Friday - Nov 12: HOME AGAIN

Home Sweet Home. It looks good and feels great after 2 months in the RV. All this room!

The weather is not what we HAD been enjoying a week ago, but I guess we'll have to get used to it. It's not quite as weird seeing those Christmas decorations on display in the stores here, as it was seeing them in the stores down south. When we were in our shorts & shirt sleeves!

Ron is putting antifreeze in the RV. I must finish unpacking & get started on the laundry. And this will be the last of my daily updates. 

Happy Friday. Have a great weekend!

Great Falls, MT - We made it . . .

Dick's RV Park
Site #110 - $32, p/w/s, Cable, Internet

Well, we made it through last night without freezing up. It was certainly 'winter' looking in Idaho Falls when we left this morning though. Light snowfall, -2C. We passed a snow plow on the highway as we were heading out of town. Eech. Not something you like to see.

And things got worse. Ron needed a pee break, so he pulled off at Spencer, just before the Monida Pass at the Idaho / Montana Border. Bad choice. It was very icy. Our 2 wheel drive truck has zero traction. We slid down the ramp and we couldn't get enough traction to get going again. We backed in to town barely managing to keep on the road. We literally 'slipped around' the town trying to figure out what to do and where to go.

This is a very small town. Everything was closed except a small "Opal Shop" whose owner had no suggestions as to where we might park or stay. Ron decided to make one more attempt to get out of town and this time he was successful. I wasn't so excited about that. The next 20 km through that pass was probably the scariest. EVER. Solid ice. Ron drove very slow but things were very tense. A 1/2 ton truck had hit the ditch in front of us. And he wasn't towing an RV. Yes, very scary! It was such a relief when we finally got through that pass to dry highway once again. Thankfully the remaining drive to Great Falls was good. It's 2C, but no snow.

We will stay 2 nights. Clean the RV and get it ready for winter. I am now more than ready. It's damn cold.  People are wearing winter jackets!

Idaho Falls - Nov 9, 2010

Snake River RV Resort

Site #4: $30 p/w Internet

We are camped at Idaho Falls. In the snow. 0C weather.
I think it might freeze tonight.  We don't have boots.

So yes,. there comes a time when I just want to get home. Fast!

It got down to -2C last night but there was no snow on the ground this morning when we left. There was a skiff of snow on some of the roof tops and further out of town. The roads were fine to Idaho Falls, but there is quite a bit of snow here. Again, that higher altitude.

We are aiming for Great Falls tomorrow night, but that is pushing it a little -- for us with the 5th wheel. We'll see how it goes. There is always Helena.

There is an Edmonton couple camped beside us who are heading to Phoenix. The smart ones. The couple on the other side of us are heading home to Kalispell from the Palm Desert area.The dumb ones - like us!

I have a pot of chili simmering on the stove for dinner tonight. No more bbques or evening campfires for these campers. ☹

Cloudy & Cold & Wet in Nephi, Utah

High Country RV Camp
Site #44 - $20, p/w, Internet, Temp 3C

Well Vegas was a bit of a bust. One crappy over-priced meal in the Casino. Enough said.

However, we truly enjoyed the drive from Vegas to St George, UT this morning. The Virgin River Gorge near the Arizona / Utah border was so awesome. We shouldn't have been surprised, because this is the Zion Canyon area. One should therefore expect to see those Red Cliffs. Beautiful!!

Ron has Slow Pitch teammates that go to St George every year for the big International Senior Slow Pitch tournament held there. I think that is why we had pictured a flat desert like landscape. Kind of like Medicine Hat! Wrong!

Driving from St George to Salt Lake City the Elevation went up and the temperature went down. Like from 20C to 1C. There was some rain. We had planned to stop at Fillmore for the night, but it was only 3 p.m. and only 3C.  We decided to keep driving for another hour. To Nephi. Where it was still 3C. And raining. Harder. Kind of like splatting. Crap. Even Medicine Hat is looking better than this!

We were pretty quick to change from our shorts & capris to jeans & sweaters. And the electric heater is now plugged in.

*sniff* I MISS ARIZONA *sniff*

We are here . . . .

. . . . in Las Vegas. At a Wedding Chapel.
hahahaha...Just kidding :)

Well, actually we ARE in Vegas -

Charlies RV Park & Casino
Site #7230 - $33, p/w/s, cable, Internet, Temp 25C

We left Surprise at 9:30 this morning. It was a tough move. We know what is in store for us over the next few days.  Away with the shorts. Out with the sweaters. And the jackets. And then the boots. Eek

So we came across that new Hoover Dam Bridge. Just opened mid October. Lots of traffic. Fortunately for us, most of it was heading south. Bumper to bumper in to Boulder City. All the Sunday afternoon sightseers.

We will take a look at our literature and decide if we will un-hook & check out sin city. We may just make use of the hot tub & pool here. But first I will check out the curling scores. We watched the 1/4 finals on TV at Jim & Jan's yesterday. So, I'm wondering who won today's final.

The temp here is 25C, so not too bad in Vegas. Maybe we'll stay an extra day?

surprise.. still here..

Yes, we are still in Surprise. I feel a little guilty and I worry that we might be over-staying our welcome (??) But damn, it's awesome here! Jim & Jan are great hosts. And we've really enjoyed our stay.

Bits of shopping, bits of touring about, some 'happy hours', our evenings around the propane fire. Such a beautiful location.  AND THE WEATHER . . . Just WOW!

Last night some friends, Merv & Ev came for dinner. The routine has become very comfortable, for us anyway ;) Jim & Jan go golfing, we go for a bike ride. That sort of thing. We do our own breakfasts & I have made a couple of lunches plus an evening meal. It's working well.  or, I think/hope it is!??

We had a great bike ride this morning and Ron is now picking up the olives that have fallen in the gravel under the tree. I have this fab idea that he could become the yard maintenance guy & I could cook & clean. (hehe!) However, that is a whole lot of dreaming and it is time to be moving on. We will be leaving first thing on Sunday morning. We need to get the maps out, but figure we'll be camped somewhere near Vegas on Sunday night.











This evening we headed to the fish & chip place and to Dobbins Lookout to see the sunset.
As you can see from the pics, the valley view and the sunset was pretty spectacular from there.

Surprise, AZ

So sad to leave Yuma this morning. Because it means we are starting the trek home. Nooooooo......!!!

Again, I don't think I'll miss Yuma so much, just the warm weather. And the tank tops :)

The Park Owner noticed our proane firepit yesterday afternoon when she stopped by to settle up our bill. (Must admit that after a week of evening fires we were a little surprised that someone wouldn't have said something!) Anyway, the lady was very intrigued. She had never seen a propane firepit. We told her to come by later & she could see it in action. Shortly after 6:30 pm she drove by and was very disappointed it wasn't lit yet. We were still cooking supper!. She said she had told a number of neighbors about it and figured they'd be by to see. Only thing is, NOBODY is outside beyond 6 p.m. And, it's lights out by 9 p.m. That is why noone ever noticed our fire. Ron was pretty disappointed he couldn't 'show off'. I don't think I would ever get used to that 'Snowbird' time schedule!!

So now we are street parked at Jim & Jan's in Surprise. Jim barbecued steaks for dinner and once again we enjoyed an evening around our propane firepit. Warm weather, good food, good company, a beer-garita or two... Oh yeah....



One of these days I'll check the temperatures back home, but not yet.  Life is good .....