travels with the golden falcon: March 2013

Monday, March 25, 2013

From Boardman RV Park and Marina March 25th 2013

(N45 50.731 W119 42.457) El – 228’)

Meanwhile, back in Vegas:

I had thought that a three-day stay at a Casino should merit at least

an effort to gamble, so, having an afternoon to waste, I went in to do battle with Sam’s phalanx of people and machines. First I checked out the Craps table but it was moving far too quickly for me to understand the protocol, then a quick look at the Blackjack tables showed me that minimum bets were too high ($3.00), so I settled for the Blackjack slots. Thinking to get in and get out fast, I put in $20, played for a dollar a game and came out with $21, half an hour later. This made me a winner so, head high, I quit and went home to the trailer to watch TV – such was my gambling experience in Las Vegas.

Even though my departure was next day, I thought it politically correct to try and bring the Doberman next door into my camp. To this end, I invested one of my few remaining Costco dog cookies from the truck door to see if it would respond. Evidently, this dog had never experienced a Costco dog cookie and ignored it for a while. Its owner-lady explained to me that they didn’t have a Costco where they lived so I guess that made sense?

From Vegas, it was north along Highway 95 to Tamarack Beach BLM (free) at Walker Lake (N38 44.813 W118 45.805) near Hawthorne in Nevada, an easy trip of about 525 Kms with only moderate headwinds and reasonable fuel mileage on the truck.

I stayed 3 nights at Walker because there were reports of very cool nights (18 degrees at Klamath Falls) further north. Not much happens at Walker Lake other than that the odd car came in to use the pit toilet. One night very windy – the weather forecast issued a warning especially for Walker Lake, threatening wind gusts up to 60 mph. This happened and the trailer was rocking and rolling that particular night.

Luckily, I wasn’t quite broadside to the wind, but it was still a little worrisome.

From Walker, I had thought to go slowly in easy installments north to the Columbia. However, Klamath Falls still promised temps in the teens, so I kept moving. In the end, 1200 kms later, I arrived at the Columbia River at Biggs Junction. Here I had a little disaster as I whacked a bollard (concrete post) that had been placed about 2 feet out from the fuel island at a Pilot Station, presumably to prevent people like me from hitting the fuel pumps themselves. Whether darkness or just tired eyes from staring at the road for 15 hours contributed, I don’t really know but I heard the crunch and found that I had cut the corner too sharply. The small driver’s side hatch and latch were caved in and there is a dent in the undercarriage, things that I will have to get repaired at some opportune time this summer. For the time being, the trailer was still mobile, so I exited the Pilot and went next door to a different station where they didn’t know me, acting as if nothing had happened. Boardman is about 65 miles east of Biggs on I-84 following the Columbia River upstream along Umatilla Lake, a reservoir created by the John Day Dam lower down the Columbia. The river in this region is actually a series of lakes between dams and never appears to have much current.

Being about 11.30 at night when I got to Boardman, I decided not to waken all the campers, so spent the night next door to the RV Park in a large paved lot used by the marina, anglers for their boat trailers and other day-use visitors. There were no signs prohibiting camping, so any of you travelling this path and looking for a cheap overnighter, should feel free to stop at Boardman. The next morning, I checked in to Boardman RV Park and Marina, which doesn’t seem to appear on any maps but is quite an extensive complex of recreational facilities operated by the county.

Boardman is a favourite stop from previous years with RV sites nestled in amongst large trees and grassy lawns with flocks of geese making riverside walking a slippery proposition. The park offers free WiFi but my own signal was better, so I used that. As most of you know, free camping is my “addiction”, so if one goes to a place where one pays ($19 per night), it needs to be agreeable. Despite the low elevation, nights at Boardman were still cool – in fact, my hose froze at the connection to the trailer one morning, so I had to lay it out on the lawn to thaw.

I shall leave Boardman on Tuesday; stop overnight at the Omak Walmart and get home (with luck) on Wednesday. The plan is to get a few things organized there, and then go out to visit my mother in the 2nd week of April. She will be moving from her house into a residential complex sometime this Spring, whenever a vacancy crops up, so there will be a number of things to help organize.

From Las Vegas Sam's Town Casino and RV March 18th 2013

Of the few people who had ventured out

in the desert to find me, nearly all become lost – this largely because they either didn’t follow my GPS instructions or didn’t have a GPS with them, or, in the case of the young Mexican outside my door one morning, they had been walking for three days without food, looking for work as a plumber in the US. All my pipes seem to be functioning so I gave him some bread and water, practiced my Spanish to get details of how he crossed the border and called the US Border Patrol. My new friend had sprained his ankle the day before and needed help. He told me that he had been able to see the white of my trailer in the distance and had homed in on that as a beacon. I asked if he wanted me to call in the Patrol and he agreed. He was hoping that they would feed him before they took him back to the border. Interestingly, he had no idea of exactly where he was going or where to find work but was very certain about one thing – never again!

