From Gunsight Wash January 24th 2013

January 24th Gunsight Wash Why, Az (N32 14.402 W112 45.371)

Seems a long time since I wrote a few notes on the trip – New Year’s Day, in fact. Since then, several items of note:

 

I have moved from Plomosa Road near Bouse to Gunsight Wash, a BLM camp area 2 miles south of the community of Why, Arizona (approx 4 ½  hours). Here, I have been joined by Ted Webber and his friend Paul from New Mexico, plus John Porter who has been and gone. The BLM is extremely quiet, whether for reasons associated with the economy or possibly because of reports of Mexican Drug Cartel violence are both speculated by those who are in the business of conjecture. In addition to being a good camp area, Gunsight Wash offers excellent cell and 3G Internet connections from a tower located in Why. The mountains west of Ajo have limited cell and Internet access. Ted and I will undertake a reconnaissance one of these days, computers in hand, to test (the waters?) for future camping prospects.

 

Up until last week, I would say that this might have been the coolest start to winter I have spent in the south. With days averaging 50 (10 C), nights frequently below freezing by several degrees, plus strong winds much of the time, this corner of Arizona was colder than home at the Shuswap for a few nights.

 

Two trips to a dentist across the border south of here in Mexico, plus a third tomorrow, will have produced a bridge (puento) of two crowns and two false teeth (dentadura postiza), another crown (corona) and some fillings (rellenos) for $1670.00, a lot of money but considerably less than what I might have paid if I had had the same work done in Canada or the US. Due to the combination of cold temperatures and Mexican heating efficiency, or lack of, the good doctor Valenzuela’s hands were shaking as he drilled my teeth - not confidence inspiring but, he got the job done and will probably be able to afford to buy a new heater in his little border clinic.

 

Two efforts to recoup Scrabble losses of previous years were doomed to failure from the start though a spirited effort won me a close second at the house of my Ajo friends, Don and Gayle Weyers.

 

Every week, a young Mexican comes to the campground with a car full of prawns and flounder from Puerto Penasco (in Baja Mexico, about 3 hours from here on the Sea of Cortez coast). At $17/kilo, I don’t know how the prawns stack up against supermarket prices in Canada but they were very tasty – and delivered to the middle of nowhere. Since the young fellow has only rudimentary math skills, his clients have to work out the price that they are going to pay, once he has weighed out the catch on an old set of scales that need a couple of quick taps to liberate from zero.

In early January, I was checking my MasterCard expenditures on-line and noticed that amounts were off base and that 11 purchases had been made in El-Centro, California to the tune of $1600.00. Since I have been nowhere near El –Centro, I knew this was a scam, called MasterCard and got them to cancel the account. To my relief they agreed to cover any fraudulent costs and sent me a replacement card by UPS to Coyote Howls RV Park in Why. Coyote Howls has been very good in receiving packages for me without much in the way of repayment. In addition to the new card, I also pickled up a bit of door hardware that they had been keeping for me since last winter. The Emergency card took only two days to arrive, so minimal inconvenience to me. How the crooks got my number and managed to incur charges at both a Target Store and an Army Navy is beyond me. I suspect that the problem experienced by Canadian travellers in having to leave their credit cards inside Service Stations because of the lack of a zip code might be suspect here. A number of phone calls to both MasterCard and BMO made a dent in my available TracFone minutes, so I have had to buy another card. At $.10/min TracFones certainly pay for themselves when one compares this with the high average cost of Canadian cell phones when used in the US (from $1.45/min to $.50, depending on individual plans).

 

JP, Ted and I went golfing at Ajo one day (9 holes). This is a flat course with gravel areas alongside sparsely covered grass fairways. A good time was had by all – both Ted and John suffered varying degrees of pain from the experience and decided not to go again. Another day, we hiked up Alamo Canyon, about 12 miles South and 2 miles off the highway. Water pools that had existed in previous visits have disappeared and there was evidence of some fairly extreme flooding (last summer) that may have upset the water table in some way? The bike has been more or less dormant, since Ted is a hiker, not biker, and I am getting lazy in my old age.

One day, we went to visit Hugh and Christine, plus Darch, who were all camped on Mica Mine Road West of Ajo. Darch and some friends of his were overnighting and heading home to Apache Junction the next day. Hugh and Christine came to visit us at Gunsight a few days later, then travelled on to Tucson for a couple of weeks.

