Highlights of our trip

We have returned to Victoria after 69 days having travelled 7,912 KM in 69 days (115/day average).  The trip has been longer than we might of planned because we do not get to move into our newly purchased townhouse until April 12^th. .

There have been many highlights and it has been especially interesting to me to become more familiar with the history of the development of the US West, visiting the states of Washington, Oregon, California, Arizona, New Mexico and Nevada.

We thank friends for suggestions that helped with our itinerary.

Some spectacular scenic routes have included: Through Death Valley (California), Lake Tahoe (Nevada) , the Willamette Valley (Oregon), Highway 99 (California – an alternate to I5), Emory Pass to Silver City (New Mexico).

Some favorite places visited: White Sands National Monument, City of Rocks State Park , Grand Canyon, Death Valley, Las Vegas and Tubac.

Special  Places for Lucy:  Many forest camp sites  and some hikes where she could be off lead and the sandy Pacific Beach at Fort Stevens National State Park in Oregon.

Best hiking: Catalina State Park (near Tucson) and the Romero Canyon Trail, Leasburg Dam state park, City of Rocks state park, the Grand Canyon, Cattails state park, Sabrina Canyon (near Tucson).

Best biking: Fort Stevens National State Park, Catalina State Park, City of Rocks state park, the Grand Canyon (you can put your bike on a bus for one way trip), Westgate Landing County Park.

Excellent Museums: Columbia River Maritime Museum (Astoria), The Hoover Dam, Willan Heritage Museum (Salem), Manzanar National Historic Site ( site of Japanese internment camp).

Favorite sights: The Grand Canyon, Hoover Dam, Lake Havaseau (old London Bridge), San Xavier Mission (Tucson), Mesilla (historic town near Las Cruces New Mexico), White Sands National Monument.  

Favorite Parks: Catalina State Park, Cattails State Park, City of Rocks State Park, Rockhound state park, Lone Pine County Park, Westgate landing regional park, Leasburg Dam state park, Schoolhouse campsite (Roosevelt lake), Hoon National Forest Park, Emigrant Lake Regional Park (Ashland).

Some cultural experiences: Verdi Requiem (Tuscon),  Broadway celebration (Las Vegas), Rigoletto (Live at the Met), My Fair Lady and the Taming of the Shrew (Ashland Shakespeare festival).

Of interest to some:  We kept a record of all expenditure for the 69 days. It cost us an average of $103 per day. Of this 28% was spent on gas, 28% on food, 23% on Parks, 4% in RV costs and 18% miscellaneous.

Day 69 Back in Victoria

We arrived back in Victoria on Monday 25th of April. A calm crossing in the COHO ferry from Port Angeles. We spent the last night in the parking lot of the ferry along with 6 rigs who were waiting for the 8.20 ferry.

Prior to this we enjoyed the Fort Stevens State Park in Oregon where there is about 10 miles of paved bicycle paths. We were able to embrace the Pacific Ocean on the nearby beach and Lucy had a great time with another Dachshund.

We went into Astoria and I visited the best maritime museum that I have ever been to - the Columbia River Maritime Museum. It has its own purpose built museum building  and includes not only a lot about crossing the Columbia Bar but also the history of exploration including Captain Vancouver's finding the entrance the the Columbia River.

We then headed for Shafer State Park that was east of Highway 101 and a park that had been established in 1922.  The campground was still closed for the winter months but the Park Ranger drove in while we were there and said we could park for the night (dry camping) in the day recreation area.

From there it was about a three hour drive to Port Angeles.

That was the end of our 2013 nomadic gypsy life!

Day 65 Harrisburg, Oregon

We are now at an RV site on the Willamette River at Harrisburg in Oregon.

We spent four nights at Ashland and grew to like the community. It has of course the Shakespeare festival which has performances for about nine months of the year.  It also has a university, interesting shops and restaurants - arty shops and it appeared a lot of alternate health services - yoga, herbal remedies etc.  There are great bike paths but the weather did not permit venturing on them for this visit.

The best camp site was the Emigrant Lake recreational area - overlooking a lake and one night we were the only campers. We had also one night at an RV park named Glenyan which was crowded and in need of maintenance. The last night we just parked on a quiet street we had scouted out that day. Since we did not get out of the play till 10.30 pm it did not make sense to go to a camp site. We just drove the RV from a parking lot to the quiet street.

"My Fair Lady" was superbly performed. The setting created was a stage within a stage with two pianos and the cast changing their costumes for the different scenes. The Ascot scene was particularly well done with the hats descending from the roof on wires. The audience loved Freddie singing and humorously performing  "I have often walked down this street before".  It is always interesting to see how the end is performed. George Bernard Shaw wrote Pygmalion in 1912 and he always insisted that Eliza maintained her independence at the end where others wanted her to either marry Freddie or Higgins.

It reminds on that in Britain it was not until 1918 that the Representation of the People Act 1918 was passed, enfranchising women over the age of 30 who met minimum property qualifications. The Representation of the People Act 1928 extended the voting franchise to all women over the age of 21.(Thanks to Wikipedia)

The setting for "The taming of the shrew" was Padua, Italy and the dress 1960s.  Great acting but not as good as Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor! It is often so difficult to keep up with all the dialog and plots and sub plots but always a pleasure to see a Shakespeare play written between 1590 and 1592.  Here is the Wikipedia link:   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Taming_of_the_Shrew

In listening to Kate's words it did not sound like the original Shakespeare but I found the text that I think was used.  I hope I provoke discussion by quoting this which is a realistic transliteration of the words that Shakespeare used in the 16th Century!  How things have changed for men and women since that time!

