Moving West

Thursday we turned our truck to the west, beginning our journey back to Gold Canyon from Houston. First stop was San Antonio. For years we have been staying at Blazing Star when in San Antonio. We had stayed there before going to Houston the week before. But we decided to check out the San Antonio KOA. It is large, with gravel roads and pads. They have children's bikes for rent. The sites are a little wider than at Blazing Star. The KOA isn't as refined but it feels so comfortable, reminding us of the way we traveled the first years of RVing. Actually both campgrounds in San Antonio are good, it just depends on what you are interested in.


Our next stop was Junction, Texas, about 120 miles to the west. We have stayed there several times and enjoyed the Llano South and Llano North campgrounds. We decided to vary our routine and went to a small park, Pecan Valley RV. With only 12 sites and located several miles out of town next to a pecan orchard, it has a very different feel from either of the Llano campgrounds.  The park has pretty good WIFI.  We had discovered before that we can't get Verizon service for phone or internet on our phones in Junction.  The camp hosts at Pecan Valley informed us that Kimball Country, where Junction is located, has no Verizon service at all.  The sites are large and it would be a great place to chill out for a while if we were tired of traveling and not interested in sightseeing. I always try to take a photo of our campsites and we took quite a few pictures at Pecan Valley.

Sunday we moved west again, to Fort Stockton. In case you had never traveled across the center of the country, especially in Texas, you may not realize the distances involved. For travelers like us, we choose to drive about 200 miles, more or less, if at all possible. That means in this state we stay in the same towns on each trip. We were in Fort Stockton for one night in mid-December. The Fort Stockton RV Park is large and old. Many of the sites are occupied long-term by oil drilling employees. But they had a café serving good chicken fried steak and pretty good wifi. It is a little run down but familiar.

Tomorrow we head west again, returning to the El Paso area, and then probably either Benson or Willcox before returning to Gold Canyon.

What a Trip!

Normally, we drive about 200 miles a day and only travel every 2nd or 3rd day so we can relax and enjoy each location.  Earlier this trip we stayed 5 days in Tulsa and 5 days near St. Louis.  But in the last week we have driven 4 days in a row, covering 797 miles.  We parked in 4 states and crossed part of another.  Whew! 

There wasn't anything on our route through Illinois, Indiana and Ohio we wanted to see.  We will be back in Pennsylvania and Ohio as we return west next month.  We have checked off one item on our bucket list: we spent 2 nights in Hagerstown, Maryland .  We have now slept in 45 of the 49 continental states.  Only 4 more to go--Delaware, Connecticut, Rhode Island and New Jersey.

Our home is in Colorado and the Continental Divide runs through the middle of the state.  To cross it, you often have to go over a 11,000 foot or higher mountain pass.  We didn't realize there is an Eastern Continental Divide until Wednesday when we crossed the 2,670 foot divide.

When was the last time you saw an operating drive-in theater?  It has been a long time for us.  We spotted this one on our trip across Ohio.

Trail Ridge Road between Grand Lake and Estes Park, Colorado, crosses the Continental Divide in Rocky Mountain National Park.  From the top you can see into 4 states.  There are other places you feel you can see forever, like the Youghiogheny Overlook in a Pennsylvania highway rest stop.  (Does anyone have any idea how to pronounce that word?)

This is another view from the same area.

I think this view was in West Virginia.  Obviously it is early spring here.  Many of the trees hadn't leafed out.

The limestone (?) hills in West Virginia are also great.

We haven't seen dogwood trees for years.  We found this one in our Hagerstown RV park.

Where we spend our winters in Arizona people refer to it as summer camp for geezers. Maybe we now have regressed to childhood. The best option we could find to park in Hagerstown was the Jellystone Park. It really was nice--since school is still in session and we were there mid-week. It must be wonderful for families with children. They had everything from a zip line to laser tag to water parks and mini golf. 

