it's cold outside!!

the weather in Nevada turned and the call of a Grey Cup party to watch the Bombers win (or not) and we decided to head home. Cancelled our camping reservations at Lake Mead, NV where the daytime highs were only high 50's, requested a 5:00 a.m. wake up call and on Thursday morning we headed out from Vegas. An all day drive got us to Idaho Falls and another all day drive on Friday got us home around 7:00 pm. It was great to get home but it is way too cold here. And it was nice to surprise the gang at the Grey Cup party when we made an unexpected arrival. Too bad the wrong team won.

All in all it was a great trip. Covered 25,000 km, 9 provinces, 24 states and 3 countries. Saw a lot of really neat sites and met a lot of really great people. Would recommend it to anyone who can manage it. Now we are back at home for 2 months and are going to enjoy looking after a granddaughter and hanging around the house. Inactivity may drive me nuts so am available for any part-time jobs, activities, coffee, lunch, etc....

Pictures above are a couple of favorites that I don't think we ever put on before. Lobster boats are in New Brunswick, other is the gang in Winnipeg enjoying a great Italian meal.

Anyway, that is it for the blog for now. Hope to be able to update further in January when we go to Asia but not sure how often. Thanks for reading and hope everyone has a great holiday season!!!!!

vegas

found some desert heat again! record highs in Vegas this week, highs near 80. Staying at a hotel (stratosphere) so pretty roomy compared to van. stopped at hoover dam on the way. enjoying touring and shows, doing it the cheap way by going to a couple of timeshare presentations in exchange for free meals and shows. pictures are of me on XScream (can't tell in pic but this ride is dangling over the edge of the stratosphere tower - monique is not in the seat beside me), me with a couple of girls that picked me up and the 2 of us on the strip.

hope everyone is doing well - see you soon. Go Bombers!!!

kicked on route 66

on the road again. Thursday we headed south to Sedona, AZ. We had heard that it was a beautiful city, with red rocks all around. It was. On the way we stopped at Slide Rock State Park. Old homestead and orchard but also the swimming hole attached. Saw some postcards where this place is packed in the summer. Rock seems odd for a beach but was a nice spot. From there to Sedona. Neat place, reminds me of Banff. Pretty scenery, pretty people and expensive shops and restaurants. Found a nice state park with a poor name ("Dead Horse Ranch") nearby and camped for the night. Place was half full of Canadians (BC and Alberta) so was like old home week, chatted with people from Turner Valley and Vancouver. Lots of trails around too so had a good run in the morning. From there to Jerome, which we had also heard was unique. Old mining town on the side of a mountain that had become pretty much a ghost town until the hippies and artists moved in. Belgian Jennie's sign above is from there - I did not check if the advertising was correct. The drive on highway 89A to Jerome and then for about 20 miles after was one of best we have done, like the Cabot Trail. All mountain driving with narrow roads, switchbacks, slopes and incredible views. After that down to Route 66 and a campgrond at Seligman, AZ (population not very many). Toured the souvenir shops and then stopped around 3:30 for a beer at the World Famous Black Cat bar. Not sure what it is famous for, we had certainly never heard of it. Anyway, got to chatting with some people and then the owners bought us a shot and then the music started and next thing you know it is getting pretty late. Monique found a cowboy to dance with. He was a great guy and a hell of a pool player. There was a stag party going on as well, groom was a 50-something biker dude who got carried home once but had a nap and came right back. It was a small town bar at its best and we had a great time.

Saturday made our way to Kingman. Kind of a quiet day for some reason.

Hope everyone is doing well!

trains

from last hence...

left Lake Havisu City and headed north along the Colorado River to Laughlin, Nevada. In case you weren't aware, they have gambling in Nevada. We stayed at the Tropicana Express Hotel and Casino, where they let RV's stay for free in the parking lot. It was the most expensive free place I have ever been. I also got a free T-shirt from another casino that only cost me $20. The Tropicana has a cute little train that shuttles people from the parking lots to the casino. Aneeda spent a little time at a small outlet mall, I entered a poker tourney (I was not the 1st one out but it was a pretty short-lived experience) and we put a lot of miles on our shoes walking up and down the strip. Especially on Sunday in search of the Bombers game. A couple of the sports rooms had lines on the game (I put $10 on under 47 total points) but none were broadcasting it. When I asked, I either got a blank stare or they recommended somewhere else, usually far away. Met a couple in their green & white Rider jerseys and they were having the same issue. I finally gave up and called Monique's sister Yvonne who updated scores to me with text messages (thx!). In the end I guess I missed a great game but the Bombers one 24 - 22, which if you do the math is less than 47. The free camping got a little cheaper. Laughlin, for those of you not aware, is kind of like a small, geriatric Vegas. The entertainers while we were there were Chubby Checker and Vicki Lawrence (yes, they are still alive) while Roy Clark and Charo were scheduled next week. We went to a comedy show and the comedian asked if there were specials on oxygen tubes and motorized wheel chairs in town, it did not go over well but I think a lot of them were asleep by this time.

from Laughlin headed to Williams, AZ to catch a train. Camped overnite then next morning went to a wild west show and then on the 2+hour ride to the Grand Canyon. Sometimes I get cynical and think that Americans have a tendency to overhype their tourist attractions (i.e. Delaware Water Gap, Alamo) but the canyon is truly amazing. Would love to hike down it someday. Anyway, after a nice lunch and a couple hours wandering along the rim we were back on the train. The railway does a great job, with entertainers and then a holdup. Lots of fun and would highly recommend.

it is now Thursday morning and we are packing up to tour more of AZ. We need to head south and get out of the mountains as the last 2 nights have been below freezing and we are getting to be wimps in the cold. Not sure what we will do when we get home.

hope everyone is doing well!

better late than never??

