From Barview Jetty County Park OR March 22nd

 

 

The slow road north commenced March 13th when I broke camp in the hills west of Ajo. Since leaving, I have covered a few miles in relative ease and stayed at various places – mostly RV Parks with electrical plug-ins and water provided. Having “Boondocked” for free the whole winter (except for my excursion to Vancouver Island in December/January), I thought I would stop looking for Walmarts and other free places to enjoy relative comfort in knowing where I was going to end up each night. The plan for the Oregon Coast was to spend a couple of nights at each of the chosen State or County Parks, thus having a free day to explore the region instead of packing up and moving along every morning. I have until the end of March to reach the Canadian border and stay within the timetable of my medical insurance plan.

Below, I am listing in short form the places I stopped en route, so far, prices where applicable and events as they may have happened.

 

March 13th – Lake Havasu State Park Overflow Camping (on the lake)

            $20 (too much) but in walking distance (1 mile) of the Golden Corral Buffet

            I underestimated the walk a little and, even with my cane decided it was a little far for my hips. Next time, one should catch the little Havasu Transit bus that passed me both to and from.

The buffet was, as always - a “stuffer”.

            No hook-ups but hot showers and toilets available

 

March 14th – Orange Grove RV Park near Bakersfield CA.

The last time I passed through Bakersfield, strong winds and heavy snow forced closure of the Tehachapi pass, just east of where I was going and shortly after I went over. It was a pleasant experience this time to cruise along in 80 degree weather and not worry about losing control of the trailer in slippery conditions.

 

            One can smell the aroma of oranges from miles away. Normally, guests can pick their fill of oranges as each site has at least one tree. This time, the picking season was ended as blooming was taking place. This was quite an expensive stop at $36 but Hugh and Christine Richards were overnighting there, plus it was close to Bakersfield where I wanted to go to visit the Verizon store to enquire about an upgraded MiFi Internet adapter.

Called a Jetpack MiFi 5510, my new machine cost $95 and is capable of providing Internet at 4G speeds (where available). It seems to have a very good battery life, works only on wireless (no USB) and occasionally gets me a signal even when the cell phone does not.

While at the Verizon Mall in Bakersfield, a security lady in her little car with amber flashing lights came by to inquire about my business at the mall. After establishing my credentials as someone who really was planning to spend money at the mall and justified taking up about 6 parking spaces to do so, we had a conversation about the general state of crime in Bakersfield and area, her mall in particular. Interestingly, Hondas are the most frequently boosted (stolen) cars because they are used in street racing; truck tailgates come next on the list of desirable items. I’m thinking that anyone who wants to take off with my tailgate would be making a big mistake as it is bent, scratched, and has to be held on to the truck with straps to prevent it from falling off. Anyway, I ended up getting my new MiFi which operates on a pre-paid basis. I get 3 Gbs of data for $60 per month, only for the months that I want it and don’t have to bear the costs of a year round contract. Essentially, this device is the same idea as the one that I already have, except that it can operate on 4G (much faster) networks where available. When 4G is unavailable, it will also work on 3G or 1X systems.

From Bakersfield, I-99, then I-5 North is a long haul over fairly monotonous terrain including a lot of orchard country. I made a stopover at Kit Fox RV Park in a place called Patterson, Ca (nothing special to report other than a Denny’s Restaurant next door), followed the next day by a more interesting route but one that I will probably not do again. Turning West on CA 12 was a mistake. This is one of the roughest, bounciest paved roads that I have driven in some time and while I saved a few miles over going up to Williams and then crossing to the coast via CA 20, this was not the way to go. 12 leads into Freeway 80 and that was bumper to bumper, white knuckle driving, on a Sunday yet, for all the distance it took to get to 101, the main drag north. 101 is, by contrast, reasonably scenic and less crowded, so I enjoyed that part of the day. That night, I made it through part of Redwoods National Park as far as Benbow RV near Garberville, CA. I had visited Benbow with Lynn and Donna Mae Wilson about 30 years ago on our golf trip south to Las Angeles one Spring. Benbow has a little golf course along with quite a well known restaurant at the old hotel and, while I didn’t play, or eat there, I was tempted for old times’ sake.
From Benbow, a short day to Humbug Mountain State Park (N44 09.805 W124 06.771), the first in southern Oregon that I had intended to visit. Two days there, a hike on the beach, a trip into nearby Port Orford to Griffs on the dock for chowder and oysters for lunch, the hardware store for hose couplings as my two hoses were both spraying water all over the place. Lastly, movies on TV rounded out the evening since there was no satellite access - cell phone service also very dodgy, though I could access Internet with the new Verizon Jetpack boosted by “Sleek”.

