Tuesday 30 March 2010

Final post for this trip

Feb 25th - From Idaho Falls made it to Lethbridge. What a change. Weather was still pretty nice, but the rv park was on winter services, so no water. The border crossing was pretty uneventful, stopped and topped up the scotch supply and fuel tank. Alas the last of the cheap gas. Very small line at the border & they were busy searching 3 other rvs, so when they asked if we had anything to declare I just said no. The agent asked if we had more than $10 thousand with us and my reply was you have to be kidding. Feb 26th - After the night in Lethbridge we stopped in Airdrie, rained all thru Calgary, so everything was dirty by Airdrie. The dealership kept the unit to rework the bedroom ceiling and replace the exterior mirrors. Thought we should get this looked at as the warranty is getting a little old now. We had to scramble and buy a cooler for all the fridge stuff and basically just put as much in the car as it would hold. With the frozen food we had to go straight through, so drove all the way, arriving home at 9:30PM. The last two days were both 12 hours on the road, so we slept soundly in our flannel sheets. Until next time - it was fun doing this and thank you for following along.

Wednesday 24 March 2010

March 24th

On the road again, up early and on the highway by 8:oo AM. It was already shaping up to be a nice day in St G, but --the time has come the walrus said... [but I digress]. So we were back on the I-15 burning up our share of petrol. Made good miles, but with the elevation increasing and our direction of travel being north, it got cooler as we trod on. In the summits there was snow everywhere. Marg held fast with the shorts, but long pants for me, first time in a long time. Went thru the dreaded Salt Lake City, generally disliked by every rv'er you talk to. After Salt Lake City Marg drove the rig thru the balance of Utah & into Idaho. In fact she drove it right into Idaho Falls & the rv park. We are at the Snake River rv park, where we have stayed in the past. As we drove down thru the valleys it was clear and sunny. In fact lots of farmers working their fields [many pulling seed drills], probably planting the famous Idaho potatoes. Temps in Idaho Falls we in the low 50's, like a nice spring day at home. On the road again tomorrow, hope to make the border at Sweetgrass in the late afternoon & ultimately Lethbridge. That will be over 500 miles, but that should be do-able [as long as we aren't held up at duty free or the border crossing too long]. Oh yeh - something about this Idaho strikes me as odd; you know how they hoe potatoes & Idaho is reknown for potatoes - Coincidence - I don't think so!

Tuesday 23 March 2010

Another day in St George

Another day in sunny downtown St George & no dragon yet, hah, that was for your English folk. You Canucks will not get that one, St. George is a big deal in England, they use his cross for their flag. For you newfies, St George to England is like St Patrick to Ireland. Hah. Anyway it was a beautiful sunny day, got to about 76F. Lots of people in the outdoor pool. We did a bit of touring about and picked up a few things we needed, hey they sell beer in the Walmart here. They've come a long way. Saw the temple from the ladder of the rv, the park after all is called Temple in View.
Saw an advert for another tour, that may interest you. It is one to a real settlement and a chance to meet with a polygamist family and talk with them. They offer a 10% discount for seniors. We aren't all that far from Bountiful, maybe its there. You can't make this stuff up! Anyway we aren't going on it, I couldn't see the point. I can barely afford one spouse and I'm not prepared to go back to work. Marg thought it would be too much trouble to train a new one, she claims I'm a work in progress. Something for the rest of you to consider tho, ;>)!
Oh the other big news, for those of you who think I am domestically challenged, I helped with laundry today. I found the location, carried the basket and got quarters from the front desk. I checked inside the tub, proof right here. I tell you there is a lot to this laundry stuff, no wonder Marg has kept me out of it for so long.
Keep hearing about the bad weather back home, would you guys do something about that, we are travelling very slowly, but the health insurance is running out and bad weather is forecast for the pass area in Idaho. We need to move 'em out. So to miss the bad weather in Idaho, we will be leaving tomorrow. Should cross the border on Thursday and will hold up in Lethbridge to get a break in the weather. Stayed tuned I may think of something clever about Idaho.

