Took a left at Albuquerque...

I think the following pictures pretty much sum up our thoughts today.  It was a beautiful drive from Colorado City to Gillette, Wyoming, including cruising through Denver and many changes of landscape.  In fact it's been a beautiful drive ever since we left Arizona. 

The moho has run well the last 2 days.  We did stop at a truck repair shop in New Mexico, which turned out to be more of a diesel specialty place so not super helpful.  The mechanic there tried hooking up his diagnostic code reader thingamabob but it wouldn’t work.  But we explained the symptoms and he did suggest a few diagnoses (fuel pump, bad gas, plugs, it didn’t like the “cold” of New Mexico (we giggled)) but also went on to say he wouldn’t be terribly concerned since the problem had rectified (anonymous  - that word’s for you) itself each time it happened and there was no loss of power and nothing leaking.  So with no charge for the at-very-least-reassuring advice, we hit the highway and lo and behold - there've been no issues since.  Perhaps, as a friend suggested, now that we are headed north, all is right in the world.  

This is most likely our last night on the road.  Appropriately, this is where we are staying.

And it’s been a heck of a ride. Adventures had, a thing or two learned, and many a damn good fresh and hot gluten free cookie eaten along the way. Thanks for joining us everybody!  xoxo

Changin'

I feel I should chime in here as it’s been a while since I’ve posted.  I thought I’d be the only one writing, but good thing Christy has lots to say!  I find I get lost in my head and don’t know where to start or what to say when it comes to a blog post.  And quite frankly, admitting it hasn’t worked out as planned is not an easy thing to do.

While the idea for this trip came from Christy, I was all gung ho. Who doesn’t like change better than me? Who doesn’t get bored with the same ol’ same ol’ faster than me? Who thinks rolling around the country in a tiny space with another person, two big dogs and a cat isn’t the funnest thing ever (that grammatical error was for you, Mom)?  Discovering your true self isn’t always pleasant. Nor enlightening in that Oprah sort of way.  Mostly it’s stinky in the “I haven’t showered in several days and have no clean underwear left” kind of way. Or very, very self pitying in the “sobbing in the bathroom while the Moho rocks down another elfin’ road” kind of way.  

I stood in line in Walmart in Buckeye, AZ the other day. The woman in front of me had lots and lots of items to check out.  The cashier was new. You know the drill.  I tried not to roll my eyes. I tried not to sigh deeply and just loudly enough for her to hear. I wanted to. But then I saw what I think were food stamps laid out on various items along the belt.  There were six or seven of them, and each of them covered a different food group - veggies, baby food, dairy.  And I looked at what I had: case of Blue Moon beer, their seasonal variety pack, a bottle of Maker’s Mark Bourbon, a candy bar, an Arizona Cardinals t-shirt, some travel-sized Advil for an upcoming trip to Bhutan, chips and snacks for the Grey Cup game we were going to watch on our laptop in our RV….you see where I’m going with this?

The woman with the food stamps apologized for holding up the line. I said it was no problem.  I wanted to hand her all the money in my pocket and leave empty handed.  But I didn’t.  And later I realized no matter how much I dislike this manner of travel, I am priviliged to be able to do it.  And that makes complaining seem wrong.

So here we are in Colorado City, Colorado! :)  Safe and sound and plugged in for warmth.  There’s snow here after the big storm that went through a few days ago. We have been blessed to either be just before big storms or chasing them. Just the way I like it!  We are hoping to blast through and be home by Thursday, but it may not be until Friday. That’s ok. As long as we make it safe, all will be sound.  

Here are some photos from the last few days to keep you entertained… 

Somewhere between Gallup and Albuquerque...beautiful landscape!

Bobble Head Phil Robertson, from Duck Dynasty. My hero!

Typical sign you see on I-40, as part of it once was Route 66

And of course, there's the Route 66 Casino!  Just outside of Albuquerque

And finally, thumbs up from Christy, as she navigates us through another freeway system, this one the interchange between I-40 and I-25. It has even been recognized by important government agencies for it's design!

Hugs and kisses to all!

Route 66

Well first off I have to say GO GREEEEEEEN! Awesome job Riders, and awesome job Rider Nation! From what we could see, a great time was had by all.  We managed to watch the game online via a slightly-sketchy website that Jen found…. the picture was not crystal clear but was totally fine and it was pretty cool to sit in Buckeye, AZ and see our boys win the Grey Cup at Taylor Field.

