HELLO AGAIN

Hello Friends.

Arlyene and I are "waking up" our blog as we prepare for our annual migration back to the Pacific Northwest.  We will be leaving the Las Vegas Motorcoach Resort on June 5th, traveling with our friends Larry and Linda Bergo who also have a motor home and a "sticks and bricks" home in Idaho.  Our first stop will be in Ely, Nevada which will be our base for a one day visit to Great Basin National Park.  (I bet you didn't even know there was such a place.)  We have driven past it on two other occasions but never had the time to stop.  We will correct that error on this trip.

After that we will be working our way up north where we will split off from Larry and Linda and make a side trip to Glacier National Park.  Our inaugural trip in this coach was to Glacier back in 2011 but it was in mid September and we saw very little due to bad weather.  We hope to correct that error too.  After that we will spend July 4th with the Bergo's in Idaho and then work our way through eastern Washington with stops in Prosser, Leavenworth and Winthrop before crossing on the North Cascades Highway and then north to the Ferndale/Bellingham area for about three weeks for visits with friends and favorite places.  After that we will work our way down to Bothell and a few weeks in the Seattle area before starting back south again in mid September.  Our goal will be to be back in Las Vegas on October 1st making for about a 4 month trip.  May the good health gods and the good mechanical gods bless us......

So you have been forewarned if you are subscribed to this blog.  If you received this posting then in about a week you will start receiving our periodic postings related to this trip.  The blog is basically our way of journaling our trips and making it available to anyone who cares to follow along.  If you don't want to receive e-mails of new postings it is pretty easy to unsubscribe.

Looks like the temps here in Las Vegas will be at or near 100 by our departure date.  As much as we love it here in the resort, those kinds of temperatures will make it a lot easier to leave.  Last year just about everywhere this side of the Mississippi was on fire and hot.  Hoping for cooler temps this year - and no fires other than our campfires - where they are allowed.

TRIP TRIVIA

The purpose of this trip was to take care of some business and visit friends and family in Washington, Idaho, South Dakota, take our motor home to the factory where it was built in Alabama for some warranty work that, (in my opinion, could only be done correctly there), and while we're at it, escape the oppressive summertime high desert heat.  We accomplished all of the above.

• From the time we left Las Vegas until we returned we were gone four months
• We touched on 19 States: Nevada, Utah, Idaho, Washington, Montana, Wyoming, South Dakota, Iowa, Nebraska, Missouri, Tennessee, Mississippi, Arkansas, Alabama, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona
• We crossed five major rivers: Colorado Once, Columbia twice, Snake Twice, Mississippi twice, Missouri at least twice.
• We crossed the Continental Divide in Montana and New Mexico.
• We drove the motorhome 6,388 miles and the Jeep at least another 500 miles on side trips and errands and ended the lives of millions of bugs while at it.
• We used 872 gallons of diesel fuel for an average .36 cents per mile dragging our house with us.
• We visited the Corn Belt and the Bible Belt.
• We had the opportunity to dine on Catfish and passed.
• We learned more about the heat and humidity in the south than we really cared to.
• We rode out some impressive Thunder and Lightening storms but no Tornados.
• We laid my Dad's ashes to rest at a cemetery in Bellingham, WA and mourned the loss of an fellow sailor and friend.
• We visited the only cemetery in the world dedicated to coon dogs and celebrated our 46th anniversary in Tupelo, Mississippi before visiting the birthplace of Elvis Presley in a part of the country where it is not unusual to see a Confederate Flag proudly hanging on the front porch.
• We suffered only one mechanical break down but because of fortunate timing and great service from Cummins Northwest we were only delayed about one hour from our planned schedule.
• We visited Mount Rushmore, Crazy Horse, the South Dakota Badlands for the first time, Capitol Reef National Park for the second time and the Grand Canyon for the fourth time.

