AL.'s profileTHE BAYFIELD BUNCH:))PhotosBlogListsMore  |  Tools Help |
|
Thanks for dropping in on The Bayfield Bunch:)) Whomever you are.......we wish you well.
THE BAYFIELD BUNCH:))3 Dogs & Us |
March 16 WELL, WHAT'S NEXTSunday March 16/08
Well, here it is 6 months later since posting the last blog on September 15//07. We have been to the American Southwest & back already.
BLOGGER WEBSITE http://thebayfieldbunch.com/
OUR PHOTO ALBUMS http://picasaweb.google.com/stargeezerguy/
My blogging & photos of that trip have all been done on Blogger & this site has kind of slipped by the wayside. Not sure which direction I'm headed with this but I'm sure I'm going to think of something before too long. Spring is on it's way so I may start by adding some photos if & when all this rotten snow goes away............ "I'll be back!!" September 15 OUR BLOGGER WEBSITEOk..........we've finally put something to-gether. The site has a ways to go yet but at least it's a start. If you type "Bayfield Bunch" into Google you can find us.
Or, if you click here....http://thebayfieldbunch.com/ it will take you to our new site directly:)) September 13 WEBSITE NEARLY DONEGetting closer to having the website done & we've pretty much figured it all out by ourselves. Going to use Google's Blogger. Getting the Domain name stuff figured out has been the biggest hurdle so far. Luckily Kelly & I work well to-gether. She's got the technical patience & understanding & I'm a bit more on the creative side of things. To-gether we seem to muddle through ok. It's too bad we hadn't met each other much earlier in life, but no doubt about it...........I got the best part of the deal:))))) August 31 MOTORHOME GRAPHICSA couple of weeks ago while in Spencerport NY we had Kelly's son Ben, put the graphics on the back of our motorhome. Including Canadian flags front & back. Check the pictures:)) Yaaaaay Ben July 28 IT'S MID SUMMER.....SO WHAT'S NEWJuly 28/07
Well, it's about mid summer & maybe time to update this blog thingy with something current. In other words, not much new happening here. We are currently in the process of trying to set up our own website which will go under the name of, The Bayfield Bunch. It's been a struggle so far & I haven't made a lot of progress so we may have to bring in some outside help to get it up & running. Once up, & with a few instructions, we'll hopefully be able to carry on running it from there. I understand a few of the basics but when it comes to adding photos, blogs, guest book, etc. etc. I'm beat!! The main purpose for the website will be to enable friends & family to follow us along on our journey once again this coming winter through the American southwest. I like the Microsoft site that I'm typing this on right now but I was disappointed last winter when I found out there were limitations on how many photos I could upload. Plus a few other glitches here & there so maybe with our own website we can do a little better job.
I've basically roughed out a travel plan for when we leave sometime in mid October. From here we'll head straight across the west for a little town in Utah called, Moab. I have been there before. Depending on the weather we'll spend as much time in this area as we can exploring places like, The Arches, & Canyonlands. Plus all the other places close by like Castle Valley, etc. Next we'll move over somewhere in the Capital Reef area, & then Bryce, Zion, & eventually down into Arizona & the Sedona area. That's as far as I've got it figured so far & we'll take each day as it comes & see how we make out.
In addition to trading in our truck & fifth wheel last April on the Damon Challenger motorhome we also purchased a 2003 Hyundai Santa Fe 4 cylinder, 5 speed car to tow behind the motorhome. Also traded in the 1984 Yamaha Virago 750cc motorcycle on a 2002 Honda Shadow Aero 1100cc motorcycle. The Virago was nice but this Honda is even nicer:)) We are also in the process of selling our multi-speed mountain bikes which we've had for 12 years & hardly used. Want to go back to simpler bikes with soft seats, bigger tires & fenders. And preferably no gears. They are called Coaster or Cruiser bikes. We plan to take the bicycles with us on a bike rack we have on the back of the motorhome. (I've included some pictures at the end)
On the home front here we are still busy with our jobs. Kelly manages a Lodge 2 minutes from where we live & I am a part time mobility van driver. Kelly's been at the Lodge over 4 years & I've been driving the mobility van for a local company nearly 3 years now.
We added a free standing double carport to our place last fall & that finally completes all our renovation plans. We just put in central air conditioning a couple of weeks ago & "WOW." The dogs love it too:))
Sooooooooo, that's about it for a little update just in case there happened to be an actual person out there who would actually read this. And to you, whoever you are, the Bayfield Bunch wishes you well & have yourself a great day:)))))) AL. April 04 RV UPDATEI think it was about half way through our trip down to Arizona this past winter that we began to seriously question our decision as to the type of RV mode of travel we had chosen. Although the truck & 5th wheel worked well to-gether we did find some major inconveniences that we didn't feel were correctable unless................ we moved to a Class A motorhome. By the time we returned home in late January we were convinced that a change had to be made, so we began scouring the internet, RV Auto Trader, local dealers, etc in search of a Class A motorhome. By late March we had narrowed our search down as to length, engine, slides, etc & decided to go with a 2003 Damon Challenger model 329. It's 32 feet long & powered by a Chevy 8.1 Vortec gas engine with an Allison transmission. A living room slide plus bedroom slide. We traded in our GMC truck & Rockwood 5ver on the Damon in Grand Bend Ontario at............................
