April 17 to 23, 2011 ; Las Vegas to Jackpot, Nevada

Sunday ; Today was sunny and hot again, temperature well into the 90‘s.

This morning I did some routine minor maintenance, did an obedience session with Bo, and did some online work including posting my weekly journal to my blog. I worked in the trailer using my ReadyBroadband USB modem which was a lot faster than the RV park’s Wi-Fi signal.

Yesterday I was attracted to an ad in the casino for their Sunday afternoon Champagne Brunch. It’s not often one has an opportunity to have Eggs Benedict and Oysters Rockefeller. So this afternoon we went for brunch. It was really quite good, but there were no Oysters Rockefeller. I wanted to complain to management that one of the two menu board items listed that lured me in wasn’t available and I wasn’t happy about that. I asked our waitress to send a manager over to hear my complaint. A manager came over and listened to my complaint, then said she’d be right back. She returned a minute or two later with the chef. His response to my complaint was … “yeah … Oysters Rockefeller was last Sunday’s special item” … and then there was a looooong silence while I and the restaurant manager waited for something more. After a long pause, I told the chef his response did absolutely nothing to appease my dissatisfaction. The manager looked absolutely appalled at the chef’s response. As she should have been ! She … the manager … apologized profusely, and as she and the chef were walking away, I could see that the chef was in trouble ! As he should have been ! His inadequate response to a simple and legitimate complaint far outweighed the initial transgression ! Yup … it’s still hard to get good help !

After brunch we bought a Sunday newspaper in the casino gift shop, then as we walked back through the casino we succumbed to the temptation of the slot machines. Joanne played penny slots until she lost a dollar. I played penny slots until I tripled my dollar, winning an additional two dollars. Big 200% winner today ! HA HA HA !

We spent the hottest part of the afternoon at the pool. I worked on our income tax returns, completing them as much as possible … which wasn’t all that much … with the income tax information slips that we have already received. The rest of our income tax information slips will be in the “lost in space” batch of forwarded mail stuck / waiting for us at the Keremeos Post Office.

We spent the evening watching TV ; Amazing Race and Celebrity Apprentice.

Monday ; Las Vegas to Valley Of Fire State Park

Today was sunny and very warm. This morning we departed Arizona Charlie’s Casino & RV Park and spent about half a day running errands in Las Vegas. With the trailer in tow ! Which really does make shopping and running errands in a big city much more difficult. First stop was Big Lots to look at folding lounge chairs on sale. We didn’t like them. Next stop was a Post Office to buy a stamp. WAAAAAY too long a line-up ! No stamp today ! Then Albertsons for groceries. And … < sigh > … of course, Wal-Mart. Last stop was supposed to be Fastenal to look for the correct brake caliper bolt. When we got to where the Fastenal was supposed to be … it wasn’t there ! We phoned them and got directions to their nearby new location < sigh >. And after all that, they didn’t have the bolt I needed ! BUT … they directed to me a nearby competitor, Nevada Bolt & Hose. Who had the correct bolt ! YIPPEEEEE ! ! ! ! ! Finally !

We headed northeast out of Las Vegas on Interstate 15. And within a few minutes stopped in a truck stop parking lot right beside Las Vegas Motor Speedway to have a late lunch. We drove northeast on I-15 then east on Hwy. 169 to Valley Of Fire State Park. WOW ! We selected an unserviced site in the campground … water and electricity, without sewer hook up, didn’t seem worth an extra ten bucks … and before we even got set up in our site we went hiking around the campground area. What stupendous red rock formations ! Including right in our campsite ! Bo was so excited to go hiking. I guess he’s had too much “city time” this winter season. HA HA HA … no, Bo, you’re just not fast enough to catch those little lizards.

We hiked and climbed on rocks and took photos and chased lizards until we were all tired. And all of that was within the campground area. We returned to our campsite and unhitched Harvey from Lanoire. I sat down at the picnic table under the ramada in our campsite and worked on the computer … downloading photos, credit card accounting, daily journal … until it was time to barbecue supper. As the sun was setting, and striking the red rocks at a low angle … WOW ! ! !

One of the beauties of this area right now is the abundance of white blossoming flowers coating the desert floor. We have just returned from a long walk around the campground as the evening turned from dusk to twilight. The white blossoms have opened wide as it got dark, and are emitting a strong fragrance that makes the whole desert smell wonderful !

Tuesday ; exploring Valley Of Fire State Park

Today we learned that the flowers with the white blossoms that open wide at dusk, and emit a strong fragrance, are called Dune Primrose. They open at night and emit a fragrance to attract the Sphinx Moth to come and pollinate them.

This morning before setting off for a day of exploring Valley Of Fire State Park we did pet dental care, I greased the trailer’s front jack’s gear wheels, and I removed the second temporary brake caliper bolt and … < insert drum roll here > … installed the correct bolt ! WOO-HOO ! Wouldn’t have thought I could get that excited about a damn brake caliper bolt. Joanne prepared a picnic lunch and off we went. Bo was sooooo excited. He must think that every time we go out and leave him alone in the trailer we must be going out for an exciting day of exploring like today … and he doesn’t get to come along. HA HA HA … no, Bo, we’re usually just going out to run errands.

We spent the day exploring Valley Of Fire State Park. Mostly by road, but also a lot of exploring by hiking. And … while the temperature was only in the low 80’s, hiking in this kind of desert, with soft, deep sand, and intense sunlight, was brutally hot and tiring. I don’t understand how people can hike in the desert in the summer. I guess that’s why every year some goofball dies hiking in nearby Death Valley.

We started by driving around the campground adjacent to ours. We’re in Atlatl Rock Campground. Atlatl Rock contains ancient Indian petroglyphs
( rock art ) including depictions of the atlatl, a notched stick used to throw spears. The adjacent campground is Arch Rock Campground. It’s not suitable for RV’s. From Arch Rock Campground we drove a two mile scenic loop that provides views of Arch Rock and Piano Rock.

We drove past the Beehives and Petrified Logs to the Visitor Center. We walked around inside the Visitor Center for a short time looking at exhibits then headed up the road to Rainbow Vista and Fire Canyon. I took a lot of pictures., They’re probably all going to look the same, but … the geological features are so … astounding ! We drove up to White Domes where we parked and went hiking. WHEW … we hiked only as far as a view into a deep canyon overlooking an abandoned movie set from a movie made in the 1960’s entitled The Professionals. Holy Mackerel … how the hell did they get all the way down there to shoot a movie ? ! ? We turned around and hiked back to the parking lot. And I’m glad we did ! We hiked no more than about a mile, but it was exhausting !

We drove down the road to Mouse’s Tank parking lot and trailhead where we had our picnic lunch at a picnic table under a ramada, so we could escape the intense sun. After lunch we went hiking to Mouse’s Tank, a natural basin in the rock where water collects after rainfalls, sometimes remaining for months. Mouse was a renegade who used the area as a hideout in the 1890’s. Another mile or so of hiking in the intense sun through soft, deep sand and … we were finished hiking for the day ! We tried hiking without our sandals on, but the sand was so hot that it burned our feet.

We continued exploring the park by road, viewing Seven Sisters and Cabins before heading out of the park through the east gate. Joanne wanted to explore the nearby Lake Mead area. We thought Lake Mead was going to be an upscale enclave for the rich and famous of Las Vegas. We were wrong. We drove about 14 miles along Northshore Drive to the town of Echo Bay. It seemed … mostly deserted. Mostly abandoned RV Parks, and mostly abandoned marinas. HUH ?

