Archive for the ‘Spring trip 2013’ Category
Rules of the Road
Greetings dear family and friends! (This was written last night, but Internet wouldn’t let me send it.)
In a moment, I will tell you about today’s “theme title”, but first a bit of travel update…
This past week has gone by very quickly. After our extremely windy Monday in Show Low, we located a better site out of the wind and deeper into the woods for Monday night. On Tuesday, we awoke to 4 inches of snow and more falling. I was going to title this episode “Show Low Snow” as a sequel to the last blog note, but I figured, Show Low had already had enough “press coverage” for this year. The roads remained fairly clear but the weather deteriorated until after Payson (7700 ft. Elev.) when we began the drop down to Phoenix. (I joked in the last blog about Winslow, AZ, but perhaps I should have waited. The highway there had to be closed because of winds on Monday.)
Phoenix was cooler than normal for the first day, but warmed up for our poolside time on Tuesday at the gated community of Pueblo El Mirage where our cousins have a unit on one of the golf tee-offs. It was great to have our annual family visit in Phoenix with Judds and Hendersons.
On Thursday we departed from “Desert Aire RV”, a gravelly place to park, with a “character” caretaker – “RC”, trucks backing up in the morning (“beep, beep, beep”), and several passing night trains that blow the whistle 5 times – a confirmed count! The advantage is that it is quite close to our cousins’ place. RC wasn’t around when we left, so I hope that my cousins will claim the key deposit.
We headed northwest up the “Joshua Tree Highway” to Kingman, and then on to Boulder City, NV just across the new bridge at the Hoover Dam. We stopped for a short ogle of the dam, and then motored on to Pahrump to the newly named “Golden Pahrump Lakeside RV” (used to be “Terrible’s Lakeside”). ‘Tis a lovely spot, but I guarantee that a gambling addiction for a non-smoker could be cured here, otherwise, you have to hold your breath until the one-armed bandit stops dinging your winnings!
On Friday we did a leisurely loop through Death Valley, while once again being totally amazed at the pioneering types who crossed through here, or worked the mines. The highway through Stovepipe took us over the pass to Panamint Valley, and then another pass led to the beautiful Owens River Valley that has Hwy 395 running through it. We stopped briefly in Bishop, then camped at Brown’s Millpond RV park. It is rustic, with chickens and wild jackrabbits, (no ground squirrels this year), but the sites are decent, and back onto a grassy area with a creek.
Saturday found us climbing past Mono Lake and then down again to Carson City and Reno, which we bypassed, but paused for lunch on the north side of town. In search of a new route, as always, I opted for a continuation of 395 up through Alturas, and Tulelake to Klamath Falls, OR. En route we passed a herd of wild burros, and a white pelican! After a very cold night (-6C) at a KOA we followed 97 out of town. This passes Upper Klamath Lake where we saw hundreds of ground squirrels on the shoulders of the road, and crowds of eagles and hawks! At Chemult, we turned west and crossed on 58 to Eugene. After a stop at Fabric Depot in Portland, we finally parked at Columbia Riverfront RV in Woodlands, WA. Tomorrow, if the weather clears a bit, we may take a run up to see Mt. St. Helen, otherwise, we will head for the Lindsay Hotel in Walnut Grove.
Now, as to “rules”…it seems that rules determine all of our behaviours. I just finished a book called “The God Equation” – about Einstein’s equation that describes the rules of the behaviour of the universe! The math was way over my head, but I got it…there is a rule that describes how we behave molecularly, and gravitationally in the totality of the known universe. Wow! BUT, did you know that there are also rules for behaviour in the Truck House??? Einstein didn’t know this, and I didn’t either, but I have discovered over the years that THERE ARE!!! There is a rule for where and when you can wear shoes, there is one for closing cupboard doors, there is one for turning off the water pump, etc. etc. – all for 12 square feet of living space! And get this…I didn’t make up any of the rules! I asked the Quilter…”Who gets to make up the rules?” (Apparently that was a stupid question! Equally apparent is that I don’t!!!) A follow-up question, also inane, was, “Who gets to change the rules? (Same response + “You’re stupid!”) It is a very good thing that I love the rule maker!
And, much love and best wishes to you all! See you soon!
Tony, the Rule Follower, and Sandy, the Rule Maker.
P.s. I have had some trouble including pictures, so I will add them in from home where the Internet and software are more reliable.
P.p.s. We have successfully navigated Washington State’s I-5 traffic, and are safely “home” with our Walnut Grove family. Back to the Island on Thursday.
Show Low Blow
Hello dear family and friends!