(Four Seasons Performance)
January 29 ARIZONA TRIP....IN CONCLUSIONOur trip lasted 44 days & we traveled a total of 10,386 kilometers or 6,751 miles. We don't intend to add up the gas receipts because it would be too depressing but needless to say, it was by far our biggest expense. We will be making some changes in that department before we set out again next winter. Many things were learned in those 6+ weeks & the one thing that is current in our minds at the moment is the departure & arrival times. We will never leave in winter weather again & we will certainly never return in winter weather. Lesson learned!!!!
Along the way I jotted down a few thoughts & observations. These are soley my opinions & some of the them are exxagerated, some may be a bit understated, & some are embellished for humor but they all have a common thread & that is.......they all have an element of truth.
-very few mini-vans in the west
-a lot of pick-up trucks & most of them diesels
-a lot of 5th wheels are Montana's & Hitchhikers
-most Class A tow vehicles are 4 wheels down
-it's very dusty & dirty in the southwest
-I don't think Americans take life quite as seriously as Canadians do
-people don't seem as stiff & stodgy as in Canada
-most RV'ers we've met are friendly sorts
-people in general are pleasant & helpful
-we have not felt or experienced any threatening experiences
-all state parks are well maintained while private campgrounds are a real gamble
-Americans know more about good food than Canadians
-Canadians know more about good coffee than Americans
-a lot less traffic on the interstates in the west
-Arizona is more expensive than New Mexico
-most prices we see for things are comparable to Canada
-the desert is a very cold place at night
-most RV couples are easily recognized in a crowd...baseball caps & glasses for the guys & curly bob haircuts & glasses for the girls.
-most RV'ers keep to themselves & are considerate of their neighbors
-the southwest has a lot more wind than it really needs
-smaller communities seem to be closer knit like Mayberry RFD (Andy Griffith Show)
-there are no mowed or manicured lush green lawns in the west & big shady trees are scarce
-ya gotta be a rocket scientist to operate some of the gas pumps
-far more stars visible in the west at night than at home
-Al can be just as cranky in the west as he is at home:((
-there is probably more dust & dirt in one square mile of Arizona than there is in all of Ontario
-lakes & rivers are as scarce as hen's teeth
-American road builders need to take some lessons from the Canadians on how to lay down a smooth road!!!!
-a lot of southwest Americans have little knowledge of Canada
-Canadians know a lot more about America than Americans know about Canada!!
-McDonald's seem to have the most roadside advertising signs
-the cowboys no longer carry guns in their holsters......they all got cell phones in em.
-I don't think people are smoking as much as they used to
-Fed-Ex has the most trucks on the road for a courier company
-It's no wonder people call Starbucks.."Charbucks" Their coffee is AWFULL!!!!
-first stop for us after crossing the border.....TIM HORTONS of course:)))))
SUNDAY JAN. 28 "WE'RE HOME"SUNDAY JANUARY 28 BAYFIELD ONTARIO, CANADA:))))
We didn't have a good Saturday night at the Percival RV/Air Park. Big winds rolled in bringing a bitter cold front & we were both awake for most parts of the night. The wind gusts shook the trailer & despite the furnace & electric heater going full blast we couldn't get warm. Finally got up about 4:30 with the temps at 12F outside but the wind chill factor must have been a lot colder than that. Didn't take us long to get rolling because we had already put the slide in during the night to try & make things warmer. Just unplugged the hydro cord & we were away. It was soooooooooooooooooo cold!! Headed a few miles north into the little town of Effingham & got lost of course so had to get Garmin Gertie gong to get us out of there & back onto I-70 east. We plodded steadily northeast for the next 15 hours. By this stage of the game our vacation was no longer a fun trip but just a matter of endurance to get home as soon as we could. The thought of spending another night in the trailer (with no water since winterizing) in these sub zero temperatures was not an option. We were so tired because of the poor night's sleep but we kept pushing. The snow began about Fort Wayne, Indiana & was to plague us for the whole rest of our journey home. One minute we could be in snow squalls & the next minute sunshine. Roads were wet & slushy & the further north we came, the more sluggish the truck & trailer became. It was if the trailer was getting heavier & the truck was working overtime just to keep pulling it. Our onboard computer told us that the gas mileage had really dropped & even on the level straightaways we were only averaging 7 miles a gallon. The truck kept going into overdrive to keep things going. Wasn't until we stopped for gas near Lansing, Michigan that I realized what was happening. Just like an airplane......we were icing up. The trailer's undercarriage, wheels, bumpers were all heavy with slush & ice. Nothing we could do but continue on. We were getting less than 200 miles with each tank of gas so had to make frequent gas stops. Some stretches on the American interstates are really hard on truck-trailer combinations because the highways are made of cement slabs & joined to-gether causing a steady wallowing effect in the