We had a great time and we are still speaking to each other.  The coach performed wonderfully but it was a very long drive and we are happy to be back in the "dry heat" of Las Vegas where it is still in the triple digits.  We are looking forward to a fall and winter where we don't need to "raise the jacks and bring in the slides" for a while.

THE GRAND CANYON

Yesterday we took the Grand Canyon Railroad and let someone else do the driving.  We have been to the canyon three other times over the years so the fact that we only had three hours to hike was OK, especially since it was in the high 80's with a high predicted of 90.  It is still pretty crowded there this time of year.  We hiked a section of the Rim Trail we had not done before so some of the views were slightly different.  Enjoyed the train experience and although it is a bit on the pricey side we felt like it was well worth it for us.  We were entertained by a gunfight before we boarded and when we were almost back to Williams bandits robbed the train.  Along the way there were cowboy singers with who entertain some as well.  This is not your typical tourist train ride.  This is a real train.  The car we were in was purchased from Amtrak a few years ago and recently completed a $ 1 million overhaul.  They have a second car like this in the same process.  They have lots of equipment and maintenance facilities and I can see why the tickets are expensive.  The ride is a little over two hours each way with the three hour layover so it departs a 9:30 am and gets back about 5:30 pm.

Today they ran a steam engine up to the canyon which raced a bunch of cyclists back to Williams.  It came back this afternoon a little after 3 and I guess it won because I saw no bikes.  I was there to greet it and take a few shots.  My favorite is the last one in this post.  We are in the campground right next to the depot so it was a short walk.  We are also next to the BNSF main line so it can be a little noisy around here....all night.

Tomorrow is the last leg of of this road trip.  A little over 200 miles back to Las Vegas.

Before the Gunfight with the Marshall.

Our car inside.  Regular seats on the left.

Outside of our refurbished Amtrak Dome Car

Engine on display at the Canyon.  Not a working engine.

Words not necessary...

"Robbers" chasing down the train.  They are not paid enough to board a moving train so it stops and picks them up.

The Holdup

..and the winner was...
Too bad I did not record the sounds of the whistle and the belching steam.
It is like a living, breathing monster...

New Mexico

We left Amarillo, Texas about 9 a.m. heading west with a stiff side wind and clouds.  It was not long before we were in rain and thunder and lightening.  That is the bad news.  The good news is that it did not last too many miles and it helped wash the bug guts off the front of the coach.  Arlyene drove for about two hours in the middle part of the trip.  We arrive at our campground at 2 pm local time.  The trip was actually about six and a half hours with a 30 minute rest stop.  We also went through a time zone change so it was really 3 pm to us.

We drove through some more of the flattest country we have ever seen in North Texas.  Once we got into New Mexico we started seeing some changes and here in North Albuquerque we actually have something close to mountains.  The weather is nice this afternoon and we hope that will continue.  Tomorrow we will be driving 371 miles to Williams, AZ where on Friday we will be riding the Grand Canyon Railway to the national park.  It is an all day excursion.  Saturday we will do a few things in Williams and then on Sunday we will head back to Las Vegas.  From here it is about 588 miles.  We are looking forward to staying put for a while once we get there.

Flat and straight.

New Mexico

HUMP DAY

Today feels like "Hump Day" on our journey back to Las Vegas.  All downhill from here.

We left East Oklahoma City this morning and with only one wrong turn we (eventually) made it through the city and were on our way west towards Amarillo, Texas where we arrived about 2 pm local time - 271 miles.  I regret I did not get a picture of the impressive underground bunker at our Oklahoma City campground that was their storm shelter.  Norman, Ok, site of a terrible tornado a few years ago, was not very south of our location.

