Joan on the Road...of Life

Our Olympian Grill needed replacement and Jim really wanted a Weber Baby Q grill. Only problem...where to fit it because it would be too high for the current grill spot. But that didn't stop him. "I'll find a spot for it somewhere. Just have to reorganize." So we bought the Baby Q.

Then an epiphany. If we just got rid of the spare tire there would be plenty of space to reorg and fit in the grill. Lots of new motorhomes come without a spare and after our recent tire experience we decided to go that route. Getting the spare tire out from its storage spot, mid-coach and up on a shelf, was a challenge. However, with the help of a two-foot screwdriver for leverage and two awning rods (what would we do without those handy gadgets) we got the tire out.

JIm spent a couple of hours and a few trips to Target for plastic containers and finally got the storage puzzle put together. Best thing is that he made a spot for a plastic container to hold our heavy winter coats. We haven't needed them in two years but better to be prepared.

So the Baby Q has a storage spot with a little box for BBQ tools and gas. We've really been enjoying corn roasted in the husk and grilled vegetables. The Olympian grill was OK but the Q has much better temp controls. We are happy camper-eaters!

Posted by Joan at 11:23 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Every now and then I like to take advantage of Grandma's Bragging Rights and share with you some kid stories. We are back in the land of Grandkids, seven of them, and one great grand who is the center of attention when we get together. Even if it's your birthday you share the spotlight with Evan (right Ryan?)

I had the fun experience of babysitting Evan for a couple of hours this week. First thing, he ran into his room and grabbed his stacking boxes and asked, "Wanna play?" So we stacked them all higher than his head and he says, "My foot?" So guess what his foot did?! Then we had a big laugh and did it again!

I've always enjoyed playing or visiting with one grand at a time. No interruptions or distractions. We played, tickled, wrestled, boxed and had a snack. I loved listening to him talk. He'll try to say most anything. We put the stacking boxes on our hands and made noises with them. Then he said, "Wanna fight?" and put his hands up like a boxer. So we did a few gentle punches and he hit my hand. I pretended to cry and he dropped his head and said, "I sorry. OK?" He is verrry dramatic.

At 20 months he is more boy than baby but we still managed a little bit of cuddle time. I needed it because I was pooped after all the playtime.

Posted by Joan at 10:33 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

We stopped for gas ($3.35) in Woodcrest on the way to Renee and Tom's yesterday . As we pulled out of the station onto Van Buren, into a steady traffic flow, I saw a tire rolling down the road....no car attached:) We made a right turn into traffic as the tire rolled by and bumped into a car stopped at the light. Everyone politely stopped while the guy got out of his car to see what hit him.

He rolled the tire to the side of the road and traffic proceeded. There didn't seem to be any cars missing a tire :) Then in the rearview mirror we saw a pickup truck stop by the tire. Either he'd lost the tire from the truck bed OR he was taking advantage of an opportunity.

I always take my camera in the car. Never know what you'll see.

Posted by Joan at 08:54 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Sometimes a day of travel takes us to something so different that it's a culture shock. That's Lone Pine to Hemet. After parking here yesterday we had a glass of wine and commented that it's amazing and wonderful...how we can change our environment so quickly.

I'm so glad we stopped in Lone Pine. We could have explored the area for a few more days. A reader suggested visiting Manzanar, where thousands of Japanese were interned during WWII. We planned to go there but ran out of time after our Whitney Portal adventure. The east side of the Sierras are so close and personal in Lone Pine. I'm glad to see the area looking more prosperous than 4 years ago.

The trip to Hemet is 220 miles. Mostly it's very good road on US395 but the last 50 miles or so before hitting I15 is a narrow, ripply, truck-filled harrowing experience. Then we hit the 15 just before the Cajon Pass which is always a fun, roller-coaster ride.

I did catch an interesting photo. We've never seen a "runaway truck ramp" put to use until now. Excuse the blurry photo taken as we bumped along the freeway at 60 mph. The truck was smoking and still moving forward in the loose gravel as I took this shot.

This is the reality of coming down into the Los Angeles basin--crowded freeways and hazy, dirty air. This truck ramp is near the end of a 6% four-mile curving grade. I'm soooo glad Jim was driving. He does great! I have driven in many situations but this would not be my choice. One of these days I'll have to face the music!

Now we are back at Golden Village Palms in our same old space. We'll be here for 5 weeks with lots of appointments and family time. And of course we have our list of things we'll do "once we get to Hemet," That's a running joke with us. We think about something that needs to be done but we're kind of lazy so we look at each other and say "we'll do that when we get to Hemet." Well we're here!

