Old Town Scottsdale

 

A friend to all is a friend to none.

Moving day from Gold Canyon to Scottsdale was uneventful.  You know by now how much we like uneventful travel days.  It means everything went just as planned without any unexpected or unwanted problems.  Freeways were fairly light.  I pulled the ATV trailer and Terry drove the motorhome.  It was a short drive to the Scottsdale Elks.  We much prefer the Scottsdale Elks over the Tempe Elks even though the Tempe one has FHU at site.  The Elks in Scottsdale has a dump on the property but just not at the sites.  The sites themselves are huge and have water and electricity for $15 a night.  That’s a great deal.

We had hooked up the trailer with the quads on it the night before.  This was our first at pulling the trailer with more than just the one ATV on it.  This time we had two or an additional 700 pounds.  I hear guys say all the time that they pulled this or pulled that and couldn’t even tell the thingamajig was behind them.  I’m not sure if that’s bragging or what but I’ll tell you one thing.  I could certainly tell there was an extra 700 pounds on that trailer.  Now I’m beginning to think a little about pulling it more than the 41 miles that I did on Sunday.   Not so sure it’s going to be fun. Not so sure I’m going to like that at all.

Monday evening we met Jim and Sandie at Joe’s Real BBQ.  Joe’s has the best brisket in town.  Matter of fact, they have the best brisket in lots of towns.  This restaurant is rated number 7 in the nation for barbecue.  The three owners of this restaurant also own Joe’s Farm Grill which has been featured on Diners, Drive-ins and Dives.  It was a great evening, a great meal and a wonderful time with great friends.

On Tuesday I picked up my sewing machine for the third time. This time I could tell they had actually tested the stitching since a sample of it was still in the machine.  That’s a good thing.  However, the embroidery still isn’t aligning like it should.  Not so sure what I’m going to do about it.

Since we were close to Old Town Scottsdale, Terry and I  decided to have lunch there on Tuesday. As is typical in areas like this, there were many souvenir shops selling the same souvenirs.  However, Scottsdale isn’t entirely typical.  It may have lots and lots of t-shirts and treasures to take home as souvenirs but some of the treasures found there come with a steep price tag.  Scottsdale has a reputation all it’s own.  You can guess what the reputation is by some of the car dealers within a few blocks of where our RV is parked.  We pass by real cars for sale --- Maserati, BMW, Bentley, Ferrari, Lotus.  Recognize those names?   They aren’t the names we’re used to seeing on the streets we’ve lived on.

 

We did have fun checking out some of the little shops but ended up walking away without anything other than the food we still had in our stomach from lunch. What we really did enjoy was that the ride to town was only a couple miles instead of the long drive we had to take going to town from the park we had stayed at on the other side of Gold Canyon.  What a nice difference!

This morning was an early one.  Thus, the reason we moved into Scottsdale instead of heading on out of the Phoenix area altogether.  Terry had an early morning flight to South Dakota.  Our vehicle licenses expire on the last day of November.  We kind of put it off and put it off and put it off.  We could have just renewed online but by the time we had put it off so long, the ten day period you can renew online had already passed.   However, this wasn’t so bad since Terry wanted special plates anyway.  He had been saying for a couple months he was just going to fly in and get it taken care of. That’s what he did.  I’ll pick him up at the airport tonight with mission accomplished.

Anyone looking for a new pair of boots?  Check these out.  The pair on the left is only $1100.00 a pair and the pair on the right skyrockets to $1200.00 a pair.  If you’re interested, let me know and I’ll tell you just what store you can find them in.

 

We had figured we would be pulling out Thursday morning for Quartzsite.  However, we’ve been told a mighty wind storm is heading that way.  I guess we’ll just sit it out for one more day.  We can leave just as easily on Friday as we could have on Thursday.  Quartzsite isn’t going anyplace.  It’ll still be there.

‘Tis life on the road.

Touching Arizona Soil

No matter where I go, there I am.

I’m happy to report that our previous pattern of leaving a little earlier each morning didn’t continue on into Friday.  Friday we left about the same time we pulled out on Wednesday.  That was the good news.  Well, not the only good news.  The other good news was that we did step on Arizona soil even though we haven’t really left California yet.

