Shasta Caverns, Shasta Lake, California

October 26, 2015 by judy lawless

We are already much further south, at Ventura, California as I write this post, but I promised I’d give you the scoop on Shasta Caverns, so I will do that first and hope to catch up again soon.

I have to say that these caverns are very interesting, and the area around them beautiful, although not as colourful as others we have toured. However, the tour comes with a warning – they aren’t for those with heart conditions or walking difficulties, especially stair climbing. And if you are in a large motor home, pulling a trailer, your driving skills and brakes need to be optimized. Here’s why:

The road into the Shasta Cavern Tours office is 1½ miles of narrow, uphill roads with hair-pin turns that had me holding my breath at times. It was a relief to finally reach the parking lot and see that there was actually room there for us to turn around and park!

We bought our tickets. When the announcement that the tour would start was made, we were given fifteen minutes to get to the boat that would ferry us across the lake. That was a another warning. We had to walk downhill almost as far as we’d driven up it seemed. One Hundred and Fifty stairs (or ramps if you preferred) switched back and forth, and then several more switch-backs on sand and gravel took us to the shore, where a large open pontoon boat with metal seats along the outsides and down the centre and powered by two 150 H.P. Yamaha motors, picked us up. The trip across the lake was beautiful. On the other side a ramp was let down so we could disembark, and then climb up a small hill to an awaiting mini-bus. The captain of the boat was also the driver of the bus, and the tour guide. If you think the sound of the drive up in the motor home sounded nerve-racking, you wouldn’t want to be on that bus; more hair-pin and S-turns sometimes at a 17% slope and hanging on the edge of the cliff. Good thing I was in the outside seat! We soon arrived at the little log cabin where the actual tour into the caverns began. Again there was a lot of climbing and although the stairs didn’t bother me, the high elevations did cause some heart palpitations that forced me to stop now and again for a rest. After any long climb there were always benches to sit upon. Our guide gave us lots of the history of the caverns and helped keep our minds off the physical challenge with some light-hearted chatter. The walking paths and stairs were all solid and railed. We saw some amazing examples of nature inside the several rooms that had been discovered. I’ll let you decide if it would be worth it to you.

The drive up

The Narrow Road

The Walk Down to the Lake

The stairs to and from the lake

Crossing the Lake

View From Above

Inside the Caverns

When the tour was over, we had to climb back down many more stairs to the bus, make the return trip to the lake, cross the lake, and climb back up the hill. Someone asked how many stairs there were in total and we were told 150 up and down the hill to and from the boat, and 691 through and out of the caverns! Is it any wonder that we were exhausted when we crawled into bed that night, and that I suffered with major hip pain for the next five days? It did make me feel better to hear some of the much younger people on the tour huffing and puffing just as much as we. It was another Adventure, for sure!

Next time I’ll tell you about San Francisco and a little contest, perhaps.

From Kaslo to Vancouver in the Motorhome, With a Few Detours

October 15, 2015 by judy lawless

Our Canadian Tour has nearly come to an end. It’s been a busy time and I’ve fallen behind with blog posts, so before we start a new chapter with the US continuation of the trip, here is a summary of where we’ve been and what we’ve done since leaving Kaslo. Two posts about interesting things in Kaslo will follow. Since media uploads seem to be limited where we are, I will have to add more pictures, or do more detailed posts about some of these places later.

After a week of mostly sunny weather in Kaslo, and a trip with Sarah to Nelson, the weather turned dark and rainy when we left on the Saturday. We arrived in Vernon mid-afternoon and spent two nights with our friends, Judy and Keith. The sun was shining there. One morning Jim helped Keith pick the grapes from his vineyard, ready to be picked up by a commercial wine-maker. And I didn’t take any pictures! On the way home from dinner that night, we saw the eclipse of the harvest moon. I did take some pictures of that, but without a tripod handy, they didn’t turn out very well.

Monday morning we were on our way to Kamloops to meet up with some friends from our ukulele group in Mesa. Debby offered to put together a jam session with others from her Kamloops Ukulele Orchestra, and we had a great time playing for an hour or more. I was reminded again that I need to do more practicing if I want to keep up with that bunch, but it was fun. Thanks for organizing and hosting it, Debby.

Ukulele Jam

Our campsite was along the South Thompson River, where we could watch some dragon boats glide by on their practice night.

South Thompson River

Fortunately we were within walking distance of downtown Kamloops, since our trailer was parked up against a cliff, making it too difficult to get the bike out. We’d booked for two nights so we spent Tuesday walking across the Red Bridge and around the downtown. It’s a very interesting city to explore, but we were exhausted by the time we’d walked back to the motor home.

Crossing on the Red Bridge

Before leaving the next day, we met with another friend, Patti, and her husband Wayne for lunch. Patti is another ukulele player from Mesa, but she couldn’t make it to the jam the day before. Thanks for a great lunch! It was fun to catch up.

