April 19 to 25, 2020 ; still in quarantine at home in Keremeos, BC

Sunday ; Mostly cloudy and mild.

Another slow, lazy day. Replenished toiletries in the camper. Reviewed and purged pet medications. Reviewed weekly investments performance. Posted weekly blog entry. Downloaded, signed, scanned, and returned some investment documents. Cooked supper creation. Turned out okay. Watched French Film Festival short films. Not all winners !

Monday ; Sunny and warm. Feels like summer !

This morning I had a somewhat lengthy phone conversation with an agent at the British Columbia Automobile Association / BCAA regarding renewal of the minivan registration and license, emergency roadside service, home insurance, and travel medical insurance.

This afternoon I did outdoor work. Got the outdoor water spigots turned on, and garden hoses on the front and rear of the house hooked up. Did a 6000 km. inspection on the truck. Did some RRIF planning and records keeping.

Our new TV channel programming started today. Joanne spent almost the entire day binge watching 90 Day Fiance on TLC. HA HA HA ! I created and cooked a beans and rice enchilada concoction for supper. It … wasn’t great !

Tuesday ; Sunny, cool, windy.

Another slow, lazy day. Did some preventive maintenance work on the truck and minivan. Did some online research on home insurance. The local insurance agency’s service deteriorated a lot last summer, since they “sold out” to a large insurance corporation. No longer a family owned, independent insurance broker, the “second generation” of the family ownership are now just employees of a large corporation. Who no longer seem interested in continuing to provide the outstanding level of service they did when their father owned the agency. Okay ... see ya !

Cooked another weird supper creation. Turned out better than expected. Sort of made up for last night’s crappy supper. Watched a lot of TV in the evening. Day twelve of fourteen day quarantine. Certainly am looking forward to a trip to the grocery store on Friday !

Wednesday ; Raining all day. Makes me sleepy !

Started out the day by making waffles. < sigh > Forgot to spray vegetable oil on the waffle maker grille surface. What a mess ! ! ! Struggled with how to respond to an acquaintance’s e-mail seeking advice. Was not inclined to tell her what she wanted to hear. So … didn’t ! Couldn’t work on most of today’s “to do” plans. All outdoor work ! Had a phone meeting with another insurance agent.

We cooked supper together. Was the best meal of our quarantine. So far ! One more day to go ! Watched French Film Festival short films in the evening.

Thursday ; Sunny and cool, a bit windy in the evening.

Last day of quarantine ! Oh, boy … fresh fruit and vegetables tomorrow. And 

milk !

Worked outdoors this afternoon. Exercised our little generator. Did some routine maintenance on the minivan. AND … < insert drum roll here > … washed the truck ! The drive from Arizona to British Columbia, or the opposite in the fall, always leaves the truck pretty grimy.

Did some online exercises before supper. We’ve been doing that daily. Paid our Canadian and American MasterCard billings for April.

Friday ; Sunny and mild, a bit windy.

WOO-HOO … lettuce … tomatoes … Ambrosia apples ! WOO-HOO, WOO-HOO, WOO-HOO … red meat ! HA HA HA HA HA !

QUARANTINE OVER ! Around noon we went to the laundromat and selected a time tomorrow to do laundry. Our park’s laundromat is now available only by appointment, to maintain social distancing. Then we headed … in the truck … to Keremeos village. We stopped at Sanderson Farms and bought fruits and vegetables. Lots of them ! HA HA HA ! Next stop was Buy Low Foods, the grocery store in town. While Joanne went into the grocery store to begin shopping, I crossed the street to Similkameen Pharmacy. The pharmacy door was closed, and signage indicated that the pharmacist would meet customers at the door. I presented him with my prescription needs. He advised me that they were filling prescriptions for only 30 days, instead of the usual 90 days. I was pissed off, and told him so. I accused him of profiteering, getting triple the dispensing fees he usually would. His “explanation” was total bullshit, and I told him that as well !

I joined Joanne in the grocery store and … we bought a LOT of groceries. I am hoping that we can cut our weekly shopping trips in half, to once every two weeks, for the foreseeable future. We wore face masks for the first time today. And I don’t have very good face masks. Just some old Harbor Freight dust masks … with elastics that have lost their stretch due to age and heat !