road. This causes a porpoise effect between the truck & trailer leading to the truck really bucking for endless miles. Impossible to drink a coffee because it gets so bad. Noticed it on our trip south but it was worse as we got further north coming back because I think the extra weight of the ice magnified the problem. I was sure we were going to break a spring or blow the tires on the trailer for sure. Near Flint the traffic in our eastbound lanes suddenly slowed down to a crawl for about 3 miles until we saw the big 50 car chain reaction smash up in the south bound lanes. (CNN later reported it was 50 cars) Took us awhile to get through that bottle neck with one smashed up car on our side. The snow continued & to say our nerves were shot would be putting it very mildly. What a great feeling it was to finally reach the border in Port Huron at 6:20. No problem getting across but it was really snowing heavy on the Canadian side. No matter,
we were going home!!!! Like the Dave Dudley song years ago, "Six Days On The Road And We're Gonna Make It Home To-Night." At least the wind was gone so the snow was coming straight down. Our first stop was in Forest for........TIM HORTON'S COFFEE:))))))) Those Americans sure don't know nothin about making a good cup of coffee!!!!!!!!!!! Thankfully the snow ended just north of Forest & the rest of our drive home was mostly clear. We even saw
Christmas lights in Grand Bend. Words can't describe the relief & joy we felt as we rolled into Bayfield & our cozy little home in the pine trees at Five
Seasons Estates. It was 8:10 p.m. & the Bayfield Bunch had landed:))))))) And in the immortal words of Dorothy ,from, "The Wizard of Oz"....................."There's no place like home, Toto." :)))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))
============================================================================================================== January 28 SATURDAY JANUARY 27SATURDAY JANUARY 27 PERCIVAL AIR & RV PARK EFFINGHAM, ILLINOIS
Up at 5 & on the road by 6 heading east on I-40. Not a lot to write about to-day because we spent nine & a half hours on the road steadily plodding northeast. Waved to Elvis as we bounced off the western side of Memphis Tennessee about 8 o'clock heading north. Weather was good with a heavy cloud cover in the morning & sunny skies in the afternoon. We could feel it slowly & steadily getting colder the further north we got. Kelly took some pictures of the Mississippi river as we crossed a big bridge over it at Cicero. About 3:30 we were just a few miles south of Effingham, Illinois when we was a sign for an RV park so decided to call it a day. The park is actually an Air-Evac place where helicopters fly out of. Kind of wet & muddy around the campsite & a really cold wind blowing but I managed to winterize the trailer ok & everything went smoothly for a change thanks to some good written directions from the trailers previous owner. (thanks Lloyd) Typing this now in a small little restaurant at the park after having a bite to heat. We'll be up early in the morning & head for Indianapolis, pick up I-69 & head north to Fort Wayne, Lansing & Port Huron. Not sure when we'll be home but it would be nice if we could make it back Sunday night sometime...................................
=============================================================================================================== January 26 FRIDAY JANUARY26FRIDAY JANUARY 26 HAZEN, ARKANSAS
We awoke to the sounds of spring this morning with Cardinals, Blue Jays, & Crows outside our window in the forest. A redheaded woodpecker was busy with an old tree & we could hear the Blue Herons squabbling down by the lake. Saw a pair of Osprey (fish hawks) looking for an early morning meal as well. Chipmunks were scrambling in the leaves. What a beautiful morning for our walk with the sun coming up over the still lake & sparkling the night's frost on the tufts of grass. And to think, we were leaving here to head home into freezing temperatures, gray skies, & snow, snow, snow. Got the doggies loaded up & we were on the road by 9 a.m. heading east on Interstate 30. Turned out to be another great traveling day with clear sunny skies & temps up into the low 60's again. Saw some real pretty country east of Texarkana (which is in Texas, not Arkansas) all the way to Little Rock. So nice to see the big pine & oak trees & fields of green grass. We also noticed how much cleaner things are with the ditches being free of trash & litter. It seems that in the American southwest, wherever nature is present there is beauty but wherever man is mainly present, things are a mess!!
About 4:30 p.m. we decided to pack it in for the day & found a nice little RV park right beside I-40 near the little town of Hazen, Arkansas. Full hook-ups with cement pads & lots of trees around & room for the dogs to run & play. Only one other rig here with the remaining 28 sites empty. Amazingly enough the other RV must have some kind of internet router hooked up because when Kelly checked the laptop.....we had an internet connection:)) That is how we are able to send & receive emails to-night & I've been able to update the websites. (blog & photos)
We'll probably leave here early in the morning & hope to get up into the Mt Vernon area in Illinois by to-morrow night. Sunday we'll slip up to Effingham on I-57, hang a right over to Indianapolis & hold up for the night. Monday we hope to make the final push for home........weather permitting!!!!!!