Monday 22 March 2010

March 22nd St George

On the road, left Laughlin - hey that's poetic, early in the AM and made our way through the tri-state area [where Arizonza, Nevada & Utah come together] to St. Georges, Utah. Medical insurance runs out on the 28th, so we are headed north thru Utah to Sweetgrass, Montana at the border
A picture of the louge area where the computer terminals are, about the nicest I have seen & I've seen some parks. The RV park is called Temple in View.
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When I think of the name Utah, its not mormons that come to mind, rather Sylvester & Tweety. I think I tah a puddy tat, NO - U Tah. :>) Sometimes I crack myself up.
Nice Park and a good wifi connection, hooray. They also have terminals you can use. The screen savers are pics of mormon temples from all over. One of the tours available here is -- if you guessed - of the mormon temple! You are a winner. So if I come to your door with a pamphlet, don't turn me away, I may have a new calling. Lots of stuff about the grande canyon here as well. Oh gosh, I'm still laughing about that Utah joke. Stay tuned, I may come up with another.

Oatman, Az

Just a few pics from scenic, downtown Oatman.

Sunny Sunday, Mar 21

Gorgeous day, temps got up to 80F, not a cloud in the sky. Got on the road in the Malibu and went down to Lake Havasu to visit Dave & Liz Chomik.
Their daughter Carol from High Prairie was there as well. They have a lovely place there, although good luck finding it without the GPS. Barbie came thru for us - again. Marg calls it the marriage saver - LOL! Nice visit with them and then we went down to the London Bridge area. Some dude brought it over and set it up on the Colorado river, stone by stone. It was quite festive down there, lots of shops and pubs and a big marina. There was a flea market set up in a nearby parking lot, so went and bought some fleas. Hah. After lunch [in a yuppy place call Picasso] that mom loved and oh yeh, Idid too! [In case she reads this], we started back home, but stopped in Oatman. This is a ghost town that has been brought back to life and their claim to fame is wild burros. They walk about in the streets and mooch carrots from the tourists. Oh yeh, Marg really stepped in it, if you know what I mean. Lots of character in the old place, we really enjoyed it, but the road in was something else. Its part of old Route 66 & if you drive it you will know why they built a new highway. On the way out Marg spotted another road runner, she's really getting good at it. ;>), but it was too fast for a picture. On the road tomorrow.

Sunday 21 March 2010

March 20th

Nice day, temps in the 76F range. Just a nice breeze. Did a bit of lazying about, finished another pocket book and Marg is on her last one. Not sure but I think I've read over 30 since leaving home in December. Do I look that bookish to you ;>)!. Went to the outlet mall in Laughlin & Marg came out with no bags, whaaat is going on. Got the cell phone loaded at Radio Shack, looked at their deals, but none better than the one we have. Looked at internet air cards, will probably leave that till home. Are you sitting down, we went to bingo at the Riverside last nite & although Marg was very close we came away with zip. Stopped in the casino after & I made $5 on slots, Marg is not saying, so probably not so good. When I met her she had some kind of blue drink, she wasn't sure what it was but said it had an effect on her. I never got offered one free drink in 3 days here. Marg on the other hand had one every time I turned around. Now think about that for a minute, those of you who see us at the lake and think about who the real party animal is in this relationship. Hah! Oh yeh, saw my first road runner yesterday, it was in an rv park, its on the street corner if yo can zoom in. Breakfast at Ihop where they have free wifi. Free wifi and pancakes, like just doesn't get any better. Off to visit the Chomiks in Lake Havasu as soon as we get fed. Another nice sunny day shaping up.

Saturday 20 March 2010

March 20th

Laughlin - again. Yesterday was Margs' birthday and she wanted to thank everyone for the kind wishes. We awoke to a windy day, so windy the 18th that we brought in the big slide. The campground at Avi was kind of dodgy so we left in the morning and went to the casino. They had a big sale and we bought a few things, then in to the casino. The birthday gods were smiling on her as Marg took a little over $100 from the penny slots. Me not so good. Lunch was in a nice little Italian restaraunt, where everything on the menu was $6.99 [incl drinks]. Marg had salad bar, I had meatloaf & pasta. We moved on to Bullhead City where we bought gas. When we pulled up to the pump, the fuel hose was lying there, I guess the the previous customer tore it off when leaving. Got a site at the Riverside rv park, attached to the big hotel. Then went to their casino where we managed to contribute. Marg was really in a birthday mood and had a margarita while playing. Dinner at Joes Crab Shack was very nice. Marg had crab & a margarita, me the mahi & a landshark. Had not seen the shark for a while, LOL. We had to walk thru the Golden Nugget to get to it, so played a bit on the way back, oh yeh, Marg had a margarita while playing. Yes you heard it hear first, new party girl on the block, LOL! Weather was nice after the wind died down. Poor wifi at the park, so this morning having coffee at the MacDonalds with free wifi. Will try to stay in touch, but it may be spotty now.