After grocery shopping we returned home. Our relatively new next door neighbour … who just returned here a few days ago after wintering in Florida … and obviously thinks quarantine rules apply to others, but not her … and who has some VERY strange ideas about yard maintenance, asked me to not park our truck in our yard because she wanted to … wait for it … use a leaf blower to blow all the dust off her gravel yard. HUH ? You want to blow dry your gravel ? Like you did last summer ? Which resulted in our truck, our minivan, and all the windows of our home being coated in dust ! ! ! I declined to move my truck. And suggested as politely as I could that blow drying her gravel may not be such a great idea. She threw a hissy fit and stomped off. Minutes later … she was blow drying her gravel !

We went for a long walk. AHHHHHH … that felt great ! When we returned home there was a card from the neighbour on our door. With forty bucks inside ! To pay for car washes. I was livid ! I will NOT tolerate that kind of passive aggressiveness ! ! ! Especially from a neighbour who frequently borrows tools and equipment, and asks for my advice and / or physical help. Generously, Joanne offered to deal with the matter, and return her forty bucks to her. Tomorrow !

< deep breath > AHHHHH … I barbecued very thick burgers for supper. Served with home made fries. And preceded by a fresh garden salad. AHHHHH !

Saturday ; Mostly sunny and mild. Briefly very windy in the afternoon.

Joanne did a LOT of laundry this afternoon. First opportunity to do laundry in over three weeks. While Joanne was doing laundry I visited with our neighbour / friend Jeanine who, like everyone else, is feeling a bit of “cabin fever” after a month of self-isolation.

In the evening I shuffled money around, and bought some new investments.

DSK

April 12 to 18, 2020 ; Quarantined at home in Keremeos, BC

Sunday ; Easter

Sunny and cool.

HMPH ! It wasn’t very long ago that I was dreaming of having a wonderful Easter dinner at a casino buffet on our northward spring migration. Now … I’m in quarantine at home eating canned vegetables and canned potatoes ! HMPH !

Joanne finished unloading everything from the camper today. I did a bit of maintenance on the truck and the minivan. I did a bit of financial work online, and posted my weekly blog entry. After supper ... which included baked Coho Salmon smothered in Hollandaise sauce … we watched three “shorts” films from the Palm Springs International Film Festival. I recently received about a dozen “shorts” online from the Palm Springs International Film Festival, and that’s part of why I recently configured the laptop to the TV.

Monday ; Sunny, becoming cloudy late in the afternoon, mild.

Was able to reach Telus by phone this morning. Cell phone reactivation drama resolved ! Can’t understand why cell phone service providers make SIM cards disintegrate into tiny little pieces of useless cardboard after three months of inactivity when hundreds of thousands ( or more ) Snowbirds are out of country for six months each winter ! ! !

Worked on truck. Worked on camper. Worked on minivan. Worked on yard. Worked on March financial updates. Worked on annuity benefit payment revisions. Thank you, Government of Canada, for RRIF annual minimum withdrawal 25% reduction.

HEY ! Emma LOOOOOVES Campbell’s Cream of Mushroom soup ! HA HA HA HA HA ! Who knew ? ? ?

Tuesday ; Sunny and mild.

Today our neighbour and friend Jeanine went into town to buy something she needed at the hardware store. I asked her to pick up a plumbing part I needed. THANK YOU, JEANINE. So … this afternoon I was able to repair our broken shower faucet.

I sorted and stored the purchases I made over the winter, including clothing. 

I purged and recycled old income tax and credit card files. I printed and filed some 2019 year end investment data. I reconciled March investment statements.

Wednesday ; Cloudy and cool, a few drops of rain around noon, clearing in the afternoon.

Day 6 of quarantine. Still doing fine.

This past winter season the lowest price we paid for diesel fuel was $2.449 per gallon, a week ago in Oregon. The highest price was $3.849 in southern California on our way southbound to Yuma in November.

Before lunch I went outside to do some work but … BRRRRR … it was too cold … and raining lightly. I decided to defer outdoor work until a warmer day, probably tomorrow. After lunch and a nap I spent the afternoon reviewing and dealing with our winter batch of mail.

