Great Basin Highway

Once again we had a very pleasant drive on the Great Basin Highway.  Very little traffic and you can see for miles.  

We climbed all morning and followed another fifth wheel up near Wheeler Peak.  There was snow on the peaks but at 13, 063 you expected to see it.  





We turned west onto Highway 50 AKA The Loneliest Road in America. 





 Conner's Pass elevation was 7,733 feet and there was a double tanker in front of the 5er so needless to say there were a few cars behind us but no one seemed to be in a hurry and still stayed behind us when they could pass.  



The entrance to the Propectors Hotel and  Casino RV Park was very confusing so we went around the block to the right and the other fifth wheel went around to the left.  We finally figured out that the entrance to the hotel was where we needed to go. The sign said park and then come in to register.  The other fifth wheel pulled in next to us. 

We introduced ourselves to our neighbors who are from Mississippi and walked up to register together.  It's $15 a night and we have a pull thru with full hook-ups.  There is a pool and hot tub and when we registered they gave us tickets for free margaritas.  






We drove through town and stopped at the railroad museum. 



 There are murals on lots of buildings.  I was reading about the Cathedral and Stained Glass Museum but couldn't find it.  I'll plug in the address and we'll check it out tomorrow.  












This highway was the original Pony Express route.




Everyone will be surprised to hear that I fixed our tire monitors.  Ever since we got the Mountaineer we've had trouble with the trailer tires working.  I've sent them back and had some replaced.  Sometimes they worked and sometimes they didn't.  While we were driving on the freeway through Vegas and they had the walls surrounding the freeway the monitors worked.  I remembered we had another booster antenna and thought I'd give it a try.  Immediately, they started working.

I moved the monitor to another location and Fivel doesn't have a place.  Fivel came out west with Bill 20 years ago so he's now going to ride on the GPS beanbag.

A little while ago our neighbor Wanda Morgan came over.  They were doing the Wild West Train ride tomorrow.  It starts at 6 pm and bandits rob the train.  It costs $96 for two to take it.  She brought some beads from New Orleans and some imitation gold pieces to put in her homemade satchel for the train robbery.  She brought over the beads for me and I told her we didn't think we'd go but she said keep the beads anyway.  We talked for a long while about places for her and Jake to see on their journey.  I told her about the Escapee group and hopefully they will join it.  They would fit right in.  

Turtle Safely,

Caliente, Nevada

For some reason the computer ghost took out this photo of Bill from yesterday's blog,  reminiscing when he was 18 years old and drove by himself from West Virginia to California on Route 66.  That was many, many, many, years ago. 

We left Kingman behind and traveled on Hwy 93 through Las Vegas.  I want to say thank you to Jim and Sandie Dixon and Eddie and Christina Gannon for telling us about this highway.  We really enjoyed the drive today and could see forever. Even the heavy winds didn't bother us.  It was surprising to us when we were in the Pahranagat Range that we'd see a beautiful green oasis in the middle of all that desert.  There were many pull offs for wildlife viewing by some of the lakes.   We climbed all day but had no problems.  There were very few vehicles on the road.  The road from Ash Springs to Caliente started to have greener and greener scenery.  

Sandie said they liked Young's RV Park so that's where we pulled in.  Big 50 amp pull thrus and $21 per night.  We decided to go get diesel and a bite to eat.  Diesel was $3.77 and we were surprised it wasn't any higher.  We filled up at the Sinclair station and they still had the green dinosaur out front.  Lunch consisted of a fish dinner and milk shake at J J's Restaurant.  

Bill and listened to about 1/3 of the Dan Brown audio book "Inferno".  Can't wait to get back on the road and listen to the next chapter.

Turtle Safely.......

What do you get for three dollars?

What do you get for three dollars?  Well, if you are in Kingman, Arizona you get the Route 66 Museum, The Mohave Museum of History and Art, and the Bonnelli House all for $3.00 senior admission.  You all know how we love a bargain. Even though we were exhausted we did all three and added the locomotive park.

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Here's an example of the high winds that Kingman gets.  They have to seatbelt the trees.  This one is in our site #7.

 This was the former powerhouse which now houses the 66 Museum, the Chamber of Commerce, a gift shop, a gallery, and the Information Center.  It was built in 1907 for nearly $300,000.