 

 BLM regulations state that campers may have a 14 day maximum stay on any one site. Because it has been so quiet, the host at Gunsight (Ev, from Nebraska) offers favoured campers an option to stay an additional two weeks. Apparently, campers who complain about the state of affairs at Gunsight are not considered “favourites” and get the boot. Ted and I have our extensions, me presumably because of compassionate dental reasons and Ted because he was pleasant with the host and didn’t complain about anything. The protocol is that campers are encouraged to move sites, so that other campers, who might be desirous of one’s particular location, have the opportunity to move into said position. I have moved about 100’ and Ted has moved into my former spot, so all is well for another two weeks.

 

About a week ago, temperatures suddenly shot up and we have been basking in 80 (26.6 C) degree heat. I decided that this might be a good time to equalize the trailer batteries, a function that I can do manually using a button on the (Morningstar Star 45) solar controller. In theory, this procedure is designed to desulphate the plates, even out inconsistencies between the four batteries and generally improve performance. I don’t know if this actually works but am running up to 15.3 V for several hours over 3 days to satisfy the requirement to do this once every few months.

 

This morning has dawned cloudy with the sound of rain pattering on the roof. When this happens, the desert develops a peculiar but pleasant scent (petrichor?), this mainly due to water falling on plant oils from the creosote bushes that are ever-present in the Sonoran Desert. If it rains hard enough, I may put out my plastic pail and do some laundry.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jan 1st 2013 - Plomosa Road 16.6/1.7

December has moved along, New Year’s Eve has now come and gone; the desert was fairly quiet
with few, if any, distant generator noises (solar makes none) and a good time was had by all until about 11.00 when I went to bed after watching a “Walking Dead” marathon on TV.

Temperatures this week- cool for here at about 50 (10C) by day, plus north winds making the windbreak on the trailer earn it’s money.

The last few nights, temperatures have bottomed out at about 35°outside, 40°indoors, excellent for sleeping but a little frosty for the computer in the mornings.

A few responses noted that I had erred on my duck designations in the last e-mail. To my discredit, I had mentioned mallards and drakes as the males and females of a species. Little did I know, not being very duck-savvy, that drakes are males and female mallards are just ducks, hens or female ducks. I was pleased that only a few of you caught me up on this and trust that everyone actually did know the correct terms.

The Lewises and the Richards camped with me for a while but they have moved elsewhere, Hugh and Christine to Ajo, Dave and Gail, first to an RV Park in Bouse where they could plug in and have heat without using so much propane and today off to Vegas to visit with their son. We had a few campfires and one “chunk”- broil but windy weather made many nights a chilly proposition. To this end, Dave and I went out with the trusty electric chain saw and my new Honda generator to gather a truckload of deadwood. They have gone but much of the firewood remains - reckon, I’ll load it up and cart it to the next destination – likely Why on Jan 7th where I planto meet Ted and some of his friends, plus, possibly, the Obornes and the Richards. With December winds an almost constant factor, the wind break is up and sitting in the lee is usually quite warm.

While Hugh was here, his generator failed due to old gasoline waxing and clogging up the carburetor jets. This was an excellent opportunity for me to have a carb-lesson from Walt who took it apart, flushed it out with carb-cleaner and restored it to its previous glory. I expect that my little Yamaha at home has similar problems and can’t wait to tear it apart next summer, hopefully with the same success that Walt managed to achieve on the Honda – if only I can remember where those bolts went?

Some time ago, I was in touch with Sani-Dental in Algodones by e-mail re: timing and prices for filling the gap in my teeth (info@sanidentalgroup.com – 928 257 1307). I have to wait until 4 months post-extraction to have an implant ($750 + $250 for each crown), so may make a booking for mid-march to do that. A bridge would be the other option, so will wait until I go to get a recommendation. Walt and Susan went to Algodones and visited la Cholla Dental (lacholla@hotmail.com), found it to be very good, clean, modern etc. They had cleanings plus fillings for her and got a price list for other procedures.