Hugh Richards came to visit and got lost due to my faulty instructions, having mixed up miles and kilometers on the phone. After he ended up in the middle of nowhere, having run into a dead end, we did meet up, had a chat and then parted ways.

Strangely, given the frequency of rain this winter, there are very few wildflowers blooming in the desert. Some small flowers are up but I don’t know enough to identify them.

Much of the desert closes to the public on March 15th to give Pronghorn Antelope an opportunity to Fawn (not “spawn” as per a previous note) without prying eyes on them. I suspect that the desert travel prohibition will not affect the several hundred local Border Patrol members who will continue to tear around in their trucks and on ATVs, not to mention using frequent helicopter flights for surveillance, hopefully slowing down so as to minimize the dust cover on fawning animals.

On March 13th, I had my last milk/Scrabble run to Ajo where, despite a spirited offence, I managed to lose again. By this time, daytime temperatures were rising into the mid 90s (35C) so I decided to depart for cooler climes. First stop on March 14th was Quartzsite for one day. Q. was pretty dead with most vendors either gone or packing up to go. However, we (Steve Wilson and I) toured what was left and returned to our camp on an unattractive piece of ground off Plomosa Road near Highway 95.

Next for me was Las Vegas where I called and booked in at Sam’s Club Casino and RV Park. Here, I could plug in to power and run my air conditioner. This trip took about 4 hours via Havasu and Bullhead City along the river (not the fastest route). Sam’s was easy to find using the GPS since it is directly off Boulder Highway at the Henderson end of Vegas.

Sites at Sam’s are very small, so it was quite difficult to squeeze in beside the people

on one side (who had a dog pen for their Doberman plus a van and a Motorhome using up far more than their allotted space) and the electrical box on the othe.r Once in place and hooked up though, the air conditioning was bracing after the heat of the past few days. The campground also offers hot showers, cable, sewer hook-up etc. Sam’s is a large casino with lots of facilities, including the buffet. After getting a Player’s card (free), one receives a $5 discount on meals, a sure summons to overindulge.

The next day I took the free shuttle down to the “Strip” (Las Vegas Boulevard), where most of the big hotels and Casinos are located. The first activity was to hop on the Mono-Rail ($5) and go to the southern terminus at MGM Grand – planning to walk from there back to where I had started.

Just finding my way out of the maze of parking lots and then this massive casino took the better part of an hour. The “Strip” was jammed with people, many of whom were dressed as leprechauns celebrating St. Patrick’s Day. Most of these people had jugs of green beer in hand and were well on their way to being intoxicated. As this was only about 2 in the afternoon, I’m sure the evening atmosphere in town could have been messy. I walked along taking pictures, watched street acrobats jumping over 4 standing people at a single bound and listened to an Elvis impersonator on one corner.

The ”Strip” is basically a wide boulevard enclosed by massive hotel/casinos, all at least 20 stories high and each of which has a theme and, in some cases, quite outlandish architecture. The walk from MGM back to Harrahs was quite entertaining and I was glad that I had taken one of my “golf” pills to assist the bad hip in surviving a long hike on pavement.

Going back a few weeks in the news, these two items struck my eye in USA Today.

1. The State of Mississippi finally ratified the 13th Amendment, abolishing slavery – 148 years late!

2. Only in the

– A Missouri State legislator proposed legislation that would make it a felony for any fellow legislator to introduce gun-control legislation – imagine living in a place where people of this quality control your government?

From Vegas, I think that I shall head up 95 in Western Nevada, then over to Klamath Falls on 97 in Oregon. If the weather looks clear, I might stop over at an Indian Casino Kla-Mo-Ya, just north of Klamath and take a stab at viewing Crater Lake. Two previous attempts to see the lake have failed due to blizzard conditions and zero visibility but one should keep trying. From there it will be up to the Columbia River where I will probably stop a day or two at Boardman County Park and Marina.

Friday, March 08, 2013

From Rusty Water Tank (decomissioned) Camp Feb 28th 2013

From Rusty Water Tank (decommissioned) (N32 17.183 W112 51.132)

As my present location is very pleasant and there appears to be little interest in overdue camping enforcement by BLM Rangers, I am staying put for a while.

