From Gunsight Wash February 26th 2017

My coach has an Aqua-hot heating system which can heat the interior, heat the hot water or even heat the engine, depending on how one sets it.

With night-time temps at or about the freezing mark e few times during the winter (only 27 one morning), I would set the thermostat at 48 during the night, just in case it got really cold and the water pipes needed a little thawing (not the case unless much cooler). During the day, after a morning heat-up, I turned the system off, because, by then, sun is coming through the big front windows to warm the coach. Aqua-Hot also heats the water except I rarely use it for that unless having one of my occasional navy showers. Dishes get washed once a day if they're lucky, from water heated in a pot on the stove and supplied from my 5 gal jug that can be refilled from time to time. Overall, I would say the Aqua-Hot system is excellent even though I don't use it to full potential. In addition to heating water it will run in reverse to heat the engine (acting as a block heater) and can run in conjunction with the regular coach heater while in transit during cold weather (rarely, if at all this year).

Early in February, cousin David Asquin and wife Louise came to visit for a night. They were the first couple to test the new “sleeper couch” and proclaimed it acceptable. I had been worried that 48” of width might not be wide enough. Their itinerary brought them from Scottsdale and saw them headed off to San Diego to visit the zoo and Marineland with stops at various golf courses as they travel.

Gunsight was great for about three weeks after which I pulled up stakes, went back to the nearby Casino at Hickiwan to dump tanks again, and did more laundry. Then it was off to Apache Junction to visit Darch and Catherine Oborne. Their driveway is just big enough for me to navigate – one or two cacti had to be consoled after I nicked them with the rear tires but no lasting damage was done. The CC has picked up a few scratches, firstly by threading through the narrow, creosote bush-lined access trails at Gunsight wash, and also because I tried to squeeze into an RV site at Hickiwan Trails where a mesquite tree branch somehow leapt out and caught me.

At Apache Junction, I went to look at an e-bike that Darch had found at his local bike shop. E-bikes would be a good fit for me as they can assist the pedals, or just move the bike along on the throttle setting. This particular bike, I didn’t get but have now ordered a different one to be shipped to me at Apache Junction from Seattle. If anyone wishes to look at it and read some information, then check out Radpowerbikes.com. Mine is the Rad Rover model – looks like a mountain bike but has 4” wide tires and can help push me up hills with minimum effort, depending on where I set the “assist” mode.

From Apache Junction, I followed Darch in his “rig” to a free-camping site at the Picket Post horse encampment.

Darchmobile at Picket Post camp
 

Along with his biking friends Dave and Donna Morter, we were surrounded by people with horses, mules and donkeys. From this spot, a section of the Arizona Trail goes in both directions. I rode it for about a mile and a half while the others rode further and suspect that my days of riding narrow single-track trails are coming to an end. Balance (and stamina) have disappeared to the extent that I am no longer very confident riding along narrow tracks.  When my e-bike arrives, it will stay on reasonably wide surfaces.

Just down the road is the Boyce Thompson Arboretum in Superior. This is a very informative outdoor desert museum that displays local plant life and has a self-guided hiking trail of about 1½ miles. That same day, I visited the local Walmart in Claypool/Globe for supplies. Across the highway was an interesting sight. Cattle were grazing on the bank of an old mine tailings slope that had grassed over. This slope must have been at least 50°

and every time one of the cows tried to move, it staggered and nearly fell down the hill. I’m sure no one told those cows to eat there, so they must have had a meeting at which it was decided to ignore the risk in order to get the good grass.

cattle on slope at Globe

From Picket Post, we went north for about 2 hours to Roosevelt Lake, where I camped last year. The price is still $8 per night for a very attractive campground overlooking the lake (Windy Hill – Coati Loop) with hot showers and bathrooms (run from solar).  Scattered throughout are isolated water taps, including one near me from which I was able to fill and refill my 20 litre jug to use for dishes once per day. There is no power and generators are allowed though I haven’t really been bothered much by them. Also, there are a couple of sewer dumps up the road that open each for 2 days per week. This place is ideal for me as I have plenty of water on board (probably 2 months worth) and the waste and sewage tanks can probably hold out for the same amount of time. Power, I don’t need because, by this time of year, the days are getting longer and the sun is high enough to give me all the solar I can use, plus, hopefully, enough extra to charge the e-bike battery when that gets added to the fleet. I now plan to go back to the Oborne’s back yard to await my e-bike arrival.

