March 13, 2013 Las Cruces, NM

El Paso Saddleblanket

We made it to Las Cruces on the afternoon of the 11th.  The drive thru Eastern Arizona and Western New Mexico was the largest chunk of nothing that I'd ever seen.  Miles and miles of nothing.  Worse than driving thru the prairies.  We amused ourselves by stopping at each 'tourist' trap along the way.  We had the "World Famous Date Shakes" at Dateland, AZ (they really are amazing), along with some killer new variety of dates, we found locally grown pistachios, "Really Good Jerky" (it really was good!), and so on.  Glad to be out of it tho!

El Paso

Las Cruces is a great place - we got a good campsite and yesterday drove down to El Paso, TX to tour around the historic district and saw some awesome old architecture from the 1800's.  Had to stop at another tourist attraction on the way - El Paso Saddleblanket - a 2 acre store full of TONS of blankets, rugs, jewellery, moccasins, hats ... and some good (and bad) Mexican pottery.

Margarita time!

We had an awesome meal at a Mexican restaurant - thought it might be good as it was full of locals chowing down ... and then took the scenic route back to camp stopping at a winery along the way.  Did some tasting, bought some wine and met some very nice people.  Then back to our campsite for some much needed Margaritas! 
The weather is nice and warm - up to 72F is today's forecast - but getting hotter as the week progresses.  We're off to Whitesands today and some touring in that area.  Should be fun!
Cheers!

March 10 ... spoke too soon!

Yes, once again water issues!  We woke the nite of the 7th with the toilet overflowing!  WTF???  We quickly turned off the water at the tap outside ... still there was water/bodily wastes flowing out of the toilet.  (Of course we happened to be at a camp with no sewer connection.)  What to do?  It's PITCH BLACK outside (but great for star-watching!).  So we tried dumping our fresh water supply ... thinking that somehow water was still coming in to the toilet via that.  STILL water overflowing!!!  No choice now but unhook power, etc. - drive off our leveling blocks and locate the dumping station in the PITCH BLACK.  Finally found it and off-loaded the tanks.  No more flooding thank goodness.  Now had to find our campsite again and get back onto blocks.  At about midnight we were finished mopping up floors and back in bed (although wide awake and cold!). 

Cottonwood Springs

We still don't have a clue about how we could keep flooding with no water in the RV.  Any thoughts out there?

The next day was better as we drove thru Joshua Tree Park and stopped at Cottonwood Springs to see the most magnificent stand of giant palms, cottonwoods etc. ... in the middle of the desert! A magical place! 
Onwards then to Yuma where we stopped for the night and opted to go out to dinner for our first Mexican meal on the trip.  We located one from the guidebook and it was quite acceptable.  Nothing outstanding, but the Margaritas were good (and big) and the homemade salsa was amazing!

Cheers!

Now we're just outside of Tucson and are spending a couple of days.  We'll hit the Arizona Sonora Desert Museum this morning, then try to find this Rillito River Park Trail which is a hiking/biking/walking trail along the Rillito river and runs for about 25 miles thru Tucson.  Sounds great.  The weather is going up to around 18C today after some cold and rain so should be perfect!

March 7, 2013 Joshua Tree, CA

After a marathon couple of days driving ... we made it to Joshua Tree yesterday.  Had a good sleep and enjoyed touring the park today.  The weather has gotten quite cold (7-8C) and a strong wind so we had to hike briskly to keep warm!
The desert is fascinating and we're enjoying our stay here.  The town of Joshua Tree as well as the neighboring Twenty Nine Palms are pretty basic ... you can't get milk but you can get ANY kind of booze you want!  Not that that's a bad thing ...
Rosy is still doing great ... all systems seem to be 'go' and we've had no problems with anything.  What a relief!  It was fun driving around really fast today in our car on all the desert (mostly deserted) roads ... woo-hoo.
We are off tomorrow to points east ... somewhere in Arizona but not sure where just yet.  We'll look at some maps tonight and make a plan (sort of).

March 4, 2013 Made it to California!

Hi All,
We made it into California today ... as far as Chico.  We opted to go a less hectic route so veered off on HWY 99 and lots more to see!
We didn't plan to go too far as we had some errands to do today - one being a liquor load-up at Costco!  I know ... I know ... but it's hard to beat Tequila at $18.99 for a one litre bottle!

We also had to deal with our phone issues ... plans in Canada are WAY too expensive to call or surf the internet so we wanted to go with our un-locked IPhone and stick in a sim card from T Mobile like we did before.  Not so simple anymore.  The only plan we could find that was cheap was thru Walmart and they don't sell sim cards.  So had to track down a T Mobile office who finally sold us the card ... then had to find a Walmart and wait while they figured out how to do what we wanted to do (about 1/2 hour on the phone to T Mobile!).  But we're good to go now for the next month anyway and will have to buy more time on a monthly basis. 