Thursday ; Sunny and mild.

This afternoon I installed a new string of solar rope lights around our garden border. And I installed a new string of hanging patio lights around our deck off the living room. I prepared my bicycle for use.

I cooked a wonderful Udon noodles stir fry for supper. In the evening I updated our GPS unit’s software. I did some RRIF planning. AND … < sputter > … Emma ate some of my tomatillo seedlings ! ****ing cat !

Friday ; Mostly cloudy and cool.

This morning I had a phone meeting with our investment advisor to discuss some investment options. I have some … < ahem > … “surplus” money, so to speak, and I want to invest it to take advantage of the recent economic downturn in the stock markets. You know … the rich get richer, etc.

This afternoon I installed a solar light rope on our parking spot border fence. And with Joanne’s help I removed the camper from the truck. When our quarantine ends in a week we will use the truck until May 1, then I’ll renew the minivan’s registration and license.

Late in the afternoon we did a new exercise session. We have been doing a YMCA online exercise session since we returned home a week ago. Today we switched to a new exercise routine. It’s quite different, and easier than the one we had been doing. Probably because we switched to one designed for seniors. DUH !

In the evening I did some banking reconciliation and online bill paying. And we watched a few French Film Festival short films. The last one was an animated horror movie. YIKES ! Weird !

Saturday ; Mix of sun and clouds, mild.

Had a bit of a slow day. Squabbled intermittently. < sigh > Worked on financial planning. Watched some French Film Festival short films. Did another online exercise session. After thirteen years without any changes, today we changed our satellite TV programming / channel choices. And I set up my laptop to work with our satellite TV service provider’s streaming service. WOO-HOO … we’re crawling into the 21^st century. HA HA HA !

DSK

April 5 to 11, 2020 ; Beaver, Utah, U.S.A. to Keremeos, British Columbia, Canada

Sunday ; Utah Interstate 15 Mile Marker 88 Rest Area to Idaho Interstate 84 Mile Marker 269 Rest Area

Mostly cloudy and cool, cold in the evening.

Well ! When I opened the blinds in the camper this morning I was greeted by the somewhat unpleasant sight of a bare ass pointed in my direction. A female driver had her pants down around her ankles and was squatting beside the rest area’s closed bathrooms to relieve herself ! How can truck drivers be expected to keep goods flowing across the country when they can’t even find an accessible bathroom while on the road ? ! ? Shame on you, state of Utah !

We drove a lot of miles again today, crossing the state of Utah from south to north. And formed a rather poor opinion of Utah and its inhabitants. Rest area bathrooms closed. Extremely parochial newscasts on the radio. News confined to Utah only, as if there is no world outside of Utah. And much of the news is about religion. The Church Of Jesus Christ Of Latter Day Saints / the Mormon religion is like a cult here !

Shortly after leaving the I-15 MM 88 Rest Area this morning around 10:30 AM we stopped in the small city of Beaver to refill with diesel, dump our waste holding tanks, and refill our freshwater tank at a Flying J. And we realized why it was so cold at the rest area last night and this morning. We were at an elevation in excess of 6000 feet ASL ! We continued northbound on Interstate 15. We stopped at Scipio to have lunch. And a very brief nap for me.

Because of Utah Lake and Great Salt Lake on the west side of the freeway and Rocky Mountains on the east side, the urban area of Salt Lake City stretches a long distance in a somewhat narrow band north and south, from about Provo on the south side to about Ogden on the north side. Much of our afternoon was spent driving through that large urban area of Salt Lake City.

Late in the afternoon we stopped in Ogden, at another Flying J, to go for an exercise walk, then refill with diesel … again ! SHEESH … diesel refill twice in one day ! Lanoire the truck certainly is thirsty at 75 MPH ! HA HA HA ! North of Ogden the freeway split, Interstate 15 continuing north and Interstate 84 heading northwest towards Idaho. We took I-84, and shortly after crossing into Idaho we stopped to have supper and boondock overnight at I-84 MM 269 Rest Area. Bathrooms open … the truckers thank you, Idaho.

