Apache Junction, AZ – Wrapping Up 2010

On this final day of 2010, we want extend our best wishes for a happy, healthy and safe New Year.  Can you believe it’s 2011 already?  That doesn’t even sound like a year, it sounds like an IRS form.

The flocks of snowbirds have flown in to Arizona and settled down around various swimming pools and watering holes to wait out the ugly weather in other areas of the country.  Initially we were treated to really nice weather – warm, sunny and not too windy – but that has all changed with a cold front which moved in, leaving us with temps only a whisker above freezing and little flakes of white floating here and there.  What a rude shock!  We hope that those snowbirds who’ve yet to depart the tundras remember to pack their longjohns before heading here.

One of our first social outings upon arrival was dinner at our friends, David and Shirley.  They spend their winters in the Phoenix area and summers in Upstate New York, which is where we met them at the time  country/western dancing first became popular.  They were our original instructors and we’ve been friends ever since. Nearly everybody at their RV park goes whole-hog on Christmas decorations  and it is quite the sight to see when all the lights are on.  Here’s just a little glimpse of the light show, photo courtesy of David. 

 

Another outing led us to The University of Phoenix Stadium, home to the NFL Arizona Cardinals.  We were there for an RV show but found the stadium far more interesting than the RVs.   The playing field was lined with RVs of all types, parked on the concrete floor.  If that stuck us as odd, it didn’t really register.  It was eventually pointed out to us that the “field” itself was outside in the sunlight, being watered and  groomed like any other large lawn.  For games, the entire field is moved indoors on tracks via a bank of garage-type doors so that the Cards can play on real grass.  It hasn’t helped this year.  These two  photos will give you a general idea of how this transition comes about.

 

 

The RV park where we’re staying hosted a wonderful Christmas dinner with the owners providing the turkey, ham and mashed potatoes and the guests bringing dishes to pass.  There was a wonderful array of veggies, salads and desserts.  It makes a person wonder what prevents 100 people from showing up each toting an apple pie – the variety is as unique as the folks who prepared the dishes.

We always arrive at our winter quarters with a long list of chores to attend to during our down time.  So far we haven’t made a lot of progress but at least we now have some built-in New Year’s Resolutions, several of which were left over from last year.

And so that wraps up another year.  May 2011 bring you all things bright and beautiful.

Christmas Greetings

Apache Junction, Arizona – Part I

We settled into our winter hibernation headquarters on the first of December and expect to remain here at least until the first of March.  This is the time when we see doctors and dentists and attend to other chores that can’t be handled when rolling down the highways and byways.  We also enjoy the opportunity to rendezvous with chums who either live in the area all the time or who also hibernate here in the winter. 

Our site here at Superstition Lookout isn’t easy to get into but once we’re in there’s  plenty of elbow room.  Our road buddies, Russ and Rochelle, were already settled in at the same park and invited us for dinner our first night in town.  It has become somewhat of a tradition when we get together that Rochelle bakes a pie with rhubarb Russ has grown in their garden and this was no exception.  Yummy…and with French vanilla ice cream thrown in for good measure.  The next night we hightailed it out to Gold Canyon for a happy hour and potluck with the Anazazi Chapter of FMCA.  Two other couples from the Fulltimers chapter were there, which is how we came to be invited.  The Anazazis are an active fun group but unfortunately our life-style precludes  joining it. 

The great thing about this area of Arizona is the wonderful shopping opportunities.  Competition among several large grocery chains keep prices low (if you watch the sales) and there are several options for inexpensive fresh produce.  We always like to visit the Superstition Ranch Market for the bargains du jour – such as fresh pineapple at 88 cents each and colored bell peppers for less than you’d pay for green elsewhere.  And it is always fun to troll through the Mesa Swap Meet in search of some interesting little item.  That’s where you’re likely to run into all the folks you met last year.

I immediately threw myself into the water aerobics routine, starting with the 8:00 a.m. session.  Just recently I’ve added a second session at 9:00 although I’ve yet to do both in the same day.  There’s also a walking and stretching session three days a week.  Howie finally got around to buying a new bike and so there will be some pedaling in his future.  If I have any energy left, I may join him.  I’m sure there will be biking opportunities with friend David who resides nearby during the winter months.

The craft ladies meet once a week for a couple of hours on Monday, nothing formal, everybody just works on whatever they’re working on.  Everyone is very happy to share their skills and so there’s plenty of opportunity to learn new things.  I’m still working on the same afghan I was knitting this time last year.  Of course the colors are now passé.

All of the towns in and around Phoenix have their own Christmas activities.  Last week we drove to   Chandler to attend the lighting of their Christmas tree which is made of tumbleweeds. It’s some 35 feet tall and very impressive.  Our timing wasn’t very good; we arrived too early and didn’t feel much like staring at each other for two hours waiting for the parade to start.  The tree lighting was scheduled to follow the parade and none of us had dressed in enough layers to be comfortable once the sun went down.

So we took a vote, hopped in the car and raced back to Apache Junction where we arrived just in time to see the lighting of “our” Christmas tree and watch the parade.   Antique car collectors abound around here and the rolling light displays were quite fun to see.  Even some of the horses were draped in colored lights.  Several were not amused.

Stayed tuned for more shopping tips and radiant sunsets.

Casa Grande, Arizona – Week 2

Everything slowed down considerably during our second week in Casa Grande, including the weather. Temperatures got down into freezing territory at night and rarely worked up to “comfy” during the day so it seemed like an excellent opportunity to check out the Historical Society Museum in Casa Grande. The museum is housed in an addition to an old church made of native stone taken from the Gila River. The displays are exceptionally tidy and coherent, not all willy-nilly like so many small museums.

