesting facts about The Fountains of Bellagio. They are set in a lake of 8.5 acres. There are 1200 synchronized, choreographed, dancing fountains spanning over 1000 feet, shooting water 460 feet high.

WHEW ... we have just returned from walking The Strip, and sightseeing, for about 7 hours. Our feet ache and we're very tired.

This morning we walked down to the Main Street Station Hotel about a block away. It's their RV park that we're in. We went inside and wandered around. It's a very elegant old hotel, that was obviously the Las Vegas train station a long time ago. From Main Street Station we walked a few blocks down Main Street to Freemont Street, to wander around "The Freemont Experience" pedestrian mall. Freemont Street is now closed to vehicle traffic. The Main Street and Freemont Street areas are "old" Las Vegas. While everything is maintained well, and updated to today's glitziness, it's obvious that this was the Las Vegas of more than 50 years ago. We walked the length of The Freemont Experience pedestrian mall, perhaps about 10 blocks. We stopped for a Krispy Kreme donut, then headed back to our RV park.

We had intended to see a show today, but last night and this morning Joanne studied the tourist information we had picked up, and decided that there was too much she wanted to sightsee to allow us to attend a show. She had an itinerary and route planned. We had lunch in the trailer, then headed for The Strip. We drove to MGM Grand, and once again parked in their parkade.

We walked across the street, diagonally, which is a lot more effort and walking than it sounds like, to The Excalibur. We walked around The Excalibur's casinoand public areas until we found The Medieval Village stage we were looking for. An odd thing about all the casinos and hotels, is no point A to point B is a straight line. One has to navigate through slot machines, and gaming tables, and retails shops, to get to anywhere from anywhere. The entertainment that was supposed to be at The Medieval Village Stage wasn't there. Zero for one !

We found our way from The Excalibur back to The MGM Grand, and from there to the nearby Ethel M Chocolate Factory. What was supposed to be The Ethel M Chocolate factory was just a very small retail storefront. They happily provided driving instructions to their factory, perhaps 15 or 20 minutes away. Geeez ... it would take longer than that to walk back to The MGM Grand's parkade, and probably about that long again to drive out of the parkade. Zero for two !

We walked down The Strip to The Aladdin. There we found the retail shops area called Desert Passage. It was a significant sized shopping mall within the hotel. We walked around Desert Passage until we came to The Rainstorm. In the middle of the mall is a pond. Once per hour, there is a rainstorm. Clouds roll in, there's thunder and lightning, and it rains on the pond. I kid you not !

You have to give credit where it's due. The amount of imagination and creativity exhibited in Las Vegas architecture, landscaping, and fantasies, is astounding.

We continued walking down the Strip until we came to The Boardwalk. There we found an outdoor shopping area called Hawaiian Marketplace. The name explains the fantasy theme. I was already getting tired of walking, so I sat down and rested while Joanne shopped.

From there we walked over to The Bellagio. We timed our arrival so that we could watch another exhibition of The Fountains at Bellagio. Then we went inside. OMIGOD ! More grandeur than a 90 degree thinker like me could ever have imagined. We were going into The Bellagio specifically to see The Conservatory. It's an indoor horticultural conservatory that is impressive beyond description. Once every quarter, they change the seasonal theme of The Conservatory. It takes 100 people a week to do each changeover. The Conservatory is plants, trees, shrubs, and vegetables, turned into art. As we walked by The Bellagio's front desk, the wildly imaginative horticulture was evident again in the massive garden area behind the front registration counter. Behind the counter, not in front of it, so guests view it while registering. Joanne commented that if she ever got to the point of having unlimited funds, The Bellagio would be where she would choose to live. Without a doubt, it was the most impressive architecture, landscaping, and interior design we've ever seen. We timed our exit from The Bellagio to once again watch the hourly display of The Fountains. Water, lights, and music, choreographed and synchronized. I found it impossible to not have my mouth hanging open while watching this, even for the third time.

Whew ... the day was getting long and tiring by now. We walked over to The Flamingo, to walk around their inner courtyard Wildlife Habitat. A created jungle, with birds and fish. Very nice, but becoming difficult to appreciate at this level of fatigue. We needed to have supper already. We went inside The Flamingo, and checked out their menu restaurants and buffet restaurant. There were lengthy line ups, so I convinced Joanne we should go on to our next stop, The Mirage, for dinner.

We trudged over to The Mirage. We checked out their menu restaurants, and buffet restaurant. No line ups, but too pricey. We decided to walk back to The Flamingo < sigh >. We would return to The Mirage after dinner to see the attraction that brought us there.

On the way back to The Flamingo we decided to go into Harrah's and consider having dinner there. We chose their buffet restaurant. Relatively short line up, and somewhat reasonable price. Well, reasonable for Las Vegas. I expected meal prices to be low in Las Vegas. After visiting Chuckchansi Gold Casino & Resort in Coarsegold, California, I thought all casinos had cheap buffets to entice customers. Not so in Las Vegas. We had a nice dinner. Not great. Not cheap. We couldn't help but notice, a couple of tables over, an elderly gentleman and 2 hookers. They entered the restaurant through the VIP "comp" entrance. I wonder how much money an old man has to lose at the casino for the hotel to spring for dinner and a couple of hookers ? Immediately after dinner, Joanne began to feel ill. I don't know if dinner was the cause, or something else. She continued to become more ill as the evening wore on.

We trudged back over to the Mirage. We lined up on the street to watch their "volcano" explode. Very creative. Very well done. But ... it ain't The Fountains at Bellagio !

We dragged ourselves over to the nearest monorail station and indulged ourselves in a monorail ride back to The MGM Grand. We were a couple of miles down The Strip from The MGM Grand, and could not walk back. We searched the parkade until we finally found the truck. The parkade layout sure looks different at night, especially if you approach it from the monorail station instead of from inside the hotel. It wasn't embarrassing to be wandering around inside the parkade looking for the truck. The parkade is filled with people wandering around looking lost, looking for their vehicles. Looks like a scene from some cheap horror film spoof.

We drove back to Main Street Station's RV park, where Bo was desperate to be walked, and Teddy was desperate to be fed. After we took care of both of those, Joanne went to bed feeling quite ill, and I did today's accounting and journal entry.

Good night !

DSK

November 21, 2005

November 21, 2005

Pahrump to Las Vegas, Nevada

YEAR 2 DAY 157

 

Today was sunny and very warm.

OH ... OH MY ! ! ! I don't know how to even begin to describe Las Vegas. Except, that along with Times Square in Midtown Manhattan, it is a place that everybody should experience once in their life.

This morning we received a phone call from our contact at New Mexico State Parks. She had no campground host positions available until May. All her campground host positions are filled until then. Well, that's no good to us. After regular morning routines, chores, and preventive maintenance, I phoned Manitoba Pharmacare to discuss our recent application for coverage. Then I went to the clubhouse to get online to check if both our Canadian $ and U.S.$ MasterCard statements were available. They were. I paid the Canadian one online, but wasn't able to pay the U.S.$ one online. I'll have to pay it by phone within the next few days. I sent an e-mail to Bank Of Montreal to see if they can set up my online Direct Banking to permit me to pay my U.S.$ MasterCard online. Then I sent an e-mail to the Good Sam RV Club Campground Host Program to advise them that there must be some misunderstanding between them, and New Mexico State Parks. Our application, through the Good Sam RV Club Campground Host Program was clear. We want a campground host position for January and / or February, not something starting in May.

I returned to the trailer, and we prepared for departure. We pulled out of Pair-A-Dice about 11:30 A.M.. We headed east on Hwy. 160 towards Las Vegas. While driving, the Good Sam RV Club Campground Host Program Co-ordinator phoned, in response to my e-mail. Joanne had a lengthy discussion with her, which was totally unsatisfactory. I was unable to avoid driving over a tarantula on the road. Just before Las Vegas we turned onto Interstate 15 into Las Vegas. We found our way to the Main Street Station Hotel, and their RV park about a block down from the hotel. Joanne had selected this as the most likely place for us to stay. We pulled into the RV park, then phoned the hotel to make a reservation for a site. Their sites are available only by reservation. We made a reservation, then immediately pulled into our assigned site. I unhitched and set up while Joanne walked back to the hotel to pay for our reserved site. The RV park is just a big parking lot in downtown Las Vegas, with oversized parking spots to accommodate RV's. Each site is fully serviced with power, water, and sewer. It's like parking in a Wal-Mart parking lot, but with full hook-ups. Fine ! Nobody comes to Las Vegas for the peaceful, scenic RV parks. We had a very late lunch. I took Bo for an obedience training walk. He did superb. Good dog, Bo.

