Wednesday 30 December 2015

December 30th

Well we had some problems with the blog yesterday, for some reason the laptop wouldn't/couldn't so I posted using the Ipad, now today everything is working.  Probably some kind of operator error, but hey I am a senior citizen.  LOL
  We are both doing well except for these lousy head colds, we probably picked up in Montana when it was cold and windy.  Into every life a little rain must fall, it seems that applies to frigid winter weather as well.
  We had an uneventful trip from Vegas to Phoenix.  We stopped in at Kingman for a rest stop and then again in Wickenburg.  It was very busy in Wickenburg with some kind of a rodeo thing going on, lots of horses and lariats in the air and cows running around in some pens outside the town.  Took the cut across on the #74 to the area around Carefree to the #17 highway.  The worst drivers we saw were from Alberta & Nevada, taking unreasonable chances on the 2 lane part.  No I never saw them in the mirror, they were not us.  The traffic on the 101 was pretty congested around Scottsdale with major road construction.  Fortunately all the problems on the 202 last year have resulted in better travelling this year.  Pulled in to our lot via the back gate, to give ourselves a chance to get organized.
  The place was pretty dusty and needed lots of clean up.  There was lots to unpack and put away.  Never saw any visitors until we were here for about 30 minutes and thereafter had quite a few stop in to welcome us back.  Got a first hand look at some of the wind damage from this past summer.  The tv antennae was ripped off and the fence knocked down and lots of the Styrofoam inserts in the carport over the Az room were missing, so not too bad at all.  Took a while to get the power turned on and the hot water tank & furnace going, it sure was cold in the trailer. No leaks this year, fingers crossed.
  Supper was at Ihop and was great.  I broke with tradition and never had the 2x2x2, we both had a good meal.  It was early to bed, I think around 10 or so, this lifestyle can be tiring.
  Wednesday it was a chilly morning, but warmed up nicely throughout the day.  Everyone is complaining about the weather, so I just tell them it was 26 below when I left home, so I am glad to be here.  Took the truck to the car wash and got all the road salt off.  It was quite a mess after living in it for 4 days.  There is usually an issue with the water marks when it dries here, so spent a significant amount of the time and the rinse agent.  Seems to be working better, but have not had the quality control inspection yet.
  Marg finished up the cleaning up and then went on to clean the patio furniture and the carport.  I got the fence back up and did some modifications so that it will last the winter.  Probably need to redesign the way we leave it to prevent it from tipping over again.  Took all the junk to the dumpster, including the tv antennae.  Marg sent word out with some of her visitors to see if I got lost and that she was looking for me.  It turned out it was just the number of visits along the road from here to there and back.  As I have said many times, you can't get anywhere walking inside the park.    Throughout the day one or the other of us had visitors pretty much all day long.  The best was Curtis, the park manager who came to drop off a 3 pass for the internet, otherwise you would not be reading this diatribe.
  We went for happy hour and renewed a bunch more acquaintances.  Larry was after me to ride with him tomorrow, but I had to decline saying I am not certain what shape the bike is in.  There is so much stuff in the Az room.  Speaking of which the original owner of this unit was there and last year came to see the changes we made, now Marg is going to show her the Az room.  There have been lots of changes in the park since last year and Marg got caught up on all them, the guys talk about other stuff, nothing that involves feelings or opinions.
  We left early as we had to go out to supper.  We went to a bar and grill where we have eaten in the past.  It seems we were either hungrier the last time or perhaps had a longer happy hour before going, because it was not all that good tonight.  It was pretty quick though, which was good because it was supposed to be poker night.  I went and Marg went for a big grocery shop.  It turns out there were not enough players, so we sat around and talked about hunting for an hour or so.  By the time I got back Marg almost had the truck unloaded.  We won't starve to death after all.  She bought lots of things, but the one that rates mention is the chicken breasts.  There were 3 large breasts in a package and the deal was -- buy one - get 2 free; so she got 3 packs for the price of one.  I see lots of chicken meals in the future.  She also got us steaks [$5 for new York steaks] as we are going to a bbq before the new years eve dance.  Kind of the party before the party.  She also got the stuff for the new years day party we have been invited to, I think it is a ribs and sauerkraut thing.  Oh yeh must pay for the Az opera tickets tomorrow as we are going to that in a few days.  An so it begins in the sleepy little rv park in Apache Junction.