The tour kicks off with a brief movie about the Casa Grande ruins located near Coolidge. A self-guided tour then led us through displays of pottery and baskets, dioramas of early Casa Grande, the segregated school operated by Rebecca Dallis, bits and pieces of old farm equipment and a display of women’s dresses dating from the ‘50s and ‘60s. It’s a bit off-putting to see items of clothing similar to what one wore to the Sweetheart Ball now gathering dust in a museum. My, how time flies.

And, as is usually the case, we came upon an Interesting Character referenced in a museum display. This chap, James Addison Reavis, was known as The Baron of Arizona and was a scam artist of some magnitude. Laying claim to huge portions of central Arizona and parts of New Mexico with nothing more than forged land grant documents takes some kind of chutzpah. Check the link above to learn more about “Baron” Reavis.

Driving on the outskirts of Casa Grande and then heading north toward Phoenix, one cannot help but notice acres and acres of cotton. Huge bales outline the fields and wisps of it cling to roadside plants. It easy to think of the desert as infertile but in reality all it lacks is water. Throw in some irrigation and you can grow just about anything that requires a long growing season and plenty of sun. Such as cotton. We had a big light-bulb-going-on moment when a museum display put a name to the area’s cotton crop….it’s known worldwide as Pima Cotton, first grown in the region by the Native American tribe known as the Pimas. Duh. Why we didn’t figure that out without help is beyond me.

One of the highlights of our (well, mine anyhow) stay in Casa Grande was the opportunity to hang out with Bonnie, a former member of the Fulltimers Chapter. She’s a wonderful beader and kindly invited me along to participate in her park’s beading group. Naturally I managed to mess up both projects attempted – performance anxiety, I guess – but came away with sufficient knowledge about both techniques to replicate them in the privacy of my own home at a later date.

It wasn’t much of a drive to our winter den in Apache Junction and we were on-site and semi settled in shortly after noon. Our Wyoming buddies, Russ and Rochelle, are here and entertained us for dinner and a rousing game of Aggravation. It’s so nice not to have to think about making dinner after a hard day on the road!

This is our time to see doctors and dentists and attend to all those pesky housekeeping chores that can’t be done when on the move so road reports may be few and far between over the next few months. In case we don’t chat again soon, we hope you all have a wonderful Christmas and a happy and healthy New Year.

Casa Grande, Arizona – Week 1

We have been here in Casa Grande for a little over a week.  For the most part the weather has been pleasant with clear skies, not much wind and warm enough to keep water aerobics from being cancelled.  This is our second visit to Desert Shadows; we spent last Thanksgiving here as well and enjoyed the visit enough to plan an encore this year.

Our friends, Galen and Betty Jo, are here as well and last Friday we made a day trip to Florence.  They hadn’t toured the Pinal County Historical Museum so we made that our first stop.  This little museum has become one of our favorite places to visit, thanks to the historian/docent who has an endless supply of stories about the wonderful array of characters who’ve passed through Florence over the decades.  Every city has an industry for which it is noted – Florence’s claim to fame is Incarceration.  It’s home to two state penitentiaries, several privately-owned prisons and a number of specialized facilities, including one for juvenile offenders.  The first prison was built to relieve crowding at the territorial prison in Yuma and so the museum features many artifacts from those days, including the gallows trap door and a two-seater chair for the gas chamber which eventually replaced the hanging tree. 

Florence was once a well-heeled mining town and the museum has fine examples of some of the more upscale accoutrements of a by-gone era.  The Western movie hero, Tom Mix,  was killed in a car accident not far from Florence so one exhibit features photos and mementos of his presence in Florence which he visited on a regular basis.  Gene Autry was another movie cowboy to spend time in the area visiting friends who owned ranches nearby.

After a thorough examination of the museum’s displays, we walked around the historic downtown.  The visitors center was in the process of vacating the two-story brick building known as the Conrad Brunenkant City Bakery (built in 1889) and moving to the first Pinal County Courthouse; it’s also known as McFarland State Historic Park but was closed shortly after being renovated due to state budget shortages.  It’s great that the city will be able to make use of this wonderful old building, which dates from the late 1870s.

Another interesting structure on the walking tour is the Silver King Hotel, once the social center of the city and considered the height of elegance at the time.  It now houses a restaurant and several small shops, including one that sells what must be the most expensive fudge in the state. 

One of our favorite stories has to do with the second Pinal County Courthouse, built in 1891 and now undergoing renovations.  It looks pretty much like every other government building of that era but what makes it special is its clock tower.  The county went over budget in constructing the courthouse and didn’t have funds left for the internal workings of a clock.  So the hands were painted on and it is forever 11:44 in Florence, no matter what time you get there.

Thanksgiving dinner turned out to be a disappointment.  We recalled having a delicious ample dinner last year at a pretty modest price.  This year the meal was mediocre at best, cost $2 more than last year and seconds were not allowed.  Each family was asked to bring a salad or dessert, most of which went uneaten.  Rumor has it that turkey sandwiches will be served on Black Friday for $4 per person….using turkey we’ve already paid for.  We won’t be participating and we’ll likely find somewhere else to spend next Thanksgiving.  Meanwhile, we have a lot of confetti salad left over.

We have a little less than a week left in Casa Grande before moving up to Apache Junction to hibernate for the winter.  There are a couple of other attractions  we’d like to visit before leaving but it remains to be seen if we can get organized enough to accomplish much.

We hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving.

Tucson, Arizona

As we wind down for the winter hibernation, our touring dwindles to a much slower pace so by the time we arrived in Tucson we were all but marching in place.  This was our third visit to Tucson so we’d already seen the major attractions.  Given our faulty memories, we could have revisited them and been impressed all over again!  But we didn’t.  Our campground, Rincon Country West, had so many activities that we stuck pretty close to home for the entire week we were in Tucson.  Everyone we met was extremely friendly and welcoming.

