Well I am back on-line after a week in the abyss of no connectivity. Almost makes us want a more updated phone, well almost. With all this time to update, I will try it chronologically:
Saturday, Dec 30th - drove the final leg of our journey from Las Vegas to Apache Junction, bringing our total mileage to 3,410. Busy day: washing the unit & drive area, unloading, turning on services, putting things away, digging out all the stored stuff here, putting things away, getting a few groceries and lots of welcome back visiting. Dealing with the much predictable water leak. It was just the pressure relief valve on the hot water tank. Went to Ihop for supper, now things are looking up. On the way back we went to the new Fry's store groceries, very large with a lot more services and get this a wine bar. The guys can sit an have a brew or glass while the gals shop. I guess this is the day Katie would call New Years Eve eve.
Sunday, Dec 31st - More of the same from Saturday. Washed windows on the trailer as the water her speckles everything. The place was really dusty, by far the worst we have seen. I guess a product of the dry summer with lots of dust storms. Set out some of our patio furniture. I went to Best hardware for a hose, nozzle, some other stuff. Supper was with 3 other couples at the Village Inn, where the food is pretty good and the pies are excellent. Never got pie though as we were both full from the meal. Did I mention the pie is included, geez why didn't we just get it - to go?
Monday, Jan 1st - Got the laundry machine and bar fridge out and started. She did the sheets at the Laundromat and smaller stuff in our machine. I messed with the leaky pressure valve, it might be fixed. In the afternoon, I played pool. Had good games and managed to win my share, a surprise as I was idle all summer. We had enough food we were able to eat in and for supper enjoyed a nice New York steak. A lot vacuum work and wiping today.
Tuesday, Jan 2nd - Marg had an early day and went out with the Gamblin' Gals to the Fort. I was left to my own devices, so actually left before her. My first stop was Home Depot for some parts, then on to Harbour Freight. Had enough bits and pieces to repair some more problems. Then it was on to the post office to file a notice form for our letter carrier re: our mail service here in the park so that he doesn't send our mail back to GP. Yes that can happen, this is the voice of experience speaking. I also bought an airtime card for our second phone and spent an hour or so with Trac Phone to get them to send me a new SIM card, a 5 minute request. Marg made out OK on her trip, almost broke even. I went to happy hour where Marg found me when she returned and by then our time was tight, so Time was tight because it was hall bingo that night, so Marg missed happy and made supper. We again had supper in, Marg made blueberry pancakes, another winner in my book and there were enough left for a couple of breakfasts. Yes Marg played bingo again. She was close, but I was closer, I won twice, $22 the first time and then split on the second one, so a good night for me.
Wednesday, Jan 3rd - The pressure valve continues to drip, but I bought a replacement that I am too busy to install. This was our Mediacom day, you know when we get TV & Internet service. Marg went to Walmart for more groceries and a few other things. Good thing we have a large fridge as it is now almost half full. In the afternoon I went to play pool while Marg waited for the Mediacom appointment. She did some stuff in the house, but it was a day for all her buddies to stop by and chat her up. When I got back it was my turn to wait for Mediacom [you can't make this stuff up] as they give you a 5 hour window. The guy cam with about 2 minutes left in the window, so we sat around for between 1-2 hours to get our Internet and land line installed and find out the television would require another appointment as they are out of receivers, owing to influx of snowbirds. Too late to cook so it was on to Taco Bell for their specials. She found a $5 promo meal that gave her twice as much as my Burrito Supreme meal, so the bill came to just over $12. Then I stopped in at Ace Hardware and Marg at Bells. It seems when she unpacked, she discovered two flip flops, one each from two different pairs and the ones she was wearing were worn flat with no life left in them. Now that is funny. Anyway she got two new pair and I got a rubber stopper we needed.
