After our arrival in QV on Wednesday the 2nd, we heard reports of several storms heading for California that would bring lots of wind, rain and even snow our way. That rain didn’t come until late Saturday the 5th. When the rain arrived, it poured hard and didn’t quit until sometime late Monday night. The washes were running full and some roads were flooding and even closed. Flagstaff got lots of snow which revitalized their ski season. They are now hopeful about the chance to keep their ski season open until late April. If they don’t get a sudden warm up and have the snow melt, they should be able to stay open for quite a while.
Saturday the 5th started out cloudy and windy. It was cold enough to have our heater running and neither of us really wanted to go out and do anything. So I spent the entire day sorting through tons of pictures on an external hard drive and getting most of them labeled. The pictures I have on the drive go back to 1999. What a job, and I'm still not done!! I am using a program called Picasa to sort, organize, and label all of my pictures. I can ‘batch re-name’ them which really saves time. The program is also great for doing simple edits on pictures, like crop, straighten, brighten or sharpen the contrast.. I have cleaned up and fixed many, but still have lots more to do.
Sunday, after listening to wind and rain all night, we woke to find our phone dead (land line). Because there is no cell phone service in the park, we drove out to the highway so I could report the problem and was told that they would dispatch service right away and have it fixed by 7 that evening. We were going to go to church, but thought we should be at the coach in case Qwest needed to talk to us, so we came straight back to the coach and waited. At 1 pm the phone repairman called and said he had the problem fixed. As it turns out the line was being affected by all of the heavy rain, and we weren't the only ones in the park having problems. Because it was so nasty outside, we stayed in and played lazy for the rest of the day.
Monday was another day of rain, rain, and more rain. At 9 am we braved the weather and went to the park’s weekly coffee social. The park is full and so was the activity hall! Couldn't believe how many folks were willing to brave the rain and come up for coffee and a donut. While there, we get reports on weekly activities and up-coming events and tours. Plus it is a great time to visit with old (and meet new) friends. It rained all day long and didn’t quit until sometime late in the evening. Ken spent the rest of the day in the rock shop and I was mostly on-line.
Yea, Tuesday the sun was shining and the skies were clear. Ken went for a long hike checking one of the hills behind the park for a place to hide a cache. He is excited about the history of an old plane crash that happened back there and wants to hide a cache in the vicinity. Anyhow he was gone most of the day which gave me a chance to go through the back closet and some of my bedroom shelves. It is amazing the amount of “stuff” a person can accumulate in such a small area. I was able to toss a bunch of junk and get other “stuff” put where it really belongs. Oh yeah, it got up to 65 today!
Today was another beautiful day. We took a drive out on the back road and the dips were still full of water, but dispersing fast. Also did a mile hike checking on one of our very elusive caches (named Marky 34) in the area because the latest cacher to look for it couldn’t find it. We could have driven the Jeep in to it, but we just got it washed and we didn’t want to muddy it up. The walk was good for us and we quickly found the cache and saw that it was just where it is supposed to be and in great shape.
We are well and happy and hope every one else is the same!
January 9, 2008
January 4, 2008
Arizona for the Winter
Once again, we are back in sunny Arizona--well, it's sunny now, but there is supposed to be a storm coming through this weekend, and the temps will drop down in the 50s with rain, wind, and more rain. That is still better than the “freezing” temps we had in Salem.
Monday the 31st, we got up early in hopes of leaving Salem before the traffic got bad. At 6 am, Ken made a run to Safeway for some dry ice and found out the morning fog was freezing, and the streets were a sheet of ice. After considerable thought, we decided to wait in hopes things would thaw……well they didn’t, so ended up leaving on icy streets at 8:30. The fog and 28 degree temperature stayed with us all the way to Eugene. It was incredible to watch our radio antennae become a blob of ice as the fog froze to it. We watched the ice build and break off several times during that ride to Eugene.