On Veterans Day the resort had a “tea dance” from 4:00 to 6:oo and we took advantage of the nice big dance floor.  It doesn’t take more than a song or two to show us how out of shape we are.  Our tablemates, who spend their summers at 7000 feet in Colorado, had a good laugh over us trying to blame our breathlessness on the altitude in Tucson.  They weren’t buying it.

Intrigued by the idea of a “beading group”, I ventured to attend a session on Monday morning in the pottery room.  A delightful group of ladies were working on various projects and it soon became evident that their emphasis is actually on making beads, not just stringing or weaving them.  Which explains why they meet in the pottery room.  I’m so jealous that they all will be attending the big bead and gem show in February.

Our lone attempt at touring was to revisit Mission San Xavier del Bac,  known as The White Dove of the Desert.   The mission was established in 1692 by Father Kino and the structure completed in 1783.  As you might imagine, it has undergone many restorations over the centuries and is still being worked on as funds become available.   On our first visit in 2005, the building was partially obscured by scaffolding on one bell tower.  The results of that work are obvious in the photo.

The mission is on land which is part of the Tohono O’odham reservation.  Originally known as Papagos, the tribe is thought to be related to the Pimas, both descendants of the ancient Hohokam peoples who inhabited the Sonoran Desert for centuries. 

And now it’s on to Casa Grande for two weeks before heading to Apache Junction for the winter months.  We are looking forward to seeing many old friends in The Valley of the Sun.

Camp Verde, Arizona

We beat a hasty retreat from Bullhead City on Thursday, hoping to make the long steep climb to Kingman before the day became too warm. We needn’t have worried – it just never got very hot. By the time we got to Flagstaff we began to see snow on the mountain peaks and plenty of autumn color on the trees.

Although we’ve made many visits to Camp Verde, we had never taken the Verde Canyon Railroad into the otherwise inaccessible Verde River Canyon. This time we decided to loosen our grip on the budget and take the trip to enjoy the fall colors. The trip begins in Clarkdale, where we were once again introduced to Senator William A. Clark, the Butte copper baron we first “met” in Beatty, NV. And, yes, Clarkdale was named for him. He purchased the copper mine part-way up the mountain in Jerome and established the railroad to transport the ore north to meet the Santa Fe Railroad 38 miles away at Drake.

The weather was absolutely perfect for the trip and we spent the entire four-hour excursion in an open car rather than in the Pullman car. The tracks follow the Verde River, very calm and placid at the moment, but capable of turning into a torrent given enough snow melt near Flagstaff or summer monsoons upstream. We could see the damage done to trees by a recent flash flood.

For those who have done leaf-peeping in New England, the foliage colors in Arizona would be a disappointment, tending mostly to the golds of cottonwoods and sycamores, along with some amber and browns of smaller trees and bushes. But none of the oranges and reds you’d see with hardwoods.

Wildlife was in short supply except for a redtail hawk and what might have been a golden eagle. We did see a bald eagle nest on the red cliffs but it’s not quite the season for them to be nesting and last season’s fledges would already have flown the coop. The train was held up twice along the way by cows wandering along the tracks. Visible from the tracks is a cliff dwelling, once home to a pre-Colombian people now called Sinaqua by anthropologists. They lived in the area around 1100 A.D. It isn’t known what they called themselves so modern scientists have dubbed them Sin (without) Agua (water). The blackened ceiling of the cave can be seen from the train.

As we passed along the (mostly) red cliffs, the guides pointed out a number of rock formations which have acquired names. I suspect they were named by various guides over the years to keep the passengers amused. Not only do you need a very active imagination to “see” some of these forms but additional assistance might be required – say a few hours too long in the hot sun without a hat, some recreational drugs or a sharp rap to the temple with a blunt object. The named rocks are pictured here in their very own album.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The next day we met fellow Fulltimers, Pat and Ed, for lunch inhistoric Old Town Cottonwood, preceded by the ladies checking out two local craft fairs. We’re hoping to see Pat and Ed again at a rally in December somewhere in the Phoenix area.

A mad dash to Sedona capped off our short stay in Camp Verde. Being Monday, of course we had to drop by a Beall’s Outlet for a senior discount on our purchases. We didn’t “find a dot, save a lot” but I did get two pairs of casual knit pants. The Goodwill is in the same plaza so we stopped in for a snoop through the book section. And then a bit further down the road we stopped in at a fabulous bead shop called The Bead Garden where I found the daisy spacers I needed and a bunch of other stuff that couldn’t be resisted. The bead stash has reached epic portions.

Next week’s report will be from Tucson where we hope it will be somewhat warmer and a little less windy.

Bullhead City, Arizona

We arrived here in Bullhead City last Thursday after a short but boring drive down from Pahrump. The weather has been very nice, warm and sunny but with a more or less constant breeze to keep things from being unpleasant. Our initial assumption was that Bullhead City was named for the bottom-feeder of the same name, given the city’s location on the banks of the Colorado River. Not so, we’ve since learned. The town was named for a large rock (or a small island) just north of Davis Dam, now submerged in what became Lake Mohave. Right across the river is the town of Laughlin, Nevada, home to a number of casinos and the famous Don Laughlin collection of classic cars.

It seems that Bullhead City, at least, caters to an older crowd with plenty of 55+ gated communities, senior citizen discounts, and doctors practicing geriatric medicine. And just about every franchise known to mankind.

From our campground, we have a lovely view of the bright lights of Laughlin. And, like Pahrump, the sunsets here can be nothing short of spectacular. And here’s the proof.

