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Still in Bowie, Arizona

Beaver Tail Cactus

Brenda and I decided to stay another night in Bowie....just to rest up a bit and enjoy being in one spot for 2 days.  It is only 8C here this morning, but it is supposed to reach 18C by this afternoon.  It is windy and wet.  We have been hearing reports from my family in Alberta re: weather and feel blessed to be here even if it has cooled off.  I can't believe how much snow has fallen in Alberta.  That is why I am south this winter.  Hopefully I will never shovel snow again.

The train passes by us about every 15 min.  We had a good laugh about that last evening while attempting to watch a movie on-line.  Whenever the train went by we could not hear the movie.

View from my motorhome at Bowie RV Park

 

The air is very arid here.  Brenda and I both have dry, cracked lips and feel dehydrated some days even though we are drinking a lot of water.  I don't think I would like to spend the winters in Arizona.  It is just too brown for me.  We are both surprised everyday on how much non-arable land there is in the U.S. Every once in a while we see a sign that says to watch for wildlife and we wonder what kind of wildlife can exist in areas without grass or water.  I read there are rattlesnakes, scorpions and tarantulas in this area. 

Cactus in Bowie

This afternoon Brenda and I biked into town.  It is bigger than I thought it would be.  There are 3 schools and an arm of the University of Arizona.  The way the old guys at the RV park were talking it sounded like there was nothing there but a post office.

United Church in Bowie

There are a lot of Mexican people living in this area.  Many of the store clerks are Mexican.  We find we get really good service here.  Some of the service stations have staff to check your tires and the like, so that is nice. 

We have been staying at a lot of places for free.  There are many places to do that, but every once in a while we crave wi-fi and big showers.  Staying for free of course, allows us to spend money on other things.  The trip has been very enjoyable so far.

Hope you are all keeping warm in Canada. 

Bowie, Arizona

Hello Y'all,
Brenda and I have been putting on a lot of miles!  We seldom have internet connection so we have not been able to keep up our blogs. 

 Earlier in the day we had stopped at Wal-Mart in Parker, Arizona and Brenda purchased a bike.  We traveled on to Gila Bend and spent the night at a truck stop.  We biked around Gila Bend looking for a wi-fi signal.  We stopped at a gift store and were invited in to use their wi-fi.  We just quickly emailed our families and did not spend time to blog.  Today we continued on hwy 10 east and drove right through Tucson, Arizona.  It was not too bad of a drive, but I was happy to leave the city. 

We stopped at a rest area approaching Willcox.  There were really strange rock formations there, but no info as to how they got there.

This was also the area where some fairly famous Indians lived.  We were hoping we could camp there overnight, but the sign said no overnight camping.  We continued on our way and reached Willcox.  Willcox had two RV camps, but they both wanted almost $30/night so we decided to continue on and find a cheaper or free camping spot. 

We turned into Bowie, Arizona to find a small campground.  It is $14/night and that includes all hook-ups with wi-fi.  The man behind the counter was very funny.  He did not give us a camp site number so I asked him if he cared where I parked and he said I could park anywhere I liked, but he suggested I camp at an empty site.  Later I went into the store.  There were about 4 shelves spaced quite a distance from each other.  There was little merchandise on each shelf.  He said, "It don't take long to look around, does it?" The sites are mostly empty and the few RV's that are parked here look permanent.  I feel good as my RV is one of the newer ones. 


My neighbor

Bowie RV Campground

 



 

A fat man with a lot of missing teeth stopped by our campsite in his 1/2 ton.  He asked if I needed any help to get set up.  He told me he had lived here as a child, moved away for 35 yrs. and now has been back for 10 yrs.  He pointed out his trailer and was very proud of the fact that it was under a shelter. I asked what was in the town of Bowie and he said nothing but a post office.  The next nearest town is about 45 miles away. 

We have seen a variety of cacti.  We saw a lot of those cacti with the arms....the ones you see in photos.  They looked like they had been attacked by an insect or something and did not look healthy at all.  We also passed 6 policemen with machine guns who had stopped a van on the side of the hwy and were searching the van.  I had read that the border wars between Mexico and the U.S. had escalated lately, so was wondering if they were searching for drugs.  We are less than a 100 miles from the Mexican border.  Brenda wanted a phone card and the service station sold cards only written in Spanish, so there are a lot of Mexican people living in this area of Arizona. 

Tomorrow we are going to be in New Mexico. 

Hope you are all well and keeping warm.

Valley of Fire

Nov. 5, 2012 - Greetings Friends and Family

WE left Jackpot and drove all day.  Nevada looked basically the same from one end to the other.  There was sage brush on both sides of the hwy and hills in the distance of both sides.  Service stations were few and far between.  We made certain we had both gas tanks full every time we left a service station.  There were signs on the hwy telling us how far between stations.  Most of the land we passed was non-arable.  Houses were non-existent. 