Once in Eugene, we stopped for breakfast and I got on the Internet, via my cell phone, (how great is that??) and viewed the road cams on the Siskiyous and Willamette Pass to see which way we could/would travel. The Siskiyous looked good but we really didn’t want to go that way. Willamette Pass was packed snow and required chains from mile post 52 to 70. However, vehicles under 10,000 lbs, not towing, and with traction tires could go through without the chains. Since the worst area was only 18 miles and was only packed snow, not ice, we decided to head over highway 58 and through Willamette Pass. Thankfully, just south of Eugene the fog disappeared and we had sunny skies from there on.
Willamette Pass was a lot easier than we thought it was going to be. The snow was packed hard and covered with gravel which made great traction. The only trucks we saw were parked, either chaining up or unchaining, after they crossed the summit. Because of the hazardous weather warning, not many people were traveling that way, so we had most of the road to ourselves. At the summit, the temperature dropped to 18 degrees, but it still was sunny and clear. I took a couple pictures after we crossed the summit. These are taken through the Jeep windshield and not the greatest shots, but you can see how pretty things were.
Look, peaceful solitude...
This truck is unchaining after crossing the summit.
The rest of the day was uneventful. We drove through Chemult to Klamath Falls where it was 21 degrees. The lake was a sheet of ice, but the road was clear with lots of snow in the fields. We had snow all the way to Susanville, but roads remained clear. We arrived Susanville at 5 pm and stayed the night. It was New Year’s Eve, but we were way too tired to stay up and watch it come in. Plus, it was way too cold to go out anywhere (18 degrees outside).
Tuesday, January 1, HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! We were up really early and on the road at 6 am. Temperature was 20 degrees, but the further east we went, it bounced between 12 and 18...brrrrrrr. We drove on through Reno (20 degrees) and east to Fernly where we fueled up at $3.01 a gallon. As we traveled further south, snow was less and less, and finally gone a little south of Goldfield around Scotty’s Junction (Death Valley area). By this time, the temperature was in the 40s. Again, we took the side trip through Pahrump (west of Las Vegas) and this time stayed the night in a really nice motel. At 5 pm, It was 45 degrees...it was so nice we actually went out to dinner and enjoyed the evening (we didn't even need our coat).
The hotel where we stayed in Pahrump had a great buffet breakfast for its guests. There were scrambled eggs, sausage, pancakes, bisquits & gravy, along with fruit, toast, cereal, and a variety of drinks. We ate at 6 am and were heading out of town by 6:30. The day before, we did some geocaching from Beatty to Pahrump (found 11). Today, we started caching just outside of town and all through west Vegas on the old Las Vegas Boulevard to Jean on I-15. Even picked up a couple more caches near Searchlight. Even with picking up 32 caches, we still made it to Searchlight (north of Laughlin) before Noon. We fueled up there at $3.09 a gallon.
We quit caching at Searchlight because we still had a long way to drive to reach Queen Valley and wanted to get there before dark (didn't happen). Just south of Wickenburg, we cut across to I-17 then went off on the 101 east. We made great time until getting caught in 5 O’Clock traffic in the Scottsdale area. It took us an hour and 20 minutes to get from the Cave Creek exit (Cave Creek Rd) on 101 to exiting on the 202 near Tempe. After exiting on the 202, the traffic was much better, but still heavy. As we neared the end of the freeway at Power Road in Mesa, the going was much faster. Before going on to Queen Valley, we stopped for a bite to eat in Apache Junction, then fueled up at $2.97 a gallon. Also, we stopped for groceries in Gold Canyon and finally got to the coach at 7:30 pm.
It didn’t take long to get coach aired up to move the slides out, but unloading the car took a while (we were very loaded). In fact, we didn’t finish unloading until the next morning (Thursday).
Today, Friday the 4th, after running some morning errands in town, we are totally settled in and ready to get back in the swing of QV living. It is sooooo nice to be baaaaaacccccckkkkk!!
