Today was our final full day of end of season / pre-departure preparations. All went smoothly. We stored Obie the car in the storage yard for the first time, covering it with a car cover we bought to protect it from the brutal summer sun and heat.
We floated around the swimming pool for awhile. We walked around the dog park with Carol Mae and Kaydee. I went bicycling then prepared my bicycle for storage and put it away in the Arizona room. Joanne did laundry so we're leaving here with all clothing clean. I wonder if we can make it all the way to our summer home without having to do laundry ? Probably not !
Monday ; Yuma to Quartzsite, Arizona
Sunny and very warm. Very bright, full moon tonight out in the desert near Quartzsite. No flashlight required outdoors.
This morning we completed our last minute departure preparations before having lunch. I was waiting for, and received, an e-mail from Elections BC about the upcoming provincial election's temporary job opportunities. I received the e-mail, downloaded the employment application form, we each filled out an application form, I scanned them through the printer into the laptop, and sent them as e-mail attachments to our electoral district's office. By the time I had finished doing all of that, and we were ready to leave, it was 2 PM.
On the way out of Yuma we stooped at Wal-Mart to buy a jug of milk. We headed out of Yuma on Hwy. 95 headed north. Not too far out of town we stopped at From The Farm & Afar, a "farm gate" produce stand, to buy a couple of date shakes. Because Bo has developed a bit of a sensitive stomach over the last year or so, this was his first ... and last ... date shake of this winter season.
Emma expressed her immense dissatisfaction with "drivey" in a very loud voice for about two hours, then settled down. Same as her first road trip a couple of months ago to Palm Springs and Las Vegas. As soon as we arrived at our destination ... Hi Jolly BLM Campground a few miles north of Quartzsite ... she was very pleased to be out of the cab of the truck and back into the camper. At least she has become more attuned to the camper being "home" since we just spent five days in the camper in our driveway without going "drivey". She was upset for the first day about the "loss" of her home when we moved from the trailer into the camper, but the last few days in the camper have reassured her that the camper is also a safe and comfortable home.
However ... when we arrived at Hi Jolly, and selected a spot to boondock overnight, Joanne got out of the truck, holding Emma somewhat awkwardly in her arms, and stepped behind the truck to guide me into position. As I drove away to drive the truck around in a circle to get better positioned, I saw in my mirror Emma, in Joanne arms, legs furiously "swimming" in panic as she believed I was going to drive away and leave her and Joanne abandoned in the desert. Poor Emma ! She has understandable abandonment anxiety issues.
We took Bo for a long, leisurely walk in the desert. The Hi Jolly BLM Campground is almost deserted at this time of the year. We walked for about a mile across the desert, and saw only four other rigs. In January, this area is filled with thousands of rigs, parked perhaps a hundred feet from one another.
I lit a campfire, using aged Mesquite wood I had collected from a pile in the Kofa Ko-op storage yard. Joanne prepared and I cooked foil packets of jerk seasoned chicken, carrots, onions, and potatoes. And ... as a bit of an experiment, I "baked" cookies in a foil pan over the fire. < shrug > Didn't work out as well as I had hoped, the bottoms were burned.
We're glad to be back on the road !
Tuesday ; Quartzsite, Arizona to Laughlin, Nevada
Sunny and hot, temperature in the low 90's F.
We left Hi Jolly BLM Campground this morning and continued north on Hwy. 95. At Parker we refilled our freshwater tank at Running Man Fuels. We stopped for a late lunch in the parking lot of Basha's, a supermarket in Lake Havasu City. After lunch Joanne went into Basha's to buy a loaf of bread before we continued north on Hwy.95. At Interstate 40 we turned west for ten miles or so to Historic Route 66, then north again on Historic Route 66 until it reached Hwy. 95 again a bit south of Bullhead City. We refilled with diesel at Smith's Fuel Bar in Bullhead City, then crossed the bridge over the Colorado River to the Avi Casino on the Nevada side of the river. We continued north on Needles Highway a few miles into Laughlin, Nevada. We parked at the Tropicana Casino Hotel intending to use their free Wi-Fi before going in to have the "Bottomless Pasta Bowl" dinner special at their Italian restaurant Passaggio. BUT ... the Tropicana no longer offers free Wi-Fi ! So we drove a very short distance to Laughlin Outlets Mall where I used the food court's free Wi-Fi to retrieve e-mail. I'm eager to receive a reply to our Elections BC job applications.
