111, anyone.....

April 13 – 22, 2012

Still moving west and north, we didn’t pay attention to either the weather or the mountainous terrain ahead – we made a terrible miscalculation.  By not studying the maps and Googling the roadway ahead for tips from other RV’ers we missed essential information.  Frankly, my attention and intent had been focused on the past, instead of the present.  Good lesson in taking care of myself and not letting the Doug’s toxicity blanket my life.

That being said, we headed up, up, up to the town of Jerome.  It was snowing and every rise was a 90 degree switchback.  But that wasn’t all – the actual town of Jerome, which I thought I had read was a ghost town – was highly populated, and full of skinny switchbacks.  Narrow, narrow streets full of galleries and hotels, all reflecting the mining period that made the town what it is.  It was terribly treacherous.

As we continued to climb for the summit we noticed that Blue was once again not able to catch her breath – she had no “pull”, as Tony called it – and we were reduced to about 10 mph uphill, which was, of course, the way we were going.  We pulled off as often as possible to let the traffic by, but it was so difficult to get going again it proved counterproductive.  After much discussion I convinced Tony that our safety was at stake and we needed to pull over.  He agreed and we made lunch, talked some more about our situation, and decided it wasn’t hurting our travel plans to stay put for awhile.  We didn’t have any connectivity to try and see where the summit is, but we did look at the GPS, and saw nothing but switchbacks ahead.  There was a lot of traffic traveling uphill, the snow wasn’t sticking and in fact, seemed to be slowing, so we made the decision, together, that we needed to get over those mountains and get Blue inspected to find out why she was so lethargic.

It wasn’t that far to the summit after all – probably another four miles or so – until we were heading down the negative side of the same slushy, switchback-laden road.  It was terribly stressful but at least we were heading DOWN!  Into Prescott Valley we came, looking for the nearest repair shop.  As an aside, Prescott is pronounced PRES’ cut.  It was the prettiest valley  and we headed for a home repair shop down a dirt road that lead to…no repair shop.  Car off, painstakingly turn around, more Googling of repair places – and, where are we staying?  Don’t know.

After some negotiating and study we settled on a county park, but soon found there were showers but no power; beautiful place too.  Up the road was Point of Rocks, a private park, that we settled into.  Another stunning geography with the same kind of rocks as in NM at City of Rocks SP.  We snuggled in, Roku was out and happy, laundry done – and started looking for an RV repair place.  We settled on Alliance RV Repair in Prescott which turned out to be a fantastic experience.  Not only were they available to check the fuel filters, et al, they extended their hospitality by offering us a place to stay…with power and cable!    The angels sung.  265 channels.  Oh happy days!

As they were ordering parts and chemicals, we were able to enjoy cruising the town and do a little eating a shopping – both extremely pleasurable in this friendly, lovely town.  We enjoyed a coffee shop across the street and met an 82 year old gent who still races bikes – tandem!  I uploaded and updated this blog, then hit an antique mall and spent quite a bit of time talking with the owners who were NY transplants.  Also picked up a few good deals to resell on eBay.  Ate at a local diner the next morning which was outstanding, went back to see how repairs were going.

Dinner Bell Diner in Prescott, AZ

House on Rocks in Prescott, AZ

Lake and Rocks, Prescott, AZ

Prescott Rocks

The outcome of the reduction in power we were feeling was algae in the fuel tank – very common.  It was clogging the fuel filters, thereby starving the engine of diesel; hence, a reduction of power.  Our mechanic, an old salt named Lee, was on it.  As soon as the parts came in, he buttoned it up and we were home free.  We reluctantly left this lovely town and again continued north and west on good old Route 66.

Not many decent places to pull an RV into on this minimized desert icon.  After cruising the town of Seligman – pronounced Sel IG’ man -   lots of stores selling everything Route 66 and bikerbelia, we found an acceptable park to spend one night.  I picked up a few things as gifts and made a friend along the way – Maryann.  We spent a long time talking about men and their odd ways.  Very satisfying.  We also had a burger at the famous White Cap.  An interesting fact – almost every store has a ledger to sign.  As I flipped through it I noticed that probably 70% of the visitors are from outside the states  -  tons of Europeans, Australians, Asians.  From talking with the vendors they affirm that the world outside of the US is obsessed with Route 66 as it typifies old fashioned Americana. 

Western Kingbird in Seligman, AZ

The park proves to have very friendly staff with stories of their own, with their “park” set behind the general store; a large dirt lot with a few permanent folks.  Parked us between two of the permanent people who informed us of all the feral cats in the area, all of whom they feed.  We know that Roku isn’t the most social of cats when it comes to the feral kind so were wondering how he would handle this situation.  As usual he surprised us and was curious but stayed away from them.  He watched those 11 cats quite a bit with a look that seemed somewhat empathetic.  He was very snuggly and lovey too, as if thanking us for the home he has.  I fed the cats too, some wet food which they wolfed, and filled their water dish. 