 

Again, a shortish trip up the coast to my next stop - Carl G Washburne Memorial State Park Campground. (N44 09.8054 W124 06.771). Another very attractive location, about ½ mile from the beach, no cell, no satellite but very weak Internet with the jetpack and Sleek.

During the drive, I stopped at Coos Bay, probably the Oregon Coast’s best effort at producing a “city”, to have brunch at “The Mill” Casino where there is free parking for RVs and an RV Park for those who need one. With my I-phone, I found and phoned an RV repair place that would look at the main slide on my trailer. It had been sticking for some time, squealing in protest and moving with only short bursts when I pressed the switch. I felt it was threatening to give up the ghost, probably miles from anywhere. This place - Porter’s RV, was excellent. They took me in right away, moved a Motorhome out of the way and went to work. The mechanic had things figured out and fixed in an exact half hour, including a run across the street to a Napa to get a new “pressure relief breaker(?)” that had grown weak with age (like many of us). In addition, he sprayed the rubber weather stripping with some rubber softener because, again with age, the rubber had become brittle and was grabbing the slide. Anyway, it works fine now and I was back on the highway in short order.

 

For my spare day at Carl G Washburne, I hiked to the beach, stopped to see and take pictures at Heceta Head Lighthouse on my way to Florence in which I found the Three Rivers Casino (N43 58.906 W124 05.254) where the chowder was good along with a Caesar Salad and excellent breadsticks dipped in balsamic vinegar and olive oil – all for $6.45! On any future trip I would consider staying at Three Rivers (free) as they encourage RVs, have a special parking lot available and a buffet open on some days of the week. Coming back to camp, I decided that I had better check up on the Sea Lions, who inhabit a giant cavern (185’ high) in a cliffside not far from my camp. I remember vaguely going to see these lions, or progenitors of same, back in the 50s with my parents on a camping trip. I’m pretty sure that we had no elevator to whisk us 200’ down to the cave but my hips and I were quite thankful for the ride ($13 for seniors).

The Sea Lion Caves were really spectacular because, in addition to all these 2000 pound creatures roaring and trying to look as alluring as possible for their mates, draping themselves over sheer pinnacles of rock, huge surf kept coming into the cave and crashing against all these rocks in a relentless manner. I reckoned that some of these lions must occasionally get whacked on the head by the rocks when they try to get out to go hunting but the attendant told me that he was unaware if that ever happened since sea lions have very tough skin. I wouldn’t question that premise but the power of the waves was phenomenal and I watched these animals slide off their rocks into the surf, attempt to head out to sea, only to be swept back inland against the rocks by the next big wave. The old attendant maintained that they were “having fun” and so it may be though I’m not quite sure how he would know that? Anyway, a good day by my standards.

 

March 22nd Barview Jetty County Park (N45 34.377 W123 57.048)
Barview is quite a large park, fairly wide open and definitely in the Tsunami Zone (all the way up the coast, roadside signs proclaim one to be “in it” or “leaving it”), being very flat to the sea. The trip north from Carl G Washburne Park was only about 3 hours, given the slow, winding coast road. I stopped on the way at the Tillamook Cheese factory – extremely crowded with masses of very large people eating ice cream. I was prepared to mail a brick of cheese to Tony W for his birthday but Tillamook has stopped offering that service since I was last here. (it’s the thought that counts,Tony)

For a County Park, Barview seems to me to be pretty expensive at $43 for the first night (includes a brand new $10 “transaction fee” that is not explained on the website), then $32 for subsequent nights. Dogs or other pets cost extra, as do showers and WiFi, if you need it, but kids are included so, given my druthers, State parks are vastly superior. When I arrived, the staff at the front gate told me that they had to hurry and had no time to take my money as they had to attend a staff meeting – strange time to hold a staff meeting just when  all the travellers are arriving at 3.30 in the afternoon! They just had time to give me a list of reserved sites where I should not camp, none of which had been occupied by the following morning, so I’m still trying to work this one out. Anyway, I’ll stay a couple of days since I have the satellite rigged up for TV, another $15 week of Internet service from Verizon and good cell signals. Perhaps best of all might be the Pirate’s Cove Restaurant, about 2 miles south on 101 – excellent seafood and chowder. From Barview, it will be Highways 6 and 26 from Tillamook to Portland, then along the Columbia River to Boardman County park – hope they are still affordable!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