Show Low! (That’s the answer to your question, “Where have you been?” Well, it is just the latest answer if you were wondering.) The more complete answer includes Organ Pipe Cactus National Park, Patagonia Lake, Roosevelt Lake State Park, and, most recently, Fool’s Hollow Recreation Area State Park near Show Low. We are told by Ranger Jim that the town got its name from a poker game that was for the land around here. The game was “Show your low card.” Apparently a deuce of clubs won, and that is the name of Main Street in town.
Not too far from here is the city of Winslow, Arizona, made famous in the Eagles’ tune, ‘Take It Easy’. One thing is for sure…the area is not noted for “wind slow”, nor for “winds low”! The winds this morning are raising whitecaps on our little lake (perhaps 50 m across where we are camped), and a forecast this morning suggested that nothing will get better for 48 hours with high winds “reaching 50 mph, with possible rain, mixed with snow”. We have been here since Saturday afternoon, and have paid until tomorrow, but today, we have totally packed up and will go into Show Low to paint the town – grey, of course, being seniors!
The day we left Yuma, temperatures, as always since we came down here, were predicted to be in the low 90’s (30+C). There was a bit of trepidation, as our plan was to travel to Organ Pipe Cactus National Park, a desert park just south of Ajo on the Mexican border. However, the campsite had lots of room, and we enjoyed the beautiful desert scenery and fauna. The next day we drove around the 21 mile loop through the eastern portion of the park. The ruggedness was spectacular, but the going was slow on the rough road.
We carried on to Patagonia Lake in the afternoon on Tuesday, and arrived to find our favourite campsite available. Our plan is to be in Phoenix on Tuesday, April 9, so we decided to split our week of “lake” camping between Patagonia, and Roosevelt Lake which we have not seen. (A camper at Organ Pipe had suggested that Show Low had great lakeside camping, but it was a bit off our planned travel route.)
Murky waters at Patagonia Lake spelled out poor fishing, so plans shifted a touch…three nights at Patagonia Lake, and 4 at Roosevelt Lake. So, after some bird-watching, and kayaking, we headed north to Roosevelt Lake on Thursday to try to beat the weekend rush from Phoenix on Friday.
Our first approach took us to “Bermuda Beach” where it was totally “dry camping” – no facilities or services – camping in the dirt amid other people’s leavings, and a fish carcass in the water. “Yuck!” was our unanimous reaction, so we headed up to the more appropriate camping sites with facilities – a little further from the lake shores. After a false start or two, we found two lovely sites side by side with no one between us and the lake in the distance. Trails led down to the shore, so shore fishing was a possibility. And it was hot, so we were happy to have shady ramadas at our sites. Looked good for the 3 days that we paid for!
On Saturday, with no fish, our bike routes limited, and very warm temperatures, we decided to blow off this site, and try the suggestion of “Fools Hollow Lake at Show Low”, about 2 hours northeast of where we were. (We had paid for 3 nights, but since each night was only $6 we didn’t mind the cost of abandonment.)
The highway on Saturday through the Salt Canyon (Hwy 60) was gorgeous, and we climbed to an elevation of 6300 feet. The registration at Fool’s Hollow provided us with the only two shore accessible sites, and we settled in to our warm, sunny sites with a cooling wind, and great beauty in a Ponderosa pine-juniper forest. Ranger Jim warned us that the area was still subject to lower night-time temperatures, and that snow had appeared as late as May 24.
On Sunday, we paddled the length of the lake, tried for fish and eventually settled back at our camp with our books. This morning, Monday, we awoke to a shaking Truck House, and howling winds. The radio tell us that winds are in the vicinity of 75 kmh. Temperatures “show low” so we packed up our rigs, and headed into the town of the same name for Macdonald food and wifi. We will returning to our $30 sites tonight, and then head for Phoenix for 3 days before pointing the rigs north.
Much love and best wishes to all!
Tony, the Tilleyman, and Sandy, the Quiltless
Sequestered at Squaw Lake
Dear family and friends,
Within recent months I read a book by a young researcher who decided to visit the stopping points of the great sailor Captain Cook. During his travels Cook received and sent frequent letters home to his wife in England and also to Royal Society that was sponsoring his journeys. Messages took up to TWO YEARS to arrive! I give you this factoid for a reason – a comparison.
Last Monday we rolled out of our lovely spot at Rivers Edge RV in Winterhaven, and headed for propane refills and supplies for the more remote setting of Squaw Lake – desert camping in a parking lot on a lake. I was pleased with my purchase of a T-Mobile SIM card and one month plan for my iPhone. And…I had discovered at Rivers Edge that I could “pair” my iPhone with my iPad, and use the iPhone as a modem that would allow me to receive mail on the iPad – using wifi technology. Genius! For the first time, we would be able to get phone service and mail at Squaw Lake. So, we got our propane, and groceries and left for Squaw Lake. When we arrived, we were surprised to find the lower parking lot (usually for smaller rigs like ours) almost empty…and our favourite spot was vacant. As we cruised through the parking lot to our spot, a voice hollered at us, “No more Canadians!” It was our friends from two years ago – Barry and Erna from Maple Ridge.
