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.
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| Dinner Bell Diner in Prescott, AZ |
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| House on Rocks in Prescott, AZ |
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| Lake and Rocks, Prescott, AZ |
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| 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.
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| 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.