From Mica Mine Road March 13th 2014

Just a quick note, since some of you may be on my flight plan. I have now decided to pull up stakes here in the Ajo Hills and am heading North. Planning about two weeks or so to get to the Canadian border, I thought I would try the Oregon Coast State Parks again, hopefully without becoming snowbound on the way at the Willits, CA Safeway parking lot. My last effort was disrupted by snowstorms in Northern California, so I didn’t really visit too many places

On the way I shall pass through  Bakersfield, CA - there to visit the Verizon store and inquire about getting an updated MiFi for Internet access, then the Redwood Forest Avenue of the Giants where I shall resist any temptation to attempt to pull the trailer through the big tree that sits in the middle of the road and has room for cars. Anyway, that's the plan - subject to change as external conditions dictate. . Maybe, with luck (bad), I could pick up a Redwood Forest rat (apparently they are giants) on the way through.

 

Oregon could take about a week after which, the Columbia River Gorge has some nice spots, including US Army Corps of Engineers campsites at some of the dams on the way. In the end, I will stop at the Boardman Regional Park, south of the Tri-Cities for a day or two. This is a past favourite and puts me in striking distance of the border at the end of the month.

 

Meanwhile, back in Ajo, my first of this year’s forays into the Scrabble world at my friends, Gayle and Don Weyers in Ajo resulted, predictable, in defeat, though I did manage a creditable second place in one game. Not content with one loss, I returned for more of the same yesterday Wed, March 12th and got thumped again. Perhaps I should have studied my crib-sheet of two-letter words beginning with “Q” a little better.

 

My primary preoccupation of late, however, has been the search and destroy mission of a packrat that took up residence in the motor compartment of my truck. One might recall that I had a rat nesting issue about a month ago while camped on Plomosa Road and thought that the situation had been resolved with a couple of pressure washes at the local car wash. That rat, I never actually saw but there was plenty of evidence in the form of nesting materials.

 

The Mica Mine Road fiend (now deceased), I had seen on several occasions and ample evidence of its presence was to be found in the form of cholla cactus spikes and fruits along with plentiful droppings littering the entire engine area. When popping the hood in bright sunshine, he/she/it sat and stared with ratlike innocence, though by the time I went to find a suitable weapon with which to dispatch it, the rat had disappeared into the bowels of the motor. I tried mothballs, another motor wash, poking with a BBQ fork and rat traps but nothing proved successful until I spotted a grey bit of fur by the light of my flashlight down in one of the many engine cavities but out of reach of all my tools – except, my ski pole. In the end, this spear completed the job, though it took me an hour or more to poke the rat out onto the ground. Now I have traps set and am hoping that the rest of the tribe doesn’t arrive to commence a settling of scores.

 

From Mica Mine Road March 4th 2014

March 4th Mica Mine Road (N32 19.845 W112 53.311)

Seems a long time since I last jotted a few notes but the reality is that not much happens in the desert, particularly with me since there are few trappings of civilization to confuse my life.

I am now camped in the hills west of Ajo, Az, a spot that I have visited on several occasions in other years and now share with Hugh and Christine Richards, plus Penny and Katie, the dogs, we being a respectable 500 metres apart. 

As you know, I returned from Vancouver Island after visiting my mother and helping her move into a new home back in January. She is still doing fine but has goods days and some that aren’t so good. Anyway, I talk on the phone when she is able and she seems well taken care of at her new place.

 

Since sending the group e-mail in late January, not a whole lot happened over on Plomosa Road. One notable event, however, was the running of the Parker 425, a desert road race on a course looping through Bouse but starting in Parker. Some vehicles do two laps, others three, according to their speed capabilities. For spectators, this can be a dusty experience, depending on which way the wind, if any, is blowing relative to where one positions oneself. From a distance, such as where I camp up on Plomosa Road, it appears as if the entire desert fills with sand to a height of 50 to 100 feet or so. I went to watch with Paul Chu, friend of Ted Webber, who had taken his camper down the night before “to get a good spot” at one of the viewing areas near Bouse. While he said the camper was fairly airproof, it is hard to imagine not getting a coating of dust on everything. Anyway, lots of noise and excitement as specially designed desert rails and trucks come screaming by at high revs and high speed. Lots of people were wearing masks to breath, so I only stayed an hour or two and then headed back up into the hills.