We spent one night at Sam’s in Palm Springs.  Remy was NOT happy there.  It was a very strange thing.  She’s been such a great traveller, and settles down like an old pro when we park.  But in Palm Springs she was whiny all evening.  When we moved on to Phoenix (Buckeye) she was once again fine.

Tonight we are in Gallup, New Mexico, a small town about an hour west of Albuquerque.  It’s cool here - just 3 degrees C right now and supposed to go to -8.  There’s a bit of snow on the ground. We drove today from Phoenix up through Flagstaff then east on the I-40, which is also the old Route 66.  Seeing all the old billboards and “Indian Stores” along the way was kinda fun.

But friends, we are headed home.  As I explained to friends and neighbours in an email, it turns out we are not snowbirds at heart. It's safe to say we have enjoyed all the new sights and cool places we've seen, and all pets have been great, and we have been comfy in the moho, but despite all that, we both feel like we've been on the road for months already and we are just tired, even though it's not even been 3 weeks. We are realizing that neither of us enjoys being on the move and driving every day.  Our original plan was to spend much of the winter boondocking (dry camping in the desert) and it seemed like a great plan at home, but once down here, we realized that if we stop for more than a day or so in one place, we get bored.  

Combine that with the fact that we are very much missing the routines and comforts of home and family and friends, and it just seems silly to keep on keeping on.

It has been bizarre weather all over California, Arizona, and New Mexico this week. Cold, rainy, windy, snowy and stormy (sound familiar?!). Sheeeesh. This means we are choosing our route home carefully, to avoid as much of it all as possible.  Once we clear the mountains one way or another I will feel better. I would drive the prairies in the snow in this beast any day but some of those high passes are just plain spooky.

Compounding my anxiety is the fact that the moho has started acting up - just a tiny bit.  She starts fine, runs fine, and about 10 minutes later starts to misfire and hiccup, which is accompanied by a strong smell of coolant.  That lasts a few minutes, until she’s well warmed up, then so far she has settled down and run fine for the rest of the days.  There are no leaks, and all gauges read normal; the check engine light flickers on and off during the episode, but then goes off.  Bad gas? Spark plug? Catalytic converter? The smart thing to do would be to take her to a Ford dealer for a code check, wouldn’t it?  Maybe we will see if Gallup has one before we head out tomorrow.  

Deserts and hot springs and cactus - oh my!

I realized today, after Jen received a text from a friend wondering if we were ok, that I updated the loved/hated Facebook the other night with our whereabouts and plans, but not the blog.  So yes anonymous, we are ok!

We spent one night in the Orange Grove RV park, outside Bakersfield, CA.  (May I just say that the proverbial streets of Bakersfield rival Regina's in terms of roughness? And while we sang our way along with the song, through town, it was to the accompaniment of much clattering of pots and pans and various bottles in our fridge!)  It was totally RV parkish - that is to say lots of cement and close neighbours, which we've seen more of on this trip than we expected or hoped to, but it was quiet and it truly was in an orange grove, and that was pretty cool.  This was Annie’s morning view:

We charged up batteries, filled tanks that needed filling and emptied those that needed emptying, and headed west on California 58 through Mojave then eventually took the 247 south from Barstow.  The day’s drive took us past several interesting-looking landmarks, none of which we could get close to:  an absolutely ginormous wind farm: 

then the Obsolete Aircraft Storage area (we could see many many hulking remains in the distance, and how fun would THAT have been to poke around in?!), the National Test Pilot School, the Hyundai and Kia proving grounds/track, and Edwards Air Force Base with it’s much NASA related testing sites and centers.

   

ALSO the 20 Mule Team Borax factory and mine.  I know, right?  The day was spent driving the Mojave Desert, very dry and to me, desolate, yet I was fascinated by the number of people obviously calling the desert, scrub and sand between Barstow and Joshua Tree, home.

Completely out of sequence, but just because I thought it was neat - this truck is carrying bales of cotton:

Moving on...

We’ve spent the past 2 nights at Joshua Tree.  I have wanted to visit this area for… well… forever, after reading about it in outdoor magazines and seeing photos of amazing vistas in the park.  And lots of parts of it didn’t disappoint:  AMAZING landscape and scenery! Totally other-worldly for a couple of Canadian gals like us.  Desert, hills, valleys, giant rocks, cacti, strange gnarly shrubs and tough-as-nails-looking little desert plants, and yes, Joshua trees.  We camped at Jumbo Rocks; I can’t figure out why they call it that….. 