Thursday 18 March 2010

Quick trip in to Laughlin

The we made a quick trip in to Laughlin, its about 20 miles to see the night lights. Although it is a mini-Las Vegas, it sure beats the heck out of anything but LV for night lights. We plan to move to that area tomorrow after we visit the market place set up in the parking lot at the Avi casino.

More pics

Good wifi connection today, so more pics than usual. For those complaining about no pics on earlier posts, I added one on each of the last two postings. The bottom is the entrance to the proving ground north of Yuma, Jim will know what these are - happy birthday!
The middle picture is just north of Parker along the Colorado river, lots of nice recreation areas there & the 3rd is the other side of the road.

On the Road Again

Got away from El Centro before the heat hit, it was only 75F when we got on the road. Just a ways from there past thru the sand dunes again, Marg took this picture of the border fence, Baja Mexico on the other side. An hour east to Yuma for fuel [petrol] and stopped at a roadside stand for veggies and fruit. Nice day, it got to about 80F in the south and stayed in the high 70's all the way to Avi. Got a site in the rv park near Avi and went in to the casino there for supper. It was 2 for 1 night at the buffet, so we both ate [including drinks] for $11.88. Spent a bit of time at the slots and I htink they might have got some of the free buffet back. LOL

Wednesday 17 March 2010

Happy St Patricks day

El Centro, wonder why it is so hot, look at the water tank, the line on the side is sea level. LOL
Thanks to all for the kind birthday wishes. It was a hot one today, the thermometer reached 88F, and there wasn't a breeze. Have not been that hot in a while. Marg did the laundry thing, but had to put the a/c on in the rv to use the steamer. I played pool for a couple of hours. Almost everyone was wearing something green. As the old saying goes, it is a day for everyone to celebrate being Irish or having Irish ancestors. Mothers maiden name is McCartney, no relation to Paul, but it certainly qualifies us as of Irish ancestry, so beers were in order. LOL Most of the guys who played pool this AM are leaving within the week. After that we went into Walmart at El Centro for some groceries, its about a 6 or 8 mile ride. Raised a few MGD's and toasted the old saint of Ireland. A bbq dinner and a strawberry cheesecake [Marg made] topped off the day. On the road tomorrow, as we start the journey north.

March 16th

Another hot one today. The last two days it's been play pool in the morning, sit by the pool in the afternoon, then cold beers in the evening looking for shade. The pool is really nice here, not sure why they even have a hot pool, the large pool is so warm. On Monday Marg was acting as ball girl for the pool volleyball game. They asked her to join, but she was content on the sidelines sending back errant balls. In fairness it was pretty crowded, there must have been 25 or 30 playing. Got up to about 82F [28 for the celcius fans] on Tuesday and Wed looks like it will be the hotest day of the week. Wanted a couple of lazy days around the pool before the trek north.

Monday 15 March 2010

March 14th

Nice warm day,went to Yuma to the flea market. Its about 65 miles from here, to the east. Weather must have been about 72F or so. Tomorrow should be close to 80F. We enjoyed the flea market, but there sure has been an impact of the economy here, lots of empty stalls and fewer vendors. Still pretty good. Bought a Kokopelli wind sock to hang from the awning. I go t some dusters at the used book store, although the library at the rv park has a very good selection. Stopped in at some of Margs old shopping haunts: Bealls, Burlington Coat, etc. Saw some new country on the way as we travelled thru the great sand dunes. There were tons of RV's and all manner of atv's all over the dunes. This is only about 500 yards from the mexican border and a great fence runs all along it. There was a border patrol check point on the highway and they must have had traffic in both lanes backed up for 2 miles looking for illegals and drugs. I guess Marg didn't look so mexican after all as they never even stopped us. Hah! In the one pic you can see a group of atv riders up on the sand dune that will give you an idea of how vast they are. Doing the blog in the library today where the connection is much better, so went back on the older posts for the prior couple of days and added photos.