In general, work is going to cost about ½ to ⅓ of what things would cost in Canada. Of course, the question of warranty if something goes wrong should be in one’s mind, though, every year, thousands of Canadians and Americans go to Algodones, now humbly advertised as “the dental capital of the world” for dental work, seemingly without problems. To visit Algodones, one drives first to Yuma, then a short hop west and south to Algodones. At the border is a huge paved parking area operated by the local Indian band for $5 per day. People walk across and the hundreds, possibly thousands of dentists, opticians and pharmacies appear within a couple of blocks of the crossing, many with their attendant hawkers exhorting the crowds in from the street.

Some of my idle time has been spent considering purchase of a new TV for the trailer. New LED screens have dropped considerably in price and use about ⅓ the power of older TVs like my present one. However, the more I looked at my old Zenith, the better it seemed to look, plus, I seem to have adequate power, so why rock the boat? That project (and expense) is now on the back burner.

Arizona Snowbowl, located near Flagstaff in the White Mountains, is a ski resort that opens some years and other years not at all, depending on whether there is any snow. Wisely, they installed snowmaking equipment to increase their chances. However, they based their plan on being able to use reclaimed waste water piped in from municipalities 12 miles down the road. Enter the rare-plant-species-issue. This year, and sporadically over the last ten years, the resort is, and has been, embroiled in a lawsuit with the Hopi Indian tribe who have initiated legal action because of uncertainty about the effects of reclaimed water on a particular plant that grows only on nearby peaks at very high elevations. The species in question is a rare form of ragwort known as San Francisco Peaks Groundsel and the courts have to consider whether the reclaimed water, containing “trace amounts of hormones, antibiotics, antidepressants, pharmaceuticals and steroids”will adversely impact the plant ? All that stuff affects me just thinking about it but maybe the ragwort is a hardy beast?

I’m not sure about dumping sewage, even treated sewage, on the mountains, even though far less treated water was used to irrigate Mexican golf courses where I used to play in days of yore. Back in those times, I smoked, so the caddies (mandatory and presumably out of concern about losing a potential tip) would warn me not to place my cigarette on the ground while executing a shot. In any case, the whole disagreement reminds me of the great “Snowmax”difficulty at Lake Louise wherein Parks Canada denied a permit to use irradiated (dead) bacteria to enhance the quality of the existing snowmaking system. I don’t recall any Indians chaining themselves to bulldozer blades back then as has happened in Arizona but our little controversy had its moment in time and was foiled by a perception of bacteria infecting the slopes.

 

 

 

 

One fine day I went for a hike, so retrieved my boots from the closet where they had been resting for a year. Inside was a fossilized, possibly just desiccated, mouse who had enjoyed the gourmet pleasure of a nice sock and then died in comfort. It’s shell was quite intact and one wonders why this one didn’t escape as many others have?

From Plomosa Road Camp 16.6/1.7 Dec 12th 2012

PS:

Meanwhile, back at the Canadian/US border, I remembered that the US Vegetable Guard lady and I were engaged in conversation about camping in the desert. She asked me if I was a “Boondoggler”, this defined as a breed of people who occupy themselves with insignificant activities being of little use to anyone. Guess that’s not too far off the mark for me, though I prefer being a“Boondocker”.

Also, as a postscript to my stop in Twin Falls, I had no sooner finished with my wire repair and turned the corner when, in the mirror, I spotted my little folding plastic foot-step flying out of the truck box, landing on the highway and being pulverized by a large SUV. Recovery was out of the question but I did replace it with a mini step made of metal and, presumably, less likely to fly, at a Home Depot in Havasu.

Dec 12th - Plomosa Road 16.6/1.7 (N33 53.206 W114 03.169)

Morning back at Pahranagat – not a cloud, so it was almost time to put on shorts for the rest of the winter. A lot of quacking and honking went on at night; the lake was full of many varieties of waterfowl, plus raptors (who weren’t actually in the lake, rather perched in trees searching for prey). This is a great camp spot (free), maintained by the US Fish and Wildlife Department as a bird sanctuary.

This year, I only spent one night at Lake Pahranagat as I didn’t have a lot of “resting” to do – also, with the bicycle in its protective bag on the back of the trailer, it would have taken me a few extra minutes to extricate everything just to go for a short ride.

From Pahranagat, it was 64 miles down to I-15 and then another 18 miles into North Las Vegas and the Blue Beacon/Speedco Truck Wash (N36 12.786 W115 07.725). $42 gets one the full treatment, including steam cleaning of the engine. I didn’t realize how much shiny metal existed below the accumulated dirt and grime of the truck’s 12 year lifespan.