It was fun.  BUT my own photos of amazing sights in the park didn’t materialize:  yesterday was grey and cold and not at all lent to photography.  I had high hopes for sunrise this am but about midnight it started to rain.  No, not just rain. RAIN.  POURING RAIN! We are high and dry in the moho of course, but with the rain came chilly temps (also Jumbo Rocks is at quite a high elevation in the park, making it cooler to begin with) and so again, not a lot of photo ops.  I got burny cold fingers just trying to set up the camp stove outside to cook the bacon.  (I know I know - none of you at home have much sympathy; I get it.)  The other disappointing part of the visit was that dogs are not allowed on trails in the park (this is true in all US National Parks).  SO while there are miles and miles of probably-spectacular trails and backcountry to explore, we had to leave the dogs behind if we wanted to do so.  AND we had to walk them around and around the campground.  Now really that’s not such a hardship, since the campground was not busy and it was pretty cool, and THEY certainly didn’t seem to care.  We did go on a short hike without them, and I do understand why they’re not invited on the trails - cacti and sensitive flora abound which is what makes the place so beautiful of course - but we still felt like the rules limited our ability to explore.

On the plus side, despite all the rain, we were what is known as dry-camping - no power or water and self-reliant.  The same as boon docking except within park boundaries, we still had to pay for that privilege.  But it all worked well.  The fridge stayed cold and the stove got hot, both on propane, and our portable propane heater was a godsend.  (While there is a forced air propane furnace on board, it sucks A LOT of battery power to run if we are not on shore power, so we didn’t use it.)  The LED lightbulbs I installed last spring, while they make us look dead, allow us to use all the lights we want without worrying about killing the battery.  It’s a good trade off.  Anyway, I digress.

This morning, after a wet walk with the dogs, we headed out of the park.  More crazy plants and scenery.  I have REALLY enjoyed our drives the last couple of days and seeing the desert landscapes I've never seen before.  After just a short drive we hit Palm Springs, where it is, you guessed it, RAINING.  In fact there is a weather watch in effect for heavy rain and flash flooding in low-lying areas (here) and heavy snow in the mountains. Despite the warnings, we persevered to WalMart, scoring the last 2 tubs of GF cookie dough and this interesting pumpkin cider for me.  Trader Joe’s stocked us up on a variety of chicken sausages, which we’ve grown fond of.  All in all a good day!  But good grief!  

Burny fingers? Weather warnings? Is the universe trying to tell us something?!

Tonight we are at Sam’s Family Spa RV Park, at Desert Hot Springs, CA.  It’s a neat little RV park and there are numerous hot pools to dip in as many times as you want while you stay.  We dipped earlier - it felt great to get warmed through after a couple of chilly days and nights at Joshua Tree.   

As I write this Jen is searching on line for a way to watch the Grey Cup from afar.  I think we are out of luck.  There’s an app for that, NBC Sports Live, but you have to be a subscriber….. if anyone has any suggestions we are all big green ears!!!!!

Attention! In the Delhi tonight we have....

Delhi?! Yes, that is where we are tonight. Delhi, California.  As I write this it’s 5:45pm local time.  Dark out there, but still almost 16 degrees C.  Our windows are open and we are enjoying it.  It's definitely been nice to hit warmer weather.  We have stayed toasty warm in the moho but a couple of days ago Jen discovered that all the towels we had stored in the little cupboard below our bathroom sink were saturated with water.  No, nothing's leaking - it was just condensation that gathered on the moho wall in the cupboard due to lack of insulation in the walls and the differences in inside and outside temperatures to date.  Come to think of it - not unlike life at the farm -  but I digress (but more on that later).  

We are in an RV park tonight, so not the most scenic of locales, but every once in a while it seems like the best option.  Let me explain.

