Today was another nice sunny day but it was quite windy. This morning was the meet and greet, starting at 9:30 and it was hard to know what to wear so I put a sweatshirt on over my t-shirt and by shortly after 10 the sweatshirt was off.
They had organized 12 different activities and when you signed in you had to circle your age group then they assigned you a group to join. They had awards at the end for the different age groups, both male and female. At each activity each person had 4 chances so could get a total of 4 points per activity with a total possible of 48 points – there was bean bag toss, tennis serves, pickle ball, horseshoes, basketball, washooes, hillbilly golf, table tennis, darts, shuffleboard, volleyball and golf putting. It was a good time (no prizes won by this couple!) and at the end they had hotdogs, chips and pop.
When we came back John got the satellite dish set up so Bell ExpressVu is now up and running. After he was done we went to Fry’s and Wal Mart to pick up a few groceries etc. then home and it is now time to start making dinner. We managed to find a thermometer so we now again will know both the inside and outside temperatures - I sure did miss not knowing the outside temperature and therefore how to dress.
And so another day is done and we are looking forward to a quiet evening of TV and reading.
Friday - November 23, 2007
Today was a beautiful sunny day but there was quite a cool north wind blowing so it wasn’t sitting outside weather, still it was t-shirt warmth so we are not complaining.
This afternoon I went down and registered us for tomorrow’s meet and greet and asked about somewhere to get my hair cut so then went off to try Rosie who was recommended. Rosie did a good cut so I feel much better, I was at a point where I was ready to take the scissors to my hair myself!
When I came back we did what we said we wouldn’t do – we went out shopping. We went to Home Hardware and got a rail for John to mount the Bell ExpressVu dish on, so hopefully we will get that set up tomorrow afternoon. We then went to Target, Circuit City and Best Buy - mainly looking for a thermometer. No luck with thermometers but I did get a bag for my new camera and John got another memory stick – big deal!! By the time we got back it was dark and time to think about dinner – sure don’t know where the days go.
This afternoon I went down and registered us for tomorrow’s meet and greet and asked about somewhere to get my hair cut so then went off to try Rosie who was recommended. Rosie did a good cut so I feel much better, I was at a point where I was ready to take the scissors to my hair myself!
When I came back we did what we said we wouldn’t do – we went out shopping. We went to Home Hardware and got a rail for John to mount the Bell ExpressVu dish on, so hopefully we will get that set up tomorrow afternoon. We then went to Target, Circuit City and Best Buy - mainly looking for a thermometer. No luck with thermometers but I did get a bag for my new camera and John got another memory stick – big deal!! By the time we got back it was dark and time to think about dinner – sure don’t know where the days go.
Thursday - November 22, 2007
Happy Thanksgiving to all our friends south of the border! We get to celebrate two Thanksgivings, the Canadian one in October and the American one in November, and we didn’t have turkey either time!! Today we cooked a ham for our Thanksgiving dinner – yummy!
We had a quiet day today, put away winter clothes and got out the rest of our summer clothes and just generally putzzed around this morning. This afternoon we drove over to Desert Paradise Park (where we spent the two previous winters) but it is still pretty quiet over there. We talked to Doug and Judy for a while (a couple from Guelph) but other than them most of the people we know haven’t arrived yet. We noticed Wal Mart was open today but didn’t stop as there was nothing we really needed.
Tomorrow is Black Friday, the biggest shopping day in the U.S., so I think we will avoid the stores tomorrow. We were talking to a couple here today who want to buy a TV so are planning on being at the store around 4 a.m. They said you can go and line up and get a number then come back later in the day to pick up your item – I just can’t imagine wanting something that badly.
Today was a gorgeous sunny day here, we sure do like this weather. I see the school buses were cancelled in the K/W region today because of the snow – Kel, sure hope you also got a snow day in PP. We can’t say we miss the snow!!