One of the “things to do” from this location is to pay a visit to Oatman, a gold mining town turned tourist trap. We toured it on our first visit and won’t be returning this time. It sits on a portion of old Route 66 which has all but disappeared. The town is home to a herd of burros who wander about, stopping traffic and mooching treats from shop owners and tourists alike. Before you even get out of your car, they know who’s packing carrots and who isn’t!

Another of the “must do” side trips from Bullhead City is a visit to Hoover Dam and the recently opened Mike O’Callaghan-Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge across the Colorado River. I’m not fond of bridges or dams so I opted to stay at home with the new vacuum cleaner and practice housework. With trusty camera in hand, Howie drove off to explore both structural wonders at his leisure. The bridge is open to foot traffic so naturally he had to hoof it across; but he did admit to feeling a bit queazy when peering down into the current of the river far below.

One of the more interesting facts about the bridge is that construction was commenced on both shorelines simultaneously and the workers met in the middle where the two halves were within 3/8ths of an inch of each other, considerably better than the tolerance built into the plan.

As for Hoover Dam (formerly Boulder Dam), the statistics are mind-boggling, especially when you realize a government project was actually completed two years ahead of schedule and significantly under budget. And the sale of electricity has paid for the dam, with interest, and continues to pay for its maintenance. Lake Mead, the reservoir which forms behind Hoover Dam, is America’s largest man-made lake with 550 miles of shoreline and containing (shudder) 9. 2 trillion gallons of water.

If you are sufficiently interested in learning more about the bridge, you can check the Article that appeared in the October 17th issue of Parade Magazine. A link in that article leads to a Slideshow that tracks the bridge’s construction. (11/14/10 - just found another slideshow with some eye-popping photos)

Stay turned for next week’s report from another location here in Arizona. And let’s keep our fingers crossed that Flagstaff isn’t enjoying winter weather just yet.

Pahrump, Nevada – Week Two

We are parked at Charleston Peak RV Resort with a wonderful view of…you guessed it….Charleston Peak.  Unfortunately the clouds have rarely lifted enough for us to see it and when they do lift we can see that the peak is covered with snow.  It looks nice from a distance.

In spite of being in the desert at the tail end of the warm season, it has been chilly for most of our stay and we’ve been treated to some fairly colorful thunderstorms and hard-driving rain.  The weather has served to keep us indoors much of the time and is depriving me of an opportunity to enjoy water aerobics in the resort’s nice pool.

So, except for exploring a bit more of Pahrump, our only foray into the desert was a day trip to the living ghost town of Beatty with our friends, the Parrs.  Beatty, population roughly 1500,  bills itself as The Gateway to Death Valley and given its desert location is quite verdant, thanks to an underground river called the Amargosa.  Beatty was originally a supply center for mining operations in the area and there are still gold mining operations nearby, along with a volcanic cinder mine and a “medical-grade” mud mine.  I wish we’d check out that little factoid a little more closely.  How does mud get to be medical-grade? 

We checked out the Beatty Museum, a collection of photos and other artifacts from “the good old days”.  By reading an old newspaper story we learned that at one point in time, every building in Beatty would set off a Geiger counter.  You see, Beatty is just “over the hill” from Yucca Mountain…and Area 51.  And then there’s the suspenseful saga of the railroad wars between Clark, the copper king, and Smith, the borax king.  Read about the Kings' feud here.

Beatty is also home to Death Valley Nut & Candy Company, a large shop featuring just about any kind of candy you can think of, except the pink mints Betty Jo was hoping to find.  And a glance through a list of town businesses found The Shady Lady Ranch (brothel) right there between Bank of America (banking) and Stagecoach Hotel & Casino (casinos). 

It’s only a few miles from the ghost town of Rhyolite so off we went off to check that out.  On the way, we saw a trio of wild burros grazing not far from the road.  They abound in this area, their ancestors having been abandoned by the miners who brought them here.  We’d all been to Rhyolite in previous years and somehow managed to miss the Goldwell Open Air Museum, although how anyone could miss a large pink naked lady in the middle of nowhere is anybody’s guess.  In addition to its rather spooky location, this open air (and therefore free) museum boasts several spooky sculptures.  Apparently there is a museum attendant who shows up on weekends to explain the art work.  We were sorry to have missed him/her because most of the artwork needed a whole lot of explaining.   Overcast skies did nothing to improve the ghostliness of these statues.

We had  planned a day trip to Las Vegas but that didn’t quite pan out so we explored a bit more of Pahrump.  It is quite apparent that no “city planner” was involved here.  The valley is enormous and there are bits and pieces of civilization scattered everywhere.  If there is a “downtown” we haven’t found it yet but there are strip malls miles away from each other, not clustered along the state highway as you might expect.  Pahrump was obviously all set for a boom that never quite happened and many of the shops are standing empty along streets that have yet to be paved. 

Pahrump will be home for another few days and if the weather improves we may yet get in a visit to Badwater in Death Valley, the lowest point in the Western Hemisphere at 282 feet below sea level. 

Pahrump, Nevada

Thanks to a leaking valve on the toilet and a lack of t.v. reception in parts of central Nevada, we decided to postpone our departure from Carson City by two days and just make one over-night stop on our way to Pahrump.

We were once again fortunate to find a competent and professional mobile RV tech who promptly repaired the toilet leak and made an adjustment that allowed us to once again use the electric mode on the water heater.  For a number of days we’d been relying on each other to remember to turn the propane-fired heater on.  Neither of us are any too reliable in that regard but at least we weren’t treated to any cold showers. 

Given the extra time in Carson City, we decided to go up and over the mountains for a peek at Lake Tahoe.  The day was bright and clear and we got an early enough start so that we were able to go south to South Lake Tahoe and then north to Incline Village.  There wasn’t much traffic and both towns were fairly empty; tourist towns during “off season” have a ghost-town-in-training aspect about them! 

