Sunday
; Toppenish, Washington to The Dalles, Washington
Sunny and cool.
It took us until 12:30 PM to
get out of Toppenish, a rough and tough little town !
We
were ready to depart from the parking lot of Legends Casino about
10:30 AM, but ... we stopped to offer assistance to another RV’er
in the parking lot. But ... we were mistaken. She wasn’t really
another RV’er. She was a semi-homeless, scruffy old “bag lady”
living in a decrepit, old, non-functional
motorhome.
I stopped to offer assistance when I saw a young woman
bent over the engine compartment of the motorhome trying to jump
start the motorhome’s battery from her car battery. I knew the
motorhome would not start with a boost from a small car, so I thought
a large diesel engine truck with two batteries might do the trick.
The young woman was a mechanic who had also stopped to offer the old
bag lady assistance. And while I and the young female mechanic
worked on the motorhome, the old bag lady had the audacity to stand
around bitching at Joanne that the young woman and I did not know
what we were doing !
**** you, you old ***** ! So
... when the mechanic and I concluded that the problem was the
motorhome’s starter, the old ingrate bag lady asked me to tow her
across the street to where her two friends and their motorhomes were
parked in another parking lot. I declined ! I surmise that the
casino’s security people “rousted” the three decrepit
motorhomes from the casino’s parking lot, and ... one of them
wouldn’t start.
We
drove to the municipal
sani-dump station, refilled our freshwater tank, and dumped our black
and grey waste holding tanks. We drove to a nearby Native operated
fuel bar and refilled with cheap diesel. After waiting for an
inordinately long period of time in a very slow moving line-up for
the diesel pump. Lots of Indigenous folks operating on ... <
cough cough > ... Indigenous time ! Last
stop in town was Safeway. While Joanne bought some buns I used
Safeway’s free
Wi-Fi to check e-mail. Still nothing from Roam
Mobility ! Then we tried unsuccessfully to catch the scared stray
dog with the length of chain hanging around its neck as it ran around
the Safeway parking lot in a panic. We were unsuccessful.
Tough town ! Bag ladies in
decrepit motorhomes ! Stray dogs with chunks of chains hanging
around their necks ! SHEESH !
We
departed Toppenish heading south again on Hwy. 97. We stopped for a
late lunch and a brief nap for me at a truck weigh station that was
closed. We crossed the Columbia River from Washington into Oregon
and turned west on Interstate 84 heading towards The Dalles. Shortly
before reaching The Dalles we stopped for the night at Celilo Park, a
large day use area on the south shore of the Columbia River. Very
pretty !
Monday
; The Dalles to Pendleton, Oregon
Sunny and mild during the day,
chilly in the evening.
This
morning we left Celilo Park around 10:30 AM and drove west on
Interstate 84 about 15 miles to the small city of The Dalles, where
our 98 year old friend Eilene lives. Before
heading to Eilene’s we went to Safeway where Joanne bought a few
grocery items and I used Safeway’s free Wi-Fi to check e-mail.
I
finally received a response from Roam Mobility. It was completely
unsatisfactory. It seems as if the agent handling my problem didn’t
even understand the
problem ! < sigh > I
browsed the TracFone website and made a decision to order a phone and
service plan from TracFone.
We arrived at Eilene’s
seniors’ residence about fifteen minutes early so we went across
the street to Goodwill Thrift Store for a few minutes before meeting
Eilene at noon. OH MY GOODNESS ! ! ! Eilene fell three months ago !
Landed on her face. Broke her glasses. BROKE HER NOSE ! SHATTERED
HER KNEECAP ! ! ! Was knocked unconscious ! Found by a passerby who
called 911 for an ambulance. She is now moving pretty slowly, and
must use a walker. Nevertheless ... she wanted to walk to a
restaurant a few blocks away.
We had a wonderful visit with
Eilene over a leisurely lunch. We walked with her back to her
residence, arriving there around 2 PM. We said our goodbyes, then
returned to Goodwill where I bought myself a pair of jeans.
We left The Dalles around 2:30
PM heading southeast on Interstate 84. We arrived at Wildhorse
Casino at Pendleton around 5 PM just as it got dark. We stopped at
their Arrowhead Travel Center to refill the camper’s freshwater
tank and empty the waste holding tanks at the sani-dump station
before finding an overnight parking spot in the large RV parking lot
near the casino.