A few pics from the airshow

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Saturday 13 March 2010

A day in the sun

Harrier & C17
Another nice day, hot, in the 70's. Went to the airshow at the El Centro RAF, where the Navy Blue Angels have their home base. Some cool stuff on display from all the armed forces branches. There was a C-17 transport plane that is a flying garage. Can haul tons of cargo. I asked them how much fuel it uses and was told about 15,000 pounds an hour; but it holds 12 hours of fuel. Takes more fuel than our motorhome, hah. There was an old B25 bomber, P51 fighter, stunt flyers, a jet fighter that was so silent it came and went so quickly you didn't even hear it [no it's not my poor hearing either]. The marines had a Harrier jump jet [made in the UK], which is basically a seat strapped to a huge jet engine. The F-18s really stole the show, what an amazing aircraft. The Blue Angels can really make them do just about anything you can imagine. Marg met a real live astronaut and got an autographed picture. A little too windy for us, that is really the only downfall of this place. The wind can come up in minutes notice and it will go from calm to 40 or 50 mile an hour winds. Thankfully one of the park tenants put our awning up or we might not have one. Nice people here. Met up with John, who put me out in last nights poker game. He was fishing in the lake here and was having pretty good luck. He lives in San Diego and has an annual lot here, even though its only 1 1/2 hr drive. Brennan & Anna would live at the fishing platform here, he was getting lots of action. He said he was on the platform [really part of the cement sidewalk] last month when they had the earthquake and it was moving so much he ran off. They seem to get their share of quakes here. Funny, 2 of the pool tables have a run in them that has just shown up since the earthquake. Thought we were getting pretty tanned, but did we get sun today. Marg is starting to look a little Mexican - ;>)!

Friday 12 March 2010

El Centro - that's us

Well what a gorgeous day, the sun was shining and it got up to about 70F. Through the windshield when there was no wind it go up well above that. Marg did the laundry thing this AM and I found the pool room. Marg paid for the next week here, its a nice park and I can see why it is full, very clean and good weather. Lots of Canucks in this park, mostly BC & Alberta. Played 8 ball and surprise; the rules are different here. Its a little like the Arizona rules, I'll call it the modified Az rules. LOL. Anyway I was able to keep from embarrasing myself and actually made a few shots. When we finished they said they play there play every morning, so looks promising. We talked about fishing, it turns out the lake here has Tilapa & Char in it and the drainage canals have catfish in them. A few of the guys fish on a regular basis. After lunch Marg & I went in to El Centro. Our first stop was Gardena, a grocery store that catered to spanish speaking part of the population. The store was real nice inside and they had some neat stuff. Everything was in spanish including the announcements. They had a machine making tortillas, so many they were on a belt with about 6 staff packaging them. One of the ladies gave Marg some fresh corn tortillas, right off the belt, they were still hot. The bakery was amazing and a guy there talked Marg into what looked like a loaf, but turned out to be like a giant puff bun. She bought a desert that turned out to be like a creme carmel, it was awesome. They also had some rude stuff there, like trays of: cow lips, stomach, pigs ears, pickled tripe [stomach], and god knows what else, because we couldn't understand the descriptions. I really felt like I was in a foreign land there. Hah! All Mexicans except us and it was large store. Finished up our shopping at Walmart. When we got back we went in the pool for an hour or so. It's great, nice and warm as well as a pretty good size. After supper I went and played poker, a couple of the guys from pool this AM mentioned it, so I went and played Texas holdem for about 2 hours. It was great fun, there were 16 players and I got down to the final 5, so got my money back plus a $3 profit. Yippee.