By then I was becoming somewhat concerned about whether or not we would have enough diesel to return to the campground, and leave tomorrow, with the trailer in tow, and make it to a fuel station. The one fuel station in Echo Bay did not have diesel. So … we drove all the way to the town of Overton to refill with diesel. Since the town of Overton had a decent looking grocery store we also bought a few groceries as well.

We drove back to Valley Of Fire State Park, and our campground. Sully wanted to come outside after being home alone all day, so I took him outside and let him climb all over the outstanding rock formations in our campsite. I hope some of the photos I took of him turn out well.

Wednesday ; Valley Of Fire State Park to Cathedral Gorge State Park

Today was sunny and warm at Valley Of Fire State Park in the morning, partially cloudy, mild, and windy at Cathedral Gorge State Park later in the day. This morning we departed Valley Of Fire State Park and headed north on Hwy. 169. We stopped in Overton to buy a stamp. When Hwy. 169 ended at Interstate 15 we turned southwest on I-15 for a few miles then turned northwest on Hwy. 168 to Hwy. 93. Driving north on Hwy. 93 / Great Basin Highway it was hard to stay awake. It was somewhat like driving through West Texas. Endless scruffy desert. No radio reception. At Crystal Springs Hwy. 93 turned east and at Caliente it turned north again. We are now travelling up the east side of Nevada near the border with Utah.

Immediately after the town of Panaca we reached our destination for the day, Cathedral Gorge State Park. As soon as we were backed into a site, I went to nap with Sully. After I napped we got set up in our site, bought some firewood, and I started a campfire. It’s been about a year since we’ve had a campfire. We decided to have a weenie roast for supper. HA HA HA … just like the “good ol’ days” of our youth, camped at Rushing River Provincial Park in Ontario. After supper we sat around the campfire for awhile … including Bo and Sully … but the wind made us cold. We went inside the trailer where Sully and Bo went to sleep, I worked on the computer, and Joanne baked cookies.

Thursday ; exploring Cathedral Gorge State Park

Today was sunny, mild, and windy. Except when we were deep in canyon caves. Which Bo loooooves ! HA HA HA … what a spunky little fellow !

This morning Joanne prepared a picnic lunch and we set off to explore Cathedral Gorge State Park. We drove over to the Caves Area where we explored in three different cave areas ; Cathedral Caves, Canyon Caves, and Moon Caves. They’re technically not “real” caves. They are canyon caves. They are extremely narrow ( a foot or two ) canyons with vertical walls that extend hundreds and hundreds of feet up. And they twist and turn. And sometimes the vertical walls meet, forming bridges overhead. When we went into the first one, Bo just … ZOOOOOM ! No fear, no hesitation. We struggled into these canyon caves, squeezing sideways through passages that we were barely able to squeeze through ( me scratching and scraping my fanny pack, Joanne doing the same to her backpack purse ), me holding a retractable leash with the cord extended out to its maximum 30 feet, Bo somewhere 30 feet deeper into the cave. And occasionally we would get to what would be the end of the cave for us, and there would still be 30 feet of leash extending off into a crevasse with Bo somewhere in there. Bo loooooved exploring in those caves ! As did we ! Occasionally, we could get as far as possible into a canyon, to where it would be about a foot wide, then look straight up hundreds of feet to see sunlight. It was awesome ! Good thing neither of us is claustrophobic.

We drove back to the Visitor Center where we ate our picnic lunch at a picnic table outside before going inside to watch a video on State Parks of Eastern Nevada. Then we drove to Miller Point Overlook, where a short hike brought us to an area looking over Cathedral Gorge from above. WOW ! Somewhat reminiscent of Bryce Canyon National Park in Utah. To see deep down into the gorge we had to descend a short series of steps. Made of out heavy mesh. So you can see through them. HA HA HA … BO NO GO steps. HA HA HA HA HA … similar to BO NO GO floating docks. But … HA HA HA … they’re only BO NO GO going down. He can’t resist looking through them while going down. They’re fine to go up. What a silly little dog !

Our Virgin Mobile cell phone and my ReadyBroadband USB modem both use the Sprint cell phone network. Neither device worked at the campground. And I needed to retrieve our MasterCard statement today. So we drove to the nearby town of Panaca. Well … still no Sprint signal, even in town. DARN ! I drove slowly around town with my netbook perched on the steering wheel, searching for an unencrypted Wi-Fi signal coming off someone‘s personal router. No, no … there wasn’t a Burger King or McDonald’s or Starbucks or even a library in Panaca, Nevada where I could find a Wi-FI signal ! It took a few minutes but I found a good Wi-Fi signal coming out of somebody’s house and retrieved the MasterCard statement. And did a bit of research on a casino that we have decided to head to for Easter Sunday, to have Easter Brunch or Easter Dinner. And watch Amazing Race. And do laundry. Before leaving town to return to the campground we refilled with diesel. GEEEEEZZZZZ … $4.299 per gallon !

Joanne so enjoyed last night’s weenie roast that she wanted to have a campfire cooked supper again tonight. So while I got a campfire started she prepared foil wrapped packages of chicken, rice, and carrots with diced onions, celery and tomatoes. I cooked them on the fire to perfection ! We ate supper at our campsite’s ramada covered picnic table, then took Bo and Sully ( in his sling carrier ) for a walk around the campground. We sat around the campfire until it got dark.

Life is good !

Good Friday ; Cathedral Gorge State Park to Wells, Nevada

Today was sunny and … cool. As we travel north, it’s definitely getting a lot cooler.

Today was a long, slightly tedious day of driving north on Hwy. 93 through the somewhat boring high plains scruffy desert of Eastern Nevada. A bit similar to driving across West Texas. We left Cathedral Gorge State Park heading north on Hwy. 93. And drove and drove and drove. We stopped for lunch at Ely. We stopped for the night at Flying J in Wells, where Hwy. 93 intersects Interstate 80.

After arriving at the Flying J I did about an hour of diagnostic work on the trailer battery charging system of the truck. The trailer battery condition gauge on the trailer’s monitor panel has been indicating that the trailer battery is not being charged when the truck engine is running. This same problem persisted in November as we travelled south. An hour or so of checking fuses and testing with a voltage meter convinced me that the only problem is an inaccurate gauge in the trailer’s monitor panel. I replaced the trailer’s battery in November. I replaced the trailer’s electrical converter panel in December. I replaced the trailer battery’s wiring. I replaced the truck’s two batteries. All components seem to be operating correctly except the monitor panel. And it’s 13 years old. And electronic. With aged wiring. And dirty connections that I can’t get at to clean.

I need a gallon of Lucas upper cylinder lubricant / diesel fuel additive. We went into Flying J to check their price on a gallon of Lucas. AND … found a Lucas clone. AND … the clone was on sale. AND … since the clone is on sale until the end of the month, I can defer buying it until we are in Oregon where there is no sales tax. We walked across the street to check the price of Lucas and the clone at Love’s. Both were slightly more expensive at Love’s.

Saturday ; Wells to Jackpot, Nevada

BRRRRR … sunny and cold today.

This morning we refilled with diesel before departing the Flying J in Wells. We continued north on Hwy. 93 to Jackpot, Nevada. We checked into Saguaro RV Park, part of Cactus Pete’s Casino. We had lunch and I napped briefly with Sully. Joanne went to do laundry and I went to the RV park office to work online using Wi-Fi. I had a lot of catching up to do online.

Ever since we left Las Vegas I have been unable to use my ReadyBroadband USB modem or Virgin Mobile cell phone. One of the things I wanted to do online today was find the Sprint network coverage map. HMPH … just as I expected. Sprint has no coverage in Nevada north of Las Vegas. And I won’t find any Sprint coverage until Twin Falls, Idaho, an hour or so north of where we are right now.