Tuesday
; Wildhorse Casino near Pendleton, Oregon
Sunny and mild during the day,
chilly in the evening.
We had planned to spend a day
here relaxing, seeing a movie, having dinner in a casino restaurant.
Well ... none of the movies playing appealed to us, and neither did
any of the restaurants. Except the buffet restaurant, which we have
been to before and liked, but we did not want a casino buffet large
meal today.
So ... we drove over to the
Arrowhead Travel Plaza adjacent to the casino and ... dumped the
camper’s grey and black waste tanks, refilled the freshwater tank,
refilled both propane tanks, refilled the truck with diesel fuel, and
went into the laundromat to work on the computer using their free
Wi-Fi. How convenient is that ? ! All that plus a quiet, safe place
to boondock overnight ! Thank you, Wildhorse Casino.
After a late lunch I napped,
then did some maintenance work on the camper. There are a few new
plumbing leaks, perhaps from incomplete winterization and below
freezing temperatures recently, or probably from “a whole lotta
shaking goin’ on” during last summer’s travels on rough roads
up north. I identified the source of three or four plumbing leaks
and resolved all except one which will have to wait until we are in
Yuma.
I received another e-mail from
Roam Mobility which suggested that they finally understood my
problem. And they issued me a refund. Fair enough ! I purchased a
phone and service plan from TracFone. It should be waiting for us
upon our arrival in Yuma in eleven days. We’ll have to ( once
again ! ) survive without phone service until we arrive at our winter
home in Yuma. And ... AFTER purchasing a TracFone phone and service
plan I figured out how to solve the Roam Mobility problem and
activate Roam Mobility on our Canadian cell phone. < sigh >
Too little, too late !
HMPH ! Seems to be a problem
with one of my annuities which should have commenced paying benefits
to me at the beginning of November ! Stay tuned !
The Palm Springs auto dealer
selling the Dodge minivan I am interested in is NOW willing to accept
a deposit to hold the car for me for a week. Stay tuned ! Joanne is
opposed to placing a deposit on a car sight unseen.
Wednesday
; Pendleton, Oregon to Nampa ( Boise ), Idaho
Sunny and mild during the day,
chilly in the evening.
This morning we drove from the
Wildhorse Casino RV parking lot the very short distance to Arrowhead
Travel Plaza where we again dumped the camper’s waste holding tanks
and refilled the freshwater tank at the sani-dump station. We parked
at the Travel Plaza and I went inside to again use the free Wi-Fi in
the laundromat to check e-mail. At Joanne’s urging I decided not
to make a deposit to the Palm Springs auto dealer for the Dodge
minivan. I will be very disappointed if it is sold when we arrive
there in a week.
Around
11:15 AM we left the Arrowhead Travel Plaza and continued south on
Interstate 84 to La Grande where we stopped at Wal-Mart and did our
semi-annual Oregon tax free shopping. Got everything on our list ;
one stop tax free shopping ! After shopping we had a late lunch in
the camper, then resumed southbound on I-84. Around 3:30 PM I
became
sleepy so we stopped at
a rest area so
that I could snooze for half an hour.
When
we arrived at the Idaho border shortly after it turned dark ( at 5 PM
) our destination for tonight, the Idaho Welcome Center & Rest
Area, was permanently closed and barricaded. HMPH ! Does Idaho
learn its lessons from Alberta ? Or vice-versa ? We continued
southeast
on Interstate 84 ... speed limit of 80 MPH
(
130
km. per hr. ) in
Idaho ! ... until reaching the Boise suburb of Nampa where we stopped
for the night shortly after 6 PM, boondocking in the parking lot of
the Cracker Barrel Restaurant,
a chain that allows overnight RV parking.
HEY
! ! ! We’re in the middle of a city ! At 8 PM ! Why
is there the sound of a gunshot nearby ? ! ? ! ?
Was somebody dissatisfied with their country fried steak and gravy ?
? ?
Thursday
; Nampa / Boise, Idaho to Jackpot, Nevada
Sunny and cool during the day,
cold in the evening. Jackpot is at a mile high elevation.
