Millers' Time

Thursday, March 1: I got up at 6:30 again today, a new record for me, and was getting ready for my shower when Misty decided to try the top of the door instead of the bottom. Once up there she wasn’t quite sure what to do!

I was drinking my coffee and looking at social media when I noticed snowflakes coming down outside. So, I started looking at the weather heading north. Not good. High winds and winter weather warnings in Northern Nevada. The details of weather aren’t easy to find online and I hadn’t hooked up the cable. But from what I could tell the stations were all out of Salt Lake City anyway. I decided I would leave right away and try to beat the weather. I looked up a couple other places to stay between Wells and Mountain Home just in case the weather turned bad and I had to stop. I could always sit by the side of the road for as long as it took.

The first hour and a half or so was fine. Little wind and no snow coming down. Snow all around on the ground but the road was clear. I did get a little worried when I saw two snow plows at different times coming towards me, though.

By the time I was getting close to Twin Falls the wind had picked up some but not too bad. Once I got onto I-84 around Twin Falls, though, it was considerable. I was going at least 5 miles below the posted speed limit of 80 and wasn’t fighting the wind too hard. Then I came to an area where there were warning signs along the road with wind socks on them saying, Frequent High Winds.

Oh, my, were they right. The wind was whipping along blowing me all over the road. The palms of my hands were sweating and I was hanging on for dear life. I had slowed down too but it didn’t seem to make a difference. I also had to pee something awful but I just wanted to get where I was going and hunker down.

I pulled into the Mountain Home RV park at about 1:30 Mountain time, a little over 3 1/2 hours on the road. I felt like pouring a drink but warmed up some soup for lunch instead. The park is a very nice park and the people were very friendly. They agreed the wind was bad, even around here, and told me it might snow again in the morning but would probably turn to rain in the afternoon, just like today. Well, it is dry now but I looked up the wind and it is blowing at 25 mph with higher gusts. I checked and the wind isn’t supposed to be as bad tomorrow but if it is, I am staying put.

Now I am wondering what to do with myself. Make pizza dough, of course! I had thought of having pizza a few weeks back and bought some yeast. I already had some ’00’ flour that I brought from home and had bought some vegetables yesterday. I will have to see how the oven works for it and I am sure I will be setting off the fire alarm with a hot oven.

Oh, and a couple things I forgot to write about yesterday. First, before I left Cathedral Gorge the rangers had come through on their morning rounds and I asked them about the BOOMS the night before. They said it was the Air Force and that living around there they are used to it. I don’t know how anyone could be used to it when you don’t know it is coming!

Second, Courtney texted me and said, Winnie, my only surviving chicken, had been killed by the damn, nasty raccoons. I had wondered if the door needed to be charged but forgot to tell Courtney to do it. Poor Winnie.

I sit here listening to my book, feeling the wind gusts shake the camper and I can literally see tumbleweeds go flying by, but also a bit of sun breaking through. This is the worse wind I have experienced so far and I have had nothing but wind for the last couple of weeks! I just looked up the weather again and it looks okay to take off tomorrow. I am planning on going as far as La Grande but will depend on weather. That is where my camper was made so may have to make a stop to see if they can give me all the manuals.

While the sun was briefly out, I went out to hook up the sewer hose and cable for TV. I had plugged in electrical when I first got here but had thought to dump the sewer in the morning and didn’t want to hook up water if it was going to freeze overnight.

I thought it was interesting that the man who showed me to my spot said, “oh, you are self-contained,” then acted like I didn’t need any hookups. After paying $43 for a night (one of the highest I have paid) I was certainly going to use anything I wanted to, especially my electric heater all night, lol. Even though the sun was out, it was still very cold especially with the wind chill factored in.

It is about 5:30 now and there have been several RVs pulling in. Some of them huge motor homes pulling vehicles behind them. I can’t even imagine them driving in this wind. As I was driving along there were several semis with two to three trailers and it was obvious they were having a hard time, their trailers swinging back and forth in their lane. Freaked me out sometimes passing them because they would block the wind then it would hit again as I passed. And a lot of the big motorhomes are driven by people that are (hmm, how should I say this…) a ‘few’ years older than me.

Pizza turned out pretty well. I used my cast iron pan and heated it on the stove top before putting it in the oven. And, yes, the damp fire alarm went off a couple of times! I put some sausage, mushrooms, onions, peppers, and Kalamata olives on top.

Misty was not a good traveler today. It took her at least 20 minutes of meowing, sometimes very loudly, before she finally settled down. Then, when we got to the RV park, she was on the leash for a few minutes but it was wet and snowing around with the wind blowing hard. I didn’t want more wet cat prints all over so I put her right into the camper, where she immediately went under the quilt. I finally flung the quilt off her at about 7:00, about six and a half hours later. I am sure she has gotten used to being out and about a lot of the day so this has been hard on her, being shut up for the last two days.

Well, that is about it for today. Hope the weather is better tomorrow!