KATHERINE: Girls, girls! Wipe those frowns off your faces and stop rolling your eyes. This disrespectful stance toward the man who is your lord, your king, your governor tarnishes your beauty the way the frosts of winter blights the land. It mars your reputations as whirlwinds shake fair buds. And in no sense is it fitting or attractive. An angry woman is like an agitated fountain—muddy, unpleasant, lacking in beauty. And in this condition, no one—however dry or thirsty he may be—will stoop to sip or touch one drop of it. Your husband is your lord, your life, your keeper, your head, your sovereign, one who cares for you and who, for your ease and comfort, commits his body to harsh labor both on land and sea. Long, stormy nights at seas he stays awake, by day he endures cold while you lie safe and warm, secure in your beds at home. And in exchange he seeks no more from you but love, kind looks, and true obedience—too little payment for so great a debt. A woman owes her husband the same loyalty a subject owes his king. And when she is peevish and perverse, sullen, sour, and disobedient to his honest wishes, what is she but a loathsome, warlike rebel and an ungrateful traitor to her loving lord? I am ashamed that women are so foolish as to declare war when they should plead on their knees for peace, that they seek authority, supremacy, and power when they are under an obligation to serve, love, and obey.  Why are our bodies soft and weak and smooth, unfit for toil and trouble in the world, if not so that our soft qualities and our hearts should agree with our external parts? Come, come, you weak, ungovernable worms!My spirit has been as proud as each of yours, my courage as great, and my reason perhaps even better suited to bandy words back and forth and exchange frown for frown. But now I see our weapons are like straws, our strength like a straw’s weakness, and our weakness past comparison, so that we seem to be the thing we most are not. Humble your pride, then, since it’s useless, and place your hand beneath your husband’s foot. As a gesture of my loyalty, my hand is ready if he cares to use it. May it bring him comfort.

To-morrow we continue on further north and to-morrow evening we may spend two nights at Fort Stevens State Park at the mouth of the Columbia River. On Sunday we will continue on to Port Angeles with the idea of getting the 8.30 ferry from Port Angeles to Victoria on Monday. We have booked into the West Bay Marina and RV Park for a month during which time we will be moving our household contents (which have been in storage) into the Townhouse we have bought on April 12th.

Yours in pursuit of great RVing.

Shaun (and Penny and Lucy).

Day 62 -Ashland Oregon

It is day 62 – Monday 18th March and we are at Ashland, Oregon

We have slowed down because we managed to get tickets for “My Fair Lady” and “The Taming of the Shrew” at the Ashland Shakespeare festival for to-morrow and Wednesday. 

Last evening after trying to find another Forest Service campsite near Mount Shasta without success (it was still snowed in) we moved on and camped at an excellent pubic RV site with full hookups beside a reservoir called the Emigrant recreational just six miles south of Ashland.

The day before thanks to a splendid map obtained from AAA called “Public Lands Campgrounds”, Northern California we found a campsite called Dusty beside Lake Britton just north of Burney, California. We could have stayed at a nearby California State Park. However California State Parks are surprisingly expensive to stay in (unlike Arizona and New Mexico) and this Dusty campsite seems to be free.  In addition there is no one here – it is like being at a remote anchorage!

After our last posting from Topaz Lake we stopped at Gardnerville before heading up to Lake Tahoe.  We did not expect that there is a 7,334 ft pass on the way! Lake Tahoe is remarkable for its history and for the clarity of the water – visibility down to 70 foot depth. We proceeded around the east side, stopping for a stroll down to the lake and then on to Truckee (in California) over another summit of 7,179 ft.  Truckee is an historic railroad town with a main street of tourist type of Boutique shops.

That night we dry camped again at Boca Lake (a reservoir) – at about 5,500 ft. There was ice on the RV in the morning. It was another isolated campsite with only one other camper nearby – the sort of place we really enjoy.  An added advantage of these type of sites is that Lucy can be let free to run whereas commercial and state parks have all sorts of restrictive pet rules such as being on the lead all the time.

From Boca Lake we took Interstate 80 and passed through Reno and onto Highway 395 heading north again.

At Susanville it was time for another RV park, shopping and laundry but the WiFi (usually another reason for stopping at an RV park) was intermittent.

We  had two days travelling the “National Scenic Byway” through Lassen Forest. Very little traffic, excellent road surface, and much more enjoyable than most of the Interstate highways.  It is clearly a managed forest with selective logging having been carried out regularly, from the appearance of the tree stumps.

That evening we found a National Forest Service campsite called Hoon just south of Hat Creek. We were beside the gurgling creek and were the only campers in the site. Very pleasant and relaxing!

Day 56 - Topaz Lake, Nevada

We came back into Nevada from California to-day partly because the price of gas is so much less here!

After Las Vegas we headed north along highway 95 (mostly flat desert – a prison and an airforce base along the way) as far as Beattie, where we turned left down 374 into Death Valley in California.

We firstly climbed to Daylight Pass at 4,316 feet then descended through desolate but spectacular hills to Stovepipe Wells Village which is 5 feet above sea level and just before it we passed a sign that said sea level!

