A week in the Boonies

Outside Yuma ArizonaH

HE SAID:

Well we finally did it!!!!  Thanks to the wonderful help of Dave and Twila we learned an amazing amount about "dry camping/boon docking/living off the grid...etc etc..." In other words RVing without electricity, water or sewer. We did have internet all day, but no satellite TV (sat dish in picture...lol) except for about an hour a day when the generator was on. Thanks to Dave and Twila who have an awesome RV (below) they have an amazing Solar power system, that gives them power all day long...I was so jealous!!. What was cool is that they were able to record the three part show "Klondike" which Fred Hillyer, who is married to our neice Peggy, was in. We hung out in their RV at night watching the series and having great treats.   I won't lie, I did miss the full service sites, but paying only 40dollars for two weeks was dirt cheap. I am officially ready for Walmart camping

 

Twila and Dave were patient with us and they were great hosts showing us around Yuma  . I couldn't believe all the great produce that was in the area. Getting veggies from the roadside markets in the middle of January was amazing. They also took us over to Mexico...You actually walk across the border after paying 6 bucks for parking which just about everyone does. So many people do, that it took us 90 minutes to get back to the USA. 

We also met up with Bas and Jean Visser (our son in law Patrick's parents). They have a place in Wellton just outside of Yuma. There was a place just down the street from them for sale and Pat and I are still discussing if we should bite the bullet and have a place for every winter without having to drive a 30 ft motorhome! 

We are now on our way to our niece Emily's place south of Tucson Arizona. We are in a full service site tonight with the net and cable but one night is the price we paid for two weeks in Yuma!!! Argh!!! 

SHE SAID:

Yuma was a great experience. It reminded me of camping with my parents, but in a much nice place to sleep, as in the trailers they had, I was usually relegated to the bed that was made from the dinette. We were camped in 'Coyote Flats'.  In the first 1/2 hour a fellow came over and told us that the coyotes would basically eat the scotties, that we would be bitten by either rattlesnakes or scorpions, and that burros would tromp through the campsite over night.  I shared with him that Lethbridge also had coyotes and rattlesnakes, and that we would most likely survive - I must admit I was a bit worried about the dogs, but after the 2nd night, not even hearing any howling, I figured that all was well.  As John said - Twila and David were great in helping us figuring out some of the finer details of  boon docking - I really did enjoy it, and having space and less people around was a nice break.  It was a beautiful desert area, lots of dirt, and cactus, but beautiful sunsets...I am sure the sunrises were nice, but slept in through those.

During the week we were motivated to get even more baskets and get better organized than we were - this was time well spent, as during our drive today, we had less rattling in the back as we drove.   I think that Mexico was the highlight of the week for me - I saw the optometrists, advertising cheap glasses - I went into a store, asked about the costs, and came out with a pair of progressive lens, new frames, for $120 - that also included a vision check.  I did just get a pair of computer/reading glasses at home (cost a lot more that that), but they are hard to wear in stores as they were not 'walk around' glasses.  I was asking about the dental there, and have heard the dentists are fantastic, and again, very inexpensive - tempting to go for that as an options, rather than Bank benefits. I probably will continue with my Canadian dentists, however anyone that knows me, knows I am totally motivated by a great deal.  I also negotiated for a new chain, but will have to slow down on that as we are now RETIRED.  

That is now starting to feel more real - no work for a month now. and we still aren't heading home!

BORDER TO MEXICO

Done with Vegas!

Vegas Chocolate Factory

Yummmmm Chocolate right from the Factory!!!

 HE SAID:We continued our efforts to do Vegas on a budget using Groupon and Restaurants.com. We also tried to find some cheap entertainment  like visiting the chocolate factory in Vegas. The only thing missing was Lucy and Vivian working on the assembly line stuffing their faces with chocolate....funny thing was the assembly line above was dropping chocolates on the floor and they were just sitting there...What a waste.