After reviewing e-mail we drove another very short distance to the Colorado Belle across the street from the Tropicana. We had planned to spend the might boondocked at the Riverside Casino, but decided on impulse to give the Colorado Belle a try. Turned out to be a good decision ! Easier access and egress for RV's, more secure / less scruffy RV parking areas, and more dog "bathroom" areas. We parked, then crossed the street to the Tropicana where we had our annual Bottomless Pasta Bowl dinner at Passaggio. Very good, as always. As we walked through the casino we bumped into two couples from Kofa Ko-RV Park in Yuma, one Canadian couple and one American couple. Everybody's migrating north !
We did not have an exercise walk earlier in the day, so late in the evening we went for a walk. Across a large parking lot, into the Colorado Belle, through the Colorado Belle, out the back to the RiverWalk along the Colorado River, along the RiverWalk over to the Edgewater, through the Edgewater out to the front street, then back to the Colorado Belle. Note to self ; go for long walk BEFORE Bottomless Pasta Bowl dinner ( with soup, salad, and fresh, hot, garlic buttered breadsticks ), not AFTER !
< BURP >
Wednesday ; Laughlin to Las Vegas to Cathedral Gorge State Park, Nevada
Sunny and hot in Laughlin and Las Vegas, temperature in the low 90's F., becoming mild as we drove to higher elevations, 63º mid-afternoon at an elevation of 6300' ASL, downright chilly in the evening in the high desert of Cathedral Gorge State Park. Clothing changed from shorts, sandals, no shirt, to jeans, shoes, and heavy jacket.
This morning we left the ( free ) RV parking lot at the Colorado Belle and drove across the street to the Tropicana where we refilled our freshwater tank at a potable water spigot in the Tropicana's ( not free ) RV parking lot. While refilling with freshwater
I received a telephone call requesting a quote from Similkameen Trailer Towing.
We departed Laughlin and headed west on Hwy. 163, then north on Hwy. 95. I stopped at a McDonald's in the town of Searchlight to use their free Wi-Fi to check e-mail and to obtain mileage to prepare the trailer towing quote. We arrived in Las Vegas in time for a late lunch. We parked in a Wal-Mart parking lot, and while Joanne prepared lunch
I prepared the trailer towing quote and phoned the client to give him the quote.
After lunch we drove through Las Vegas on Interstate 215 and Interstate 15, then out of the city heading north on Hwy. 93. Endless miles of scruffy desert ! I became tired in mid-afternoon so Joanne drove for about an hour and a half. I was going to nap in the passenger seat, but ... I was too busy, having to use both hands to keep the sleeping cat from rolling off my lap < rolling eyes >. We stopped in the town of Caliente to refill with diesel. We reached our destination of Cathedral Gorge State Park around 6:30 PM.
I started a campfire. While Joanne prepared a salad I "pre-cooked" some wieners over the open fire. We forgot to buy hot dog buns so our "plan B" was to wrap the cooked wieners with biscuit dough and bake "wiener wraps" over the fire. Didn't work ! The weight of the raw dough made the dough stretch and sag until it was about to fall off the wieners and into the fire. So ... "plan C" ! I pulled the partially cooked biscuit dough off the wieners and tried to continue cooking it as "biscuits" in a pie plate over the fire. Well ... it sort of worked ... but not well. We ended up with a pie plate full of biscuit dough, some of it cooked okay, some of it burned, some of it raw, some of it with a bit of sand and gravel embedded in it from being dropped on the ground while still mostly raw. Note to self ; remember to buy the damn hot dog buns next time !
After eating supper outside at our picnic table we sat around the campfire until it burned down and we were getting cold. Around 9:30 PM we walked Bo around the campground ... BRRRRR ... then went inside and while Joanne washed dishes I worked on the computer.
Thursday ; Cathedral Gorge State Park to Wells, Nevada
The day started out sunny, mild, and windy. It ended with a snow blizzard, and temperature below freezing !
This morning as we left Cathedral Gorge State Park we refilled our freshwater tank and dumped our waste holding tanks. We continued northbound on Hwy. 93. More endless scruffy high desert ! Nothing but Pronghorn Antelopes and tumbleweeds blowing across the highway. I kept expecting to see Clint Eastwood, wearing a poncho, on a horse, chomping on a little cigar in the corner of his mouth, riding down out of the hills. HA HA HA!
We stopped for a late lunch and a brief nap for me at an Elk viewing / rest area. Afterwards we continued northbound on Hwy. 93. I stopped at a McDonald's in the town of Ely to use Wi-Fi to check e-mail. As we approached Currie the sky filled with dark and ugly clouds. Snow began to fall and soon we were driving through a blizzard with zero visibility. The snow ended shortly before we arrived at Wells around 7:15 PM, just before it became dark. We parked at Flying J to boondock overnight. As we carried Emma from the truck cab to the camper door I put her down on the snow covered grass behind the camper. HA HA HA ... Yuma born and bred cat experiences snow for the first time in her life, at thirteen years of age. She was puzzled by it ! HA HA HA HA HA !