From there we climbed again to Towne Pass at 4956 ft. From here it was a steady descent to Lone Pine at 3727 ft where we found a very pleasant rural campsite for “dry camping” and only three other vehicles in the site.  Lone Pine has an excellent interagency information center.

We then headed north along highway 395 – the eastern Sierra Nevada Scenic Route.  A special surprise was finding Manzanar – a National Historic site - where 11,070 Japanese Americans were relocated to, from the California Coast between 1942 and 1945. Superb photographs and descriptions of the life in this camp.  This was just before Independence where we had lunch at “Jenny’s Café”.

I was greeted there by a senior public health nurse who said “I used to work with you”. I had known her between 1984 and 1989 in the Vancouver Health Department. She was visiting relatives in Independence.  We spent a short time, but not long enough, reminiscing!

We proceeded to Bishop where there was an excellent bookstore. I got a little carried away and bought “Civilization” by Niall Ferguson (2011) whose book “The Ascent of Money – a financial history of the world” I had previously enjoyed.  I also bought “Pakistan on the Brink – the future of America, Pakistan, and Afganistan” by Ahmed Rashid (2011).  He has written a book “Taliban” in 2000 which I had read.

Seven miles beyond Bishop we found another “dry” campsite – Pleasant Valley County Campground. It was hot – up to 81F at 6pm before the sun went down. Unfortunately there were a few biting mosquitos. We were beside a stream.

What is of special interest is that we were passing through the Owen’s valley. This valley from 1908 onwards became part of the Los Angeles water system by the acquiring of land and water rights that enabled the development of the Los Angeles Region. To-day the residents of the valley are very resentful of the effect it has had on farming and particularly when the water authority started pumping ground water as well as using the surface water. For more details see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Los_Angeles_Aqueduct

To-day we proceeded North in the Inyo National Forest Area. Continued fine weather and spectacular views of the Sierra Nevada snow capped mountains to the west and Sierra California mountains to the east.  We passed through Sherwin summit pass at 7000 feet, Deadman summit at 8041 ft, Conway summit at 8143 ft and Devil’s gate summit at 7519 ft.  The Ford 6.8 L , 10 cylinder engine had no problems (apart from gas consumption!).

Shaun, Penny and Lucy

 

Day 53 - Hoover Dam and Las Vegas

We stopped at the Hoover Dam.  The plans for this Dam were developed in 1922 and an agreement was completed between the states served by the river (mainly California, Arizona and Nevada) for the water rights. In 1928 Congress passed the Boulder Canyon Project Act authorizing the construction of the Dam, which was completed in 1935.  Lake Mead was created which is America’s largest man-made reservoir.  We had a very informative tour. What interested me is that the lake level is very low. We were told that the legal agreements are that the dam has to supply so much water to the states involved and some to Mexico. So, in spite of the 12 year drought (low levels of snowmelt feeding the Colorado river) the water must be released. The other interesting fact is that the operation and maintenance of the facility is fully funded by revenues from power sales. The dam generates over 2000 megawatts of power – enough to serve about 1.5 Million people.    

Las Vegas is a short distance from the Hoover Dam and we booked into Sam’s Town Hotel and Gambling Hall RV site.  I wanted Penny to see the Las Vegas Boulevard (also known as the Strip). We had coffee and a waffle at Caesar’s Palace and went to a show “Broadway Celebration” at New York, New York Las Vegas Hotel and Casino. The show, in a fairly small theatre, was impressive – slick and good fun.  We then walked down the “Strip” in the dark to get the free shuttle back to our RV Park.  The crowds, the extraordinary numbers of Casinos, the glitz is something one may want to view once in ones life. I went to a conference here about 20 years ago but Penny had not seen it before.

We will head onwards north to-morrow into California again and through part of Death Valley.

Shaun, Penny and Lucy. 

The Grand Canyon

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Days 47, 48 and 49 – the Grand Canyon.

After the Roosevelt lake campsite we visited the Roosevelt Dam. The first dam was completed in 1911 as part of the Reclamation Act and was known as the Salt River Project. The original dam was funded by the landowners and resulted in the development of the Phoenix area. President Theodore Roosevelt dedicated the dam on March 18^th 1911.  In 1996 the dam was raised by 77 feet to increase flood storage.  At this time a spectacular  bridge was built to bypass the road over the original dam and many recreational sites were created around the edge of the new lake level. Currently the lake is only 47% full and it seems that there has been a drought for the last 15 or so years so the extra height of the dam may not have been needed.

The next night we dry camped in Clear Creek campground - a National Forest campground at Cape Verde.  We were surrounded by large plain trees. There was a well worn trail beside the creek.

The following day we made our way up the scenic highway through Sedona, which has spectacular red rock vista surrounding it, to Flagstaff which is at 7000 ft. Here we needed a night in an RV site with hookups, Wi Fi and laundry nearby.

There are three ways up to the Grand Canyon Village. We chose highway 89 then 64 so that we could enter from the east and see the Desert Viewpoint and the Watchtower (built in 1932).  Also on the road into the village is an interesting Tusayan Museum and ruins giving the history of a settlement that existed in about  1185 AD.