We got a great price on visiting the Atomic Testing Museum and found it very interesting. Both Pat and I were amazed at how long they continued testing atomic bombs long after World War II. Of course they did most of the testing in and around Vegas.

Drop Cover and kiss your ......goodbye!!

We wish our suite  had a kitchen, but we did our best eating as cheap as possible. Some of the places were sketchy. This sign was from a  pizza place we ate at.... they spelled Sauce wrong all three times....BTW the pizza was really great here, but when the cook starting smoking in the back at an open door, it was time to go (we were just finishing thank goodness).

Last picture after Pat's comments reminded us of "Danger Will Robinson".

SHE SAID:

Am I getting too old for Vegas??? No yearning for the night life with us on this trip - other times we have stayed out late, walking the strip - on this trip we walked the strip once, stayed pretty close to the hotel, other than our venturing out for museums, food, etc.  Oh, right, etc = shopping, and that we really reigned ourselves in on this trip. We did do the outlet malls, and Fashion Show malls, along with Burlington and Ross/TJ Maxx.  No awesome buys, as we are so limited with space!  

I did really enjoy the Atomic Museum - I had no idea the testing went into the 1990's.  My memories consist of my young childhood, with school teaching the 'stop, drop and cover' scenario'...just in case, and...'don't look at the light!  Brought back a 'gone era' - hope so, anyway!  Leaving Las Vegas became a longer experience than anticipated as we had to get the dogs, drive to Pahrump to pick up the RV (it was about 1/10 cost of Vegas to leave for the week) and then to head to Yuma - which took us right back through Vegas.  

We drove until about 4 and decided to call it a day, leaving us near Needles, Ca - which is right at the Arizona boarder. We filled up with gas at $4.19/gallon - only to drive another three miles across the Arizona side and gas was $3.19/gallon - an expensive lesson - good thing we were nowhere near empty for that one!  We parked, set things up, with a few glitches in getting the SATTELLITE TV running - caveman John came out again, placing the receiver on the roof, allowing RECEPTION! I am not even sure that he watched TV last night - it was the comfort of knowing it was there, I guess. I won't even get into the lack of WIFI :)  

Today we hit the road around ten - the time keeps jumping around - it felt like 9.  On our continuing journey to Yuma, we passed through Quartzsite where there is a giant RV show going on - it seemed more like a trade show to me, surrounded by RV sales.  During our run around the perimeter of the show, we actually bumped into Jeanne and Bas Visser (Beths in laws)  We had talked a few weeks ago and planned on getting together sometime while we were in the area, but certainly did expect to just bump into them - small world, that's for sure!   We are hoping to see them in the next few days.  After a quick stop for our lookeyloo,  we pressed on to Yuma.   Tonight we pulled into a very crowded RV park in Yuma, not the nicest place we've stayed - the sites are very close together and the garbage was a mile walk to get to.   We have made plans to meet up with Twila and David (Dianas in laws) for a Boon-Docking Boot Camp.  They have been full time RVing for over a year now, and have promised to share some tips with us - looking forward to an education.  We do need some help, but we are having fun!

Vegas Boneyard!!!

HE SAID:

Got to Las Vegas last Saturday and staying in the Grand Chateau Marriot. Just a block off the strip across the street from Planet Hollywood. A nice place, but not the nicest time share that we've stayed at. Room is small with no stove or dishwasher or washing machine. Bed is nice though. Anyway so what to do in Vegas on a retirement budget. Can't believe the price of shows and even eating out when you don't get a pay check every two weeks. Even playing the penny slots still feels like throwing money out the door. Anyway Pat found this gem of a place called the Neon Light boneyard. Where many neon signs from Vegas's past have come to rest. We took the one hour tour and it was really interesting. I recommend doing the tour after dark to get the full "lighted" version. Some of the signs go back to when Vegas first got its first lit sign. The Stardust sign below....their original one.