The weather was beautiful.  We had decided to make time after checking on the internet and seeing that  snow was coming to Ely and areas close to Ely.  The snow was not supposed to arrive until Wedn. but we wanted to be certain we missed it.  We stopped at Wells, Nev. to get gas.  The attendant  checked the tires all around the motorhome, inflating when necessary and changed the oil for me.  I was thankful for that as I needed an oil change and was not sure where I should go where I could get in and out.

Our next stop was Lund, Nev. as we saw a post office and I had postcards to mail.  I wanted to buy more stamps, but the office was closed for lunch.  We couldn't help but wonder how people kept their cars gassed up as there was no gas station there and the next nearest one was approx. 36 miles away.  It was fairly bleak and desolate around Lund.  You need to enjoy your solitude to live along the hwy we drove on. 

Lund, Nevada

Wondering if we were going to make it to the next gas station, we finally arrived at Ash Springs.  There was an RV park there, so we decided to spend the night.  Parked next to us were a couple from Ft. McCloud, AB.  They were originally from Rimby, AB.  They also were on their way to S. Texas and will be parked in the little town just east of where we will be parked.  They will be in Weslaco and we will be in Donna. 

Brenda said she always wanted to see the Valley of Fire, so that is where we headed.  There is a state park here so we decided to spend the night.  We are fairly close to the bathroom and showers so feel like we hit the jackpot.  We have power and water, but no sewer. However, there is a common dump site.

  It is so, so beautiful here.  The rocks are red.  I would suggest you check it out on the internet.

 

Some idiot put his name on these ancient petroglyphs.

I took a photo of this shrub because the stalks were blue and made a nice contrast with the green.

  It is 29C at noon.  Finally Brenda is warm.  We put out the awning so we don't get too hot to sleep tonight, but I do have A/C in case I have to cool off our home for sleeping.  It has been a while since I lowered the awning, but we got her done!

Brenda got instructions from Dwight (retired school teacher from Rimby) as to how to avoid going through Las Vegas and places to see as we head south east. 

Nov. 7 - We are parked at Parker tonight at an RV park.  Hitting the road again tomorrow.

Happy Sunday

Happy Sunday

My blog is a day behind so what you are reading today was written yesterday.

 

Today I drove far too many miles.  We went from LeGrande, Idaho to a rest area just south east of Glenns Ferry, Idaho.  We stopped at a couple of rest areas along the way just to stretch our legs.  There were corn fields on our left and rolling hills on our right.  Elevation was quite high.  Our Idaho map did not give elevations, but my old motorhome slowed down quite a bit several times today.  From what I have seen of Idaho it is a beautiful state.  We could see snow covered mountains in the far distance on both sides of the highway and were glad that we could admire them from a distance and not have to drive through them.  We passed several areas that reminded me of Cypress Hills and the area approaching Medicine Hat from Sask.

When we reached Merridian (west of Boise) the hwy became 5 lanes in each direction and often a 6th lane was added for exiting.  I don't see anything when on this type of hwy as all my concentration goes into driving.  It can be confusing at to what hwy you are on.  Today we did a stretch of hwy that was hwy 84, 30, 20, and 26 at the same time.  I think it means that while on that stretch of hwy 84 you will meet up with the other hwys, but it is confusing if this is new territory and you are concerned with missing your turn. 

Continuing on 84, I stopped at a country truck stop to gas up.  I decided to trade my motorhome for the older model RV  I saw in the restaurant of the truck stop.  I just have to find horses and then I will be on my way.  I also need to carry a supply of hay, but I think it will be cheaper than gasoline.  It will take us longer to reach our destination, but we are thankful that the weather has been warming as we continue our journey.

 

I also found a man for Brenda. He is a bit stiff, but he is quiet (won't argue none), cheap to feed, won't snore and could be a comfort in the cold should we run out of wood.

 

 

Sunday Afternoon-

Last night we parked at a rest area.  In Idaho you are allowed to park for 8 consecutive hours or 16 consecutive hours at the rest area depending on what kind of hwy it is.

We took the scenic hwy....hwy 30 through Bliss. 

We passed fields of lava stones and then came upon the falls.

 

Today we are parked outside of Cactus Pete's Casino in Jackpot, Nevada.  I stopped for gas and asked the attendant if there was an RV park around here.  He said at the casino.  I asked if it had wi-fi and he said he knew the casino did but was not sure about the park.  I told him we needed wi-fi, so he phoned over and said, yes, the RV park had wi-fi and gave us instructions to get here.  When we arrived we realized we had electric and dumping at our site.  The water has been turned off for the season, but we can park for the night at no charge.  Now that is a deal!  The weather is 19C at 11:21 am and will be 26C by Wednesday.  We have been putting on a lot of miles as we wanted warmer weather.  Gasoline is more expensive in Nevada.  We just paid $4.10/gal. 

Brenda is cleaning the motorhome and I am just doing my blog.  She opened a bottle of wine and we are just going to take it easy for a day and a night.  Later this evening we will go into the casino just for an evening out.  Neither one of us gambles. 

Hope you all are keeping warm and happy.