Thursday 11 March 2010

Thursday

On the road again. The rv park at Salton City was a bust. The water in the hot pool was so thick you could walk across it, hey I could have got some mileage out of that. LOL Marg was looking at it and one of the residents walked up, so she basically said yuk. The old gal said, you don't understand, its a mineral pool, so should be like that. OK! Some mineral pool, should have had more liquid & less mineral and the big pool was unheated, talk about penguin pool. People there were very nice, met several right away and they seemed great. Saw the sand rails off this AM and then we left. There must have been 2 dozen of them and they go roaring around in the desert. I think I could get into that. The weather there while sunny was windy, but a big improvement from Las Vegas. Drove down to El Centro, just about in Mexico and found a really nice park call Sunbeam Lake RV Resort. It was about an hour drive from the last place. The weather just kept getting better with every mile. It was hot today and Marg is already looking well tanned. Sat around in shorts drinking beer to keep cool today. A real bonus, the Blue Angels practice here and are putting on an airshow on Saturday as they go on tour. There were a half dozen F-18's in tight formation flying over the park all afternoon. Some seemed right on top of us. This park has lots of nice features, check it out at http://www.sunbeamlake.com/, so I think we will stay for the week. The weather is a real bonus here. The pool and hot pool are both great. We have cable and wifi, the only thing is the wifi connection is deteriorated due to a big rv rally here, so have not been able to load pictures.

Wednesday 10 March 2010

Wednesday

Thhe family's final day in Vegas and the vineyards around Salton City.

Las Vegas in my rearview mirror

Well another cool and windy day in Sin City. I think it was warmer in GP On Tuesday, arghhhh. This was another fun day with the grand kids. Went to the outlet mall again where they got the last of what they wanted there. After they wanted to go to the MGM Grand where they all opened an oyster and got a pearl. Pretty cool, the staff make quite a production out of it, cheering, ringing a big bell and measuring them. After that they wanted to go to the welcome sign for pictures. They also got a major magician kit and are planning on staging magic shows this summer. They were picking it up pretty quick, so should have fun with it. The kids had never had Jack In The Box, so that was the last thing left to do, gourmet food this is not, LOL! They all flew back to sunny Alberta and we headed back down south to where the weather is better. It was interesting to hear their comments, Paige said in all her life she has never seen an arrest in GP, but saw 7 in LV.
Marg & I drove down into southern California and ended up at Salton City on the shore of the great salton sea. Its a mineral lake, probably alkalai. The area is pretty much all orchards. Lots of oranges, grapefruit, etc; lots of date plantations and some huge vineyards. I would guess we are about 40 miles from the Mexican border. Took off the sweat shirts and put on t-shirts. What time we have left here will not be much further north than here, hah.

Monday 8 March 2010

Vegas Pics

Viva Las Vegas

Well the monsoon season seems to have ended and the weather was better, still a bit cool by the end of the day. Met up with the kids in the morning, the girls all wanted to go on the rides at Circus Circus, so Brennan went with us for the day. Went to the outlet mall on the south end of the strip and he got some hoodies, shirts and belt buckles. Some good deals on designer lables. He said he wouldn't buy any no-name junk, LOL! After we went to The Gun Store where they sell shooting iron and have a firing range. They had everything you can imagine: pistols, rifles, semi-autos & full autos, they even had shoulder fired rocket launchers. The store manager was great, let Brennan take all the pics he wanted and that was a large number. At the range you could watch thru the windows and could hear the rat-tat-tat of full autos. It was about 1/3 women, 2/3 guys & they were lined up. They had a couple of autos that I had fired back in my militia days, so that was neat. They were so friendly that we could probably have had Brennan fire, but we were worried about gun powder residue when he clears airport security in the next couple of days, so didn't. Back to the strip, where the 3 of us had dinner at the Harley Davidson cafe. Then wandered about and met Bill & Patty at the Paris hotel, where they all went up on the Eiffel Tower to check out the view. Watched the fountains at Bellagio and called it a night. Fun day for all involved, Brennan said it was the best day ever, so that brought a smile to our face. Probably no internet connection for a couple of days, so tune in toward the end of the week - LOL!