There are five casinos in Jackpot. Late this afternoon we went to each of them to check them out, particularly their restaurants and their Easter brunch or dinner specials. Cactus Pete’s is the most upscale casino of the five, and their buffet restaurant is the best, and has the best Easter special. So we’ll have a late brunch or early supper there tomorrow.

I spent quite a bit of time working on the computer this afternoon and evening, getting caught up on processing photos of Valley Of Fire State Park and Cathedral Gorge State Park.

DSK

April 10 to 16, 2011 ; Laughlin to Las Vegas, Nevada

Sunday ; Today was sunny and warm. This morning I did some minor maintenance and we did an obedience session with Bo before going to find the Laughlin Post Office. It wasn’t open today but I wanted to find it. I need to pick up a batch of forwarded mail at the Laughlin Post Office within the next few days. We shopped at the Factory Outlet Mall “next door” to our RV park. I bought a pair of Birkenstock sandals. Kind of pricey, n’est-ce-pas ?

We had lunch, I napped with Sully, then we drove across the river to Bullhead City to run some errands. As we crossed the bridge over the Colorado River we saw RV’s in a park along the river. We went to take a look at the very lovely Davis Camp County Park before driving into Bullhead City. We did some shopping at Walgreens. We found the Dodge Dealer.
I will return tomorrow to buy a brake caliper bolt. We did some grocery shopping at Safeway.

We returned across the river to Laughlin and the Riverside Hotel & Casino RV Park. We took Bo for a long walk, and found our RV park’s “dog park”. It wasn’t great ! We gave Bo a bath. We had supper and … WOO-HOO … watched Amazing Race. And Undercover Boss. DARN … I forgot about Celebrity Apprentice !

We are located on the back row of the highest tier of this RV park. We just went for a late night walk to the front row of this upper tier, to see all the lights of the casinos down below on Casino Drive. < blink blink > WOW !

Monday ; Today was sunny and very warm. It was “one of those days” when things did not go so well.

This morning I made pancakes for brunch, then we went to the Laughlin Post Office to pick up the batch of forwarded mail from home. < sigh > It wasn’t there. Every year for the last seven years we have one batch of mail each winter go awry. And every year for a different reason. We returned to the trailer and I got online to attempt to track the XpressPost envelope I was expecting. The tracking information didn’t show much. I phoned the Keremeos Post Office. Yes, yes … < sigh > ... the package of forwarded mail was there, having been returned to the Keremeos Post Office by the Vancouver Post Office … twice ! ! ! Apparently it’s “overweight”. Despite there being no weight limitation specified on XpressPost envelopes … AND … despite never having an XpressPost envelope returned in seven winters of forwarding batches of mail on a monthly basis, so the envelopes have always been approximately the same weight. There’s no point arguing with the Keremeos Post Office. Or any Post Office ! Arguments with the Post Office can not be won ! I told the Keremeos Post Office to hold the XpressPost envelope for me until we return home in three weeks. And I won’t hold my breath waiting for a refund of the $15 cost of the XpressPost envelope / service. “Refund” doesn’t exist in Post Office vocabulary !

In the afternoon we drove across the Colorado River and went to the Dodge dealer in Bullhead City to buy the correct brake caliper bolt. < sigh > They were out of stock. So we went to about half a dozen auto supply stores in Bullhead City and Fort Mohave, the next town over, about 5 or 6 miles down the road. No luck ! I’ll just stop at every Dodge dealer from here to Keremeos until I find one that has the bolt that I need. We shopped at Wal-Mart in Bullhead City. We crossed back over the river at Fort Mohave, which allowed us to see the Avi Casino, which is on Indian land, away from all the other casinos in Laughlin.

When we were in Quartzsite in January we picked up a coupon for a $5 food voucher at The Tropicana here in Laughlin. We went to The Tropicana tonight to have their “bottomless pasta bowl” special for supper. It was excellent ! We joined their player’s club to get our $5 food voucher, so supper cost $7 + $7 - $5 = $9 for both of us. And joining their player’s club earned us $5 each in promotional play / pretend money for casino games play. We played out the $10 in “pretend money” on penny slot machines and ended up with a buck fifty-five in real money. HA HA HA … big spenders in the casino, as always.

Tuesday ; Today was sunny and hot.

I spent the morning and half the afternoon getting caught up on some deferred chores including monthly maintenance and backups of computer files and reconciling last month’s investment statements. Mid-afternoon we went over to see the Riverside Hotel & Casino Resort’s two classic car museums. Well, that explains why the Ford Model A & Edsel Club meets here. Don Laughlin, the owner of the Riverside Hotel & Casino Resort and founder of the city of Laughlin is a collector of antique and classic cars, including some Model A Fords.

Late in the afternoon we headed across the river to Bullhead City again. Joanne wanted to attend the Mohave High School Chili Dinner & School Band Concert. When we arrived at the huge high school, the event had changed … to Pizza Dinner & School Band Concert. We wanted chili, not pizza. We didn’t stay. While still on the Bullhead City side of the river I ran some shopping errands at Lowe’s and Checker Auto Parts. We drove back over to the Laughlin side of the river for “supper plan B”. As with the Tropicana yesterday, while in Quartzsite a couple of months ago we had picked up a $5 food voucher for the River Palms Casino. So we decided to go to the River Palms and try out their buffet restaurant. We had to join their Player’s Club to redeem the $5 food voucher, and joining the Player’s Club resulted in us once again getting $5 each in complimentary play / “pretend money”. The meal in the buffet restaurant was great ! And it cost $8.99 - 10% + $8.99 - 10% - $5 + tax = $12.09 ! We spent a couple of hours blowing off our $10 in “free play” on a variety of penny slot machines, some of which were really fun. And … by the time we had blown off the $10 “pretend money” we had won $9.60 real money. So … HA HA HA … a great buffet diner for two and a couple of hours of playing slot machines had a net cost of $2.49 !

Wednesday ; exploring Oatman and Chloride, Arizona

Today was sunny and very warm. This morning Joanne prepared a picnic lunch and we set off for a day of exploring Oatman and Chloride. We drove across the Colorado River to Bullhead City and found our way to Fastenal near the airport. Fastenal is an industrial fastener supply company and I was still looking for the correct brake caliper mounting bolt. The replacement bolt I bought a few days ago was half an inch shorter than the original. Fastenal had the right length of bolt but it was a lesser strength grade than the original. I bought it and will install it. I will consider it temporary, like the first one, but I would rather have a temporary bolt that is the right length but the wrong strength grade, than one that is too short.

We drove south of Bullhead City on Hwy. 95 to Boundary Cone Road then west across to Historic Route 66. Route 66 wound its way up and over and around, through the mountains to Oatman, an “Old Wild West” mining ghost town, renowned for the wild burros that roam its streets. When the miners abandoned the town they left behind their burros whose descendants now roam the streets of Oatman mooching off the tourists. HA HA HA … it’s pretty cute, especially at this time of year when there are babies. We wandered around town, interacting with burros, taking photos, browsing in the shops, and watching re-enactments of gunfights.

We had a late picnic lunch in Oatman then continued on Historic Route 66 to Kingman, then north on Hwy. 93 to Chloride Road to Chloride, another “Old Wild West” mining ghost town. But unlike Oatman’s rebirth as a tourist attraction, Chloride is just an old ghost town, inhabited by … wingnuts, it looked like. We drove slowly around what was left of the town, sightseeing for awhile, then headed back to Laughlin.

It was a lovely day for an outing and we had a fun day.

Thursday ; Today was sunny, warm, and a bit windy. This morning I removed the first temporary brake caliper bolt, the one that is half an inch too short, and installed the second temporary brake caliper bolt, the one that is a lesser strength grade than the original. And I will still be looking for the exact correct one !