On our second day we took the free bus (it is included in the $25 per vehicle you pay to enter the park) – about 8 miles to the west along the canyon rim.  The bus runs every fifteen minutes and carries bicycles so I was able to bike back while Penny rode the bus. There are many stopping points where one can view this spectacular colorful canyon, for me much larger than I had imagined, and you can see the Colorado River and rapids 3000 feet below.

We were fortunate to make friends with Dick and Nicky from Vancouver, Washington. On the third day Dick and Shaun hiked 2040 ft down about three quarters of the way into the bottom of the canyon and then up again. It took four and a quarter hours and was 6 miles (9.6km). It was a great sunny day and the temperature quite moderate. Penny and Nicky  and Lucy walked around the Grand Canyon village at the canyon rim on some excellent trials for 3 ½ hrs.  Hiking down into the Canyon it was interesting to meet different parties who were hiking and camping for a week, four days, two days and one day. We also encountered mule trains which is how some people travel to the base of the canyon which is about 3000 ft down.

We enjoyed our three days at the Grand Canyon and are now at Kingman, Arizona. From there we will visit the Hoover Dam and then plan to spend a night or two in Las Vegas.

Day 45 - a special camp site

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Last evening we found ourselves in a campsite, named “Schoolhouse” on the shore of Roosevelt Lake in the Tonto National Forest. 

We had come up highway 70 from New Mexico – a route that takes one through varied desert scenery including valleys with productive farming. The irrigation is by controlled ditches and either is ground water or comes from nearby mountains.

There is an interesting system of registering in these campsites (which have no hookups) so it is “dry” camping. You pick up a sort of scratch and win type of card from a local store for $6 then scratch out the date and time and display it in the windscreen.

We arrived at this campsite to find it completely deserted – no other campers. It was incredibly quiet and peaceful. (Like being at a remote anchorage!).  We sat out in the sun – it was about 70F and we were greeted by a bright red male Northern Cardinal bird who played around the campsite. Meanwhile Lucy was off lead (which is not possible in most camp sites) and she had a great time exploring. 

The weather has been clear blue sky for several days now. When the sun went down (about 6pm) we went inside for supper. There was no wind.

Then when it was completely dark, before the moon appeared, we experienced a superb view of the night sky, the milky way and many stars of which we were able to identify a small number.

We were about 100 miles north east of Phoenix.

We have found the Audubon field guide to Southwestern states a great help for bird identification and it even has star maps.

Yours in pursuit of enjoyable wilderness camping.

Shaun, Penny and Lucy.

Day 42 - City of Rocks State Park NM

Yesterday was day 42 or our planned 84 day RV trip (1/2 way) prior to moving into our newly purchased townhouse in Victoria on April 12^th.

 We were at the City of Rocks State Park, New Mexico – a park recommended by several friends and other RVers.  It is characterized by an unusual rock formation – vertical tower like rocks in the middle of desert country.  There are ten campsites with electric and water hook up and then 45 “dry” camping sites.  It is at an altitude of 5200 feet.

After Las Cruces we firstly visited nearby La Mesilla Historic town. It was established as a Mexican town after the 1848 treaty of Guadalupe that ended the Mexican-American War. However after continuing disputes about the border with Mexico, soldiers raised the U.S. flag in the Plaza on November 16^th 1854 marking the signing of the Gadsden purchase – the last major territorial acquisition within the contiguous United States.

We then traveled further east to spend half a day at the White Sands National Monument which was established by president Hoover in 1933.  A remarkable formation of sand that is composed of Gypsum (anhydrous Calcium Sulphate).  In one area there was a Jamboree of many Cub Scouts and their families from the region. It was good to see the children having such a great time playing on the sand as if it was snow and tobogganing down the dunes. 

This was our furthest point east.  From this point we are heading west and to-day crossed the continental divide again (6500 feet) from the east to the west.

We then spent two nights at the Leasburg Dam State Park.  This is adjacent to the Rio Grande and the site of a dam established first in 1908 to divert water from the Rio Grande and enable the development of a rich agricultural valley.  On the second day there was a major windstorm and dust storm and each night the temperature dropped to below the freezing point. However with clear blue skies it only takes an hour or so for the temperature to rise rapidly as high at 70F later in the day.

We decided to take a scenic byway to get to the City of Rocks Park and travelled through Lake Valley, Hillsboro and Kingston. Hillsboro was originally established after the finding of gold. We had not realized that the route took us through Emory Pass at 8228 feet. It is in the Gila national forest and the Mimbres mountains. Amazing views from the pass and interesting to be in a forest of fir trees.  There was a fair amount of snow on the side of the road from the weather system the day before.

At the City of Rocks we enjoyed a day of hiking and bird watching. We identified Gambel’s Quail, White-Crowned Sparrow, Canyon Townhees, Bendire’s Thrasher, Blackthroated Sparrows and a Cactus Wren. The early part of the day was great for hiking before the wind got up.  

Now we have moved on and are at Lexington Pines RV Park at Safford, Arizona where there is Wi Fi and a chance to do some laundry.

On the way we visited Silver City (5900 ft) where there was an excellent museum showing the extensive mining that has occurred in the area starting with silver in the 1880s. To-day nearby is the second largest copper mine in the U.S.   

We are heading in the direction of the Grand Canyon which we hope the weather will permit us to see at this time of the year.

Who goes RVing?

As relative newcombers to RVing in North America it is fascinating to see who is on the road.  The vast numbers of RVs you see here particularly in Arizona and New Mexico is amazing. The best book I have found on the subject is “Frommer’s exploring America by RV” by Shirley Slater and Harry Basch. 