From Kamloops we turned back south towards Hope. On the way, we stopped at Coquihalla Provincial Park to view the old Othello (railway) Tunnels, a stop recommended by Patti. They are amazing and well worth the stop. Also amazing was the fact that we met a woman, along the trail, who’s sister lives in the little Ontario town of Hastings, where we live!

Othello Tunnels

We spent the night in Hope, and were in Vancouver at Capilano River RV Park by noon the next day. It’s conveniently located just under the Lions Gate Bridge in West Vancouver, close to Park Royal Shopping Plaza, but the lots are very close together, with barely enough room to use the slides. The day was sunny and warm, but because we had domestic chores to catch up with, we got out only long enough to walk across the little bridge to the plaza for lunch.

On Friday we wanted to go to White Rock to another ukulele jam, also recommended by Patti, so off we went on the bike, ukuleles strapped into the back pack. Since we hadn’t yet put the GPS onto the bike we were going by Jim’s memory of a map. Three hours later, after getting lost while trying to visit Granville Island first, and then ending up on Hwy. 99A rather than 99, we finally arrived with ten minutes to spare! This group was much larger and zipped through tunes from their own song books. I had trouble keeping up, and even Jim got lost at times. But again, we had fun and learned a few things. We each purchased one of the two books which we will be able to use in Mesa.

None of the family we planned to visit was in Vancouver that week, so we spent Saturday just doing some shopping and staying in out of the rain. Early Sunday morning we loaded up the bike and caught the Tawassan Ferry to Victoria. After a cool start, the sun came out and warmed things up. Victoria is a marvelous place to visit. We took the Hop-on-Hop-off bus tour and had lunch at the award-winning Barb’s Fish and Chips outdoor eatery on Fisherman’s Warf. If we couldn’t go to Arizona, this would be a nice place to spend the winters – not as warm, but seldom snow or freezing temperatures. It’s very expensive though.

On the ferry to Victoria

Tiny Floating Homes at the Wharf

Fishermen”s Wharf, Victoria

The sun was beginning to sink behind the hills when we finally got back onto the bike and rode to Nanaimo, where would stay for the night and catch the morning ferry to Denman Island, and then Hornby Island. By the time we got to Nanaimo I was shivering so much I couldn’t stop. We warmed up with bowls of hot chili and mugs of tea/coffee at Tim Horton’s, across the street from the Howard Johnson Hotel, where we stayed. We were impressed with the cleanliness and quality of the hotel, and especially liked the front desk clerk, Billy, a bubbly blond woman who was interested in the fact that we were on a motorcycle because she’d just recently bought herself a bike.

We just missed the 10:00 am ferry from Buckley Bay to Denman Island. We enjoyed lunch in the sunshine on the deck of the Subway Restaurant at the terminal, and waited for the next one.

While Waiting for Ferries

While we waited for the ferry on Denman Island that would take us to Hornby Island, we watched a seal dive for fish.

Seal fishing off wharf on Denman Island

Watching the Ferry ramp descend

The next five days we spent just relaxing with my sister Pauline, her husband Jim, and the “woofer” (young travelers who work for room and board), Stephan, and three Retrievers. My niece and her family were away on a trip, so it was quieter than usual. Heavy rain on most days after we arrived deterred us from taking our usual walks on the beach, but we did enjoy coffee on the deck of the general store at The Cove one morning, and walked among the boats moored in the harbor. We celebrated Thanksgiving with a home cooked chicken dinner on Saturday night, and then Sunday morning we were dashing for ferries again, this time back to our motor home in Vancouver.

The new Toll Bridge on Hwy 1 at Surrey, heading into Vancouver.

This is where we are as I write this blog post. We’ve shared as much time as possible the last few days with my daughter Ann and great-grandson, Lucas, and cheered for the Blue Jays. But during the day Ann has to work while the sun shines (she’s a landscaper) and Lucas goes to school.

On our own one day, we found our way downtown to Canada Place, and Gas Town, both busy and interesting places during the summer, but much quieter this time of year.

Canada Place

Where Cruise Ships dock. Sadly, none there that day.

One of the many interesting old buildings in Gastown, Vancouver

Stream Clock in Gastown, a popular attraction

The time spent with family has been precious, but today it’s time for us to start making our way to Arizona.

Making Some New Friends, and a Few Mishaps in British Columbia

September 30, 2015 by judy lawless

We’ve been in British Columbia for over a week now. Our first stop was Golden, where we went into the Visitor’s Centre to get maps and take advantage of the free Wi-Fi. While we were sitting in the corner seats, a rather large beetle-like bug landed on my iPad. I instinctively flicked it off and stepped on it. When the area filled with a horrible smell, I knew it was a Stink Bug, also known as a Cedar Bug, the woman at the desk told us. We found a restaurant and had some lunch before moving on.