Around noon we headed out for the Avi Casino’s Thursday 2-4-1 buffet lunch special in their Native Harvest Restaurant. While driving south on Hwy. 95 towards Avi Casino we passed Big Bend Of The Colorado State Park. We were interested in seeing their campground as a potential place to stay in the future, but when we approached their entrance gate and asked to drive around the campground to take a look, the Ranger refused to allow us to enter without paying the daily use fee. **** you, pal ! We’ve driven around hundreds of state park campgrounds just to take a really quick look, without ever having to pay an entrance fee if we’re in and out within a few minutes. Today’s experience left a very sour taste in our mouths and strongly influences our willingness to stay in Nevada State Parks … and leave our money behind to pay the salary of an a*****e like that !

To take advantage of the 2-4-1 lunch special we had to join the Avi Casino’s Player’s Club, as we did at the other casinos. And, as before, joining resulted in $5 worth of “free play”. We had a very nice lunch in the Native Harvest Buffet. The dessert was especially noteworthy. It was a prepared to order, fresh fruit flambé served over ice cream. MMMMM ! ! ! After lunch we played slot machines until we blew off the $10 in “free play”. And that resulted in winning $6.73 in real money, bringing the net cost of the afternoon to $1.91 ! HA HA HA HA HA !

There was a classic car show at the Avi, on their manicured grounds alongside the banks of the Colorado River. We walked around in the warm sunshine, and the natural beauty, admiring beautifully restored classic cars, most from the fifties but ranging from the twenties to the seventies. We crossed over the river on the southern bridge near the Avi, to Fort Mohave, Arizona where we shopped at Safeway for a bit of groceries, then drove north a few miles to Bullhead City to refill with diesel before crossing the northern bridge back over to the Nevada side of the Colorado River and return home to Riverside Hotel & Casino Resort RV Park.

I downloaded and processed yesterday’s photos. We took Bo for a long walk. I worked on learning a new magic trick that I bought at the Yuma County Fair a couple of weeks ago. I mastered the essence of the illusion, but it needs a lot of practice and fine tuning. Nevertheless, Joanne was very impressed, and she’s not that easy to impress with magic. And, finally …
< sigh > … I started working on my income tax return. I haven’t yet received all of our income tax information slips … some are in the batch of forwarded mail that’s stuck at the Keremeos Post Office … but I have some of them and have decided to get started on our income tax returns.

Friday ; Today was a lovely, sunny, hot day.

When we checked into the Riverside Hotel & Casino Resort RV Park for a week, we received two vouchers for breakfast in the buffet restaurant. Today we went for breakfast, making the long downhill walk to the casino, but taking the RV park’s shuttle bus back up to our site afterwards. Breakfast was okay. We’re not big breakfast eaters, so a buffet breakfast is somewhat wasted on us. We enjoyed the freshly made to order omelettes.

I spent the rest of the morning doing minor maintenance chores and working on the computer. And after much urging, I “revealed” to Joanne the “magic” in my new magic trick. She remains impressed. Much to Sully’s great delight, I napped with him. He thinks I haven’t been fulfilling my afternoon nap obligations. HA HA HA !

We had a somewhat lazy afternoon. We cleaned the Fantastic Fan in the kitchen. Yuck ! It’s a very effective kitchen fan but it sure gets greasy. Joanne did laundry. I did some online research, looking for Chrysler dealers and Fastenal locations around Las Vegas. We took Bo for a late afternoon leisurely walk, all of us enjoying the “no shirt necessary” weather.

We spent the evening watching TV. We had an opportunity to watch the Celebrity Apprentice episode that we missed last Sunday.

Saturday ; Laughlin to Las Vegas, Nevada

Today was sunny and hot, temperature in the 90’s. Welcome to Vegas, Baby !

This morning when I was checking the fluid level in the truck batteries I had some sulphuric acid splash up into my face. Good thing I wear glasses. Good thing I have a beard ! It took a minute or two for the acid to get through my beard and start burning the skin underneath. OUCH !

We departed Riverside Hotel & Casino Resort RV Park and headed west out of Laughlin on Hwy. 163 to Hwy. 95, then north on Hwy. 95 all the way to Las Vegas. I think many movies, TV shows, and commercials have been filmed on this stretch of Hwy. 95 south of Las Vegas. Very scenic, very lovely drive through the desert, on a “straight as an arrow” road that very slowly dips then very slowly rises, so the road ahead is visible for many, many, many miles.

We arrived in Las Vegas and found our way to Arizona Charlie’s Casino & RV Resort on Boulder Highway. A few months ago in Quartzsite we had picked up a discount coupon for Arizona Charlie’s. Very nice resort ! We checked in, got set up in a site, had lunch, and I napped briefly with Sully. The afternoon was hot so we went to cool off in the swimming pool. Afterwards we went into Arizona Charlie’s Casino to join their Player’s Club and check out the restaurants. We decided to return later to have one their advertised specials for dinner.

I went into the clubhouse attached to the RV park’s office to use their Wi-Fi. It was very slow. Tomorrow I’ll use my ReadyBroadband USB modem. It will probably provide a faster Internet connection than the RV park‘s Wi-Fi. Back at the trailer I worked on our income tax returns for awhile. I’m trying to work half an hour to an hour per day on our income tax returns.

Early in the evening as the sun was setting we took Bo for a long, leisurely walk around the large RV park then went into the casino to have supper at Sourdough Café.

DSK

April 3 to 9, 2011 ; San Carlos Apache Reservation, Arizona to Laughlin, Nevada

Sunday ; Boyce Thompson Arboretum

Today was sunny and hot, temperature in the mid-80’s. This morning, before heading out to the Boyce Thompson Arboretum, we went over to the rodeo grounds and stadium on the other side of the casino to watch more of the Arizona state high school rodeo competitions. What I particularly wanted to see was girls’ pole bending ( weave poles ). WOW … that’s an even better event than barrel racing. We watched about half an hour of that outdoors then went inside the stadium to watch junior boys’ calf wrestling and senior boys’ steer riding for about another half hour. Junior boys’ calf wrestling … HA HA HA HA HA ! Irresistible force meets immoveable object ! ! ! It’s a real toss up as to who’s more stubborn, barely teenaged boys or young bulls. HA HA HA !

We have been wanting to visit Boyce Thompson Arboretum almost since we began full time RV’ing almost 7 years ago. We’ve actually been to it twice but did not go in because both times that we were there it was pouring rain upon our arrival. Well, not so today ! It was a great day to visit Boyce Thompson Arboretum !

We drove west on Hwy. 70 to Globe, then west on Hwy. 60 to Boyce Thompson Arboretum State Park near Superior, about an hour or so from Apache Gold Casino & RV Resort. Boyce Thompson Arboretum State Park is 100 acres of desert botanical gardens. And visiting it today was especially exciting for us as we spent the entire visit dreaming and planning the cactus garden we intend to create on our lot 52 at Kofa Ko-op.

Joanne had prepared a picnic lunch for us. Around lunch time we retrieved our picnic bag from the truck in the parking lot and headed over to the park’s picnic area where a special event was to take place at 1 PM. A musical performance by a duo. “New age” relaxation music ! Her on piano, him on a variety of flutes. A guy who took himself way too seriously. She just wanted to perform music. He wanted everyone in the audience to transcend to a special place with him. Get a real job, fella ! The pied piper you’re not !

After our picnic lunch and as much of the beret wearing flute player as I could tolerate we wandered around the grounds until we were exhausted, about 4 PM, in awe of the blooming desert flowers and trees, cacti and succulents, planning our own cactus garden. What a great time of the year to be visiting Boyce Thompson ! What a great place to learn about desert gardens !