While here at Roosevelt, I have been on a few short rides and hikes, volunteering once to shuttle the other bikers up to the top of a trail at Mills Ridge Trailhead. 

Sunset
 at Roosevelt

I have also bounced around the countryside in the Jeep, exploring different tracks on my own.  Trailheads visited include Thule, Campaign Creek and Cottonwood (roads 449 449-A, and 83). On the last of these jaunts, I followed Mike Quinn, a new acquaintance, on his dirt bike above the actual trailhead to a ridge from which there was a great view of the surrounding countryside. Mike and his wife, Sissie, volunteer with the Tonto Forest Reserve to do trail work throughout the Park, so they are very knowledgeable about the local terrain. This particular trail was quite steep, rough and worn from erosion but the Jeep handled it all with aplomb.

  
 

From Gunsight Wash January 26th 2017

From Gunsight Wash (32 14.409 112 45.394)

Jan 4^{th -} I pulled up stakes at Plomosa after 6 weeks in the desert. All utilities still had plenty of water and propane reserve, plus space available in both waste tanks to last at least another two weeks. However, a change is as good as a rest so I aimed for another regular spot to the south-east at Why. I was thinking it would be nice to do my laundry, have a shower without having to turn off the tap between shampoo and soap or collect any excess water for the dishwashing pot, so went to the Tohono O’odham Indian Casino RV Park (aka Hickiwan Trails RV), a mile east of Why. Best of all at Hickiwan is the price. $19 gets you a night of full hook-ups but $85 buys a week ($12.14 a night), no tax included as the park is on the reservation. So, I chose the latter and for very little money, enjoyed showers using unlimited water every night, practiced making exotic dinners in the convection oven and did my laundry – all without leaving home!

 As a stepping stone to the next boondocking stint in the desert, this place is ideal. I can drive over to Gunsight Wash in the Jeep, about 3 miles away, to scout locations for my eventual move. With the big coach, one has to be a little picky about sites and access to same as it was built for pavement and resents most of my incursions onto small Jeep tracks leading to remote campsites. Reconnoitring ahead of time minimizes the odds that I will have to turn around or back up (tough to do with the Jeep attached). 

 

On the way to Why, I had an “incident” with the Jeep.

Windowless Jeep

This happened on Freeway I -10, eastbound about 100 miles west of Phoenix. First, I heard a heavy thump by the coach door and, having some experience with heavy thumps, stopped to investigate – to discover nothing amiss. However, I failed to look as far as the rear of Jeep since the noise in question was closer to the front (and only) door on the coach. Later that day, after arrival at the RV Park, I discovered a totally shattered back window on the Jeep with the rear inside covered in small fragments of glass. How this happened is a mystery though speculation would have it that I was targeted by the sonic boom of a US forces’ jet. Alternatively, someone in a fit of “road rage”, having taken exception to the fact that I was driving at 10mph under the speed limit, took a shotgun pot-shot from behind. Likely, I shall never know. After a few phone calls, I arranged a repair/replacement in Ajo and also got ICBC to pay for the damage, (minus my $300 deductible).

Sunset at Gunsight Wash
 

 

My neighbours at Hickiwan are Ev and Joan, ex-hosts at Gunsight Wash down the road. I was able to pass on to them a few books that I had been given by Walt and Susan. I don’t think anyone I ever meet actually buys a book – trading seems to be the norm. Most Parks and even the BLM at Gunsight have a book exchange.

 

Somewhere near the park is a herd of wild burros. One can hear the braying at night and hikers have encountered as many as nine animals in one herd. Apparently, burros/donkeys are becoming something of a traffic hazard as they are very difficult to see at night and a number have been killed.

 

The Jeep window repair took a couple of hours at the Napa store in Ajo – I was amazed that they were able to acquire such a window in so short a time.

CC at Gunsight Wash Camp
 

 While they were working on that, I walked up the road to the Cabeza Prieta (dark head) Interpretive Centre to look at desert pictures and even watched a video all about the Sonoran Desert. The Cabeza Prieta is a National Wildlife Refuge and encompasses a large swath of the desert area running along the Mexican border, up to Ajo in the north with Yuma on the west. This is an unpopulated area and seems dedicated to the preservation of the pronghorn antelope, a species on the edge of extinction that the government is trying to rebuild by keeping all the humans away from them. It is also an area that sees plenty of illegal immigrant traffic migrating north from Mexico. Given the extremely harsh environment, it was not surprising to see an article in the local Ajo newspaper stating that the remains of 155 people had been found in the desert in 2016, 2700 since 2001 – that’s an awful lot of people who, presumably just ran out of steam. Local organizations try to cut down on the deaths by providing water stations and other assistance but that is just a drop in the bucket.