After setting up, I checked my iPhone – “No Service”, or the alternative, ” Searching…”. Nothing. Nada! What a disappointment! Oh well…there is a fellow up on Hurricane Ridge in the desert who supplies a wifi service for $2 per day. It is a 10 minute bike ride away. It is my thinking is that I will take time off fishing to visit up there every 2 or 3 days to “pick up” my email and text messages that I am sure will be waiting for my immediate responses! Think of that dear grandchildren, nieces and nephews – NO TEXTING, AND NO E-MAIL FOR 3 DAYS! (Incomprehensible?? Surely, the end of civilization as we know it!) The communication saga gets even worse. A bike ride up to Brad’s wifi hot spot on March 21 (“Expecting some messages, were you, Tony?”) proved fruitless. Brad has given up trying to create a wifi hotspot this year. A signal is spotty at best, and only in the early morning, or late at night. Thinking of less than friendly after-dark critters – specifically, scorpions and rattlers on the warm roads at night, I decide to pass on those off hour times!
Also on March 21, I decided to try Onstar (you remember that ongoing saga don’t you, readers?) to contact my mother to express my gratitude that she shares that wondrous birthday experience with me. No luck! I decided to stop hassling Onstar as I will probably not renew my contract with them this year. So…end result…no communications for a week! Thank-you Captain Cook for putting this into perspective.
Oh…another small event of great import – I must have left the propane hose with the Coleman BBQ attachment somewhere last week, for it has disappeared. An obsessive search of Truck House (“It’s gotta be here!”), and a 5 hour search run into Yuma didn’t help as no stores carry Coleman parts, and no place where we might have left it had it. “Why didn’t you get email while you were there?” you ask. Well…just because we were pre-occupied and focused, I suppose. And, the search took place only a day after we had moved to Squaw Lake. So…no barbecue! What a waste of space! (Not me!…the barbecue!)
And speaking of Spring…wasn’t I? We are finally back in Yuma for replenishment of supplies, and I am sitting outside Starbucks where I have just downloaded all my email including many, many Happy Birthday wishes. Many thanks to all for thinking of me…and caring! At Squaw Lake, Erna and Barry invited us over to “campfire” sing (candle fire, actually) and share a birthday cake – WITH ICE CREAM! What a treat! About a dozen people joined us, and all, except two from Ohio, were from BC, and all of those, except Barry and Erna were from Vancouver Island. I guess that says more about the leisure time retired Islanders have than anything else.
Today, strong winds curtail kayaking and fly casting, so we are shopping, and looking for a new barbecue, or a part for the old one. We are glad to hear that our family members enjoyed their Spring Break in mid-Pacific, and look forward to seeing their pics.
Much love and best wishes to all!
Tony, the Quill – older, and perhaps wiser???? Yes, and NO, and Sandy – showing early signs of yearning for her quilting machines!
P.S. many congratulations to the parents, and welcome to the newcomers in our family circle – Jude Pinilla, and Anna Catherine (Whitmore) Morris in Duncan!
P.P.S. We will return to Squaw Lake for perhaps another week, before heading further east to Patagonia Lake, then Phoenix, and then towards home. If we are not at Squaw Lake, we should be in a zone of communication – we hope!
“Beware the Idles of March!”
March 15, 2013 (Actually, today is March 16, but the note was written yesterday.)
Dear family and friends,
This blog note was supposed to go out yesterday – hence the silliness about the date. However, today we found a Starbucks, and perhaps Noah’s sibling is still in the waiting room. (Too cryptic for you? Read on!)
Throughout the winter we dream of the sun and heat available in southwest US. This winter, however, as we watched the daytime temperatures of Arizona, we were shocked to see snow in Scottsdale. “Tough luck, Baby” we chortled from in front of our electric fireplaces as the mist and chill hung heavily over Vancouver Island. However, the Arizona weather picked up, and once again, we counted down the slow creep of days until our departure for the south.
Now we have arrived, and with our return, so has a blazing hot spell in the Yuma area. This makes it imperative to get our biking time in early in the morning, but I guess that this morning, we had not quite learned that lesson. By the time we had finished our first ride of season, the 16 km had melted off some of the hibernation poundage I had acquired – I hope! The temperatures are keeping us rather slow paced – well, stopped, actually – except for reading.
Our favourite used book store in Yuma had never heard of Jo Nesbø, (“there isn’t much demand for foreign writers”) our latest favourite writer! (Think ‘Steig Larson’! Thanks, Cindy and Karen!)