When we left Boyce Thompson we went to visit historic old downtown Globe ! Well … not really ! Old downtown Globe is a ghost town ! Beautiful old Mexican / Spanish architecture buildings, abandoned and boarded up. We drove to Superior, bought a few groceries at Safeway, then went to explore historic old downtown Superior. Unlike Globe, where the local economy seems to have collapsed, the gold and copper mines around Superior are still active, so Superior is still a thriving community. Their historic old downtown is … old and historic and alive and well ! We drove to the site of the Besh-Ba-Gowah Archeological Park, the ruins of a 700 year old Indian pueblo. It was close to closing time, and we were very tired from our long day of walking around Boyce Thompson. We could see enough of the site from the parking lot to determine that it was similar to the Casa Grande ruins we visited a few years ago. Not worth a visit at this time / on this trip.

Monday ; Apache Trail

Today was sunny and very warm, temperature about 80 degrees. Joanne wanted to explore the Apache Trail today. Since one end of it is near Phoenix and the other end is near Globe, she suggested we drive to Phoenix to take care of some shopping errands without having the burden of towing the trailer through the city, then explore the length of the Apache Trail.

We headed west on Hwy. 70 then Hwy. 60 to Phoenix. We found a PetsMart and returned a pet bed Joanne bought a few days ago in Yuma. Neither Sully nor Bo liked it. We found our way to Camping World and bought a sheet set and a new shower head I wanted. We found our way to another RV dealer to buy a coiled breakaway switch cable. All of these shopping stops were within the eastern suburb of Mesa. We drove to the edge of the city and had our picnic lunch in a shopping mall parking lot before heading out to find and explore the Apache Trail.

The Apache Trail is about an 80 mile long route up, around, through, and down the Superstition Mountains. It’s extremely scenic ( and at this time of year, lush ) high desert. The road winds and curves and goes up and down. About a third of it is little more than a rough gravel trail. By the time we finished the Apache Trail near Globe it was after 5 PM. We stopped at Fry’s in Globe to refill with diesel and buy some groceries before heading home to Apache Gold Casino & RV Resort. I was somewhat surprised to find that we had driven over 300 km. / 200 miles today. After only four, but busy and activity filled, days of travel … I’m already feeling tired !

Tuesday ; San Carlos Apache Reservation to Camp Verde, Arizona

Today was sunny and very warm.

This morning before preparing for departure from the Apache Gold Casino & RV Resort I had to take care of some maintenance chores that couldn’t wait. First I removed the new shower head we purchased yesterday at Camping World so that we could return it today. We didn’t like it ! Next I had to replace a burnt out taillight bulb on the truck. Changing vehicle bulbs is not as simple as it used to be. Joanne walked over to the casino’s hotel to send a fax.
I installed a new breakaway safety switch cable on the trailer. And … I crawled underneath the truck to take a look at the driver’s side front brake assembly. I reinstalled the shower head mounting bracket that had come loose a few days ago. Since we were planning to buy a new shower head I had postponed reinstalling the loose mounting bracket because I didn’t know if the new shower head would fit it.

There’s something loose or broken in the driver’s side front brake. The trip to Picacho SRA about a week and a half ago made it worse. And the trip along the Apache Trail yesterday made it worse. And I can’t find / see it ! I’m planning to have a brake inspection in Laughlin, Nevada next Monday.

We headed west on Hwy. 60 and then Hwy. 70 to Phoenix. We returned the shower head to Camping World in Mesa. We struggled through and around Phoenix and all its adjacent suburbs, large cities in their own rights, until we were at Interstate 17. We stopped to have lunch in a shopping mall parking lot then headed north on I-17. Joanne drove for awhile to give me a much needed rest.

At the town of Camp Verde on the Yavapai Apache Reservation we got off the Interstate and pulled in to Distant Drums RV Resort. We had a bit of a dispute at the registration over the Passport America rate / terms. It was easily resolved. Give me the terms published in the Passport America directory or … we’re outta here ! We got set up in a site, rested a bit, then drove over to the nearby Cliff Castle Casino. We wandered around the casino, then drove around exploring the nearby area. Back at Distant Drums RV Resort we took Bo for a walk before preparing dinner and settling in for an evening of watching TV. WOO-HOO … first time we’ve had English language TV since Christmas Eve.

Wednesday ; Red Rock State Park, Sedona, and Oak Creek Canyon Scenic Road

This morning was sunny and warm. This afternoon was cloudy and cool, with some light rain late in the afternoon.

This morning we headed over to Cliff Castle Casino for breakfast. Every Wednesday morning breakfast is free for seniors ( over 55 ). After breakfast we headed north on I-17 and Hwy. 179 to Sedona. WOW … amazing “red rocks” … red mountains ! Sedona is a very pretty tourist town. We drove through Sedona then southeast on Hwy. 89A to Red Rock State Park. We viewed some exhibits in the Visitor Center and watched a few minutes of a video in their theater. We spent some time in their Hummingbird Room where hummingbirds at a feeder can be viewed through a “one way glass” window. We went for a hike on Smoke Trail alongside Oak Creek. We had our picnic lunch at a picnic table under a ramada near the parking lot. We went for another hike on Bunkhouse Trail.

By the end of Bunkhouse Trail I was feeling … ill. Very tired and weak. Perhaps a bit of a relapse of the flu illness I had recently ? Or a side effect of an antihistamine I took this morning ? Joanne went to watch a video on hummingbirds and I went to nap in the truck.

At the Visitor Center we saw on a 3D model of the topography of the area that the Sedona airport is located on the top of a nearby mesa. We drove from Red Rock State Park back to Sedona then up to the airport. WOW ! ! ! What a vista !

We drove back down to Sedona, through town, and out to the east, still on Hwy. 89A, now the Oak Creek Canyon Scenic Road. We drove the scenic road up, up, and still more up ! We arrived at Slide Rock State Park too close to closing time to make a visit worthwhile. Too bad. Oak Creek cascades down over the flat rocks like a natural water slide. I had brought a swimming suit, but … maybe another time. We continued on Hwy. 89A until it reached Interstate 17 at Flagstaff. The elevation was about 7000 feet and the temperature was 39 degrees, more than 30 degrees colder than “home” / Camp Verde.

We drove back to Camp Verde on I-17. Before returning to Distant Drums RV Park we went into town to refill a water jug, buy some groceries at Bashas’ and refill with diesel at Maverik. When we arrived back at the trailer I discovered that the shower head mounting bracket that I reinstalled yesterday had fallen off the shower stall wall. HMPH … guess double sided Eternabond wasn’t right for the job !

Thursday ; exploring Prescott to Sedona

Today was sunny and warm, but very windy late in the afternoon. This morning before heading out for a day of exploring I reinstalled the shower head mounting bracket onto the shower stall wall. Yesterday I received an
e-mail from Riverside RV Park Resort advising me that the Keremeos Post Office was trying to reach me. I phoned them this morning. There was a problem with the batch of forwarded mail that our neighbour had mailed a few days ago. I hope the problem is now solved. With the Post Office … who can tell ? ! ?

We wanted to explore from Prescott to Sedona, including the mining ghost town of Jerome. We made a large “loop” of about 225 km. / 140 miles today. We left Distant Drums RV Park and headed south on Interstate 17, then west on Hwy. 169 and Hwy. 69 to Prescott. In the suburb of Prescott Valley I saw a Meineke Car Care Center and stopped to discuss the bad sound in the truck’s front end. We can get to where we want to go tomorrow by driving through Prescott Valley so I made an appointment for a brake and front end inspection at 11 AM tomorrow morning.