We had a quiet day today, put away winter clothes and got out the rest of our summer clothes and just generally putzzed around this morning. This afternoon we drove over to Desert Paradise Park (where we spent the two previous winters) but it is still pretty quiet over there. We talked to Doug and Judy for a while (a couple from Guelph) but other than them most of the people we know haven’t arrived yet. We noticed Wal Mart was open today but didn’t stop as there was nothing we really needed.
Tomorrow is Black Friday, the biggest shopping day in the U.S., so I think we will avoid the stores tomorrow. We were talking to a couple here today who want to buy a TV so are planning on being at the store around 4 a.m. They said you can go and line up and get a number then come back later in the day to pick up your item – I just can’t imagine wanting something that badly.
Today was a gorgeous sunny day here, we sure do like this weather. I see the school buses were cancelled in the K/W region today because of the snow – Kel, sure hope you also got a snow day in PP. We can’t say we miss the snow!!
Wednesday - November 21, 2007
Today was overcast and cooler, without the thermometer working I couldn’t tell the temperature from inside the trailer today but when we went out this afternoon it was only 21C (70F) on the truck thermometer.
Today was major cleaning, John washed both the trailer and truck, cleaned out the inside of the truck and reorganized the back of it. I did a major cleaning inside and got out some odds and ends that I put out when we are parked for a while (some Swarovski crystals, my oil candle etc.). A fellow from Bracebridge stopped by for a chat, there seems to be a lot more Ontario people in this park that at Desert Paradise where we were the last two winters.
About 2 we headed out to Lowe’s, I needed a new entrance rug and we wanted to look for a new thermometer. I got the rug okay but John couldn’t find a thermometer he liked so we went to Wal Mart to see what they had and again he couldn’t find anything he liked so we are still without a thermometer, it’s amazing how much you get used to something and miss it when you don’t have it. We did pick up a couple of things at Wal Mart then came back to the park a different way, it was an easier drive and not as much traffic so I think that will become a familiar route.
When we got back and John continued with organizing the back of the truck and I went for a walk to check out the park hairdresser and the laundry. The hairdresser is only open on Thursdays so I think I will have to look elsewhere, the laundry is a good price - $1.00 to wash and $0.75 for 35 minutes of drying. We sat out and watched a pretty sunset then it was time to come in and make dinner.
And so another day has gone by – it is amazing how the time flies!
Today was major cleaning, John washed both the trailer and truck, cleaned out the inside of the truck and reorganized the back of it. I did a major cleaning inside and got out some odds and ends that I put out when we are parked for a while (some Swarovski crystals, my oil candle etc.). A fellow from Bracebridge stopped by for a chat, there seems to be a lot more Ontario people in this park that at Desert Paradise where we were the last two winters.
About 2 we headed out to Lowe’s, I needed a new entrance rug and we wanted to look for a new thermometer. I got the rug okay but John couldn’t find a thermometer he liked so we went to Wal Mart to see what they had and again he couldn’t find anything he liked so we are still without a thermometer, it’s amazing how much you get used to something and miss it when you don’t have it. We did pick up a couple of things at Wal Mart then came back to the park a different way, it was an easier drive and not as much traffic so I think that will become a familiar route.
When we got back and John continued with organizing the back of the truck and I went for a walk to check out the park hairdresser and the laundry. The hairdresser is only open on Thursdays so I think I will have to look elsewhere, the laundry is a good price - $1.00 to wash and $0.75 for 35 minutes of drying. We sat out and watched a pretty sunset then it was time to come in and make dinner.
And so another day has gone by – it is amazing how the time flies!