Celebrating Christmas in an RV park

Wherever we go in RV parks we see Christmas decorations. Lights can be hung on trees and on RVs. Mirrors on motorhomes sport Santa hats. This year we have been traveling and enjoying how others decorate. We have a small tree inside our trailer, a few gifts, a nativity set and Santa.

We saw the first outdoor decorations in Canyon Vistas before we left on this trip.

Santa was parked in the Junction, Texas, park we stayed in.

At Peach County RV in Stonewall the rocking chairs all sported Santa hats.

Here in Blazing Star in San Antonio there are lots of decorations. The snowman is shivering.

Santa has moved here and shares his trailer with a penguin.

An elf is sitting on this mirror.

The Holy Family is on a patio.

Only in Texas would you find Santa trying to ride a bull!

We even saw Santa in person, riding in a golf cart here in San Antonio.  He gave me a handful of small Hershey candy bars.

Checking on Escapees

On our way to Laughlin we stopped for one night at the North Ranch Escapees park in Congress. We had been there once before, 7 years ago, and weren't impressed. We were impressed this visit. Did we change or have they made a lot of improvements? We don't know. But the park is very nice. John would enjoy it more than me. I wouldn't like to be in such a remote location.

The park has three rows of short term RV sites, nothing but gravel and full hookups. But it was good for an overnight stay. Obviously some people come for longer stays. The rest of the park is a collection of sticks and brick houses, manufactured housing and RV lots with small casitas. The whole park is neat and clean and well landscaped.

These are two of the sticks and brick houses.

Here are a couple of the manufactured homes with RVs on the lot, too.

Since were were there early in the season, many of the RVers hadn't returned for the winter. Here are two RV lots that are well landscaped but no RV in sight.

North Ranch is one of the Escapees parks that provides RV weighing. We had our Mobile Suites 5th wheel weighed at a rally several years ago and wanted to see how we were doing with this trailer. The 5th wheel weighed less than the limit for the trailer and truck. We hoped that was true this time, too. We could always stop at a CAT Scale in a truck stop as we travel, but the Smart Weigh program done at Escapees parks also checks the side to side weights on each wheel, not just the axle weight.

We were happy to learn we are again underweight. However, there is an issue with weight distribution. We had a weight distributing hitch installed when we bought the Airstream. We had a 1 ton dually truck then but quickly traded that in on a 3/4 ton single rear wheel. In fact, we already owned the 3/4 ton truck but needed the 1 ton to bring the 5th wheel to the dealer to move our stuff. We learned the hitch it putting more weight on the rear truck axle than the front. That lifts the front axle and limits steering and braking efficiency. We will have the hitch readjusted next week then return to North Ranch to have the weight checked again. There was a $55 charge for the first weighing. The second time to check changes made only costs $20.

Residents have laid out a great Saguaro Garden with paths through the desert plants. Many of them are identified with signs.

 Notice the bird's nest in this cholla cactus.  We saw several of these.

This is Methusalah, a large saguaro in the garden.

Travels in 2015

We had a busy year in 2015, but I was amazed to find we had only driven our truck (our only vehicle) 10,666 miles, and only 4004 of those miles were towing our 5th-wheel trailer.  What amazed me most about these numbers was that we used to put about 15,000 miles a year on one of our cars before we retired. My commuting mileage alone was over 7,000 miles a year.

In 2015 we were traveling from May 1 to October 10, spending time in 28 campgrounds during that time, visiting two of them twice.  Almost all of our driving--6,159 miles--was done here in Arizona before May 1 and after Oct. 10.  We spent time in Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico and Utah. 

It was a fun year, especially the time we spent exploring central Colorado and parts of Utah, visiting many places we had not been to in years.

Our truck uses diesel fuel and it was pretty expensive at the beginning of the year.  As you all know, those prices decreased over the months.  The least expensive diesel was $1.59 a gallon--just last week here in Arizona.  Those fuel points from shopping for gift cards at Fry's saved us 40 cents a gallon!  Unfortunately, that was a one-time purchase.  Our total fuel cost for last year was $2,550. 

We haven't made our plans for 2016, but we look forward to another great year.