We drove north on Hwy. 89 then east on Hwy. 89A towards Jerome. We stopped on the side of the road to eat our picnic lunch. After lunch we drove up and over Mingus Mountain … 158 curves in 12 miles … to Jerome. Jerome is a mining ghost town built on the side of a steep sloped mountain. The mine has been closed for many years, but the town has reinvented itself as an artist enclave and tourist town. We parked the truck and wandered around the town sightseeing and browsing. At a shop that sells Dirt Shirts … shirts that are “dyed” with the local red dirt … I bought a Dirt Shirt that reads “I survived the Historic Hwy. 89A Mingus Mountain Road … 158 curves in 12 miles” HA HA HA … been there, done that, got the t-shirt ! ! !

From Jerome we continued east on Hwy. 89A to and through Cottonwood and on to Sedona. We spent a couple of hours in Sedona browsing through arts and crafts malls. Sedona is a very “high rent” retail area ! We drove back to Camp Verde down Hwy. 179 and Interstate 17. We refilled with diesel before returning “home” to Distant Drums.

Friday ; Camp Verde to Kingman, Arizona

Today was cloudy and cold. Between Seligman and Peach Springs, in a desert snow blizzard, the temperature got as low as 29 degrees !

We departed Distant Drums RV Resort this morning, drove south on Interstate 17 and west on Hwy. 169 and Hwy. 69 to Prescott Valley. At Meineke Car Care Center we unhitched Lanoire from Harvey and I took Lanoire in to have the bad noise in the driver’s side front brake diagnosed. Well … it didn’t take them very long to find that one of the two front brake caliper mounting bolts was missing ! I’m embarrassed that I didn’t find that myself. Evidently, the idiot who did the brake job on the truck about a year ago neglected to apply ThreadLocker to the caliper mounting bolts when reinstalling them, so one of them vibrated loose and eventually fell out ! ! ! And that idiot would be … me ! ThreadLocker on the caliper mounting bolts ? ? ? Who knew ? ! ? Meineke called a local supplier to supply a replacement bolt. The local supplier was … unsatisfactory ! Not only were they not able to supply a matching replacement bolt, their process of sending a driver down to Meineke to pick up one of the other caliper mounting bolts to use as a sample, return to their shop to look for a match, then return to Meineke took … an hour and a half ! I was really pissed off ! However, Meineke did an excellent job ! I told them not to bother calling another supplier. Just put the truck back together and I’ll be on my way. Yes, yes, with one caliper bolt missing. We pass Dodge dealers and automotive parts suppliers frequently. I’ll find a replacement bolt myself and install it myself. Under those circumstances, the charge at Meineke was … zero ! How nice ! I was quite impressed with Meineke Car Care Center and will use them again when I need vehicle maintenance services.

We left Prescott Valley and headed north on Hwy. 89. At the next town, Chino Valley, I stopped at an auto parts dealer. They didn’t have the exact right bolt, but I bought one that is a ¼ inch shorter than the original, and installed it as a temporary fix. Two dollars and thirty-four cents ! When I next see a Dodge dealer I’ll go in and buy an exact correct replacement bolt. It was a great relief to have the brake noise problem identified and fixed. Especially with the weather that we encountered later in the day.

When Hwy. 89 reached Interstate 40 we turned west for a few miles to Ash Fork, then got off the Interstate and onto historic Route 66. Joanne wanted to travel historic Route 66 from Ash Fork to Seligman, then have lunch ( an extremely late one ! ) at the famous Delgadillo’s Snow Cap Drive-In. Well … we didn’t have lunch at the Snow Cap … it’s just a take out window ! We ate our lunch in the trailer. MMMMM … one of their famous Red Chile Burgers, one of their famous Green Chile Burgers, an order of onion rings, and an order of fries. Great food !

After lunch at Seligman Joanne wanted to return to Interstate 40. I had been amused by the sequential signage by Burma Shave along Route 66 and wanted to stay on it all the way to Kingman. As we continued west on Route 66 from Seligman it began to rain and the temperature kept falling until the rain turned into light snowfall, then heavy snowfall by the time we reached Peach Springs. A desert blizzard ! ! ! I stopped to take some photos of desert plants covered in snow. The rain on the road froze, turning into black ice under blowing snow ! I shifted to 4WD and we drove very slowly. WHEW … guess we “got our kicks on Route 66” !

Shortly before reaching Kingman the snow stopped and the temperature climbed. We refilled a propane tank on the outskirts of Kingman. We found our way to Flying J to check out their diesel price and suitability for overnight boondocking. Then we drove 6 miles east on the Interstate to Love’s to do the same thing. Flying J had the better diesel price and the better parking area for boondocking RV’s, so we returned to Flying J where we spent the night.

In the last week … all in Arizona … we’ve experienced temperatures from 29 to 102 degrees !

Saturday ; Kingman, Arizona to Laughlin, Nevada

The weather today changed frequently, from sunny and warm to cold and raining, back and forth.

Last night when we pulled into the Flying J I decided I would refill with diesel in the morning before departing. Last night the price of diesel at Flying J was $4.079. This morning it was $4.119. DAMN DAMN DAMN ! ! ! I refilled with diesel and we departed, passing a number of fuel stations within the first few miles with a diesel price of $3.999. DAMN DAMN DAMN ! ! ! We travelled a few miles west on Interstate 40, a few miles north on Hwy. 93, then west on Hwy. 68 to Bullhead City on one side of the Colorado River and Laughlin, Nevada on the other side of the river. We arrived at the Riverside Hotel & Casino Resort at 10 AM. We had a coupon for a week in their RV park for $89 ! They wouldn’t let us check in to the RV park until 1 PM so we parked in the casino’s RV boondocking lot and … HUH ? ? ? We were parked right beside a … competition of some sort involving … HUH ? ? ? Model A Fords ? ! ? There was a convention at the hotel / casino of the Ford Model A & Edsel club ! The model A’s were having a … “agility” competition. HA HA HA ! They were driving their magnificently restored Model A’s onto a “balance beam”. And driving over a series of pieces of lumber, simulating an old, rough road, with a glass of water perched on their running boards. And having a wooden arrow hung on their front bumper, then driving to a dart board on the pavement about 20 feet away, and having the distance from the point of the arrow to the center of the dart board measured. HA HA HA ! We watched some of the competition, then wandered around admiring the beautifully restored Model A Fords. Two door coupes, four door sedans, and … trucks. Didn’t know there were Model A trucks !

And then … oh, my goodness … there were the Edsels. Many, many Edsels. I’ve always admired Edsels. I don’t understand why they were a flop. There were a few 57’s, quite a few 58’s and 59’s, and only two 1960 models, both of them convertibles. WOW … they were stupendous ! And two very lovely Edsel station wagons. I want an Edsel station wagon ! While we were admiring the one Edsel station wagon that was for sale … for $29,500 … it was purchased by a Canadian Snowbird returning home. HMPH … I wanted it. Joanne, on the other hand, was infatuated with the restored 1958 Ford one ton flat bed truck that the Edsel station wagon was on. The flat bed was also for sale.

And … while all this was going on, we were also watching … HUH ? ! ? A series of six World War II “War Birds” flying in formation, back and forth along the Colorado River … very, very close to the tall casino buildings all along the riverbank. They were part of the second annual Legends Over The Colorado air show today and tomorrow. Very cool ! ! !

We went into the huge casino complex and explored. Big, interesting place ! We returned to the trailer in the parking lot, had lunch, then drove across the street, back to the RV park, to check in. The RV park is huge, 742 sites, on tiered sections on the side of a mountain. We got a huge site up on the top row. As we backed into our site, the temperature plummeted, the wind began to blow, and rain began to fell. I didn’t feel like getting set up in cold rain, so I went to nap with Sully. An hour later the weather had improved … again … and we got set up in our site.