A couple of hours later we saw a sign for Canyon Hot Springs that offered RV camping. That sounded like a marvelous idea as the weather had turned cool and wet! Fortunately, they had plenty of room since they were closing for the season in just a few more days.

While Jim hooked up the electricity and water, I thought I’d get something out of the freezer to thaw for dinner, but it turned out to be unnecessary – everything was thawed! For reasons that I won’t go into, the fridge had been off all day (or longer), and because there wasn’t much left in the freezer, it didn’t stay frozen. I closed the door, retrieved our swim suits from the bedroom drawer, and thought about what to do. When Jim came in I asked him to get the electric cooler from the outside bin and I put the half-bag of shrimp, four pieces of salmon, and a couple of pork chops into that. The fridge was now back on, but I didn’t want this meat to re-freeze and there wasn’t room for it in the fridge. I knew I’d be cooking more than I’d planned that night, but first things first. It was time to soak in the Hot Springs! Actually, it was two good sized swimming pools that were fed from the hot springs, one much hotter than the other. We acclimatized in the cooler one, and then moved to the other.

While we soaked, we chatted with a couple from California, Robin and Mike, who were enjoying a tour of Canada in a pop-up trailer, but were disappointed in the cool and rainy weather we’d been having the past week. They were glad to get warm in the pool. We learned that they were parked quite near to us, and that they had been camped in Jasper Whistler Campsite at the same time we were. In fact, they had had the privilege of watching the Elk family from their doorstep every day that they were there! I’m hoping Robin will send me a couple of the great pictures that she got. When we’d started to shrivel from the heat, we returned to the motor home and I began to cook. Knowing that there would be much more than we could eat ourselves, and that we would soon be sharing meals with my daughter and her family, we invited Robin and Mike to join us for dinner. I cooked the shrimp in some garlic butter, before adding the fresh stir-fry vegetables I’d bought for that reason. I dumped in the green beans and red peppers that had thawed in the freezer, and cooked some more quinoa to add to the leftover I’d planned to use for ourselves that night. I put the salmon pieces into the oven with a maple walnut coating, and while that cooked we shared a bottle of wine and good conversation with Robin and Mike. It turned out to be a wonderful evening after all, despite the pouring rain.

We hardly noticed the rumble of the trains on the nearby track (that seems to be a common denominator at campsites) that night. We slept well. The next morning we said our goodbyes to Robin and Mike before continuing toward Kaslo.

We stopped in Revelstoke for lunch at a friendly café in the downtown, then fueled the motor home at a gas station, and filled the propane tank a few blocks away. At the gas station I sat inside while Jim pumped the gas, on the driver’s side of the coach. At one point, I recall, I felt some rocking and a little bang. I thought it was the sound of Jim opening and closing one of the outside bins, so didn’t look out. Jim recalls feeling the rocking, but figured I was walking around inside. When he was done filling the tank, he noticed that the truck, with a trailer, that was using the pump on the other side of us, was so close to our coach that Jim had to turn sideways to squeeze past it. When he got out to get the propane ten minutes later, he noticed some major cracks in the fiberglass of the back passenger-side corner of the coach, and a missing light cover. It would appear that the driver of that truck had hit us with his trailer, backed up to re-position , and said nothing!

Coach Damage

Too late to do anything about it, we carried on. We crossed Arrow Lake on Shelter Bay Ferry to Galena and continued along Hwy 23 to Nakusp and then back onto Hwy. 6. On our way out of Nakusp we saw a well-dressed hitch-hiker on the side of the road. We did something we’d never done before. We stopped to offer her a ride, and were glad that we did. Petra was a lovely young woman from Austria who was making her way around parts of Canada before returning home to finish her thesis. That day she was hoping to reach Nelson. Kaslo was on the way. While we drove we learned a bit about Austria, and told her some things about Canada. She’d never been in a motor home before, and she was grateful for the ride because she’d been standing on the road for over an hour. It was starting to get dark when we left her on a corner in Kaslo, with the promise that if she didn’t get a ride quickly, she’d find us in the campsite and accept our offer of the hide-a-bed for the night. We didn’t see her again, so have to assume that she made it safely to Nelson.

That was the start of a week in Kaslo with family and friends.

Winnipeg to Saskatoon in the Motorhome

September 13, 2015 by judy lawless

We arrived at a campground outside Winnipeg in the late afternoon on Wednesday. The grey skies cleared out and blue replaced them, just in time for us to unload the bike and ride into Winnipeg for a quick look-around. We found The Forks, a meeting place where the Red River and the Assinboine River converge. There is a big indoor market there now, several restaurants and a boardwalk along the banks of the river. We didn’t see much as it was near closing time, and we became engaged in conversation with a retired school teacher who is now a publisher of children’s books and was giving away a few samples while trying to sell others. She was very interesting and excited about the books. When we finally walked away, a couple of books in hand, the other shops had closed. We returned to the campground with plans to return the next day.