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They even had an old telephone booth outside. 

 Burma Shave signs reminded us of the old Mother Road.

 A 1950 Studebaker Champion was in mint condition.  My Dad used to own a black one just like this.

 Of course, Dad's didn't have the air conditioner like this one attached to the window.

 After the 66 Museum we walked across the street to the locomotive park.  Railroads were a big part of the Kingman history.

Next stop was the Mohave Museum of History and Art.  They had some beautiful murals.  

 The Andy Devine  exhibit was wonderful.  Here's a saddle made by Bolin that Andy Devine used in the Rose Parade.  It's a shame the photo didn't come out to show all the engraved silver on it.  Notice at the bottom were the guns and holster and the boots.

Andy Devine was jumping on a couch with a curtain rod when the rod pierced the roof of his mouth.  This resulted in a wheezing duo-tone voice.  

When asked if he had strange nodes on his vocal cords, Devine replied, "I've got the same nodes as Bing Crosby, but his are in tune."  Andy died of leukemia at the age of 71 on February 18, 1977.  The street where Andy lived was changed to Andy Devine Ave.




Next stop was the Bonelli House.  The family had 9 children and the last living child donated the house to the city.  It was built in 1915 and has most of the original furnishings.  This son was a hoarder and kept everything.  





We had a wonderful day of exploring this great city.  We still left some places we'd still like to explore for the next time.  We plan to pull out in the morning and head north on 93 through eastern Nevada.  

Turtle Safely......

And Away We Go....

The weather man predicted high winds today so we thought we should get an early start before the afternoon winds started.  It's 7:30 am and the trailer was loaded and ready to leave town all it needed was a truck to pull it.  







Beginning mileage was 117,399 miles and we pulled out of Casa Grande at 7:30 am.  We usually would wait until Phoenix rush hour traffic was over but because high winds were predicted we thought it best to get moving sooner.








 As we passed Chase Field we noticed the Diamondbacks left town and forgot to close their windows. 

   We made a quick stop at the rest area outside Wickenburg.  Just one trip around the round-a-bout this time.   









The weather cooperated and it was smooth sailing to Kingman.  The winds didn't start until the last few miles.

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Our timing was perfect.  We had been listening to the audio book Moscow Rules and finished it 2 miles from our exit.  We are in Blakes RV Ranch and Horse Motel.  We usually  stop here when we are in the area.  We arrived at 12:30 and considering the Phoenix traffic it wasn't bad.  It's 220 miles from home.

I successfully changed the satellite receivers.  We have one that stays in the rig but isn't a DVR one.  Decided to take the DVR for the summer.  

Turtle Safely.......

Yesterday was a busy day.  It started out with a much needed haircut.  I picked Bill up afterward to go to his eye doctor appointment.  The appointment was at 10 am and they took us directly back.  But not to the doctor yet.....they needed to recheck his eyes.  After that was done they dilated  his eyes and sent us back to another waiting room.  We met with the doctor and he agreed that Bill needed surgery.  We found out what Medicare wouldn't pay and what our share would be.  Gulp...Gulp....  Then into the scheduling office where the girl explained that she was in training.  Today we meet with the anesthesiologist  and the first surgery is scheduled for the 20th.  On the 28th is the post op appointment and then we expect the second surgery to be sometime in June.

While we were in the doctor's office John Knoll called to say that they were at Picacho Peak.  They came up to visit and go to lunch.  I told them we were still in the doctor's office so we'd call them when we got out.  When we left the doctor's office we called the Knoll's and agreed to meet at the Olive Garden.  It is one of the Knoll's favorite places.

Everyone that knows me knows how challenged I am with the smartphones.  As we were leaving the office I called John and he didn't answer.  A moment later my phone rang and I was trying to figure out how to answer it before the call ended.  John said he heard my call but couldn't figure out how to answer it.  I managed to answer it and say we'd meet them at the mall.  Bill and I had a discussion and pretty soon John says "you forgot to hang up your phone."

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    After a nice lunch with the them we came back to our place.  We spent hours discussing apps, ringtones and how to use the calendar.

It was way too soon to say good by to them but they had a long drive back to  Green Valley.  They will be leaving for the summer in a few days.

We won't be making any plans on leaving until Bill has the second surgery but it will be so much better for him to have good eyesight.

Later........