From Vegas, it is a short hop to “Terribles” at Searchlight for fuel. On the way, one passes by a giant solar array generating station. I don’t know the wattage but, if that were all on top of my trailer I could light up the whole desert. Aptly named, Terribles may be the worst “service” station encountered anywhere in my travels. Even though the pumps are well situated for trucks and RVs, one has to walk to the cashier indoors, slowly creep forward at the back of a long line of fat children buying Krispy Kream donuts, predict a minimum amount of fuel that one wishes to put on one’s credit card, go out and pump, then return to join the back of another line of equally hefty mothers belonging to the aforementioned children and who must have followed the doughnut truck down from Vegas. The first credit card bill gets ripped up and another is produced to reflect the correct amount. At the pump, there is an option to enter one’s zip code and Canadians, being zip-code deficient, scratch their heads while they attempt to invent a number by exchanging letters and numbers in their Postal code into some American hybrid. That never works for me, so if anyone out there has experienced consistent luck in this matter, please let me know.

From Searchlight, it is mostly downhill on Hwy 95 to the I-40, west of Needles, Ca. In California, cars are allowed to travel at 70 mph, while trucks and trailers, including me, drive at the more sedate pace of 55 mph. What this creates is an accident waiting to happen, particularly on narrow roads with lots of curves and dips because frustrated drivers find themselves blocked by people like me, attempt to pass in an unsafe place once they get exasperated enough and smack into someone doing the same thing from the opposite direction.

Cattail Cove is a pleasant State Park south of Lake Havasu City. There, I found the Richards, Hugh and Christine, plus Lewises (Dave and Gail), along with Ian and Gillian Wright, enjoying the civilized comforts of close-knit camping with power and water. I overnighted with them, heard the tale of woe from H & C who had lost a window to high winds, suffered a water leak in their trailer and, top of the list, lost their Bell satellite TV signal because Bell, without warning, has cancelled all service south of the 49th parallel. If any of you are contemplating travelling with satellite, use Shaw (Star Choice). They seem to have no problems providing service all the way into Mexico.

At Cattail, I was approached by a waddle of ducks (25-30) who came to the trailer to eat stale buns out of my hand. I never realized that ducks are very hostile to each other, particularly when competing for pieces of two-week-old bun. At one stage, two mallards had a drake down on her back and were twisting her neck with their beaks. Feathers flew but, in the end, the poor lady-duck did recover. After that, I favoured the drakes and threw bits to them which they were able to catch in mid-air, jumping up like dogs.

One night of civilization being plenty for me, I moved south about an hour to Bouse with a Parker Safeway stop en route. All preferred sites up my favoured trail had occupants so I moved to another area abut 6 miles away. Here, however, the cell signal was very intermittent. Fortunately, friends Walt and Susan Brugger from Prince George, keeping my best interests at heart, spotted someone moving out of the original site, came to let me know, then moved their VW Beetle onto the spot to claim it for me. The phone seems to work from here and I have a fairly weak Internet signal from the MiFi as well.

So, now, I’m happy; camp is set up; solar panels raised to obtain optimum photons from the sun and the nearest neighbours (Walt and Susan) are 200 metres away.

I shall stay at Plomosa 16.6/1.7 for a while, the length of time could depend on whether the US Department of the Interior still employs rangers to monitor BLM 14-day maximum stay regulations. It has been rumoured that many of these folk have disappeared along with other government employees as part of the Federal Government austerity agenda so perhaps I shall be safe.

I have sent one or two separate e-mails with pictures, so my apologies to the few who got those as there may be repeats. A new Canon camera bought this summer generates photos that are far too large to be e-mailed efficiently with slow Internet connections. Therefore, I will be using the Microsoft “Resize” tool to reduce photos to something under 100 KBs. If anyone out there feels the need to send me a photo, please do the same.

As I have stopped travelling for a while, you will be pleased to know that blog output will grind to a slower pace. Not much happens in the desert so there isn’t much to write about, though when pressed, the challenge of writing about nothing can be somewhat interesting.