For the most part I found the road surface on I-40 pretty good.  There were sections with construction but that was not too bad either.  We we got into Texas the speed limit went to 75 mph.  We got nowhere near that..... and surprisingly not too many other people were going that fast. What we found different both here and on I-90 when we were headed east, is the way they handle areas where you can stop for a break.  I think most of us call them Rest Areas and we are used to places with bathrooms and picnic tables and places for big rigs and cars to park.  What we have found is that frequently, in the place of a rest area that meets that description we find areas that are sometimes called "Truck Parking" or "Check Stations" where you can pull off, parallel park, and get out but there are no facilities.  They are just places to safely pull off and stop and they are mostly meant for trucks.  That works well for us as we have all the facilities we need onboard.  The most disappointing surprise for me was how few of these places there were and  how many of them were closed.  My west coast idea of a rest area has been challenged.  I will also say that north Texas is the flattest place I have ever been.

We have been mostly dodging some weather coming up from the south.  We have dealt with a little rain and a little wind but all quite manageable and it seems like the worst of the weather has either gone north or south of us so we are grateful for that break.  Tomorrow's forecast promises more rain and wind but we will take that on as it comes.  As of right now here in Amarillo it is breezey but dry.

The KOA campground where we are tonight is located between a busy highway, an airport and a rail line.  It should be an interesting night for Arlyene.  I will just take out my hearing aides....  We are in a pretty industrial area here but the campground itself is fine and will suit our need tonight.  We will get out of here by 9:00 am tomorrow and start the trip to Albuquerque, New Mexico.   The famous balloon festival there starts October 3rd so maybe we will see one or two balloons warming up (pun intended).  That would be cool.  

Making our own rest stop on an offramp.

More from our improvised stop,

Our Greeting In Amarillo with our friend Red center front.

Journey Back to Las Vegas, Day 2

After a good nights sleep in the quiet Casino park (where we were the only coach) we crossed the Mississippi about 9:15 this morning on the old, narrow bridge.  Because it was Sunday morning the traffic was not too bad, at least not until we were almost off the bridge and we met a semi coming the other way who had to swerve a bit into our lane to avoid the (stupid) pedestrian who was actually walking across the bridge which has no provision for pedestrians.  We all seemed to converge at the same place at the same time.  I saw what was coming so I slowed down and we all managed to squeeze by each other but it was way too close for us.  The walker must have had a death wish.  After that things were a bit less eventful.  We worked our way up to I-40 and started the serious trek west.

We are currently in a KOA park in the town of Sallisaw, Oklahoma about 15 miles west of Fort Smith, AR.    Storms approaching so we are grateful to be set up and hunkered down for the night.  In addition we only have 160 miles to go tomorrow so it is a short travel day and we don't need to get an early start.  We will be near Oklahoma City tomorrow night.

We are preparing to watch Sunday night football between the Seahawks and the Packers.  My Wisconsin cousin treated me to a "Go Packers" message this morning.  This could get intense......

Escape from Red Bay

We successfully made our escape from Red Bay and the Tiffin Factory Service Center this morning one day short of 3 weeks.  We are now parked in the RV section of a Casino parking lot right on the Mississippi river across the state line with Arkansaw, about 180 miles from where we started.  We traveled through some interesting areas, some of which would have been very bad places to have a breakdown and be stuck.  (Not that there are any good places for that)  Saw a lot of cotton and some houses that looked right out of the movie Deliverance and a lot of very nice, very large homes as well.

I suspect gambling is not legal in Bill and Hillary Land so this casino is strategically located just over the state line in Mississippi to meet that need.  Their RV park is cheap, paved, has full hookups, and as of 2:30 this afternoon, on a Saturday, we are the only ones here in the RV section.  One reason I like traveling after Labor Day.

We will have dinner in a Casino restaurant, get a good nights sleep and then take on the old and narrow bridge over the river first thing Sunday morning when I hope the traffic will be the lightest.
Our next stop will be Fort Smith, AR about 160 miles west of Little Rock or about 300 miles from here, mostly on I-40.  Been a while since we were on actual Interstate highway.

We are the only ones here so far.

The bridge off in the distance crosses over the Mississippi.