Yesterday was an uneventful day.  We awoke to find that it had rained over night.  Needless to say, everything was wet while we hitched up.  We pulled out around 9 and decided to go home over a different road.  It was 46 degrees.  We took 260 to Payson and then the Beeline Highway.  The weather was great and we did see a lot of wildlife.  As Bill said, "more than in Yellowstone".  We stopped at the Casino for a bathroom break and then drove the rest of the way home.  The winds were bad, but we're getting used to it this year.  Bill and I both agreed the next time we drive up there it will be over the Salt River Canyon.

I backed the rig into storage.  Bill didn't help much other than to tell me if I was getting too close to the motorhome next to our site.

We didn't bother to wash the rig as it will be going to the shop this month to hopefully fix the lights.  Camping World had it almost 3 months and all they did was replace the lights.  They never found out the problem.  The over the bed light and all the bay lights don't work.

We found out today that my 93 year old Dad is going to the VA on Monday for blind rehab for a few weeks.  We'll be taking him down on Monday unless Bill is scheduled for his cataract surgery.  Tomorrow we see the doctor to schedule it.  

The road is looking inviting but we need to get Bill's eyes taken care of first.  

Later....

Today was spent at the show.  The doors opened to the public at 8 am which is an hour earlier than most shows.  We enjoyed talking to the people and were lucky enough to have the same people next to us at the last show.  

A newspaper reporter came by and took our pictures and names for the local newspaper.  They had a sign posted that the Elks had a steak dinner which included baked potato, beans, corn and bread for $12.00.  We decided to stay and try their dinner.  Our steaks were cooked perfectly.

Bill spend after dinner watching Dave air up his trailer tires and believe it or not we had the compressor.  Everyone thinks Bill doesn't have any tools, he just doesn't enjoy using them.

Later.....

Microbrewery

This morning was a shock to us.  It was 45 degrees outside but the rig warmed up in no time and Bill was able to get his shower.  Did I mention we have a thermometer in our bathroom?  Bill doesn't turn the shower on unless it is 72 degrees in the bathroom.

Dave came over to change our over the bed light to one with a double switch.  He needed some wire connectors so off to Ace we all went.  We stopped at the shopping area and Bill was able to find some Wrangler jean shorts for $10.

As we were returning we stopped at the lodge to see what time we could set up for the show.  Saw Jack unloading and stopped to say "hello".  He told us of a mutual friend, Eddie, who was in the hospital because he had a heart bypass.

We were inside setting up when my cell phone rang.  It was an Escapee newsletter editor, Hank Whitney, calling to tell us that another chapter member had died a few hours earlier.

I came back to the rig to let Sherry and Dave know about Tom Winters dying.  They weren't able to install the light so I found another project for Dave.  He installed a double towel bar in our bathroom.

We were just finishing up when Jeanne and Nick Schmidt pulled up to take us to Moose Henri's  for dinner. It was a really neat microbrewery and they had wonderful fish tacos.  Bill had a beer sampler.

After dinner Jeanne drove us to see where their lot was.  What a beautiful place!  It was nice seeing Jeanne and Nick again.

See Ya!

Salt River Canyon--May 2, 2013

Dale, Sherry, Dad and Jan

Today is my Dad's 93rd birthday.  We celebrated last Saturday with a trip to Red Lobster, his favorite restaurant.  The dining room at the Garnet (assisted living) was going to be closed for the day so we decided to on that day.

We went to Sundance, where we store our RV when we are vacationing at our house. Sherry and Dave were already hitching up and we were on our way before 9 am.  The winds were very bad early and the roads were very dusty.  We pulled the fivers through Florence, and then went east on 60 through Globe and the Salt River Canyon.  The winds were bad all day but the sun was shining and the views were spectacular for the passenger.  The curves and mountain roads didn't allow the driver much viewing of the scenery.

Sherry and Dave following behind us

Sherry and Dave arrived at the Elks before us.  Our new Rand McNally GPS took us the long way through Show Low.  We pulled into our reserved sites and walked up to the lodge to register.  Our site had a tree that was too low.  We changed to a different site and Sherry and Dave had to change because they couldn't find the key for their electric box.  We decided to go to a Mexican restaurant.

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Every turn was another beautiful view

We were sucking air when we saw the warning of the height for the tunnel