 

 

 

From lake Pahranagat Dec 3rd 2013

Dec 3rd – Lake Pahranagat Wildlife Refuge (N37 19.594 W115 08.157 at Entry)

Out the cabin door by 7.30 and headed south for the traditional first night’s stop at Omak Walmart (340 Kms). Time for brunch at the Penticton Denny’s en route. No line-ups at the border. As expected, had to relinquish 3 avocados as they came from Mexico. Parsley and mushrooms passed through, as did all frozen meat.

At first, I was a little concerned with the weather because it was overcast and rainy, a condition that usually leads to snow in the month of December. This trip, the gods have smiled, producing wet but mild weather. Even over the dreaded Blue Mountain Summit in NE Oregon, temps at 4000’ were running close to 45°. There was no snow at roadside, either, a sign that this December is abnormally warm in that part of the world. On the radio, a series of Coastal storms and dire threats of snow followed behind but never materialized.

The first priority at Walmart was to obtain a new TracFone with 450 minutes of airtime as well as get air cards for my Verizon MiFi 2200. These last cost $50 for a GB over 30 days; the TracFone cost $20 plus another $48 for 450 minutes of airtime. Both these devices save me a lot of money over using the equivalent Canadian devices while travelling in the US. For those who care, my US phone number this winter is 1-928-851-5155. Last year, but no longer, TracFone offered a service called the “Good Neighbour” policy that enabl3ed Canadian callers to dial a local number (I chose one in Victoria) that then connected to my phone with no Long Distance charges to the caller. An interesting corollary to this situation is that the company is now owned by Mexicans and Mexican numbers are still considered part of the “Good Neighbor” policy. I have written a scathing letter to TracFone questioning the merits, or lack of, for cancellation of this policy in such a discriminatory manner. Canadians were only “dumped” this past October and my literature that came with the phone still confirms the “Good Neighbour” policy for us, thus creating a false advertising issue for TracFone, an added weapon in my e-mail arsenal.

Refilling the veggie drawer at Walmart, also replenishing lemons for the rum and cokes, pretty well took care of the shopping. In addition, I found and bought a battery charger that will operate at 40/30 and 12 amps DC. Having managed to lose power in the truck battery several times in the last year or two and now, with a new Honda generator (EU 2000i - not that I would consider starting it, except under the most extreme of conditions) to provide backup power if I get many cloudy days in a row, I thought it made sense to have a charger that could refill amp-hours in a hurry and not waste hours on the generator.

Night two, raining cats and dogs, I made it to the Boise Stage Stop (800 Kms).

I had used a special abrasive cleaner at home to clear up the somewhat opaque lenses of my headlights – a huge difference on wet black roads in the rain! The BSS has a large paved parking lot with a dirt area behind. I decided to park at the end of the pavement because I didn’t want too much mud in the trailer. Unfortunately, a lot of trucks also chose to get off the highway later that same night. My two nearest neighbours parked further back in the lot, placing their enormous snouts next to my bedroom and, of course truckers, as everyone knows, keep their motors going all night, regardless of how warm the weather is. It reminded me of the buses at Lake Louise that used to keep their motors on all day, doing everything possible to asphyxiate the kids in the daycare area just below their parking lot. Finally, we had to ask them to move – never figured out why a motor has to run all day, even when cold outside. It seems peculiar to me that one has to run a giant diesel all night to provide a little warmth – or maybe these guys in their trucks were watching TV and needed the power – who knows?

While travelling, I often don’t watch TV, in this case because BSS had free WiFi to amuse me and listening to the surrounding diesels while reading a paper afforded me plenty of entertainment. BSS has an excellent truckers’ restaurant – I enjoyed the liver and onions immensely. On a final note, one might wonder what trucking people think of casual travellers such as me. I have attached a photo to demonstrate how red-necks view tourism in the beautiful State of Idaho!