EDITOR'S? NOTE: the update below was done 3 days ago but did not get a decent internet connection to upload. Will upload again soon!!!

I feel like I have missed confession for a few days. Been too busy relaxing to update the blog. And forgot the camera so had no pictures to post.
Golfed 9 holes in Yuma on Monday with Mom & Dad, nice little course. On Tuesday we went out for breakfast to a casino. In order to get $0.99 buffet you had to get a player’s card, so Monique and I did. It came with $5 slot credit which we tried to lose as quick as we could but ended up walking out with full bellies and $28 – not a bad deal. From there, to Mexico (Los Algodones). Basically just a little shopping village near Yuma, you park in the US and walk across. All the retirees also go there for glasses, dental work, haircuts and meds. Did a little shopping and sat in the ‘Rose Garden’ for a couple of marqueritas. Picked up some cheap liquor (a bottle of Cabo Wabo tequila, which I seem to recall drinking the day before this vacation started, thx John) and a few souvenirs. That night went hashing. Small group (8 including us) and Aneeda and I were the only runners but nice people and a good run. They don’t go out after so it was an early night. On Wednesday, drove a couple of hours north to Parker and golfed Emerald Canyon (see pic). Gorgeous course carved into the mountains. A little warm and terrible golf but a pretty nice day anyway. Did I mention they are having an unseasonably warm November here, with record highs being set. Most days have been mid 90’s (~35 C), has been great for being on vacation but would not want to be working outside! After golf Mom & Dad headed home and we went to a campsite across the road. Thursday on to Lake Havisu and planned the rest of our trip. After looking at miles and time and costs we decided to abandon the west coast/Vancouver Island leg. So now will just relax down here for a couple of weeks and then quick drive north and home. Monique/Aneeda is really getting tired of me I think….
In Havisu we found a campground right near downtown and on the beach – great spot. As we were setting up and having dinner could not help but notice some activity down the beach where some people were setting something up in one of the shade shelters (I think they call them ramadas). Went down later to say hello and met some of the nicest/most interesting people to date. What they were setting up was their winter bar on the beach! After visiting for a while, Douglas (the deposed President of the group) offered a trade – a few hours of my labour to help with the bar in exchange for a boat ride). Sounded good to me. Next day was actually our anniversary (22 years) so I had gotten Monique a spa package so she was gone most of the morning and early afternoon. I had a great time burying cords, running lights and other sundry tasks. It was a little cooler and cloudy so nice to be out and it really was not much work. Went for the boat ride when Monique got back with Doug and Tommy and saw Copper Canyon (very popular spring break spot but no one there now) and some other spots along the river/lake. It was great. When we got back and darkness fell I was given the great honour of flicking on the lights and Reba’s Bar and Grill (complete with stripper pole, by the way) was officially open for the winter. Reba is a gorgeous blonde that likes to hang around at the bar so hence the naming. After a couple of beer went back to the van for a great anniversary dinner. It was tempting to stay here for a week but decided to move on. Many thanks to Doug, Tommy, Sally, Gerry and Tebo for making us feel so welcome – have a great winter!
Hope everyone is doing well – will try to update soon.

relaxing in Yuma

no pics as connection is not great and haven't taken many either. Relaxing in the RV Park with Mom & Dad. Sunday was shopping and swap meets, today did 9 holes at a nice little golf course and visited a date farm for a date shake. Tomorrow is a Mexico day and maybe hashing in Yuma tomorrow night. All is well and having a great time but Monique is starting to count the days to getting home. We were watching the Canadian weather today so I am in no hurry (it was 91 degrees here!)

Hope everyine is doing well

razing arizona

Continuing thru Arizona, we stopped for 9 holes of golf at a place called Fountain Hills . Monique shot a 43, me a 34. It might have been a pretty short course...

From there on to Tombstone and into the old west. Neat place, pretty much what you would expect - horses, saloons, dusty streets with boardwalks and souvenir shops. Went to see a comedy/stunt shoot out show and guess what audience member got selected to participate? It was priceless, especially because she was laughing at me prior when it looked like they were going to haul me up there. She got to shoot a gun, nobody got hurt! Now we are in Tucson at a very nice RV park. Fitness room, a couple of pools and hot tubs, etc. Think we might just kick back and spend a couple of nights and then on to Yuma Saturday. Only problem with places like this is that everyone else's RV's are much bigger than ours. You know what they say about men with big RV's, don't you Shrinky?

Hope everyone is doing well!

desert, desert and more desert

west texas was everything we dreamed it would be - miles and miles of sand, cacti, the occasional mound/hill and a small town every 30 miles. I have never seen "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" or "The Hills Have Eyes" but imagine they were shot here, one never knows what goes on out there. We did detour off of the Interstate when we got the chance though and went north to Guadelope Mtns National Park. It was 85 km off the Interstate, we met 2 cars along the way. It was well worth the trip. Mostly a hiking destination. On day we arrived did a 4 mile hike to "Devil's Hall" (see pic with both of us). Next morning got up and did a ~12 mile hike with 2,500 foot elevation gain (see Monique pic above). Anyone whos knows how scared she is of heights would have been entertained to watch her crawl to this spot. Hard to believe she is smiling! After the hike drove thru El Paso and on to Las Cruces, New Mexico where we spent the night. Toured a bit thru the city and managed to find a winery. Half decent stuff and picked up a few bottles. Now on to Arizona. Still more desert but some irrigation now so seeing some vineyards and orchards. Hope everyone had a great Halloween and thanks for the B'day party and Halloween pics that have been e-mailed!!