Monday 28 December 2015

Day 3, 2015

After the usual hotel breakfast, we were on the road a bit later today.  It was chilly in Spanish Forks, but sunny.  I think something like minus 14c.  Traffic leaving south was heavy until someplace around Nephi & after that thinned out.
  It kept getting warmer as we headed south with less snow on the ground.  Just around Hurricane there was no longer snow on the ground and the temp was right at the freezing mark.  When we got to St George, it was about 4c and that was the last we saw of sub zero temps.  We did encounter road works in the virgin river gorge that had us down to one lane and reduced speeds to 40 mph, but the rest was bare & dry roads.
  Stopped in at virgin river casino in mesquite, nv for lunch and a bit of a break.  We both had the all day breakfast special - 3.99 for bacon, sausage, eggs, hash browns & pancakes.  It was good, a welcome change from the  hotel fare this morning.  Should have bought gas there, but pressed on making Las Vegas around 2 or so.  That was 600 Kim's or 370 miles for the day.  Pretty easy day, but we dodged the snow that is forecast right from the border, Idaho & most of Utah.
  Phil guessed it yesterday, we are at Sam's Town for the night.  Great rooms at great rates.  Marg managed to win enough at the slots to pay for supper & what I lost.  Supper was the buffet where the feature was ribeye steaks & being Monday, it was $10 each.  Had a pitcher of beer that I couldn't finish, so Marg offered it to the lady at the next table,which she accepted for her husband.  Pretty funny!
  Tomorrow we will fuel up with the most expensive gas since Canada, did I mention that I should have fuelled in mesquite.  LOL

Sunday 27 December 2015

Day 2 on the road trip - Dec 27th

Got up and had an early breakfast in the hotel.  It was one of those included breakfasts, so you all know what to expect from them.  The yogurt was excellent.  LOL
  It was chilly in Shelby, the temp read only minus 18C, but the windchill when I was fueling up was definitely a lot colder than that.  I had my downfill on and it was none too warm, so I would hazard a guess at lower than minus 25 or 30.  Fortunately the time was short and the gas less than $2 per gallon.
  Got on the road in good time and had dry and clear roads all the way to Helena.  Was able to use the cruise control, which is a bonus in winter travel.  Got a phone call from Jerry Canuel looking for a golf partner and he naturally asked about the roads.  Told him it was good, except for the wind and he said that might create blowing snow.  It was like a curse, as soon as we left Helena and got into the first mountain pass, we had a ground blizzard.  Fueled up in Butte and then much of the same most of the way to Dillon.  The temp warmed up to about minus 10C, but the wind kept the day chilly.  Saw lots of Alberta, BC & Saskatchewan license plates today, so lots of people with the same idea as us.  I heard on the radio that this is the busiest travel day of the year.
  After we got thru the second mountain pass at Monida, Marg drove through Idaho, to Pocatello. 



The driving lane was mainly very good, with snow on the shoulders & temps around minus 16C.  It was very scenic with a hoar frost hanging on through the morning in Idaho.  Traffic stated to build noticeably after Idaho Falls all the way down from that point.  Pocatello is normally a stop for us, but we just fueled there and continued on making Utah in good time.  The speed limit most of the way was 80 mph, we just set the cruise on 75, so were passed by quite a few drivers.  We did see one guy getting a speeding ticket, wonder how fast you have to go to get one here?
  The building on the left was only built and completed in the last couple of years and kept us speculating on what it would eventually look like, pretty nice looking corporate office.
  We got to Ogden in good time, so decided to try and get through Salt Lake City tonight.  If we stopped on the north side there, we would have had rush hour traffic and that's not a fun time here.  We did have pretty heavy traffic in the area just south of the city center, not bumper to bumper, but very heavy.  It made us glad we continued on.  An odd coincidence or out of habit we stopped at a hotel we had used on our first trip down here [it was brand new then] and we have since stayed here a few times.  So we are in Springville, it is right on the south boundary of Spanish Fork, so we are through the congestion that is Salt Lake City.  Another good day, I think we clocked 700 miles or 1,125 kms.  We are well positioned now and with luck will be out of here before the snow starts tomorrow.  It will be too long for us to make AJ, so the plan will see us stay in Vegas for the night and make for 2 easy travel days rather than the long first 2 days.
  The good thing about this hotel is that a Cracker Barrel is right next door, so we got our first one in already.  Marg had the chicken fried chicken, me the pot roast.  Both were excellent.  Gas prices are the lowest we have seen $1.83/gallon; that would be 40.6 cents per litre.
  Oh yeh, got a couple of pics for those who only look at them.  LOL