From BSS, the drive to Jackpot was relatively short and I arrived in plenty of time to shower, do some laundry and catch up on my accounting in the RV Park at Cactus Pete’s Casino. As most of you know, I usually camp on the fringes of society (with the truckers) where “free” is the operative word. Pete’s Park cost only $20 and I got a free shower and WiFi and cable TV into the bargain. Also, I found that I needed to charge up the trailer batteries. Somehow, there had developed a loose or shorted wire leading from the truck to the trailer batteries, with the result that nothing charged for a few days. From the highway back at Twin Falls I had spotted a big sign saying “Repair”and reckoned, correctly as it turned out, that Ryan of Ryan’s Repair could fix my problem. As mentioned, the cats and dogs (rain) prevented the solar panels from doing their job so Pete’s got the nod. The main reason to stop at Cactus Pete’s, however, is the fact that it is a casino and offers wonderful buffet food. Stuffed with scallops and several varieties of fish with roast beef and mash followed by bread pudding on the side, I staggered home to the trailer to watch cable TV (also included). Jackpot was mild at 50° (10C) when I arrived, 27° (-3C) in the morning, so it only took a few minutes of sun to melt the ice on the truck window and I was on my way south.

To Lake Pahranagat, (570 Kms), skies were mostly sunny with some fog, no wind and an elevation drop of a couple of thousand feet. Mileage was the best ever (it always is on this leg) at 12.71 MPH (US gallons). Loading up fresh water in Alamo, I drained the trailer anti-freeze into the holding tank and can now brush my remaining teeth – forgot to mention, I had two teeth pulled back on Vancouver Island but have yet to fill the gap – maybe in Mexico? Pahranagat is quite empty, so I had my pick of sites. A Fish and Wildlife photographer happened along and took a picture of the trailer for some brochure they plan to create, promoting the campground (needless to say, there will be no gap-toothed faces in anyone’s brochure). Tomorrow, on through Vegas to Havasu, possibly will meet up with Lewises and Richards at Cattail Cove State Park, south of the city.

From Wain Road North Saanich Feb 24th 2012‏

John Worrall (jmworrall@hotmail.com)

24/02/2012

To: charlesblocke@aol.com, rick@werner.ca, sbrugger@shaw.ca, bharvey@xplornet.com, twebber18@hotmail.com, carolinemiege@gmail.com, darchoborne@hotmail.com, medidart@telusplanet.net, wilsondl@telus.net, ap_worrall@hotmail.com, bjmckendrick@shaw.ca, louiselocke@aol.com, gillian.wright196@gmail.com, tbwenger@gmail.com, bruce.bleakney@gmail.com, tappenkid@gmail.com, awalsh@uvic.ca, carpenter.trav@yahoo.ca, prhine@telus.net, asquin.david@gmail.com, david@bastionranch.com, jmworrall@hotmail.com, mulholland@cogeco.ca, chrisperren@hotmail.com, neil.mckendrick@shaw.ca, game1@cciwireless.ca, remora3712@shaw.ca, write2heathera@hotmail.com, topkick@telus.net, djeffrey@skircr.com, terryellott@yahoo.ca, josereineking@yahoo.ca, jimleb@telus.net, gjpercy@hotmail.com, bert.hollingshead@telus.net, ajo.gayle@gmail.com, susan.is@telus.net, dbforer2@primus.ca, jshea@skircr.com, catoborne@shaw.ca, spreader@ebtech.net, sbhoney@telus.net, louis-marc@telus.net, macdonad@telusplanet.net, mountainmamabw@gmail.com, lmichaud@telus.net, hugh.landerkin@gmail.com, rick.l.crosby@gmail.com, jherman@telusplanet.net, georgecreid@telus.net, rtouche@telus.net, don_asquin@hotmail.com, hugh.christine@gmail.com, donandbetty@shaw.ca, mhanstke@gmail.com, jeanettenicholls@shaw.ca, mlalt@shaw.ca, askofteby@gmail.com, bmoffat@goshen.ca, relliott@pei.sympatico.ca, tim_susan@hotmail.com, petznick@telus.net

