Wednesday 31 December 2008

day 5 [Dec 31] Laughlin again

New Years Eve, still in Riverside campground, it was such a good deal @ $65/nite compared to our $45/ nite motel rooms, LOL. Unhitched the car after b'fast, it was nice to eat in the m'home then have showers without doing it on the fly. Went for a drive to check the place out, so nice to get around in the car instead of going thru town in a 55 foot long rig, LOL. Also went to BullHead Arizona [across the river, LOL]. Next was lunch, WOW! Dave spotted Joe's Crab House, so we went in and had the buffet, it was great! Dave made lots of points with that. When we got back to the RV park thought we better get some Internet, it was not easy. After debating giving our credit card number, we decided we had to do it so we can post our blog and wish everyone A HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! Oh yah, Dave won $12.50 playing video poker, we're in the money, LOL. The internet connection only cost $8.99... Got one picture posted, the service is so slow and the pictures are large files.

Monida Pass

The view from the windshield of the m'home

day 4 [Dec 30] Lauglin

Well I was up at 6 AM and had my first coffee B4 Dave got up. Had b'fast on the road at 7:45. Hey baby let's go to Vegas! LOL It's about 350 miles down the road. Gassed up @ Beaver, Dave screwed up & bot expensive gas LOL and should have pd cash to save 10 cents per gal.. LOL 12:25, 130 miles to Vegas, finally NO SNOW - Yay! Hot suds car wash in St George, we are clean. When we got to Vegas the roads were under repair and traffic was NUTS. We saw all the sights in a blur as we sped thru the tons of traffic. It was crazy, so to HECK with Vegas and onward. The new song is Hey baby let's go to Laughlin! Found an RV spot, got ripped off at $65 per night because of New Yrs, double the regular price. After we got set up and de-winterized the m'home we went for a buffet dinner. Anyone see Vegas Vacation? Next to the slots, I put in $1 for Char and $10 for me, dinner just cost more. Then I tried a 1 cent machine for $10 & Dave came to watch. I hit max. bet just to clear the amount and kept winning til I got to $77 & cashed out. Pd for dinner, LOL! Met a lady on the walk home from Casin. Roseanne is a retired school teacher, friends with Jeanette & Vanessa's dad John was the best man at their wedding. They were at Roger & Vanessa's wedding & remembered us. Small world. So nice to finally sleep in our own bed tonite. My hero hubby fixed the back up camera that had quit earlier today. We all know how much he hates stuff not working, LOL!

Monday 29 December 2008

day 3 Springville [Salt Lake City]

This was a travel day, to end all days. 1,395 miles [2,230 km's] in the 3 days. Started off on icy roads that became very nice and dry. Just as we were admiring the clear blue skys, they ended in the Modina pass. Worst driving conditions we have ever seen; 40 mph with the flashers on for 30 miles, then clear as a bell. Fog so thick we could have been in England, we could see about 50 feet ahead. Oops another pass, but no fog, just ice and snow drifts on the road. Then the creme de la creme, Salt Lake City freeway. Minimum 4 lanes each way, maximum 8; over passes everywhere and the entire city of GP passing us about every 30 seconds. No need for bathroom stops, I went in my pants about 6 times. LOL Dave Met a couple @ a rest stop with a 5th wheel. They had a close call on ice, the one in front jack knifed out of control so bad it popped the back window in the truck and a bunch out of the RV. Yikes, motorhomes rule! My husband is a saint never once got up tight or excited. Marg

Sunday 28 December 2008

day 2 Butte

Well the motel from hell had 2 heat settings - on & off. The covers were either around the ears or totally off. Too bad we never had muffins in the room, we would have had b'fast. The day started off in comic fashion. The shower in the motel from hell sprayed the ceiling, walls, everywhere. While reaching for a face cloth to tie around it, the curtain and rod fell in the tub. There I was dripping wet, water everywhere, it was hilarious. We had every kind of weather. When it was good, the roads were dry and we made good time. The winds were gusting from 60/70 mph, so it was a blustery day. We had rain storms and one good blizzard. We couldn't even see the road, it was all we could do to keep on it. Made it to Butte, a quaint old mining town. Waiting out the weather and hope to go thru the Modina pass tomorrow. The price of gas is very good, $90 for 61 gallons. The conversion on that to metric is about 250 I think, so the price per litre is about 1/2 of home. Between bucking the wind, pulling the malibu and the natural thirsty nature of the m'home we are using our share. We were somewhere around 8 mpg today. At least its cheap. Half of the seniors in Ab are on the roads here, some in RV's others in cars. I wonder if there are any Cadillacs left at home after what we have seen.

Saturday 27 December 2008

day 1 Ft MacLeod

Well we made it from GP to Ft MacLeod on our first day. Roads were good everywhere but Calgary where it was sloppy wet. It gave us an opportunity to see how well our windshield wipers didn't perform. In fairness, the windshield is as big as a wide screen so it is not an easy task at 65 mph. GB pulls the malibu well, except for hills you don't know its there. Marg brought left over turkey and lunch was a sandwich The motel we are staying in cost us a whole 68 dollars so you can just imagine; but its very clean.

Friday 19 December 2008

Countdown .... one week

One week today (Boxing Day) and we are off...

Wednesday 17 December 2008

This is where we are headed for January...
This is our new car we will be towing behind the Motorhome.

Preparing to Embark on a journey...

Obviously this photo was taken in much sunnier weather..
We are preparing for a Winter Snow Bird Vacation...

New RV

The Gourlay's new RV