We jumped in the truck, and headed for Las Vegas Boulevard. The Strip ! HOLY SHIT ! We entered The Strip at the north end, the old end. We parked beside The Riviera, across the street from The Stardust. We wanted to check out what shows were available at the half price ticket booth. There are 2 businesses that sell half price tickets to today's shows. There were no shows that we were particularly interested in, so we decided we'd drive down to the south end of The Strip and check out the other half price ticket booth. But first we wanted to see what a Vegas casino looked like. We walked across the street to the Stardust. HOLY SHIT ! Acres of slot machines and gaming tables. Gaudy carpets. A tacky, cheesy ambience. Restaurants and shops. Just about what I had expected. We crossed the street again and went into The Riviera. More of the same, but a little less cheesy / tacky. Woo-Hoo ! Penny slots. Joanne's favourite. AND ... with a maximum prize on the penny slots of a new Mercedes Benz ! As we left The Riviera and walked back to the truck, we were each handed a coupon for a free slot pull, and a free gift, at The Riviera. Okay, back into The Riviera we went. Got our free slot pulls, and our free gifts. Oh, goody, bling for Amelia, Joanne's 4 year old niece.

We got into the truck, and headed south on The Strip. The further south we drove, the newer, and larger, AND LARGER,, AND LARGER, the hotels and casinos became. The half price ticket booth we wanted was near The MGM Grand, so we found The MGM Grand, and parked in their parkade. On level 3 of 6. Must hold a bazillion vehicles. We walked into The MGM Grand. HOLY SHIT ! How is it possible to get that many slot machines and gaming tables into one place ? And where the hell did all these people come from ? You've got to admire Las Vegas's ability to think big ! We found our way out of The MGM Grand, and began to walk The Strip.

The second half price ticket booth also had nothing of interest to us. We walked, and walked, and walked, for about 5 hours. We went into The Monte Carlo, watched the dancing fountains outside The Bellagio ( HOLY SHIT ! ), went intoCaesar's Palace ( HOLY SHIT ! ! ! ), then crossed the street and went into Bally's, and The Paris, before finally getting back to The MGM Grand. I took a video clip of the dancing fountains at The Bellagio. It's the first time I've used the video function on my digital camera. Hope it worked. Yesterday was the 25th anniversary of the huge fire at what is now Bally's, what was then The MGM Grand, before they built the new MGM Grand. Each of these hotels / casinos seems larger and more elaborate then the one before. In each one we walked through the casino, the hotel lobby and public areas, the restaurants, and the retail shops. The Paris really does have the ambience of Paris, right down to the Eiffel Tower. Hard to believe. Just before we got back to The MGM Grand, we had a fast food supper at a food court. Back at the MGM Grand, we returned to a retail shop we had been to earlier, Houdini's Magic Shop. I had seen a couple of professional magic tricks that were of interest to me, and while we walked, Joanne encouraged me to buy them. We browsed through the shop, picked out some magic supplies I am running low on, and Joanne bought the 3 magic tricks that were of most interest to me, as her Christmas gifts for me. Thank you.

We were exhausted by then, and it was late. We drove back to the trailer at Main Street Station. I walked Bo. He really had to go ! Joanne fed Teddy and Bo. They were really hungry ! I did today's accounting, while Joanne perused some tourist info we had picked up. She went to sleep, while I worked on this journal entry.

Whew ... long, exciting day.

DSK

November 20, 2005

November 20, 2005

Pahrump, Nevada

YEAR 2 DAY 156

 

Today was another sunny, hot day. I sure could get used to this desert weather all winter.

Today was a day for maintenance and "home improvement" projects. After regular morning routines, chores, and preventive maintenance, I started on a series of projects. First I had to remove a floor register to retrieve the mushroom plug that had fallen into it. Then I had to find where that mushroom plug, and another one I found on the floor the other day, belonged. Travelling on bumpy roads dislodges the little wooden mushroom plugs that are covering countersunk screws all over the inside of the trailer. Usually when they fall out, I glue them back into place, but even the glued in ones sometimes fall out on really rough roads. I found the locations of the 2 missing mushroom plugs, and replaced them. Next I fabricated another slide wedge for use under the front edge of the living room / dinette slide when it's retracted for travel. I had previously made two wedges, but decided I need a third one. I bought the materials I need recently, and today made the third one by gluing felt to the underside of a wheel chock. Then I took Bo for an obedience session. Good dog, Bo. He really does quite well most days when I take him for an obedience training walk fairly early in the day. Like I said before, I guess that's why we send children to school in the morning, not the evening. Next I cleaned, polished, and weather protected my black leather shoes. I sure am hard on shoes. Always have been. Working on my shoes inspired Joanne to clean and polish a pair of her shoes that she thought were beyond redemption. I gave her a special shoe cleaning compound that I have, and when she was finished cleaning and polishing her shoes, they looked like new.

Finally I got started on my main project of the day. First Joanne emptied everything out of the "basement" pass through storage area while I got out all the tools and hardware I was going to need. I did some careful measuring, then squeezed myself into the pass through to drill through the wall, into the back of the stairs inside the trailer. I drilled and installed three screws into the back of the lowest stair to secure the stair box in place. What a cramped, hot space to work in. Then I cut, filed, sanded, and stained a piece of quarter round to replace the one on the top stair that broke recently. That part of the job went better than I had expected. Then I decided I might as well remove the 2 pieces of moulding on the bottom stair, and replace them as well. Those pieces looked somewhat dirty, and I didn't think MRO Services in Vancouver had varnished them. I removed the 2 pieces of moulding, then cut and stained replacement pieces. It was time for a very late lunch.

By the time lunch was finished, the varnish on the moulding pieces had dried enough that I could handle them. I drilled little pilot holes for finishing nails, and installed the three pieces. Joanne had intended to varnish them again after they were installed. Well, everything with this job went as well as could be expected, but when I was done, I was dissatisfied. First of all, the bottom edge of the riser of the bottom stair is slightly warped, and the moulding piece doesn't quite sit flat against the riser. Maybe longer brads / finishing nails would have been better, but I bought the smallest, shortest finishing nails I could find, to do this job. Secondly, the quarter round moulding isn't the right colour to match the rest of the wood in the trailer. The quarter round I bought must be spruce, or perhaps pine. All the wood in the trailer is oak, and looks darker than the quarter round that I installed today. I guess MRO Services had indeed varnished the moulding they used, but like mine, it wasn't oak. The job is finished, for now, but eventually I'm going to want to do it again using oak moulding. When I was all finished, I was left feeling quite dissatisfied / dismayed that most of a day's efforts will have to be done again another time.

Late in the afternoon, we headed into town to go Wal-Mart'n ( which is a verb in parts of America ). On the way to Wal-Mart, I had a close call, almost running over a motorcyclist who wiped out beside and in front of me. This is the second time recently that I've encountered similar bonehead manoeuvres. Today, a motorcyclist behind me thought I was taking too long to make a right turn at an intersection. He attempted to make the right turn, from behind me to in front of me, on the right hand side of me, inside the turn. As I turned right, looking left, he spun out on the gravel shoulder, spun the motorcycle 270 degrees, fell, and slid across the road in front of me as I turned. What a total bonehead ! As I turned my head to the right while turning, all I saw was a motorcycle spin out, and the driver fly off and slide across the road in frontof me. I slammed on the brakes just before running over him. He picked himself up, looking very embarrassed, and as he started to pick up his motorcycle, with the now broken rear view mirror, Joanne rolled down her window and we both asked him if he was okay. He mumbled. We asked again. He mumbled again as he picked up the motorcycle and examined the broken mirror. We took his mumbles to mean he was okay. Jerk ! Last week, as we made a left turn into a shopping mall in Oakhurst, California, I had a little car cut me off severely, by turning left from behind me to in front of me, into the shopping mall entrance. I was enraged, and chalked it up to southern California drivers. Joanne commented today that in both cases she noticed that the drivers were Mexican. I would adopt a policy of being extra careful around Mexican drivers, except down here that's 80 % of the population. I don't think that I'm turning into a particularly slow, old man driver. Quite the contrary. My normal driving style is pretty aggressive. Joanne thinks that the Mexican drivers are particularly impatient.