This one on the right is a sign from the outside of Vegas on the way to Los Angeles. Gamblers used to leave $20 bucks with the attendant so they had money to get home on.  As well, when leaving the place provided free aspiring for the trip home and the amount of aspirin they gave away was huge.










SHE SAID:
And to think I told John I didn't have much to comment on - he really put me to shame on his short thoughts. We arrived in Vegas on Saturday, dropping the dogs off at a 'doggy daycare' place, which is run by a guy who owns 2 condos - one for dogs - one for himself.  We can watch the girls on a camera whenever we want to and I am amazed at how often I tend to check in to see my dogs sleeping - wow, the excitement in Vegas is not ending for us this week!

We've done a bit of shopping along with a lot of walking around the strip. One thing that there is no shortage of in this city is the walking that can be accomplished just by looking around.  As John said, the room here is small compared to what we have been spoiled by through RCI - I am surprised by the Marriott, but how much can I complain when I consider how little this cost us - 'white whine' at its finest, I guess!  I have been trying to use Restaurant.com certificates that I have had for ages, as well as a few Groupons that John picked up to make our dollars stretch a bit further - seems to be working.

Last night, after the Neon tour, t we went to an Italian place at another Marriott, using a certificate from Restaurant.com - I have used them before and never had an issue. At this restaurant, the waiter had 'a thing' about it - I hope that was the cause, as we had terrible service.  Food was good, but everything we asked for was basically tossed in front of us, and no water refills - even the cheque was wrong, we pointed it out and it came back correct, but tossed onto the table in front of us.  WOW - we were either being judged harshly and found lacking or we had truly the worst waiter in Vegas - either way, he could have gotten a better tip out of us, than what he received.

I am really having a great time - starting to get too relaxed, if that's possible, and the 'I never nap' attitude has started to change slowly.  Heading out tonight to a show, and using a coupon for a two for one dinner - you certainly can call me a cheapskate, as well :)

Nothing but Sand and Brothels!!!

HE SAID:In our many travels around Pahrump, especially today as we toured a ghost town called Rhyolite Nevada, we keep on seeing lots and lots of sand and Brothels. Not sure of the correlation. Most of the Brothels are in the middle of nowhere.  Nothing like being able to hide that you are visiting a sex house in the desert. 

In the last few days we visited Red Rock Canyon. It was a beautiful park and thanks to our National Park pass from Death Valley we got in free. Pat and I couldn't believe how many rock climbers there were. I was hoping that they all had sharp knives just in case they got there hand stuck in a crevasse.  (can't forget that movie. ). As well met lots of Canadians today in that park. All of us enjoying the warm Nevada air.

Red Rock Canyon

 Back to today, this was
our Pit Stop. Was a great
way to get us to stop (was
right beside the Brothel.)
Area 51 was not even near hear.

Rhyolite Nevada - a Ghost town

This was a cool place. Back in the early 1900's this used to be a gold mine town with up to 10 thousand people and now of course no one. 

This last picture is so out of place. Someone in Holland wanted this displayed in Death Valley but they wouldn't let him, so they put it right beside the Ghost town. This is a display of the "Last Supper" ...Pat is in the place of Jesus.  The statues are like cast plasters with humans as the model.



SHE SAID:
Well, live and learn...I seriously thought the white statues were ghosts, symbolizing the ghost town - I don't think I would have jumped into the shot inside one of the forms, had I realized it was the Last Supper - guess I should read the signs more.  I didn't have a clue what John meant when he said I was in front of Jesus - I thought I was just visiting the middle 'ghost' for a fun picture!    The ghost town was interesting - it was in existence for only 12 years - was touted as the West Chicago, with it's own stock exchange - dies because the gold mine promised, wasn't producing as promised - seems to be a trend in turn of the century Nevada.  On the way back, we stopped in Beatty, at the Subway. Just as we pulled in a School Bus pulled up with a load of students - John moved pretty fast, but we still had to wait for our sandwich to get made.