From:	John Worrall (jmworrall@hotmail.com)You moved this message to its current location.
Sent:	February-24-12 10:17:36 AM
To:	charlesblocke@aol.com; rick@werner.ca; sbrugger@shaw.ca; bharvey@xplornet.com; twebber18@hotmail.com; carolinemiege@gmail.com; darchoborne@hotmail.com; medidart@telusplanet.net; wilsondl@telus.net; ap_worrall@hotmail.com; bjmckendrick@shaw.ca; louiselocke@aol.com; gillian.wright196@gmail.com; tbwenger@gmail.com; bruce.bleakney@gmail.com; tappenkid@gmail.com; awalsh@uvic.ca; carpenter.trav@yahoo.ca; prhine@telus.net; asquin.david@gmail.com; david@bastionranch.com; jmworrall@hotmail.com; mulholland@cogeco.ca; chrisperren@hotmail.com; neil.mckendrick@shaw.ca; game1@cciwireless.ca; remora3712@shaw.ca; write2heathera@hotmail.com; topkick@telus.net; djeffrey@skircr.com; terryellott@yahoo.ca; josereineking@yahoo.ca; jimleb@telus.net; gjpercy@hotmail.com; bert.hollingshead@telus.net; ajo.gayle@gmail.com; susan.is@telus.net; dbforer2@primus.ca; jshea@skircr.com; catoborne@shaw.ca; spreader@ebtech.net; sbhoney@telus.net; louis-marc@telus.net; macdonad@telusplanet.net; mountainmamabw@gmail.com; lmichaud@telus.net; hugh.landerkin@gmail.com; rick.l.crosby@gmail.com; jherman@telusplanet.net; georgecreid@telus.net; rtouche@telus.net; don_asquin@hotmail.com; hugh.christine@gmail.com; donandbetty@shaw.ca; mhanstke@gmail.com; jeanettenicholls@shaw.ca; mlalt@shaw.ca; askofteby@gmail.com; bmoffat@goshen.ca; relliott@pei.sympatico.ca; tim_susan@hotmail.com; petznick@telus.net

At the time of my last groupmail, I was located at Gunsight Wash BLM, near Why, not far from the Mexican border in Southern Arizona. This note comes to you from North Saanich, BC, where I sit in my mother’s house.

She has fallen ill, so I have returned to see what I can do to help and will remain here for an indefinite time.

Meanwhile, back in the desert:

My nearest neighbour at Gunsight Wash was from Keremeos and had camped in Mexico for years. Last year, as the story goes, he discovered that he was on a “kidnapping”list. The manager at the Campground where he was staying was involved in “shady business” (drugs) and had friends in the kidnap industry who threatened him. My new friend seems a little strange so, perhaps, there was a gap in communications? As his nearest neighbour, the thought occurs that I might also be on the backup “kidnap list” – what happens if the kidnappers arrive and he is “out”?

Meanwhile, the weather was mostly sunny with temps 75/45 on average. The Percys (Gerry and Heather) and I went golfing at Ajo on Feb 9^th. The course appeared a bit greener than I remember it being a year ago at Christmas but still consists of a strip of grass (50 yds average?) running straight between areas of desert gravel. Local rules allow balls to be placed on the nearest grassy spot, though I noted local hardliners hitting off the gravel – presumably this keeps the Ajo-Used-Golf-Club businesses thriving? Roadrunner birds were noticeable absent this year whereas they were frequent spectators to our bad golf a year ago.

After several e-mails and phone calls to Telus about the phone problems, Telus phoned me on the new TracFone and offered reparation in the form of a $180 credit for my sufferings. They have also “upped” my data allowance from 1Gb to 5 Gbs for the same price. For next year, I shall see what can be done to put my Telus account on Vacation Interrupt for the winter while I use the more economical American services.

Feb 11^th, went for a ride around the BLM perimeter fence-line (14 miles). Not much evidence of illegal hikers, though there were a few black-painted water bottles– black so as not to reflect light and therefore less easily spotted by Border Patrols.

Feb 15^th– went in for a lunch and scrabble session at Don and Gayle Weyers’ house. The usual results – a resounding couple of losses with little to redeem myself except one “bingo”.

Based on my several protesting e-mails, a TracFone agent called. The quality of the his phone was pathetic and cut out three times before he got a good line. Even then, his English was heavily accented, he failed to understand that my main point in sending the e-mails was to comment on TracFone’s questionable Customer Service and ended up wasting an addition 40 minutes of my airtime with no real result. In the end, he contacted a supervisor who allowed as how I should get 120 minutes compensation, about the amount that TracFone has wasted. Anyway, that’s something, but I shall still keep e-mailing until I get someone who can respond in English and stop calling me “Mr John Worrall”

For the trip home, I got away from Gunsight about 11.00, since I had to “break” camp (+/- 2 hours) and made it as far as Fantasy Springs Casino in Indio, CA. (N33 43.485 W116 11.735) I was actually looking for a Walmart, had found one on the GPS and decided that I might as well go a little further when I spotted the Casino with lots of RVs parked there. Various luminaries, including Willie Nelson, Frankie Avalon (no longer very luminous), Peter Frampton and others, headline the stage show on different Saturdays. The place was quite crowded – I couldn’t even get in to the dinner buffet without fighting a huge line-up, so went home to the trailer for Tuna salad. They have a whole parking lot designated for RVs, there is no charge, no check-in and, according to a neighbour, no maximum stay.