Wednesday, February 28: It was definitely a very cold night in Cathedral Gorge! I stayed fairly warm under my blanket and quilt but the camper was freezing when I got up in the morning. The sun was just coming up and I turned on the heat right away but still had to put on sweatpants and shirt, shoes and socks. It took the heater about an hour to warm up the camper enough to shut off. Even using my toothbrush and hairbrush was almost painful, they were so cold.

I was sitting drinking my coffee and watching Misty watch the little birds in the tree right outside the camper window when we both heard a weird sound. At first, I thought my coffee maker had turned itself back on and was bubbling the remains of condensation but then realized it was coming from the roof. I thought maybe the birds were up there so went outside to look. I couldn’t see or hear anything outside. When I went back in I saw frost on the sky light and think the noise must have been the frost melting on the roof and solar units. Or maybe the birds were up there trying to get the moisture as Misty was really freaked out about it and tried to claw her way through the roof. There was no frost on the ground or bushes outside.

Misty trying to get through to the roof and whatever was making the noise.

I looked up the temperature at Caliente this morning and at 7:00 it was 20 degrees, so I guess it was pretty cold last night! Hope nothing froze in the camper! The water worked this morning but seemed to take a while to get going so may have frozen in the pipes a bit. Don’t seem to be any leaks anywhere.

I will be heading to Wells, Nevada today and a regular RV park. Wells is about 260 miles away so it will be a long one for me and Misty.

Before packing up and leaving, however, I hiked a couple of the trails around the park. It really is a beautiful place, it is so different than anything I have ever seen. First there was a nature trail that had little signs about the vegetation and animal life in the area. Very informative. Then I checked out the original CCC picnic shelter and the water tower they built. The water tower had a well and they pumped the water up to the top and then it was piped to the picnic area. I guess it was only used for a couple of years, however, since the water was so alkaline.

The CCC Water TowerThe Original CCC Picnic area

Then I took the trail to Miller point and a lookout. I didn’t make it all the way to the top of the lookout. After walking in and then climbing the stairs about halfway up my knee was starting to bother me and I didn’t think it would take going to the top.

Part way up to the lookoutLooking up at the Lookout

I didn’t notice on the way up but on the way down I came across a pair of hiking boots. They looked fairly new so I stopped and looked around to see if someone was near by. Then I noticed there was a can in each boot and figured no one was going to take of their shoes on this rocky trail and leave empty beer cans in them. Why anyone would leave them there is a mystery to me but maybe it was in tribute to someone.

I left the park at around 10:00 and set off for Wells. Again, it was rather a monotonous drive over hills and through long, long valleys. But eventually there were some beautiful snow covered mountains surrounding the valley. There were a few cows here and there and every so often a ranch in the middle of nowhere. There were signs with what I assume were town names sometimes but I never saw any towns.

I did see a couple of dead deer. One that must have been hit by a semi as there was a huge smear in the road and the mangled remains on the side. The other was mostly whole on the side of the road. Sure glad I didn’t see any. Can’t imagine anything worse than hitting a deer (or cow) in the middle of nowhere with no cell service.

I stopped in Ely for fuel. It was the first town along the way and that was about 120 or so miles into the drive. I then went through the dying town of McGill. Practically every retail business was closed and there weren’t any people about. They did have a big Latter Day Saints church there, though.

By that time I was getting hungry and there wasn’t any place to get food. Just past the town, however, I saw a park sign so pulled in. Put Misty on her leash and put out the slide so I could get myself something to eat. Made a little plate of hard boiled eggs, cheese and crackers and went to a picnic table in the sun. It was cold there and snow was on the foothills just behind the town. It was a nice little break for both of us. Misty hardly even whined when I put her back in the truck.

The whole area I passed through was at an elevation of around 4,500 feet so a high mountain plateau. There was one pass that I went over that was 7,800 feet but there hadn’t been much of climb to get to it and not a big downhill either. The peak nearby was about 13,500 feet but didn’t seem so high as Mt. Rainier since I was on such a high plateau.

I arrived in the thriving metropolis of Wells and went to the grocery store for a few veggies and then next door to the hardware store. I decided to buy an electric heater instead of using my propane to keep the camper warm. I would just as soon not have to get propane again before I get home.

The RV park was just off the freeway and across the street from Angel Lake, hence the name New Angel Lake RV Park. The gentleman that checked me in was 90 if a day. He asked if I was Good Sam or AAA and I said nope. He gave me the Good Sam price anyway which with tax was $35. When I handed him the cash he gave me the $5 back and said my camper was small and I had a cat. He could see Misty sitting in her window seat.

Then he walked out and I drove to the spot he indicated. There is snow all around on the ground but he said it wasn’t much. He also said there was zero chance of snow tomorrow but it was supposed to freeze tonight so I probably wouldn’t want to leave my water hooked up. He tottered away and I plugged in my electrical and took out the hose to fill up my water tank.

When I was still at Bakersfield, I had tried to fill my water tank up before heading into the hard water area. I had been using the direct water since Yosemite but had used water at Yosemite. My tank showed it there was only a third left, but when I tried to add water it acted like it was full. By holding the hose up, I was able to get some water to where the gauge showed two-thirds in before it started pouring out again. So, I wasn’t sure what to expect now. Well, the water went in just fine and I was able to fill up and put the hose away.

