That's All Folks

Home and freezing our butts off, till next year when we return in August - LOL

The Canucks return!

Well off to a good start at Butte, on the road by 8:10. Debated the route, considering the radio was reporting a system moving in. Took the shortest, the Elk Park Pass to Helena, the one where we had the blizzard on the way down. Very scenic, some black ice, but pretty good overall. Stopped in Shelby for fuel, last good chance for the cheap American version of petrol. Small problem at the station, need to check the news and see if a filling station blew up, LOL! Made it to the border at about 2:30 and did the duty free thing. Two bottles of whisky, 2 cartons of smokes, cheap like borscht. Planned on staying at a campground in Ft Macleod, but it was closed, so the intrepid travellers trod on. When we got close to cowtown, the radio said they were expecting cold weather and snow, starting at midnite. Cold weather, this is all freezing to us, it was 88F 2 days ago. Anyway we made the decision to forge on to Red Deer. You know, the place where the saying - Is it red deer, not but it's sure sore, originated. A long travel day, 585 miles today. Had a nice dinner at Kelseys, drank 2 Molson Canadians. Staying at Motel 6, life is good, showers for all tonite.

Butte my butt

Well here we are in Butte Montana again. We had intended to go on to Helena, but the last 15 miles or so were in a blizzard. We made about 380 miles today, so a good day, not our usual 400. We were on the road at 8:10 and it was a beautiful sunny day, the roads were bare so we just set the cruise and rolled along. The big worry of the day was the Monida pass. When we went thru there it was sunny and the scenery was great. In December we couldn't see 100 ft, so our experience was like grandma's ride on the Thunder Mtn Railway in Disney. Her first trip her eyes were closed and she never saw anything. Her second trip with Katie her eyes were open and it was all new. It was all too good to be true, so when we hit the blizzard it was not surprise. They were forecasting a nasty Canadian weather pattern for either Tue or Wed. We found a nice little campground at Butte and pulled in. Given the weather, we drained all the water and pumped the RV full of antifreeze, s/b ok, except the fill ports, so we will stop at Flying J and use their air tomorrow AM to blow those out. Went into the city and had a nice dinner at some mesquite bbq place. Tried to make a few phone calls with our pay-as-u-go from Radio Shack, arghhhhhhhhhh. They sold us Virgin mobile in Yuma [they must have thought it appropriate for me - LOL]. It turns out Virgin doesn't work in Montana. This is an old mining town and was well known for it's ladies of the evening, so they probably aren't having any of that virgin stuff down here. The real annoying part is we just loaded the phone with minutes as it is important we keep in touch with several people right now. One of those Murphy's law things.

On the Road Again

Got off to a good start, on the road by 8:30 AM to points north. The drive thru the Virgin River pass is spectacular, then on to the red cliffs area. This part of Utah is right out of an old west novel. A nice sunny day, it was about 60-65F along the way. Pushed it & timed ourselves to get to Salt Lake City in the middle of the afternoon. The speed limit most of the way was either 75 or 80 mph, needless to say in the m'home I was not close to breaking the limit. Made it thru Salt Lake City at 2:30, it took a bit more than an hour, sometimes there were traffic lanes with gaps,, never saw that last time. Most of this is 4 lanes each way, but in the city centre it is 6 lanes each way for about 30-40 miles, arghhhhhhh. Made about 435 miles today. Got a nice campground just north of Ogden, Utah where were are spending the night. Snow in the mountains all around, but none on the ground in the valley. The air temp is about 60F and it is expected to reach about 42F tonite. First day in long pants, how will they see my tan??

Big Travel day - March 1st

Well so long hot weather, it was suppposed to be 90F on Sunday. It must have come close because it was hot and sunny on the road. We left the RV park at 8:30 and it took us a little over an hour to get through Phoenix. Traffic was not too bad, although it got a little heavy in the city centre. Went straight west to Blythe, Ca and then north on the old Route 66 & no I didn't get my kicks on rte 66. Made it to Las Vegas about 4:00 PM. Vegas radio reported that the race had 165,000 cars at it. Needless to say the traffic was a tad heavy. Got as far as Mesquite, Nevada, right at the state line with Utah, about 468 miles [750 KM]. Stayed in the campground at the Oasis casino. Had a nice dinner at Casablanca, here's looking at you kid! Beer and steak, they had a 16 oz porterhouse that was great. Went to the casino, Marg play slots, I played blackjack. It was hilarious, when we finished we both won $35, kismet, eh! Lot cooler here than Phoenix, I think it got up to 72F, but still in shorts.