HAPPY NEW YEAR everyone!!
Monday the 31st, we got up early in hopes of leaving Salem before the traffic got bad. At 6 am, Ken made a run to Safeway for some dry ice and found out the morning fog was freezing, and the streets were a sheet of ice. After considerable thought, we decided to wait in hopes things would thaw……well they didn’t, so ended up leaving on icy streets at 8:30. The fog and 28 degree temperature stayed with us all the way to Eugene. It was incredible to watch our radio antennae become a blob of ice as the fog froze to it. We watched the ice build and break off several times during that ride to Eugene.
Once in Eugene, we stopped for breakfast and I got on the Internet, via my cell phone, (how great is that??) and viewed the road cams on the Siskiyous and Willamette Pass to see which way we could/would travel. The Siskiyous looked good but we really didn’t want to go that way. Willamette Pass was packed snow and required chains from mile post 52 to 70. However, vehicles under 10,000 lbs, not towing, and with traction tires could go through without the chains. Since the worst area was only 18 miles and was only packed snow, not ice, we decided to head over highway 58 and through Willamette Pass. Thankfully, just south of Eugene the fog disappeared and we had sunny skies from there on.
Willamette Pass was a lot easier than we thought it was going to be. The snow was packed hard and covered with gravel which made great traction. The only trucks we saw were parked, either chaining up or unchaining, after they crossed the summit. Because of the hazardous weather warning, not many people were traveling that way, so we had most of the road to ourselves. At the summit, the temperature dropped to 18 degrees, but it still was sunny and clear. I took a couple pictures after we crossed the summit. These are taken through the Jeep windshield and not the greatest shots, but you can see how pretty things were.
Look, peaceful solitude...
This truck is unchaining after crossing the summit.
The rest of the day was uneventful. We drove through Chemult to Klamath Falls where it was 21 degrees. The lake was a sheet of ice, but the road was clear with lots of snow in the fields. We had snow all the way to Susanville, but roads remained clear. We arrived Susanville at 5 pm and stayed the night. It was New Year’s Eve, but we were way too tired to stay up and watch it come in. Plus, it was way too cold to go out anywhere (18 degrees outside).
Tuesday, January 1, HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! We were up really early and on the road at 6 am. Temperature was 20 degrees, but the further east we went, it bounced between 12 and 18...brrrrrrr. We drove on through Reno (20 degrees) and east to Fernly where we fueled up at $3.01 a gallon. As we traveled further south, snow was less and less, and finally gone a little south of Goldfield around Scotty’s Junction (Death Valley area). By this time, the temperature was in the 40s. Again, we took the side trip through Pahrump (west of Las Vegas) and this time stayed the night in a really nice motel. At 5 pm, It was 45 degrees...it was so nice we actually went out to dinner and enjoyed the evening (we didn't even need our coat).
The hotel where we stayed in Pahrump had a great buffet breakfast for its guests. There were scrambled eggs, sausage, pancakes, bisquits & gravy, along with fruit, toast, cereal, and a variety of drinks. We ate at 6 am and were heading out of town by 6:30. The day before, we did some geocaching from Beatty to Pahrump (found 11). Today, we started caching just outside of town and all through west Vegas on the old Las Vegas Boulevard to Jean on I-15. Even picked up a couple more caches near Searchlight. Even with picking up 32 caches, we still made it to Searchlight (north of Laughlin) before Noon. We fueled up there at $3.09 a gallon.
We quit caching at Searchlight because we still had a long way to drive to reach Queen Valley and wanted to get there before dark (didn't happen). Just south of Wickenburg, we cut across to I-17 then went off on the 101 east. We made great time until getting caught in 5 O’Clock traffic in the Scottsdale area. It took us an hour and 20 minutes to get from the Cave Creek exit (Cave Creek Rd) on 101 to exiting on the 202 near Tempe. After exiting on the 202, the traffic was much better, but still heavy. As we neared the end of the freeway at Power Road in Mesa, the going was much faster. Before going on to Queen Valley, we stopped for a bite to eat in Apache Junction, then fueled up at $2.97 a gallon. Also, we stopped for groceries in Gold Canyon and finally got to the coach at 7:30 pm.