Day 1 started out pretty well with a following (as most are) tailwind much of the way to Quartzsite. From here, however, the headwind to Indio/Coachella was ferocious.

Day 2, from Indio, the freeways and Emily (my GPS) took me close to the heart of Los Angeles where traffic was thick but kept moving. I think I must have driven the better part of 150 kms in LA or parts of it, before exiting into the mountains north. Some of my reasoning for following the Interstates was a misplaced conception that I would be remaining near sea level and therefore not wasting fuel and speed on some tortuous (“tortugal”?)climb through the mountains. As it happens, I still climbed, lost speed and wasted fuel on a different ascent that ended at 4300’. Once down to lower elevations, easy cruising up central California to the Los Banos’ Walmart (not a Super Centre) N37 03.309 W120 52.820, a stop from last year. Nothing exciting about the Walmart except that it was a familiar place to park after the stresses of Los Angeles freeway traffic.

The next day took me out of California and over the Siskiyou Summit north of Redding. This mountainous stretch extends for at least 75 miles and is known for occasional heavy snowfalls. Temps were warm, however, and any precip. was in the form of rain - not a problem until dark when heavy rain, combined with spray from semi-trucks driving faster than my 55 mph dropped visibility to nil and made keeping the trailer between the lines a difficult and probably dangerous task. About 7:00, up showed Canyonville in the form of a brightly-lit 4-Feathers Casino sign, so I pulled in, got guided to my free paved spot by a security truck and spent a peaceful night. The buffet was not available but the restaurant provided sustenance for weary travellers.

From 4-Feathers Casino (N42 56.393 W123 17.053 approx ) to the north was very scenic down canyons with lots of flooding water and trees for a while, then a broad valley and flat, fuel efficient trucking for many miles. Portland, I navigated without issue, crossing over several bridges spanning the Columbia River – and then came Seattle.

Somehow, in Seattle, because there were accidents and delays on the freeway ahead, I was “detoured” by Emily (the GPS) to the east and then north again on smaller roads (522, 9, 2). This took a while, mostly in the dark but, eventually, I rejoined I - 5. A similar situation occurred as had happened the night before. I wanted to get close to the border but knew I wouldn’t make it all the way, so kept on going, again in heavy rain, until, miraculously; another casino appeared out of the dark. This one was the Tulalip Casino (N48 05.338 W122 11.536) in, none other than Tulalip, WA, near Marysville. As Casinos go, this was the best one yet. Again, paved parking at no charge, though one has to check in with Security – rivers of rain bucketing their way down to storm drains gave temptation to stroll around in gumboots. As an alternative, my spare golf umbrella came in handy for the wet slog from parking lot to casino entrance. My luck was in. Not only was the seafood buffet in full swing but it, (Tuesday) was seniors’ night with a 15% discount bestowed on those who qualify. To say that this was a feast would be an understatement. My Canada Food Guide friends from last year would have been dismayed by the sheer volume of oysters, prawns, crablegs, chowder and scallops that one senior could scarf down but – how often does one have this opportunity? Any twinge of conscience disappeared quickly, particularly when I got an e-mail from a friend inquiring as to whether the Indians were making any money off me (all casinos are operated by Indian Tribes, except in Nevada where the mafia hold sway) –thinking about gambling, of course, a habit that I just don’t seem to be able to acquire. Maybe it’s the noise and smoke but losing coins at an alarming rate and being laughed at by a machine is almost as bad as driving on wet roads at night. This casino was only 75 miles from the Canadian border, so I made it to Peace Arch RV Park in Surrey where the trailer is now stored for a month or more.

I am camped in my mother’s basement as she has taken ill and is spending a few days in the Saanich Peninsula Hospital. Hopefully, she will be discharged soon and I can get her home to tell her that casino food is vastly superior to hospital fare (just what she wants to hear). I plan to stay at least until the beginning of April and then play it by ear, depending on how mother is doing.