From time to time, I would see Walt and Susan Brugger who were camped in sight just down the trail with their friends Jim and Patti – they of fridge cleaning fame. I gave each couple some nice steaks from the butcher in Quartzsite as a thank you for the messy job. Jim, and Patti seem to have recovered from what they reckon might have been swine flu (H1N1). This lasted several weeks and was not, from their description, a pleasant occurrence.

 

One day, I heard an ad on Quartzsite radio promoting Steve’s burgers as a greasy, gooey experience not to be missed. If this appeals to any of you, feel free to rush on down and try one out while the place still exists. There was also something about a 6” high pile of fries if the thought of the burger wasn’t enough on its own.

Once again this year, Bouse offered the outstanding attraction of Rowdy and Bandit, the miniature Brahma bull and Sicilian donkey about whom I have written before. For those in the neighbourhood, this act takes place on Thursdays at 2 pm. off Plomosa Road as it exits the outer suburbs of Bouse. The bike has been fairly stagnant this year, so I have decided that it is time to get pedalling again and have been out for a couple of short rides. After so long of me being as rusty as the bike, muscles and points of tenderness need to be worked on slowly, so it may be a week or so before I venture further afield.

There is virtually no wildlife except an occasional hummer to report in the desert this winter though anecdotal reports of a herd (maybe 3 or 4) of cattle were being bandied about by the neighbours. I did actually see them back in December, so know that they exist. What they live on is beyond me since the desert surface is bare of what I would consider to be edible vegetation. Ironwood tree leaves and other shrubbery must make up their diet though, on sighting these cattle, one has to wonder whether they are actually of any use to the rancher since there is no meat on them at all..

 

Since returning from Canada, I have been leaving the solar panels flat on the roof (as opposed to tilting them). The combination of a flat screen TV and LED lights has lowered my power consumption from what it was before I had these things to the point where I can maintain the batteries at 100%, even with the odd jolt from the microwave to heat the morning mug of coffee. Early winter (December), the sun is quite low in the sky so incoming rays have less potency. From now on, the sun is higher and I should see increases every week. All this information, and more, is measured on the Tri-Metric Monitor – first requirement for any of you considering life as a boondocker using solar energy instead of shore power or a generator.

 

Back in early February, Gerry and Heather Percy visited Plomosa in their big Motorhome. They managed to get it fairly close to where I was camped, stayed a few days and then departed for Why. I discovered that there was a new bike shop in Quartzsite so went off in search of extra-thick-thorn-resistant tubes and replacement tires. Arriving at Bill’s Bikes, I found that there was diesel fuel pouring onto the ground from somewhere up in the motor of the truck. Not sure what to do and having no mechanical recourse as it was a Sunday, I decided to drive the 25 minutes back to camp on Plomosa, hoping that the truck wouldn’t burst into flames. In fact, I even took off the seat belt in case I had to leap out. Back at camp in one piece, I looked under the hood and found that fuel was bubbling out from under the fuel filter cap so took that off and then back on and everything worked just fine – a minor miracle. While checking under the hood, I discovered a large rodent nest of moss and grass, presumably originating from home at the Shuswap since there is no moss in this part of the world. From time to time at my cabin, I have seen marmots (groundhogs)sitting on the truck tires, so having one or more make a nest is not that surprising. I went to a carwash in Parker and sprayed the whole area to see if I could get rid of the diesel smell. Trouble is, they don’t use hot water in the south so my efforts were only partly successful.

Wed, Feb 26th, I moved to Ajo (about 4 hours), and joined up with the Richards who had been in the area a week or so already.

Friend Darch, with Kiki the wonder dog, drove over from Apache Junction for a couple of days, camped in my trailer and then hurried home as he was trying to sell his Motorhome and had a hot prospect on the line.

