HOME AT LAST

May 23, 2017

We arrived home on Thursday May 11th.  I think I could live full time in an RV but Denny isn't ready for that. Six months is  enough for him.

Here is a synopsis of our trip:

 Left Nov 24, 2016

Returned May 11, 2017

Gone 5.5 months

Stayed at 13 campgrounds that we had been at before

Stayed at 5 new campgrounds that we had never been to

Spent $3039.89 on campgrounds

Spent $1353.72 on diesel

Because we have a large 57 gal tank, we only had to  stop 16 times for diesel 

Our most expensive diesel was $2.93 in Bakersfield, CA

Our cheapest diesel was $2.36 in Yuma, AZ

Drove 7162 miles

We really enjoyed our trip this year. We stayed in a couple of areas we had never been to:

Yuma, AZ

Surprise, AZ 

Bullhead City, AZ

The first 3 months of our trip were  colder than usual.  We went thru a lot more propane than we  ever have. The  last 3 months were hotter than normal.  The weather went from winter to summer, with no spring in between.  The weather was either below or above normal temperatures. The last  couple of months we were in the 90's.  The last few weeks, the weather was 95 to 105 degrees. A tad hot!!. The day we got home it was 52 degrees,  quite an extreme change for us.  We have been cold ever since we got home, but it is finally starting to warm up. 

Since we have been doing this for several years, it is always nice to see new places. Next year, we have plans to also go to an area we have never been to, Parhump, NV.  It is about 60 miles west of Las Vegas

Hope you have all enjoyed reading my blog as much as I enjoyed writing it.

Til next year...........

CRAZY WEATHER

MAY 7, 2017

We have had several days of 100  degrees plus for  a few weeks now.  The day before we left Bullhead City, we hit 105.  We like the warmth, but that is a little too hot.  

We got to Bakersfield, Ca last Thursday.  We have never been as far north as Bullhead City when we start for home, so this time we had to go thru the Mohave Desert. It was suppose to be 105 degrees, so we left earlier the we ever had to beat the heat. Trucks don't like it  that hot,  it can overheat the transmission.  We left at 6:30 am, that  is the time we usually get up.  Even then, it was still 85 degrees.  When it gets hot,  sometimes you have to turn off the AC to help the engine stay cooler. There were only a few times the we had to do that.  Thank Heavens!!!

When  we got to Bakersfield, it was 104. The amazing thing is that within 2 days, it was 65 and raining. That's what I mean about crazy weather.  I know that is about normal at home (or even lower), but we were SO COLD because we aren't used to it.  We have not had temps under 90 degrees for quite a while. Last time we saw rain was early Jan. Not looking forward to going home to the cold weather.

When we were in Bullhead City, we took a road trip just in our truck to Las Vegas and Parhump, NV. We are thinking of going up there next year for something different.  We wanted to check out the Thousand Trails park in Vegas because we had heard some bad things about it.  We liked the one at Parhump much better, so might stay there.  Parhump is abut 60 miles SW of Vegas.
 The reason I'm mentioning this, is that we saw something unusual.  On our travels we see a lot of Veterans Highways.  There is also one going to Vegas, but a bit different. Every  hundred feet, there was a sign honoring Veterans from different wars. Usually you just see a sign  honoring all Veterans.

There were some signs that I have never  seen before: They all said
       Veterans of:
WWI
WWII
           Korean War
                                         Cold War (had never seen this)
            Vietnam War
      Iraq War
             Desert Storm
                                                        The war on Terror (have never seen that)

I think it was very nice to mention all of the wars, not just lump them all together

RIGHT PLACE, WRONG DAY

April 28, 2017

I wanted to go to Oatman, AZ, an authentic Western Ghost Town and Mining Camp. We had been there before a few years ago, but it is a fun place to go, so I wanted to see it again. Denny wasn't very enthused because the road to it is all  dirt and rocky.  It was  only 16 miles, but took an hour.  They have donkeys wandering all over town. They walk the middle of the streets and on the wooden sidewalks. It is a very touristy town, but still fun.  If you are old enough, you will recognize the names Clark Gable and Carole Lombard. They were famous movie stars. They honeymooned in Oatman, an amazing thought, but they must have wanted complete privacy.  It would have been hard to believe, but there are pictures of them in the hotel lobby where they stayed. The pictures show them playing chess and having dinner with the locals.  During the Great Migration, Oatman was the last town people were able to stop at before the Mohave Desert.  Also covered wagons were able to stock up before the desert. 