Many members of our Nanaimo family are now also “idling” in far off places – like Maui, and Mexico! Enjoy the break, all of you and don’t get burned in the rush to acquire a “healthy” tan. (Dr. Jenkins, the Nanaimo skin specialist would heartily dispute the word “healthy”!)
Meanwhile, the other side of the Island family is getting ready for other events, and are not quite so idle! Mother is getting ready to move into new residence, and is busy packing up and shedding accumulated treasures and furniture, while niece Katie, rather than being idle, longs for labour to bring forth a new member of our family! Hang in there Katie, and best wishes for a speedy delivery of Noah’s sibling!
I hope that decent weather is allowing those at home to enjoy some pre-spring days of sunshine and time outside before new growth erodes the idleness of winter.
Much love and best wishes to you all – et tu, Brute! (For all you Latin scholars, I hope that that is the correct ending for the “Vocative” case! Let me see…nominative, genitive, dative, accusative, vocative, ablative? Right?)
Tony, the Quill, and Sandy, the Quilter
From a California highway…a CHiP
And a…
Burned in Woodburn
Woodburn, OR, March 12, 2013
Greetings dear family and friends!
We left home 12 days ago, but have just spent the night in Woodburn, OR. This is in response to those who have asked, “Where are you?” No, we have not had any vehicle problems – we had a 4 day visit with family in Walnut Grove, and then we drove to Kamloops to join in the cheering section with the families of the Wellington Sr. Secondary Girls basketball at the Provincial AA championships. Both of our nieces – Montana and Olivia Mjaaland – played on this team, and Wellington eventually won the Bronze medal after losing only one game to the highly favoured Holy Cross Christian School from Surrey. We were so proud of the way the girls played, and eventually, the cheering squad even one an award for the most spirited support! Cool!
(An aside: private schools with the ability to draw and recruit students from anywhere on the planet should not be competing in a Provincial Championship with public schools that can only enlist students from their catchment area! Just my personal opinion, after seeing the size and skill levels displayed by some players from private schools which predominate in the Provincial rankings. Apparently, they also have their own final tournament.)
Our trip back to Walnut Grove after the final game on Saturday was beautiful, with clear blue skies, and dry roads on the Coquihalla. It was a 3 hour run with little traffic. On Sunday morning, we arose to the new Daylight Savings time, and as we drove, I listened to the beep, beep, beep, beeping of Sandy’s watch as she spent many minutes and long kilometres trying to reset it to the current time. (It still reads as a 24 hour time, and neither of us can correct it.) We crossed the border at the Truck Crossing for a smooth sail down I-5 to Woodburn. We are now officially on the road again! It was a 6 hawk day! (They are probably red-tails, or sharp-shinned hawks, but bird identification at 120 km per hour is a trifle tricky!)
On the issue of “getting older and wiser”…not so much! When we arrived last night we had to de-winterize the camper to get rid of the antifreeze in the water lines, and to stock up with water. Winterburn RV seemed to be a good place for this. We hooked up everything, cleared our tanks and lines, plugged in the tv cable, – and almost everything worked! Two exceptions:
1. Water from the pump area leaked all over the floor of the camper, but Sandy is Mrs. Efficient at making it go away;
2. When we turned on the hot water heater, it momentarily flashed, then ceased to work. That was that! (“Flipping the switch on and off won’t fix it, Tony!”)
The night was chilly, but the furnace works fine.
8:00 a.m. March 11
Moments ago, while I constructed my notes to you, Sandy busied herself with tidying, and reading manuals. Finally….”Did you re-open the hot-water tank isolation valve?” Yoiks! (That’s not exactly the word I used! I had NOT! I can hear you old time RV-ers out there tsk, tsking!) Okay, it is now opened. Although it hasn’t been said yet, I am pretty sure that I can sense a silent “You’re stupid!” being held back rather kindly!
However, we must have burned a fuse or kicked a breaker that I cannot locate since the system is still non-functional. I hope that we will have good news to report after the RV places open at 8:30.
Much love and best wishes to all – with special thoughts for the student and teacher Spring-Breakers who are heading for the breakers off Maui, or other vacation spots, and to my nonagenarian mother who is now getting ready to move into a new residence in Langford!
Tony, the Quill, and Sandy, the Quilter
P.S. As we began to pack up, I decided to check the hot water tank outlet at the back of the camper. Under the dust and grime was a black rubber pad with the word “Reset” stamped into the rubber. I had a final “Aha” moment as I pushed it and tried the heater button again. It worked!! Thank heavens I didn’t go into an RV service and have to see the “You’re stupid!” behind the eyes of some junior mechanic! So we are off, knowing that, for the moment at least, I am “NOT so stupid!”
roadquill1 