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.

Trying to Escape from the Negativity

The U.S. has state elections happening at the beginning of November. Unfortunately, 90% of the radio and TV commercials are attack ads, so rather than talking about the merits of the candidate the focus is on how terrible their opponent is. The ads often follow one another and the rhetoric seems to be escalating as voting day nears. It is no wonder that their voter turnout is declining since one is left to wonder why it is worth voting for any of the candidates with so many flaws. We have seen a little of this in Canada but it,s nothing relative to what is going on right now, it is downright nasty. so hopefully this particular trend will not proliferate up north.

After leaving Washington we drove to the Reno / Tahoe area. Prior to arriving there we came across many signs for Bunny Ranches in Nevada but we didn't see many rabbits in the area so we're not sure what that was all about :) Reno was looking tired so we continued on to the Lake Tahoe area. Between Reno and South Lake Tahoe we took the scenic highway to Virgina City and Carson City, old gold rush towns with many of the older buildings still intact or rebuilt to look like it was in the late 1800's. We continued driving up the west coast of Lake Tahoe (back into California) where there are several ski resorts (Heavenly and Squaw Valley being the largest ones) and some gorgeous vacation homes. We did a short hike at Eagle Falls that had some nice views overlooking the lake.

With rain in the forecast we decided to head further south in California. We left just in time, encountering some wet snow in the mountains (8,000 feet elevation) that turned into light rain as we descended into the valley around Sacramento where we were able to stay ahead of the weather front hitting most of the west coast. My navigator discovered a large wine area (Paso Robles) that we had not yet encountered so that has been our home for the past few days. There are over 200 wineries in the area specializing in Rhone style wines and Ports. Our storage space is filling up fast! The RV park that we are staying at (Wine Country RV) is well maintained with a great hot tub and is situated in the middle of many nearby wineries so we are enjoying life very much right now. After a full day of wine tasting yesterday we decided to ease up today with a late morning visit to SummerWood Winery (excellent) followed by a round of golf at the well named Chalk Mountain so we had a triple play today with wine, golf and a good hike. We are off to the hot tub shortly.

Tomorrow we have another golf game scheduled and then we will head over to the coast to San Luis Obispo which is about 200 miles north of Los Angeles.

Wine & Golf

We have spent the past 5 days at the southern end of Washington State in the Tri-Cities area.......Richland, Kennewick and Pasco, seperated by the Yakima and Columbia Rivers. The combined population of the three cities is 250,000 people and their main claim to fame, other than the wonderful wines produced in the area, is that the atomic bomb was created here (in nearby Hanford). The majority of all plutonium used in nuclear weapons was generated here but following the end of the Cold War the focus changed from the creation of nuclear weapons to the disposal of nuclear waste. A huge new plant is nearing completion, 9 years after it was started so there is obviously still a lot of nuclear waste that will need to be disposed of. Many of the people we have met down here work at "The Site" or industries supporting it. We passed by a recreational area called Atomic Bomb Park and a high school whose team nickname is the Bombers.

The Horn Rapids RV Resort has been our home, a wonderfully kept park with a nice hot tub that we have been using every day. We spent the first two days touring the many wineries in the area. Our favourites were Terra Blanca, Hogue, Kestrel, Mercer and Willow Crest. The van is now comfortably stocked for the next few weeks. Hopefully the glow in our cheeks after consuming several bottles is a result of the quality of the wine and not the soil from the Site! The past two days we golfed at Horn Rapids and Canyon Lakes (great track). Tomorrow we will play Columbia Point and then head out of town. The weather has been lovely...........18-20C with sunny skies but the forecast changes to cooler and wet starting Friday so we plan to head south and west along the Columbia River gorge with a close eye on the weather.

On The Road Again

Following two wonderful Thanksgiving week-end's, the first in Whistler with the Hevey family, and this past w/e with our young adults, we left home in search of warmer weather. Yesterday we had a beautiful 8 hour drive to Spokane, Washington, thru B.C. and Idaho, arriving in plenty of time to enjoy dinner at one of our favourite restaurants, The Onion (great burgers).
Today, we played golf at the recently renovated Liberty Lake G.C. accompanied by 20C and sun. Tomorrow we play at The Creek at Qualchan, another favourite. The price to play (at both courses) has risen to $27 pp, 20% higher than what we paid a few years ago, but no Canadian could ever complain about the cost which would be at least $100 for similar courses in Canada.
After our game tomorrow we're going to head down to the Tri-Cities area (southern border of Washington state) for some more golf, hiking and wine tasting.