My camp at the end of the Richards’ trail is a very tight squeeze with a small turning circle around creosote bushes and some cacti. I finally wiggled myself into position in a nice spot and got set up but will do (actually have already done) some selective pruning to smooth the progress of my exit when the time comes in a couple of weeks.

There are only a few other rigs in the general area and one is hard pressed to see any signs of life unless one climbs a hill and scans the desert for a few miles.

As you will see from the pictures, Mica Mine Road is a bit mountainous with peaks rising from the valley the better part of 1000’ in places nearby.

Even though I am surrounded by hills, my Internet signal is quite good, plus both phones have weak to middling reception and text on the Canadian one works most of the time. Tomorrow, I’m heading into Ajo for what will be my first Scrabble defeat of 2014 from friends Don and Gayle Weyers. As it is already quite late in the winter, they will only be able to crush me once or twice before I move slowly North at the middle of the month.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jan 27th 2014 back on Plomosa Road

 

Jan 27th 2014 back on Plomosa Road 16.6/1.9 (N33 53.117 W114 03.424)

I left the south December 23rd to fly back to Canada for a visit with my mother, hospitalized on Vancouver Island with a bout of suspected pneumonia.

Now back in the south, I have relocated the trailer on a site not too far (300 M west) from where I was before, off Plomosa Road near Bouse, Az. In my absence, friends Walt and Susan, along with their friends Jim and Patti, kept an eye on the trailer and even cleaned out the rotting food that followed after the fridge stopped operating. This happened – I cannot tell a lie – due to pilot error. The principle operator (me) forgot to turn on the extra propane tank valve after refilling the tank a few days before my departure. Anyway, these stalwarts have earned my everlasting gratitude. At first there was a residual odour but a combination of vinegar spray, pine cleaner and coffee grounds, along with freezing temps have pretty well cleared that away. Jim and Patti somehow managed to contract a case of what they suspect to have been Swine Flu (H1N1) which put them into self-imposed quarantine in their trailer for several weeks. This is a tough and unpleasant way to spend one’s winter. From all reports, there is a fair bit of the disease going around, not only in the south but also in Western Canada.

Meanwhile, back on Vancouver Island, my mom survived her trip to the hospital and has now moved into a new residence called AllCare-Sidney (2269 Mills Road, Sidney BC, V8L 2C3). Here, a team of nurses and Care Workers provide all the help required, food is good and my mom can get out for occasional walks if someone accompanies her, either a friend or staff member.

While visiting, I stayed nearby at a cottage on the sheep farm owned by John Romashenko of Saanich Peninsula Realty - there’s a plug for you, John!  He sold my mother’s house on Wain Road last Spring. This works for me as I can come and go as I wish, cook for myself and only have a short drive into Sidney. John was also kind enough to lend me one of his vehicles for the duration.

Here in Arizona, temps have been hitting the high 70s (25C +), skies are mostly sunny and the Quartzsite RV Show has been in full swing. As in past years, hordes of boondockers like me as well as other RVers descend on this sleepy little town in the desert to gawk at RV accessories, woolen socks “like grandma used to make”, Honda generators and, of course, shiny new (also used) motorhomes and trailers.. All these things we want, mostly don’t need and can’t afford anyway. Anyone wanting LED lights, information on trips to the Yukon and Alaska or back pain remedies should go to this show because all the vendors are there along with the requisite giant plates of curly fires and gravy for the not-so-health-conscious among us.

My trailer has chosen this time to show its age, once again, by making clunking sounds that emanate from the front landing legs, thus rendering them ineffective. Two years ago, friend Walt changed one leg gear to fix a similar problem and volunteered to go to work again. This time, we changed the other landing leg crown gear which was badly worn but decided that the problem actually lay in the motor gearbox which contains four concave plates forming a sort of clutch that, when too much weight is applied, go clunkety clunk clunk. Walt repaired everything he could and, in the process, I discovered that my manual jack mechanism actually worked and will act as a backup if ever things grind to a halt again.

Ted Webber is camped with me in his motorhome, so rides as co-pilot with me on parts trips to Quartzsite that often include lunch at “Bad Boys” restaurant, possibly one of the best finds in Q. Yesterday, we swung by the little town of Brenda - not listed in my GPS) on our way back from Q. to visit Dave and Gail Lewis. They are staying at Desert Gold RV Park, a big park with paved roads and plenty of trails on which Dave can exercise the Razr (ATV side-by-side) to his heart’s content

I am back on the US cell for voice calls but the Canadian cell works best for texts as I have an unlimited amount of text capacity with Telus and the US phone won’t text to or from Canada anyway. E-mail, as always, works just fine and gets checked daily, or more, if I get restive to see your responses.