================================================================================================================ JANUARY 23, 24, 25.DAY 37 JAN 23 MONAHAN'S SAND DUNES STATE PARK MONAHAN'S, TEXAS
The high wind gusts in the night really shook up the trailer again so nobody slept well except the furry guys, Didn't seem quite as cold in the morning as other mornings & the wind had died down so we began packing up & getting ready to hit the road. Left Pancho Villa about 8:30 & stopped at a little internet cafe across from the library for some breakfast. Filled up our water jugs at City Hall, Kelly mailed a birthday card from the Post Office & we were on highway #82 heading the back way to El Paso by 9:45 a.m. Nice sunny morning & there was no traffic on the scenic 2 lane highway all the way to El Paso, Texas. But, that all changed as soon as we climbed aboard Interstate 10. El Paso had been hit hard with heavy snow falls over the last few days & the interstate was a wet, snowy mess. Traffic was very heavy & visibility poor from all the spay thrown up by the many truck tires. We somehow managed to pick our way through the tangle of traffic as I-10 wound it's way through downtown El Paso & out the other side heading southeast. Once through the city traffic really lightened up & the drive became pleasant again as we wound our way through the snowy sun splashed mountains. Decided to pull into a rest area just west of Sierra Blanca & as Kelly stepped out of the truck she noticed a wallet lying by the curb. Credit cards, drivers license & $22 in cash. Belonged to a man from Carlsbad, New Mexico. Tried to find a phone number to call him but no luck. The doggies really liked the snow at the rest area. (pics) We continued on from there to Van Horn, Texas & decided to drive into the town, find the sheriff's office & drop off the found wallet. We spotted 3 police cars at a diner so Kelly took the wallet in & gave it to the 6 officers sitting inside. We really noticed a lot of snow in Van Horn & an unusual amount of truck traffic everywhere. Immediately east of Van Horn traffic was stopped & the traffic jam extended east for 5 or 6 miles. Must have been a ka-zillion trucks & some of the drivers were out of their rigs making snowmen in the medium. Roads were still being cleaned up from previous accidents due to the snow & black ice. We had only gone about 10 miles & we were caught in our own east bound traffic jam on I-10 for miles & miles & miles & we were imprisoned in a canyon of trucks. The jam finally shook itself loose just west of the I-20 junction & we were underway again heading northeast up I-20. Stopped in Pecos for gas & looked around for an RV site. Checked into a private campground but it was muddy & all the rigs were jammed in. (I do not like private campgrounds!!!!) We got our money back & headed out of Pecos on I-20 & made it to Monahan's State Park just after dark. Soooooooooo glad to be here & finally east of that large winter storm front back in the New Mexico & west Texas area. Monahan's State Park is nice & just off I-10 with only 4 other RV'ers in the whole place so we had lots of room again & the doggies were able to get out & fly around in the sand dunes. We were able to set re-set our clocks one hour closer to Ontario time as well. All & all it was a long traveling day but we were glad to be on the move instead of sitting in the trailer hour after hour looking out the window at the cold wet weather we were having in Columbus. Ideally we like to keep on the move & maybe only stay at each campground for a maximum of a week while exploring around the area. There is just too much to see & do in this huge beautiful land to just sit in a trailer park for 2 or 3 months at a time & it's the main reason that we chose to travel in the American southwest this winter:))
===============================================================================================================
DAY 38 WED JAN 24 COLORADO LAKE STATE PARK, COLORADO CITY, TEXAS
Overcast this morning & cold but we got the doggies out for a walk in the big sand dunes. The one right beside us was about 20 feet high & some of the other dunes reached 70 feet high. A great place for the dogs to run around up & down the sand dunes. There was only one other RV in the park besides us & the camp host. If only it had been sunny & warm we would have stayed here another day because there is a lot of the old west history in this area. Monahan's State Park is just 40 miles east of Pecos, Texas. The Comanche Indians used to run cattle up through here from Mexico & it was a main travel route to the north. A complete wagon train is buried in these shifting whispering sands. Kelly got talking to the ranger fellow & he told us all the history of the area & then took us through a restored old saloon/house/station building. He got out all the old paintings etc. (pics) He was quite a talker & took a lot of pride in the park. The visitor center was large & really set up nice. Maybe next time we pass this way we can stay longer. We rolled out of Monahan's onto I-20 about 11:30 heading east. The cloud cover began to dissipate & by the time we got to Midland it was a big bright sunny day. Stopped for gas, groceries at Wal-Mart & coffee at Starbucks. Midland is the birthplace of Laura & George Bush & they were just erecting signs with directions to the new Bush museum. We continued east & about 3 o'clock we decided to stop at a State Park that we had been at a month ago when we came this way heading west. Colorado Lake State Park is located about 7 miles south of I-20 on Colorado Lake. (pics) The last time we were here it was cold & raining so we never had much of a chance to look around. It's really a nice well kept park with lots of prickly pear cactus. Walked around a bit then built a campfire for the steaks. Only one other camper & he was from Vancouver B.C. Lots of stars to-night with a luminous quarter moon overhead. Colored lights from a power plant (thanks K.D) across the lake made for shimmering reflections in the water. Many flocks of V-shaped geese over head. It was so nice to see water & grass again after so many weeks of desert landscape. We're noticing more trees now heading east. And they are getting bigger. Not many trees in the desert region. Mostly scrub bush stuff. In the morning we'll head east on I-20 & try to get east of Dallas. If the weather holds out we'll probably continue northeast heading for home because we're never going to run into any 80F temps unless we go to Florida & we figured it's just too late for us to do that now. That's a trip for another day....................................................................
================================================================================================================
THURSDAY JANUARY 25 BOB SANDLIN STATE PARK, MOUNT PLEASANT, TEXAS
A crystal clear night made for some very cold temperatures. I know first hand because I had to go out & switch propane tanks about 2 a.m. when things began to get a little frigid in the trailer. Needless to say, they were a lot more frigid outside. Disconnected the water hose while I was out there too. The morning dawned clear with a sunrise glow & reflections in the mirrored lake. Took the doggies for a little walk down by the water & took some pictures. This is a really nice State Park & we reluctantly said good-bye as we rolled out onto the road about 8 a.m. Traffic was fairly light as we headed east on I-20 under sunny skies. Noticed how the landscape began changing the further east we traveled. Green fields & bigger trees as the land evened out like the prairie flatlands. Also noticed how things looked neater & we didn't see all the litter that we saw so much of in the southwest. Stopped at a Cracker Barrel just east of Fort Worth & primed ourselves for the heavy traffic run through Dallas. Decided to take I-20 which runs around Fort Worth & Dallas to the south instead of I-30 which runs right through the center of those two cities. Heavy going in spots but between Kelly, Garmin Gertie, & myself we made the hour & a half trip nearly without incident. On the east side of Dallas we took a wrong exit off the interstate but with the help of Garmin Gertie we were able to plop ourselves back up onto the freeway without too much trouble. Traffic was really heavy heading northeast on I-30 but we managed to fight our way through & finally got ourselves as far east as a place called Mount Pleasant where we headed south of I-30 to Bob Sandlin State Park. This park is about 12 miles off the interstate but what a great place it is. It is identical to our very own Pinery Provincial Park near home. It's a pine & oak forest situated right on a lake & very picturesque. It is so nice to see big trees again. A super great place for the dogs because as usual we are the only people here in the whole place. Picked a nice site close to the water & took some pictures. It is the serenity & solitude of these kinds of places that make all the tough traveling miles worth while. Took the dogs for a walk along the lake in the glow of the moonlight. Lots of stars & we could hear the blue herons roosting in the trees close by. Just a perfect way to wind down a tough day on the road. Friday morning we'll see if we can find an internet connection in Mount Pleasant as we make our way back up onto interstate 30. And Friday we'll probably finish our day somewhere up around Memphis, Tennessee.................