Tuesday -November 20, 2007
We have arrived!! We arrived at Del Pueblo RV Park, Yuma at 3:40 p.m. and we just made it in time as the office closes at 4. Today we hit a high of 28C (83F) and it was a mostly cloudy day which we didn’t mind as it is good for driving. Today we went from an elevation of 7000+’ at Williams to 178’ here at Del Pueblo – quite a difference. We decided to try Highway 95 through California and avoid Lake Havasu etc. but that was a poor choice, California 95 was a terrible road so we were glad to get back on Arizona 95 at Parker that was much better. Somewhere today something hit the underside of the trailer and tore the cap off a tube containing a spare sewer hose and the remote for our indoor/outdoor thermometer, so we lost the remote and ruined the sewer hose – grrr!!!! We will have to get a new thermometer as we really like the indoor/outdoor one – the only saving grace is that the thermometer is about 5 years old, so not like it was a new one.
Mileage wise it was a total of 4138 km (2586 miles) from Can-Am RV in London to Del Pueblo so we covered a lot of ground and are glad to be here and have the drive behind us.
While John was setting up I started on the cleaning – we need a good cleaning both inside and out so I got a few things done inside this afternoon and will continue tomorrow. John is eager to get at cleaning the outside as both the truck and trailer are disgustingly dirty after the drive and anyone who knows John knows that he hates a dirty truck and trailer!!
We sat outside to have a beer before dinner and a couple from Edmonton stopped and chatted for a bit and then a fellow from Kansas City stopped for a chat so it would appear that people here are friendly. We are looking forward to meeting new people and making new friends.
The park has a new wi-fi system (free) so it will be interesting to see how it works, tonight it seems kind of slow and the park is only about half full so it will be interesting to see what it is like when the park is full. If it gets too bad we will get Beamspeed again but I hate to pay for it when it is free. Oh well, time will tell.
Mileage wise it was a total of 4138 km (2586 miles) from Can-Am RV in London to Del Pueblo so we covered a lot of ground and are glad to be here and have the drive behind us.
While John was setting up I started on the cleaning – we need a good cleaning both inside and out so I got a few things done inside this afternoon and will continue tomorrow. John is eager to get at cleaning the outside as both the truck and trailer are disgustingly dirty after the drive and anyone who knows John knows that he hates a dirty truck and trailer!!
We sat outside to have a beer before dinner and a couple from Edmonton stopped and chatted for a bit and then a fellow from Kansas City stopped for a chat so it would appear that people here are friendly. We are looking forward to meeting new people and making new friends.
The park has a new wi-fi system (free) so it will be interesting to see how it works, tonight it seems kind of slow and the park is only about half full so it will be interesting to see what it is like when the park is full. If it gets too bad we will get Beamspeed again but I hate to pay for it when it is free. Oh well, time will tell.
Monday -November 19, 2007
Today was another gorgeous day with a high of 25C (77F), we sure do love this weather. Last night when we came back from shopping John noticed the truck beside us was from Gary Cooper in Elora and this morning when we were getting ready to leave the couple came out of their RV so we had a chat with them for a bit. She was a Carolyn also and they live at Maple Leaf Acres in Belwood, they were going to spend today in Albuquerque then are heading for destinations unknown in Arizona.
Due to stopping to chat, and then heading over to the other side of the interstate to get propane from Randy it was about 9:30 before we got on the road but we made good time and decided to drive to Williams, AZ and stop at Railside RV Park. We spent 11 days here during April 2006 and found it a really nice park and Tamara the owner is a lovely person. When we checked in she thought we had been here before so she gave us a discount, then while chatting John said we had told numerous people about her park so that earned us another discount – as I say she is a nice person.
I got the laundry done before dinner so am now a happy camper again. The park is totally lit up for Christmas – 1000’s of lights so after dinner we went for a walk around to enjoy them. It really looks pretty but I would hate to have their electric bill for the next 6 weeks! The Grand Canyon train goes right by the park and the last trip from the park had 15 cars on it, we were amazed that there would be that many people taking the train to the canyon at this time of year. Tamara was saying they also have a Polar Express train at night and it also was full with about 15 cars on it, I don’t know how far it goes on it’s trip but not as far as the park. Apparently it is more for kids with all kinds of entertainment on board, obviously it is a popular trip going by the number of cars it had and they all appeared to be full.