As John mentioned, there was a number Brothels in our travels today -started me thinking about the women who work there - are they there by choice, or are stories seen on TV real, and there are some very sad situations inside.  I think they all are pretty sad situations, but is anyone there kidnapped or from another country seeking a better life?   Then my mind wandered to Mob connections - all not very happy thoughts!  Not at all the kind of ranches we are familiar with in Alberta.

On a happier note - at Red Rock Canyon yesterday I did speak with someone from Orangeville, Ontario, my mothers home town.  I was fun to talk about the area, though he's been there only about 15 years, so doesn't know anyone in her side of the family.

Getting ready to pack it up for Pahrump as we leave for Las Vegas tomorrow. We are dropping the dogs off at a place with on line cameras so we can watch them anytime we want, while we are exploring (shopping most likely) the city.   No real plans for next week while in Vegas - time will tell and I look forward to what will unfold!

Beam us up Scotty...a two day tour of Death Valley!!!

Devils Hole

HE SAID: Note to self: Don't brush your teeth with Cortisone creme...Without my glasses I thought it said Colgate...Needless to say my teeth won't be inflamed.

We decided this week to visit several of the sites around Las vegas and Pahrump that we have always wanted to do. After dealing with our "pension" and benefits issue, we left for what we thought was Death Valley. At least I told the GPS to take us Devils Hole, which we thought was in Death Valley. After touring Ash Meadows National Park where Devils Hole is we found out that we where in the wrong park. Whoops. Devils Hole is managed by Death Valley which is a really a huge National park next door.  We were told we would have to come back the next day to take it all in, which is what we did today. BTW Devils Hole is cool. It is really  bottomless pool, that divers have never have found the bottom. In fact divers disappeared back in the sixties and were never found. There is a fish called the pupfish that is almost extinct and only exists in Devils hole.  Couldn't see the fish though as we were up way too high!.

Scotty's Castle

Today we went back to tour Death Valley, above all to see Scotty's Castle that was totally on the other side of the park. A long drive but very much worth it.  We took the tour and found out that this resort was built long ago by gold mine con artist and a millionaire from Chicago that friended him. Very much worth the trip.

Badwater

Beside the fantastic scenery, my favourite spot was Badwater, which is the lowest land level in the Western Hemisphere.  (282 feet...BELOW sea Level).  It is hard to see in the picture above, but there is a sign on the mountain behind me, saying sea level.    I am standing on the salt of the lake that was once here.  I think the Scotties thought it was snow!!!. Anyway.... I had no idea that this existed here and was very giddy about it.  I'm sure I told Pat look at the Sea Level sign about ten times. Small things amuse this retired mind.   (more pics to follow on FB).

SHE SAID:

It has been a fun few days.  As John said, day one venture to the Badlands, turned into a visit to a Nature Preserve that is run by the National Park - we were having Badland fun, until we were corrected at the Visitors Centre, which was our last stop.  Guess we were having Nature Preserve fun.  One more thing about Devils Hole...it is filled with water, with nearly extinct fish yes, it also moves in a mini tsunami whenever there is an earthquake anywhere in the world.  They had video of it swishing around like a bathtub gone crazy at the Visitor Centre.  There was no movement during our visit, so we can safely say there was no earthquake, anywhere on Monday!  Getting our calls/lookups/things we've been avoiding done made me feel somewhat productive that day as well.

Tuesday, we got up and finished up our 'work' in contacting places to put the RV while at the Resort in Vegas.  Turns out the very cheapest, easiest option will be to leave it here at Pahrump.  It is MUCH cheaper than any Vegas option!  We also had a travelling motorhome detailing crew come to clean up Willie.  It was getting pretty dingy, and had collected a lot of 'gunk' since we got it.  WOW - it may have been the best money we've spent so far...very shiny, and clean - looks great on the outside!  We then made the trip to the 'real' Badlands park.  On the trip to the castle, we stopped at a place called Zabriski's Point.  It was a short walk up, to look at hills that are multi coloured - very beautiful - as was the entire scenery in the Park.  We took the obvious, photos and on the way back to the car ran into a tour bus of Japanese tourists.  They saw the Scotties and fell in love! We paused for about 5 minutes for a photo shoot.  I think one was even filming them for their posterity.  The entire time there was a chorus of "cute, cute", which I took to mean they really loved our dogs.  They may even have their own Japanese fan site by now!