=============================================================================================================== January 23 MONDAY JAN 22DAY 36 JANUARY 22 COLUMBUS, N.M.
WE GOT SNOW!!!!!!!:((((( Rained all night with hefty wind gusts. By morning the rain had turned to snow so when we looked out the ground was white. Not nice!! By the time it got light & I went out to take some pics some of it had melted because of the warmer ground. The wind kept up all morning & the snow would come & go. At one point we couldn't see Mexico to the south because of a wall of white out across the field. Our temps remained around 34F but with the wind chill figured in they figured it felt like 16F. No doggy walk again this morning:(( We went to the library & caught up on internet mail then went over to the community center at 11 for the hot $2 meal. Always nice & warm in there. Back to the trailer to discover one of our propane tanks had run dry so it was pretty cold inside. Switched the propane valve to the other tank & started the thermometer moving in the right direction again. Watched a bit of boring television & had some snoozes till 2 when we headed out to get the propane tank filled & then over to Palomas, Mexico for my dental appointment at 3:30. Dental appointment went well so we began making plans to head for El Paso in the morning if the weather is acceptable. The weather north of us is bad with road closures, ice & snow. From Columbus we'll take highway #82 along the American/Mexican border to El Paso & then get onto Interstate 10 & continue east as far as we can to put distance between us & this winter storm front gripping the whole southwest. When we reach Interstate 20 we'll make a decision based on weather which way we will go but we'll probably head northeast for Dallas if we can. Well, that's the plan anyway & we're gonna try & stick to it!!
I'll post this to the blog Tuesday morning when we go to the library before leaving town. It may be a few days or more before we find another internet connection somewhere so if you don't hear from us it just means we're either on the move or we just don't have a campsite that has an internet connection.
It's now 11:15 p.m. & the powerful gusting winds are rocking the Rockwood:(((( The whole day was windy, cold, & cloudy.....we gotta get out of here!!!!
================================================================================================================ January 22 MIGHT HAVE FORGOT FRIDAYDAY 34 FRIDAY JANUARY 19 COLUMBUS, N.M.
It poured rain all night & our campsite is now a sea of mud & about an inch deep in most places. 38F so at least we didn't freeze up. Disconnected & removed one of the propane tanks to get filled later. Disconnected the water hose & drained it in case of freezing to-night. Unlooked all the outside compartements so the locks wouldn't freeze up either. Drove about a mile to the propane filling station & got the tank filled then headed for the library where we spent a couple of hours doing internet stuff. I had the laptop & Kelly was on one of the libraries computers. From there it was over to the community center for a hot $2 apiece meal. And we even got desert. Picked up a few groceries & headed back to the trailer in the pouring cold rain. We can only get a couple of fuzzy channels on the television so it was a pretty boring afternoon cooped up inside. (pics) SUNDAY JANUARY 21DAY 35 JANUARY 21 COLUMBUS, N.M.
Have I used the word "bored" yet............... Well, it's not a major thing but it does come & go a bit at times lately. Nice clear skies this morning but that meant the temps had dipped below freezing & the windshield of the truck was iced over. Had a big game of sticks with the doggy guys first thing to give them some exercise because we didn't do a morning walk again. Drove over & parked out front of the library to check our email. Got a couple of instant messages from some friends in Bayfield saying how cold it was there. Glad to be here. A bit of boredom is a lot better than a lot of cold!! Water at the campground is not really drinkable but there is a couple of taps at the town's city hall. They use a reverse osmosis process so a lot of people get there water there including us. Filled up our jugs & filled up the truck's gas tank as well on the way back to the campsite. Sunny day but a cold wind kept us inside the rest of the morning. About noon the wind dropped, temps came up to about 40 & we got the lawn chairs out. Of course as soon as we got the chairs out the clouds rolled in but we toughed it out & managed to get some rays between clouds. When a big cloud came we zipped inside where it was warm & when the sun came out we popped back out into our chairs. The sun felt warm. Gathered up some wood & got a fire going because Kelly had picked up a couple of steaks the day before. She sure makes sure us poor folks eats real good................
The EL Paso television station says a storm front with much colder temps & possible snow is headed our way from the northwest. It's due in to-night with a low of 27F & to-morrow is looking like a wet yukky day. They have issued a weather watch. Shall I use the "bored" word again!!