We did our Wal-Mart shopping, then filled up with diesel on the way back to the RV park. I had a minor confrontation with the gas bar attendant over this fairly common southwest U.S. practice of refusing to turn on the fuel pump unless if they hold your credit card while you pump gas. They don't trust the customer to pump the fuel, then come in to pay, but they expect the customer to trust that they're not electronically racking up fraudulent charges on your credit card while you're out pumping gas. For me, the solution lies in paying at the pump, which I usually do, but today, as happens occasionally, after swiping my credit card at the pump, it asked for my 5 digit U.S. zip code. Sorry, don't have one, I'm a "foreigner". The attendant says that's to prevent use of stolen credit cards, but it's beyond me how inputting a zip code prevents use of a stolen card.

I did today's accounting and journal entry while Joanne put away the groceries, fed the animals, got supper started, then applied another coat of varnish to the stair mouldings. During supper, we watched a show on TV about the rescue of abandoned pets in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. After supper I spent about half an hour trying unsuccessfully to sign onto Wi-Fi. I finally went to the clubhouse where I had no problem signing on. I sent and retrieved e-mail, updated my blog, and tried to retrieve my MasterCard statements. They weren't ready yet. I guess I'll have to try again tomorrow.

DSK

November 19, 2005

November 19, 2005

Pahrump, Nevada

YEAR 2 DAY 155

 

Today was sunny and very warm. We spent the day at the Pahrump Pow Wow at Petrack Park in Pahrump.

This morning after regular morning routines, chores, and preventive maintenance, I took Bo for an obedience training session. He did extremely well. Good dog, Bo. For a reward I took him to the fenced dog run area at the back of Pair-A-Dice, for a tennis ball play session. While playing in the dog run, we were joined by 2 other small dogs, a Boston Terrier and a Pug. Bo had a great off leash romp session with the Boston Terrier.

We had an early lunch, then set off for our day at the Pow Wow. While driving to the municipal park where the Pow Wow was, we stopped at an RV parts store and I bought some supplies that were priced well. The part that I went there for, they didn't have. After shopping for it at a few different places, I have concluded that it's not available as a separate part, but is part of an assembly. I don't need it enough to buy the whole assembly just to get one non-essential part. We found our way to Petrack Park for the 7th Annual Pahrump Social Pow Wow. A Pow Wow is a gathering of Natives for feasting, dancing, and music. Many years ago we attended the Odawa Pow Wow in Ottawa, and had a great time. When we heard the Pahrump Pow Wow advertised on the radio, we decided to go. In a small municipal park, food, arts and craft vendors set up in a large circle. Within the large circle there was continually changing exhibitions of Native music and dance. Most of the Natives attending were local Navajos, and some local Shoshones, although there were many other tribes represented as well, including Natives from Mexico. We watched some dancing and music, wandered around the vendors shopping, watched again, shopped again, ate, and so on all afternoon. The weather was great, until the sun set at which time the temperature dropped rapidly. To stay warm I had to wear the Christmas gift Joanne bought me. HA HA HA ! We bought each other Christmas gifts, although, obviously, the gifts will not be a surprise on Christmas morning. While watching the last hour of music and dance, followed by the closing ceremony, we struck up a conversation with a young woman and her 3 young sons. She home schools her children, one of whom is autistic, and one of whom has ADHD. Busy lady ! We had an interesting chat with her about the physical ailments of her mother, and other family members, all of whom are "downwinders". Those are people who lived downwind of the nuclear testing that took place in the Nevada desert many decades ago.

After the daily Pow Wow closing ceremony, we returned to Pair-A-Dice. Joanne carefully put away our purchases, while I walked poor, neglected Bo. Geeeez ... leave him alone for 5 or 6 hours and he feels sorry for himself. I did today's accounting and began to work on today's journal entry while Joanne prepared supper and prepared to do laundry. I worked on downloading and processing all the photos I took yesterday in Death Valley National Park.

We had supper, then I continued working on yesterday's photos while Joanne went to the clubhouse to work on laundry. Bo sat in a corner of the bedroom, chewing on, and guarding the beef rib bones I gave him. Who does he think is going to take them away from him ? Teddy ? When I was finished with the photos, I got online, sent and retrieved e-mail, updated my blog, and researched RV parks in our next destination, Las Vegas.

DSK

November 18, 2005

November 18, 2005

Pahrump, Nevada to Death Valley National Park, California & return

YEAR 2 DAY 154

 

Today was incredibly sunny, and hot. Joanne commented that she had never seen the sky so brilliantly blue. I guess that was partly, if not mostly, due to where we were.

This morning after regular morning routines and chores, and preventive maintenance, I phoned our contact at New Mexico State Parks about our campground host application / referral. She wasn't at her desk, so I left a message. For most of the rest of the day, we were out of cell phone range, so I'll phone her back again on Monday.

We headed off for a day trip to Death Valley National Park. First stop was Terrible's Casino, RV Park, and Gas Bar to refill with diesel. Eclectic business ! Following the directions given to us by the office here at Pair-A-Dice SKP Co-op, we drove a short distance north on Hwy. 160, then turned west on Bell Vista Ave. It was about 60 miles / 100 km. across the Mojave Desert to the entrance to Death Valley National Park. On the straight, flat road across the desert, I couldn't resist "flooring" it, and seeing what Dee-Dee is capable of. Whew ... wouldn't have thought that a one ton diesel dually could do 160 km/hr. / 100 mph..

We spent the day driving around the south loop of Death Valley National Park, sightseeing. What an amazing place. Death Valley is in the rain shadow of the Panamint Mountains to the west, which stop all the clouds and moisture. There isn't a speck of white in the sky over Death Valley. The temperature today was in the 80's, which is a lot more pleasant then its summer time average of 120° F.. From the park entrance we drove west on Hwy. 190, through and over the Funeral Mountains to the Visitor Centre at Furnace Creek. We went inside the Visitor Centre and got some information about the park, then drove a very short distance to an oasis filled with date palms, where we had a picnic. While walking Bo, I picked up some fresh dates which had fallen from the date palms, and ate them after lunch. Cool ! This was the first of two oases we saw today. What a strange phenomenon. In the very few places where there is water in the desert, oases occur. The other one was at Texas Spring, not far from Furnace Creek.

We drove about another 60 miles, 100 km. south from Furnace Creek through the southern portion of Death ValleyNational Park. On the way, we drove around an 8 mile loop called Artist's Drive to see an area called Artist's Palette. The mountain is a variety of different vivid colours, because of the different minerals. From there we drove to a dry salt lake called Devil's Golf Course. The surface is made up of crystallized salt formations, looking like miniature white mountains standing a few inches high. Next stop was Badwater, a saline pool where a small amount of ground water makes its way up to the surface of a dry salt lake. So named because horses and burros crossing Death Valley refused to drink there.

I was tired by then, so Joanne took over the driving. We finished our sightseeing drive through Death Valley, and exited the south end of the park, onto Hwy. 178 to Shoshone. At Shoshone we turned east on Hwy. 372, and drove about an hour back to Pahrump. We stopped at Ace Hardware and I bought the half inch quarter round moulding I need.

Back at the trailer at Pair-A-Dice, Joanne worked on preparing supper while I worked on today's accounting, and some other records keeping. After we had supper, I walked Bo and he got hurt. I think he bumped his nose into a Cholla ( pronounced "choya" ) Cactus in a flower garden. I worked on today's journal entry while watching TV. We're both tired from our day out in the intense sun. And I'm still feeling a bit run down from having a cold.

DSK

November 17, 2005

November 17, 2005

Pahrump, Nevada

YEAR 2 DAY 153

 

Today was sunny and hot, temperature about 80° F. in the shade. Last night when I walked Bo at bedtime, it was really chilly, so I wore a warm jacket. Thinking it would still be cool first thing in the morning, when I woke up, and took Bo out, I put on the same jacket. Big mistake ! As soon as the sun rises in the desert, the temperature soars.

While I was showering this morning, Sharon phoned to advise that she had received the mail we have been awaiting from the Good Sam RV Club about our application for a campground host position. We have been referred for a campground host position with New Mexico State Parks. Oh, goody ... I'll phone them tomorrow.

Today was mostly a day for chores and errands. After regular morning routines and chores, I went to the park office to see if any sites were available. When we came in last night, there was a note on the office window that said the park was full. There was a site available for us this morning, but we would have to wait a short time for it. I did today's preventive maintenance, then we took Bo for an obedience training walk. By the time we were done, a site was ready for us. We got the trailer ready for travel, and moved to our assigned site. We got everything opened up, set up, connected, drained the holding tanks, refilled the fresh water, etc.. I did a few small maintenance jobs. I found a small hornet's nest behind the fridge exterior vent door and removed it. I wonder if it's been there since West Hawk Lake ? I installed the Nevada decal on the map on the outside of the trailer that shows where we've been. It's the first decal I've been able to put on since Saskatchewan in May.