Thursday, Jan 4th - well we are really getting into our normal routine, it was coffee and donuts at the hall, some would say Coffee Klatch. We both got a fritter, Marg apple, me blueberry; now that is a winner. The meeting was short another winner. When we got back I tried to start on the postings for the tenants FB site, emails and blog, but another visitor. Wink had a line on an older golf cart that was available in the park and offered to take me to see it. It appeared not too bad and price was right [$1,500, after much bargaining] so I took it for a ride. There are some issues with it and the serial number is #1 [LOL], but nothing that can't be overcome. The old guy who was selling it has something better, actually a Smart car converted to run on battery power. Anyway I brought the cart home for Marg to see, in fact the bill of sale is now in her name, so we own it. The tires & hubcaps are new as are the 6 batteries. Much of the afternoon was spent washing and cleaning it up as it was filthy. The previous owner is half blind, so that was understandable. It needs a bit of TLC, including some brake work, but otherwise is quite serviceable. With Marg's hip problems, this was definitely the year to get one. From the number of people who stopped to see it and the comments we heard, I don't think it would have been for sale very long. Supper tonight was BBQ and then it was on to the Animal Races. Not a good night for Bimbo, seems there are too many elephant haters, so he did not perform well.
Oh yeah, the hot water tank valve continues to drip, but it's a slow one and who knows, it might be hot enough to kill a termite or other bug if it walks by.
The weather has been great, for the last couple of days we are in short pants, so life just keeps getting better. That about catches us up and from here on my plan is to be more timely on this blog, so don't write us off just yet.
Happy New Years.
Thursday, 4 January 2018
Friday, 29 December 2017
Friday, Dec 29th
A pretty casual start to the day. We had the hotel breakfast and got on the road at about 9:00. The weather was great, clear blue sky and warm with dry roads. We got to go through the Virgin River gorge, always a highlight of the trip. Traffic was light until we got close to Las Vegas. On the way, going through Mesquite we were surprised to see a new hotel opened up, a sure sign that the economy is improving here.
Got to Las Vegas in good time, arriving here just before lunch. The traffic was hellacious here at the turn-off. The area around the turn-off is locally referred to as the spaghetti bowl; I assume referring to the looping overpass bridges to several routes. We spent a well over a half hour sometimes not moving at all. When we finally got through it was nothing other than the 3 highways merging at that point. Within a mile after the merge we were moving like nothing happened. This was a first for us and anytime someone complained about the traffic here, I had difficulty believing it, having driven through here a couple dozen times. Well I am now a believer.
We got to Sam's Town just before noon only to be reminded it was only 11 here. We went for a nice lunch in the hotel and then went to check in. There is a surcharge if you check in early. When we did register we were surprised to learn that we booked through a travel wholesaler when we had gone directly to what we thought was the Sam's Town site. We were complaining that our credit card was hacked just after we booked and paid and the hotel of course said there was nothing they could do as it was not through them. Lesson learned here, the SOB's just led us on to believe we were dealing with the hotel. The hotel room is nice as always, we have never had a bad experience here with the rooms they have.
We stopped in at the local Walmart for a few things we needed, our first time in one here. Then we spent some time in the casino and managed to play a for a while until we donated. By then it was supper time and we went to the buffet. Friday is always a great one in this hotel. It seems being the New Years weekend things were a little more, but it was well worth it. The feature on Friday is seafood and they had lots. Alaska King crab, Dungeness crab, calamari, steamed clams, oysters on the half shell, several kinds of fish, mussels plus all the other regular stuff. The prime rib and turkey, Italian, salad bar, Chinese, Mexican plus amazing desert bar. It was all very good, however there was no bread pudding [usually my favourite]. After supper we played a bit more and managed to top up our earlier donation.
Distance travelled today about 300 km's or 200 miles and the weather was in the low teens [Celsius].
Got to Las Vegas in good time, arriving here just before lunch. The traffic was hellacious here at the turn-off. The area around the turn-off is locally referred to as the spaghetti bowl; I assume referring to the looping overpass bridges to several routes. We spent a well over a half hour sometimes not moving at all. When we finally got through it was nothing other than the 3 highways merging at that point. Within a mile after the merge we were moving like nothing happened. This was a first for us and anytime someone complained about the traffic here, I had difficulty believing it, having driven through here a couple dozen times. Well I am now a believer.