In the last couple of weeks, I have been a little more active than usual. Hikes of 4.3 miles and 3.3 miles, plus a couple of 10 mile bike rides have sweated off an ounce or two. These have been in company with Steve Wilson, on his Honda for the rides, with his walking stick for the hikes.

Various friends have announced intent to visit the region, though not necessarily my specific campsite here at Rusty Water Tank. The Richards, Hugh and Christine, have returned to Mica Mine Road in company with Dave and Gail Lewis.

They are about 6 miles away as the cactus wren flies, longer by road. Darch and Kiki (his lab), along with friends, plan to come and shatter the tranquility of Rusty Water Tank for a few days as well. Dog lovers, though welcome, should probably keep their pets away from my campsite as the cholla cacti are omnipresent and unforgiving to errant (unleashed) pet-paws. Dave and Gail came to visit in the ATV and I went to them in the truck for an afternoon firepit session.

Gayle and Don Weyers, along with their semi-pro-scrabble-playing-friend were also slated to visit Rusty Water Tank for a game of boondocking scrabble but a recent severe-weather alert, plus the fact that Gayle’s friend has to catch a plane back to Albuquerque, meant instead that we postponed for a day or two..

Life is still very quiet out in the desert. Other than Border Patrol vehicles going by in the distance, one rarely sees or hears anything (other than the howling of wind at the moment).

Of course, coyotes also howl at night, mourning doves coo, owls hoot and cactus wrens chatter, so at least the desert is alive with some noise.

The anticipated storm did arrive with significant rain pelting down during the one night and part of a day. When I went to Ajo on a milk run, there was plenty of pooling on roads. I even saw snow in the distance up on some hills to the East. The power went out and flickered back on while I was in Ajo but cell service and Internet were out on arrival back at the trailer (back again at 6.00). Apparently, there are two companies providing power to different sections of Ajo. At some point their lines cross each other, so it was only bad luck that the lines of one fell over on top of the lines of the other. Ajo residents were very upset because there was little information to be found. In retrospect, it turns out that one of the companies has what I consider to be a common sense rule that workers can only work for 15 hours at a stretch. The problem was that the power line issues were almost sorted out when workers downed tools and went home for their mandatory rest. Here in the desert, we who live under solar power happily ignore the problems of those “on the grid”

En route to town, I checked various camp sites up and around MM Road. I think that, RWT, if one discounts the abundance of Cholla, is the best. Some of the ones where I could get Internet and cell access were not very level and possibly too rough, even for me, to get to with the trailer.

A week or so ago while Steve and I were sitting on the Astroturf lawn enjoying the sun, along came a Border Patrol Officer on his ATV. He told us that he was tracking a group of Mexicans who weren’t very far away. After he left (driving between 11 o’clock and noon on my carefully-constructed sun dial rocks, we went to check but could see no tracks – maybe he was on a make-work project?

February 22nd - Darch arrived with his friends, Richard and Linda, from Whistler/Powell River in tow. He had lost them several times on the way, breezing through amber and red lights and then overshot the turn here at RWT. According to them, they were in the dark as to where to go much of the trip as Darch disappeared into the distance ahead.

On the shoulder of the hill above camp is a cave. With Darch, there is always a requirement for activity, so we climbed to this cave, to find that it had been inhabited at one time. Signs of a fire pit, along with a spatula and sardine tin were evidence of other climbers, possibly a centuries-old Tohono O’odham Shaman or, more likely, a modern day drug-smuggler’s lookout?

Richard and Linda stayed one night and headed off to see London Bridge at Lake Havasu. Darch stayed an extra day and then went home to Apache Junction. Thoughts of a bike ride were in the air until Darch discovered that his padlock key for the bike chain was MIA, presumably left behind at home. We settled for a fire and BBQ, finally using some of the wood that I have been carting around since Plomosa Road. As an activity, I decided to take a few pics of local varieties of cactus and shrubbery as several of you in the Great White North have been inquiring.

I thought it would be a good idea to buy a few Jalpeños with which to spice up the stewpot. Tastewise, this was quite successful but I did learn that one should avoid rubbing one’s eyes after chopping peppers – the sting is longlasting and painful.

Finally, the other day, I had my first win at Scrabble – a great moment in sport! I was lucky to get most, if not all of the high scoring letters, so skill was likely not a factor.

Temps nowadays 70/40, about perfect for me with cool nights and pleasant days. One of the by-products of warmer daytime temperatures is that a small, quite aggressive variety of bee smells out the water that I carry in the back of the truck.

They seem especially partial to the red 10 gallon rubber bladder, possibly because the moisture aroma seeps through the material or maybe just because it’s colourful – I don’t know. In any case, there are afternoons when it receives attention from the “swarm”.