Looking northward we could see a column of smoke arising from the opposite shoreline.  We never did find out what the story was, a forest fire or a controlled burn, but it was very definitely not far from Incline Village.  There were several areas along the way which had experienced fires fairly recently.  New growth hadn’t started to make headway and charred stumps were still in evidence.  We also noticed a number of dried out trees which we assume is the handiwork of the beetles which are devastating so many of our forests.

From this photo you can see the twisting and turning that U.S. 50 does to get down the mountain-side and into Carson City.  We  noticed that the run-away truck ramp appeared to head straight for the roof of Costco and the RV park right beyond.  I’m glad I didn’t know that as we were having “lunch at Costco” on Saturday!

We departed Carson City on Wednesday and stopped for the night in Hawthorne, a desert town which is home to Hawthorne Army Depot not far from the southern tip of Walker Lake.  The lake might as well be a mirage because your eyes won’t quite believe this enormous puddle of bright blue in the middle of brown nothingness.  The mirage is enhanced by a total lack of any signs of life along the shoreline…no cabins, no piers, no boats.  Two campers seemed to be making use of the lakeside cabanas and that was about the extent.  Memory is faulty but perhaps that’s where we saw the land-locked cabin cruiser decked out as a diner and signs announcing lobster crossings.

Between the tiny towns of Mina and Coaldale (which can only be described as living ghost towns) lies the Columbus Salt Marsh.  As you can see from this photo, the white line of the marsh mimics the snow on the nearby mountains.  One of those mountains may or may not be Boundary Peak, the highest point in Nevada at 13,140 feet.   This was my first attempt to take photos while hanging out the window as we bumped on down the highway at 65 mph.

The run from Hawthorne to Pahrump is really long and really dull with Tonopah being the only town of any size along the way so it was with a huge sigh of relief that we arrived at Charleston Peak in Pahrump.  Charleston Peak is also the name of one of Nevada’s three wineries and shares location with the RV park.   The other two wineries are in the vicinity of Reno.  We believe Charleston Peak has finally been able to bottle some wines from estate-grown grapes.  They got off to a bad start when wild burros ate the first planting of vines and grapes had to be brought in from California to continue production.

Temperatures have been in the 90’s and we’re looking forward to the cool front that’s supposed to move in this week.  We’ve met up once again with our RVing friends, the Parrs, and have several adventures planned while we’re here.  Stayed tuned.

Carson City, Nevada

We found it somewhat difficult to leave Winnemucca, not because we were enamored of the city but because one snafu after another conspired to keep us from making much headway. To begin with, it is never pleasant having to travel on a rainy day. We had planned to stop for fuel at the Flying J on the west side of Winnemucca but after squirming our way to the RV pump it was discovered that they were out of diesel, not just in the RV lane but in the truck lanes as well. There was nothing we could do about the situation so we headed further west, stopping at a Love’s in West Winnemucca. We didn’t even know that a West Winnemucca existed! It wasn’t the least bit amusing that the Flying J tanker was sitting in the Love’s parking lot.

The RV pump was a bit cramped for us with a sharp left turn to exit after filling up. We had our fingers crossed that the parking area directly in front of us would remain empty but that was not to be. It quickly filled with a variety of pick-ups, cars and motorcycles the occupants of which seemed to be wearing uniforms of one sort or another. Several police cars and a hearse soon materialized along the ramp to the highway, further impeding our departure. But we were able to tag along behind a broad-shouldered semi returning to the Interstate and got by the bottleneck with no trouble. We later learned that the procession that was forming was sponsored by the Missing in America Project and included several Veterans’ organizations. The unclaimed remains of seven veterans were being transported from Winnemucca to the National Cemetery in Fernley. There were a number bikers togged out in Harley-Davidson duds and we assume they were planning to make the 200 mile trip in the rain. Now that’s dedication.

The next slow-down occurred when we exited at a rest area only to discover that it was closed and the access road barred, leaving us with nowhere to make a U-turn. Backing up while towing a car is not an option but Howie was able to execute a very tight turn with minimal backing up, just a foot or so, enough to clear the post that was blocking our way. Whew! We made it and were soon back on the highway, heading west into what appeared like more bad weather.

Heavy rain in the desert doesn’t do what you expect it to do. The earth acts so surprised with the extra moisture that it doesn’t respond, rather it just lets the water sit there on the surface making impromptu lakes here and there.

On our first full day in Carson City we dropped in at the Visitors Center to get a feeling for what to see and do in the area. The Nevada State Museum is now closed on Mondays and Tuesdays as a cost-cutting measure so we just wandered around town a bit. It continued to rain and so being outdoors wasn’t much fun anyhow. On Wednesday we were able to visit the museum, part of which was formerly a U.S. Mint. One of the old presses is still functional and once a month they make coins. I believe they fire it up on the 4th Friday of the month.

According to the website, tours of the capitol have to be scheduled two weeks in advance. Hoping that we could attach ourselves to another tour as we did in Boise, I placed a call to the Museum office which schedules such tours. A delightful guide, Claudia, volunteered to lead us around and, as we expected, we learned far more than we’d ever have discovered on a self-guided tour. You’ll have to take the tour yourselves to find out the amusing little story behind this state seal, which is totally made up of small glass seed beads.

The first thing you see upon entering the front doors of the building is a statue of Sarah Winnamucca, a duplicate of the one originally commissioned for Statuary Hall in Washington, DC. Sarah, the daughter of Chief Winnamucca, was an early activist and is thought to be the first Native American to publish a book. She was a gifted speaker and wildly popular “back East” but less popular with her own people, the Northern Paiutes.

The exterior of the capitol is made from sandstone mined by prisoners at a quarry on prison property just east of town. The dome is not plated with silver as one might suspect but is made of aluminum-coated fiberglass. You can barely see it in the attached photo, thanks to an aluminum-colored sky on the day of our visit.

