Utah and Salt Lake City

During the night we were awakened by the drumming of rain pounding on the roof. Reminded us of home! We finally got up at 7:45, the weather seemed to be clearing

Before we left the rest area Art phoned a Jeep dealer in Salt Lake City and were told to bring the Jeep in. We were  on the road at 9:20 the day now looking quite pleasant. No idea why it takes us so long to get moving.

We were driving along and over the Bonnyville Salt Flats, miles and miles of dead straight road on quite a pleasant day now. As we got a little closer the dry flats became very shallow lakes, we're guessing due to the recent rain. The reflections made for some nice scenery.





11:30 we arrived at the Jeep Dealer in Bountiful. and received excellent attention. A service rep looked at Jeep, discussed likely cause of problem, showing Art that the door seal had in fact been replace in the past following a service bulletin concerning a problem with the originals! The problem did seem to be in the top seal which was not placed exactly right and had therefore been deformed and was probably diverting water inside. He ordered the part and we are scheduled for an appointment of 2:00 PM tomorrow assuming the seal arrives from Denver! The weather between here and Denver however is not the greatest. Tomorrow will tell.

Just before lunch time (remember we eat late!) we were settled in at the Pony Express RV Park a few miles away. While disconnecting the towing arrangement Art noted splashes of oil on the Tow Shield on the front of the Jeep. On further checking he could see a small leak of red transmission fluid under the rig. Seems to be coming from a hydraulic line from either the slides or the stabilizer jacks. We are hoping that it is in fact the hydraulics and not from the transmission. The hydraulic system uses transmission fluid so it is hard to be sure.

On the bright side, the park is very nice, very clean with spacious concrete pads for the rig and the jeep and grass and shrubs between each site, laundry open 24 hours, and the entire park surrounded with a walking trail.  (The photo was taken next day)


The weather could be better though! Rain, cold wind, in fact the wind gusts were so strong we were loath to deploy the satellite dish. The weather forecast not good.  Even using the 4 letter S word!  AAAAGGGGHHHHHH!

The park has cable TV with all the major US Networks so Art had connected that along with the power, water and sewer lines. One problem: the Toshiba TV in the front won't respond to the remote. We bought a new remote last year but it doesn't work either! We can adjust on/off, sound and inputs using the buttons on top of the set but we cannot change channels without the remote! However the small bedroom TV works fine so we were able to catch local news and weather there.

The rest of the afternoon was spent first of all by Art taking a long nap while Gillian took the dogs along the walking trail. Later some more internet time and then the wind dropped enough for the satellite dish so we watched the news from home, steak for dinner with wine, a Scotch or two to follow, a little more TV and so to bed.

Tuesday

More driving rain over night but it cleared for the most part by mid morning. The Hydraulic tech was supposed to call about 10:00 and hadn't so at 10:30 Art called him. Recording answered so he left a message and was called back within half an our our so. The tech was running late and would be here in an hour or so.

Gillian took the washing down to the laundry and got it started, the tech showed up about 1:15 and soon diagnosed a leaking fitting on one of the hoses to the bedroom slide. Unable to repair the end, the hose needs to be replaced. All 25 feet of it!

As Art is typing this, the tech is under the rig removing the old hose which he will take to the shop to duplicate (Length DOES matter in this system). Gillian has headed off to the Jeep dealer for the top seal  repair and will lunch somewhere in town while waiting and do some grocery shopping on her way back.




We have pretty much written off Nebraska this trip. When we leave here we will likely cross to the south east corner of Utah, perhaps to Bluff, a small old historical town we have visited several times before. When we leave will depend on the weather and the hydraulic line repair. The forecast for later in the week in the south of Utah is very good; sunny and temperatures in the 70s.

Well the hydraulic leak was fixed, replaced 25 feet of hose at almost $10.00 per foot plus time. The hydraulic hose was deteriorating and leaking at the fitting. There was also a crack in the outer cover about halfway along. The Jeep repair was covered on warranty. Hopefully the rain leak has been fixed. Unfortunately according to the weather forecast we might be able to test it soon--if it doesn't snow!

The evening news here advises that the snow level will likely reach the valley bottoms as early as tomorrow morning and if not then, by Thursday. The high today was about 7C according to the thermometer in the Jeep when Gillian took it in for the service. The clouds have been moving lower all day, there is s little more snow on the nearby hills than there was when we arrived. The good news is that it is forecast to improve for the weekend. We will decide in the morning if we are moving south or not. We will be heading for the southeast corner of Utah, through Moab and on to Bluff. Meanwhile we have just come in from grocery shopping, dinner is under way and rain is falling on the roof. Time for a drink.

Susanville to Utah

9:10 AM we set off once again, our route today to be through Reno Nevada and follow the I-80 as far as we could manage in the day. Not sure how far we would get.

In line with our plans to head through southern Wyoming enroute to Nebraska, Art set the GPS to direct us to Cheyenne. He wanted to see what route it would suggest through the Salt Lake City area. As we left highway 395 onto the I-80, Gillian began to laugh at the GPS instructions for out next turn: Turn Left in 800 kilometres! We wouldn't be doing that today!