I plugged in the heater and put away the groceries and cleaned Misty’s muddy foot prints off everything. She had been out when I first got here but not for long – just long enough to get those paws filthy.

Tuesday, February 27: I had a 3 1/2 hour drive that was mostly monotonous desert in a valley between two mountain ranges. The weather was cloudy but very little wind and no rain or snow.

As I drove I couldn’t help but think about the settlers that crossed those mountains and valleys. I passed a couple of lakes in the Pahranagat National Wildlife Range so there was probably water elsewhere, but it had to be pretty scarce. There couldn’t have been anything to eat besides the wildlife, nothing of the green variety anyway, but I don’t think they ate many greens back then anyway. There is mostly creosote bushes, white bursage, and Joshua trees as vegetation along the route.

Driving picture

I passed east of the huge, secretive Nellis Air Force Range, chief location of the US aircraft and missile testing program and also home of Area 51. Area 51 has long been a place thought to harbor aliens and other science fiction myths. I didn’t see any flying saucers or strange beings, but I looked!

I filled up at a gas station about 20 – 30 miles north of Las Vegas even though I had a half tank of gas. I wasn’t sure where the next gas might be and figured even if there was gas along the stretch I was driving today it had to be more expensive. I paid $3.12 at a Love’s station. Then as I went through a couple of very small towns in the middle of nowhere, I saw it for as low as $3.03! Fooled again.

Misty was a pretty good traveler today. She meowed a bit at first (used the litter box in the back seat for the first time) and when I stopped for fuel she sat in the window and meowed. One of these times I will have to take a photo of her because all you see is her open mouth and white teeth. I meow back, of course, but don’t think she could hear me as they were power washing the gas bay next to me.

After going through the small town of Caliente, which didn’t seem to have a grocery store, I pulled into Cathedral Gorge State Park around 2:30, paid my fee, and found a site. There were only about 5 other vehicles in the park. Cathedral Gorge was one of Nevada’s first four state parks in 1935. The original picnicking facilities were built in the 1930s by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) and are still being used today.

Volcanoes, earthquakes, water and erosion created the spires and buff-colored cliffs of the Gorge. It is really quite beautiful. The park is nicely kept and has power but no water or sewer, fire pits, BBQs, and shade ramadas at each site. The sites are gravel and well raked. I saw a ranger come through and rake all the sites that had been used overnight.

Cliffs of Cathedral Gorge State Park

My campsite

The sun came out shortly after we arrived and it is fairly warm. The area has a very fine sandy dirt and, of course, Misty immediately rolled around and around in it. Once I got the camper leveled and plugged in, Misty and I went for a walk around the campground. She is really starting to walk pretty well on the leash!

Misty Rolling in the dirt

Misty walking along, not slinking!

There are enormous black-tailed jackrabbits all around and the poop to prove it. I am looking at one now that seems to be eating off the dry bushes that are around the campground. It has ears that are almost as tall as its body and I think it outweighs Misty! Will try to get a picture of one if it is close enough. There are also supposed to be cottontail rabbits, kangaroo rats, mule deer, coyotes and kit foxes that might be seen in the early or evening hours. I did see some prints when we were walking that definitely weren’t rabbit, but could have been dog, I suppose.

Ha, ha, just after I wrote the above paragraph, this little visitor hopped up about 15 feet away from the camper and shortly after there was another one 50 feet away. There must be hundreds since there is a hell of a lot of poop all over the area.

So far, I love this park! It is the quietest place I have been so far – no traffic noise, no airplanes or helicopters going over, no people noise. There are very few people so I am in an area all by myself and can leave the shade open tonight for Misty to look out. She loves to do that and I sometimes leave one open a small amount so she can peer out.

Holy moly! A few hours after writing about the quiet I was putting on my pajamas and there was a BOOM BOOM that shook the camper. At first, I thought it was someone banging on the side of the camper, then I heard a jet noise. I think it was a sonic boom. I have only heard one once before in Seattle (when some dumb pilot got into air space with the Air Force One and two F18s were sent after it) but this was much louder and seemed right above me. Scared the crap out of me. Note: I looked up in the morning to see if there was anything online about this but could only find a couple of similar happenings in the past – unexplained booms across the tri-state area.

I had purchased 1 gig of wifi here at the state park and that isn’t much so I couldn’t cruise the net or watch TV on my ipad. I went to bed early, it was also getting very cold and I didn’t want to turn on the heat, and listened to my book. I woke a lot during the night, partially because my feet would be cold, and the water pump would kick off every now and then. I hadn’t had to use it for weeks so was not use to the noise.

Monday, February 26: I got up and thought about leaving today since I knew it was going to take a lot of long days to get home. Then I looked at the weather and road conditions. The way I had decided to go yesterday now had winter weather advisories along with severe wind warnings. Okay, back to the drawing board.