We spent the afternoon slowly getting caught up on some chores. Joanne did laundry. We planned our week in Laughlin. While in the casino before lunch we had picked up information on what’s happening in town this week, and information on meal specials at the variety of restaurants in the many casinos. Laughlin is sort of a “junior” Las Vegas, similar but smaller. And certainly a lot more RV friendly. The Riverside and the Avi both have huge RV parks. And the Riverside has a huge RV boondocking parking lot. Maybe some of the other casinos do as well.

DSK

March 27 to April 2, 2011 ; Yuma to San Carlos Apache Reservation, Arizona

Sunday ; Today was sunny and warm, a lovely day.

Yesterday we received a phone call from Crissi Rae at Bedrock Artworks, the artist that we commissioned to paint a BC / AZ scene on our trailer spare tire cover. She was almost finished our painting and it would be ready for us to pick up if we were still going to be in Yuma for a few more days. YES ! This morning we headed to Yuma Park N Swap to see if she had our painted spare tire cover in her stall at the flea market. She did. It still needs to be clear coated on Monday and then will be available for us to pick up on Tuesday. But … the scene painting is finished.

It’s gorgeous ! But … not exactly what either Joanne or I had envisioned. Crissi Rae is a “Southern Belle”, born and raised somewhere in West Virginia and now living here in the Desert Southwest. The spare tire cover was to be painted with the top half representing British Columbia and the bottom half representing Arizona. Our northern home and our southern home. Crissi Rae’s “interpretation” of what BC looks like is a bit more “wintery” than we would have liked. On the other hand, people coming into her stall and seeing the scene, which she has had on display in her shop for a few days, immediately recognize it as a scene of “Canada” and Arizona. I guess … everyone down here thinks Canada is … “snowy”. HA HA HA ! Not when we’re there !

While at the flea market we bought a case of Awesome cleaner. From Yuma Park N Swap we headed to CVS Pharmacy for a cell phone top-up and then to Fry’s for some groceries. We had lunch at Rally’s then drove to Kofa
Ko-op for another view of lot 52. We were able to gain access to see the interior of the casita / Arizona room and the storage shed / workshop.

Kofa Ko-op has a set of waiting list “rules” for people waiting for an RV ready “bare lot” and a different set of rules for people waiting for a lot with a park model / manufactured home on it. We’re on the “bare lot” waiting list. Occasionally an anomaly like lot 52 happens. It’s neither a bare lot nor does it have a manufactured home / park model on it. What it does have is a fully enclosed casita / Arizona room with an attached roof covered front patio. The casita has solid lower walls to about knee high and then screened to the roof. The Kofa Ko-op lot transfer committee is a bit perplexed about whether to apply the “bare lot” rules or the “park model” rules in determining whom to make the lot available to. It might become a bit of a negotiated compromise. We will discuss the matter further with a member of the lot transfer committee on Tuesday afternoon. After viewing the lot and what’s on it more thoroughly today we remain very interested in it. But … while Kofa Ko-op has the price established for the “bare lot”, including RV utility hookups, concrete pad, storage shed, brick fencing, pave stone patio, etc., the price of the casita / Arizona room must be separately negotiated with the current lot owner.

After returning home I did some minor truck maintenance work. I reinstalled the “Genie Carrier” propane tank and water jug carrier in the bed of the truck. It had been a victim of Friday’s back road / off road adventure. I touched up the deep, ugly scratches Joanne made on the top of the truck door when she opened it this morning and hit it against the front awning of the park model next door. I’m not pleased ! I torqued the lug nuts and reinstalled the wheel liner and hub cap on the wheel I removed from the truck to inspect the brakes yesterday. I still think there’s a new “clunk” underneath the truck on the front driver’s side that’s got me a tad concerned, but I can’t find any loose brake or suspension components.

Tonight’s movie was Dragon Heart with Dennis Quaid and dragon voice by Sean Connery. It was okay, I guess, for an adventure flick that I think was targeted at teens.

Monday ; Today was sunny and hot, and should stay that way for our remaining four days in Yuma.

Late this morning we headed out to run a couple of errands before going to Pizza Hut in The Foothills for lunch. We refilled the small propane tank for the barbecue at Fruit Growers Supply, then went to refill our two water jugs. We went to Pizza Hut for their buffet lunch. Not surprisingly, we had a discount coupon ! Lunch was … mediocre at best. But … most importantly, we had an incident ( or two ) that will result in us never returning to a Pizza Hut, anytime, anywhere. As I finished drinking my glass of Diet Pepsi, I noticed … HUH ? … a “foreign object” embedded in a piece of melting ice in my glass. It appeared to be … a tiny piece of bacon and some tomato sauce … or … some flesh and blood from somebody’s scraped knuckle ? ! ?

But that’s not really the problem. Shit happens ! I walked up to the counter and quietly and politely brought the matter to the attention of our waitress and a young man standing nearby that I assumed was the manager on duty. He completely “flubbed” the handling of the situation. He was concerned, no doubt about that, but his response was … in the parlance of Newfoundlanders … “stunned as me arse” ! He mumbled about “employees never even put their hands inside the ice machine” and “have to get a service man to clean the ice machine” as he walked away with the ice cube on a spoon. I returned to our table expecting that an apology would be forthcoming and / or perhaps a compensatory offer of “let us treat you to lunch … no charge”, but … NOOOOO ! ! ! And … to add insult to injury, when I walked up to the counter and asked for a small glass of water, no ice, and a spoon, for my medication, the young lady gave me a small glass of water, picked up a spoon, looked at it, frowned, wiped it off with her bare thumb, then handed it to me with a smile. YOU MORONIC BIMBO ! ! !

Bonsoir la visite, Pizza Hut ! ! !

Back at home I did some work on the trailer’s spare tire cover retaining ring to reduce the likelihood of it scratching the beautifully painted spare tire cover we will be picking up tomorrow. I lubricated the weatherstripping around the trailer’s slides with silicone lubricant spray in preparation for travel. The rubber was very dry and coated with an almost invisible layer of very fine desert sand dust. Joanne went Wal-Martin’.

One of the two refilled water jugs had fallen over and was leaning against the back door of the truck. When Joanne opened the door the water jug fell out ! And exploded like a bomb on the driveway. Joanne was not pleased !

Tonight’s movie was Independence Day. Oh … < tongue in cheek & rolling eyes > … Brilliant ! The President of the United States and the drunken crop duster pilot take to the skies in fighter jets to defeat the aliens and save the world ! What can I say ? ! ?

Tuesday ; This morning we headed over to Mesa Verde RV Park to pick up our painted spare tire cover at the home of Crissi Rae, the artist. It’s really nice ! From there we headed to Sears where I needed to exchange a broken screwdriver for a new one. Sears Craftsman tools are guaranteed for life.

Around lunch time we headed for the home of our friends Lynn and Micha in The Foothills community on the east side of Yuma. They treated us to a lovely home made lunch, then we spent the rest of the afternoon chatting. We chatted a lot about Canada’s universal health care system, a topic of interest to many Americans during this time of ObamaCare health care reform. The essence of Canada’s universal health care system is not well understood by most Americans. Bo and Gypsy enjoyed visiting as well.