Firstly you see all sorts of modes of transport and camping from tenting, to VW Campers, to Type B (Van conversions), Type C (like ours – a truck chasis with space over the cab) to Type A (bus like vehicles that can be up to 50 feet long and be towing a car or trailer). And then there are separate trailers (caravans) and fifth wheels towed by the appropriately sized truck.

All have their pros and cons and listening to people many have owned several sorts over the years. We started with tenting in the 1960s, then a tent trailer in the 1970s and a 16 foot trailer (caravan) in the 1980s and now in 2013 a 26 foot Type C Motorhome on a Ford chasis with a 6.8 L V10 engine.

The Frommer book defines 12 different types of people who go RVing.  One they call Garbo Gourmets ‘They like to be alone together luxuriating in the best life can offer. They dislike tiptoeing through creaky B&Bs or suffering second-rate food and service at expensive hotels and resorts preferring to carry their own wine and food, sleep in their own beds, and select their own surroundings by serendipity”.  Penny agrees some of this applies to us.

Other types we have encountered and some partly apply to us : Sportsmen – golfers, fishermen etc,  Weekenders,  Ecotourists (birdwatching, hiking, biking etc), Relatives,  Retirees and Empty Nesters,  Pet lovers (it seems at least 1/3 of RVs have dogs!), Special event attendees  (We have seen RVs towing trailers with their Harley Davidsons, Nascar race cars or ATVs), Snowbirds and Full-timers.  We would also add those who like being nomadic whether it is on a sailboat or in an RV. We  know a number of them.

You can get all sorts of information from RV  magazines and web sites but I would recommend the Frommer book to anyone contemplating RVing or who is intrigued buy the amazing spectrum of people who are on the road.    

Day 40 Las Cruces New Mexico

After Tucson and area which we really enjoyed we carried on heading east.  Amazingly before leaving Tucson I was able to see at the local cinema near the Catalina State Park  Live Opera from the Met in High Definition. The opera was Rigoletto by Verdi and the setting chosen was Las Vegas in the 1960s. A great performance.  The following day we had tickets for Verdi's Requiem performed by the Tucson Symphony Orchestra and Chorus at the new Tuscon Music Hall.  It was the final concert in the two week "Tucson Desert Song Festival". This year was the inaugural festival and it is planned to repeat it each year. The performance included four soloists all who had sung at the Metropolitan Opera in New York.  I am putting this festival on my "Bucket" list in case one might be tempted to go to it in future years. There is even a direct flight to Tucson from Victoria.
We have just spent three nights at Rockhound State Park near Deming in New Mexico. State parks in Arizona and New Mexico are impressive - it is so nice to be at a park where there is space between the sites. At commercial sites you are often quite close to other vehicles. Most of the state parks also seem to have electrical and water hookups but not sewer.
The only trouble with the last week is that the weather is breaking all records for being cold. Yesterday the high was 47F and the low 26F. We were however at an altitude of 4550 feet. The water input hose has frozen solid on several nights and we have to wait for the sun to come up for it to unfreeze.
We are now in an RV Park in Las Cruces, New Mexico to do laundry and catch up on Emails etc.
This is probably the farthest east we will go but we do hope to visit White Sands National Monument before heading in a westerly direction.
Shaun, Penny and Lucy.

Day 31 - Catalina State Park, Tucson

It is day 31 and we have now been five nights in Catalina State Park in the Coronado National Forest only about 30 miles to the North of Tucson. The contrast between staying in the Voyageur RV resort is striking. At the Voyageur which is about 10 miles south of Tucson we experienced a retirement community of RV’s and manufactured homes that many Americans come to for the winter. There were multiple organized activities and very friendly people.  As well as visiting the Gem show, I went to the Air and Space museum and then the separate “Boneyard” storage space for all US Military Aircraft.  There are more than 6000 mothballed aircraft – some in a state that can be put back into service or sold to foreign governments. The Museum had an amazing number of different aircraft from the second war onwards. One has a greater understanding of the military might of the US air, army and navy air forces and of the influence of the “Military Industrial Complex”. There was continuous jet plane noise, during the day, at the RV site as the “Warthog” (twin jet single seater aircraft whose principle purpose is to deliver the firepower of a powerful rapid firing cannon).

Here at the Catalina State Park we find we can do many of the things we do at home!

On the way here we took the tram up the Sabrina Canyon and did about a 2 ½ mile hike in the desert amongst the Saguaro’s - many of which are more than 200 years old. As the educational pamphlet says “The Saguaro has been called the monarch of the Sonoran Desert, supreme symbol of the American Southwest, and a plant with personality. It is renowned for the variety of odd all-too-human shapes it assumes – shapes that inspire wild and fanciful imaginings.”

Yesterday, which was a clear cloudless day I went on a 10 mile hike up the Romero Canon Trail. From chats with other hikers it seems many people come to this area for the hiking. Penny did a couple of short hikes with Lucy – a birding trail and a nature trail.

There are a remarkable number of small birds in the camping area - we have identified a Gila Woodpecker and a Mourning Dove but our birdbook is not comprehensive enough for the identification of several very colorful small birds.

It rained one day and so we found that we were ten minutes from a large shopping area with a movie theatre complex so we went to see “Quartet” with Maggie Smith and Tom Courtney. Greatly enjoyed!