A Good Stop

As we travel around the country, once and a while we happen on special places--in the most unexpected locations. In mid-August we left Cortez, CO, for Utah. After checking out campgrounds in both Monticello and Blanding, we choose Blue Mountain RV in Blanding. And was it ever a good choice.

Why were we looking for a place in this area? It was within driving distance of Canyonlands, Natural Bridges and Monument Valley. We originally thought we would be able see everything in a week. But the campground was so nice and we had such a great site, we decided to stay two weeks and have some down time.

Look at this great parking spot with a huge grassy front yard and shade trees!

The park has 42 sites, but the most that were occupied at one time was 13. Look at our open view.  Obviously,  it was very quiet.

In this part of Utah, nothing is close. Actually, in Utah nothing is close. We have volunteered in the state twice and had long drives to a good grocery store or other interesting tourist sites. During our two weeks in Blanding, we drove 550 miles sightseeing. But the other option would have been to move the RV several times. And we had such a great parking spot, why move?

In addition to all this, the family that owns the park is very nice. In fact, Gary brought us vegetables from his garden and his son's garden. He also brought John a piece of grease wood after seeing the carving and walking sticks John has done. He is looking forward to seeing how he can clean up the grease wood.

As an added bonus, we got our kitty fix. A stray cat had wandered into the RV park and was being fed by various campers. The kitten was very friendly and loving. We love cats, but restrained ourselves and left it there. But not after getting and giving a lot of love.

We talked to a number of people in the park who are wandering around Utah, waiting for the weather to cool down a little in Arizona. Since that is what we are doing, we were grateful for such a great place to stay.

Oh, the People We Meet

We are in Blanding, Utah, in an RV park that is almost empty. We were told that spring and fall are their busy seasons, summer is too hot for many people to come to southern Utah. (It is hot, but not as hot as in southern Arizona, where we are headed. We have met several others who are hovering here, waiting for Arizona to cool down.) But we have met the most interesting people.

We were doing our morning walk last week when a woman said "Getting your exercise, are you?" We stopped to talk and learned she and her husband are from Australia and they are exploring the American west, sleeping in their rented car and cooking on a one-burner stove.

This morning I was doing the laundry when we met the woman in the motor home parked near us. She was born in the UK, then moved to Canada for most of her adult life. She and her husband, like us, are waiting for Arizona to get a little cooler.

Today, a car came in the campground and drove all around. Then they parked in a camp site and began taking pictures. Many of the photos were of each other. One man was closely examining the RV hookups and taking pictures. We could tell they were from Asia somewhere. One of the men walked over by our RV, gave John a thumbs up for the carving he was doing, and looked around. Finally, he took a picture or two of our trailer and of John. Then he called the other man in the group over to look at the carving. That man could speak pretty good English. Then the three women came over. First we asked them where they were from. Would you believe, China? We asked them if they wanted to see the inside of the trailer and they nodded yes enthusiastically.

I wasn't planning on five guests in the RV today. All the clean laundry was still piled on the unmade bed. But they loved seeing our RV and took lots of pictures of it and of each other and us. This is a picture of John with the group.

The man who spoke English asked for our email address so he could send us a copy of the photo he took of us. We gave him our card with our email and my blog address. One of the women gave us her card. She spoke a little English and is a banker in China.

After they left our trailer, they drove to another RV site here in the campground and ate their lunch in the shade of a tree.

Who would have ever guessed we would meet people from Australia, Canada/UK and China while parked in an out of the way town in Utah? What fun!

Was I Ever Wrong

On Sunday, October 5, in a blog post titled Busy or Quiet?, I wrote:

It is good to be settling down for a few months. Our reservation runs through March. The resort will get busy in 2 or 3 months, but our life will be quieter than it has been since last April.

Two weeks ago today, we were in Holbrook, AZ, and the next day we drove to Mesa where I made the above-mentioned blog post. On Tuesday, 2 days after that blog, we visited Superstition Views at Canyon Vista to look at the park model/homes they are offering there. We decided to buy a show home.