Posted by Joan at 10:33 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Here's one good reason to stay at Boulder Creek RV Park in Lone Pine, CA...a great view of the Sierras. One of those jagged peaks in the center is Mt. Whitney.

About 5 miles north, in town, we drove out Whitney Portal Road. We went up and curved and up for about 10 miles to maybe 8000 ft. where there's a little store and a waterfall that comes down from Mt. Whitney. It was a wonderful experience. Pictures don't really capture the reality because the motion and sound is missing. I did take a couple of little videos with the Canon Powershot and they are great. One of these days I'll learn how to post a short video :)

We had a hamburger and fries from the concessionaire. He was telling us that he is a business man, not Forest Service employee. He owns all the improvements at this little waystop, generates all his power with propane ($100/ day) and doesn't start making a profit until July! Jim was delighted to find a Sam Adams Honey Porter...in this far out place.

We ate lunch beside the waterfall with a gaggle of Western Jays sitting overhead waitiing for scraps. Foolishly I threw one and they attacked it. Almost got beaned by a jay.

We proceeded down the mountain in first gear, stopping to check out a few Forest Service campgrounds. No power and pretty tight fit in the trees. Down at the lower level we drove out MovIe Road to see the rock formations where hundreds of movies including Star Wars have been shot. Here's an example.

Somehow it all looks familiar to an old western fan. The road up the mountain is the one seen in High Sierra where Humphrey Bogart is being chased. John Wayne and many other western stars walked these grounds. You can almost imagine the enemy positioned above in the rocks, rifles poised. It's a vast area and I just wondered how the directors would choose where to shoot.

We did a little drive back into one of the roads and it got a little hairy when we bottomed out the car...guess it was for off-roaders :) I quickly convinced the driver to head back. Here's my view!

That ended today's exciting adventure.

Posted by Joan at 07:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

We were refreshed from our rest in Fallon, NV and ready to hit the road early for Lone Pine, CA. Google routed us on US 95 south around Walker Lake and into Hawthorne where there is an Army Depot. There are acres of buildings holding who knows what and acres of turf covered bunkers that probably hold munitions.

From there we headed out on NV 359 which has a tremendously long grade that took us up to 7600 ft. 359 becomes CA 167 (Welcome To California, bumpty bumpty) and we got our first glimpse of the Sierras from the east.

So come ride with me...on one of the loneliest roads. 50 miles of 2-lane, no shoulder, no houses, no other cars, no phone service...the outer boonies.

Mono Lake came into view. It's pretty large and lonely. There are boat ramps, but no one on the water. No one at the Recreation Areas and campgrounds.

We are at about 6000 ft. and the Sierras soar to 14000. Still lots of snow up there.

We stopped for lunch at Mono Lake after we started south on US 395. Dummy me...I only took some video snips that I don't know how to show you yet. But here we go through the Bishop and June Lake Area....awesome country up at 8000 ft. driving.

And then we head downhill at 6% for 8 miles....wheeeee!

Between Independence and Lone Pine are these lava beds where the earth burped and bubbled. I haven't yet found a description of when this happened. This goes on for miles.

After a long day's drive we enjoyed a bottle of wine and gourmet dinner (Stouffers' Swedish Meatballs).

We're at Boulder Creek RV Park which is the first park on the road that we stayed at when we began our fulltiming adventure in July 2003. So we've come full circle!

The weather is just about perfect here so we picked up some tourist literature and decided to stay a day and explore the Alabama Mountains where lots of movies were filmed. We'll also drive out the Whitney Portal Road toward Mt. Whitney, the tallest mountain in the continental states. Tomorrow looks to be a fun photo day :)

Posted by Joan at 08:46 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

I'm glad we decided to stop for a day, especially since it's Mother's Day. I know it's a commercial holiday but I just love it when all my kids call me in one day!

We needed a day of rest as we transition from Montana to CA. The perfect weather here in Fallon, NV along with some good music and being waited on hand and foot by Jim has made this the best day ever. Why I would be treated like a queen after my day of grumpiness is beyond me...but I'm thankful.

Tomorrow we'll pack it in and head another 250 miles south. When I say pack it in that's literally what I mean. The bedroom gets filled with all the stuff that sits around while we're parked, including the TV. A while back we took out the overhead TV and bought the big LCD which sits on the front dash when we're parked. But when we move the TV has to go to sleep on the bed.

The TV is the lynch pin. Once it is in place on the bed along with the computer LCD, padded with our foam pillows, I can move the little storage drawer cabinet, the coffee pot, the shredder, two lamps and the space heater all to their appropriate places. I roll up the braided rugs and stash them in back, rearrange a few odd bits up front and we're ready to slide and roll. I just don't like stuff sitting around loose. All this takes about 20 minutes.