No matter where we stopped it was likely a long tiring day. The road is good but it gets high as it nears Utah and Art didn't want to spend the night high in the mountains with a risk of morning frost.We joined the I-80 at mile 15, at the Utah border the mile marker is 410.


The weather was good, sunny with some high cloud but the solar panels were re-charging the batteries nicely.

At mile 175 we stopped for fuel and a lunch break. After filling the tank--51.5 gallons, $223.50--Art move the rig to a parking space as the signs directed then went in to pay for the fuel and fill his coffee mug. Gillian stayed in the rig (She had already walked the dog while Art was fueling) making sandwiches for lunch.


When Art got back Gillian said "Well that was weird!" :

She had heard the door open and said "That was quick!" and turned to the door. Trekker meanwhile had jumped off the bed and was standing facing the door. A stranger stepped up one step, and then turned and left the rig without saying a word, closing the door behind himself. Trekker seemed surprised but was not upset. Gillian thinks he too thought it was going to be me.We're not sure if he had seen me leave and not lock the door or if he had entered the wrong rig by mistake. There was a bus parked next to us. Still it was a bit unnerving!



We left Flying J, Gillian driving and Art navigating (napping) until the next exit an hour and a half or so later where we switched back again. Meanwhile Art noted the GPS was still telling us that we would arrive in Chyenne at 5:16 AM and that we had done almost half of the 800 kilometres it noted earlier in the day!





We also were making good mileage. The Silverleaf reporting  our recent mileage at 10.8 while our mileage from home this trip was 9.0 US MPG -- almost 11 MPG using Imperial measure. Better than my nephew's old pickup truck!

The rest area we thought we might stop in for the night was closed! Well the sign said there was another one is 36 miles so we carried on. We must have miscalculated because we adding 35 to the milemarkers we figured that the stop should be at the Utah border. There was no sign of it!  According to the road atlas the next one was an hour away!


A few miles later we saw flashing red and blue emergency lights a long way ahead. As we got closer we noted that they seemed to be off the highway a little. Then we saw the sign Rest Area 1 Mile! At Mile Marker 10, there was the rest area and yup, the flashing lights were in the rest area!  We pulled in anyway and as we began to enter the Truck and Trailer parking area we realised that most of the spaces were taken up by a helicopter and and ambulance!

We managed to change our turn into the car parking area. We parked at the far end. Gillian took the dogs out for a break while Art wandered over towards the helicopter and ambulance. As he approached he was met by the helicopter pilot. Art said with a grin "I'm not one of your usual Looky Lous, I did this for a living for more than 30 years and almost miss it". He and the pilot had an interesting chat for several minutes exchanging a few stories then Art left as they began to load the patient into the helicopter for a flight to Salt Lake City.  Art remembers his work fondly but he is enjoying his retirement even more!

A few semis pulled into the car area, most of them getting out their cameras for a picture! Anything to offset the boredom!

Other than the trains rolling past regularly we passed a reasonable peaceful night after a long day. We had arrived at 6:50PM.

Albany to Susanville

Saturday morning we woke to more drizzle, but at least we didn't have to break camp in the rain. The most difficult chore was coiling the 30A extension cord in the cold.

On the road at 9:15, the decision made to head south, the drive was quite pleasant. The rain had almost disappeared, just the occasional drizzle. We pulled off at Grant's Pass to fuel up at Fred Meyer's shortly after noon and an hour later stopped for lunch at the last Oregon rest area.


Soon were grinding up the hills toward California. We were delighted to see all the road condition warming sign unactivated and soon we were rolling down the far side of the Syskiou pass. Weather was much better, we could even see the very top of Mount Shasta without it's usual cloud cover. We noted though that there was very little snow on the peak, it seem to be much less that in previous years.

At the city of Shasta we turned left onto highway 89. This was where we had had a mechanical issue some years ago with a faulty oil sensor. Gillian thought that we should plan to overnight at the RV park we had stayed at that time but Art hoped to get as far as Susanville tonight; we were in the mountains and it would be cold at night. We were trying to remember the place we had broken down and the RV Park just a few kilometres further on but somehow we sailed right on past! Looked like Art was going to get his way this time! He still felt fresh for the extra two hours or so of driving it would entail and at 6:20 we pulled into the Walmart lot in Susanville. Like many Walmarts they welcome RV Overnighters and this one even had marked RV parking places.

Art was keen to try the new batteries so the inverter was energised and the controller set searching for the ShawDirect satellite. The idiot box was soon entertaining us. We left it on for several hours, until after the  10:00 PM news on CHEK TV, our home TV station. The batteries lived up to expectations; voltage dropped a little of course but not much. We could never have done this with the previous ones. The big draws are the TV (We'll pay attention to current draw when we get a new one) and the furnace fan motor.

Still in Albany

At least the weather is good! The last few days have been bright and sunny, only a little morning fog that burns off quickly. There is a nice park near by actually within walking distance for Gillian and the dogs, complete with ducks and geese much to Trekker's delight. We have booked into the RV Park for another night, taking the opportunity to do a load of laundry and we each took long leisurely showers while we had lots of water and a dump station at hand. Then of course Art had to empty the black and gray tanks and replenish the fresh water.