We continued to Scotties Castle, which really was quite a sight, so far from everything - kept in the time of it's heyday in the 1930's - tour was run by a Park Ranger in 1930 costume.  Lots of fun.  On the way out we had to wait for a pilot car, due to road work.  John took to opportunity to take the dogs out of the car for a bit - a coyote showed up and started circling from afar, getting closer - a fellow in the car in front of us commented that the coyote must have wanted haggis for supper.  We made a clean break, thanks to the arrival of the Pilot car, then back to Pahrump. 

Where did they put south, anyway??

HE SAID:

I was looking forward to parking Willie for a week and settle in with all the comforts of home including , internet and TV.  Pat picked a great RV park in Pahrump Nevada..(I had never heard of it either). It is an hour west of Las Vegas, but all the reviews of this RV park (Lakside Casino and RV park) were all tens!! So once we got Willie all plugged in I pulled out the Shaw dish and made a lousy attempt at setting it up. It was a hopeless cause.

I talked Pat into getting a totally automatic satellite dish ( one that would do all the setting up automatically). So we drove into Vegas and bought a system at Camping World. We took it back to Willie  and tried to get it to work. I spent about three hours on tech support getting more and more frustrated. Each time we called they kept having us do the same thing over and over again. The TV company blamed the equipment and the equipment company blamed the TV company. I finally gave up.

Woke up the next morning, thinking a sleep would make me smarter...lol. Decided to go and take the lot back to Vegas and try another dish. This time we went right to the TV company (Dish cable) and they set up the receiver for me and said for sure it was going to be a piece of cake to set up ..... Got back to Willie and once again spent the better part of an evening on Tech support trying to get TV working in the RV. Finally got a dude from Dish support who was talking to me from the Phillipines and he finally got it all sorted out. This was after moving the Tailgater (above) about 6 different locations...just exactly where is south anyway?   The only place it worked was on top of the RV....yup...had to climb a ladder to get it up there.  I did the dance of JOY and told the guy on the phone I could kiss him....Ahh the joys of being out in the wild!!!

Walking around the RV park with the Dogs!!

SHE SAID:

Well, you have read the above and hopefully can only imagine the excitement we had during Johns quest for digital TV.  OH, MY...I was invisioning him in caveman days searching for fire - no giving up for him, that's for sure!  As he said, he was great with the second day Tech Dude, but the first day, after the 5th hour on the phone, the frustration was cetainly showing in his conversation.  Thank goodness for success, as we were then able to move on with life as we have come to know it.

So, first two days here, were  taken up with excursions to Satellite places in Vegas.  Nothing really exciting in that.  In the trip to Vegas, we drive through a very barren area, out of the mountains, seems like it should be very clear, however there is absolutely zero cell reception.  I think we have found one of the toxic waste dumps in Nevada - just sayin'.   We will know better if we start to glow in the dark.

Saturday was spent running into Pahrump (I love that name) got my haircut and checked out a very small farmers market.  We bought some bread and home made jam from "Oma", which was very over priced but quite tasty.  I think we paid the price as Oma was really sweat, and we figured $5 for bread and $5 for jam from a 90 year old was a good way to spend some money.  The afternoon was spent cleaning out and reorganizing the RV, then to the nearby Casino for the two for one buffet - specialty for the day was Prime Rib.  I must say it was very good, and at a total of $11 for the two of us a pretty good deal, too.  John also got a free T-shirt :)  What more could we ask for?