It didn’t take long to get coach aired up to move the slides out, but unloading the car took a while (we were very loaded). In fact, we didn’t finish unloading until the next morning (Thursday).
Today, Friday the 4th, after running some morning errands in town, we are totally settled in and ready to get back in the swing of QV living. It is sooooo nice to be baaaaaacccccckkkkk!!
HAPPY NEW YEAR everyone!!
December 29, 2007
Arizona Delay
We were planning on heading for Arizona today, Saturday the 29th, but due to unplanned circumstances, we won’t leave until Monday (New Year's Eve). Golly gee, it is so hard to believe 2008 is here already!
We hope you all had a peaceful and blessed Christmas like we did. On the 24th, we joined other family members at Don & Carol’s (Ken’s brother) for an early evening of sharing wonderful stories of past Christmases, great food, and good drinks. One of those drinks was some very special wine that Ken’s dad made over 35 years ago. We couldn't believe the wine was still good after all these years, but it was....just matured more (grin).
Later Christmas Eve, we were at our daughter’s home watching our 3 great-grand-children open presents (now that was a WILD time…lol). The little ones are ages 4, 2, & 1. Needless-to-say, they were very “exuberant” in seeing what Santa’s Elves left them. The “real Santa” was not due until sometime before dawn with their “special” stockings full of goodies.
Around 11 pm, Ken & I headed for Church and Midnight Mass. Before Mass, the congregation joined the choir in singing Christmas Carols. The sound was wonderful! After the Carols, we had a beautiful Mass celebrating the birth of Christ. It was a long, busy day, and we were very tired when we got home (1:30 am) but it all was worth it.
On Christmas Day, we picked up Naoma (Nomi) and took her to our daughter’s (LeighAnn) for our traditional “family dinner.” Nomi doesn’t eat much these days, but she happily ate snacks and most of her Ham dinner. We all were thankful when Tim’s, (our son-in-law) mom (Ann) arrived from California safe and sound. Even with all the snow in the mountains, Ann had fairly clear roads all the way from Redding. After dinner we set around and visited until it was time to take Nomi back to the Assisted Living Facility. She was tired, but glowing from the fun day. We are so thankful knowing Nomi is safe and well cared for in the facility. I don’t think we would be leaving Salem if she weren’t.
On the 26th, Ken went about taking down his many Christmas decorations. He did pretty well and had the majority of them cleaned and put away by late Friday the 28th. As I said earlier, we were planning on heading south this morning, but during Christmas we heard some funny noises in the Jeep’s engine. The noises turned out to be the power steering pump which was leaking. Ken kept it going over the holiday, but knew he would have to replace it before heading south. He found a new pump and replaced it, but the new pump continued to make strange noises. After talking with the pump supplier, Ken found out the bearings in the pump needed to be used a bit before quieting down….and yes, it has. However, should it again start making loud noises, it is under warranty, and any auto supplier will replace it. I guess we will put it to the test once we get on the road.
The main reason we won’t be leaving until Monday is on Christmas day, we received the very sad news that a close friend’s dad died. She and her husband had to fly to Texas for the funeral, and won’t be back until Sunday evening. We said we would watch their “baby.” The “baby” is a beautiful 6 year old chocolate Cocker Spaniel. We truly love having her and couldn’t see them placing her in a kennel. Our hearts and prayers are with Nancy and Wayne during this very sad time. We love you guys!!!