We got to Sam's Town just before noon only to be reminded it was only 11 here. We went for a nice lunch in the hotel and then went to check in. There is a surcharge if you check in early. When we did register we were surprised to learn that we booked through a travel wholesaler when we had gone directly to what we thought was the Sam's Town site. We were complaining that our credit card was hacked just after we booked and paid and the hotel of course said there was nothing they could do as it was not through them. Lesson learned here, the SOB's just led us on to believe we were dealing with the hotel. The hotel room is nice as always, we have never had a bad experience here with the rooms they have.
We stopped in at the local Walmart for a few things we needed, our first time in one here. Then we spent some time in the casino and managed to play a for a while until we donated. By then it was supper time and we went to the buffet. Friday is always a great one in this hotel. It seems being the New Years weekend things were a little more, but it was well worth it. The feature on Friday is seafood and they had lots. Alaska King crab, Dungeness crab, calamari, steamed clams, oysters on the half shell, several kinds of fish, mussels plus all the other regular stuff. The prime rib and turkey, Italian, salad bar, Chinese, Mexican plus amazing desert bar. It was all very good, however there was no bread pudding [usually my favourite]. After supper we played a bit more and managed to top up our earlier donation.
Distance travelled today about 300 km's or 200 miles and the weather was in the low teens [Celsius].
Thursday, 28 December 2017
Thursday, Dec 28th
A great start to the day with a hot breakfast in the hotel. Scrambled eggs, bacon and the usual stuff; well biscuits and gravy as well that we did not partake of. The breakfast room was pretty empty as most of the hotel guests must have been travelling south and the parking lot was close to empty. Seniors are not known for sleeping in, rather they are generally early risers and almost compete to be first on the road. Anyway it worked well for us and the weather was a balmy minus 4C and the roads mostly bare & dry.
As most of you know, Dillon is at the north end of the dreaded Monida pass. With the weather, this was one of our best crossings of this pass, so things are starting to go well. We never fueled last night knowing a pit stop was in our future, so left with 3/4 of a tank. Stopped in Pocatello, Idaho for fuel just before noon and our timing was perfect. The weather in Pocatello was very pleasant, it was our first time in the positive temps, i.e.: above freezing. It was a brief stop and then we pressed on to the south under a clear blue sky.
Stopped for lunch in Ogden, Utah and managed to find a Taco Bell, one of Marg's favourites in the fast food arena. We are reasonably familiar with the area as it has a nice RV park that we have used frequently in past years. I like it too, but it is always a challenge to decide as we don't eat a lot of Mexican food in GP. We both selected well and were satisfied with our choice. When it came to a drink, I tried the sweetened ice tea, but it was too much of a departure from what we have back home so had pink lemonade. I know, but it was good. Having the half day advantage from an early departure we decided the luxury of an eat-in for lunch was our best option.
By the time we got back on the road the lunch hour traffic had died down and we made good time. We also used the HOV lane through Salt Lake City, which worked really well for us. It takes over an hour at 70 mph to get through the metropolitan area even in the fast lane, but it was uneventful. Again roads were in perfect winter driving conditions and they had almost no snow in the area around SLC and even less as we progressed south. We stopped for a break in Beaver, Utah for a rest stop and Marg got a watermelon Slurpee. If you see her FB site, she likely posted a picture of it. Traffic was a bit heavier by Beaver and noticeably so by the time we got to Cedar City. Probably all the Mormons going to Las Vegas as there are no casino's in Utah.
Marg phoned and got a hotel reservation at a Howard Johnson in St. George. I thought the exit #6 sounded familiar and it turned out to be across the road from our old RV park [Temple View], where we used to store the motorhome from the fall until we got down in the winter. Went out and washed the truck, it was pretty much covered in road grit, fueled it and went out for supper. I was looking for one of Marg's fav's Jakers, but it was not to be. We instead happened on an Appleby's luckily another of her favourites. We usually have our first meal if in St George at Crackerbarrel but if in Pocatello at Appleby's. But to show we are not set in our ways really mixed it up tonight. The weather, oh yeh, plus 13C here, shirt sleeve weather. That makes 1,100 km's today and we are well positioned to arrive at our scheduled time in Apache Junction as we will spend the night in Las Vegas tomorrow. Things are definitely looking very positive here, particularly when I looked at the weather in GP.
