We're Home Safely

We arrived home safely last night. We encountered icy roads, blowing snow and high winds over the past two days, especially yesterday for the final 12 hours from Idaho Falls, but we took our time and avoided any trouble. It was a good thing that we delayed the trip home by a couple of days because we missed a blizzard and Interstate 15 highway closing by a day, and by travelling on U.S. Thanksgiving there weren't many cars on the road.
Another great trip in the books. We still love travelling in our camper van and look forward to many more adventures with it. Time now to catch up with friends and family.

Elvis is in the House

We played a couple of games of golf in Sun City and then drove to Bullhead City, Arizona which is across the Colorado River from Laughlin, Nevada. This was supposed to be our launching point for our drive back home but with a cold front moving into the U.S. north-west and -20C temperatures and snow in Calgary we decided to prolong the trip for a few more days. On one of those days we golfed at a local course and discovered Elvis' new hideaway on the 11th hole.......we had been to Memphis in search of him last year to no avail.......this time we were not able to get inside the house, unlike the mansion in Graceland, and he didn't answer the door when we knocked but we were pretty sure he was hiding inside (see pictures above supporting our belief).

With no improvement in the northern U.S. weather picture, and in fact it was getting worse, we drove south to Lake Havasu where the temperature was still close to 20C and sunny. We had not been there before and wanted to see the reconstructed London Bridge in this city which was established in 1964 (only 46 years ago) shortly after Robert McCulloch, from Los Angeles, purchased 13,000 acres from the Arizona government for less than a million dollars. He then proceeded to build a waterfornt resort and retirement community which has now grown to 50,000 people. McCulloch was also the one who bought the falling (actually sinking) London Bridge from the City of London in 1968 for $2.4M and then had it shipped and reassembled in Lake Havasu (doubling his cost). After the bridge was put back together he dredged a channel to create an island to further showcase the bridge. Quite a story.

While we were able to avoid the slot machines in Laughlin casinos, we couldn't pass up the temptation of a fabulous slot canyon at the south end of Lake Havasu which had many good hiking trails. The 10 km Crack in the Mountain trail took us thru a very narrow canyon with one challenging 10 foot rock slide which I had to negotiate back up when I realized later that my sunglasses had fallen out of my pocket prior to the slide (I found them). The end of the trail was at Lake Havasu in a deserted cove with great views where we had a light lunch. We made the return trip along the ridge trail which bypassed the slot canyon and led us to a few more geocaches along the way together with some more stunning views.

Yesterday we played golf at Emerald Canyon, a beautiful track and challenging walk that no one else seemed to want to take on. It was a nice finish to our golf season.

This morning we drove 4 hours north to Mesquite, Nevada.........including a trip over the recently opened Hoover Dam bypass bridge........ where we will spend the night. It is still 15C and sunny here but it will get much colder overnight and as we head further north. In the morning we have an appointment to get the van winterized so that we don't have to worry about the water lines freezing for the rest of our journey home. If all goes well we should be back in Calgary on Friday, suffering the winter chills with everyone else.

Phoenix - too nice to leave

Since driving south from Palm Springs we have been fortunate to have the sun and hot weather following us all the way. We spent a few days in El Centro, just north of the Mexican border. There was a lot of agriculture going on in the area courtesy of the Colorado River where the water was being diverted through numerous canals. With 90+F temperatures the working conditions in the field were extreme and we were told that unemployment often reaches 30% in the summer when the majority of workers remain indoors and collect unemployment insurance.

Border security was very tight especially near Calexico (40K population) and Mexicala (800K) which were seperated by barbed wire fences and border patrol cars every 500 metres. It reminded us of the El Paso / Juarez border in Texas. Before heading east to cross over into Arizona, we drove through 50 km's of sand dunes which were very popular with the ATV crowd.