When we're on the move we've pretty much got it down to a two hour routine, from getting up to checking out the brake lights. That even includes dumping the tanks and taking a shower. For short travel days we add another cup of coffee, a little more chatting and computer time and take three hours to hit the road.

But two days in a row of that routine and we're ready for a break like today. Time to smell the roses and watch the birds....and talk to family :)

Posted by Joan at 05:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I'm usually a pretty positive person but yesterday I got out of bed on the wrong side and I was grumpy. There was a reason. As soon as Jim's feet hit the floor he said "let's leave today." What? I was ready to snuggle up, sleep in, read, sit outside and be lazy again. He was not real comfy with us being the only campers at MacKay with no host and rowdy teens coming in a night to party. OK...strike one!

We packed it in, headed down US93, thought about stopping at Craters of the Moon but said ..next time. I started driving after that and it was a rock and roll trip. The road looked pretty good but just rolled from side to side. After 75 miles of that I felt like was going to puke...strike two.

We stopped for lunch in Twin Falls, ID on the bridge that looks over the Snake River. Someday we'll stay in this area for a few days to explore the river more. But we needed to move on and as we headed south and west to Wells, NV the wind picked up. We were rockin, rollin and movin across the highway...strike three.

I'm afraid I pissed and moaned all day! We arrived at Mountain Shadows RV Park and got a fairly decent site but the trains were right next to the park. Is there a strike four? The park host said the trains ran all night but he was joking, thank heaven. I went to bed at 10 and left Jim to read and enjoy the peace and quiet :)

Here's our site at Wells, NV. OK for an overnight. Jim is showing off the newly cleaned and bug free windows.

Today was just a long drive on Interstate 80 and then 30 miles on US 95 through alkali flats to Fallon, NV. I said nice things and smiled all day. Even did a long stint of driving. I think we'll stay here two nights as tomorrow is Mother's Day and I feel the need to be pampered! And guess what? The market here at Fallon RV Park has Krispy Kremes delivered fresh daily! Ok...I know it's not health food but we haven't had any for a year.

Here's our site at Fallon RV. It's a nice base for visiting the area. The sites are long and wide. The trees and grass are lovely. Only downside is Highway 50 noise but that will quiet down later.

The spring weather has been so beautiful. Highs in the mid 80's and sleeping temps of 45. Tomorrow will be a wonderful day. HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY to all my fellow Moms!

Posted by Joan at 07:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

After a leisurely breakfast we took a walk around the campground and reservoir. Here are a few shots to give you a feel for this spot. We are surrounded 360 by mountains which top out at 12000 plus feet.

Here's the view from the boat landing looking back at our campsite.

Jim is heading back on the nature walk path.

Our site was at the top of the hill with a great view all around.

What did we do all afternoon! Opened a bottle of Reisling and searched the far hill looking for the white mustang. And we spotted him but so far away there was no chance of a picture. He came down to the water to drink, grazed a little and then lay down, rolled over, kicked his heals, got up and pranced around a bit then took off up the hill. He's all alone but looks like he's having fun (if horses have fun).

We ended the evening watching the sunset and enjoying our first campfire of the year. It got pretty cool so after a cup of tea we packed it in. It was just about a perfect day at MacKay.

.

Posted by Joan at 06:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Yesterday we got an early start from Missoula and headed south on US 93. Traveling through the Bitterroot Vally we headed for Lost Trail Pass which marks the border between MT and ID. Here we are with a view of Trapper Peak standing in the footsteps of Lewis and Clark.

The whole day was filled with scenes like this. The summit at Lost Trail is around 7300 feet and we got down to 20 MPH in first gear for a few minutes as we headed for the top. Then there is the thrill of going down. We'd never traveled 93 south before. This puts me on the outside of the mountain curves and the river bends :) Once again I was riding the white line.

We stopped for lunch at one of our favorite pullouts on the Salmon River.

From the Idaho/Montana border to the MacKay Reservoir every curve and hill brings a new magnificent scene. We arrived at MacKay about 3 PM and just as we unhooked a huge dark cloud released a ton of rain. We managed to get rain coats on, back into our site and wait out the short rain. Afternoon thunderstorms are pretty common here so I knew it would pass and we'd have smooth set up time.

I was in the process of preparing Fettucine Alfredo (from the bottle) with carrots and broccoli when the fettucine sauce erupted from the bottle in the microwave like Mt. Vesuvius! 2/3 of the bottle was splattered on the inside of the micro :( So Jim had spaghetti sauce on his fettucine and I rescued enough of the sauce to have a good meal. I think that may have had something to do with being at 5900 feet. Cooking things just don't work the same.