We will be here for another two nights, then to hear Verdi’s Requiem in Tucson and then we plan to head into New Mexico!

Shaun, Penny and Lucy.

Day 21 Tuscon

From Buckeye we headed for Tucson to meet up with friends Christine and Hugh (from Victoria).  Hugh had flown back to Victoria for a week to deal with some medical issues.
On the way to Tucson we spent half a day at the highly recommended Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum.  Included in the museum are examples of all the desert flora and fauna, a hummingbird display, a live flying raptor exhibit, several animals (like mountain lion), a cave exhibit, an aquarium etc. There were many visitors who come back frequently and it is a privately supported Museum with many volunteers, docents etc.  On the way to Tucson we passed by Old Tucson and may go back and visit this movie set which is now translated into a tourist exhibit "where the spirit of the old west comes alive".
We are now at Voyager Hotel and RV Resort for a week parked besides Christine's 5th wheel and appreciating her orientation to Tucson. The annual Gem Show is on and visits are being made to this huge international annual event located at several sites south of Tucson. 
This resort has about 1500 sites - mostly "manufactured" homes but also RVs which are either visiting or permanently here. What is impressive is the many activities that occur on a daily basis. There is a woodworking shop with the latest equipment and special rooms for multiple arts and crafts. This evening we are going to  be playing duplicate bridge. It will be the fifth time we have played bridge on this trip. (We were fortunate to find people to play with at two previous RV parks) They have a weekly get together here for Canadians (also for several US states) and even a discussion group on Economics and World history that I might go to. 
At the end of the week we will go to another Arizona State Park called Catalina just north of Tuscon.  On Sunday 17th the Tuscon Symphony and Chorus are performing Verdi's Requiem which we have tickets for.
The weather is clear - up to 70F during the day but cool at night.
It is nice to relax a bit and spend a week in one place.
Yours in pursuit of continued RV Adventures.
Shaun and Penny and Lucy. 

Day 17 Buckeye Arizona

From Needles we crossed into Arizona traveling through dry desert county. The first surprise in Arizona was the price of gas was at least a dollar cheaper per US gallon than in California. We paid $2.99 per US Gallon which by my calculation is 80c per liter! 
We stopped in Lake Havasu where a developer created an instant city in about 1964. It is where the London Bridge was rebuilt and is of course a tourist attraction. We walked across the bridge and bought a couple of post cards.
Historically it is of interest that the damming of the Colorado River made such a difference to the opening up of this area and of southern California. The Hoover dam was built between 1931 and 1936 as part of the New Deal program initiated by President Franklin Roosevelt. The Parker dam which created Lake Havasu was built between 1934 and 1938.  The dam provides drinking water to areas of southern California by using Hydro electric power generated to pump water up to enter an aquifer that then flows downhill. Of special interest was that the agreements for the water require that the dam maintain the level of lake Havasu between 440 and 450 feet.  From the boating facilities we observed there must be large crowds in the summer. The water temperature reaches over 80F and the air temperature can be 100-120F.
After four relaxing days at Cat-tails Cove RV park, with some great hiking along the lake and through the desert we moved on.  The RV park which is an Arizona State Park is is highly recommended and has received a number of awards - including a recent one for the maintenance of their sewage treatment plant!
We needed to be at an RV park with good internet so we are at Lake Verde RV resort at Buckeye Arizona. The overall impression here is that our little 26 foot Class C Motor home is completely dwarfed by the extra ordinary 5th Wheel and large Class A Motorhomes.
It is bright and sunny still but cool for this time of year in Arizona.
We were relieved to-day to find that the selling of our house all went through without a hitch!
Best wishes to all,
Shaun and Penny and Lucy.

Day eleven - Needles California

^{From Visalia we contined south to Orange Grove RV Park at Bakersfield. A very well run park where you could pick your own oranges - up to a grocery bag full - which we did in about 15 minutes.
The next day we headed east and stopped for a coffee at Boron. One of the largest Borax mines in the world is located here. Who knows how much Boron or Borates are used in many products worldwide - glass for insulation, textile fiberglass, Pyrex, crystal, both liquid and powder detergents, bleaches, soaps, ceramics, enamels etc. etc. Here is a link to its health effects and benefits:http://www.webmd.com/vitamins-supplements/ingredientmono-894-BORON.aspx?activeIngredientId=894&activeIngredientName=BORON
We stopped an Domingo's Mexican and Seafood restaurant in Boron and Domingo himself showed us the many pictures he had of astronauts and pilots from the nearby Edwards air base. We then visited an interesting air and space museum. They even had a picture of a Spitfire but the guide did not think that Spitfires had flown out of Edwards air base. We carried on East on Highway 40 and found a spot to stay two nights at Desert View RV Resort in Needles, California which is on the California / Arizona border. It has rained overnight but it is moderately warm 65 degrees F. To-morrow we will head for Lake Havasu City and have booked into Cat-tail Cove State Park for three nights. We will not have Wi-Fi during this time.}