The next day was sunny and warm, perfect for a motorcycle ride back to The Forks to begin our tour of the city. We started at the new Canadian Museum for Human Rights. Little did we know that we would become so enthralled with what we saw there, it would be all that we’d have time to see.

Along the path leading to the entrance of the very unique building, we were greeted by a bronze statue of Ghandi.

At the desk we were offered tickets for an architectural tour of the building, which would start in fifteen minutes. While we waited in the rotunda for the tour to begin, we watched with fascination as shadows of people of many statures, ages and sexes walked to a white board and wrote a greeting in their native language. Thirty-seven languages were represented.

Then the tour began. There is too much detail to cover here, so I’ll just share some photos and highlights. A quote on the website (https://humanrights.ca/) sums it up:

“The Canadian Museum for Human Rights will take you on a journey of education and inspiration unlike anything you’ve experienced before.”

Every component of the building was inspired by the late a philanthropist Israel Asper, to represent some aspect of life.

Once the architectural tour ended at the top of the tower, overlooking the city, we were on our own to tour the galleries.All were inspiring. Some were elating, others were depressing. The history of how inhumanly some humans have been treated over the centuries brings a tear to the eye, but changes have been made and the fact that more are being made, brings hope.

However, to quote John Humphries, “There will be peace on earth when the rights of all are respected.” We still have a long way to go.

One thing that impressed me was the stone carvings in one gallery that listed the names of every person who contributed to the building of the museum, from architects to pipe fitters and electricians. They all were recognized.

One small section of the list of contributors

We took the stairs and ramps down to the main floor, learning new things in every gallery along the way. We finished in the private room dedicated to the interesting display of the Magna Carta, which was on loan for only another week. I couldn’t help but wonder when our current Prime Minister might have last read this document, if ever.

By the time we got back to the bike it was too late to do anymore touring. Instead we relaxed over plates of pasta and salad at The Spaghetti Factory, which was a real treat since these restaurants have all disappeared from most of Canada.

We were on the road in the motor home the next day, over some very rough roads, with strong winds blowing across the prairie. Our next stop was in Saskatoon where we spent a couple of nights with my cousin Terry and his wife Liz. It was fun to catch up with them and we enjoyed the tour of Winnipeg that they gave us, including a look into the Diefenbaker Canada Centre at the University of Saskatchewan, where we learned some more facts about our country’s history that we hadn’t known before.

Diefenbaker Memorial

Terry showed the rowing sculls that he and members of the Saskatoon Rowing Club use.

Saskatoon Rowing Club sculls

Some busy beavers have decided the dock is the perfect spot for their home, and everyday club members dismantle it only to discover it back the next morning.

Beaver Hut in Progress

We had lunch at The Berry Barn, where all things Saskatoon Berries were on the menu.

The Berry Barn

Jim was the only one to try a piece of pie after we finished our main course, but I had a taste. Hmm.

Next stop: Edmonton, Alberta

Four and a Half Days Crossing Ontario in the Motor Home

September 7, 2015 by judy lawless

We’re on the road once again, this time taking the long way to Arizona to see more of Canada on the way. We left on Wednesday, September 2nd and spent the first night at Carol’s Campsite at Sudbury. Other than the fact that when I opened the fridge to get out the makings for dinner I discovered that the fridge had been off, it was an uneventful afternoon of driving (it was after noon when we finally got on our way).

The next morning I moved some food items into the electric cooler, thankful that I’d brought it along this trip. Later Jim solved the problem with the fridge and all is good now. We continued onto our next destination, Wawa, Ontario where we stopped at a Good Sam Park for the night. Internet connections have been poor, so I made no attempts at blogging. We were lucky to get emailing done. Even our phones were often out of service amongst the hills and trees of that part of the province.

I thought we’d given ourselves plenty of time to get to BC for a few weeks before turning south, but when we stopped in Wawa I was already wishing we’d scheduled more time so we could spend a day exploring there. We met a couple outside the Welcome Centre,who were slowly making their way back home to Qualicum Beach in BC, having traveled all the way to Montreal in a very old, wide-body camper van, similar to the one we owned for a few weeks before deciding we needed something larger for doing long trips. They had been there all day, just enjoying the beauty and catching up on internet tasks (WiFi was good there). They told us of the beautiful beach in downtown Wawa that we should visit, but we had to keep moving; we had made plans to visit family along the way.