Misty has been going a little crazy when I take my showers. It almost sounds like she is banging against the door with her shoulder trying to bust in. A couple of times I have seen her little paws under the door grasping for anything. Today I remembered to take my phone in so I could get a picture. Cracks me up.

I then spent time looking at going US 93, which is the way Bill Bryant had suggested, and found some pretty cool places to see and stay.

I figured as long as I was here one more day I would do laundry. I didn’t have a lot so only needed one washing machine. I put my stuff in and then went for a walk.

It was a sunny day and fairly warm. I went up above the national park campground and then walked around through that area only going in a different direction than the day before. After getting back to the laundry room I found my load was done (I had set an alarm so I wouldn’t leave it for too long) so I put it in the dryer and sat down outside to wait. It got really warm for a while in the sun but then the wind started picking up.

While waiting, a man came to get his laundry from a dryer but it wasn’t ready so he started talking to me. After a while I mentioned that I was going to go US 93 and he asked if I knew about the cutoff on 318. No, I didn’t but decided to check it out.

Well it turns out it isn’t as mountainous of a highway as 93 so I kind of thought I might take it. There weren’t a lot of services and basically no campgrounds so that meant I would have to go for about 5 hours to make it to Ely. Well, I decided I would do that.

I put away my laundry and sat out with the cat for a while but the wind really picked up and was blowing hard. So I hunkered down in the camper and listened to my book (and the rattling of the vents) and did some hand quilting. Oh, and I did figure out how to fix the sound on the TV.

Misty, the cat of leisure

I made shrimp and grits for dinner with the last of the shrimp I caught last May. After a while I went to bed to watch TV and saw the tail end of The Best Years of our Lives which I had not seen in many years and then Mrs. Minerva.

I didn’t sleep well, however, since I was stressing about which way to go as the weather is supposed to get worse with rain and snow in some areas.

Sunday, February 25: It was a very quiet night and I had a good rest. After my morning coffee and blog post I went for a walkabout. I checked out the RV park then headed to the Lake. The lake is about 3/4 of mile from the RV park and there wasn’t much going on anywhere. One vehicle at the Boulder Beach area on the lake, and a sailboat on the water. Nice views all around.

Patriotic view in front of office with contrail in sky. Lots of planes fly over going in and out of Las Vegas.Views of Lake Mead. You can see how low the water level is on the rocks in the distance. I read that some of the town that was covered by the water from the dam is now showing.View looking back at RV park from dry lakebed

I then walked through the National park campground next to the RV park I am in. It has more trees and greenery but no hookups. They had either added on to the park or repaved and renovated some of the campsites. They were really nice campsites.

Boulder Beach campground

My campsite with nothing but gravel

I didn’t do much all day after the walk. Misty has gotten into the habit of crawling under the quilt on the bed to sleep and was asleep for about 6 hours from before I left on my walk until about 2:00 in the afternoon. At one point, I crawled up next to her and snoozed for a little while. Lazing on a Sunday afternoon.

After we both woke up I decided to try to hook the cable to the TV. I spent some time using the flashlight and my camera to see behind the TV to where the cable would go but had not luck. Then I pulled out the TV manual (that was one of the few manuals left in the camper) and saw the general area where it might go. Not a detailed drawing of the back of the TV in the manual.

I finally lay on my back with both hands in the 2 inches between the TV and the wall and found the place. I managed to get the cable inserted and a couple turns of the nut to maybe hold it on if it doesn’t get tugged too hard. Victory! Did the search and got 50 channels.

Misty and I then went for a walk around the campground. She was pretty good at walking along on the leash, almost like she was enjoying it. The man in the other truck camper was sitting outside and commented that he missed his cat and that Misty looked good walking on the leash.

The afternoon was nice and pretty warm so we sat outside. Misty getting tangled up constantly and me listening to my book on headphones and untangling her. I could hear some crunching of gravel behind me and finally turned around and the guy from the little motorhome was lurking around and then came over to talk. Misty had jumped back up on the camper steps but eventually came down and deigned to let him pet her.

He was from the North Vegas area but sounded like he came to this area a lot. We talked for a while then he left. I think there are only single people in the 4 units around me and the other three are all men.

I looked into doing a raft trip here that takes you to the dam and then through Black Canyon. They didn’t have any availability on Monday, however, so that would mean I would have to stay another day or leave late on Tuesday. I started booking the trip then thought I should check the weather as there had been a lot of wind in the forecast on a couple days. Well, Tuesday didn’t show wind but it showed cloudy and rainy. I decided I would skip the tour since I didn’t think it would be great to sit in the raft in the rain and even if it didn’t rain it was supposed to be cold.

Eventually, I went back inside and started plotting out my trip home. I have an appointment on the 6th so have to be back by then. I don’t like to do long days of driving since it seems to bother my back and shoulder and Misty sure doesn’t like it either. However, it looked like I was going to have to pull 3 – 4 hour drives to make it back in time.