Took off the next day for our destination of Bullhead City which sits on the Colorado River.  Across the river is Laughlin, NV, where the gambling and casinos are.  We stopped in Kingman to pick up our forwarded mail and enjoyed that small town experience too, with some espresso and quiche as fuel.  Arriving in Bullhead took us down the longest grade I’ve ever seen – eight miles of 40 degree slope – drops you into the dry, dusty environ.  The river does run through it, however, saving what could be another desert dump into a water-filled activity center between Lakes Meade and Havasu.  The park’s saving grace is the $10 a night fee, the fantastic pool and very friendly people.  We even found a cadre of Washingtonians here!  Sweet. 

Have been very lazy here just staying inside and catching up, hitting a buffet at a casino, swimming, hot tubbing, cruising the two towns.  We found the Firehouse Coffee Shop which accomplished four things for us – wifi spot, a/c, great food and coffee along with outstanding staff.  The wifi was crucial as I was putting in an Avon order (yes, I’m a representative!) for the samples I need to bring in customers.  I’ve received samples for the really great skin care products they have, for aging skin, and have to say I’m very pleased with the results.  I have messed my skin up with the constant sun, so am trying to be kinder to it by cleansing and conditioning.  Seems to be working!

The a/c portion of Blue is very important as this area is experiencing an abnormal and record temperature high of over 100 degrees.  What???!!!  Yes, yesterday was 106, today will prove to chill out at about 104.  This is an unsafe temperature for anyone, and for us northwesterners it is terrible.  You really just run from a/c to a/c, however, Roku was another matter.  He stayed outside under Blue most of the time, but we felt he wasn’t drinking enough water or being cooled down enough.  Blue was boiling hot even with the a/c running every daylight hour so we think he knew best how to stay as cool as he could.  We left water outside for him and his door open so that he could figure it out, but on our return from OUR a/c rich coffee shop, we found him breathing hard and lethargic.

TC suggested, wisely, that I put water on him, which he won’t normally tolerate.  As I wetted down his head and back he didn’t move at all; when I soaked his front paws he licked and licked and we felt we were making progress.  He eventually went outside, probably still 85 or 90 at 6:30 pm, and stayed under Blue.  Tony sprayed down the entire area hoping to give him a cool place to lie down.  We stayed inside to monitor him and sweltered, really miserable, going over the maps and camping park books to try and get out of here a day early if we can find some cooler weather – by cooler we mean anywhere under 100.  By the late evening we had decided to stay and try and keep the kitten as cool as we could throughout the day, and continue our plan to leave on early Monday morning. We’ve decided to skip Nevada and head for Cali, as NV doesn’t offer much in the way of scenery or parks, and gives us a lot of mountain passes to negotiate in the heat.  Opposite spectrum from snow, but just as deadly for Blue, and us.  So, another laundry day, pick up my meds and meet a local vendor for gifts for my great nieces.  And a swim.  Or two.

Sunday, April 22, 2012

Another hot day ahead and lots of errands on my part.  I offered to leave Ton-Ton home with Kitty-Boy but he needs to travel at all times!  Walmart to pick up prescription – surprise! – not filled!  Again!  So I canceled.  Met Kim at her store to pick up gifts for Siri and Elliott, my great nieces.  Sent pictures to their grandmother, my seester Dawn, so she can tell me how cool they are.  Safeway for sparkling water and cookies.  Bored yet?  Back for laundry, get in a fight about a broken washer and load adjustment, and who has really done laundry longer.  He was right, I was wrong, but I didn’t fess up.  During all this I took this picture before it went up two degrees:

Into pool with a group of new-friends-we’ll-never-see-again and lounged around blabbing for several hours.  Lovely, lovely.  Faith and Logan, the young newlyweds we met two nights ago showed up too, so we got to catch up, and I gave her the bracelet-turned-anklet I had been inspired to make for her.  So very cute, both of them, their lives in front of them.  We all went home to eat then they came over to hang later – had a grand time playing music and yakking.  We’re now FB friends so can stay in touch – very cool.  She’s the only girl of six brothers, a bullriding (saw the pics, and yes!), tobacco chewing, tomboy with an angel face and a tough core.  Logan was in the Navy, a proud and smart young man who loves his bride.  They’re moving to Longview, OR near his parents as they heard of more job opportunities up north – they’re originally from Cali near Porterville.  We wish them so well!!!

Got an early start this morning on our way to Pahrump, just past Las Vegas about 50 miles.  Old neighbor Courtney Lamm now lives here but wasn’t available to see us so we’re lounging at a lovely park.  It’s a winery and RV park with a pool and hot tub, and a five star restaurant.  Can’t get much better than that for us.  Roku wasn’t moving after the drive so we went for a swim….a ran into three more Washingtonians – Yakima, Colfax and XXXXX – one of whom we had paddled with in Bullhead City.  First time in almost 10,000 miles we’ve run into a familiar face.  They were all very funny and we laughed and laughed.