Monday ; Idaho I-84 MM 269 Rest Area to Oregon I-84 MM 336 Rest Area

Raining lightly and chilly in the morning, clearing and warming throughout the day as we drove.

We left the Idaho I-84 MM 269 Rest Area this morning about 11:30 AM, after I did some preventive maintenance on the truck. In the cold rain. YUCK ! As usual, Lanoire the truck has performed extremely well on this long distance trip, even now at its high mileage ( 385,000 km. ), under the high speed, heavy load, long days I am subjecting it to. Yes, yes … I’ve said it many times before but it bears repeating ; what a great truck !

We continued northwest on I-84, diagonally across Idaho. Around 1 PM we stopped at another rest area to have lunch, then we went for an exercise walk, twice around the perimeter of the large rest area. At the southern edge of Boise we stopped to refill with diesel at a Fred Meyers ( grocery store ) fuel bar. Rush hour traffic through Boise, Idaho,was heavier than I had expected, given the light traffic through Las Vegas, Nevada and Salt Lake City, Utah.

Late in the afternoon we crossed from Idaho into Oregon, stopping shortly thereafter at another rest area to have supper and boondock overnight. First thing we did after stopping was go for another exercise walk ; again twice around the perimeter. Oregon’s rest areas are so pretty ; nicely landscaped, grassy areas, with many picnic tables under ramada roofs. And … bathrooms open ! And consequently … many commercial trucks stopped for the night.

Again … shame on you, Utah !

Tuesday ; Oregon I-84 MM 336 Rest Area to Pendleton

Sunny and mild, a fairly nice day.

We planned a restful day. So … we slept late, got a late start to the day, drove a relatively short distance ( couple of hundred kilometres ), and I got caught up on a lot of online work and e-mail.

We woke at 9:30 AM and didn’t leave the rest area until 11:45 AM. We continued northwest on I-84 stopping for lunch and a brief nap for me at a rest area. We arrived at Wildhorse Casino on the south side of Pendleton around 4 PM. At their Arrowhead Travel Plaza we refilled our freshwater tank, then refilled with diesel, getting a good discount on the diesel fuel using our “Rewards On The Rez” card. HA HA HA ! Then I went inside the fuel bar’s convenience store and bought a 

( tax free ) gallon of Lucas diesel additive. And that was the extent of our 

semi-annual tax free shopping in Oregon !

We went for a long walk around the Arrowhead Travel Center lot, then over to the casino and back, a total distance of perhaps three miles, for exercise. It was a pleasant afternoon for a long walk. I took my laptop into the travel plaza’s laundromat to use the free Wi-Fi. I’m very glad that I had planned time to do this today. It gave me an opportunity to get updated on important issues at home in Canada, including upcoming bad weather that will necessitate the winterization of the camper upon our return. < sigh > And ongoing, chronic ( about fourteen years worth ), political turmoil at our Canadian home RV park / community.

When I was finished online we drove the very short distance from the Arrowhead Travel Plaza to the Wildhorse Casino and got ourselves settled into their almost empty overnight RV parking lot. MMMMM … nice omelets I cooked for supper !

Wednesday ; Pendleton, Oregon to Omak, Washington

Sunny and warm, a very nice day.

We left the Wildhorse Casino RV parking lot this morning around 11 AM. We spent about half an hour at the Arrowhead Travel Plaza dumping our waste holding tanks and refilling our freshwater tank. We were northwest bound on Interstate 84 around 11:30 AM.

We turned north off Interstate 84 at Hermiston, Oregon. We had been on Interstates ever since Las Vegas, Nevada. It seemed a shock to go from 75 MPH divided freeways to 55 MPH two lane secondary roads, traffic in both directions requiring much more concentration re : oncoming traffic. We travelled a succession of secondary roads all day, crossing the Columbia River from Oregon into Washington, then crossing back and forth over the Columbia River multiple times during the day.

We simply pulled off the road onto the shoulder when it was time to eat lunch. An hour after lunch we pulled into the parking lot of a Home Depot at Moses Lake so that I could have a brief nap. Late in the afternoon we finally reached Hwy. 97 at Brewster. AHHHHH … Hwy. 97, the road to home, the final leg of the journey. At Omak we refilled with cheap “on the rez” diesel at Tribal Trails Fuel Bar before settling into the Wal-Mart parking lot to boondock overnight.