Our first overnight stop in Arizona was at Yuma where we played some golf and enjoyed the RV pool in the afternoon. The next day we drove on to Casa Grande where we found a great place to stay (Sundance RV) with another lovely pool area, some nearby golf and warm enough evenings to have a BBQ. It was at this point that we realized that many of the parks we had stayed in, not intentionally, were designated as adult parks (55+) and no one had asked us so far for ID to make sure we qualified!

We spent two more nights in Queen Valley, about an hour west of Phoenix. The plan was to hike Superstition Mountain but some locals convinced us to try Picklepost Mountain instead which was not far from the RV park. It was a very challenging hike..........4 miles up and 4 miles back down a steep mountain with a path only marked by cairns (small piles of rocks) and a few blazes. We got off the intended path several times and paid for it with some tough scrambling. The 360 view at the top was spectacular though and included a mailbox that had been repositioned by it's former owner followig several clashes with automobiles in it's original location. No chance of that happening where it is now!

From there we drove on to Scottsdale where we have just spent the last 5 days with Rhonda's uncle and aunt (Murray & Mavis) at their beautiful winter home. We had a great visit with them, did a little shopping, had some fine meals together, a game of golf and we hiked Pinnacle Peak which was close to their home. We also had a chance to hook up with our neighbour Lorne and his posse who were down for a boy's sports week-end.

We left their home this morning with the intent of driving north of the city for some sight-seeing but after noticing the cooler weather to the north (higher elevation) we decided to stop in Sun City and enjoy a few more days of warm weather before deciding on our next route. The night time temperature at the top of the Grand Canyon is already dropping below freezing so a trip there to hike down to the bottom of the canyon to Phantom Ranch has been scuttled. We will play a little more golf in this area, enjoy the pool in the afternoon and do some more internet research before making any decisions.

Enjoying the desert heat

After leaving Paso Robles wine country we took a scenic drive over the mountains to the west coast. We stayed in Pismo Beach at a park right beside the ocean allowing for a morning walk along the several kilometre long (and wide) beach. There were lots of other people doing the same stroll but it still seemed basically empty due to the huge expanse of the beach area. It would be much busier during the summer season. We spent some time exploring San Luis Obispo including the 1772 Mission and were fortunate to be there at noon when the 200+ year old church bells rang out with a harmonious tune.

We then wandered through the Santa Barbara area, finding a few more wineries to visit. Two places we enjoyed, Fess Parker and Firestone, were featured in the hit movie Sideways. The hosts provided bountiful pours so we didn't have to drink out of the dump bucket like one of the scenes from the movie. We stayed in Lompoq and while looking for a golf course that had been recommended we drove into a private club by mistake. While speaking with the Pro to get re-directed he invited us to play his course (Village Country Club) for only $35 which we did. The course was lovely and the members were all very kind and sociable with us. We found out later that they have a monthly special for snowbirds ($550 per couple for unlimited golf). It would be a great place to return to if it was just a little closer to Paso Robles, but perhaps the 2 hour separation would be good thing!

With a day or two of rain forecast for the Los Angeles area we headed back inland to Palm Springs where we have been staying for the past 4 days in Palm Desert. We are staying at a 5 star RV park (Emerald Desert) which has a beautiful pool and hot tub, and a very friendly atmosphere. At a park dinner one night in their Clubhouse the first 4 couples that we met were all from Alberta which was quite a coincidence. On Sunday we attended the 46th Annual Golf Cart Parade (down El Paseo in Palm Desert) which was quite entertaining with the Hallow'een theme this year. Yesterday we golfed at Indian Canyons, an old style track, lined with mid-century modern homes. After the round we joined the Vancouver couple we played with for a drink in the 50's era Clubhouse with it's long bar that had been a frequent watering hole for Frank Sinatra, Bing Crosby, Bob Hope and their golfing buddies. The Men's Locker Room still has a separate card room with it's own bar.

Today we are going to leave the RV park and drive south to explore the slowly disappearing Salton Sea which is below sea level so we expect the 25-30C temperatures we have been enjoying in Palm Springs will continue for a few more days.