The Goose at Wawa, Ontario

On Friday we decided to look up some Mesa Regal friends, who spend their summers on Loon Lake, in the small community of Shuniah, which is just east of Thunder Bay. While motoring along highway 17, we were startled by the flashing lights and a siren when a police car suddenly passed us. A minute later, a small red car cut in front of us, just missing an oncoming transport. It then passed the transport in front of us, forcing an oncoming car onto the shoulder! That was followed by second police car, also in warning mode, and cutting in and out of traffic. We both sat with our jaws dropped. How close had we come to being involved in a terrible crash?

We arrived at Loon Lake at 5:00 pm to find Harp and Joan thrilled to have us. Unfortunately the cottage turned out to be on a dead end road and there wasn’t a lot of space to turn our big rig and trailer around. Harp, his son Sandy, and I tried to direct Jim back into a narrow driveway, but cedar trees on one side stopped him, and when he attempted to drive forward to straighten out, the motor home was uphill, the trailer down. This resulted in the trailer hitch becoming buried under the gravel of the road. I left the men to rectify that situation and remove the trailer, while I went indoors to help Joanie with dinner. By the time it was about ready, the motor home was parked out front, facing the right direction to get us out of there, and the trailer was again connected. We could all relax and enjoy a drink on the dock before partaking of a delicious meal on the deck. We spent the night there in the RV and shared breakfast with Joanie and Harp before leaving the next day. Again, we would have liked to stay longer. It’s a beautiful spot.

Cottage Life at Loon Lake

We stopped at the Terry Fox Memorial at Thunder Bay. The story still brings tears to my eyes, as it did when I tried to read about this brave young fellow back in 1981.

Terry Fox Memorial

So far the weather had been sunny, hot and humid. We made it to the outskirts of Kenora on Saturday night before stopping at The Willows RV Campground. Around 9:00 pm the rain began, followed by thunder, lightning and wind. It stopped for a while, but after we got to bed it started again. The rain pounded on the roof for a half hour or more, not a gentle rain to put me to sleep. In the morning the park owner was out with his little back hoe leveling out some of the holes in the roads caused by the storm. When we left the park an hour later, we watched two pickup trucks slowly make their way through a flooded area of the road we needed to take, then held our breath as we edged through it too.

Yes, we had to go through that!

An hour later we were out of Ontario and into Manitoba, after traveling 1700 kilometers (1200 miles approx.) Jim says he once tried to tell a Texan how long it takes to drive across Ontario to Manitoba and the fellow replied, “I had a car like that once too.”

Grand Canyon South

May 10, 2015 by judy lawless

Grand Canyon South

During our trip to Las Vegas I told you about our magnificent trip to the Grand Canyon. That was Grand Canyon West. One request of Jim’s daughter and son-in-law on their visit with us in Arizona this spring was an overnight trip to see the Grand Canyon. Grand Canyon South is much more accessible, especially from Arizona. We put together a plan.

We left by car early enough in the morning to arrive in Sedona at noon hour. It seems like we are often there, or passing through, but there is always a new perspective and this was Anthony’s first trip to Arizona, so we spent a few hours climbing again. This time it was Bell Tower Rock that received our attention, rather than Cathedral Rock. Being early in March we expected the weather to be still cool and we dressed for the occasion—well at least I did. However, the sun was hot that day. The hike was much easier going for the most part, but enough for me to work up a sweat. About three-quarters of the way I had to take a rest on a shady ledge, and the others carried on until the climb became too shear to navigate. I took the time to snap more pictures, of course!

Karen & Anthony, ready to start

On the path

Follow the sign

View from my perch

They’re up there somewhere!

Ah, hah! Found them!

Williams Arizona was our final destination that day. We had rooms booked at the Marriott Hotel. A stop at the Railway Station, where we could have caught a train to the Canyon, revealed a kiosk where admittance tickets to the Grand Canyon National Park could be purchased. These not only would enable us to by-pass the line up at the gate, but were much less expensive. We opted out of taking the train, which might have been fun, because of the limited time allowed at the Canyon before the return. After dinner at the hotel restaurant, we called it an early night.

There wasn’t much in the vicinity of the hotel to explore, so Williams at first seemed unimpressive, but when we drove through the main street on our way out the next morning we thought it might be an interesting place to spend more time.

By mid-morning we were in the hub of the park and looking at maps to decide which way we wanted to hike. We stocked up on sandwiches, water and snacks at the store before taking our path of choice. Before long, we had reached the breath-taking South Canyon Rim. It was an entirely different view than that we’d seen from the West Rim. Needless to say, we were busy closing our dropped-jaws and snapping pictures.

Risky business! Notice the fellow way out on a ledge by himself?

Another brave soul

Sitting on the Edge

Looks like a good place to rest to me…not!

Lunch Break

Breath-taking View

It was well after dark when we arrived back in Mesa and soon crawled into bed, exhausted but happy.