As most of you know, Dillon is at the north end of the dreaded Monida pass. With the weather, this was one of our best crossings of this pass, so things are starting to go well. We never fueled last night knowing a pit stop was in our future, so left with 3/4 of a tank. Stopped in Pocatello, Idaho for fuel just before noon and our timing was perfect. The weather in Pocatello was very pleasant, it was our first time in the positive temps, i.e.: above freezing. It was a brief stop and then we pressed on to the south under a clear blue sky.
Stopped for lunch in Ogden, Utah and managed to find a Taco Bell, one of Marg's favourites in the fast food arena. We are reasonably familiar with the area as it has a nice RV park that we have used frequently in past years. I like it too, but it is always a challenge to decide as we don't eat a lot of Mexican food in GP. We both selected well and were satisfied with our choice. When it came to a drink, I tried the sweetened ice tea, but it was too much of a departure from what we have back home so had pink lemonade. I know, but it was good. Having the half day advantage from an early departure we decided the luxury of an eat-in for lunch was our best option.
By the time we got back on the road the lunch hour traffic had died down and we made good time. We also used the HOV lane through Salt Lake City, which worked really well for us. It takes over an hour at 70 mph to get through the metropolitan area even in the fast lane, but it was uneventful. Again roads were in perfect winter driving conditions and they had almost no snow in the area around SLC and even less as we progressed south. We stopped for a break in Beaver, Utah for a rest stop and Marg got a watermelon Slurpee. If you see her FB site, she likely posted a picture of it. Traffic was a bit heavier by Beaver and noticeably so by the time we got to Cedar City. Probably all the Mormons going to Las Vegas as there are no casino's in Utah.
Marg phoned and got a hotel reservation at a Howard Johnson in St. George. I thought the exit #6 sounded familiar and it turned out to be across the road from our old RV park [Temple View], where we used to store the motorhome from the fall until we got down in the winter. Went out and washed the truck, it was pretty much covered in road grit, fueled it and went out for supper. I was looking for one of Marg's fav's Jakers, but it was not to be. We instead happened on an Appleby's luckily another of her favourites. We usually have our first meal if in St George at Crackerbarrel but if in Pocatello at Appleby's. But to show we are not set in our ways really mixed it up tonight. The weather, oh yeh, plus 13C here, shirt sleeve weather. That makes 1,100 km's today and we are well positioned to arrive at our scheduled time in Apache Junction as we will spend the night in Las Vegas tomorrow. Things are definitely looking very positive here, particularly when I looked at the weather in GP.
Wednesday, 27 December 2017
Day 1 & 2 - December 27/28 2017
Well the disadvantage of having 3 computers not on the same version, it has taken a bit of time to re-acquaint myself with how this works on the laptop & the laptop itself and the way our virus software handles new locations. I think I have it now!
So our Boxing Day [Dec 27, 2017] started out with cleaning up and putting things away. I put the date in because many of our friends live in places where they don't call it Boxing Day. Marg doing laundry while packing our clothes for the journey while the doing all the other stuff and me winterizing the house and loading the truck. We had a bit of a head start over the Christmas season, packing everything we could think of or that was on our list when the opportunity arose. At just around noon Marg said, well if you like I can be ready to go in about 2 hours. After about 30 seconds of consideration, my reply was now that is spontaneous and we have no other commitments so can do what seems like the best plan, let's do it. Just about then Haylee & Paige stopped in, how opportune as we wanted to see them one last time and had a nice visit. Roger had stopped by earlier and dropped off some stuff and had his final farewell. Even though the truck had not been started for several weeks and it was not plugged in, it fired right up. Seeing that we had to step it up a notch and just shortly before 2:00 PM we set the alarm system and pulled out of the driveway.
It was bitterly cold, about minus 25C with a minus 30 windchill factor. The highway was amazing, dry and bare, so we set the cruise control and made good time, there was hardly any traffic. First stop was for supper in Leduc and then on to Red Deer for the night. We had a very nice room at the Western Budget. One of the only drawbacks was the heat for the room was provided by a gas fireplace and Marg woke up when it came on. The temperatures in Red Deer were even colder than GP, it was about minus 26, but the windchill was down around minus 39. We made about 600 km's, pretty good for a late start.