We scoured the other campsites and found tons of firewood but by the time sunset and we finished watching The Sopranos we were ready for bed. We decided to put Mr. Moto down because it is very lonely here and we don't want the blue light on the satellite advertising our location.

Well...more relaxation tomorrow!

Posted by Joan at 10:43 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

We planned to head out Tuesday so Jim checked the MH tire pressure on Sunday while the tires were cold. We've been sitting here three weeks and one of the tires had lost 20 pounds. Uh-oh. So we called Good Sam Emergency Service and they sent over a guy to help.

He couldn't see anything wrong with the tire (inside rear) and Jim thought it might be the air extender used to measure and put air in the inside tire. So the guy, Scott, put the spare on along with a new extender. Getting the never used spare out from it's hiding place was a mighty task. Glad Scott was here to do it.

This morning Jim took the spare to Tirerama where they put it in the testing tank and it's fine. So the problem must have been the extender. But now we have the spare on and the tread is twice what the other tire is. AND the spare is not balanced. Damn.

So we invited Scott back to swap the tires out and put the spare away. He'll come tomorrow, charge us $90 and we'll be ready to head out with matching tires. We are close to buying a new set of tires and the discussion now is should we bother with a spare. I think we're leaning to just keeping the one we have.

Yesterday's adventure meant that we had to put in the slide and jack up the MH. A great opportunity to clean and vacuum. Jim is out shopping to stock up the larder and this afternoon we'll get a final checkout from Steve.

Now we plan to leave Wednesday and take a few red roads back to CA.

Posted by Joan at 10:42 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I never did get a project going on Thursday because Laura called to tell us that our orthotics were in. What's that? you say. Steve scanned our feet and sent the print out to a company that makes shoe inserts (orthotics) custom designed to balance your body on your feet. I have a "pain in the butt" that we hope the orthotics will cure.

So we got our shoes outfitted and then enjoyed dinner and a couple of bottles of Flathead Cherry wine with the kids. We headed home late and then woke up to a crazy Montana spring day.

We had rain, snow, hail, sun, rainbows, fluffy clouds, black clouds...what else could we have. I took some pictures but the snow/hail didn't look as impressive as in real life. It was a great day to make soup.

I had a recipe for Lentil-Spinach soup and happened to have all the ingredients. It turned out pretty good...tasting that is. Lentil Soup is not the most beautiful dish. But it made three hearty, satisfying, healthy meals. We'll enjoy having this in the freezer as we travel back to CA next week. Quick and easy after a day's drive.

Posted by Joan at 10:56 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

As I look out the passenger side I feel like I'm in a cozy tree house with wind and rain beating on the window.

I've watched several coaches pull out and am so glad we are here for another week. Radar shows lots of rain today but then looks good. However, as I look out the window right now....IT IS SNOWING. Not to worry. It's melting as it hits ground and I doubt it will last.

I need a project today! Clean a closet? Make lentil soup, bake bread, work on needlepoint, scan slides? Hmmm. Time will tell. First I need a cup a coffee.

Posted by Joan at 08:16 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Today I stayed in my jammies all day just reading and surfing the net occasionally. I needed to recover from yesterday which was a strange day.

We went down to get another tune-up from Dr. Stevo and to visit with the kids. Laura treated me to lunch in Stevensville then Steve spent a lot of time on us and did quite a bit of work on my shoulders which are feeling immensely better. But he found a lot of stress and tightness there. When he was done I was chilled and felt like taking a nap but we'd had plans to go out to dinner.

We chose the Blue Canyon Kitchen andTavern, which turned out to be a very nice venue with good food and drinks. But I could not get into the festivities. I had a bit of wine, picked at my prime rib and tried to keep my spirits up. But finally I had to leave the table...the stomach was feeling pretty rocky.

So bills were paid, goodbye hugs given and we headed home. I had to wrap up in a blanket and drink tea. I fell into a pretty sound sleep and about 4 AM woke up feeling much better. Today, although I feel very relaxed and somewhat tired I'm on the mend.

I don't know what happened. I've never turned down a great meal like that. I should have told everyone that I'd rather wait to enjoy dinner out. Silly me, I didn't want to upset the applecart.

Jim is off with Laura and Steve today, shopping for plumbing parts to install the sink in the new office. I think we'll do a light supper and I bet I'll be 100% by tomorrow. I'd sure like to go back to the Blue Canyon because the menu looks pretty yummy today :)

Posted by Joan at 03:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)