We have wi-fi tonight so I will get caught up on my blog. I also got caught up on e-mail and thanks everyone for the e-mails, as you know I love to hear from you. Pat & Keith, who have the trailer across the road from us at Green Acres in Waterloo, sent us a lot of pictures of their trip to Newfoundland in September so I enjoyed looking at them.
We are at an elevation of over 7000’ here so I expect it will get quite cold tonight, but that is okay as it is good for sleeping and it warms up nicely during the day so we won’t complain.
Due to stopping to chat, and then heading over to the other side of the interstate to get propane from Randy it was about 9:30 before we got on the road but we made good time and decided to drive to Williams, AZ and stop at Railside RV Park. We spent 11 days here during April 2006 and found it a really nice park and Tamara the owner is a lovely person. When we checked in she thought we had been here before so she gave us a discount, then while chatting John said we had told numerous people about her park so that earned us another discount – as I say she is a nice person.
I got the laundry done before dinner so am now a happy camper again. The park is totally lit up for Christmas – 1000’s of lights so after dinner we went for a walk around to enjoy them. It really looks pretty but I would hate to have their electric bill for the next 6 weeks! The Grand Canyon train goes right by the park and the last trip from the park had 15 cars on it, we were amazed that there would be that many people taking the train to the canyon at this time of year. Tamara was saying they also have a Polar Express train at night and it also was full with about 15 cars on it, I don’t know how far it goes on it’s trip but not as far as the park. Apparently it is more for kids with all kinds of entertainment on board, obviously it is a popular trip going by the number of cars it had and they all appeared to be full.
We have wi-fi tonight so I will get caught up on my blog. I also got caught up on e-mail and thanks everyone for the e-mails, as you know I love to hear from you. Pat & Keith, who have the trailer across the road from us at Green Acres in Waterloo, sent us a lot of pictures of their trip to Newfoundland in September so I enjoyed looking at them.
We are at an elevation of over 7000’ here so I expect it will get quite cold tonight, but that is okay as it is good for sleeping and it warms up nicely during the day so we won’t complain.
Sunday - November 18, 2007
Today was another gorgeous day with a high of 23C (73F). Today we drove through Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas and then New Mexico. When we entered New Mexico we changed to Mountain Time so gained an hour, now we are 2 hours behind Waterloo.
I had planned on a short day today and thought we would stop around Tucumcari as I needed some groceries and wanted to do laundry. When we got to Tucumcari John suggested we go on to Santa Rosa and then before Santa Rosa suggested we go right through to Albuquerque so that is what we did and we ended up driving 692 km (433 miles) – so much for a short day!
Today we saw a real variety of landscapes – from the Midwest Plains to the scrub country of Texas to the mountains of New Mexico. We passed quite a few feedlots with thousands of cattle, sure could smell them as well as see them! We again saw numerous trains before getting on the Interstate at Tucumcari and one we passed that was pulled over on a siding had 3 engines, 103 cars and was 1.8 km in length – can you imagine waiting for that at a level crossing!
We really enjoyed the route through Iowa, Kansas etc. and it was nice to miss all the big cities – i.e. Indianapolis, St. Louis, Oklahoma City etc. It was pretty well the same distance as going through the above cities but took us a day less than the first time we came to Arizona in January of 2006, we certainly would take this route again as it is so nice to drive on quieter interstates as well as good US secondary highways.
When we got to High Desert RV Park we unhooked and headed to Camping World, then to Wal Mart for groceries so it was after 7 when we got home. I picked up a cooked chicken for dinner, at a cost of $4.49, as well as a couple of salads so that was an easy dinner and John didn’t have to worry about barbecuing. The laundry didn’t get done so I am going to insist on a shorter day tomorrow so I can get it done. I feel totally wiped and am having trouble keeping my eyes open so am off to bed. No internet tonight, we could get it but it costs $4.99 for 24 hours so I am not going to waste my money, the place I want to stop at tomorrow has free wi-fi so will wait till then.
