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.