I discovered a problem with the reinstallation of the stairs, when the flooring was replaced in the trailer, leading from the living area up into the bathroom area. As a result of trying to rectify that, I broke the quarter round moulding where the first stair meets the riser of the second stair. I need to drill, and reinstall 3 screws into the back of the stairs, from inside a storage compartment, in a space that's almost impossible to get a drill, and my upper body, into. I need to buy a section of quarter round, cut it, file a couple of grooves in it, stain it, and install it. It looks like one of those little jobs that's going to be difficult, and take a lot of time.

We had lunch, then set off into the small city of Pahrump for shopping and errands. As we were leaving Pair-A-Dice, we noticed a rig with Alberta license plates in the boondock area. We recognized it as Gerry and Sally Banks. We stopped and chatted with them for quite awhile. We had met them at the Chapter 44 rally in Mesa, Arizona last March, and bumped into them again in Quartzsite, Arizona. It's an interesting part of this lifestyle that people we've made friends with in one place, we occasionally meet again in different places.

Gee, for such a small city, Pahrump sure does have a lot of casinos. And brothels ! Apparently a lot of the hooker trade is migrating west from Las Vegas to here. First stop was, of course, as always, Wal-Mart. Oh, boy. We're back in the United States. Most of the Wal-Marts are "Super Centres", open 24 hours, and with a full line, huge grocery store within. One stop shopping, literally. The only thing we couldn't buy at Wal-Mart was the quarter round moulding I needed. From Wal-Mart, we went to Ace Hardware. Wouldn't you know it ? Quarter round is available in 3 sizes < sigh >. I didn't bring a sample of the broken moulding with me, and I couldn't tell the correct size just by looking.

We drove back to Pair-A-Dice. We put away today's purchases. I did today's accounting. I downloaded and processed the photos I took yesterday driving across the Mojave Desert. There is Wi-Fi here, so I got online, sent and retrieved e-mail while Joanne prepared supper. My main purpose in going online was to do some research on New Mexico State Parks, but I got sidetracked by e-mail. We had supper, then watched Survivor and The Apprentice. Afterwards, I got back online and did some research on New Mexico State Parks. By the time I finished that, and today's journal entry, it is already after 11:00 P.M., and Teddy is complaining that his bedtime meal is late. Who needs a clock ? I have a cat who meows loudly, demanding to be fed, precisely every 8:00 A.M., 1:00 P.M., 6:00 P.M., and 11:00 P.M. !

I have just returned from walking Bo. Once again, he is spooked by the all the coyotes yipping and howling right outside the fence that rings the RV park.

DSK

November 16, 2005

November 16, 2005

Tehachapi, California to Pahrump, Nevada

YEAR 2 DAY 152

 

What a sunny, hot day. Well, it was hot in the afternoon driving across the Mojave Desert. I'm typing this at 7:00 P.M. and it's quite chilly now, up here in the high desert.

We wasted about an hour this morning driving around the town of Tehachapi, and the surrounding Tehachapi Valley area, looking for an orchard / produce stand that was open. We had a directory of all the orchards and produce stands in the area, and we went to 4 of them that were advertised to still be open this late in the year. None of them were. We were pretty annoyed. While driving around, I saw a gas station with a great price on diesel, so we filled up before leaving the area.

We headed out of Tehachapi, east on Hwy. 58. As soon as we finished crossing the Tehachapi Mountains we came down into the Mojave Desert. Goodbye, winter ! Catch me if you can ! The temperature was only in the mid 70's but the intense sunshine made it seem much hotter. We passed through the town of Mojave, then stopped at a road side rest area for a late lunch. The Mojave Desert looks greener than when we crossed it last March. I guess the spring rains had a lasting effect. There's a lot of sagebrush that's turning brown. There's going to be an awful lot of tumbleweed blowing around this winter. When Hwy. 58 met Interstate 15 at Barstow, we got onto I-15 heading east. At the town of Baker, we turned north onto Hwy. 127. Although I still had half a tank of fuel, I filled up with diesel at Baker. We were going to be driving along the east side of Death Valley, for a long stretch with no towns or fuel services.

We drove a long stretch of desolate desert along the eastern border of Death Valley National Park, which we will probably take a day trip to, within the next few days. Hwy. 127 passes through red rock mountains. Quite spectacular scenery. I stopped to take some pictures. The desert is soft sand. Most of the desert that we saw last winter and spring was like hard packed gravel. The mountains are red rock, devoid of any growth. I am certain that the long, straight stretch of Hwy. 127 along Death Valley is where TV commercials for automobiles must be shot. Framed by bright sun lit red rock mountains, I wanted to just push the pedal to the metal, and go like stink, although with Dee-Dee and Harvey that's not really possible. We passed by Tecopa Hot Springs and at the village of Shoshone we turned east onto Hwy. 178. At the Nevada border California Hwy. 178 became Nevada Hwy. 372. At dusk we could see the lights of Pahrump in the distance. It was dark by the time we arrived in Pahrump. With a bit of difficulty we found our way to Pair-A-Dice SKP Park.

The office at Pair-A-Dice was closed for the day, so we had to park in the dry camp / boondock area overnight. After getting settled in, walking Bo, and feeding Teddy and Bo, Joanne and I went down to the club house to check things out before supper. We returned to the trailer, Joanne made supper, and I did today's accounting and began working on today's journal. We had supper, then returned to the clubhouse. We wanted to watch some TV, Joanne wanted to "shop" at the bargain table, and I wanted to use the laptop, plugged into power.

Joanne "bought" a pair of pants. We watched The Apprentice : Martha Stewart on the giant screen TV in the clubhouse. Wow ... can I have one of those in the trailer ? We were surprised, as we walked back to the trailer, how cold it was. The high desert here is much colder at night than the Sierra Nevada foothills were.

DSK

November 15, 2005

November 15, 2005

Coarsegold to Tehachapi, California

YEAR 2 DAY 151

 

Today was sunny and very warm, although tonight is chilly and windy where we're camped high in the Tehachapi Mountains.

We took our time preparing for departure this morning, as we wanted to arrive at Chuckchansi Gold Casino & Resort at 11:00 A.M. when their buffet restaurant opens. We pulled out of our campsite at 10:30 and drove to the clubhouse. I dropped off a book at the book exchange in the library, then we paid for our stay and the propane refill. We pulled out of SKP Park Of The Sierras and entered Hwy 41 at the most treacherous intersection I've ever encountered. The entrance / exit to the park is on a section of the highway that is on a curving hill, 1 lane downhill, and 2 lanes uphill. One of the uphill lanes is a passing lane. I had to turn left, against oncoming downhill traffic coming around a curve, and across the passing lane of the traffic coming uphill around a curve, into the inside uphill lane, and try to accelerate uphill to highway speed. Harvey and Dee-Dee do not accelerate very quickly uphill from a stop. Before I could even get the rig up to highway speed it was time to turn into the casino entrance. We parked, and entered the casino precisely at 11:00 A.M.. I thought that the restaurant would be empty at opening time, figuring that 11:00 A.M. was too early for people to be wanting lunch. NOOOOO ! We joined a line up for the restaurant that was about 150 people. Old people. It took us 20 minutes to get seated. And as we were being seated, I noticed that there were probably another 150 people still in line behind us. Where the hell do all these old people come from ?

We had a huge, leisurely lunch. And who said there was no such thing as a free lunch ? Well, we did previously gamble away 3 dollars in the casino. I guess the casinos figure that giving a free lunch to high rollers like us pays off at the slots and gaming tables. HA HA HA HA HA !

We left the casino and headed south on Hwy. 41 to Fresno. We found our way to a Wal-Mart in Fresno. While Joanne went shopping for groceries and supplies, I unhitched Harvey from Dee-Dee, and took her in for an oil change. By the time Joanne was finished shopping, the truck was ready. I paid the bill, hitched up, and we headed through Fresno towards Hwy. 99. We found a gas station with a good price on diesel, so I stopped and filled the tank. We found our way through Fresno to Hwy. 99 and headed south. Traffic was pretty heavy. Los Angeles smog was very visible, even though we were still more than 100 miles north of Los Angeles. I saw a Home Depot right at a freeway exit in Delano, so I pulled off and bought the 3 floor registers I wanted. By the time we got to Bakersfield, we were considering stopping for the night, but it was a bit too early, and we got a late start today, so we continued. It was just turning dark at that time, shortly after 5:00 P.M.. At Bakersfield, we turned east onto Hwy. 58 and shortly thereafter began the long brutal climb up into the Tehachapi Mountains.