Two days later, exactly one week ago today, we moved from Mesa to Canyon Vistas. Tuesday, 2 days ago now, we signed the papers and paid for the house. In between, we pulled together the necessary funds  and met with the construction manager to plan the concrete work for the front yard and a workshop, to be built there as well.

Yesterday, we started to look at new furniture. Since we sold or gave away all the furniture we used to have in our Colorado house, we need to start from scratch. Linens, dishes and cooking equipment will also be needed.

Did I say "our life will be quieter than it has been"? NOT. Maybe come January. But we are excited. We can't move there till the concrete out front is poured and cured, but we should be able to move by December.

Busy or Quiet?

Our trip to Mesa for the winter took us from Raton, NM, to Albuquerque and on into Arizona. When we arrived at American RV in Albuquerque on September 30, we settled into our site and thought we might almost have the park to ourselves.

We should have known better. The annual Albuquerque Balloon Festival was scheduled for Oct. 3 and 4. As the afternoon wore on, we watched more and more RVs come in. There were very few, if any, sites available by nightfall. The same thing happened the next day. Most of the RVs left and a whole new wave checked in. We decided it would be good to make a reservation the next night at OK RV in Holbrook, Arizona. We had never needed one there before, but is still seemed like a good idea. It was. When I called and asked for a 50-amp site, I learned there was only one available and only because someone had just cancelled their reservation.

This is what the campground looked like when we got set up Thursday about noon.

This was our view out the dining room window as the sun was setting about 6 pm. OK RV is the only park we have been in all summer with this kind of side-by-side hookups.

When we woke up Friday morning, the park was almost completely full. We have never seen it that packed. Glad we had reservations.

Friday we drove on to Mesa and arrived at Valle del Oro about noon. The balloon festival is nowhere near, so it is quiet here now and will be most of the month. Here is what it looks like on our street now.

It is good to be settling down for a few months. Our reservation runs through March. The resort will get busy in 2 or 3 months, but our life will be quieter than it has been since last April.

Thoughts About Alaskan Trip

This was truly the trip of a lifetime.  This was our second trip through western Canada and Alaska.  But this time was different.  The first time we were tourists—eager to see all we could and go “ooh” and “aah”.  This time we experienced the journey.  The 2004 trip was our first long RV excursion.  Is that the difference?  Or is it our age and, I hope, some accumulated wisdom?  Whatever, it was even better than before.

In addition to stunning scenery and abundant wildlife, what did we encounter this trip?  Canadians and Alaskans must really love and respect their lands.  We saw almost no litter.  The RV parks are really nothing to write home about.  We found what we needed—electricity (20 amp or 30 amp often, rarely 50 amp).  Some parks even provide their own power with generators. Sewer hookups are unusual.  For one reason, permafrost makes it difficult to run the lines underground.  Two times we encountered parks that required us to take our trash with us.  It seems Yukon no longer provides trash pickup.  Except for a provincial park and two national parks in Alberta, we almost always had wifi and at times it was very fast and reliable.  It was much easier to get email this trip and I seldom had trouble posting my blog. These parks do make us appreciate the amenities we encounter in the lower 48.

The local people were almost invariably friendly and helpful.  RVers provide a major portion of their annual income and they are grateful we are there. All along the route, gas stations are very RV friendly—plenty of room to maneuver and no worry about low canopy roofs. We had no trouble finding diesel fuel, wherever we went.  We carried a 5-gallon container of diesel, but never needed to use it.  We experienced a sense of camaraderie with other RVers on the same journey.

The roads are mostly 2 lane and often have no shoulder.  In places they are downright awful.  The good news: traffic is light and you can drive as slow as you wish or need to without worrying about interfering with other vehicles.

We experienced a summer that locals call “a little winter.”  It was cool, often cloudy and rainy.  We didn’t sit outside much.  But we did get out and go places, often on foot.  The weather didn’t stop us from exploring.  We only had mosquito issues a couple of times.  We never encountered what we have read about—hoards of what some call the Alaska state bird.