The Capitol Complex also features the State Archives, the Supreme Court Building and the Legislature Building along with some open spaces. This statue of Kit Carson dominates the park-like area between the capitol and the Legislature. Carson City was named for the Carson River which in turn was named in honor of Kit Carson by his boss, John Fremont. Across the street from the capitol, in front of another government building is a water fountain donated by a humane organization and designed to be used by horses. The smaller water “bowls” aroundd the base are intended for use by thirsty dogs. The purple ribbons, here and elsewhere around the Complex, are to publicize Domestic Abuse Awareness Month.

We finished up our tour of the area with a stroll around “downtown”. A handsome wrought-iron fence keeps folks from tumbling into the street but it was sad to see so many of the storefronts empty. Victorian architecture stands side-by-side with more modern looking casinos. The casinos didn’t look any too busy, either.

With the rains finally gone, we took a drive up into them thar hills to the “ghost” town of Virginia City. Most of the “ghosts” were toting shopping bags and waving charge cards, arriving by the tour bus load. We’ve visited many such old mining towns but Virginia City is by far the largest and most active. We purchased tickets on the Virginia and Truckee Railroad and enjoyed the two-mile ride to Gold Hill and back. Unfortunately the noisy engine prevented us from hearing the conductor’s comments about the mines we were passing. We were able to gather that the silver and gold mined here in Nevada built San Francisco and then re-built it after the fire. There are those who might think this a waste of precious metal.

A trolley ride around town was part of our “tour”. We were able to hear the driver this time and enjoyed his stories about the heyday of the town when it was home to 30,000 people. Now it’s home to about 700 hardy souls, including those who still work in the one remaining mine. There are several lovely examples of Victorian architecture, proof of the treasure extracted from the hills. And then there was this pair of homes, known as The Spite Houses. They are only inches apart. One was moved from another location by a very spiteful rival so that the occupant of the first house would never see daylight or enjoy a cool breeze. Now they lean together like a couple of old drunks trying to keep each other from falling down.

Winnemucca, Nevada

Whoever dubbed U.S. 50 “the loneliest road in America” has apparently not traveled U.S. 95 between Boise, Idaho and Winnemucca, Nevada.  There’s not much traffic, few towns and not much in the way of scenery unless you are into minimalist landscapes.  Just bare hills and/or mountains and sagebrush.

Along the way, in the southeast corner of Oregon, is a wide spot in the road called Rome which consists of one small all-purpose building – grocery, gas station, maybe even the post office.  One truck was parked in front but we didn’t see any people.  There was, however, a government-issued sign announcing CONGESTION.  Unfortunately there wasn’t a space wide enough for us to make a U-turn to go back to photograph it.   You’ll have to take  our word for it.

We are now wrapping up a week here in Winnemucca.  It just seems longer.  The car museum we had planned to visit has apparently  disappeared, leaving only the empty Flying A gas station which once housed it.  The city’s convention center has three mini-museums: several cases of minerals and gemstones mined here in Nevada, a display of various game animals (all dead) and The Buckaroo Hall of Fame.  And then there’s the Humboldt County Museum, housed in a modern two-story building.  It has a small collection of very old cars and memorabilia from the town’s early years.  The featured exhibit is a collection of mastodon bones discovered nearby.  Whether it was by design or due to budget constraints, the displays were dimly lit or not lit at all which made it difficult to appreciate them.  

Several people had suggested that we should sample Basque cuisine while we were in this neighborhood.  Always eager to try the local specialties, we headed to a restaurant recommended by the campground manager.  We ordered a “family style” meal which featured three different entrees, along with soup, salad and wine.  While we have not yet formed an opinion about Basque food, we can say that such a meal will cause you to gain exactly 3 1/2 pounds and that weight gain will remain with you at least three days.  Longer if you actually eat all that you carted home in the doggie bag.

For obvious reasons, this will be a really short entry.

Boise, Idaho

This is our final day here in Boise and we’ve had wonderful weather for our entire visit, bright and sunny with warm but not hot days and cool nights.  We’ve been told such weather can be expected to last until late October.

Boise has turned out to be a very pleasant surprise, with plenty of things to see and do around town.  It came as a bit of a shock to learn that the population is over 200,000 and, as home to Boise State University, is fairly typical of a bustling college town, especially on weekends when the football team plays at home.  Football is a Very Big Deal here and the locals are delirious that the BSU Broncos are ranked #3 in the nation.  There were a lot of banners flying yesterday when they hosted the Oregon State Beavers.

Our first foray into downtown Boise landed us at the Convention Center which signs indicated was home to the Visitors’ Center.  Due to budget constraints or political scrums, the Centers don’t exist anymore and we were on our own to collect information on what to see and do.  And that wasn’t difficult. We headed straight to Julia Davis Park which is home to Zoo Boise, the Idaho Historical Museum, a memorial rose garden (in full bloom) and  the Boise Art Museum (known as BAM).  The Historical Museum was especially good, the zoo and BAM not so much.

There was a temporary disappointment when we learned that  tours of the capitol building were by “reservation only” and needed to be made at least two weeks in advance.  But a call to the tour office requesting permission to tag along with another tour resulted in an invitation to latch on to a group touring at 1:00 on Thursday.  We had our fingers crossed that we would not be touring with a group of fourth graders.  Fortunately our wish was granted and we enjoyed our tour with the Red Hat Ladies from Nampa.  Just by chance I’d worn a red shirt and a red and purple necklace; Howie wore beige.  The capitol was very recently restored to its original appearance.  The tour guide assured us that no bodies were discovered behind false walls and ceilings but they did uncover this elegant elevator once used to transport the Supreme Court Justices from their chambers to the courtroom (it’s no longer functional).