 

At the time of this writing, sunny but cool weather has returned after a week of clouds and even some rain. Night-time lows are down near freezing – a good opportunity to test my fancy Aqua-Hot heating system.

 

The other day, I attended a presentation put on by the local Border Patrol Post in Why. They toured our group of 25 people around their big new HQ compound and gave us a rundown on the workings of their organization. It seems that the combination of George Bush’s fence and increased members has slowed the regular traffic north in this area. Drug smuggling is another matter and they still catch lots of people. A couple of days ago, a plainly marked Border patrol truck roared through our Gunsight Wash campground, to be followed by a low flying chopper. I could hear the chopper hovering about 5 miles away and then the truck returned with 8 or 9 unhappy-looking men in the back, presumably picked up after having completed 50 miles or so of their 100 mile hike to a better life.

 

Darch and some friends came by last weekend, so we went for a bike ride up Mica Mine Road. My bike (through no fault of my own) somehow managed to bend the rear derailleur which made it inoperable. Luckily I was able to coast most of the way downhill back to the car. Darch has taken the bike to a shop in Apache Junction where they will replace the damaged parts. I am also giving thought to acquiring an e-bike. This is a normal bicycle with a battery-operated motor to provide pedalling assistance. With my various aches and pains, I find that pedalling up some of the rugged trails down here is becoming a chore. The next task is to find out if I can recharge the bike batteries from my coach inverter, since, by this time of year, I am starting to have surplus solar energy from my panels.

Gayle Weyers at work
 

So far this season, on the scrabble front, I am batting zero against friends, Don and Gayle in Ajo, Though my determination has been fierce, I don’t seem to be able to remember my list of Chinese-based two letter words beginning with “Q”  and not requiring a “U” at the right time and place.

 

 

 

I expect to stay here at Gunsight Wash until after Feb 5^th when there is a possibility of my cousin David Asquin and wife Louise dropping in for a quick overnight visit.

Cousin David and Louise
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

December 6th 2016 from Plomosa 16.6/1.9

When last heard from, I was near Corning, CA at the Rolling Hills Casino, so shall just carry on from that point.

One day, I golfed the Sevilliano Links Course at the casino. A John Daly design, this course was a bit narrow but fairly flat. There were long distances from greens to tees so, not a very good walking course. My rate for full-hook-up camping and golf was $58 ($23 for the RV Park + $35 for golf, incl. cart)

I booked into the RV Park, initially for 3 nights because they gave me the cheap rate for all three even though I only golfed once. Then, I thought to myself that I should stay a little longer to catch up on laundry, hit the Friday seafood buffet and generally lolled about.

My career as a gambler really took off at Rolling Hills. The casino gave me $20 as a credit on my “Players Card” when I first arrived. Ten dollars, I managed to “blow” through on day 1 but, when I went back a few days later to use up the other $10, I had to get the lady at the next machine to show me how to get rolling because none of the buttons worked for me. Finally, the wheels started to spin and it was my hope that I could use up my credit and quit. When I thought I was out of money because a little sign said $00.00, I exited the machine and it gave me a voucher for $16. I still don’t understand the workings of these things but gratefully took my $16 to the next casino, which was Cache Creek, not too far from Rolling Hills and in a southerly direction so, more or less on my way to Arizona.

 

Cache Creek Casino at Brooks, California (N38 44.157 W122 08.622)

About 3 hours south-west of Rolling Hills is another Indian casino. Officially called Yocha Dehe , it is located on Hwy 16, north off I-505, the freeway bypassing Sacramento from the north joining I-5 to San Francisco. Easy enough to find, Cache Creek is sufficiently off the beaten path to eliminate most truckers. Becoming a theme of my casino camping career, I made a wrong turn en-route leading to an unscheduled scenic tour of local farmlands. Roads were getting so small that I thought maybe they would run out in a field somewhere (a concern for me because I can’t reverse to turn around with the Jeep hooked up). Eventually I made a 10 mile circle and got back to the appropriate road.