We certainly picked the WRONG DAY to go. There were probably a thousand motorcycles there lining both sides of the street and going down the middle. There was a big motorcycle rally in Laughlin this week. On Friday, they had a sanctioned event in Oatman. I felt so sorry for the donkeys,  it was noisy and crowded.  I'm sure they were scared to death. You couldn't even walk on the sidewalk without being sideways it was so crowded. Think of all those motorcycles in a one street town.  We had planned on having lunch there, but no way after we saw all the people. It was a mess. Every store was packed. The road is so dusty and rough, can't imagine doing it on a motorcycle. 

Finally saw a couple of donkeys, usually the town is full of them.

There were a couple of geocaches in Oatman, but they were even hard to find because of so many people. We were determined to find them after going all that way!!!!

YIKES-----100 DEGREES !!!!!

April 26, 2017

It was too early to go home because of all the rain, so we decided to go to Bullhead City, AZ for  2 weeks.  I thought Palm Springs was windy, but I think Bullhead City is worse. At least in Palm Springs it was calm in the morning and got windier as the day went on. Here in Bullhead City,  sometimes it is windy even when we get up and then gets worse. I will say, we love the warm weather, but are getting a little tired of the wind.  I'm talking about high winds of 25 mph and higher, with gusts up to 40-60 MPH.  It also means I have to do more cooking inside. When it is so windy, Denny can't grill outside. The wind blows the fire out. Darn!!

One day last week it was 100 degrees. That is a tad hot for us. Luckily, we had gone to Kingman, about 30 miles from here for most  of the day.   It was a little cooler there.   After we get home from being out all day, we usually sit outside, relax and have happy hour, but certainly can't do that when it is 100 degrees!!!

We have never been here, so there were new things to see and do. We went to see Davis Dam, a rock and earth dam that supplies electricity to a lot of AZ and NV.  It is isn't quite as spectacular as a concrete dam like Hoover, but still very interesting.  If you put all of the rock and earthfill in boxes, 3 cu ft sq, they would reach from Los Angeles to Chicago, 3, 642, 000 cubic yards total.

Davis Dam Power Plant

Davis Dam

Lake Mohave, can see the start of Davis Dam on the lower left

Also saw the Petroglyphs at Grapevine Canyon, about 6 miles west of Bullhead City. It makes you wonder what these symbols meant to the Indian tribes. They are about 1000 years old.

There are a lot of petroglyphs on the tall rock formations on the right. You wonder how in the world they even got up to the top. Can't really tell from the picture, but it is at least 20-25 ft to the top.

We also went to a car museum in Laughlin, NV, just over the bridge from Bullhead City.  As we travel around, my interests are in history (Petroglyphs and the Civil War)  and Denny's are Air, Car and Space museums. Also anything to do with science and the earth. Here we had both. 

I have never heard of a marriage trap, maybe the bride and groom traveled to the wedding in it ???  It could be yours for a mere $143, 750

Looking at the cars below, we have certainly come a long way!! Thank heavens

  1915 Ford Speedster

1935 Ford

1907 Red Runabout

1875 Hand Drawn Fire  Hose Cart

1963 Studebaker, looks so weird without a front grille. Thought I was looking at the trunk

1965 Harley

1995  Tropica electric car, didn't realize they had one this early. has Lithium batteries and gets 250 miles on one charge

Since the car museum is in a casino, it also included several slot machines. This is the earliest I saw,   a 1915 model

Here are two flags that we have never seen before.

This flag contains all the names of people that died in the 9-11 terrorists attacks

This flag contains all the names of the emergency personnel that died saving lives in the 9-11 terrorists attacks.  Both of these flags were quite moving to see, as we looked at them, we couldn't even speak.

PICTURES OF THE AREA

Nov 19, 2017

We are leaving tomorrow to start our travels going home. I took some miscellaneous pictures that really didn't have a category, so thought I would just post them.

 In the Coachella Valley, you see lots of windmills and solar panels for electricity. Liked this picture because you see both. It is very windy in the valley, so there are lots of windmills.  The solar people don't think much of windmills and vice  versa. Of course, they each  think their energy source is the best.