We were aware that we’ve visited all four of the U.S. zoos that have panda exhibits but weren’t aware that we were about to visit the third and final territorial prison still open to the public.  From an aesthetic standpoint I’d have to say that Idaho is the most attractive – Deer Lodge (MT) is pretty grim and Yuma (AZ) is pretty barren and dusty – but Idaho has lawns and gardens.  Howie uncovered an interesting little factoid – the roses in the prison yard were part of a test garden operated in the ‘50s and ‘60s by Jackson & Perkins  and their famous Tropicana rose had been propagated there.  As a child, one of our big treats was to visit the Jackson & Perkins gardens in Newark, NY and so there was yet another link from one place to another.

Late one afternoon we made the drive up, up, up to Table Rock.  I was enjoying it enormously as long as we were passing McMansions on both sides of a paved road.  The trip became somewhat less fun when we ended up on a one-lane dirt road leading to an array of cell towers and ominous-looking antenna structures atop a barren hill.  Scary as it was for those of us with vertigo, it’s a great view of Boise and the Treasure Valley.

Yesterday we visited the World Center for Birds of Prey.  Established primarily as a breeding facility to save the endangered peregrine falcon, it is now home to a variety of species in need of protection.  They are currently working to restore the California condor to the Grand Canyon and Vermillion Cliffs area of Arizona.  One of the breeding age males had been released in the Grand Canyon but he was a little too dim-witted to survive in the wild so they recaptured him and brought him back.  I had to bite my tongue to keep from pointing out that if he’s not smart enough to avoid sleeping on the ground in coyote country, he probably shouldn’t have been thrown into the gene pool.  They are also working to re-establish the aplomado falcon in the wild; it is the only falcon remaining on the endangered species list and is considerably better looking than the condor.

The Center also boasts a handsome building housing the Archives of Falconry; most of the funds for the structure and artifacts were donated by an oil-rich sheikh from Abu Dabbi.    One of the more interesting displays was a case containing falcon hoods, little works of art in leather and feathers.  Just what the well-dressed bird of prey would wear while out preying.

Having worked up a good appetite viewing birds of prey, we descended the hill and headed for Costco for an afternoon of grazing at the sample tables.  Somehow I can’t quite believe that those little cheese-flavored crackers are actually heart-healthy!

And tomorrow it’s time to saddle up and head over hill and dale to Winnemucca, Nevada.  Stay tuned for all the exciting news that’s likely to generate. 

Baker City, Oregon

This is our final day in Baker City and so a good time to update this blog. Our stay at Copalis Beach was long and damp; the only really nice day was the last one and that was the day devoted to housework and laundry so we’d be fresh to hit the road to Baker City.

This photo of a gull more or less summarizes our week in Copalis Beach – a total lack of color. However, we did make a couple of trips in to Ocean Shores where they were having an arts and crafts sale billed as the largest in western Washington. It was a dandy, with many fine items for sale at reasonable prices. I was especially impressed with some of the beadwork. We purchased a small Christmas ornament decorated with rosemaling, a style of Norwegian decorative painting.

The trip from Copalis Beach to Troutdale was damp and overcast most of the way but as soon as we reached Troutdale, the skies cleared and our moods improved considerably. We only spent one night in Troutdale and then headed east on I-84 to Baker City, a somewhat longer trip than we usually make. It had been our intention to break it up with an over-night stop about midway but there weren’t any campsites available thanks to the 100th anniversary of the Pendleton Roundup. I-84, as you may know, runs through the Columbia River Gorge and it was here that we had our first glimpse of bighorn sheep in the wild. It’s known as the “I-84 herd” and attempts are being made to relocate them. As you might expect, they’re a hazard because some folks are dumb enough to slam on the brakes and stop to gawk at them – not a totally smart move on an Interstate with a lot of truck traffic and a 65 mph speed limit. If you want to read more about the herd, check out http://www.biggamehunt.net/news/oregon-relocates-bighorn-sheep

Baker City has been a very pleasant surprise. We weren’t at all sure what to expect when some friends suggested we stop here. There’s been a lot of work done to restore the downtown area. Handsome buildings from the 1880’s now feature interesting shops and restaurants. The Gieser Grand Hotel, built in 1889 and closed for thirty years, has been restored and is now open for business as an elegant “boutique hotel”.

Right outside Baker City is the Oregon Trail Interpretive Center, operated by the Bureau of Land Management. The buildings are institutional looking from the outside but there are some fine dioramas and displays inside, all proudly shown off by very enthusiastic “interpreters” in period costume. It’s mind-boggling to think of the pioneers heading off into the great unknown with no AAA to call when their oxen broke down and no GPS to guide them across hill and dale. And we think we’ve got it tough because our GPS doesn’t know his left from his right!

It’s an easy drive along the Powder River to the “ghost town” of Sumpter in the foothills of the Elkhorn Mountains. The hills closest to Baker City are bare but as the elevation increases they are covered with pine trees. We took a self-guided tour of the Sumpter Valley Dredge, a mechanical monster which dredged for gold in the area until 1954, leaving behind miles and miles of tailings.

Apparently the website quoted in the last post failed to reveal the juicy saga of Francis Mawson Rattenbury, architect of the Victoria, BC Parliament Buildings. The story goes that he “borrowed” his uncle’s credentials as an architect in order to land the job of designing the Parliament Buildings, became very successful, got married to Florrie Nunn, met and fell in love with one Alma Parkenham, got divorced from Florrie and moved to England with Alma. Then Alma got involved with their gardener, the gardener got jealous of ol’ Francis and bonked him on the head with a croquet mallet. Francis died, the gardener drew a life sentence and Alma killed herself. Which only goes to prove that Victorian England wasn’t quite as Victorian as we’d like to believe.