Now that life has calmed down a little and my mom is settling into her new place, I may get a little time to go biking. Both the bike and I need to work off a little rust, and, in my case, shed a few pounds while I’m at it.

Attached are a few pics including me and my mom at the AllCare New Year party, sheep in the fields, Quartzsite and not much more.

 

 

 

 

 

 

From Plomosa Road December 16th 2013

 

 

December 15th from Plomosa Road 16.6/1.7 (N33 53.206 W114 03.169)

Greetings from Arizona. To some, this lengthy summary of my travels may come as a shock if you are new to the list and may never have seen one before. To others who have endured these missives in years past, just keep the “delete” button handy.

The summer of 2013 passed with lots of activity, largely in the form of trips back and forth to Vancouver Island visiting my mother. She moved from her house to a residential building (Beechwood village) in Sidney back in early summer. Other than that, the Shuswap schedule didn’t vary a lot from other years when I golfed three days a week, got steadily worse, decided to ride a cart in mid-summer because of ongoing hip issues and spent the fall chopping firewood. Thanks to Joe and the crew who felled, hauled and stacked the tree that I would have been unable to manage by myself.

 

This year, the trip south was marked by cool weather, cool enough to convince me that plugging in, both truck and trailer at times, became necessary as temps dropped as low as 3°F (-16°C) at jackpot, NV.

I left the cabin on Dec 1st as usual, snow threatening and weather fairly mild. The deepest snow on my whole trip was probably in Salmon Arm with about 5 or 6 cms on the ground and slick roads. The last things I want to see are icy roads, since the trailer carries a lot of weight and responds poorly to its brakes on slippery surfaces. Most of the trip, however, was on good roads, south from me to the Omak, WA Walmart (N48 24 927 W119 30.449), always the first and last stop of my winter travels, then over the dreaded Blue Mountain Summit on I-84 to Farewell Bend State Park N44 18.503 117 13.467 on the Snake River where, for $17, I had a nice site under trees in a grassy campground. I had been a little concerned on Blue Mountain because a number of large semis were chaining up on both sides of the pass, leading me to think that they knew something that I didn’t. Conditions, however, remained dry enough though I was waiting, particularly on the eastern downslope, for patches of snow and ice that, thankfully, did not materialize. Plugging in is a useful benefit of paying for campgrounds as I can run a small electric heater, save a bit on propane and keep batteries topped up to operate the furnace fan if necessary. In addition, the microwave has power enough to heat a frozen dinner. These things are taken for granted once I arrive in the south where plentiful sun charges batteries via solar panels and I have no fear of running low on power.

 

This year, I sensed that the “house” batteries in the trailer were weakening (a ninth season was asking too much), so stopped at a Camping World in Meridian, ID (west of Boise) where they sold me a new set (Exide GC 135s, on discount with my Good Sam membership) and installed them for me. I reckoned it to be an easy day’s drive from Farewell Bend to Jackpot, NV and Cactus Pete’s world renowned dinner buffet. This was not to be as weather socked in completely just near “Bliss”, ID (not living up to its heavenly promise), snow started in earnest and roads quickly turned icy). On the I-phone, I found Hagerman RV (approx - 42 49.437 W114 53.690) not too far away and booked in. Hagerman is the gateway to Valley of 1000 Springs, along which waterfalls shoot out of the escarpment to join the Snake River below. The next day, only a short drive to Jackpot – I was glad to do this in daylight in clear weather rather than at night in a storm. At Jackpot, temps were predicted to become very cold and did, in fact reach 3°F (-16°C). The casino/hotel at Cactus Pete’s (N41 58.771 W114 40.405) allowed me to plug both truck and trailer in for free while I booked a room connected directly by warm elevator to the dinner buffet. I can live in the trailer with all heaters going at these temperatures but reckon to waste a lot of propane doing so and the lure of a nice shower after many dry nights was too much to resist. I forgot to mention that the trailer usually contains no water, just anti-freeze in the lines and tanks until I arrive at a point of the trip where I feel that it is safe to fill them without concern over freezing. This year, that was Lake Havasu City – even Vas Vegas was experiencing sub-freezing nights.