Last night we stayed in the Mendocino National Forest, just outside Red Bluff CA in the northern Sacramento Valley, in a lovely gov't run campground. Other campers were super-friendly and welcoming (hope you found the blog, Suzie and Lynette!), and it was a lovely quiet spot to lay our heads.  There were nice trails to walk with the dogs this morning, which we did, and then we hit the road.  On the advice of Suzie and Lynette, whom we met at the campground, we got off the I-5 at Red Bluff and came south on Highway 99, which was a great deal quieter and funner, at least ’til Sacramento.  We drove through orange groves and prune plum orchards, and miles and miles of groves of almonds, walnuts, and pistachios right along the highway.  It was fun! The farmland of California.  I tried to take pictures from the co-pilot’s seat but they all look the same - like blurry trees and not at all as cool as it felt to be driving through such a neat area.  :(

We bombed through Sacramento (Jen at the wheel - driving LIKE A BOSS!) and stopped for lunch and coffee and provisions at a random-perfectly-timed Trader Joe’s on the outskirts, then continued on south.  We saw the Gnarly Head Winery! It’s HUGE! I couldn’t even count all the giant vats as we passed by.

Last night we researched our stopping point for tonight, which we thought it would be Caswell Memorial State Park.  We pulled in, and while it was pretty, it was also pretty expensive, even in November ($30 for NO services, which we somehow missed or thought irrelevant in our research.  This is apparently typical in California State Parks, which is too bad.  Given the great experiences we had with Washington and Oregon State Parks, we were expecting so much more in California) so we carried on south to Delhi.  Hence the RV park - much less scenic but for $5 more than Caswell, we have full services (water, power, free WiFi, cable TV (which is useless to us), sewer dump, laundry and showers if we want them).  We will take the opportunity to fill water, drain grey and black tanks, charge up our little vacuum and clean some of this wet coast sand out of the carpets, and charge our various electronic “necessities” like phones and iPads, laptop and iPods, and the mifi box.

The dogs are awesome traveling companions! (Well, so is Jen, but I expected that! With the dogs I wasn’t so sure what to expect!) They have settled in to the rhythm of our travel, and are eager to get out and explore each new place we stop, be it a rest stop off the interstate or a glorious forest trail. Seeing as they have gotten used to living at the farm, where it’s pretty quiet, I was worried that they would be hyper-reactive on this trip.  But they are taking most everything in stride.  A young man walking a husky past our site earlier tonight set Kinka off barking a bit, but Rem just watched them pass.  (Kinka’s eyesight is failing her, so I expect her to be a little more jumpy.)  Much as Jen is enjoying the beers, and I am enjoying the wines, Rem is enjoying sampling the poo delicacies all along our route.  Annie G is also an extraordinary traveling cat - she has proven herself trustworthy of freedom so we let her roam in the moho while we travel.  She uses the litter box like a champ while we bounce down the highways at 60 MPH and wanders from window to window taking in the sights. 

Tonight we are feeling like setting a goal of completely escaping the Saskatchewan winter may have been a little overachieving.  Perhaps it’s a bad case of “the grass is always greener” (especially because in Saskatchewan, it’s clearly NOT greener right now) but we are both missing home, friends, neighbours, family and routine.  And we are both enjoying seeing new sights and places, but we are getting tired of being on the road every day.  To date there has not been anyplace we wanted to stay longer than we did.  Tomorrow are are headed for Bakersfield (where I am told, I can PICK MY OWN ORANGES! RIGHT OFF THE TREE!!!), then on to the Joshua Tree National Park.  We are hoping to spend several nights at Joshua Tree, weather permitting (it’s boondocking, so depending on the temps, we will have to monitor our batteries and holding tanks for conditions and stay accordingly). I am really looking forward to exploring the area, and also to putting down roots, such as they are, for a few nights if we can.

Taming the Beasts

Today we are in Rogue River, OR at the “VALLEY of the ROGUE STATE PARK”.  That’s what the sign says. Honest! We’ve left the ocean and the rainforest and hopefully, the rain!  I feel as if I could ring out any one of my limited items of clothing and get a cup full of saltwater. This prairie girl is ready for some plains and heat, thank you very much. But that being said, I do (and did) enjoy a spell of vast waters and crashing waves.  As I said to Christy many a time, “I’d love to rent a place right on the ocean and just sit and stare at it all day.”  Maybe next time.

Part of our goal each day is to wear out Kinka and Remy.  At home, we always walk the grid road in the morning for half an hour or more and with Kinka, play some ball during the evening. With this trip, there is a lot of time for them in crates.  When we travel, the girls are crated, for safety, and when we sleep, the girls are crated, mostly so Kinka doesn’t spend the night staring at us longingly from the table.  So somewhere in the times in-between, we try and wear them out.  And get us some exercise too.  When we stayed at Cape Lookout on Friday, we spent some time on the beach but knew we wanted a better trail for the next day. Our first stop before we hit the road was the Cape Trail just a few miles south of the campground. 