We stopped for the night at the Mountain Valley Airport RV Park in Tehachapi. We stayed here in the spring. It is an RV park beside a small town airport, in a valley surrounded by mountains. The town of Tehachapi, and the Tehachapi Valley is noted for produce. We're planning to buy lots of fresh produce tomorrow morning. We registered, parked, and set up the rig. Joanne went to shower while I started working on today's accounting and journal. We were going to boondock tonight, but decided we wanted to stay in a serviced RV park tonight so that we could watch Amazing Race on TV. I set up the TV antenna, found the right network, and have just realized that Amazing Race is pre-empted tonight by the Country Music Awards. PHHHT !

Joanne just opened her hair styling gel, and it blew up all over her, as did her face lotion a few minutes earlier. It's a common occurrence in our lifestyle. You close a container of something at one elevation ( higher pressure ), and then open it at a much higher elevation ( lower pressure ), and the pressure difference causes the contents to blow out. HA HA HA ! I shouldn't laugh. I've been shot in the eye with exploding toothpaste more than once. I wonder if I'll remember that we're at a high elevation tomorrow morning when I open the toothpaste ?

We had a very late, light supper, then watched a bit of TV.

DSK

November 14, 2005

November 14, 2005

Coarsegold, California

YEAR 2 DAY 150

 

Today was sunny and warm. My cold is improving.

This morning after regular morning routines and chores, and preventive maintenance, I phoned my friend Sep, in Kingston, Ontario. I sent him an e-mail the other day, and it was returned as an invalid address. I left him a message to advise me of his current e-mail address. I went to pick up our refilled propane tank from the park's propane refill station. I removed and measured one of the floor heat registers. I want to replace them. We took Bo for an obedience training session. He did quite well, despite being only partially focussed on what we were doing. Well, after 11 months of almost daily obedience training sessions, he finally is beginning to respond to obedience commands by second nature. Unruly little cur ! Yesterday at the front entrance gate to SKP Park Of The Sierras I picked up a massively huge pine cone, and threw it in the back of the truck. It's the size of a cantaloupe. Today I took a close look at it, put it into a bag, and into a storage area. I'd like to take it back for my sister, who uses pine cones in craft projects. I got gum all over my hands from the cone, and had difficulty cleaning it off.

We drove to Coarsegold, to mail a parcel at the Post Office. Parcel postage rates are much cheaper in the United States than in Canada. HMPH ... as is the case with many things. We drove to Chuckchansi Gold Casino & Resort to have lunch in their buffet restaurant. WOW ! What a lot of food ! There was a soup and salad bar, Mexican food table, Italian food table, Chinese food table, American food table, and dessert table. We had a long, leisurely lunch, until we were stuffed, then went into the casino to play penny slots < snicker >. To get a discount at the buffet restaurant, we became members of the casino’s “Player’s Club”. Before we sat down at the slots, we swiped our Player’s Club cards at their Player’s Club daily sweepstakes terminal. Holy shit ! Joanne won free lunch for two in the buffet restaurant. HA HA HA ! Too bad we didn’t swipe the cards before we had lunch. We contemplated giving the voucher away, here at the SKP Park, but Joanne checked, and it’s only valid for her, using her Player’s Club card. We’ll probably go back to the casino tomorrow for an early ( huge ) lunch, after checking out of SKP Park Of The Sierras, before hitting the road for a long day of driving. We sat down at the penny slots, and each of us fed a dollar bill into a slot machine. It took us an hour and a quarter for each of us to lose our dollar. Cheap lunch, then cheap entertainment. The casino was packed with people, early in the afternoon, on a weekday. Mostly seniors. I wonder where they all come from ? As we were leaving the parking lot, more bus loads of seniors were coming in.

We returned to the trailer. I drove Joanne to the clubhouse to do laundry, and I returned to the trailer for a brief nap. Then I returned to the clubhouse with the laptop, got online, sent and retrieved e-mail, updated my blog, and surfed the Workamper website. I finished just as Joanne finished the laundry. Good timing. We went into the library, and I picked up some books at their book exchange. We got into a brief discussion with a nut case, about socialism. Americans, by and large, don’t understand such Canadian socialist policies as government sponsored automobile insurance like Manitoba’s Autopac, or universal health care. The lunatic fringe don’t get it at all. On the way back to the truck in the parking Joanne chastised me for engaging American nut cases in discussions about socialism. Back at the trailer again, I walked Bo, did today’s accounting, then began to work on today’s journal entry. I checked our atlas to see exactly where Elgin, Texas is. I found a somewhat interesting Workamper job on the Internet, in Elgin, Texas. We haven’t yet heard back from the Good Sam RV Club about our application for a campground host job in Arizona or New Mexico, in January or February, through their campground host program. I administered hairball medication to Teddy, flea prevention treatments to Teddy and Bo, heartworm medication and dewormer medication to Bo. We'll have to buy a can of cat food to administer dewormer medication to Teddy. We delayed having supper, due to our huge, late lunch.

We had a very late, light supper, then watched a bit of TV. Oh, goody ... the forecast is for another week of sunshine and day time temperatures in the 70's.

DSK

November 13, 2005

November 13, 2005

Yosemite National Park, California

YEAR 2 DAY 149

 

Today was sunny and mild. Up in the High Sierras it was cool.

This morning I woke up feeling healthy enough for a day trip to Yosemite National Park. After morning routines and chores, I did preventive maintenance, Joanne made a picnic lunch, and we set off for Yosemite National Park. We drove north on Hwy. 41 through Coarsegold, through Oakhurst, about 35 miles to the south gate of Yosemite. The elevation climbed to over 6000 feet by the time we got to Yosemite, in the High Sierras. First stop after the south gate was the Mariposa Grove of Giant Sequoia trees. Dogs were not allowed on the hiking trails into the grove, so Bo had to wait ion the truck. Good dog, Bo. We hiked 0.8 mile uphill to the Giant Sequoias. My stamina was a bit low, due to my cold. We hiked 0.8 mile downhill back to the parking lot. Downhill didn't seem to be that much easier than uphill. We left the Mariposa Grove area, and drove 35 miles up a narrow, winding, curving road to Yosemite Village.

While driving this road, a Grey Squirrel ran out on the road in front of me. I drove over it. Damn ! I looked in the mirror, to see it rolling rapidly down the road behind me, then it started to crawl to the side of the road. DAMN ! I slammed on the brakes, and pulled off the road. I jumped out and began to run back down the road. I wanted to make sure it was dead. If not, it's not my style to leave an injured animal suffering on the side of the road. I was going to have to kill it. I ran back to the squirrel on the side of the road. A big, bushy, Grey Squirrel. It was lying on the side of the road, breathing heavily and seizuring. DAMN DAMN DAMN ! ! ! I bent over and examined it closely. Its eyes were open, it was breathing, no blood coming out of its eyes, ears, mouth, or anus. It stopped seizuring, but continued to breath heavily. I touched it gently, and it made no movement. I looked around for a big stick or rock with which to do the nasty deed. I couldn't find one. I decided to take it back to the truck, and whack it with my fish & tire bonker bat. I keep a fish bonker bat in my door pocket. I use it daily to thump the tires, to ensure that no tires are flat, or losing air. It's an old trucker's trick. You can't see if a dually rear tire is flat, nor can you see if a dual axle trailer tire is flat. You can tell that the tires are okay by the sound of the thump. I picked the squirrel up gently, and carried it back to the truck, examining it as I walked. No blood anywhere, and no bloated abdomen to indicate massive internal bleeding. It just lay passively in my hands. When I got back to the truck, I lay it on the ground, so that I could open the door and get my tire fish / tire / squirrel bonker. The squirrel stood up, and wobbled. Wow ! I was stunned. I reached for it, and it wobbled away towards the forest. WOW ! I stepped towards it and reached for it again. It stood up on the base of a tree, and wobbled. WOO-HOO ! I wasn't going to have to bonk it after all. I watched it for a minute, and it finally scampered off into the forest, a bit wobbly, but moving quicker. Hopefully, it just got a whack on the head from being rolled down the road by the draft under the truck. Good luck, little squirrel.