History of California from 1825 onwards from Wikipedia

Starting about 1825 the Mission Indian population started decreasing rapidly, as Indian deaths far exceeded births. The various acquired diseases and abuse of the Mission Indian population caused them to decline from over 80,000 in 1820 to only a few thousand by 1846. This process was sped up when in 1834–1836 the Mexican government, responding to complaints that the Catholic Church owned too much land (over 90% of all settled land in California), secularized (dismantled) the Missions and essentially turned the Indians loose to survive on their own. Most of the Indians went from doing unpaid labor at the Missions to doing unpaid labor as servants in the pueblos or workers on the ranchos. Other Indians returned to small Indian settlements in the sparsely settled Central Valley and Sierra Mountains of California. As the Mission Indians rapidly declined in population and the Missions were dismantled, most of the agriculture, orchards, vineyards, etc. which had been raised by the Mission Indians rapidly declined. By 1850 the Hispanic (Spanish speaking) population had grown to about 9,000 with about 1,500-2,000 adult males. By 1846 there were about 2,000 emigrant non-Hispanics (nearly all adult men) with from 60,000 to 90,000 California Indians throughout the state. Beginning in about 1844 the California Trail was established and started bringing new settlers to California as its relative isolation started to break.
The Mexican–American War began in May 1846, and the few marines and bluejacket sailors of the Pacific Squadron and the California Battalion of volunteer militia had California under U. S. control by January 1847, as all the pueblos in California surrendered without firing a shot. In February 1848 the war was over, the 25 years of Mexican rule with over 40 different Mexican Presidents was over, and the boundary disputes with Texas and the territorial acquisition of what would become several new states were settled with a $15,000,000 payment agreed at the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo.
The California Gold Rush, beginning in January 1848, increased California's non Indian, non-Hispanic population to over 100,000 by 1850.This increased population and prosperity eventually led to the Congressional Compromise of 1850 which admitted California in 1850 as a free state—the 31st.

Day nine update

We are in a KOA camp site in Visalia, Southern California, near the Sequoia National Park. First time for internet for a few days. We have been taking our time and three nights ago we found a wonderful remote County Park called Westgate Landing near Lodi. We spent two nights there and were glad to wind down a little after the house clearing and first few days of this trip.  We were the only camper that had been to the Park since the beginning of the year. The site was behind one of the Levees which had been constructed in the Sacramento valley in the late 1800s to create large areas for agriculture. There were some great birds including Sandhill Cranes and white Egrets. The Levee was great for bike riding.
Now we will head along Highway 40 into Arizona with a view to visiting Lake Havasu and beyond.
Yours in pursuit of the Gypsy life,
Shaun, Penny and Lucy in "Lucy's Lair".

History of the Oregon Country

It was very interesting to visit the Willamette Heritage Center in Salem Oregon. The Methodist Missionaries first settled here in the 1830s having sailed around Cape Horn. 

Jason Lee was the first Missionary and was appointed by the Methodist Episcopal Church as a minister to the Indians. After about a year’s worth of fundraising and other preparations, Lee and four co-laborers (Cyrus Shepard, Courtney Walker, Philip Edwards, and nephew Daniel Lee) joined the second expedition of Nathaniel Wyeth when it left Independence, Missouri, for Oregon in April 1834. Following a journey of four and a half months, the Lee delegation arrived at Fort Vancouver on September 15, 1834. While originally sent to minister to the Flatheads, Lee found upon his arrival that “the real Flat Head Indians were few in number, and had no settled habitations.” Additionally, Dr. John McLoughlin, the Hudson’s Bay Co. (HBC) chief factor at the fort, recommended to the missionaries that they select a mission location close to Vancouver so that they could ensure protection in the event of an Indian attack. Accordingly, Lee decided to settle in Kalapuya country, about sixty miles south of Fort Vancouver, along the Willamette River, northwest of what is today the town of Brooks. Here, in fall 1834, the missionaries built a barn and the original mission house, which was used for schooling, church services, and“domestic purposes.” 

Some earlier history:

On November 18th 1805 the Lewis and Clark expedition arrived at the mouth of the Columbia river and established fort Clatsop.

David Thompson (for the North West Company)  explored the length of the Columbia River arriving at Fort Astoria in 1811.


Prior to 1810 the Oregon Country (otherwise known as the Columbia District) was occupied by British and French Canadian fur traders. It consisted of what is to-day British Columbia, Washington, Oregon and parts of Montana, Idaho and Wyoming. 

In 1818 it was agreed that the Oregon Country would be shared between Britain and the United States.

In 1846 the Oregon treaty settled the dispute by establishing the 49th parallel as the boundary between British territory and the US.

The 1846 treaty was in part agreed because of the American settlement of the area and it appears that the Mission established by Jason Lee.

The museum and buildings brought alive this part of history. There is attached a museum of a wool mill that was established on the site.  

In 1859 Oregon became the 33rd US state.

An unusual event at lunch time on January 17th

We stopped for lunch and a rest at Woodburn, Oregon. We were trying to have a nap and then there was a lot of noise and voices and we found ourselves hemmed in by the US Army on manouvers - we felt very safe!

Victoria Harbour on January 16th 2013

This was the view of the Empress Hotel in Victoria Harbor as the homeless couple left on the Coho Ferry on January 16th!