Day 2 we stopped in at Costco for gas and were on the road by 8. Traffic was light going into Calgary and again the highway dry and bare. The Stoney Trail bypass in Cowtown was pretty good too and we were through the city in good time. We stopped for lunch & fuel in Lethbridge to travel ideal winter driving highways with the next stop at Duty Free where 2 bottles of single malt were acquired. It was pretty fortunate as the line up to get through U.S. border control was the longest we have seen, but when exiting Duty Free you get well ahead of the majority Even with that we were the better part of an hour in the line so the guy could ask us our names, where are you going, anything to declare then have fun. Nice young guy.
The roads in Montana, not so good, no cruise control here. The driving lane was mostly clear, but the passing lane for much of it was solid ice, with blowing snow over it all the way. Stopped in Helena for fuel and it was snowing quite a bit there, with a forecast of a storm front moving in and up to 6 inches. We took the I-15 through the mountain passes and again the roads were poor, often neither lane being very good to drive on. Even though it was light, at one point I was down to about 45 mph following traffic. The highway between Helena and Butte is very mountainous, so lots of curves and grades. When we got to Butte, it had stopped snowing, but was getting dark by then. The roads were again clear, the highway in very good winter driving condition. We continued on to Dillon where we opted to spend the night. We got a nice room in the Comfort Inn along the highway and then went for a nice dinner in town. We made about 1,000 km's today. We discovered a missing bag when moving in to the new motel, fortunately it was the lunch bag, so more annoying than problematic. With any luck the storm will move in as forecast tomorrow afternoon and we will be long gone by then.
So our Boxing Day [Dec 27, 2017] started out with cleaning up and putting things away. I put the date in because many of our friends live in places where they don't call it Boxing Day. Marg doing laundry while packing our clothes for the journey while the doing all the other stuff and me winterizing the house and loading the truck. We had a bit of a head start over the Christmas season, packing everything we could think of or that was on our list when the opportunity arose. At just around noon Marg said, well if you like I can be ready to go in about 2 hours. After about 30 seconds of consideration, my reply was now that is spontaneous and we have no other commitments so can do what seems like the best plan, let's do it. Just about then Haylee & Paige stopped in, how opportune as we wanted to see them one last time and had a nice visit. Roger had stopped by earlier and dropped off some stuff and had his final farewell. Even though the truck had not been started for several weeks and it was not plugged in, it fired right up. Seeing that we had to step it up a notch and just shortly before 2:00 PM we set the alarm system and pulled out of the driveway.
It was bitterly cold, about minus 25C with a minus 30 windchill factor. The highway was amazing, dry and bare, so we set the cruise control and made good time, there was hardly any traffic. First stop was for supper in Leduc and then on to Red Deer for the night. We had a very nice room at the Western Budget. One of the only drawbacks was the heat for the room was provided by a gas fireplace and Marg woke up when it came on. The temperatures in Red Deer were even colder than GP, it was about minus 26, but the windchill was down around minus 39. We made about 600 km's, pretty good for a late start.
Day 2 we stopped in at Costco for gas and were on the road by 8. Traffic was light going into Calgary and again the highway dry and bare. The Stoney Trail bypass in Cowtown was pretty good too and we were through the city in good time. We stopped for lunch & fuel in Lethbridge to travel ideal winter driving highways with the next stop at Duty Free where 2 bottles of single malt were acquired. It was pretty fortunate as the line up to get through U.S. border control was the longest we have seen, but when exiting Duty Free you get well ahead of the majority Even with that we were the better part of an hour in the line so the guy could ask us our names, where are you going, anything to declare then have fun. Nice young guy.
The roads in Montana, not so good, no cruise control here. The driving lane was mostly clear, but the passing lane for much of it was solid ice, with blowing snow over it all the way. Stopped in Helena for fuel and it was snowing quite a bit there, with a forecast of a storm front moving in and up to 6 inches. We took the I-15 through the mountain passes and again the roads were poor, often neither lane being very good to drive on. Even though it was light, at one point I was down to about 45 mph following traffic. The highway between Helena and Butte is very mountainous, so lots of curves and grades. When we got to Butte, it had stopped snowing, but was getting dark by then. The roads were again clear, the highway in very good winter driving condition. We continued on to Dillon where we opted to spend the night. We got a nice room in the Comfort Inn along the highway and then went for a nice dinner in town. We made about 1,000 km's today. We discovered a missing bag when moving in to the new motel, fortunately it was the lunch bag, so more annoying than problematic. With any luck the storm will move in as forecast tomorrow afternoon and we will be long gone by then.