It was a beautiful hike through the rainforest with stunning views scattered throughout.  It was foggy and damp, with the sound of the ocean crashing into the earth somewhere off in the distance. While we didn’t make it all the way to the end (hey - you’ve got to consider the time back too!) we did get in a good bout of exercise for all.

This morning, after a wet and rainy night at Carl G. Washburne Memorial State Park, we took the Heceta Head Lighthouse Trail.  Now it had rained quite a bit the night before, but do you think either of us thought of that before embarking on our little mile and a half jaunt?  It was a mostly uphill trail with several spots of mud holes and slippery steps.  Thankfully, both of us were wearing our Bogs (rubber shoes, basically) and we smartly decided NOT to go down the same way. Or at least we think we were smart. It meant taking the highway back to the MoHo, but I can’t help but think if we HAD gone back down the trail, one or both of us would be wearing a lot more mud than we are now!  This trail was also a gorgeous trail with stunning vistas and crashing waves.  And a lighthouse!  Pretty cool.

Now, as I tap away at the keyboard, both dogs (and cat) are sound asleep. A job well done!

Tomorrow we head out of Oregon and into California, shedding the mountains and looking for dry, warm and sunny conditions.  Not sure if we’ll get them sooner or later, but eventually, the sun has to shine!  I know we have little to complain about considering many of you are dealing with large sums of snow.

Not sure how this trip is going to play out, to be honest.  5 and a half months is a long time to be away.  We may have our home with us, but a lovely texted photo of our actual home made us both a bit homesick.  Perhaps it was because we couldn’t see the snow!

Until next time, here's a few shots of Annie just being awesome.  She is such a great traveller!

Say Cheese!

Tonight we are at Cape Lookout State Park, on the Oregon coast.  I have cracked open the “two buck chuck” and really, what can one say about $2 wine except, for the price, it’s damn good! 

We are camped in west coast forest, but less than a couple of minutes’ walk from the ocean. Amazing! I am loving being so close to the Pacific and its sounds and smells and beach treasures (ok, broken shells!).  When I walk the beaches I walk with Remy, and it is fun to watch her experience it all.  She is alternately a little confused by the vastness I think, and fascinated by the minutiae, like shells and bubbles and jelly blobs.  Today she dug enthusiastically in the sand after…. something... for a few minutes, and failing to find it, peed on it and moved on. Is there a life lesson there? Perhaps.

It was an easy drive from Nehalem SP to this one today, and knowing that, we had a leisurely morning there - including a nice long walk with the dogs on the trails and beach of Nehalem, and lunch before we packed up.  

En route to Cape Lookout we stopped at the Tillamook Cheese Factory, where you can take a self-guided tour and see the cheese production/packaging floor in action before stopping (of course) for samples and purchases.  Suffice to say I now have enough cheese to last me ’til 2014  (especially since Jen is trying hard to stay dairy-free) but DAMN it IS good stuff! I picked up old cheddar, smoked cheddar, AND smoked peppercorn white cheddar (because if there’s one thing a mostly-vehicle-bound, mid-40’s female traveller needs, it’s um, more cheese, right?!) 

When we pulled into Cape Lookout, one of the first things we noticed is how many of the sites are reserved (95% of them?) - not for tonight, but for tomorrow night.  Friday.  Of course.  In talking with the camp host here, I learned that all the state parks down the coast will be full to capacity for the weekend, and that without reservations we are taking a chance on having a place to call home tomorrow night.  In state parks anyway,  Jen has been researching alternatives on line, and there are many.  So we are not sure where we will be resting our heads tomorrow night - all part of the adventure.  (I take comfort in the knowledge that wherever we are, we will have cheese.)  Although we had talked about boondocking our way down the coast, the temps combined with the humidity (currently it’s 6:30 and 10.1 degrees C, but it feels cold out there) mean it’s really nice to have electricity and thus easy heat.  Also, there is a storm expected here on the coast tonight and tomorrow.  But for tonight we are tucked in and warm, and the millenicom mifi that we ordered and picked up in Great Falls is working well here so we will probably hunker down and watch a movie on Netflix! It’s a funny dichotomy of “roughing it” and not. But I’ll take it.