We are hearing (and seeing) that many highway passes are covered in snow, but hopefully, we will find a route on Monday where the snow isn’t too bad. Our thoughts are to travel east through Reno and Las Vegas then on to Laughlin and finally Queen Valley. However, until we start out and see what the roads are like, we won’t know the exact route. My cell phone is “Windows Mobile” ready (smart phone) and I can check the road cams as we travel south to see which highways are the clearest. I also can read and send emails from my phone. Isn’t technology great!! Of course, it is a cell phone and IF there is no cell service in the area, it won’t work.
There will be more news once we begin our trip south.
Until then, here’s wishing you all a very HAPPY NEW YEAR!!
We hope you all had a peaceful and blessed Christmas like we did. On the 24th, we joined other family members at Don & Carol’s (Ken’s brother) for an early evening of sharing wonderful stories of past Christmases, great food, and good drinks. One of those drinks was some very special wine that Ken’s dad made over 35 years ago. We couldn't believe the wine was still good after all these years, but it was....just matured more (grin).
Later Christmas Eve, we were at our daughter’s home watching our 3 great-grand-children open presents (now that was a WILD time…lol). The little ones are ages 4, 2, & 1. Needless-to-say, they were very “exuberant” in seeing what Santa’s Elves left them. The “real Santa” was not due until sometime before dawn with their “special” stockings full of goodies.
Around 11 pm, Ken & I headed for Church and Midnight Mass. Before Mass, the congregation joined the choir in singing Christmas Carols. The sound was wonderful! After the Carols, we had a beautiful Mass celebrating the birth of Christ. It was a long, busy day, and we were very tired when we got home (1:30 am) but it all was worth it.
On Christmas Day, we picked up Naoma (Nomi) and took her to our daughter’s (LeighAnn) for our traditional “family dinner.” Nomi doesn’t eat much these days, but she happily ate snacks and most of her Ham dinner. We all were thankful when Tim’s, (our son-in-law) mom (Ann) arrived from California safe and sound. Even with all the snow in the mountains, Ann had fairly clear roads all the way from Redding. After dinner we set around and visited until it was time to take Nomi back to the Assisted Living Facility. She was tired, but glowing from the fun day. We are so thankful knowing Nomi is safe and well cared for in the facility. I don’t think we would be leaving Salem if she weren’t.
On the 26th, Ken went about taking down his many Christmas decorations. He did pretty well and had the majority of them cleaned and put away by late Friday the 28th. As I said earlier, we were planning on heading south this morning, but during Christmas we heard some funny noises in the Jeep’s engine. The noises turned out to be the power steering pump which was leaking. Ken kept it going over the holiday, but knew he would have to replace it before heading south. He found a new pump and replaced it, but the new pump continued to make strange noises. After talking with the pump supplier, Ken found out the bearings in the pump needed to be used a bit before quieting down….and yes, it has. However, should it again start making loud noises, it is under warranty, and any auto supplier will replace it. I guess we will put it to the test once we get on the road.
The main reason we won’t be leaving until Monday is on Christmas day, we received the very sad news that a close friend’s dad died. She and her husband had to fly to Texas for the funeral, and won’t be back until Sunday evening. We said we would watch their “baby.” The “baby” is a beautiful 6 year old chocolate Cocker Spaniel. We truly love having her and couldn’t see them placing her in a kennel. Our hearts and prayers are with Nancy and Wayne during this very sad time. We love you guys!!!
We are hearing (and seeing) that many highway passes are covered in snow, but hopefully, we will find a route on Monday where the snow isn’t too bad. Our thoughts are to travel east through Reno and Las Vegas then on to Laughlin and finally Queen Valley. However, until we start out and see what the roads are like, we won’t know the exact route. My cell phone is “Windows Mobile” ready (smart phone) and I can check the road cams as we travel south to see which highways are the clearest. I also can read and send emails from my phone. Isn’t technology great!! Of course, it is a cell phone and IF there is no cell service in the area, it won’t work.
There will be more news once we begin our trip south.
Until then, here’s wishing you all a very HAPPY NEW YEAR!!
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