After researching I saw three routes I could take – 395 through Nevada and California; 95 Nevada and Oregon; or 93 Nevada, Idaho, Oregon. I read that 395 is a very scenic road, while 95 was kind of boring, and I could also go through and stay in Death Valley. So, I pretty much decided that would be the way I would go.

I fixed leftovers for dinner and watched some of the closing ceremony on my iPad. Then decided to go to bed to watch TV now that I had it fixed. Turned it on and no sound so I tried turning the volume up and it said TV volume is fixed! What the heck? It had volume before I plugged in the cable because I could hear the static. So, I turned it off once again and watched a couple of episodes of Victoria on my iPad before going to sleep.

Saturday, February 24: Not sure how many of you have noticed but all my blog post titles have also been song titles. Some of the songs are pretty obscure but they are actual songs. Today, however, I found one that kind of fits except it should say ‘outside Seatac.’ Lol!

Outside Providence by The Wilkinsons

She’s driving outside Providence

She’s on the outside looking in

She’s finally figured out just where she’s going

Her mama says that she’s insane

Her daddy swears a boy’s to blame

She’s never seen the truth so clear before this

Chorus:

Cause there’s a world outside Providence

Somewhere to spread her wings and fly

She’s taking chances, life begins again

Somewhere outside Providence

A hula man sits on her dash

Beside a Rand McNally map

She circles places that she always heard of

She plans to see the Hoover Dam

And the world’s biggest frying pan

Open to any place outside Rhode Island

I don’t think my mom thinks I am insane but I know she was worried about me being by myself, Dad probably doesn’t think a boy is to blame unless it is Darrel for dying, I have my Western United States Rand McNally map, and I have a hula girl that dances on my boat dash, and today I saw the Hoover Dam and got close to the the world’s biggest frying pan.

After getting ready for the day I walked over to Mar and Gar’s RV. Gar had gone back to Needles for the boat racing and to see another old friend who was supposed to be there on Saturday. Mar and I went for a walk along the river. there is a very nice walking path all along the river and past the casinos.

We decided we would have breakfast at the Riverside buffet. She said they made good omelets. Well the line was really long for the buffet so we went to the restaurant next door. There was a line but we were seated fairly quickly. Breakfast was not quick in coming, however. It took about an hour to get our food and then Mar’s veggie omelet didn’t have the cheese she had asked for. So the waitress whisked it away and came back shortly with cheese melted on top.

After breakfast we walked around the casino and she showed me a few things then we headed back to the RVs. I said my goodbyes and got the camper and Misty ready to leave. Didn’t take much as I hadn’t any hoses or things to put away. Misty wasn’t thrilled to be back in the truck. When I stopped for gas she sat in the window and meowed the whole time. She settled down fairly quickly after that, though.

It was a drive of about 90 miles and I saw some wonderful, amazing scenery. I drove for miles through the Golden Valley which seemed mostly brown with sparse creosote bushes and hills with no vegetation at all. The hills did have just a bit of a green tint to them so there must have been some rain in the area recently to make a bit of grass grow. The weather was sunny and for once the wind was not blowing like crazy. It was still cool, however, and I had long pants and sleeves on.

It was quite dramatic coming over a pass and around a corner to see a panorama of jagged hills and cliffs in many hues of reds and oranges and snow covered mountains behind them. There was a scenic viewpoint so I stopped to get a couple of pictures. Going on I saw even more rugged hills and the colors at times were so vivid – pinks, oranges, golden yellow.

Then I came down a steep and winding road and there was Hoover Dam. I only got a quick glimpse of it as I was driving past but it is pretty dramatic too. I will probably head back up there when I leave Lake Mead.

I went into Boulder City to pick up a couple of things before checking into the Lake Mead RV Village. I finally got some Aquaphor for my dry hands and feet. I have mentioned a couple of times how the dryness and wind have caused me some problems, well my feet were now the worst with deep cracks around my big toe nails. I learned about Aquaphor a long time ago from one of my pharmacist friends, Belle, so decided to get some and see if that helped.

I had called the RV park from Laughlin to see if I could get in. I didn’t want to get here and not have a place to stay. The woman I talked to said just to come in and they would put me in a spot. When I went into the office the woman asked if I had a reservation and when I said no, she looked aghast! I said I had called and was told to just come in. She looked out and saw my camper and then said, “Oh, that was me.” Yes, they did have back-in spots for smaller RVs. They actually had one pull through but it was $5 more so I said I would take the cheap one.

The camp host got in her little cart and showed me the way. I find it odd that the back-in spots don’t have the rear of the camper facing the lake. All the hookups are on the side where you end up not facing the water. I probably could have turned it the other way but then I would have to have the sewer hose stretched under the truck and wasn’t sure it was long enough for that.

I am in an area that has probably 20 spots and there were only 3 other small RVs there. I have a view of the lake and surrounding hills. There are permanent mobile homes all around my area (not sure what they are all about) so the lake view is a bit limited. Again, I am so impressed with the colors of the hills though. Some areas totally look like part of the Grand Canyon to me, which is nice since the weather had not improved there and I decided not to go.