I had planned on a short day today and thought we would stop around Tucumcari as I needed some groceries and wanted to do laundry. When we got to Tucumcari John suggested we go on to Santa Rosa and then before Santa Rosa suggested we go right through to Albuquerque so that is what we did and we ended up driving 692 km (433 miles) – so much for a short day!
Today we saw a real variety of landscapes – from the Midwest Plains to the scrub country of Texas to the mountains of New Mexico. We passed quite a few feedlots with thousands of cattle, sure could smell them as well as see them! We again saw numerous trains before getting on the Interstate at Tucumcari and one we passed that was pulled over on a siding had 3 engines, 103 cars and was 1.8 km in length – can you imagine waiting for that at a level crossing!
We really enjoyed the route through Iowa, Kansas etc. and it was nice to miss all the big cities – i.e. Indianapolis, St. Louis, Oklahoma City etc. It was pretty well the same distance as going through the above cities but took us a day less than the first time we came to Arizona in January of 2006, we certainly would take this route again as it is so nice to drive on quieter interstates as well as good US secondary highways.
When we got to High Desert RV Park we unhooked and headed to Camping World, then to Wal Mart for groceries so it was after 7 when we got home. I picked up a cooked chicken for dinner, at a cost of $4.49, as well as a couple of salads so that was an easy dinner and John didn’t have to worry about barbecuing. The laundry didn’t get done so I am going to insist on a shorter day tomorrow so I can get it done. I feel totally wiped and am having trouble keeping my eyes open so am off to bed. No internet tonight, we could get it but it costs $4.99 for 24 hours so I am not going to waste my money, the place I want to stop at tomorrow has free wi-fi so will wait till then.
Saturday - November 17, 2007
Today was an absolutely gorgeous day and the high on the truck thermometer was 24C (75F) – YES!!!! There was a big football game in Topeka today and boy the traffic going into Topeka was incredible at 8:30 in the morning, the exit at the toll plaza was backed way out onto the highway. We had no problem getting around it but sure were glad we didn’t want to get off at that exit. Once we cleared that we couldn’t believe how light the traffic was all day – all in all it was a good drive, although boring – just like driving through Saskatchewan with all the prairies and mainly corn fields with some oil drilling rigs thrown in for a bit of change.
At Wichita we picked up US 54 that will take us southwest through Oklahoma, Texas and bring us out at Tucumcari, NM (tomorrow’s destination). US 54 is a two lane highway but has very wide shoulders and lots of passing lanes, so is a good drive and it is kind of nice to get off the interstates for something different. Today we passed at least half a dozen trains and they were all very long, one was over a kilometer in length! Just think how many transports would be on the roads if these trains weren’t running.
Tonight we are just outside Liberal, KS in a new park; it is okay but there is no wi-fi so this won’t get posted tonight.
We are just about through Kansas and there was no sign of Dorothy and the Tin Man but we did go through a very small town advertising the hideout of the Dalton gang - I don’t know anything about them but John says that they weren’t nice people.
At Wichita we picked up US 54 that will take us southwest through Oklahoma, Texas and bring us out at Tucumcari, NM (tomorrow’s destination). US 54 is a two lane highway but has very wide shoulders and lots of passing lanes, so is a good drive and it is kind of nice to get off the interstates for something different. Today we passed at least half a dozen trains and they were all very long, one was over a kilometer in length! Just think how many transports would be on the roads if these trains weren’t running.
Tonight we are just outside Liberal, KS in a new park; it is okay but there is no wi-fi so this won’t get posted tonight.
We are just about through Kansas and there was no sign of Dorothy and the Tin Man but we did go through a very small town advertising the hideout of the Dalton gang - I don’t know anything about them but John says that they weren’t nice people.
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