Being able to get outside to-day was a big help in warding off the boredom of being stuck inside the trailer these past few cold damp days & as much as we like Pancho Villa here we'll be glad to be back on the road soon heading for some new destinations & some new adventures. If all goes well with my final dental appointment to-morrow afternoon & the weather gives us a break, we'll head east on Tuesday.........:)
P.S. Hey Mel, I can see the Pink Store 3 miles south of us with my 7 x 50 binoculors from our campsite here at Pancho Villa in Columbus, New Mexico:))
PPS And remember, the photos are now at................ http://picasaweb.google.com/stargeezerguy
================================================================================================================= January 20 SATURDAY JAN 20 -DAY 35 SATURDAY JAN 20 PONCHO VILLA, COLUMBUS, N.M.
The dreaded winter storm never happened. When we went to bed last night there was a foggy drizzle in the air & the temps never got down to the freezing mark. The day dawned with a partial cloud cover & sunshine peeking over the mountains & temps around 37F. Not a bad morning at all, considering........
Re-hooked up the water & a bacon & egg breakfast. Winds picked up making things feel colder so we didn't get the doggies out for a morning walk. The ground was still soft from all the rain as well. Around 9 we headed off for Demming with a stop first at the Columbus library to check our email. Demming is a town about 30 miles north of Columbus & is situated right on Interstate 10. The Florida (pronounced Floreeda) mountain range runs along the highway about 10 miles to the east so I took a few pictures when we noticed the clouds lifting revealing snow in the mountains. Kelly stopped into the Red Roof Rock Shop & Veterinary place for dog food. Coffee & a muffin at "Joe Perks" coffee shop & then off to Wal-Mart for some groceries. The sky had cleared more by the time we left Wal-Mart & I took a bunch more pictures of the Florida mountains while driving back to Columbus. Temps were up a bit too but the winds were gusting so bad that they were rocking the trailer. There's not much protection from the winds in the desert & the wind gusts coming rolling out of the mountains, across the flat desert floor & slam into you like a freight train. I took Max & Checkers for a walk but when Kelly tried to take Cora out the wind gusts nearly blew them all the way to Kansas. I took some pictures of an old tractor & some tumbleweeds while on our walk. The rest of the afternoon was spent reading & resting. Still haven't seen many people out of their RV's. Just too windy & cold but it sure looked pretty with the with the big moody clouds, patches of blue sky, & the occasional sun splash. Sure a nice change from the gloomy cold & rain of Friday. Nice crescent moon to-night between the clouds................I'm sitting in front of the Columbus library right now with a really poor internet connection so I probably won't get to-day's photos uploaded:((
P.S. To TBI whoever or wherever you are........thanks for the comment:)) January 19 THURSDAY JANUARY 18DAY 33 THURSDAY JAN 18 COLUMBUS, NEW MEXICO
Because of the heavy cloud cover overnight the temps only got down to 37F & that was better than the freezing lows we had been having. It was nice to have a shower in the heated washroom here at Pancho Villa. We use the shower in the trailer but it's very small & not the most comfortable so it's always a treat to find an RV campsite with heated & spacious showers. While having to wait out this winter storm we decided to take advantage of Mexico's cheaper health services & have some dental work done. We spent about 3 hours in Palamos Mexico this morning & some of that time in, "The Pink Store" for lunch. While waiting between appointments we walked around the little villa & I took a few pictures. It's really quite a tumble down place & like a page out of history. The professional medical places are the only ones that are clean & modern. Palomas is where we got our new glasses back around Christmas time when we were here before.
The rest of the day was spent doing basically nothing because it's cloudy & cold. Not much going on anywhere & all the other RV'ers were staying inside as well. Rain, sleet & snow are predicted for here beginning late to-morrow afternoon & Saturday sounds pretty yukky as well. It is no longer a vacation for us but just a matter of dealing with the bad weather & figuring out a way home later between storm fronts. We have resigned ourselves to the probable fact that our warmest & best days are behind us now:(((( January 17 JANUARY 16 & 17DAY 31 TUESDAY JAN. 16 CASA VERDE, AZ
Clear sunny morning but as usual it was very cold at 35F. At least the water didn't freeze but to be on the safe side I had disconnected the water before going to bed the night before. Saw 3 coyotes walk by the trailer about sun up. Took the doggies for a walk in a big open area near interstate 8. Nice morning but cold!! Just a short distance from the RV park was a large outlet mall so we headed over there to check on shoe prices. Got a new pair of Rockports. Back to the campsite & soaked up a little sun in the lee of the trailer out of the cold wind. Kelly went back to the outlet mall in the afternoon & found herself a new pair of shoes as well. About 4 we headed for a place called the Golden Corral Steak & Buffet that was recommended to us by a fellow at Hickiwan. It was a buffet & it was delicious. So, we both ate so much again we exploded. After supper we took a drive into the older part of Casa Grande. Casa Grande is a really nice looking town. The downtown is about 6 miles from Interstate 10 & the 4 lane street between downtown & I-10 is lined with every kind of restaurant & business imaginable. Nice palm trees line the street & everything is very clean. It was dark by the time we got back to the RV park & the lights of Casa Grande looked so nice in the desert. We packed it in about 9 & another day went into the log
book..................................................