A Visit with Dorothy in Kansas, The Old Town Museum, and The Indy 500

April 20, 2015 by judy lawless

We’ve been home for over a week now and I’ve taken no time to write! Time to catch up!

As when we headed south, it was our plan to spend more time exploring on our way back home too, but somehow that doesn’t last too long. I don’t know if it’s the poor weather that we encounter, or just the anxiety of getting home. This year our “summer” home is all new to us, since we moved into it just two weeks before we left for Arizona. There is still a lot of unpacking and organizing to do. We did make a couple of stops though.

The wind blew us into Liberty, Kansas and we had to take a look at Dorothy’s House.

Dorothy’s House

The storm (root) cellar

Dorothy and Toto

After we looked at things outside, we tried to get into the Museum. We were greeted by a live Dorothy, who informed us that the Museum was just closing. We told them that we’ d come all the way from Ontario, so we were allowed a quick look around the main floor and the gift shop, while Dorothy filled us in on some of the history of this Dorothy Memorial.

Not far down the highway, at a truck stop near Greensburg, Kansas we camped in the “RV Park” that a sign advertised as newly opened. It had hookups, but construction debris and other garbage still littered the area. We went into the restaurant for dinner and were entertained by the conversation that flowed around the small room between the truckers.

We were the only ones there!

By noon the next day we were in Wichita, where we spent some time touring Old Town Museum.

We lunched on Brats and Sarsaparilla in Fritz Snitzlers Saloon.

Fritz Snitzlers Saloon

Barber chair

Interesting story about whistles and time.

Funeral Parlour

Couch in the office of the local newspaper.

Then we watched the Kansas Twisters Motorcycle Drill Team practice in the parking lot next to where we were parked.

For more action, check out this video, courtesy of Jim Victor. https://youtu.be/3xwjI5FKhv4

By the time we left it was time to find a place to stay for the night. We looked up an RV Park listed in El Dorado, a half-hour drive off the highway. On the way we stopped for dinner at an Italian Restaurant. Despite its tired look, the food was good and the owners friendly. The RV Park, however, had to be the worst spot we’d ever seen. I was surprised that it was endorsed by Good Sam. There were very few sites that could accommodate large rigs, as they’d advertised, and all but one spot was filled. There was no one in the office to even tell us that, so we had to drive down the two rows in search of something. It was near the end of the final row that we spotted the empty site, which was barely big enough for us to turn around in, and turn around we had to because there was no exit! Twenty minutes later we were back at the Walmart parking lot for the night, listening to the rain and being rocked by the wind.

Easter Sunday we stopped into visit friends from Mesa Regal who were now home in St. Louis, Missouri. Dave and Nancy were gracious hosts, treating us to a wonderful late meal of their Easter dinner left-overs. That night we found what would be our last good KOA campground of the trip, at Granite City. The further north you get this early in the season, the scarcer they become. Most don’t open until Memorial Day.

By the time we arrived in Indiana the next day the dreary weather and heavy clouds were weighing me down, but one stop on our schedule was the Indy 500 Speedway, so we took a camping site for the night at the State Fair Grounds in Indianapolis. It was not an easy place to find as only one gate was open and the GPS didn’t know that. It was even harder to find out way back out the next morning because the exit signs all led to closed gates, until we eventually found ourselves back where we’d entered. It was after noon when we finally drove into the parking lot at the Indy 500 Speedway. I have to admit that by that time I was feeling a tad hungry and grumpy. We paid the $8.00 each to walk through the very small museum. It would have cost another $30.00 each to have the tour behind the scenes of the track, so we passed on that.

Indy 500 Museum

Former Championship Cars on display

We did hand over $8.00 each to take the twenty minute mini-bus tour around the track.

That night we were at a private campground at Enon, Ohio, next to the freeway and a train track where freight trains frequently rumbled past, and airplanes heading into Columbus flew above us. I didn’t expect to get much sleep, but I guess I was tired enough to tune them all out. Our last night on the road, after driving through Pennsylvania, we ended up where we’d started our trek across the US, at a Walmart in Ferdonia, NY.

Another Camping World/Good Sam RV Rally

March 11, 2015 by judy lawless

Camping World is United States’ largest RV and outdoor retailer; Good Sam is the world’s largest RV owner’s organization. Together they host America’s largest RV Rally. We attended our first Rally in Syracuse, NY in 2013.This year The Rally was held near Phoenix, only an hour away from us, so we had to go.

We signed up for the Early Bird Special and arrived at the venue, Phoenix International Speedway in Avondale, at 4:30 on the Tuesday afternoon. We were very impressed with the way all the rigs were neatly and efficiently directed to the parking spots by volunteers. Once we were installed a friendly lady was at our door with our registration package, which meant we didn’t have to walk to a booth and stand in line like last time. The window stickers with QR codes, which came by mail after we’d first registered online, were a major help, and this time they didn’t have rain and mud to deal with. There wasn’t much happening that first night so we just relaxed with our books – no electricity unless we ran the generator, no Wi-Fi.