Saturday 26 December 2015

Another year in the Trek to the South

Boxing day a perfect day to travel, well except for Grande Prairie where it is minus 25C to start the day with a good shot of snow in the forecast for the evening.  That's perfect for the Gourlay's, so off we go looking for fun in the sun.  Stay tuned as we strive to amuse friends and family and have some fun while we do it.

December 26, 2015 Boxing Day

We are back on the road in our quest for fun in the sun.  This is the first blog for the winter of 2015/16 series.  I say series with big expectations.
  It was a late night after having the family over for Christmas dinner and the resulting cleanup, but we were up without alarms in the wee hours.  As most stuff was already packed, it went pretty well getting things together.  When I went outside to put stuff in the truck this morning it was a very chilly minus 26C with a good stiff breeze that brought the windchill factor down to minus 53C.  Got on the road in good time and drove the first hour in the dark, it started getting light about 8:30.  For the most part the roads were bare and in ideal winter condition, so was able to use the cruise control.  Marg had made lunch, so our only stops were for fuel and the washroom.  Traffic was light and we were able to drive about 5 - 10 over the posted limit most of the way. 
  By the time we got to the QEII at Leduc it had warmed up to minus 16 & traffic had become quite heavy and it was bumper to bumper to Calgary.  Was able to make pretty good time considering.  When we got to Airdrie at Cross Iron mall, we were astounded to see the bargain hunters out in numbers.  The parking lot was full, the road sides full of cars and the line-up to get in went down the highway for about a mile or two.  The deals must have been amazing to warrant sitting in that line.
  Going thru cowtown on the new bypass for southbound traffic was a breeze and we rolled along.  When we got close to the end of highway #2 we encountered a ground blizzard, well that's what I call it.  There were very high winds and although the snow was not deep, it was all blowing across the pavement making it difficult to see lines or anything when someone passed.  It stayed like this for about an hour, but if you live in northern Alberta, you have driven in these conditions, although we did back off on the foot feeder [gas].
  Needed fuel in Lethbridge and by that time we were losing the daylight.  The days are short for this kind of travel, but pressed on to the border crossing at Coutts.  As luck would have it the duty free was open and they had a nice 15 yr Dalwhinnie and a Macallan select oak with my name on them, so 2 bottles of scotch are now travelling with us.  Oh yeh, Marg got some smokes at a great price as well.  Made it through the border crossing without any hiccups.  Traffic when we got there was very light, just a couple of other snowbirds.  The border agent was pretty funny.  He asked if we had any fruit or vegetables and I replied no as we had previously learned not to and contributed apples to their staff lunch room.  His response was glad to see we finally got you to quit doing that.
  Went on for another hour and got a hotel in Shelby, Montana.  Took a bit of a gamble, our health insurance does not start until tomorrow as we never usually make it this far on day 1.  The reason for the push is the potential for poor weather further south that could make travel difficult.  You really have to see difficult on this route to believe how bad it can get.  Took Marg out for supper at a decent restaurant, don't laugh, the food was good.  How many of you can say after your wife cooked and cleaned for the last 2 days that you took her out for supper 1,080 km's away!
  We will try to liven things up with some pics as we go forward.