Misty and I got settled into our site, she on her leash and me doing all the work. I had asked the host how the water was there and she said it is pretty good but if I have a filter, use it. Huh?! By this time it was about 3:00. I wandered around a bit and ended up putting a sweatshirt on as the wind had picked up and it was only about 50 degrees out. Misty liked being able to roll around and get tangled up with her leash again. It is all rocks here. Not really any good dirt to roll in.

I hadn’t eaten since our late breakfast so I started dinner around 4:30. I had bought a whole chicken in Yuma and used the leg/thighs in the Coq au Vin so I still had my favorite bony parts to cook. I had ‘dry brined’ them for a couple of days so baked them in the oven with a small potato cut in half. Then I cooked some spinach for a green vegetable. I ate the back, ribs, and liver but still have the wings. The breasts are still in the fridge so will probably freeze them since I don’t think I will want chicken again right away.

I had finally bought a cable so I could get TV here. I hooked it up to the place on the outside of the camper. When I was ready I hooked the inside cable up. Didn’t work. I gave up and watched the Olympics on my iPad once again. As I lay in bed awake at some point in the night I realized the cable I had hooked up on the TV was actually my HD antenna cable and it was not hooked to TV. So I will see if the cable comes off the antenna and try to hook it up to the TV. The TV set up is weird, though, and it is attached to the wall so I can’t see where things are plugged in. More to come as that develops.

I soaked my feet for a while then used the foot file to get the dry skin off. Then I slathered them with Aquaphor and put socks on to sleep in. They felt better already.

It was a quiet and peaceful night. Much better than the roar of traffic! Lol!

Friday, February 23: Today I was heading up to Bullhead City/Laughlin with Mar and Gar. It is Mar’s birthday so we were spending it at a casino in Laughlin. They were going to head out before me and stop in Needles to see some boat racing friends.

It had not seemed as cold overnight and it was sunny and a tad bit warmer in the morning. I took my time, drinking my coffee, taking a shower, putting things away before emptying the black water and unhooking the camper. I left around 11:00.

Of course, the wind had picked up considerably and I was on a two lane road again but I wasn’t being blown around too much. At least at first.

Misty did not like being back in the camper and it took her about 30 minutes of meowing and going in and out of her travel kennel before she finally settled down.

When I got to Parker there was a big sign that said Winter Weather Advisory. Drive with Caution! I was thinking, “Oh, shit, what am I getting into?” Plus, all along the road there had been signs warning of flash floods. I could see that I was heading into some very dark clouds and areas where the rain was coming down. The winds picked up and pretty soon it was raining hard and coming at me from the side. The rain kind of came and went for probably 10 miles, then stopped for the most part.

It was interesting country I was driving through. I was in the Mojave Desert and could see a great expanse of flat barren desert but with mountains around that were brownish grey, or in some cases looked almost black. Tumbleweeds blew past along with the dust. Every once in a while I would see RVs off to the side all by their lonesome in some scrub. Once I even saw 4 mailboxes along the road but didn’t see any roads leading off the highway but in the distance a gleam of a vehicle.

I stopped before Bullhead City at a quilt shop I had found. Went in and wandered around for a little bit but I was mostly looking for bag patterns and didn’t find one I liked. So I left and got back in the truck. Misty was wanting out big time but settled down fairly quickly. I texted Mar to find out how far out they were and she replied that they were just pulling into Needles. I couldn’t figure out how I had gotten so far ahead of them. (Turns out they had made a couple of stops along the way and also went the Lake Havasu City. I had gone a different route as their way showed 32 minutes longer on Google maps.)

By this time I was already most of the way through Bullhead City, which seems like just a big strip mall along the highway. I looked up state parks on Google while at a light and found one along the river. Of course it was back the way I had just come. So, I turned around and headed there to wait. Mar and Gar hadn’t decided where they wanted to stay the night so I couldn’t wait there.

I pulled into the Big Bend of the Colorado State Park and paid $10 for the day use area. The ranger made sure she told me to go to the right because campers weren’t allowed to the left. Okay…

Well there was only one other car that I could see so I pulled into the scenic view area and stopped. It was kind of straight in not right or left. And I am usually such a rule follower, hee, hee.

Misty was very happy to be out of the truck and on her leash again. I was happy not to be driving and blown around the road. I walked Misty around a bit and could hear in the distance the boom boom of someone’s bass. The only other car there was playing their music very loudly. Figures.

There were some nice views from the park of the mountains, clouds and river. Lots of big, big homes with terraced areas down to the river all along the banks of the Colorado. I could see black clouds in the distance even though the pictures don’t show them. I thought sure we were going to get soaked again.

Misty finally gave up her exploring and crawled under the quilt for a nap. I almost felt like crawling in with her as I had developed quite the headache along the way and was feeling worn out from fighting the truck in the wind. But I listened to my book on tape instead.

Marilee texted that they were on their way after a while and that they were going to the Riverside Casino to see if there was dry camping available. I told her to let me know when they were settled and I would show up.