When we got up the next morning at 8:00 am we were still the last coach in our designated row and we could look across the massive parking lot right out to the entrance. We watched out the window as a new procession of attendees, in everything from small camper vans to forty-foot-plus luxury coaches or fifth-wheels, began. Over the next few days thousands of RVs would fill the several acres of space.

Rows of RVs under the sunset

We met our next-site neighbours, Bill and Jan Mains, from Casa Grande, who are avid RVers. Jan had her one leg in a cast, due to a broken foot, but she determinedly got around using a little scooter to support the foot that couldn’t touch the ground.

We got our bikes together and went for a ride around the top of the raceway stands, chatting with people along the way. Our fold-up bikes are always a topic of conversation.

Jim on fold-up bicycle overlooking speedway

At noon we were allowed into the Rally area, the infield of the race track. We looked through some new RVs until it was time for a seminar on making your RV more fuel efficient, at 1:00 pm. We got some good information. By then my stomach was grumbling. It was a long way back to our RV, so we chose to have pizza from one of the few food vendors that were open that day. There was a Craft Show that Jim wanted to see, but by the time I’d come back from the restroom next door he’d seen it all; not many vendors and not many customers. We toured through a few more new RVs, just for curiosity sake. These $400,000 to $800,000 luxury models wouldn’t have interested me even if we had the money to spend. They are very pretty and have all the bells and whistles, but most are not very well laid out and they are too big to fit into many campgrounds. We soon made our way back to the gate where we’d left our bikes chained to the fence.

Back at the camp site, Jan and Bill were trying to entertain some friends on the tiny spot of empty space in front of their fifth-wheel. The sites were wide enough for only a rig and a pull or tow vehicle beside it. “Patio” space was practically non-existent. More of their friends arrived so we invited them to join us on our site, since we had no extra vehicle, leaving us plenty of patio space. We all visited until the sun went down and the temperature dropped. Then we retreated to the comfort of our “homes” for dinner and downtime.

Jan and Bill on right

During the next few days we rode the shuttle trolley back and forth between the rally exhibits and our RV, to take in a few more seminars, listen to afternoon entertainers and view more RVs. The most appreciated information we came away with was the value of having a voltage protector plus surge protector rather just a surge protector on your RV plug-in. We heard horror stories about some campgrounds/RV parks having open grounds or reverse polarity in their wiring systems that can cause major damage to an RV without a voltage protector. The Wi-Fi at the media centre was spotty so posting blogs or anything else other than doing emails was difficult. We managed to spend some money at the huge vendor tent, and dropped $14.00 for two cheeseburgers and $4.00 for a bottle of water at the Food Court, the second day there. The next day I packed a lunch. We saw a few lower-priced RVs that we really liked, but because of our poor Canadian dollar exchange even those were beyond our budget. I was disappointed because I would so like to have more kitchen space and closets.

Smiling in our first “dream” Coach

On Thursday night we sat in the grandstand to watch and listen to the Tina Preston Band. They were pretty good. It was unfortunate that the stage was set up in the infield a hundred feet away from the first row of seats, and the bleacher seating was protected by wire mesh fencing, making it difficult to see. There were TV screens though. On Friday night the entertainment was provided by Ticket to Ride, a Beatles Tribute Band and they had the bleachers rocking and stomping until 9:00 pm.

Looking onto the band stage from our seats in the bleachers

Saturday afternoon the good weather ended and it started to rain as we were riding the trolley back to camp. We didn’t go back for the Neil Diamond Tribute Band that night. It rained all night long. We’d seen everything we wanted to see, so after breakfast Sunday morning we packed up and left for Mesa Regal. It was a fun few days, but if we do another rally I think I’d rather spend more time getting to know some of the other RVers and less time dreaming about impossibilities.

Dentistry, Optometry, Puppies and Sand – A few Days in Mexico and California

March 5, 2015 by judy lawless

A few weeks ago we took the recommendations of friends and drove the three hours towards Mexico for some dental work that Jim needed done.

It all began a week earlier with a trip to a local dentist (also recommended by friends) to get an annual check-up, cleaning and x-rays, which we both got done for one-eighth of what it would cost us at home. This was an immaculate office with state-of-the-art equipment. I was particularly impressed with the ease and speed of getting the x-rays done. Because of the shape of the floor of my mouth, these are usually quite painful. I was even more impressed when a tiny camera was used to record the nooks and crannies of my mouth, and I was able to see the images on the computer screen in front of me.