Before having supper we went for a long exercise walk, walking around one square block four times, for a distance of about a mile and a half, I guess. The Wal-Mart parking lot was crowded so we decided to do our necessary Wal-Martin’ late in the evening, after the crowds diminished, since Omak’s Wal-Mart is a 24 hour operation. We had supper, then went to the store around 9:30 PM when we noticed the parking lot was empty. The parking lot was empty because … 

< sputter > … the store is temporarily closing at 8:30 PM each night !

While driving this afternoon we saw a majestic looking wolf standing tall in a field, looking for lunch. And we saw a deer buck. Never saw any wildlife on the freeways ! Well … none that was alive, anyways. HA HA HA ! But we certainly did gobble up the miles. HA HA HA !

Thursday ; Omak, Washington, USA to Keremeos, British Columbia, Canada

Sunny and warm, another very nice day.

We did our Wal-Mart shopping this morning, and as we were preparing to leave the Wal-Mart parking lot around 11 AM … < sigh > … I discovered that the truck had a flat tire. On the rear, of course. The other day when I checked the truck tires’ air pressures one of the valve caps was kind of “gritty” when I reinstalled it, as if there was sand in it. Probably the cause of the tire going flat. We drove across the street from Wal-Mart to a service station and I reinflated the flat tire, but did not reinstall the valve cap. I’ll check the pressure again tomorrow.

We left Omak around 11:30 AM heading north on Hwy. 97. At Oroville we pulled into the grocery store’s parking lot to have lunch, using up the last of the fresh luncheon meats that would not be permitted into Canada. While Joanne prepared lunch I went into the grocery store to have one last look for … yeast ! 

WOO-HOO ! One package left on the shelf ! I bought it ! ! ! HE SHOOTS, HE SCORES ! ! !

HA HA HA !

Our border crossing was the most unusual ever ! The border agent asked us if there were any guns on board, then … spent about ten minutes or so lecturing us about coronavirus and our mandatory quarantine obligations. No concern about what food we had in the camper, or alcohol, or tobacco, or any other of the regular border crossing concerns.

Once across the border into Canada we turned west on Hwy. 3. In Keremeos we went to the municipal sani-dump station and dumped our waste holding tanks. We thought it would be better to do that task at the municipal sani-dump than at our RV park’s sani-dump where we would risk incurring the wrath of the neighbourhood quarantine Nazis.

We arrived home at Riverside RV Park Resort at 3 PM. We spent the rest of the day on “return home” chores. Not all of them went well ! Our shower faucet 

broke ! And the toilet leaked ! I fixed the leaky toilet by tightening two connections which had come loose over the winter. I suppose things expand and contract and dry out. I did a very temporary and quite inelegant “Macgyver” repair of the shower faucet, and we’ll just have to live with that until after our two week quarantine period.

We ended our evening by watching ( again ) the series finale of Downton Abbey.

Friday ; Mostly sunny and mild.

Joanne worked on unloading the camper. I worked on replacing the valve extenders on the leaky truck tire which was flat again today. I changed the 135 degree angled extender required on the outside dually tire as well as the four inch straight extender. And I replaced the valve cap. And I tightened all three internal valves ; on the truck tire valve stem itself, the angled extender, and the straight extender. There ! If the tire leaks now … it’s punctured and needs to be patch repaired !

I also discovered a problem with the inside dually tire’s valve extender as well. 

I repaired that extender by replacing the internal valve. Sixteen years of dually valve extender drama has turned me into quite a tire valve and extender expert, n’est-ce pas ? HA HA HA !

My other large project for today was to winterize the camper. < sigh > Necessitated by tonight’s and tomorrow’s below freezing overnight temperatures ! I repaired the driveway marker reflector pole on the corner of our driveway that had been smacked down and damaged by snow plowing. Along with our neighbour’s adjacent ( expensive ) solar powered driveway light pole. She’s not going to be happy when she sees that !

I spent the evening working on finances and trying … and failing … to reactivate our old Canadian cell phone. Oh, goody … cell phone drama ! ! !