Traveling to Alaska with a 36-foot 5th wheel trailer, that happens to be your home, is not for the faint of heart.  Knowing you are not just miles from any technical help you might need, but at times 500 to 800 miles from that help, leads to a sense of vulnerability. 

We didn’t drive the Top of the World Highway to Dawson City and Chicken, as many do.  We didn’t drive the Cassiar Highway or go to the Arctic Circle.  No flightseeing excursions.  No chartered fishing trips.  All of these were choices we made and we have no regrets.  For others, they may be the highlight of their trip. We did what we wanted, when we wanted.  Walking Valdez and Haines several times.  Visiting a botanic garden outside Fairbanks.  Going to Rica’s Roadhouse and watching Alaskan residents net fishing. Some days we did nothing.

Although it was the most expensive part of the trip, we are so glad we took the Alaska Marine Highway ferry from Haines to Bellingham.  It saved us 2 1/2 weeks and hundreds of miles of driving and we were tired of driving.  And we were able to again see the Inside Passage, at least part of it.  We really did nothing for 3 1/2 days. 

Let me repeat, the scenery and wildlife were spectacular.  That is what we enjoyed the most.

We considered buying a smaller trailer to make this trip.  We spent several days last summer shopping.  We never found something reasonably priced that we felt we could live in for three or four months.  At this end of the journey, we are glad we didn’t get another trailer.  That purchase would have saved wear and tear on our Montana, which is home, but would it save money in the long run?  We would have a trailer to sell now.  We aren’t sure the amount we would lose in that transaction would be less than the damage we must deal with on the Montana today.  We’re glad we went in the Montana.

Our only advice to others—take as much time as you possibly can. There is so much to see and to savor. Don’t hurry. It is much better to be “full” and ready to leave than to rush through it and miss things you really want to do.

There are lots of ways to see Alaska. You can take a cruise or a cruise and land tour; you can RV on your own or join a caravan. You can stay in commercial campgrounds all the time or boondock most of the time. You can RV in a pickup truck camper, a 5th wheel or travel trailer, or a motorhome. We did it our own way and loved it. No regrets. Nothing we wished we hadn’t done or were sorry we did do.

We stayed in commercial campgrounds all but two times during the trip.  If you are reading this post, you probably followed our journey on this blog.  We also followed another blog of a couple RVing in Canada and Alaska, but boondocking almost all the time.  They spent a whole lot less money.  And they experienced the journey differently than we did.  From what we read, they were very happy with they way of doing it.  Just like we are happy with our trip.  You can read what they did here.

What did it cost?  I will only include rv park expense and fuel in Canada and Alaska and our ferry trip back to Washington.  Everyone has to eat, wherever they are.  We spent some money on tours, etc.  Those are decisions everyone makes on their own.  I will say that the bus tour through Denali National Park and the boat tour to Kenai Fjords National Park were highlights of the trip and worth every penny we paid. 

RV park expense—26 campgrounds for 84 days, $2709.16.  This was $32.25 per day

Diesel fuel—6,300 miles of travel in Canada and Alaska, $2,517.49. That is 40 cents per mile.

Ferry trip back to the lower 48—$4605.00.

Bank charges were $129.39.  That was mainly foreign transaction fees for credit card purchases and $9 fees for using ATMs that weren’t part of our bank’s network.  If we leave the US again, I will investigate a credit card with lower foreign transaction fees.  I’m not sure if using all cash would be less expensive.  It would result in more frequent trips to the ATM so we wouldn’t have to carry a lot of cash around.  We are used to charging everything because we get 1% back on all purchases and we pay the bill in full each month.

One other consideration.  Telephone.  I added Canadian roaming on my Sprint phone so we could use it in Canada.  We felt there would be enough places with no cell phone coverage that we should have a calling card for pay phones.  Before leaving the US, I bought an international card from a Kroger store, only to find when we reached Canada that it didn’t work in Canada.  (The card included a Canadian flag.  Go figure.)  Next, I picked up a $10 Telus card in Canada.  On reading the fine print, it wasn’t honored in Northern British Columbia or Yukon. I was able to use it once in Jasper National Park.