The drive from the south gate to Yosemite Village was quite scenic, although difficult driving. Just before Yosemite Village we stopped at a picnic area and had lunch. It was a bit cool to be sitting at a picnic table, at that elevation. After lunch, we drove to Yosemite Village and parked. Vehicles are not allowed in Yosemite Village. We walked to the Yosemite Visitor Centre to get some information, then the Indian Village restoration. We walked around the Indian Village, and I suddenly began to feel very weak and tired. I had run out of steam for the day, at about 3:00 P.M.. We walked slowly back to the truck, and headed for home. It was about a 2 hour drive back to the trailer. We stopped in Coarsegold, so I could buy more cough drops.

We arrived at the trailer at 5:00 P.M., just as it turned dark. I removed an empty propane tank, and took it to the propane filling station in SKP Park Of The Sierra. Twice a week, they offer a propane tank refill service. Just drop off an empty tank, and pick it up the next day, refilled. While Joanne prepared supper, I did today's accounting and began working on today's journal. We had supper, then while Joanne defrosted the fridge, I watched the Penn & Teller underwater magic special on TV. I laughed and laughed, and felt healthier. I love their stooge style of magic. It's the style of magic I prefer to perform myself.

I printed the updated investment data I retrieved yesterday, then spent the late part of the evening updating my investment files. The stock market has improved considerably in the last couple of weeks, after about 6 weeks of declines.

DSK

November 12, 2005

November 12, 2005

Coarsegold, California

YEAR 2 DAY 148

 

Today was partially sunny, and warm.

I was too sick this morning to get out of bed. I slept until noon, then moved in slow motion for the rest of the day. After showering and having lunch, we did a bit of trip planning about where we're going from here. We'll leave here Tuesday and head towards Las Vegas. I did today's preventive maintenance, then we drained the holding tanks and refilled the fresh water tank. We drove into Coarsegold to buy a bit of groceries and a newspaper. When we returned, we gave a very quick wash and rinse to both the truck and trailer. Three long hard days of driving in the rain from Washington to here left both vehicles coated in road grime. Our vehicles, particularly the trailer, always seem to be dirty. The lower street side of the trailer is the worst. Today we just did a quick wash and rinse of the lower parts of the trailer and truck. Scrubbing the grime, bugs, acid rain spots, and upper sections can wait. Driving in heavy rain had actually cleaned off all the bugs from the front of the trailer, but then we got to California, and there were bugs again.

I've just started working on today's journal, while having a late afternoon snack. Joanne has begun to read the local Madera newspaper. She's noticed that in the entire Saturday newspaper, there is no national or international news. Only local news, which we find very common, and very strange, in the United States newspapers and TV news. I did today's accounting, then while Joanne prepared supper, I went to the clubhouse, got online, sent and retrieved e-mail, updated my blog, and downloaded updated investment data.

We had supper. I read the newspaper and watched interesting surgeries on The Discovery Channel. I helped Joanne give Bo a bath. When I walked Bo at bed time, he was scared of the coyotes howling nearby. Poor Bo ... I won't let those big, bad coyotes eat you.

DSK

November 11, 2005

November 11, 2005

Coarsegold, California

YEAR 2 DAY 147

 

Today was sunny and warm. I was too sick to appreciate it. My cold has moved down into my chest, and become worse. I have a painful cough.

We were planning to take a day trip to Yosemite National Park today, but Joanne thought it best if we postpone for a day or two, to allow me to rest today, hopefully to feel better tomorrow. After morning routines, I did a bit more fussing and puttering with my caulking repair job. I did today's preventive maintenance, then we took Bo for an obedience walk. We drove down to the clubhouse, where Joanne donated a surplus purse, and a long evening dress to their bargain table. I guess we haven't gone to many formal evening events lately. HA HA HA !

We drove into Coarsegold, and stopped at Napa Auto Parts. When I asked for battery side terminal bolts for a 1999 GMC K-3500, he asked if it had a diesel engine. GM diesels need a special, long battery side terminal bolt, with special spacer, for the positive terminal of the primary battery, to accommodate the connection of the 2 batteries together. Holy shit ! How come no GM service department ever told me that ? ! ? I bought a couple of the long side terminal bolts, a couple of the special spacers, and a couple of regular length side terminal bolts. I also found out from the clerk that the lug nuts for my truck are 22 mm. in size. Holy shit ! I've been using a 7/8 inch socket to check and tighten them. No wonder I stripped one. I bought a few lug nuts and a 22 mm. socket.

We drove to the Coarsegold Post Office to mail a parcel to Canada. It was closed for Veteran's Day. HOLY SHIT ! ! ! I missed observing Remembrance Day at 11:00 A.M.. Oh, I'm ashamed of myself !

We returned to SKP Park Of The Sierras. I replaced the stripped lug nut, using the correct size of socket, of course. I replaced the stripped battery terminal bolt. And I replaced the regular length side terminal bolt on the positive side of the primary battery with the long one with the spacer. That connection was the one that gave me a lot of trouble yesterday. It's amazing how well things fit together when you use the correct parts ! Now, with the correct factory battery cable to the starter and alternator, and the correct side terminal bolt and spacer on the primary battery positive terminal, the battery cabling and connections are the same as when the truck came out of the factory. Hopefully that will eliminate some of the battery and starter problems that have plagued this truck since I bought it 2 years ago.

We had a late lunch. I took a long nap, hoping that rest would make me feel better, quicker. It didn't. I went outside and put away the truck jack components in their awkwardly positioned storage pod under the rear seat. I had left some of the components out yesterday. I needed them to remove the stripped lug nut. Then I fiddled with the truck radio. All of the radio settings, and clock time, were lost yesterday when I disconnected both batteries. Joanne wanted me to install a separate hook inside the bedroom closet for a belt and tie hanger of mine that catches on other clothes and hangers, when it's hanging on the regular closet bar. I couldn't mount a hook where she wanted it, so I cut off all the troublesome belt hooks, making it into just a tie hanger. Problem solved ! I did today's accounting, then began working on this journal entry. Where did the day go ? ! I walked Bo, revised my daily preventive checklists, then paid the cell phone bill. My goodness ! ! !

We had supper. I read for awhile. I watched TV for awhile. I felt worse. I walked Bo. Had another cup of tea.

At 11:00 P.M., we went outside ... to observe a minute of silence, and remember. Better late than never.

Lest We Forget

DSK

November 10, 2005

November 10, 2005

Coarsegold, California

YEAR 2 DAY 146

 

Today was cloudy, but warm. I worked outdoors most of the day, wearing short sleeves.

Today didn't go particularly well. I felt quite ill and weak with a cold. And I spent almost the entire day working on a job that a GM dealer service department would charge an hour of labour to do. This morning after regular morning routines, chores, and preventive maintenance, I took Bo for an obedience training session. We haven't been giving him any training sessions lately. He did very well, nonetheless. I had signed up for a guided tour of SKP Park Of The Sierras when I registered. The gentleman who conducts the tours, Joe, came by to schedule a tour for us at 1:00 P.M. this afternoon. My first job of the day was to spray silicone lubricant on the rubber weather stripping under the living room / dinette slide. Next I worked on deodorizing a spot on the bedroom carpet that showed up a day or two ago, and smells really sour. I think Teddy vomited Whiskas Catmilk and bile. Joanne discovered a major problem in the back reaches of the bedroom closet, with condensation and mildew. She spent most of the day cleaning mildew off her leather coat, my leather coat, some long dresses of hers, and my dress shoes that were at the back of the closet. The last few weeks of rain ,cold weather, high humidity, and warm air in the trailer have resulted in condensation in the closet. We're going to have to buy some Damp Rid packages for the closet. And avoid Vancouver Island in October, I guess.

I started work on replacing the cable from the battery to the starter and alternator. The parts of the job that I thought would be difficult went reasonably well, and the parts that should have been easy, proved to be the most difficult. And ... the most troublesome ; when I was finished I had a nut left over. It's been nagging at me all evening. I can't figure out where it belongs, and I'm worried. I started the job by disconnecting both batteries in the truck. Next I removed the old cable end from the alternator. So far, so good. I got out the truck jack, and jacked up the passenger's side front of the truck. I assembled the new axle stands I bought recently, and got them into position under the truck to make the job safe ... as per Joanne's insistence. I removed the wheel and tire, then took a break for lunch. As soon as lunch was finished, Joe came by to give us our guided tour. He drove us around the park in a golf cart, touring the facilities and grounds, explaining the history of the development of the park. It was an interesting tour, but I was feeling ill, and eager to get back to my truck repair. We didn't get back to our trailer until about 3:00 o'clock.