This was our neighbor in Barstow.  He had 4 ATVs he carried on this trailer.  We have seen a ton of ATVs being hauled south.  I wonder where they all go.

As we traveled on from Barstow towards Needles, I knew exactly what to expect.  Now it wasn’t that we had been this route before.  We hadn’t been past Barstow on I40.  However, I had read the Western Mountain book so I knew it was a snap.  HA!  That’s what I thought.  It was a good road and the countryside was definitely high desert terrain.  Remember the song, Everything is beautiful in it’s own way?  Well, this was actually beautiful in it’s own way too.  It was definitely different than where we had spent the summer though … definitely. 

Comparison between Washington and this part of California.

However, the mountain book forgot to mention that this road is almost a constant climb.  It may be gradual at times but it felt like we were always climbing.  Then, there were times when we weren’t climbing that we were going down for miles and miles.  Add a little wind to all those ups and downs, I can vouch for the fact that even though the distance was short, it still seemed like a long day of travel.  We have talked to many who much prefer this route over the I5 and the Grapevine.  The Grapevine has a lot more traffic but when it’s over, it’s over.  I guess it’s to each their own.  Next time we travel between Washington and Arizonia via California, we will probably return to our old standard and travel over the Grapevine.

Beautiful Casino at Laughlin.

We arrived at the Needles Elks a little after noon.  Only two of their RV sites were full.  We weren’t worried that they might be full because we also knew they had a large lot that would accommodate us if they were.  After setting up, we unhitched the trailer and headed two miles north to the Arizona border!  Whoopee.  We made Arizona even though we didn’t spend the night there.  However, since we still had quite a few daylight hours left, we were able to check out another RV park that caters to quads and also look around a little in Laughlin, Nevada, 20 miles north.  Had we not decided to make Friday a short travel day we would have had to stay another night in order to accomplish this.  We also filled up the car with gas in Arizona.  It’s certainly less expensive there than in California.

Because we were still in a high elevation, the morning had been quite cool.  The afternoon in Needles definitely wasn’t cool.  We even had our air conditioner on.  

Another view of Laughlin on the Colorado River.  Many RVs were parked in the casino lots.

What is Saturday going to bring?  Well, your guess is as good as mine at this point.  Where do you think we will be?  We could stop over in Quartzsite.  We're thinking that might be an option.   Or, we could bite the bullet and go an additional 270 miles finishing up at our final destination in Gold Canyon ..... our destination at least for a while.

I don't have a clue what Saturday will bring.

Eek! A Broken Motorhome Windshield!

Everywhere is walking distance if you have the time.

By the time we pulled out of the Yreka RV Park on Wednesday morning, we noticed the grass was crunchy.  The temperature had dipped to 27 degrees overnight.  The good part was that we knew this would probably be the last we would see of the cold weather for quite some time.  We were certainly happy to get Mt. Ashland behind us but since our over-night stay was still at an elevation of about 3400 feet in the Siskiyou's, we also knew we weren’t off the mountains yet.

Remember my policy of one worry a day?  I did discover sometimes it’s impossible to only have one worry a day. Thus, I’ve decided to amend my original thought on that to one worry at a time. This is why I had to change it.  First I worried about the mountain grades, then I worried about the Sacramento traffic and now I’m worrying about the Tehachapi mountain.  At least I’m keeping the worries in order.  As soon as I toss one worry out, I’ll concentrate on the next one. However, once in a while a little kink gets thrown into that such as the flashing highway sign south of Stockton that warned RVs and autos pulling trailers about the high wind gusts currently in the area. I had to reorganize my worries in a hurry.  Ugh!

The highway between Sacramento and Stockton desperately needs to be repaired. It’s about the roughest freeway we’ve ever been on. I kept checking back through my rear view window to be sure the quad hadn’t bounced right off the trailer. There’s so much highway construction everywhere but they could certainly use it in that area.  I didn't realize I could hold on to a steering wheel so tight.  With the bad roads and all the traffic,  my knuckles were turning white.  My fear was having to change lanes pulling that trailer.  However, I did know that Big Brother was right behind me and if necessary, he'd clear a lane for me.  That certainly did help.