We made it to Salem Oregon on Day Two of our travels

On Tuesday the movers took everything out of our house and are putting it in storage for three months. That evening we treated ourselves to dinner at Blighties Bistro on Oak Bay Avenue in Victoria. It was a much better meal than what we had experienced at Camille's on New Years Eve. Our bridge friends who have a tradition of meeting on NY Eve might consider Blighties in the future. 
After the dinner, we met many friends and listened to a great presentation titled "Glaciers, Grizzlies and Gumboots - three summers in SE Alaska by Tricia and Jim Bowen - the monthly meeting of the Bluewater Cruising Association. http://www.bluewatercruising.org/. Having been twice to SE Alaska on Polyandra this talk reinforced the idea of a third voyage - perhaps in 2014. The round trip from Victoria is at least 3500 NM and takes at least three months.
That evening we slept in the RV in the driveway! On Wednesday we completed the cleaning of the house and then went aboard the Coho ferry at 4 pm to Port Angeles in Washington State.
The Victoria Harbor looked splendid in the evening sun and the one and a half hour crossing (the same time it takes to cross the English Channel) was amazingly calm. 
We had supper at the Corner House Diner in Port Angeles (great seafood) and then did something that we had heard many RVers do - we spent the night in the Walmart parking lot (for free of course). It served the purpose and we left at 6 am this morning heading south via Olympia and Portland to Salem Oregon. As soon as we reached Oregon the foggy, cool weather cleared and it has been a very pleasant sunny afternoon after we checked into an RV park here in Salem. (Phoenix RV Park).

The technologies of RVing to-day.

I am sure we are not as technically fluent in to-day's world as some but it amazes me how technology and electronic communications will be assisting us in our RV travels for the next three months.

Firstly there will be weather forecasting and web cams. We are four days away from leaving and I can view the web cams on Interstate Highway 5 at Grant's pass - the pass between Oregon and California where we encountered a snow storm when we went to Disneyland with the family in the 1970s. At that time we had to drive out to the coast road to avoid the pass but our friends the Stott's who were travelling with us and were ahead of us were stuck in a snowdrift for several hours.

We will be able to connect to the internet to read news and Emails several times a day if needed because coffee shops along the route usually have Wi-Fi. This will not be the case when we are in remote "dry camping" sites in the desert in Arizona and New Mexico.  However we have to empty the holding tanks after a few days so that will mean going somewhere where we can connect.

When at a "dry camping" site we have a gas powered Honda generator (that I also use on the boat) that will provide us with 110V so that we can watch DVD's in the wilderness. (Another episode of Downton Abbey?!)

Other technologies on board include a TomTom GPS navigator. We found this invaluable last summer for finding addresses. One remarkable experience was finding our way through New Jersey to the RV site from where we could see the Statue of Liberty and from where we were a ten minute ferry ride to Manhattan Island.

Instead of carrying CD's to listen to while travelling we have many of them on an IPod which we can play through the RVs radio.  Talking books are great when underway. One particular one "The Anglo Files : a field guide to the British" by Sarah Lyall we particularly enjoyed and plan to listen to it again. Sarah Lyall was a journalist who used to write for a New York newspaper and married an Englishman and then moved to England. She very humorously describes many English habits, behaviors and customs that she had to adapt to. 

We will be taking less books because I have some on an IPad. Penny however still prefers hard backs.

I also now have a lap-top Mac Book Pro that I acquired as a family hand me down and will enjoy using that for writing and for internet access.

A year ago Penny was given her own IPad2 by the family when they moved to Ottawa. She has had this in the kitchen and she talks to the Grandchildren in Ottawa several times a week via Apple's Facetime (which is Apple's version of Skype).  Whether we can do this from the RV remains to be seen. Sometimes we have found that Wi-Fi connections in RV sites are slow and do not permit easy video communications.

Of course the RV itself has all sorts of technical things that need attention - a fridge and deep freeze that run on 110V and Propane, hot water heater that runs on 110V and propane, a Propane heater, Propane stove and oven, a microwave that only runs on 110V etc. 

You have to enjoy maintaining this sort of stuff if you are going RVing (or boating!). For me I call it "Occupational Therapy".

Getting ready to leave

We will probably leave in five days time on the ferry from Victoria to Port Angeles in Washington State.

It has been somewhat stressful but for relaxation we have been watching again the first and second series of Downton Abbey. We wanted to view them again before watching series three which has just started airing in North America. We will have to wait till we get home in April to watch series three which we have purchased from BBC America.

Why is Downton so enjoyable? Firstly the plots created within the series by Julian Fellowes are superb. The scenery of course is spectacular and reminds one so much of a lot of British History. The actors of which there are about 20 each have such unique characters which are so well played. The dramatisation of human interactions both "upstairs" and "dowstairs" seems so true to life. One can see it in to-day's social interactions without the label of being "upstairs" or "downstairs". And then there is of course Maggie Smith, the Dowager Duchess who says things which no-one else could say!

Selling ones house of 21 years, downsizing and getting rid of a lot of stuff, having the movers coming in the day before we leave to take all the boxes we have filled and put them in storage for nearly three months has taken a lot of time. Then there is all the legal and banking stuff to be looked after.

However five days before departure we think we are ready. There is of course quite a lot of last minute packing to do.

We will be well connected by cell phone, by Email and by postings on this Blog for the next three months although if we are out in the desert in Arizona or New Mexico we may be out of contact for up to a week. We will be leading a vagrant, nomadic, Gypsy life!

Who knows were our travels will take us but we are aiming for Southern California, Arizona and New Mexico.

To-night it is forecast to b -2C in Victoria and +3C to-morrow. We will be heading south until we find warmer weather!