On arrival, I pulled in to the south lot as it was large and fairly flat, although a fair hike to the casino. Once there, a friendly security lady told me that RVs should go to the north lot, around the other side. This I did and found a few other campers on a sloping, paved surface underneath the local fire hall. Using a single board under each downside tire and the air-levelling system, I managed to flatten out. Almost immediately, a shuttle bus arrived to take me to the casino. An excellent service, these continued all evening and for all I know, through the night.

Cache Creek is the biggest casino that I have ever seen with slots and table games stretching far into the interior distance. It also has a huge, city sized parkade for valet-parked vehicles, a fleet of silver stretch limos plus a few rental BMWs.  Primarily, it seemed to cater to an Asian market coming in tour buses, one presumes, mostly from San Francisco and also Sacramento, which is not far to the east.

 

The buffet, closed on Wednesdays and Thursdays, was exceptional, as most of them are, so I pigged out for $11.95, and returned “home” to rest in my chair in front of the TV. In total, there were 8 food outlets including a Chinese restaurant, steakhouse Grill, a deli, sports bar and others that I forget.

New patrons to Cache Creek are given a $25 credit on their Player’s cards. Strangely, these are designed to be spent only on secondary offerings such as food services, gift shop, even fuel at the service station plus golf, but not for gambling. I didn’t totally understand the rationale here but happily chowed down two meals for free and then, in a fit of remorse, donated $10 to one of the slots.

Golf, at $90 was a little rich for my blood, so I decided to pass on that. The course, just up the hill from the casino, appeared very picturesque.

 

Next stop - Tachi Palace Casino (N36 14.214 W119 45.396) Lemoore, CA



Took about 4 hours, plus a stop at Joe’s Truck Stop, on I-5 at Westley, south of Stockton, to eat at a Denny’s restaurant. This is a very good place to pull in for fuel or food/truck wash and other services I have yet to investigate. There is plenty of room to turn around, access the pumps or park.

 

Tachi had a big band event happening, so the shuttle people told me parking would get crowded. I was pretty well the only RV in the whole parking area on arrival mid-afternoon but a couple more arrived later on and concert goers did surround me with their cars. In the middle of the parking lot, there is a pump station for, presumably, the casino sewage. This emits a high whine and would be uncomfortable if one parked closely by. 

Pump station at Tachi

At this casino, visitors appeared to be mostly Indian (tribal), whereas at Cache Creek, Asians were the dominant species.

Tachi Casino sign

The buffet, which I rate “quite” good, as opposed to “exceptional”, had no discounts for seniors or for Player’s Card holders and therefore cost the full $20. The Player’s Card, in fact, didn’t seem to do a whole lot other than accumulate “points” for something that I couldn’t quite fathom.

Golf cart shuttles circled the RV parking lots like sharks and one could catch a ride anytime by waiting 5 minutes, or not at all. The walk to the casino is not far. In addition, during the day, uniformed bicycle security patrols are a frequent sight so I felt that this was quite a safe place.

Gambling is spread over at least two floors with the buffet being up on the second floor. This is another huge place with hotel and conference facilities and is located out in the country a few miles from Lemoore, off Hwy 198/18^th St

 

Newberry Mountain RV, at Newberry Springs (N34 48.960 W116 37.144)

East of
Barstow,
CA

Pool at Newberry

            Home of nothing really, except a bit of reflected glamour from the nearby Bagdad Café, at which a movie of the same name was made in 1987. Starring virtually no one of much distinction, the film was in the running for an Oscar and was, for some reason, much beloved in France. Apparently, this is the reason why French bus tours represent much of today’s clientele and come to visit this run-down little place in the middle of nowhere.

Jeep at Bagdad Cafe

At Newberry, I stayed in an RV Park with a small artificial lake. This gave the place an oasis-like appearance in the middle of an otherwise uninviting desert of gravel and small shrubs, including the ever-present creosote bushes. All the RV sites had, according to the proprietress, been built in an era when RVs were shorter, so sticking one’s nose out into the loop-road connecting sites was encouraged, as long as campers could all manage to squeeze by their neighbours without jostling.   