With so many changes to our planned schedule on the first day of our travel south, we thought we had to start over again to plan the rest of it. We didn’t though. We just skipped the day in the middle and instead of stopping on night #3 in the Los Banos / Santa Nella area, we planned it to stop there on night #2. What we hadn’t decided was whether it would be the big lot at the TA Plaza or at the Santa Nella RV Park.  By the time we filled up with fuel at the TA there, we had already made up our mind it was going to be the RV park with full hookups. Our routine normally is not stopping at full hookup parks but Wal-marts and truck stops.  I think we’re getting spoiled.

<----- I really wanted to do the Orange Grove RV Park in Bakersfield but I’m guessing we’ll travel on by it.  Who knows.

We have about 460 miles left to arrive at the Needles Elks.  We  plan to stay there a couple nights giving us a chance to check out another RV park and Laughlin.  At this moment in time we think we’ll probably divide those miles into two days.  We could get the worry of Tehachapi behind us (really just behind me)  or we could travel about 170 miles on Thursday staying at the Orange Grove RV Park in Bakersfield before going on into Needles Friday.  We could do several things.  I just hope it's an uneventful travel day.   Actually, even I’m wondering what we’ll do.  Stop back and find out.  We're going to be stopping back to find out what we did too.

One thing we do know is that we’d like to travel through Phoenix on Sunday.  Sundays are usually good days to travel through large cities.  At least we don’t get stuck in work traffic.  Besides thanks to the California highway system we now have a motorhome windshield to replace ($$$$).  The sooner we get there, the sooner we can have it taken care of.

Clearing a Path and Moving a Tad South

Can miles truly separate you from friends... If you want to be with someone you love, aren't you already there?

I bet you didn’t think this was really about clearing a path but it is.  It’s a project that Lee wanted to have taken care of before he went back to work.  He starts back on Friday.  Since his injury and surgery he’s been off for almost 4 months.  He’s more than ready to go back to work.  I guess we just haven’t kept him busy enough sitting in his drive-way.  We’ve certainly tried.

The path he wanted to clear was to make it easier to see oncoming vehicles when  backing out of his driveway.  It would be easier for Jordie to see with the end tree removed.  So, Terry and Lee got to work and got rid of the evidence before Sabrina got home.  They weren’t sure she would notice if they cleaned it all up.  Guess what?  She noticed alright.  What did Lee say?  He said Terry did it.  That’s right he pushed him right under the bus.  However, this time it was okay and just a joke.  Sabrina certainly knew who’s idea it was and without mentioning names I’m just going to say that it wasn’t Terry’s idea.  You can figure out the rest.

 

We’ve also been cleaning out Lee’s garage and putting stuff up on Craigslist.  After all, we need more room for more of our toys.  Or, he’s going to have to get another garage.  If that doesn’t work, Tammi’s going to have to get a garage.  One way or another we obviously need more room around here.  Some of the stuff we’ve put up for sale went within an hour.  I guess we more than priced it right.  Some of the things weren’t easy sales.  One item we had was a rarely used small generator.  It was difficult to get it fired up the first time since it had sat for over a year but we finally did.  Then, about the time the potential buyer arrived,  the cord was so tight we couldn’t start it again.  Guess what we did?  We just gave it to him since he drove over an hour to get here and it meant we would have to take it to the dump.  We still have more items for sale and they range from a freezer to a table saw.  Sorry but the crab pots are gone!  We still have crab rings but we’re going to keep those.

We’ve noticed that the sides on our awning are starting to look a little thin in some spots.  Normally we put awning straps to hold the awning from flapping but with thin edges we’re thinking we need to reinforce them now with awning tape.  If we don’t, we could just end up with a rip in the awning.  Not that we want to do it but my guess is that we will be replacing that awning sooner than later.  Ugh!  How long are these things supposed to last anyway?

