mike & rhonda's latest adventure: On The Road Again

Just catching up, we have been on the road for a while. We started this trip in mid-January with a family get-together in Whistler at my sister Lynn and her husband Doug's beautiful chalet. My dad (92) had asked me last fall to arrange a gathering of the family, before he and mom started to forget who we all were. It was a wonderful time with my brother (Bob) and sister (Yvonne) from Ontario flying in, and my two B.C. sisters (Lynn and Karen) joining in for a week of games, movies, photo sharing, laughs and way too much good food and drink. We even managed to get in 3 days of skiing / boarding (they could use some Alberta snow) during the 10 days that we were there, two of them with Caity who flew in for 4 days to visit with her grandparents. All in all, a great time together and hopefully not the last.

From Whistler we drove south down the I5, hurrying along to take advantage of the snowless roads and seeking warmer temperatures where we could start utilizing our camper van. We made a brief overnight stop in Eugene, Oregon and another in Corning, California where we spent our first night in the van and made a return trip to the Olive Pit where we loaded up with a case of olives to enjoy during our travels. We encountered some light rain as we passed through Washington and Oregon, and their scenic mountain passes but it dried up quickly in drought-stricken California when we drove through the Central Valley (their 3rd dry year in a row). The Olive and Pistachio orchards were followed by vineyards and fruit farms as we got further south. They were still being worked but there were many protest signs put up by the farmers concerned that their diminished water supply from the state.......an ongoing battle with the government between water protection for fish and wildlife vs. farmer's needs. Another reason why Canada is better prepared / resourced for the future. It was a nice drive down the I5 but not as scenic as the coastal #101 route that we have previously done, but with a winterized van, speed was a priority.

We left the I5 just before Bakersfield, approximately 100 km's from Los Angeles, to head south-east towards Palm Springs. We spent a day there, hiking for a few hours in the Whitewater Preserve (Canyon View Trail) to get the blood flowing in our legs again, and having a lovely dinner and drinks with some Cottonwood friends (JD and Susan). The next morning we drove to Phoenix where we 'settled down' for a couple of days. Along the way we passed through Quartzsite, 30 km's east of the Colorado River (state line), a rock hound paradise where hundreds of thousands of visitors stop by during the winter months to boondock in the desert (free, dry camping for up to 14 days). Once there they either search their section of the desert for precious stones or they use the quiet solitude to escape from society for a little while. Since we still enjoy being with people, we continued on so that we could spend a full day at the Phoenix Open golf tournament the following day. It was a good decision if you like being around people because the day we went the attendance soared to 190,000, a new tournament record. Apparently we were not the main attraction........the par 3 16th hole has been developed into a stadium holding 20,000 people with long line-ups to get in, so we got there early and spent several hours being entertained by the crowd (cheering / jeering the shots, singing, chugging beers), the players (amping up the crowd, tossing swag) and the caddies (no longer allowed to race to the green but still some fast-walking challenges to the delight of the fans who still have side-bets on the outcome). There were no polite golf claps on this hole! We spent the rest of the day walking several holes following our Canadian favourite, Graham Delaet, who was playing very well (ended up tied for second) and settling down at the 18th green to watch the rest of the players all finish their rounds. During that time we somehow crossed paths with our former lake neighbours, Dave and Susan, who we had planned to visit in Scottsdale next month......quite a coincidence in such a large space and crowd. The next day we went over to our Calgary friend's (Janice and Brian) rental home to watch the final round and the Super Bowl where another couple from Bearspaw joined in on the party.

We are now in Puerto Penasco, Mexico (also known as Rocky Point) where we will be spending two weeks relaxing by the beach and playing some golf. Our RV park is right beside the Sea of Cortez and so far we have had two perfect sunsets and some tasty seafood meals with many more to come. The pelicans and sea gulls have also been feasting, using fancy aerobatic maneuvers dive-bombing the water to feast on the billions of small feeder fish (much higher than normal volume) that have migrated to the area creating a feeding frenzy. Unfortunately (for me) I haven't found a place yet that specializes in serving small fish which I quite enjoy. Fortunately for us, we have Cottonwood friends (Brent and Barb) who spend their winters down here and they have been great tour guides showing us around this small town and pointing out the best places to purchase our food supplies and other needs.

More regular updates to come now that we have reached our southern most point and will gradually work our back north as the temperatures begin to heat up beyond the 20C that we are currently experiencing. Buenos dias.