From Jackpot, it is about a 7 hour drive to Alamo, NV where, normally, I would camp at the Wildlife Preserve on Lake Pahranagat. This night promised record temps for Alamo at 12°F (-11°C) so once again I headed in to a park. In this case, it was the night of the new “Sound of Music” on TV with Carrie Underwood that caught my attention; Alamo RV (N37 21.850 W115 05.598) had cable TV, so I bit the bullet and checked in. Carrie, as always, was photogenic and the show was worth watching. However, Julie Andrews was missing and they used an obviously fake indoor mountain set instead of grassy meadows, so the show only gets 3.5 out of 5 stars.

Next stop – the Blue Beacon Truck Wash in Las Vegas (N36 12.840 W115 07.716). By now, the truck, trailer and bicycle on back were coated in a layer of road salt and badly in need of a scrubbing. I have been to this Wash before - easy to find just off the highway in North Vegas and they do an excellent job. Shiny again, I arrived at Lake Havasu State Park N34 29.671 W114 21.400 for a night to do a water fill-up and hit the Chinese Food buffet not too far away. Unfortunately, this latter had disappeared and the premises were for lease, so I hunted around, then plugged “Chinese” into the GPS and up came the Golden Corral just around the corner. A very worthwhile find, the Golden Corral has senior’s rates and is a very long buffet with all types of foods. The next day, after a shower in the Park facility, a very short drive (15 mi.) to Cattail Cove State Park (N34 21.299 W114 09.952) where friends Dave and Gail Lewis along with Gillian and Ian Wright were camped. Neither Lewises or Wrights plan to camp in the desert this year, seduced by the charms of easy power, running water and clean restrooms. I believe that Dave mentioned a State Park package of 7 nights camping for the price of 5 to make their camping a little more affordable.  Some brief socializing and then on to Plomosa Road the next day – with a stop in Parker at the Walmart for fresh supplies and an external hard drive for my computer. Back at Cattail, Dave had copied some movies and comedy shows from his computer to mine, these to show on nights when nothing acceptable appears on the dish or if Shaw Satellite fails altogether as had been intimated by their reps back in Canada. In order not to clutter my own laptop, the external drive holds a lot of data “on the side”, so to speak.

 

So far at Plomosa 16.6/1.7 (MM 16.6/west on the trail about 1.7 miles), I have seen Walt and Sue Brugger, camped two stone throws away, along with their entourage of friends, as well as Gerry and Heather Percy, who are camped at the west end of Plomosa Road but headed soon to the Yuma area. We have enjoyed reciprocal visits – me to jump start their car with my truck and cables, they to deliver clam chowder. We will likely meet up later in the winter, possibly at Q. RV Show time (Jan 18th). In a few days, Dec 19th, I am expecting the Michauds, Lyn and Linda to show up for a day or two and a quick expedition to Q.Temps here were chilly for a few days (45°/27°) but have now recovered to more seasonal norms of 70°/50°.

 

I was pleased to discover that my Shaw signal works fine with the exception that Canadian HD channels are absent. I can get the same channels in “classic” mode and all the US networks in HD. This might be an alignment thing with the dish or something else so a dish tweak on some quiet day is on the list. Bottom line – I get everything I’m supposed to get but some of it is not in HD (no point in complaining to Shaw or asking questions because, if I do, they will aim the death ray at my dish and that will be that!).   

 

Some of you know that I acquired a “Sleek” signal booster before leaving Canada. It works well at the cabin and also works down here in the desert. Sometimes, it takes a few minutes to get itself focussed but, once connected, it can raise my MiFi Internet signal from 0/1 bars to 2/3 bars, an excellent investment at Canadian Tire last Fall. I was having a little trouble acquiring signal but, after chatting with the Verizon guy who suggested that I should not only place the antenna on the roof (as it was) but also expand its base with some sort of flat metal plate rather than one small washer that I had been using. As it turns out, I have been collecting, over the years, a variety of shortbread biscuit tins given to me by my mother and containing the annual Christmas present of shortbread and Christmas cake. One of these tins, a nice red in Santa Claus theme now holds the “Sleek”. It had to be filled with rocks to keep it from blowing off the roof but seems to do the job quite well and gives the roof a festive appearance at the same time.