Today, Sunday, we got up and went to the 9 am church service. The building was brand new, and very beautiful!  After church we got back and realized we were running low on Propane. It's been cooler here, and the heater has  been kicking in at night. The tank is a part of the rig, so we had to totally break camp to drive to a Propane place for a fill.  We decided to move to a different part of the part to get a better view of South, so the Satellite could work it's magic in a clearer location.  We then went for a drive around the local area and found 7 RV  parks - I think we did fall into the nicest of them all!
I am really enjoying the RV life, so far - and looking forward to doing some of the local attractions next week - Death Valley, Red Rock Canyon and Area 51 next week.

St. George Utah

St. George Temple

He Said:   We made a good getaway from Provo, happy to be leaving the snow behind.  It was a nice trip to St. George, but as Pat says, I probably was speeding too much. Didn't want the other Motor homes to beat me south???  Anyway, got to St. George and went directly to Camping World so they could de-winterize Willie. We walked to lunch about three blocks away, and as we just ordered, Camping world called and said I didn't leave the access key to the water. So I walked back and gave them the keys, then went back to lunch which was waiting for me.  My feet were killing me though. Picked up Willie and discovered the car on the dolly was coming off.  I did a bad job tying the wheels down. I need more practise. Took the car off and Pat followed me while we went to give Willie a much needed bath. Washing a thirty foot RV is not an easy task. I got very wet!!!  Decided to stay in St. George at the Temple View RV park. It was a nice spot easy to drive into and set up. As this was our first night in the RV since Lethbridge we had lots to do to get it comfy for the night. 

The next day, we took in a session at the St. George Temple. It is a beautiful temple in and out. Our first time there. Went back changed, then went on a bit of a sight seeing tour. Had a great tour in the Brigham Young Winter Home.

Pat in front of the Brigham Young Winter Home.

Brigham Youngs Winter Home

For New Years Eve we went out to eat and  to a movie. Saw
Saving Mr. Banks (the Mary Poppins story). Was a great movie but we had to sit in different rows as it was very full. Managed to stay up till midnight and kissed in a brand new year. 2014 will be a very different year. But we both are very excited to be on this journey together.

She Said:  As John said...we had a FAST trip from Provo to St. George - it felt like the Indy 500, and as there were a lot of big rigs on the road, I think John really got into the spirit of the moment.  I don't think we got great gas mileage on that part of the trip, but as we were going downhill, it probably wasn't as bad as it could have been.  It was nice to pause for a day, to get things more organized inside, and to do some 'touristy' things around St. George. John claims he took me out to dinner and a show for New Years Eve...we went to a fast food Mexican Place I'd never heard of for mediocre food, because it was close to the theatre.  At the theatre, you chose your seats when you bought the tickets - it was almost sold out, so John sat in the row in front of me.  I was in the middle of two older gentlemen, who liked to sit with their legs spread, and one of them had a mild case of gas. In his defence, he was a very nice guy and we had a bit of a chat. I loved him as he did comment on the number of grey hairs in the room and he figured there was no one under 50 in the room, other than me...made the gas much more endearing :)  Saving Mr. Banks was a great show!  We packed up this morning, made sure the car was on much more securely, than when leaving Provo - made sure the steering wheel was locked, as well, and made our way to Nevada.  John thought we would stop in Mesquite, but as it was only 30 miles from St. George, we decided to keep going.  I did a search for the 'best' place to RV in Nevada and came up with Pahrump.  Never knew it existed, or that I would want to go there, but we decided to go for it.  The RV place - Lakeview Casino -  is associated with a Casino, has a lake, paddle boats and kayaks.  It is quite lovely, and we will be here, in Pahrump for 10days.  It is located an hour from Vegas and an hour from Death Valley. We'll have to check out other things to do.  Today I walked the dogs around the Lake, while John unsuccessfully tried to hook up the satellite.  We then went into town to pick up some fruit, and odds and ends, and ate supper at Panda Express.  TV will be some downloaded shows - old Carol Burnett - CLASSIC!