 

Washington and Oregon

Greetings all:

Brenda and I entered Washington early this morning.  It was pouring rain when we left Osoyoos.  We took Hwy 97 South to Hwy 17 South and saw much beauty along the way.  The 3 photos below were taken at Dry Falls.  Apparently it used to be a waterfall.  It was absolutely beautiful!

 

We drove a bit further down the road and came upon Sun Lake State Park.  It was closed for the season, but you could put your money in the box and stay if you so desired.  There were no campers there at all. We decided we would continue on and find a Wal-Mart to park at.
 

I have never seen clouds reflected in a lake like this before.  It was absolutely gorgeous.  There were so many beautiful spots along this hwy that we stopped several times just to take photos. Have you even seen such a beautiful reflection of the clouds in a lake?  This is Lenore Lake and the following photos is Lenore Caves.

 

 

Brenda and I had a great day....that is until we reached Wal-Mart in Moses Lake, Washington.  I pulled into the Wal-Mart parking lot and went to the back of the motorhome to check that I was not blocking traffic.  To my horror the strap on the front driver side had come off and the front wheel was off the car dolly.  I was not a happy camper to say the least.  I had stopped every 30-50 miles to check the straps and they were fine.  I called AMA and explained to the service person on the phone what had transpired.  It took a while before she understood the problem and said she would send a tow truck to "extricate" my car.  In about 10 minutes a tow truck arrived with 2 nice young men in it.  They raised my car with a winch, had me drive the motorhome forward so the dolly would not be under the car and then lowered my car.  They then hooked everything up for me again and explained that the two clips at the back of the tires (on the straps) should be turned around.  It is difficult to get them in that way, but will have to do it that way for sure.  It was quite the evening, but help arrived quickly and the men were very efficient, and there was no damage done to dolly or car, so I felt very lucky.   I had just been to a service station for gas about 5 min. before and had checked the straps and found them fine.

 

We went into Wal-Mart and bought ourselves some cheap libation to calm my shaking nerves after that episode. The difference in prices is substantial. Today we paid $3.69 to $3.89 a gallon for gasoline in Oregon.  We saved $1 on a can of Campbell's soup and a bottle (26oz) of Kahlua is just over $10.  They had a nice wine at Wal-Mart for $2.47.  

We are parked at the LaGrande, Oregon Wal-Mart for the night. I did have to drive through two mountain passes, but it cannot be helped.  I planned the route to avoid mountain passes and I think there is just one more I have to go through in Nevada.  There was no snow and it was a very scenic route (Hwy. 84).  Tomorrow we will probably stay overnight in Boise, Idaho. 

 I am going to put my laptop in my backpack and see if I can find an internet signal to send my blog.  Wish me luck!

Remember to click on the photo to see larger picture.

Osoyoos

Osoyoos Lake taken from NK'MIP Campground

 Hello to my friends and family:

Once again I am on the road.  I have been in beautiful B.C. for about 6 weeks now.  I spent a night in Revelstoke, 2 weeks in Vernon at the Silver Star RV park, a month in Armstrong with old friends and a week in Osoyoos at the MK'MIP RV park.  I am traveling with my friend, Brenda, this time. Brenda joined me just in time for the Osyoos trip.  It is great as Brenda likes to cook and I feel quite spoiled with all the wonderful meals. 
    

I would recommend this RV park to anyone.  The showers are hot and clean, the other campers are very friendly and the facilities are excellent.  Many of the regulars at this park are from Alberta, Sask. and Manitoba.  They camp here for the winter because they have existing health problems and cannot afford the health insurance that would allow them to go to the U.S.A. for the winter.  Or, they can afford the insurance but have decided to spend their monies elsewhere.  I have met several full-time RV'ers and they have given me a lot of information that I know I will find useful in the future. 

 

It has been very wet here since we arrived.  The regulars tell me that it is most unusual to have this much rain at this time of year.  The scenery is gorgeous and I am surrounded with vineyards and orchards.  The grapes are heavy on the vine and the apples are still on the trees awaiting harvest. 

 

 

Tomorrow we are leaving Canada and with any luck at all will be allowed into the U.S.  Crossing the border makes me nervous.  The last time I made a similar trip into the U.S. I encountered problems at the border for reasons that I still do not understand.  I would really prefer to be in much warmer weather (20+) so will drive quickly to make that happen.  Having said that, I will only be driving a max. of 4-5 hrs a day until we reach Texas and then I will be slowing down even more.  The purpose of this trip is to enjoy my travels and see what there is to see without stress.  

 

It has been an eye-opener speaking to other RV'ers.  Seems that although the other RV's in this park are largely newer than mine there are a lot of horror stories out there.  One women told me that her and her husband bought a new RV and have had nothing but problems.  The bearings on the wheels were flawed, their kitchen sink fell through the hole, the double doored fridge broke down, insects had built nests behind the fridge, etc.  I am being told that I am lucky I have an older RV as they are built better.  I hope that is true.  So far, no problems.    

            This evening we will be attending a Hallowe'en Party in the activities centre here in the park.  I will be wearing an Asian style robe that Brenda bought at the 2nd hand store and she will be wearing a Mexican serape.  Should be fun!