Saturday, 30 September 2017
Delayed Departure
This blog will be delayed this year as we are staying in Grande Prairie until Christmas. All we can hope is that winter will be delayed as well and mild when it arrives.
Friday, 10 March 2017
The end
That's it for winter of 2016/17 with us returning to Canada on March 1st. Our plans will probably not see us head south until after Christmas 2017, stay tuned.
Wednesday, 1 March 2017
Wednesday, March 1st
Well you all know the old saying about March - In like a lion our like a lamb or vice versa. Well from our day today, it will go one way in some parts of the country and the other in the rest.
We had breakfast in the hotel and were on the road by 7:30. The traffic was light as we were on the north end of Salt Lake City, so we set the cruise control on 80 mph and cruised. We made it through the balance of Utah, then Idaho and finally Montana. The roads were mainly good, even through the mountain passes in Montana. The exception was in the Monida pass where there was a lot of snow on the road sides and then just south of Shelby, Mt where we had snow falling and the roads were starting to get an accumulation. The passing lane was pretty much snow covered, but I was still able to maintain 70 mph when I travelled out on to it. I think it was the weight from all the stuff we pack around in the truck box, but traction was no problem today.
When we got to the border, we faced the usual list of questions. I prefaced my answers by telling the agent we were over on liquor because we were returning to Grande Prairie to deal with a medical emergency at home and planning to stay until April, we were unprepared to head home this early. A nice young man, he wished us a good day and sent us on our way. Our deportation went smoothly. LOL
When we pulled in to Lethbridge is was about 6 PM, so we decided to stay her for the night. You can imagine our surprise to find our regular hotel with no available rooms and several other with no vacancy. We finally got a room at one we had not previously tried and were fortunate as it has just been renovated. We also found the reason for the no vacancy sign on many places, a shortage of chamber maids. No one to clean the rooms, who would have thought. I seem to recall Dave C who owned the Trumpeter saying one maid could do about a dozen rooms a day.
After checking in we went to a BBQ place next door and had the ribs. They were very nice, well not quite Tony Romas', but good and our waitress was very pleasant. A nice end to the day. Yes I left her a decent tip. LOL
We had breakfast in the hotel and were on the road by 7:30. The traffic was light as we were on the north end of Salt Lake City, so we set the cruise control on 80 mph and cruised. We made it through the balance of Utah, then Idaho and finally Montana. The roads were mainly good, even through the mountain passes in Montana. The exception was in the Monida pass where there was a lot of snow on the road sides and then just south of Shelby, Mt where we had snow falling and the roads were starting to get an accumulation. The passing lane was pretty much snow covered, but I was still able to maintain 70 mph when I travelled out on to it. I think it was the weight from all the stuff we pack around in the truck box, but traction was no problem today.
When we got to the border, we faced the usual list of questions. I prefaced my answers by telling the agent we were over on liquor because we were returning to Grande Prairie to deal with a medical emergency at home and planning to stay until April, we were unprepared to head home this early. A nice young man, he wished us a good day and sent us on our way. Our deportation went smoothly. LOL
When we pulled in to Lethbridge is was about 6 PM, so we decided to stay her for the night. You can imagine our surprise to find our regular hotel with no available rooms and several other with no vacancy. We finally got a room at one we had not previously tried and were fortunate as it has just been renovated. We also found the reason for the no vacancy sign on many places, a shortage of chamber maids. No one to clean the rooms, who would have thought. I seem to recall Dave C who owned the Trumpeter saying one maid could do about a dozen rooms a day.
After checking in we went to a BBQ place next door and had the ribs. They were very nice, well not quite Tony Romas', but good and our waitress was very pleasant. A nice end to the day. Yes I left her a decent tip. LOL
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