 This a great bracelet I bought to add to my collection of Seahawk gear to wear on game days. It is made out of a Budweiser beer can. Amazing what people can think of!

 Notice the ladders half way up the palm trees?  Haven't quit figured out why they are half way up and how do you get to the bottom of the ladder.   What is the purpose of them???  One of the Mysteries of Life I guess.

This RV is a little too small for us. Can't imagine staying in it.  It was at the site for a couple of weeks. It is like a 2 man tent on wheels.

This is an RV from Austria.  Very different from ones made in the U.S. Wouldn't it be cheaper to buy one over here than to have it shipped over?  Denny saw a man coming back from the pool in a very skimpy speedo bathing suit.  In Europe, men still wear them. Glad they don't in America. Was not a pretty sight!!

Cute little road runner that came right up to us while we were sitting outside

The large palm tree in the center is called a Washingtonian Palm Tree.  It is the only one naive to the West Coast. There are 200 varieties and they are all imported from other countries. I thought the Washingtonian was a strange name for a palm tree. thought it would be named after another area of warm weather, not Washington. Saw this on our tour of the old homes of Palm Springs

DESERT X--MIRAGE, HOUSE OF MIRRORS

APRIL 18, 2017

 I have an app called Roadside America. It shows you all the quirky, interesting things to see in the area.  One of the items it listed was the House of Mirrors. In Palm Springs there are several Desert X art installations. The largest one is the Mirage, House of Mirrors.  It is a house built entirely of mirrors, inside and out. The exterior walls reflect the desert landscape.  This isn't a real house, just walls.  Amazing to see. It is nothing but glass. Wonder how much it took to build, how long it took to install and how long to dismantle?  It comes down Oct. 1st., that's why I wanted to see before we leave.

 Pass thru from room to room

 Denny at entrance to room

Taking pictures, looking into a wall

Ceiling

 Left side is the desert, right side is image on the exterior wall

Soffits, mirroring the desert floor

Back

front

 back

Wide view of back

CLASSIC OLD PALM SPRINGS

APRIL 12, 2017

I decided to be the typical, classic tourist  in Palm Springs. One of the things Palm Springs is noted for are all the old movie stars that had homes here. In the old days, it was in their contracts that stars had to live  within 2 hours of Hollywood. That is why Palm Springs became the playground and residence  of the rich and famous.  There are several tours to the different neighborhoods.   It was a 2.5 hr walk thru the Las Palmas neighborhood. The old homes were built in the 30's thru the early 60's.  They were either Spanish architecture  or mid century modern. Palm Springs is the mid century modern capital of the world.  It was very interesting. I saw the homes of Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton, Clark Gable and Carol Lombard, Liberace, Kirk Douglas, Gene Autry, Lucille Ball, Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell and many others.  The only one in this neighborhood that is current is Leonardo DiCaprio. He now lives in the Doris Day home. He is actually in Palm Springs right now attending the famous Coachella Music Festival. You can't really see very much of the homes, they are all behind huge palm trees, bushes and walls.  I took a few pictures just to show you a big part of Palm Springs history.  Denny can't walk this far, so our friends, Linda and Fred went with me.

Would have been interesting to see what Palm Springs was like in the hey days of the 40's and 50's. I bet it was an amazing place

Typical 

This is Gene Autry's home. The bronze horse sculpture holds the ashes of his famous horse sidekick, Champion 

Side entrance to his home, his wife still lives here, she is 91 years old

This is the home of Jack Warner. This door was a prop on one of his pictures.  If a horse came thru, you opened the entire door. If it was just a person, you only opened the shorter light colored area. A 2 for 1 door,  HA, who knew you needed one!

Mid Century modern home, typical door was ceiling to floor height.  can't imagine how heavy that door is

Typical security walls and trees

This is the best view I could get of the most expensive real estate in Palm Springs. It is 4 acres, worth $4,000,000. A little too expensive for me!!

Anybody remember the TV show, Miami Vice?  This house was used as Sunny Crockett's home  in Miami, but really filmed in Palm Springs. Does look like it belongs in Miami

This was the home of Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton. Notice the floor to ceiling green door to the left. Isn't this a beautiful gate.