Before leaving the Cracker
Barrel parking lot this morning I walked next door to Panera Bread,
had a wonderful cup of strong, dark roast coffee, and used their free
Wi-Fi to check e-mail. You can count the number of cups of coffee
that I have on an annual basis on the fingers of one hand. The smell
of baking inside Panera Bread is ... < inhaling deeply > ...
heavenly !
We left the Cracker Barrel
parking lot shortly before 11 AM. Before leaving the Boise area we
stopped at a Maverik fuel station to refill with diesel and dump our
waste holding tanks at their sani-dump station. The water spigots at
Maverik were not working so we drove across the street to a Shell
fuel station and refilled our freshwater tank.
We continued southeast on
Interstate 84. We stopped at a rest area to have lunch, a brief nap
for me, and an exercise walk. As we approached Twin Falls from the
west our GPS guided us off I-84 and onto a succession of scenic
“country roads” heading south and east to bypass the city of Twin
Falls and leading us to Hwy. 93 on the south side of Twin Falls. We
followed Hwy. 93 south all the way to Jackpot, Nevada, arriving there
at 5:30 PM. It had already turned dark by 4:45 PM ! We boondocked
overnight in the parking lot of Cactus Pete’s Casino.
Friday
; Jackpot to Ely, Nevada
Sunny and mild during the day,
chilly in the evening.
Before leaving Jackpot this
morning around 11 AM we refilled our freshwater tank at the Chevron
station. We continued southbound on Hwy. 93.
And so began the two day
ordeal of driving through seemingly endless high plains desert of
Nevada. What a wasteland ! The only thing that keeps me from
falling asleep at the wheel is scanning the horizon for antelope.
And watching for Clint Eastwood to come riding over the top of a
mesa, wearing a grubby leather trench coat and with a chewed up
little cigar stub sticking out of the corner of his mouth. HA HA HA
!
We stopped in Wells to refill
with diesel. We pulled off the side of the road and into the desert
to have lunch and a nap for me. We reached our destination for
tonight, the “old west” small city of Ely, about 5:15 PM, half an
hour after darkness set in. We parked to boondock overnight behind
the Hotel Nevada Casino, a lovely old downtown building. After
feeding Ozzie and Emma we went for a walk to explore the downtown
area. It was like stepping back in time fifty or maybe even a
hundred years.
Saturday
; Ely to Las Vegas, Nevada
Sunny and warm. Finally ! As
we entered the Mojave Desert north of Las Vegas this afternoon the
temperature reached 79ยบ
F.
We
pulled out of downtown Ely this morning around 10:15 AM and on our
way out of town we refilled with diesel at Shell, bought a few items
at Family Dollar, and some grocery items at Ridley’s. In the front
entrance area of Ridley’s there were some cute little girls and
their mothers conducting a bake sale to raise funds for some school
project. Nice home baking ... bought twenty bucks worth. HEY ...
the little girls were cute ! HA HA
HA !
We
headed out of Ely on Hwy. 6, a route we have never taken before.
It’s a bit of a “shortcut” to Las Vegas, heading straight south
from Ely and meeting up again with Hwy. 93 about halfway to Las
Vegas. Hwy. 93 heads southeast from Ely, then southwest, adding
about forty-four additional miles to the route.
About
1 PM we pulled off the road and into the desert to have lunch. About
3 PM
I became tired and sleepy so we pulled off the road and into the
desert again so that
I could nap for half an hour. We arrived at
Main Street Station Casino in Las Vegas at
5 PM. It was daylight
when we went into the casino to register for their RV park, and it
was dark by the time we came out just a few minutes later. We got
settled into our assigned site and I refilled our freshwater tank.
At 7 PM we walked across the street to the Main Street Station
Casino, through the casino, and through their glass walkway above
Main Street over to their sister casino, the California Hotel &
Casino. We had supper at the California Noodle House, a restaurant
in the California that we have eaten at before. It’s very good !
With a very eclectic Asian menu.
We
returned to our camper in the RV park and had cheesecake ( purchased
at the bake sale in Ridley’s in Ely this morning ) for dessert.
Afterwards I walked back to Main Street Station Casino again, to use
their free Wi-Fi for an hour and a half to get caught up on quite a
bit of online work I needed to do.
DSK
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