Sin City - Las Vegas

Well we have yet to commit our first sin, LOL, but we are in Las Vegas. Got here on Friday, March 5th and rented a stall at Sams Town RV park. Pretty spartan compared to some of the parks we have stayed at, but it is home for a few days. Pretty uneventful travel day to here, but weather was good. Much cooler here in LV. Bill, Patti & kids got here on Saturday and have been busy with them since. They are staying in the Mandalay Bay, pretty posh. They spent the afternoon in the pool area, where they have a wave pool & lazy river. Brennan went with Grandma & I to the Bass Pro shop where we managed to get an eyeful of great stuff. Toured some of the adjacent hotels: Luxor, Excaliber and went to MGM Grand for dinner at the Rainforest Cafe as a kind of birthday celebration for the ones we missed the prior couple of days. The kids were pretty impressed with it. Food was good too. Did a bit of a tour of the strip around where they are. Managed to get around Vegas pretty good without the gps. A pleasant day, but it rained thru the evening a bit. Sunday saw us at the dentist office. I had a crown come loose and had to get it re-cemented. Got a couple of x-rays and it re-attached for $100, not too bad actually. After we went to meet up with Bill where he got a rental car and we drove out to the Hoover Dam. The construction of the new bridge is proving to be a real attraction and the traffic on the old 2 lane highway was bumper to bumper for the last 1 1/2 miles or so. The kids had picked up some magic stuff and grandpa got tricked into using a light that had a shocking handle & the kids all got a laugh. Later in the day we returned to Vegas for a buffet lunch and the kids really made the best of it picking all their favs. Later we went to an outlet mall and almost everyone got something new. All the kids got new runners and there were shirts and hats galore. Had a bit of difficulty finding the shopping area, couldn't use the gps as the area was too new. In the evening we went to Freemont street, it was dark by then. This is quite a sight if you have never been here. The light show was spectacular. Everyone was impressed and there were cheers all along the street when it ended. We saw 3 shows and all were different. The crowd really reacted to the music from Queen and the We Will Rock You music. There was quite a bit of rain around the supper time and into the evening, but it tapered off by the time we were on Freemont St. Almost needed the gps for this and did get turned around quite a bit. I've been lost in better places than this, LOL. Monday, well we slept in today. Bought internet service for the day so we could get in touch with the cyber world again. Bill and the kids are all going to Circus Circus today to take in the rides and entertainment.

Thursday 4 March 2010

Last day in Surprise

Well it turned out to be a nice sunny day, the last two have been in the 70's. Went to Cabellas today, good thing that store is so far from home or I would be broke. Hah! Found another micro brewery for lunch, there are lots of them around this area. Got new neighbours in the rv park. Its one of those bus conversions towing a huge triple axle enclosed trailer. Enough chrome on it to start up a buick plant. I don't know what they sell for down here, but in Canada they are in the ballpark of $900K to $1million. Anyway that's how the other half lives. Went to dinner with Richards sister [Elaine], her husband [Doug] and his sister [Brenda] & her husband [Garnet] at Famous Daves, the place for ribs. Food was great and we shared a lot of laughs. Its off to Las Vegas tomorrow, so probably no blog until we find a wifi connection. A big happy birthday to Paige & Haylee who are 11 today! ;>) We miss you and will see you Saturday in Vegas!

Wednesday 3 March 2010

Surprise

Well we are in Surprise now, in a large RV park called Sunflower. They have lots of amenities, but we will only be here 4 days, so won't get to enjoy them. We are close to an airforce base and there are fighter jets overhead and the roaring of jet engines pretty much all day long. It was a pretty uneventful day packing up and moving here on Monday. The Proulxs' were coming over to see if we were here yet and ended up right behind us. There was a bit of a traffic jam of rv's when we pulled in, so I got a text from them that told me to stop holding up traffic - LOL. Went over to their place for drinks and a bbq that evening after we got settled in. Yesterday they picked us up at 7 AM and we went to Algodones, Mexico. I think it was an eye-opener for them and they brought back lots of stuff. We did a run through Yuma on the way back and showed them some of the parks where their friends are staying and where we stayed last year. Its an interesting drive down and back, about 3 1/2 hrs each way. A nice day, fun trip. Today we met Dave & Cathy Trout for lunch at Four Peaks micro brewery. We sat on the patio in the sun and had beers with our lunch. It was a nice day. Took us about an hour or better to get there & the same to return, so not much of the day was left. We just bbq'd at our place for dinner. Got to enjoy this warm weather while we have it, I think its quite a bit cooler in Vegas. In fact it snowed last nite in Tucson, down by Tombstone. Yuk. As I said at the start, this is a nice park, about 1,100 stalls; but we probably won't be back.