Note to the reader: We neglected to mention earlier, that double-clicking on any photo displays an enlarged image. After viewing the image, use your browser’s “Back Button” to return to the blog.

From Copalis Beach, Washington

The skies are gray, the ocean is gray and there’s a definite nip in the air so this seems like a good time to begin blogging.  The blog was established over two years ago when Howie attended a Geeks on Tour seminar at an FMCA rally but “establishing” and “writing” are two different critters.  Last month I attended the same seminar in Redmond and vowed to get the blog up and running. 

We are currently parked a few hundred yards from the ocean.  It might even be said that we have an ocean view from our dining room window…if we stand on tip-toe and crane our necks.  It was somewhat easier before the big 5th wheel moved in next to us yesterday.

It’s difficult to decide where to pick up the saga of our travels.  Going too far back is silly, mostly because dates and places tend to get muddled in our brains.  Thank heavens for daily journals and dated photographs….at least we can piece together events if we need to.  So let’s start the saga in Prineville, Oregon in mid-August after we wrapped up the FMCA rally in Redmond and chapter rallies in Canyonville and Prineville. 

Our friend Betty is a resident of Prineville and she graciously took charge of showing us the sights in central Oregon.  One day she drove us up into the Cascades, through the tourist trap known as Sisters and along the Mackenzie River.  We hit most of the shops in Sisters but managed to keep control of our charge cards.  Because there’s only one road in and out of town, the traffic is dense.  My heart went out to those poor souls on the few side roads who wanted to merge onto the main drag…they may still be sitting there waiting for a break in traffic.

Later in the week the Parrs drove up from Sprague River to join our merry little group.  The five of us made a day trip to see The Painted Hills which are part of the John Day Fossil Beds National Monument.  The hills really do look painted as you can see from this photo.

Unfortunately our trip to Smith Rocks State Park got cut a little short when we had to hurry back to Prineville so a new driver’s side window could be installed in the coach.  We’ve only been trying to make that happen for two years and we were eager to get it over and done with.  But admiring Smith Rocks from a distance is about all a chronologically challenged person can do anyhow.  We are all long past the time when repelling down sheer rock cliffs is how we spend our leisure hours.  You have to admit this is pretty spectacular scenery.  That’s Mt. Hood in the background in case you’re wondering.

It was great to spend time with Betty and the Parrs but eventually it was time to move on.  We moseyed on up the road and spent a week in Elma, Washington from whence we explored Olympia, primarily with a visit to the state capitol campus.  The Legislative Building dominates the campus and is what most folks would picture if called upon to define a capitol.  It’s the one with the dome.  We always appreciate having a tour guide for such tours because they inevitably have juicy little stories to tell about the history of the area.

Like so many other cities and towns in the Pacific Northwest, Olympia has a very fine farmers’ market.  Prices are generally quite high but there’s always some unique fruit or vegetable to be had.  In this case, we purchased some donut nectarines which were very tasty and much neater to eat than the regular round ones.  But we still prefer the white donut peaches!

From Elma we drove northeast up U.S. 101 on one of the few rainy days we’ve experienced lately.  It was not a comfortable ride for me because the road runs along the shores of the Hood Canal and you all know how I feel about water in large quantities.  But we eventually found ourselves in Sequim and settled in for a week’s stay.  A sign outside the office touted a bus/ferry tour to Vancouver Island and we signed up almost immediately.  There are some days when you just guess correctly…we picked the perfect day for the trip although it was hard to tell that when the bus picked us up at 6:50 in the morning.  That’s the first time Howie’s seen 6:50 a.m. since our last ferry trip to Canada back in the olden days when the Fast Ferry was still running between Rochester and Toronto.

The bus was pulled onto the ferry facing a semi which was jack-knifed into his parking spot in the bow of the boat.  Watching him extricate himself upon arrival was a miracle in driving expertise.  With only inches to maneuver at either end of the rig, he managed to get it jockeyed around enough to exit without so much as a scrape.  That was a really good thing because nobody else could get out until he did.

Our first stop in Victoria was at Butchart Gardens, a mecca for any flower fanatic.  Usually we end up visiting big-name gardens when nothing much is in bloom but this time we caught Butchart when just about everything was at peak,  except for the blue poppies which are the garden’s signature flower and which bloom in May.  The old saw about lemons and lemonade came to mind when we first saw the Sunken Garden…give a gardener a big hole in the  ground and she’ll devise a Sunken Garden.  It’s a truly spectacular sight and there are numerous vantage points to enjoy different perspectives.

After tiring our tootsies with two laps around the gardens, we reboarded the bus (we were the only passengers so it was a very private tour) and were taken on a ride to some of the fancier neighborhoods of Victoria then dropped off downtown so we could scout around and have dinner before heading back to the ferry.  The Parliament Buildings were sitting right there across from the dock and so we availed ourselves of a guided tour.  And, sure enough, one of those juicy stories from “the olden days” became the highlight of the tour.  The architect, Francis Mawson Rattenbury (1867-1935) was quite the cad and met a violent end with a croquet mallet upside his head.  You can probably read all about it at www.leg.bc.ca

While in Sequim, we also made a foray into Olympia National Park with a stop at Hurricane Ridge for an overview of the Olympic Mountains to the south and the Straits of Juan de Fuca to the north.  It was a little odd to be able to “see over” the cloud covering Port Angeles to the Straits and on to Vancouver Island. There were black-tail deer wandering around the parking lot, plenty of tourists but thankfully no bears.  We also stopped at Lake Crescent, a beautiful glacial body of water, for a ranger-led hike to Marymere Falls.  While not technically a rain forest, it could have fooled me!  There’s lots of ferns and moss and very large trees making a dense canopy of shade.  And moss.  Did I mention the moss?  It covers everything.