Oh, goody ! Unexpected GST credit due to Covid-19 deposited to our bank account ! Leading me to discover changes to RRIF minimum withdrawal requirements for this year due to Covid-19. WOO-HOO !

Saturday ; Sunny, cool, windy.

I did a bit of maintenance on the minivan today. I probably won’t renew its registration / license for three weeks. Not that difficult to endure, since we can’t go anywhere for the next two weeks anyway. I did a lot of paper file maintenance today, sorting and filing paper files created over the winter, and purging older paper files in my home file box. I configured my laptop to the TV and we did our first online exercise session. < huff … puff >

Joanne had a phone chat with our neighbour / friend Jeanine today. She 

( Jeanine ) is lonely and fed up with self-isolation. And … HA HA HA … she was eager to get rid of the tomatillo seedlings she planted for me about six weeks ago. They look really pathetic and I guess she didn’t want to eventually get blamed by me for their demise ! HA HA HA !

DSK

March 29 to April 4, 2020 ; Yuma, Arizona to Beaver, Utah

Sunday ; Sunny and very warm. Joanne cooked Sweet & Sour Chicken in the Sun Oven today.

Joanne did spring cleaning today. I slowly did “prepare for departure” chores. AND … filed our income tax returns. This is the earliest I have ever filed our annual income tax returns.

Monday ; Sunny and hot. Joanne cooked Chicken Cacciatore in the Sun Oven today.

I had a bit of a lazy day today. Joanne did not. She spent the afternoon on a final groceries and supplies shopping trip before we leave here on Friday. I cleaned and polished shoes. I read … and napped. I did some trip planning. I did some departure preparations. I took a propane tank for refilling.

Tonight I prepared a “thinking of you” card for a neighbour / friend who is in the last few days of life, dying of lung cancer.

Tuesday ; Overcast and very warm.

Late this morning we took the minivan to the storage yard and brought the truck and camper to our yard. We put the minivan into storage until our return in 7 ½ months. I removed the minivan’s battery. We put tire covers over the tires. And we put a new car cover on the minivan. It seems to be better quality than the one we had for Obie, our previous winter car.

Joanne spent most of the afternoon moving non-perishable food and other items from the trailer into the camper. I worked on preparing the truck and camper for the long journey home. In the evening I retrieved month end banking statements and investment updates.

Watching the daily “bad news” at 6 PM on American networks is really dragging me down !

Wednesday ; Sunny and hot.

We continue our departure preparations. That’s more work for Joanne than me. She has been moving everything in all of the trailer cupboards, trailer fridge, and shed fridge to the camper. And considering how much extra we’re transporting this year to accommodate our two week quarantine period upon arrival at 

home … !  I’ve prepared the car, the yard, the shed, the Arizona room, and the camper.

In the evening, after a wonderful supper of ( Mexican recipe ) Mole Chicken we watched Survivor and Transplant.

Thursday ; Sunny and hot.

Well … it’s time to go home !

Up until about a week ago, there were no coronavirus cases in Yuma. Now there are about half a dozen and obviously many more to come. This area is now at the bottom of the upside of the curve, while British Columbia has already passed over the apex of the curve and is on the downside of the curve. The number of cases in BC is diminishing. Yes, yes … it’s time to go home !

Plus … the politics of the coronavirus here are just too bizarre to try to explain, at all levels ; federal, state, and community. In our RV park community, the residents are just beginning to contemplate the possibility that this is not just a Democrat hoax ! And at the state level … Arizona has declared golf courses to be an essential service, to allow them to remain open ! ! ! And at the federal level … well … you’ve seen the newscasts, no doubt !

< sigh > Yes, yes … it’s time to go home !

I always did have good timing, n’est-ce pas ? HA HA HA !

We spent the day continuing to prepare to depart tomorrow. As before, Joanne had more work to do than I did. In addition to preparing for departure I trimmed my beard, sharpened knives, picked up a refilled propane tank, walked a couple of laps around the dog park, searched and searched and searched and finally found our lost Canadian cell phone … < sigh >.

Friday ; Yuma to Lone Tree Road BLM campground near Lake Havasu City, Arizona

Sunny and hot.