The trip of a lifetime.  Make it, in an RV, if at all possible.  You won’t be sorry.

Alaska–Day 60

Today we drove 44 miles to Anchorage.  It has rained most of the day.  Not really hard, but steady enough we didn’t want to be out walking around.  To get some exercise, we drove to the Dimond Mall (yes, that is spelled correctly).  Malls are a great place to walk in bad weather.  Unfortunately, most new mall construction isn’t enclosed.  They are building “life style” malls that resemble the old main streets.  Oh well.

This mall has lots of familiar stores.  But it is also a major entertainment venue, with movie theaters, arcades and an ice rink.

I have started making reservations for the next leg of our journey.  When we visited Alaska 8 years ago, I didn’t make reservations very often.  But several days ago I called to reserve a spot for tonight and the park didn’t have any space available until July 22. Yikes!  I had work to do.  Yesterday and today I made reservations through July 28.  Despite all the rain and the fact that Anchorage is experiencing their coldest July ever, Alaska is obviously having a knockout summer tourist season. 

Alaska -- Day 52

Today has been a work day, which means we relaxed and only left the RV park once. As soon as I woke up, a little before 6 am, we took all our dirty clothes to the laundry--the building is right next door. The wash was all done by 7:30 am. I get a kick out of the decoration in front to the laundry building.



And this sits outside the restroom and shower building.



Today we drove to the Fred Meyers store in western Fairbanks. What a great place! We have shopped in these stores in Oregon and on our previous visit to Alaska. This one is huge. They are much like Walmart, but larger and nicer (and a little more expensive). We found everything we were looking at (and several things we didn't realize we needed until we got there), both times we visited.

When we checked in here on Monday, who should we see but Mary Beth and Earl, folks we had also camped near in Fort Nelson, Liard Hot Springs, Whitehorse and Teslin. I blogged about seeing them on Day 38.

The park we are staying here in North Pole (Fairbanks) sits on the Chena River, the same river we were on when we rode the Riverboat Discovery. It is just as pretty here.

Alaska -- Day 30

Finally, we have reached the Alaska Highway. The road was built in 1942 and 1943 by the US, following Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor. It runs 1387 miles from Dawson Creek, BC, (where we are now) and Delta Junction in Alaska. But, more on that later. We drove 256 miles from Prince George to here.

We realize we need to lower our expectations for the RV parks we stay in. We are at Mile 0 RV park and it is OK. Cost, $37 Good Sam rate. We had the same experience when we came here before. These parks only have campers from May to early September. John read a review of a restaurant in Fort Nelson (our next stop). The reviewer wrote, "The restaurant was OK. They cooked, I didn't have to. That's all that really matters." That has to be our attitude. We don't plan to pull off on the side of the road and boon-dock over night. So, any park that provides water and electric is giving us all that really matters.

The dandelion is not the BC provincial flower, but it really should be. They are everywhere. We can tell when we go up or down in altitude. Up--they are blooming; down--they have gone to seed.



The scenery is beautiful. These mountains have more rounded shapes--they are older, more worn than those in Jasper and Banff National Parks.



Most are covered with trees.



That is why we saw lots of logging trucks.



At times there we sharp curves.



We didn't see any washed-out roads or landslides across the road, but the rivers were muddy and we saw waterfalls frequently.



At one point, we saw a truck stopped in the middle of the road with a flashing yellow light. What on earth? we wondered. As we came closer, we saw it was warning of highway painting. Obviously, the traffic is so light they didn't need to put out warning signs. Just a truck in front and one in back. Ah, rural Canada.



Shortly before reaching Dawson Creek, we drove through Chetwynd, the Chainsaw Carving Capital. The 2012 International Championship competition was June 8-11. There were carvings all along the road through town.







By the way, John is feeling better, recovering from his cold. Now I have it, but I don't think mine is as bad as his.