The weather is amazing ... up to 20C today and we're in short-sleeved shirts!  Rain expected tomorrow but tonight sitting out with our glass of wine (thanks Costco!) was heavenly!  We hope to make Bakersfield tomorrow but who knows?  We're taking things as they come and not getting too wrapped up in specifics. 

Time to clean up after dinner ... more later!

March 3, On the Road ...

We caught the 10:30 ferry to Port Angeles on Saturday the 2nd and arrived at approx. 12:05 +/-.  The crossing was good ... no winds or big swells to make me queasy!  We had some nice entertainment during the crossing ... a girl and guy with a guitar and banjo playing and singing bluegrass.  Very nice!

We made it to Vancouver, WA the first night in the dark and rain.  The mo-ho (btw ... we've named her Rosy ... as the interior is all upholstered in 1980's pink) works well although it does seem a bit light on the front end.   We think it's because all the weight is in the rear ... generator, fresh water, holding tanks, gas etc.  ... so it kind of floats as it drives.  It gives Bruce a real workout driving!  Two hands and paying attention constantly!

Tonight we made it only to Grants Pass, OR ... we did a lot of errands today.  We had to replace the microwave as the one in the unit sucked ... plus a few other things ... booze not being the least!  We found some good wine for $8.00 and another bottle for $2.50 which we'll try tomorrow night.  Tonight we went thru the $8 bottle and it was GOOD!  We've been seeing signs for some kind of liquor extravaganza which we'll HAVE to stop at tomorrow!  The only errand we didn't get done is find a phone place to get a new sim card for Bruce's phone so we can make calls without spending $1,000 a call.  We'll try that tomorrow.

Today's weather was sunny and warm ... hope that continues! 

The only complaints ... gas is a pain as most places only take $100 at a time (if they take credit cards at all) and we have to fill up every 200 miles or so ... not great mileage.  But it is what it is ...

Tomorrow ... California ... yeah!

So good-night for now!

February 28th - Another step taken ...

Moving into the Class C

After a hectic day hauling stuff from the 5th wheel into the Class C yesterday we called it a day at about 5 p.m. and went to Bruce's parents place for dinner and some sleep.  It all went well tho and hopefully we didn't forget anything! 
This morning we were back at the RV park bright and early to winterize the 5th wheel and get it ready for transport.  That also went smoothly and the fellow came to haul it away at about 10:30 a.m.  I hope he's storing it ... we have no receipt or any  paperwork other than his card!  "Sure ... here ... take my home and all my possessions ... I trust you!  You will bring it back, right??"

We also found out yesterday that the holes on the hitch on the Class C (gotta get a name!) didn't match up with the holes on the towing rig!  Yikes!  Bruce had to scramble to find a giant drill bit and he fixed it up today.  Better now than when we get across the water and tried to hitch up in Port Angeles!

So now we're (by we I mean Bruce) is installing a few baskets for holding stuff in the kitchen and another basket for the shower.  So many little things to do! It's a good thing we gave ourselves a few extra days before leaving to get it all done!

Well, the next post will be from the road!  New Mexico or bust!!

February 24, 2013
New Adventures ... New Rigs!

Heartland Big Country 5th Wheel

Lots to report since the end of the last adventure!  The big experiment was ... can we live full-time in our RV.  Well, yes and no.  No to the Class A that we originally bought ... just too small to live full-time.  No place to entertain or even get out of each other's hair from time to time!  So we traded the 30' Class A for a 40' brand new 5th wheel! 
It's big, roomy and has an awesome kitchen and a fireplace!!!  So yes, living in this now is great!  We're parked mostly at West Bay Marina & RV Park in Esquimalt which is a beautiful walk into town along the West Song Walkway.

But to travel??  Do we want to haul this monster around?  We'd need a 'big-ass' truck to haul it and parking will be an issue.  For both the rig and the truck.  So instead we opted to buy an older 27' Class C and will still tow the car behind.  It's very clean and well-kept and I think will be very comfortable to tour around in.

Citation Class C

We'll leave Victoria on March 2nd for the south western U.S. and will be away approximately 3 months!  During that time the 5th wheel will be hauled away and stored - to be returned to West Bay on the first of June. 

What's the itinerary?  Well, first to get south as quickly as possible.  We'll travel down I-5 to around L.A., then turn East ... thru Arizona and into New Mexico where we plan to hang out for a month or so.  While traveling down there we hope to find some  quick stops to sleep overnight ... WalMart?  The weather is looking a bit cool even as far south as Carlsbad, NM ... but we've got plenty of blankets and snuggling is always an option! 
Bruce just finished putting roof-racks on the Class C (will have to find a name for it!) and we'll be taking our kayaks as well as our bikes.  Hopefully there'll be room left for food and clothes! 

So we hope you enjoy our adventure with us ... I'll be reporting on interesting stuff/food/attractions as we go.  Allons-y!