I crawled into the wheel well and removed the old battery cable from the starter. Very, very difficult. No room for my hands, no room for a wrench. I finally got the old cable off, and the new cable connected. At that point I thought the difficult parts of the job were over. I was wrong. I reinstalled the front tire and wheel. One of the lug nuts stripped < sigh >. I removed the new axle stands, and lowered the truck off the jack. I connected the new cable end to the alternator. Now all that was left was to reconnect the batteries, put everything away, and clean up. I had extreme difficulty connecting the new cable to the battery. The side terminal bolt that came with the cable was too long. The spare side terminal bolt that I had was too short. After much fiddling, I finally got the cable installed with the shorter side terminal bolt. I reconnected the rest of the battery connections to both batteries. I stripped a side terminal bolt, and I had used the spare that I carry, on the new cable end connection < another sigh >. The cable replacement was finished, and there was still just enough daylight time left to get all the tools and hardware put back into their proper storage places. I reached into my pocket, and found a nut. The nut that I can't figure out where it belongs ! DAMN !

I ran out of daylight trying to find where the left over nut belongs. I cleaned up all my tools, and put everything away. I realized how dehydrated, and sick I felt < huge sigh >. Joanne was finished with the closet and mildew clean up, and was already working on supper. While waiting for supper, I finished working on the cosmetic caulking job on the inside corner under the slide. We had a great beef roast for supper, with some nice California Napa Valley wine. A wonderful meal !

I felt a little better after eating supper, and drinking 2 cups of tea. We watched Survivor, and The Apprentice. I worked on some planning, and today's journal entry.

DSK

November 9, 2005

November 9, 2005

Coarsegold, California

YEAR 2 DAY 145

 

Today was a warm, bright, sunny day. First day of sunshine for us in about a month. The joy of a sunny, warm day was a bit offset by the head cold I developed overnight.

This morning after regular morning routines and chores, I went outside to do today's preventive maintenance. Wednesday's preventive maintenance is checking the air pressure in the trailer tires. When I crawled underneath the living room / dinette slide to check the air pressure in the street side trailer tires, I discovered that the thick rubber weather stripping underneath the slide was pulling out of the moulding attaching it to the lower skirt of the trailer. I had to remove a couple of long sections of moulding to reinsert and reattach the weather stripping. That job took up most of the morning. Part way through the job, I drove Joanne to the main clubhouse so that she could do some laundry. When I finished my weather stripping repair job, I washed up, grabbed the laptop, and headed for the clubhouse. While Joanne finished the laundry, I got online to send and retrieve e-mail and update my blog.

We had lunch, then headed to Madera. Madera is the nearest large city, about 30 miles southwest of here. First stop was Vintage GM to pick up the OEM battery cable that I ordered yesterday. Then we found our way to Wal-Mart where we replenished some groceries and supplies. Madera is an older city, with no rhyme or reason to their street layouts. Finding the GM dealer was difficult, and finding the Wal-Mart even more so. Dee-Dee is overdue for an oil change, and I intended to have an oil change and lubrication done at Wal-Mart, but Madera's Wal-Mart didn't have an automotive service centre. We drove into a large, empty parking lot across the street from Wal-Mart because it looked as if there was a flea market going on. The flea market was over, and the vendors were just packing up. We were appalled at the horrendous amount of litter left behind by the flea market vendors and customers. As we were leaving Madera, we noticed that there were a few service stations with a good price on diesel, so we refilled Dee-Dee before heading back to Coarsegold. Listening to the radio, we learned that the area we are in is known as the San Joachim ( pronounced "wakeem" ) Valley. Just before we got back to SKP Park Of The Sierras we decided to go to the nearby Chuckchansi Gold Casino & Resort to check out the restaurants and entertainment scheduled for this weekend. YUCK ... Wayne Newton ! At 60 bucks a pop ! I wouldn't go to see Wayne Newton if they paid me 60 bucks ! We found a section of slot machines that were penny slots, so we decided to put in a dollar and play the slot machine until the dollar ran out. Geeeeezzzzz ... it took an hour to lose the dollar ! I would have lost it faster, but when I was down to about 20 cents, Joanne wanted to play. Her luck is obviously much better than mine. When I got bored, I wandered around looking at the different restaurants, and when I returned she still hadn't finished blowing off the dollar. I kicked her off the machine, sat down myself, and promptly finished off the buck. Get out of my way, sweetheart, let me show you how a real loser does it. HA HA HA HA HA !

We returned to the trailer, put away today's purchases, I walked Bo and fed the animals, and Joanne prepared supper. I began working on today's journal entry and accounting on the laptop. We had supper. I finished the accounting, then downloaded and processed some photos I've taken over the last few days. We watched The Apprentice : Martha Stewart. I spent the late part of the evening dealing with the batch of incoming mail we picked up in Chimacum, Washington a week ago. When I took Bo out for his late night walk, there were frequent loud bangs on the roofs of trailers and motorhomes. The odd shaped, elongated, large acorns are falling from the Blue Oak trees in the park.

DSK

November 8, 2005

November 8, 2005

Coarsegold, California

YEAR 2 DAY 144

 

WOW ... what spectacular scenery. We are a few thousand feet up in the Sierra Nevada foothills, just north of Fresno, just south of Yosemite National Park. Today was cloudy and warm, with just a bit of light rain late in the afternoon and early evening. No jackets required !

This morning after regular morning routines and chores, I went to the office and registered. We were escorted to our assigned site. What a marvellous RV park. It should serve as the model for how RV parks should be developed. SKP Park Of The Sierras is a co-op park covering over 600 acres, with over 250 sites. It's laid out like a contemporary suburban development, with curving, winding streets and cul-de-sacs, unlike most RV parks which are laid out in a pretty boring grid like pattern. Each site, and the entire park, is extensively landscaped, but in a very California style of natural landscaping. No grass, lots of trees, cactus gardens, rock gardens, etc.. Due to the large, irregular shape of the lots, most sites have very limited view of neighbouring rigs. Very, very nice ! Our assigned site includes a lovely, very comfortable, wood garden swing for two.

Once in our site, I hooked up water, power, sewer, and cable TV. I refilled the fresh water tank, and dumped all the holding tanks. We had a bit of a problem getting the slides extended. One of the wood blocks I am using as wedges under the slide slid completely under the slide, and we had difficulty getting it out. I began working on a backlog of chores that will keep me fairly busy for the next few days. After today's preventive maintenance, I opened up the new folding ladder that we purchased at Camping World the other day. It's sturdier than we expected. As a matter of fact, it's more stable than any other ladder I've used. When collapsed, it's about 4 inches square by 7 feet long. Joanne used it to work on cleaning the blue stains on the back of the trailer from yesterday's runaway waste tote. She managed to get the stains scrubbed off. I put away the purchases from the last few days which were still in the truck, fixed a minor problem on the stove, then rearranged the pass through storage compartment to make room for the ladder. While Joanne cleaned up, then made lunch, I went to the clubhouse to find a phone number for the nearest GM dealer. I phoned Vintage GM in Madera, about 30 miles southwest of here, and ordered the OEM battery cable I need.

We had lunch, then I and the animals napped briefly. After napping, we went exploring and grocery shopping. We drove to Coarsegold, about 4 miles away. It's a small town, and I missed the turn into the small grocery store in town, so we decided to keep driving to Oakhurst, a larger town a few more miles away. We did our grocery shopping, and as we exited the grocery store, we were met with an astounding sight. The mountains in front of the grocery store had bright sunshine shining on just the top of them, from the sun setting behind the mountains in the opposite direction. From one side of the mountain over to the other, was a brilliant, full rainbow, which faded from view within a minute or two. On the way back to Coarsegold, we stopped at a local casino resort to take a look. It's a huge casino and resort hotel. Maybe we'll have lunch or dinner there within the next few days.

Back at the trailer, Joanne began working on supper, while I checked out the TV to make sure I found the right network to watch Amazing Race tonight. I got sidetracked watching a show on vehicle repossessions on the Discovery Channel. I composed some e-mail, did today's accounting, and began to work on today's journal entry. We had supper, then while Joanne washed dishes, I walked the dog, then continued working on the laptop while watching TV.

I printed and reconciled the October bank statements while watching the special 2 hour episode of Amazing Race.