I got there around 4:00 (or 5:00 depending on what side of the river the phone thought I was on) and it was literally a parking lot along the busy road between two casinos.Some pretty sketchy looking vehicles parked around, too. I got parked and didn’t even bother putting down the jacks. It wasn’t a very conducive place to let Misty roam around on her leash so she had to stay in the camper.

The Arctic Fox in the distant by the fence

Mar texted that they were heading to the casino around a half hour later so I got ready and put on long pants and shoes since it was cold outside. We walked around the casino for a bit and Mar found a blackjack table while Gary and I found a bar. We sat for a few minutes then went to find Mar. I decided to head back to the camper and have them call me when they were ready to go to dinner.

I had asked Mar where we were going for dinner and she said there was a place in a casino about two down from Riverside. So while waiting I was looking up restaurants. I found one in the second casino called Daniel’s that I thought might be it. Mar thought that sounded right so we headed there. Well, it wasn’t right. We ended up backtracking and found the one she thought they had gone to before.

By this time it was almost 7:00 and we were told there was an hour wait even though we could see empty tables all over. Garry asked about that and she said they had reservations. I think they just didn’t have staff enough to cover all the tables. He put our name in and Mar went around the corner and got our name in at Outback too. The Outback call came first so we went there.

I hadn’t been to an Outback for quite some time but didn’t want steak as I had just had prime rib on Tuesday. Gar and I both ordered the pork and Mar got the Alice Springs chicken. The pork was really good and cooked just right. Mar said her chicken was also cooked better than when she had eaten it before. Overall, a good dinner!

Mar had won and Gar had lost $100 playing earlier so Mar didn’t want to play again knowing she would end up losing what she had won so we headed back to the campers.

I have to say I don’t think casino parking lot camping is for me. I have never heard so many souped up loud vehicles in my life! Not sure if it is a Nevada thing to have loud trucks and cars or just a redneck thing. I also heard a lot of loud thumping music go by. Then I woke up at 1:45 AM to someone in an RV playing their music loudly but, again, all I could hear was the bass.

Not sure what is next for me but I will be back on the road today, I think.

Thursday, February 22: Another windy and cool day today. Actually put on jeans and tennis shoes for walk around the park. It is like a sea of RVs. Not sure what the attraction is to come here and spend 6 months of the year but obviously others find something to come here for year after year.

Garry went off in Stubby to shop the various RV places. Marilee did several loads of laundry. I pulled out the sewing machine and completed the bag I started in Yuma.

After all that, Marilee took me for a tour of Quartzsite. From one end of ‘town’ to the other only takes a few minutes. But we stopped at a little grocery store where I picked up milk and she got Half and Half for our coffee. I had found a quilt store on Google maps so we went to find it. There are several areas that are basically tents where people sell all kinds of things, and the map took us to one, but we couldn’t find a quilt store.

After the big tour was over, I came back and looked online for a different bag pattern to make but was having internet issues so just decided to make a second one of the same pattern. Having made one already this one went much more quickly and I was done in a couple hours.

By then it was happy hour so I headed over to Mar and Gar’s. Garry was sitting in his little car trailer out of the wind so I joined him on their new rocking chair. Mar came out with some cheese and crackers and we talked and listened to music. Was getting fairly cold so we moved into the RV.

They wanted to go to the Quartzsite Yacht Club for dinner. Kind of funny there being a yacht club in the middle of the desert. I guess a man, Al Madden, with an investment company in California spent a lot of time here and saw a bar for sale so bought it. Being a man of “humor, wit and an active imagination,” he thought it would be fun to change the name to The Yacht Club with the motto, “Welcome aboard – Long time no sea!”

Garry had to take Marilee over first and then come back for me since Stubby only holds two people. Marilee had gotten us a table in the back corner but we soon changed to seats at the bar. The bartender (and one of the owners) was friendly and quick. We ordered dinner( fish and chips for me, burger for Mar, and smoked BBQ ribs for Gar) and it came pretty quickly too. Everything was pretty good except Gar said some of the ribs were too dry.

There were a lot of burgees but not one from the Des Moines Yacht Club!

It was karaoke night and there were some pretty good singers but there were some pretty bad ones too. We didn’t stay too long after eating and went back to their RV for Olympics and champagne. I went back to my camper around 9:00 and was still having issues with the internet so couldn’t watch the final round of the women’s skating. Mar sent me a couple of texts with updates but I was asleep before the last one.

Wednesday, February 21: It was time to say goodbye to Yuma and my friends there. Bill and Carl left a little after 8:00 to go on the side-by-side out in the desert with Frank and maybe a couple others. Then I said goodbye and thanks to Tom and Marianne. Judy came and helped me as I was getting ready to leave and I loaded Misty up in the truck and we took off.

First stop was for diesel at Fry’s. It is like our Fred Meyer and is owned by Kroger so I got $.30 off and only paid $2.33! After paying as high as $3.75 it was amazing to fill the tank for around $73.00!

I then stopped at Joann Fabric, which was right on the way out of town, to pick up a few things for more sewing. It was one of the least crowded Joanns I had ever been in! Except when I got to the checkout, then there was suddenly 4 people in line. Never fails, right?