 

Next came Lake Havasu State Park (N34 28.832 W114 21.339) across the border In Arizona. On the Internet booking page, this showed as being full but for one site so I snagged that on-line the night before. With upgrades to full hook-ups, prices have risen in the Arizona State Park campgrounds. I had to pay approximately $35/night including taxes but felt it necessary to stop in Havasu and have a visit to the Golden Corral buffet, after which would come a return to free desert camping and my own cookery.

 

Sometimes, when I camp at a regular RV park, there are no “pull-throughs” available, so I have to unhook the car and back the coach into a slot. At both of these procedures I am getting marginally better and have yet to crash into anything. Not that this would ever happen to me but one of the most dreaded things that can happen to an RVer is to mess up one’s approach to a campsite, bounce over a rock, collide with a picnic table and make multiple attempts to jockey into position – all the while knowing that prying eyes are peering out through half shut blinds in adjacent units, passing judgement on one’s technique. Havasu would be my last stop with hook-ups so, along with the Golden Corral, I loaded up with water and dumped the tanks.

 

November 25t^h – About 1½ hours to the south is the dot-on-the-map called Bouse, Az, with Plomosa Road heading west into the hills toward Quartzsite. Here I found “my” site from the previous year vacant and very few people around. At Plomosa Road (33 53.05 114 3.605), friends Walter and Susan were camped nearby so came over to give me a rundown on local happenings – or lack of same!

Sunset at Plomosa

Other than Walt and Susan, the nearest neighbours are over a kilometer down the trail – more or less the way I like it.

Bouse, the little town nearby, has a Saturday market for vegetables, actually only one vendor with a van, who offers very low prices (2 red bell peppers for $1 and just about everything else for $1/lb or less). Also in Bouse is a junk store whereat I hunted down a socket to fit the Jeep’s battery terminal connection that had developed a severe case of corrosion on the way south, thus had to be taken off and cleaned.

I discovered that all of my digital thermometers and their remote sensors (I have 5) required new batteries, as did the multimeter that is used to measure the effectiveness of those same batteries.

Weather has mostly been clear with only a couple of partly cloudy days, daytime highs ranging from the mid - 70’s to the mid - 50’s and nights staying well above the freezing mark so very little heating has been required. Wind always seems to be an issue in the fall here at Plomosa and gusts of 30 mph are not uncommon. So far, going for a few short hikes in the desert has been my only activity and is something that, I hope, along with my new veggies, will bring my silhouette back to its formerly svelte profile.

 

One of the benefits of my Plomosa site is that it allows me to receive Quartzsite Radio (one of the best in the world), playing “oldies” all day and never quite getting the weather right even though it is located a mere 20 miles away – less as the cactus wren (AZ state bird) flies. The Internet signal on my Verizon Jetpack is

CC in distance at Plomosa site

dodgy at the best of times but can usually be coaxed into service after 15 or 20 minutes of patience. The same applies to my cell phone (roaming on a Telus North America Voice and Data plan) which frequently goes into “no service” but can be brought to life when needed.

 

As long as I am extremely frugal with water usage, the CC carries enough water for me to last a month or more without refilling, same with both waste tanks, so I might be looking for a change of scenery when that happens. Power, of course, is renewable and free, though at this time of year with the sun low in the sky, my flat solar panels on the roof, plus the suitcase-solar work hard to break even daily at about 100 amp/hours. If there are a few cloudy days in a row and, consequently, less solar, I can always fire up the generator for an hour or two – but that, as my friend of a few years ago, Handy Bob might say, is cheating!

November 12th 2016 from Rolling Hills Casino Corning CA

Nov 2^nd: I departed the Shuswap and, as usual, made it as far as the Omak Walmart

Shuswap woodpecker tree
 

 to replenish fresh produce taken away at the border – critically, the limes that go with the R & C to make R&Cs with Ls. 

Shuswap view from deck

Day 1 went quite smoothly except for two issues with the coach. For about an hour, as long as it took to get to Vernon, my engine brake wasn’t working, for reasons beyond my ability to analyze, but possibly because of very wet weather. On a big coach like mine, the engine brake is a great thing to have since it virtually eliminates the need for regular service brakes on long downhill grades. Naturally, after I pulled in to a Rest Stop near Vernon and made a booking to see a mechanic in Kelowna, the system righted itself so no repair was necessary. Also, I discovered that my retractable steps were self-extending while in motion, something that should not happen and could be quite dangerous. This also fixed itself after a few hundred miles, so I can only attribute the problem to wet weather.