================================================================================================================
DAY 32 WEDNESDAY JAN 17 PONCHO VILLA STATE PARK, COLUMBUS, NEW MEXICO
We began packing things up getting ready for our Casa Verde departure. Need I say it was cold, cold, cold. At least the sky was clear as the sun climbed over the mountain range to the east. Because we had an internet hook-up at the site we started checking all the weather sites trying to make a decision where to head for to-day. The only area that was going to be good for weather over the next few days was back where we had been a week ago at Hickiwan Trails in Why, Arizona. It was about hundred miles back to the southwest & I wasn't keen on heading back at this stage of the game on our long homeward trek. We new the weather was really bad in Texas & eastern New Mexico but we decided to head east anyway & maybe stop in Benson Arizona. We rolled out of Casa Verde at 9 a.m heading south on I-10 for Tucson. Traffic was really heavy. Stopped at a Cracker Barrel in north Tucson for a bite & then headed southeast. Nice sunny day & the traffic really lightened up after Tucson so we got a good roll going & went right by Benson about noon. Figured we might as well head for an RV park we had stayed at a couple of weeks ago & liked so much called, Poncho Villa in Columbus, New Mexico. Arrived Poncho Villa about 4 p.m. under heavily clouded skies & 40F temps. Looks like we are really going to be in for a bad time of it with a major winter storm coming into this whole area from southeast Arizona way over into eastern Texas. Freezing rain, sleet, snow, etc. etc. We have an EL Paso television station on & they are really warning people to stay indoors over the next couple of days. Hmmmmmm, could be interesting. Figured if we had to ride out a winter storm we'd rather be in a place we're familiar with. At least the library here has internet & WiFi. And we know where the well stocked grocery store is. The community center here also puts on a hot dinner every day from 11 to 1. The community center is where we had Christmas dinner & got to sit on Santa's knee a few weeks ago. We like this little western frontier town & we'll stay here until all this bad weather nonsense clears up & then make a dash for El Paso, Texas. We'll drive over to the library to-night & see if we can get a WiFi connection outside to check our email & post this to the website. So, in a nutshell.....we are in Columbus New Mexico with the hatches battened down awaiting the major winter storm that is headed our way..........................................................
================================================================================================================ January 16 NEW PLACE FOR PHOTOSI'm going to try loading the pictures into a web album on a Google site named Picasa. I'll try doing it one day at a time starting with this address.... Let me know if this works Fred:))
Double click the above address (or copy & paste into a new browser) & give it lots of time to load. If the site opens for you, click on "Slideshow." Hopefully that will work. If not, go here & look for the album dates & click on them.
JAN 16 PHOTOS PROBLEMI haven't been able to load any photos for the last couple of days because the website says I am over my limit for the month of January so I am going to try loading them below in the blog........
Ok, so that didn't work. Looks like I'm beat for posting any more photos for January but I will keep trying anyway so have a peak once & awhile for pictures anyway. (just saw 3 coyotes walk past the trailer) Sunny morning but windy & cold at 38F:((((( January 15 JANUARY 12, 13, 14 & 15DAY 28 JAN 12 QUARTZITE AZ.
Our short lived warmer temps dropped over night & we woke up to 40F & we struggled to make 60 by afternoon. Strong winds made it feel on the cold side.
Headed into Quartzite around 8:30, had breakfast & updated the website at the Veterans Cafe. Stopped by a solar panel place to inquire about the silent energy or solar power. Very expensive to go solar!! Panels, inverters, installation, etc is cost prohibitive for us so we scrapped the idea. The big Le Mesa RV dealer was next store so we spent some time looking at Class C & Class A motorhomes. All very nice but way too costly for poor folks like us. Spent another couple of hours doing the "browsing thing" until I'd had enough. That walking around slow, looking at stuff is hard on the legs!! We were back to our campsite by 2 & spent the rest of the day inside because the big winds made it too cold to go outside. Hopefully to-morrow will be a better weather day. Kind of yucky in the morning but clearing by afternoon. Might be a good time to make the short 17 mile drive with the truck over to Blyth, California which some people have told us is very nice...........
===============================================================================================================
DAY 29 JAN. 13 QUARTZITE AZ.
Woke up at 4 a.m. freezing. Despite the battery monitor on the wall saying our batteries had enough juice in them for another night, they ran out of power in the the wee hours of the morning so our furnace had shut down. Hauled myself out of bed & out into the 29F desert cold night air to get the generator out of the back of the truck. Luckily we had bought a generator back in November when Canadian Tire had them on sale. Didn't have to use it until now. Got it plugged into the trailer & fired it up. Fortunately nobody was camped within earshot of us because it's a cheaper generator so it makes a lot of noise. The furnace immediately came back on as the generator began to re-charge the batteries. That was it for another night's sleep but at least we got warmed up again. Bacon & eggs breakfast in the trailer & then headed into Quartzite about 8 a.m. Checked our email at a local hot spot & thanks to Inge, Fred, Helen & Grace for their email messages & glad to hear some of you are following our trip. I'm using the Nikon D-50 for all the photos now Fred, ever since we left Tucson. The problem with the Fuji E550 was just a poor set of batteries.
We have sunny skies to-day but there is a cold wind blowing again so we kept our winter clothes on as we drove over to Blyth, California. What a nice little town that is. Very clean & green. It was amazing to see how different things began to look as we crossed the state line. We began to see a lot of green fields & agriculture. Big aqueducts of water for irrigation & palm trees. We had heard about a place in Blyth that sold organically grown fruits & dates so we stopped there & bought some veggies. The town of Blyth was really nice & we even had coffee at a Starbucks. So nice to see green grass, big palms, manicured lawns, & some nice looking landscaped homes. Reminded me of Florida. We have been eating a lot dust, sand, grit, rocks & gravel since getting into the American southwest back the other side of Texas somewhere. It was a real treat just to see green grass again...................... Back to Quartzite around 12:30, stopped at a few stores & then headed back out to our campsite. Really tired so we just sat around & tried to keep out of the cold wind & soak up a little of the sun's warmth. Around 3 we loaded up the doggies & took a short drive down the highway to dirt road Kelly had read about leading to an area known to Rockhounds for it's rare agates & crystals. The road was soooooooo bad that we had to finally turn around & come back.