Late in the afternoon we left Lynn’s and Micha’s and drove over to Kofa
Ko-op for a brief meeting with a member of the lot transfer committee. The lot transfer committee had their last meeting of this winter season today. And we had asked them to clarify whether or not lot 52 would be “processed” as a “bare lot” or not, and consequently are we eligible to acquire lot 52 or not. To make a long, complicated story short, we have been given permission by the lot transfer committee to enter into negotiations with the current owner of lot 52 over his asking price for the Arizona room structure on the lot. If we can reach a deal with him on the price of the Arizona room, we can purchase lot 52 ! YIPPEE ! ! ! I am confident that we will be able to negotiate a deal ! And so … we would conclude the transaction and become the owners of lot 52 when the lot transfer committee resumes their work next November. We spent an hour or so taking measurements on lot 52.

Tonight’s movie was Thirteen Days, a dramatization of the story of the October 1962 Cuban missile crisis. Very interesting.

Wednesday ; WHEW … long, hot day at the fair today, temperature well into the 90’s !

This morning we installed the newly painted tire cover on the trailer’s spare tire. It looks great ! I did the 162,000 km. inspection on Lanoire. Well done, old girl ! I went to the Rancho Bonitos office and paid our electricity bill. I cleaned the barbecue in preparation for travel. Yuck !

After an early lunch we headed to Kofa Ko-op to pick up our friend Eilene and head for the Yuma County Fair. We’ve never been to the Yuma County Fair before. And we were quite surprised at how large it was. I thought we’d arrive about 1:30 PM ( we did ) and be home by supper time ( we weren’t ). The Yuma County Fair was every bit as large … and interesting … as the Riverside County Fair / Indio Date Festival in Palm Springs a couple of months ago. Around 6 PM we had seen most of what we wanted to see and had to decide whether to leave … or stay for the 7 PM Demolition Derby. HA HA HA … the Demolition Derby won ! We had not seen a Demolition Derby since the Navan Fair when we lived near Ottawa.

The Demolition Derby was preceded by an unusual “warm up” act. A local crane company used one of their large cranes to lift an old Cadillac high up into the air … with a company executive in the driver’s seat … and then dropped it onto an old Class A motorhome. HA HA HA < SNORT > HA HA ! Joanne and Eilene didn’t “get it”. HA HA HA < SNORT > HA HA … of course not, it’s a guy thing ! ! ! HA HA HA HA HA !

By the time the Demolition Derby was over and we left the fair grounds it was after 8 PM. We went to KFC for a late dinner, drove Eilene home to Kofa Ko-op, then returned home around 9:30 PM to an unhappy Bo and Sully. We hadn’t expected to be gone that long … AND … we didn’t leave any lights on for them. Sorry, fellas !

Thursday ; Today’s temperature was 99 degrees ! ! ! Time to head north, n’est-ce-pas ?

This morning I discovered that the trailer’s fifth wheel hitch Teflon lube plate was missing. DARN ! When and how did that happen ? After lunch I took Bo for a drivey and headed out to RV Connection to buy a new hitch Teflon lube plate. While I was out I refilled Lanoire with diesel at Barney’s.

After I returned home Joanne took the truck and went shopping. I did some online work. When she returned home we went to the swimming pool for the rest of the hot afternoon. AHHHHH ! As the sun set we took Bo for his daily long walk.

During our three months here at Rancho Bonitos we have only been able to receive some Spanish language TV stations on the trailer’s “free over the air” antenna. So … we have watched many movies from the park’s library, probably three or four per week. The park’s rather extensive library of VCR tapes all seem to be 15 or more years old. And almost all are crappy ! Finally, on our last night here, we selected a movie that turned out to be pretty good. Three Kings. !999. George Clooney. A bittersweet comedy drama about the end of the Desert Storm Gulf War, the U.S. war with Iraq in Kuwait in 1991.

Friday ; Yuma to Eloy, Arizona

102 degrees ! ! !

We bought Kofa Ko-op lot 52 ! ! !

Whew ! Still hot at 8 PM in the Flying J parking lot at Eloy.

This morning we prepared for departure from Rancho Bonitos, and headed over to Kofa Ko-op to see how our trailer fit on lot 52. Perfect ! We phoned the current owner, who wasn’t home ( in Washington, near Seattle ), and left a message. Darn !

We left Kofa Ko-op and Yuma, heading east on Interstate 8. As we pulled out of Yuma around 11:30 AM the temperature was 95 degrees. About an hour and a half later … WOO-HOO … we arrived at Dateland, Arizona ! ! ! We ate lunch in the trailer then went into Dateland Travel Center to buy dates and date shakes. We had the date shakes for dessert as we drove.
WOO-HOO, WOO-HOO, WOO-HOO. The only thing that Bo loves more than date shakes is date shakes and drivey at the same time ! HA HA HA ! Pulling out of Dateland around 2 PM the temperature was 101 degrees and as we drove east towards Casa Grande it briefly reached 102.

The Kofa Ko-op lot 52 current owner returned our phone call as we were driving. We told him we would call him back as soon as we reached the next roadside rest area. At the next rest area I phoned him, we negotiated for 20 minutes, and … a deal was struck ! Congratulations, Daniel … well done ! ! ! We are very excited about buying this lot !

We continued eastbound on I-8, being indecisive about where to stop for the night. We finally decided on the Flying J on Interstate 10 at Eloy just after Interstate 8 merged with Interstate 10. We pulled into the Flying J, filled up with diesel ( almost 4 bucks a gallon ! ! ! ), then went over and parked at the far end of the parking lot beside another RV. In the other RV was a couple from Saskatchewan and we ended up chatting with them for quite awhile before going inside our trailer to have supper. It was cool ( literally and figuratively ) visiting with them in the rear of their “toy hauler” rig with the drop down tailgate lowered.

After supper I drafted a “sale and purchase agreement” document for lot 52.

Saturday ; Eloy to San Carlos Apache Reservation, Arizona

Today was sunny and hot, but much less so than in the last few days, temperature in the high 80’s.

We didn’t get much sleep last night. The Flying J in Eloy was busy and noisy, especially since we had all the windows open. All of us, animals included, were tired today. Before departing the Flying J this morning I made some phone calls regarding the purchase of lot 52. We left the Flying J and headed north on Hwy. 87 to Coolidge, then east on Hwy. 287 to Florence, north on Hwy. 79 to Florence Junction, east on Hwy. 60 to Globe, and finally east on Hwy. 70 to Apache Gold Casino & RV Resort on the San Carlos Apache Reservation. We had started so early that we arrived by noon.

After an early lunch I napped with Sully. He was very happy. He seems to be of the opinion that I have not been having afternoon naps with him frequently enough lately. Afterwards I did some minor maintenance, an almost daily
by-product of travelling. I did quite a bit of online work. I downloaded and processed the photos I took over the last couple of days. When Bo thought it was time for his daily long walk, we walked over towards the rodeo grounds on the other side of the casino. We found that there was a high school rodeo going on today and tomorrow. We took Bo back to the trailer in the RV park, then Joanne and I went back to the rodeo stadium to watch junior high and senior high school girls’ barrel racing. Best barrel racing time was 16.65 ! ! ! WOW … fast little cowgirls ! High 17’s, sometimes even low 18’s wins it at the Keremeos Rodeo. I’d like to return tomorrow morning before we go to Boyce Thompson Arboretum to see the “weave pole” competition. There’s some other rodeo name for “weave poles” which is a dog agility term, but I can’t remember the rodeo name for it.

One of the main reasons we wanted to stay here was that after we stayed here last year they sent us a voucher for two free dinners in the buffet restaurant. We wanted to celebrate our lot 52 purchase with a nice dinner tonight. They refused to honour the voucher, claiming that it was an expired promotion, despite there being no expiry date on the voucher. Refusing to honour the voucher was a really stupid and short term mentality decision for the casino to make. We ate our celebratory dinner in the Wickiup Buffet nevertheless. I hope they cherish the twenty-two bucks they got out of my wallet because it’s the last time they’ll see any of my money !

DSK