 

Just down the highway a couple of miles south of the Omak Walmart I pulled into a fuel station called “Tribal Trails” owned and operated by the local Indian band. Prices were not a whole lot better here than anywhere else – $2.75/gal for diesel fuel (Washington State has the highest prices of all states on my itinerary) but easy access for long rigs (I measure about 65’ with coach and “toad” – aka the Jeep) is often a deciding factor on where to go. Just beyond the fuel stop is the entrance to !2 Tribes Casino. Here, one is greeted by a big free-overnight-parking area suitable for me with very few trucks and reasonably palatable Chinese food at “Yu”s.

 

Me at Boardman

Nov 3^rd: Next stop - Boardman Marina and RV Park, where I spent 4 nights, is  located in Oregon on the Columbia River and is one of my favourite campgrounds, usually on the trip north but this time heading south as I intended to go down I–5 to Junction City in Oregon.

 

Nov 7^th made it to Junction City, where I camped and plugged in behind the warehouse at Countryside RV Interiors. Here, I acquired an “easy bed” couch in exchange for the two Euro recliners that I had in the coach but never used. At 72”x 48” this can accommodate two medium-small guests in close comfort and is good for occasional daytime relaxing by me.

 

Mt Shasta through windshield



Nov 8^th Canyonville, OR - 7 Feathers Casino (on I-5)

security at 7 Feathers



Made a wrong turn just after the freeway exit - with the benefit that this took me to the commercial RV Park, connected to, but separate from, the actual casino. Once redirected, I found the North lot at the casino offering free parking on RV-size marked pavement with plenty of room, far enough from the highway that noise was not an issue. Shuttles ran frequently to the casino though it was only a 10 minute walk away.

The buffet was very good and would have been excellent if they had offered roast beef. In addition, I joined a small protest group grumbling about the lack of fried chicken that had mysteriously disappeared from the buffet line shortly before I got to that section. Several large Indians with heaping plates of chicken were laughing from a nearby table, so I guess the problem was solved. The server told us it would be another 12 minutes to produce more - mashed potatoes and gravy just aren't the same without meat, “we” said. In fact, I abandoned the protest when I found some really good Italian meatballs and made do with them.

Nov 9^th Corning California - Rolling Hills Casino on the south side of Siskiyou Summit (the only place likely to find snow on this route)

Me at Rolling Hills RV Park



To this point, temperatures have been summery warm and roads dry since the first wet day leaving home

At Rolling Hills, I was given a complimentary $10 with my Player’s Card, plus another $10 for being a Canadian? The rationale for this last, according to the young lady who dealt with these things, was that expense ruled out their posting junk mail advertising events at the casino, so they would send information by e-mail, which is free! I told her that was nonsense but happily went off to a slot machine to try and spend my $20. One-armed bandits and I do not relate very well. My “player’s card” was refused by several machines and I had to call an attendant to help. She used some secret casino code to get me accepted but then, once I had been recognized, the tumblers wouldn’t roll anyway. I don’t gamble much at the casinos I visit, so this was the last straw that sent me “home” to watch TV in the CC (Country Coach).

 

Rolling Hills Buffets rate 5 stars with prime rib, chicken etc – normally costing $16.80 but Tuesday and Thursday, dinners are 1/2 price for seniors, so one can eat for $8.40 – no shortage of chicken!

 

The only downside to this place was that trucks in the main parking lot ran their motors or reefers all night. After one night staying awake and listening to this, I moved to the adjacent RV Park since they were offering a promotion for “staying and playing” at the golf course next door ($58, incl. cart).

 

Corning home to the “Pit Stop”, a well-known outlet for every type of olive one can imagine. I bought a jar of blue cheese stuffed olives and another with herb and garlic stuffed olives to go with my epicurean salads.

Temperatures here have been unseasonably warm for November with daytime highs in the 80’s.

 

From Corning, I am considering moving to another Casino. Less than a couple of hours distant is the Cache Creek Casino Resort where, I have been told, they have a good golf course at reasonable rates. Generally south and a little west, it won’t really be out of my way on the journey to Arizona – plus, what else do I have to do with my time except hunt down free casino camping and cheap buffets. Incidentally, for those of you following the “free casino” route, there is a very good website that I have joined, I am now a “top ten” contributor to casinocamper.com, a place where “parking lot people” like me can write commentary on places they visit.