It's 6:20 p.m. now & the temperatures are dropping again so we've got the generator going to get the coach batteries charged up for the night. If it gets as cold as last night we will probably be able to ice skate on the doggies outside water dish again in the morning!! All this cold weather & high winds is beginning to get us down:(((((((
===============================================================================================================
DAY 29 SUNDAY JAN 14 TONOPAH, ARIZONA
Not a good night again. Temps went down to a record low for this area of 20F. Left the generator running for about 3 hours before shutting it down & the batteries were good for another night, but........about 1 a.m. I heard a sputtering noise & new that our 30 pound tank of propane had run dry. Sooooo, it was out into the freezing cold night again to switch the line valve to our second tank. Sat up until 3 typing a few emails. So tired!! The morning was clear & the water in the doggies dish was solid ice again. Kelly wanted to go in to Quartzite to check out a few more things so she took the truck & headed off while me & doggies stayed home & started packing up the campsite. We had decided the night before to forego the big RV show next week, leave the Quartzite area & head east towards Phoenix. The cold just proved too much & we really needed to get another site that had full hook-ups plus we had tanks to dump. We're glad we came to Quartzite to experience the whole circus like atmosphere but I was glad to be on the road to-day heading for a new destination & maybe, just maybe, a better night's sleep. When Kelly got back around 11 she said a lot of the vendors were slow opening up this morning because a lot of them were having to deal with frozen water lines, etc. They said this is the coldest it has ever been here:(( We left our campsite about 11:50, slipped through Quartzite & climbed onto Interstate # 10 heading east. Nice morning for a drive & the traffic was light. Slipped in behind a couple of big eastbound Class A's & drafted along all the way to near Tonopah. We had spotted a Passport America campground about 40 miles west of Phoenix so that's where we headed & that's where we are right now on Sunday afternoon at 4:20 in the afternoon. So nice to be hooked up to hydro & water again:)) We were hoping for an internet connection but the office is closed so I'll try & get this updated in the morning. This is a nice clean & modern place. Big palm trees, paved streets & nice landscaping. Laundry, showers, clubhouse, etc. A lot of Canadians in here. They come down in November & stay until April. We will probably use the Laundromat & showers in the morning before heading off for the Casa Grande area maybe around noon. I want to breeze by Phoenix in the off hours................
==============================================================================================================
DAY 30 MONDAY JAN 15 CASA GRANDE, ARIZONA
Finally had a good night's sleep with no dilemmas. However, it was short lived. When we got up we had no water because it had got so cold in the night the park had turned the water off to prevent more water lines from breaking. Then, our LPG propane gas warning detector went off & we could smell propane. Quickly shut things off & disconnected the two propane tanks. Then, our hydro went off!!!! Because of the cold night many people had plugged in electric heaters, etc & somewhere the load was too great & the hydro went out for the whole area. So, that was the beginning of our day & because the hydro was out there was no internet. We were so lucky that we both had our showers the night before. It was so cold & everything was froze up & unfortunately to-night is going to be the same. Hydro came back on about 9 & I had to wait until around 10:30 before the waterhose thawed enough to remove it. Took the propane tanks right out & put them in the truck because they needed re-filling anyway. Figured we probably had a froze gas regulator anyway. Packed things up & drove up by the office & got our tanks filled & I put them back into the trailer. We were finally back on Interstate 8 & heading east by 11:50. Very light traffic but noticed many RV's in the other lanes heading west, probably to Quartzite. Nice easy drive to Casa Grande & a park we had noticed on the map & one of the travel brochures. It's called, Buena Tierra RV Park & it is really nice. It's the first time since leaving Canada that we have had a WiFi internet connection right at our campsite so I'll be able to do a lot of catching up here. Buena Tierra is located at the south end of Casa Grande right between I-8 & I-10. Each one of those interstates is about a mile on either side of us. We arrived here about 2:45 this afternoon & have already been into town for groceries. Casa Grande looks like a really nice clean place. Thanks for recommending it Mel:)) Not sure how long we'll stay but maybe a couple of days before heading on. We had a sunny day but it's cold & we are still dressed for winter. Actually at the moment I have the laptop at the camp's Laundromat while I'm doing laundry. Because we didn't bring a lot of winter clothes we have to keep washing them every chance we get. When I get back to the campsite I'll try updating the website with some photos. All & all, not too bad a day but we sure had a shaky start this morning:((( We'll have to leave the water running a bit to-night so that we aren't froze up in the morning. So far no damage to the trailers water system & hopefully we won't have that propane problem again. We've probably used upwards of $200 worth of propane this past month trying to stay warm. The doggies are all fine & I'm sure they haven't even noticed the cold...............................
===============================================================================================================
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Send a private message
Subscribe to RSS feed
Tell a friend
Add to My MSN
Add to your network
Sign up for alerts|
|
)+-+Windows+Live&referrer=){kind=small}