We had learned that, because we have spent more than three months in this Cal-Am Resort, we could visit any other one for a week, free-of-charge, so we took the motor home to Fortuna De Oro in Yuma, not far from the Mexican/California border and our destination of Algodones, where Jim had an appointment set up with Amazing Dental Care. Because there was no transportation to the border we had to take our rented car along with us. We arrived mid-afternoon and had time to explore the resort and get in a pickle ball practice before bedtime.

Sunset at Fortuna De Oro

Early the next morning we took the car to the parking lot provided at the border, and then we walked across to Algodones Mexico. We were greeted by vendors already setting up their shops along the sidewalks, and advertisers for the various dental offices, eye doctors and pharmacies who were anxious to place business cards into our hands or even lead us to their employer’s place of business. But we knew where we were going and managed to stay on track as we walked the few blocks.

Algodones Shops

Jim required a couple of crowns, and a new upper denture, which would cost him less than a quarter of what it would have cost him at home, or even in Arizona. This office, too, was clean and modern. Jim was impressed. They even had free internet so I could take care of emails while I waited.

The dental work was a three-day project so there was a lot of waiting time. We made the trip across the border three times, without any hassles. During the waiting we decided to get our eyes checked and purchase new glasses. We chose the shop next door to the dentist office. The prices and frame selections were good, but the promise of same-day service didn’t happen. It took as long to get the correct glasses as it did to get the dentures and crowns done, and I will still be visiting my ophthalmologist when I get home. My prescription doesn’t seem right. We wouldn’t recommend this place, even though they seemed to be trying hard, and we were entertained by this sweet puppy named Monica. She was the only thing I wanted to buy and bring home with me.

Monica

When Jim finally had his new teeth and we both had our glasses, we went back across the border and got lunch at the Quechen Casino before driving a few miles down the road to the Imperial Sand Dunes, located in the south east corner of California.

We didn’t plan far enough ahead to rent dune buggies so had to be content with climbing up the huge mounds and watching, while filling our shoes with sand. Despite several dumpings, I still find sand between my toes after wearing those shoes.

Walking the Sand Dunes

A party of dune buggies

Looks like fun!

shoe sand

It was a worthwhile trip. Sadly, we couldn’t bring Monica back home with us.

Papago Park, Phoenix, Arizona

January 23, 2015 by judy lawless

We haven’t spent much time on the bike here this year yet. It’s been cooler, and we got a great deal on a private car rental so we’ve been cruising in a convertible with the top down on warmer days.

1998 Sebring Convertible

We’ve also been participating in more activities in the resort, and not doing as much site seeing as last year. But, we have had a few adventures lately.

A couple of weeks ago we drove out to Papago Park, a half-hour drive north-west from here. We’d seen the big hole in the rock last year, but didn’t figure out how to get to it. This year Jim did some research and we discovered this interesting hike and beautiful park.

The walk up to the “Hole in the Rock” was an easy climb. It’s a very popular spot. It was difficult to get some of the shots we wanted without a crowd of people in them, but we managed a few dozen.

Hole in the Rock as seen from the base.

Looking up from the backside

Climbing up the trail

Sun reflecting off the ceiling

The view from inside

Oasis in Papago Park

After we left the hole, we walked up another hill to Governor Hunt’s Tomb, a National Monument in memory of the First Governor of Arizona. I found it interesting that his mother’s maiden name was Yates, the same as my mother. Maybe we are related!

Hunt Monument

From there we made our way back down to the treed oasis in the centre of the park. The late afternoon sun was perfect for snapping photos

Papago Park Oasis

An area of picnic tables by the pond would have been a great place to enjoy a picnic dinner. We’ll have to go back another day.

Mind Traveler

Sharing Life's Journey

Category Archives: Active Seniors

Shasta Caverns, Shasta Lake, California

From Kaslo to Vancouver in the Motorhome, With a Few Detours

Making Some New Friends, and a Few Mishaps in British Columbia

Winnipeg to Saskatoon in the Motorhome

Four and a Half Days Crossing Ontario in the Motor Home

Grand Canyon South

A Visit with Dorothy in Kansas, The Old Town Museum, and The Indy 500

Another Camping World/Good Sam RV Rally

Dentistry, Optometry, Puppies and Sand – A few Days in Mexico and California

Papago Park, Phoenix, Arizona

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Did you enjoy what you read? Did you learn something? Nudge your friends to read it too! :)

Did you enjoy what you read? Did you learn something? Nudge your friends to read it too! :)

Did you enjoy what you read? Did you learn something? Nudge your friends to read it too! :)

Did you enjoy what you read? Did you learn something? Nudge your friends to read it too! :)

Did you enjoy what you read? Did you learn something? Nudge your friends to read it too! :)

Did you enjoy what you read? Did you learn something? Nudge your friends to read it too! :)

Did you enjoy what you read? Did you learn something? Nudge your friends to read it too! :)