Misty was not a happy little traveler to be back on the road. She had really enjoyed her time in Yuma on the leash. She meowed a lot and loudly for the first 30 minutes or so but then settled down for the rest of the way.

Quartzsite is only about 90 miles from Yuma so it was a long drive. However, it was a two lane road with a lot of motor homes and very few passing lanes. I was still going along at almost the speed limit until we got behind one motor home that would vary its speed from 45 – 65 but mostly on the lower end. I even saw a semi pass it at one point. But there was another motor home pulling a vehicle behind the slow one so I didn’t want to take a chance to pass. They are so wide it was hard to even get a look around it to see if there were cars coming. So it ended up taking me much longer than I thought to get here.

When I pulled into the RV park, the office was closed for lunch until 1:15. I had looked at the clock in the truck and thought I had an hour to wait then realized when I got on my phone that the truck was still on PST so it was only about a 15 minute wait. But by the time she opened up, there were 4 people ahead of me again!

Quartzsite is an interesting place. It is pretty much just a big RV parking lot for miles. Some are dry camping and others are in parks like this one. People come here and stay for the season and others just pass through. Interstate 10 runs right through the middle going East and West, then Highway 95 bisects it the other way.

I got a spot right at the front of the park and sat outside with Misty for a while but it was fairly windy and got cool pretty quickly so we came inside to wait for Mar and Gar. They showed up a little after 4:00 and got a spot not too far from me. I had said I would cook dinner, Instant Pot Coq au Vin, so I started preparing that while they got settle into there spot.

I took the Instant Pot and noodles to their place so they wouldn’t have to sit at my table with the litter box under it, lol. Their new RV is very nice and Gar has made a lot of improvements. Especially with lighting. I need to look into doing some in a few cupboards, especially in the bed area.

Dinner turned out good and then we watched the Olympics for a while until I decided to head home. I couldn’t get my stupid TV to work again so ended up just going to bed.

The Holiday Palms RV park officeMar and Gar’s RV with, Stubby, their Smart car

My humble abode. You can see that the RVs are all very close to one another.

And just a little note about Courtney’s girlfriend, Stephanie Coffey. She graduated from flight attendant school for Alaska Airlines. Six weeks of book learning and hands on flight experience. Very proud of her.

Tuesday, February 20: I had planned on leaving today but I had one more package that was supposed to arrive from Amazon by 8:00 PM so decided to stay until Wednesday. There was also wind predicted again and I didn’t really like the idea of traveling in the kind of wind we had on Monday. Turned out there was some wind but not like Monday.

It gave me a day to do some laundry in Marianne’s enormous washer – I have never seen one as big – and clean up the camper and get things ready to roll down the highway. It was a quiet day around the homestead. The guys were off buying things for the new house and then working on the hot water heater and heat pump; Judy was also off shopping for bedding for the house; Marianne was out and about; Trish was at her little house; but Garth and Tom were working hard on the bar and other projects.

Trish came by at one point and took me to the bank, Starbucks, and the grocery store. Siri had us on a couple of false turns but we made it there and back. Trish said they were thinking about going out to dinner for my last night to the Texas Roadhouse.

At one point after my return I had been in the camper for a while and Misty was outside. I went to check on her and found her under the truck with the leash wrapped around the muffler and her hanging with her little front paws off the ground. It was pretty funny and I wish I had taken a picture before releasing her. She was wearing a harness that goes behind the front legs so there was no chance of her choking but I was surprised she wasn’t meowing.

Once when I had gone to check on the laundry I came back to find her out of the camper off leash. I hadn’t slid the little opening on the screen door all the way so she jumped out through the hole. Sneaky little brat!

Misty found a nice warm spot by the wall and a rock to play with.

Marianne came back just in time for happy hour and gave me a gift of a couple Southwest tiles/coasters and a magnet. What a sweetheart! I have really enjoyed spending time with her and Tom.

I heard from Marilee and Garry that they were leaving Mexico earlier than planned and heading to Quartzsite for Wednesday and Thursday nights so I am meeting up with them there. It will be fun to see them since it has been a couple of months.

We went to the Texas Roadhouse after happy hour at the Bryants. I have been to the ones in the Peoria/Phoenix area a few times during spring training, but it can be very loud there. They always can be relied on for a good steak and nice sides.

Since Sara and the kids had taken off in the morning for a visit to her grandparents near Palm Springs. So it was the Keenans, Bryants, Carl and I. Carl even got his ID checked when he ordered a beer! It was a nice dinner and always good company. Being an ‘older’ crowd of people it wasn’t nearly as noisy as the ones during spring training. We could actually hear each other.

Not a very good picture but I didn’t take many today.

It has been a good time in Yuma and everyone has gone out of their way to help me with the camper and driving me around. It is time to move on, however. My skin is so dry and my hands are like sandpaper with cracks on some of my fingers. I think I would just shrivel up if I stayed down here for months at a time! It will still be a week or so before I get out of the dry weather, so I might look like I am 90 by the time I get home.