We finished our departure preparations and left Kofa Ko-op about 1:30 PM. We returned our Internet modem / router to Beamspeed, then went to Fry’s for a final grocery shopping trip. We had a very late lunch in Fry’s parking lot, and left Yuma around 3 PM heading north on Hwy. 95. Our minimum destination for today was Quartzsite. We arrived at the Hi Jolly BLM boondocking campground at 5 PM. We immediately went for a long, brisk walk across the desert, about a mile out and a mile back, deciding it was too early to stop for the night.

We left Hi Jolly campground at 5 PM continuing north on Hwy. 95. Through Parker and onwards to Lake Havasu City. In Lake Havasu City we stopped at a Bank of America ATM and deposited a cheque. About ten miles north of Lake Havasu City we stopped at the Lone Tree Road BLM boondocking campground for the night, arriving there at 7:20 PM, just at dusk. It was dark within ten minutes of our arrival. We had a late, light supper at 9 PM.

Day 1 of the Hurry Up & Get Home trip. We usually travel at a much slower pace than this trip is going to be !

Shortly before leaving Kofa Ko-op we had a visit from Allen and Cathy, the original rescuers of Buddy / Hela / Carlos / Kirby the cat. They brought us a lovely “thank you” gift for rescuing Carlos ( the second time, after the Humane Society dumped him back in our RV park ! ) and housing him in our Arizona room and caring for him until our friend Carol Mae found an adopter for him. How 

thoughtful !  AND … it’s a great gift for “foodies” like us ; a gift package of exotic spice mixes.

Saturday ; Lake Havasu City, Arizona via California and Nevada to Utah I-15 MM 88 Rest Area

Sunny and hot in Arizona, California, and Nevada, becoming windy and cold in Utah.

WHEW … that was a LOT of miles today ! We made a decision fairly early in the day to alter our planned route home. We added miles, but because our route revisions are all on Interstate freeways we will be able to travel at a much higher speed. For example, instead of travelling through the remote high desert of Nevada on Hwy. 93 at 55 MPH we will travel across Utah on Interstate 15 and Interstate 84 at 75 MPH.

We left the Lone Tree Road BLM boondocking campground around 11:15 AM this morning continuing north on Arizona Hwy. 95 until it reached Interstate 40 where we stopped at Love’s to refill our freshwater tank and go for a walk for exercise. We drove west on I-40 crossing over the Colorado River into California at Needles … home of Spike, Snoopy’s older brother. HA HA HA ! We turned north again on California Hwy. 95. After California Hwy. 95 crossed into Nevada, becoming Nevada Hwy. 95 we stopped at Searchlight, Nevada to refill with diesel and eat a late lunch at Terrible’s, a Nevada chain of small casinos with fuel bars and convenience stores..

After lunch we continued north on Nevada Hwy. 95 to Las Vegas. We refilled with diesel and had lunch at Searchlight so that we could get through Las Vegas without stopping, avoiding a coronavirus hot spot. We entered Las Vegas from the south at about 4 PM, usually the start of rush hour. We crossed Las Vegas from south to north on Interstate 515. Traffic was much lighter than usual. Our speed remained constant at 65 MPH all the way across the city, no slowdowns, no traffic jams ! Highly unusual ! ! !

On the north side of Las Vegas we headed northeast on Interstate 15, passing the junction with Hwy. 93 where we would usually turn north. At the Moapa Indian Reservation we stopped at their Travel Center just to get some drinks out of the camper fridge and … we went for another exercise walk.

Interstate 15 heads northeast out of Nevada crossing briefly into the northwest corner of Arizona ( again ) before crossing into the southwest corner of Utah where it begins to head straight north again. We drove until 7:15 PM ( Arizona and BC time, actually an hour later in Utah but we are not going to change our watches and clocks ) stopping moments before darkness.

The bathrooms at the Interstate 15 Mile Marker 88 Rest Area are closed, so there are only two commercial trucks parked overnight on the truck side of the parking area, and just us on the car side of the parking area. Again … how unusual !

BRRRRR … as soon as we arrived at the rest area we changed out of shorts and sandals into long pants, socks, and sweaters.

DSK