After supper I went to light our ( aftermarket Wave 6 infrared catalytic ) heater. It would not work. Propane was not flowing to it. It was impossible for me to diagnose the problem, being unable to disconnect the propane line into the heater, and remove the heater from its mounting position. I lit the camper's factory installed furnace, which works just fine, but is a horrific consumer of 12V electricity. Most RV's "factory" furnaces will kill the RV's house battery overnight when boondocking in cold weather.
< sigh > Wish us luck !
Good Friday ; Wells, Nevada through Idaho to Oregon border
The day started out brutally cold, temperature at the freezing level of 32º F, with a strong wind. Refilling a propane tank, refilling our freshwater tank, and refilling with diesel at Flying J in Wells, Nevada was like ... waiting for a bus at Portage and Main in January ! ! ! If you've ever done that ... you know where ... and you know what it feels like ! ! !
Late last night, with a lot of persistent effort, I got the Wave 6 infrared catalytic heater in the camper functioning again. Well done, Daniel. Better to be lucky than good,
I guess !
We departed Wells, Nevada and continued northbound on Hwy. 93. More scruffy desert ! More Pronghorn Antelopes ! More tumbleweeds rolling across the highway ! More blowing snow ! ! ! Although not as bad as yesterday afternoon. We crossed the bridge over the Snake River Canyon into Idaho, and had a late lunch in a Wal-Mart parking lot in Twin Falls. After lunch we got onto Interstate 84 heading northwest, following the Snake River. Around 7 PM we reached Boise, Idaho. The bad weather was just ending, and the sky was clearing. We refilled with diesel again on the west side of Boise. We crossed the Snake River Canyon ( again ) into Oregon about 7:30 PM and stopped for the night at the Interstate 84 Oregon Welcome Center & Rest Area.
We went for an exercise walk, twice around the perimeter of the rest area. HEY !
Wi-Fi ! I retrieved e-mail while Joanne prepared a late supper. After supper
I responded to another trailer towing quote request. If this potential client hires me it would require us to return home sooner than planned, and quite a bit of "schedule juggling" immediately upon our return home. It's a fairly long distance job and would have to be "squeezed in".
Saturday ; Interstate 84 Oregon Welcome Center & Rest Area to Pendleton, Oregon
Sunny and cool.
This morning we left the rest area and drove into the nearby town of Ontario, Oregon where we began shopping for the items on our Oregon ( tax free ) shopping list. Harbor Freight for a pair of work gloves, PetSense for some dog toothpaste, and Wal-Mart for ... < sigh > ... everything, it seemed. Not only were we in violation of our "no
Wal-Martin' on weekends" rule, but we were shopping at Wal-Mart on the third ( okay ... maybe fourth, since the U.S. has Black Friday ) busiest shopping day of the year ! My frustration and intolerance levels peaked, and I abandoned Joanne and returned to the truck to wait with the animals.
GEEEEEZZZZZ ... does every white male in the United States really need to wear a dirty baseball cap ALL THE TIME ? ? ? ! ! ! ? ? ? Do they take it off to make love ? ! ? Do they take it off to take a shit ? ! ? Probably not ! 'Cause I know for sure that they don't remove it to dine ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !
< taking a deep breath >
We continued northwest on Interstate 84. We had lunch in a rest area. Shortly before reaching La Grande we stopped in another rest area and used the sani-dump station to dump our waste holding tanks. BUT ... there was no freshwater. SO ... we refilled with freshwater at a Flying J on the southeast side of La Grande. THEN ... on the northwest side of La Grande, more Wal-Martin'. While Joanne shopped for the remaining items on our Oregon shopping list, I sat on a bench at the front of the store and used
Wal-Mart's free Wi-Fi to retrieve e-mail.
We reached our destination for today, the WildHorse Casino on the southeast side of Pendleton about 6 PM. We parked in their RV parking lot, walked and fed the animals
( yes, yes ... Emma also went out for a leash walk ), then went for an exercise walk and to explore inside the casino.
As we walked back to our camper we stopped to admire a commercial hauler's load of three small Airstream trailers. While we were admiring them the driver climbed out of his truck and offered to allow us to see inside one of the trailers. After viewing the new and innovative design of trailer we chatted with the driver for awhile. Thank you for the tour of the new Airstream Base Camp trailer, Javier.
DSK
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