In a couple days we’ll be making our first little move towards Arizona.    We’re going to travel about 30 miles south and pull into the Elks for a few days.  At that rate it'll be a while before we get there.  I’m saying just a few days because they don’t have full hookups.  Also, remember the ATV trailer we bought?  Well, it’s currently sitting at a welder’s shop being enlarged so both ATVs can fit on it by side loading.  As you can see by the photo below, it needs a bit of work.  Hopefully, they’ll finish with it soon.

I know 30 miles isn’t a big move but it is a move.  By moving in that direction we’ll be close to Tammi and family before we really get on the road.  It’s one mile at a time.  Besides it’s HOT in Arizona and we still don’t know where we’re going to head in the interim.  Our son needs his driveway back or the neighbors may start complaining!

<--- The Elks – Our Next Stop?

So, this morning I get up and decide to post this and find out that my "account has had unusual activity" on it.   What's with that?  Not only was I not able to open up my dashboard but my blog wasn't accessible until after I submitted my phone number for text verification.  Anyone have this happen? 

Home Base: Verizon Vs. ATT

Solid Advice:  If you always tell the truth, you don’t have to remember anything!

Tuesday was Lee’s birthday (August 2nd).  We aren’t always able to celebrate the birthdays and holidays on the actual day.  Many times we celebrate them days or weeks away but when we can, it’s nice.

We had procrastinated long enough.  It was time to re-visit the home base we had purposely stayed away from this summer.  The last time we were there the weeds needed to be sprayed and winter cleanup needed to be performed.  We sent Justin up to weed-whack.  The problem with weed whacking is that the weeds grow back.  It’s not a permanent fix.  We knew that.  We also knew it meant that there was work waiting for us. 

There were a couple other reasons we needed to visit.  One was testing the satellite and the other was testing the internet. Receiving satellite for TV is extremely difficult in the area due to the abundance of trees.  We had a tough time originally getting a signal so needed to have a 20’ pole installed and the dish placed on the top of it.  This time our mission was to test the satellite to see if it was still pointing in the right direction.  We disconnected the DVR in the motorhome and took it along with us.  And, we are pleased to report our Dish Network antenna is still working perfectly.

The other thing we wanted to test was internet reception using our new Millenicom Verizon aircard.  Previously we had used our AT&T aircard.  This had always worked perfectly but before cancelling we had to double check Verizon.  We’re glad we did because with it we could get no signal at all.  It’s just that Verizon is not available in this area.  We already thought that but hoped there was a chance it just  might be.  We haven’t cancelled our AT&T yet but we certainly don’t want two. 

We’ve had the Verizon aircard for about 2 months and been comparing it along the way to AT&T.  Verizon users tend to think it is better than AT&T and AT&T users tend to feel it isn’t.  We’ve always figured it depended where folks go.  After having both, we still say it depends on where you’re at. We’ve noticed very little difference between the two except for where we really wanted it …. our homebase.  The biggest difference is that Millenicom offers a 20 gb plan for the same price as other carriers offer their 5 gb plan.  What to do?  We don’t really know.  I guess that’s something we’ll have to think on a bit.  I wonder if we can start and stop it only when we need it.  We’ll just have to think on that a while.

After testing the satellite and the internet, we got to work spraying and pulling the weeds.  We’ll head back in a couple days and probably spray the ones we’ve missed.  Hopefully, we’ll get most of them taken care of.  We also need to order more gravel and fix a few other things.  Ugh!  This isn't relaxing at all.

We had one little visitor.  Terry got out the wet cob we had stored away from last year and provided a good meal for the young doe.  I'm sure we'll see the rest of her friends when we come back from Whidbey Island.  We're off to see other creatures .... the Orcas, we hope.

Then, it was off to dinner with a different type of deer.  These were two more dears of the other variety..  Justin and Jordan drove to the Elks where we were at so we had no choice but to invite them and take them with us.  Remember …. if there’s food, they’re there.  And, we love to have them go with us.  We actually think (or is it, hope) it’s not just the food but the company they’re after too.

I have discovered again just how great Windows Live Writer is with blogging.  I can write these blogs offline, upload them, set the post date and not have to do a thing while they post automatically. It's a great feature and I don't even have to be around when they post.  We can be off doing other things.

-- August 3, 2011