DSK

November 7, 2005

November 7, 2005

Redding to Coarsegold, California

YEAR 2 DAY 143

 

Well I wouldn't have thought it possible to drive a big RV rig from Evergreen Coho SKP Park in Northern Washington to SKP Park Of The Sierras in mid-California in 3 days, but we did it. We haven't quite escaped from the rain, but it sure is a lot warmer.

Last night at the restaurant, as we were leaving, I noticed a sign by the exit door that read "food served in this restaurant may contain ingredients known to the State Of California to be carcinogenic". Huh ? This afternoon as I was leaving the parts department of a GM dealer, the sign said "automotive parts sold by this dealership may contain agents known to the State Of California to be carcinogenic". HUH ? ! ?

This morning we were awakened by a loud knock on the door at 7:00 A.M.. It was Mike, an employee of Wal-Mart. One of his responsibilities was to make the rounds of the parking lot at 7:00 A.M. every morning and advise the 5 to 15 RV's that had spent overnight in the parking lot that there was a municipal bylaw prohibiting overnight parking in shopping mall parking lots. Apparently his store manager had no objection to the practice, but Costco across the street objects, as do a couple of local RV parks. So every morning at 7:00 A.M. the manager fulfills his obligation, and advises all RV's in the parking lot that overnight parking is prohibited. Obviously, we RV'ers all appreciate that he sends Mike to make this known at 7:00 A.M., rather than at midnight. Thank you, Mr. Store Manager.

It was raining heavily again this morning. After morning routines, including an abbreviated version of Monday's preventive maintenance, we were on our way about 8:30 A.M.. We headed out of Redding, south on I-5. I stopped at a GM dealer in Red Bluff to see if they had the OEM battery cable for my truck. The original factory battery cable is a "Y" cable, running from the battery to both the starter and the alternator. I have 2 "after market" battery cables, one to the starter and another to the alternator. That has contributed to a number of problems. They didn't have stock of the cable that I need, but they did provide me with the part number and price. Tomorrow I'll look for a dealer near here, perhaps in Fresno, and order it. We stopped for diesel at Corning. The "soon to be open" Flying J listed in our directory was still under construction and not yet open. We stopped for fuel across the street from Flying J. The truck engine sputtered as I pulled into the station, and I coasted, out of gas, to the pumps. Now that's effective fuel management ! HA HA HA !

The winds were extremely strong today. Just outside Sacramento a car pulled up along side, waving frantically at us to advise us that something was wrong. I pulled over onto the shoulder and got out to look around. The 32 gallon waste tote that I had tied onto the roof had blown loose. I had it on the roof, tied securely to the roof rack at the back. It had squirmed loose in the high winds, out from under the crossed ropes, and was dangling over the back of the roof, hanging against the rear wall of the trailer, still held by the ropes tying it to the roof rack. I climbed up onto the roof, untied it, and lowered it down to Joanne. The waste tote was undamaged. The rear wall of the trailer was undamaged. The clearance light at the top of the roof was undamaged. The small amount of RV toilet tank deodorizer that I had put into the waste tote when we were finished using it at West Hawk Lake had leaked out, dribbling down the rear wall of the trailer, staining it with blue streaks. Hopefully, we can scrub that off somehow.

I put the tote into the trailer temporarily, and we drove to the next rest area, on the outskirts of Sacramento. While Joanne prepared lunch, I made room for the tote in the rear of the truck box. It meant rearranging stuff, and discarding most of the firewood that we were still hauling around. I dumped all the poplar firewood from West Hawk Lake, but kept the small amount of spruce firewood I had picked up in Jasper. HMPH ! Hauled that firewood thousands of miles all the way from West Hawk Lake, just to abandon it in a road side rest area outside Sacramento, California. Maybe I shouldn’t stock up on firewood as much as I do.

After lunch we continued south on I-5. The rain diminished as the day wore on. We stopped again to fill up with diesel, at Flying J at Lodi < singing "Stuck In Lodi Again" >. We also dumped the holding tanks and refilled the fresh water tank while at Flying J, once again creating an opportunity to continue boondocking if we chose. We continued south on I-5. The surroundings became more and more urban, and the traffic got heavier and heavier as the afternoon wore on, and the further south we got. When the highway signs said we were still about 300 miles from Los Angeles, smog became visible on the horizon. At Manteca we turned east on Hwy. 120 for a short distance to Hwy. 99. We turned south on Hwy. 99, passing through Modesta. It turned dark shortly after Modesta. We were going to stop for the night at a rest area or a Wal-Mart, but we decided, perhaps unwisely, to push on all the way through to the SKP Park at Coarsegold. We continued south on Hwy. 99 to Madera, then turned east on Hwy. 145 to Hwy. 41, then turned north on Hwy. 41 to Coarsegold.

Finally we found SKP Park Of The Sierras just outside Coarsegold. The office was closed for the night, so we had to park for the night in the boondock parking lot beside the office. We were both over tired, and communicating poorly. I had difficulty getting the truck and trailer backed in and positioned. After a few frustrating attempts, with Joanne in the dark, in the rain, behind the trailer, with the walkie-talkie, guiding me unsuccessfully, we gave up. I left the rig parked straddling the line between 2 RV parking spots. By then we were both angry and upset. Joanne prepared a quick supper. After supper I went to the clubhouse, to plug in the laptop, to do today's journal entry and accounting. The laptop battery was just about out of power, after 2 nights of boondocking, without electricity. I got online, sent and retrieved e-mail, and updated my blog.

Our condolences to Tom and Ruth Anne Huggard, whose sweet, old Scottish Terrier, Angus, died this afternoon.

DSK

November 6, 2005

November 6, 2005

Eugene, Oregon to Redding, California

YEAR 2 DAY 142

 

Well, we’ve made it to California. The temperature has improved, but we still haven't escaped the rain.

This morning after regular morning routines and chores, and preventive maintenance, we left the I-5 mm 205 rest area and continued heading south on I-5. It was raining lightly when we left. As we drove, the rain became heavy. We drove for a couple of hours, stopping at Roseburg, Oregon to buy some groceries and supplies at Wal-Mart, and fill up with diesel at Love's, which is an RV friendly chain of full service stations like Flying J. After filling up with diesel, we realized that Love’s had a trailer dump station, so we pulled over to it, dumped the holding tanks, and refilled the fresh water. Having empty holding tanks and full fresh water always gives us more boondocking options.

We stopped for lunch at another road side rest area. Oregon and California seem to have large, park like rest areas every 50 miles on the Interstate. After lunch, Joanne drove for an hour or so. We crossed over about half a dozen mountain passes today, with steep, curving ascents, and steep, curving descents. Joanne handled one of these difficult driving challenges today. It's her first time driving the rig around and up, over, and around and down a mountain pass ... and she did it in heavy rain, adding to the difficulty and challenge. Her rig driving skills are certainly improving. Not too many women can drive a 47 foot long truck and trailer combo through winding mountain passes, in heavy rain. Nice work, sweetheart. Although ... her turn at driving was supposed to be a rest for me. Coaching her through an hour of that kind of challenge is more fatiguing for me than if I drove it myself.

We stopped to change drivers again just as we entered California. Wow ... nice road side rest area. Must be a pretty healthy tax base in California to be able to afford road side rest areas as nice as that ! We continued south on I-5. The topography changed as soon as we entered California, from heavily forested mountains to sandy mountains with much less vegetation. The heavy rain continued. It got dark by 5:00 P.M.. The last hour and a half that we drove, in the dark, was more up and down and around mountains, with heavy rain, in the clouds / fog. Good thing I have my IFR license. HA HA HA ! Fuel was getting low. I didn’t want to fill up because there’s a Flying J not too far south of Redding. I stopped at Castella and bought just $20 worth of diesel. The last half hour of driving was actually becoming scary. The rain was the heaviest we’ve encountered in 16 months of being on the road. On winding, climbing, descending mountain road, in the dark, in the fog. Visibility was pretty much zero. I just slowed down to a crawl and followed the taillights of the tractor trailer in front of me.

We stopped for the night at a Wal-Mart in Redding, California. The torrential downpour stopped as soon as we arrived. We parked, walked the dog, fed the animals, then went for a long walk. I was stiff from sitting in the truck all day, and the area we were in was full of stores and restaurants. We were looking for an excuse not to have to make supper. We found one ; Olive Garden. We had a nice leisurely dinner at Olive Garden, then walked back to the trailer. I worked on the computer, doing today’s accounting and journal, while Joanne went Wal-Martin’. She just came back with a rain coat for Bo. It doesn’t fit well. She’s gone back to get a refund.

I don’t know why the stupid dog needs a rain coat. He’s a dog !

DSK