We have an unusual motorhome beside us, quite striking. We had no idea what is was, it looked a lot like a bus but there is no manufacturer's name anywhere. Yesterday Art met the owner and we learned the details. It was a Los Angeles city bus in the 70's and the owner has stripped it and completely rebuilt it himself into this beautiful motorhome. It is powered by the original Cummins engine to which he has added a Jake brake and an Allison transmission. The owner has lived in it for 20 years.

Friday morning we woke up to rain! Art spent part of the morning fighting with the computer. It won't run YouTube videos. Not that that is necessarily a bad thing! After consulting Mr Google he decided that it was a conflict between Firefox and Adobe. He removed Adobe 11.4 and downloaded 10.3 Or at least he tried to! The download would proceed so far then stop. After several tries he chanced to look in the Download folder to find Adobe 10.3 from the original download! The installation took seconds and was successful! YouTube videos now work!


 At 1:00 PM we received a call from the Service Manager at McKay Truck and RV that the awning had arrive, bring in the rig! We had the option of spending the night at McKay's but booked into the RV Park for yet another night at the RV park for comfort and the internet.

We dropped the motorhome off, went to lunch,a used book store (see next paragarph), grocery store, liquor store and at 4:30 we picked up the rig, happy with it's new awning!

Gillian had forgotten to bring the cook book for the bread maker and Art of course loves used book stores. This one was huge, with a terrific stock. Gillian found a couple of suitable books and Art found one he had been looking for quite a while. Plus another of course. It's been a long time (if ever) that Art walked out of book store with only one book!


This is what the awing looked like when we dropped the rig off:

I'll add a pic of the new one when I remember to take one! Too dark at the moment!


Back in the RV park we put the slow cooker back on--dinner will be a bit late tonight! On the internet we began looking at road and weather reports. We planned to head east on State Route 20 towards Bend and across Oregon to Idaho. This is what we found for the route between here and Bend, which includes a pass at 4678 feet:

"Saturday, rain and snow showers likely. Breezy. Snow level 4000 feet. Snow accumulation of 1 to 3 inches. Pass winds west 15 to 25 mph. Chance of precipitation 70 percent. Rainfall amounts a tenth to a quarter of an inch." 

We'll check again in the morning but it looks like we'll be heading south for a bit longer. We were thinking of heading quite a bit east this trip to add a couple of the midwest states; Nebraska and south from there. Now we'll have to have a good look at the road atlas.

Back on the road south!

We had taken advantage of the delightful summer that finally arrived after a particularly poor cold damp spring and the motorhome was now pretty much ready to go. The outside bins had been reorganised and repacked, the rig washed and waxed (thanks to a couple of energetic young neighbours); all that remained was the clothes, food, computers and other electronics, etc, etc etc.  Art had also purchased 4 new deep cycle 6V batteries to be installed when the new battery trays are done. For the moment they will travel on the floor of the Jeep in front of the rear seats.





On Friday, the day the rain started, Art moved the motorhome parallel to the house, 90 degrees to the driveway, in order to be able to get it level enough for the fridge. (RV fridges are an absorption device that use a circulating liquid/gas system rather than a compressor and need to be level to work properly and to avoid costly repairs.) Once the fridge had cooled down ( at least a day) we could start loading the perishables. Not that there would be a lot, what with the risk of loosing food at the border.

Of our last 5 nights at home we only had to cook twice! One night we were invited to our next door neighbours for dinner (Always a treat!) Saturday Art's niece and husband came to town and took us to an excellent dinner at Il Traviata, and on Sunday we went out with neighbours just back from the UK and our house sitter Jan and her friend.

After returning home Sunday evening we still had some laundry to do so it was still a couple of hours before we could go to bed.

Monday 15 October

We were up at 6:30, hoping to be on the road by 7:00. Of course it was 7:15. Good news was there was no sign of rain!

Gillian set off in the Jeep, Art right behind in the motorhome. Within a few hundred feet after leaving the driveway Art heard a loud BANG!  It seemed that he had forgotten to retract the door awning! The fabric looked a little worse for wear and the metal trim was a bit bent, but when the switch was pushed it retracted just fine. We'll get the guys at McKay Truck in Albany to have a look. We have to go there for the battery trays anyway! When Art told Gillian, her comment was "Well, more blog fodder"!

We had a rushed breakfast at the Days Inn Restaurant across the street from the ferry, taking most of it back to the rig in a carton. We have to be and remain in the terminal area at 9:00 AM for US immigration and inspection.

The crossing was calm and pleasant, though the cafeteria was cold--the aft door was open! Once we had finished our Mocha we moved to the midship lounge.

On arrival in Port Angeles Art handed his passport to the agent who asked if there was anyone else in the vehicle. Art replied that his wife was somewhere behind him in the Jeep. He asked were we were going and for how long, Art said that after a week or two crossing the US we were going to Mexico and would be back April 1st. The passport was handed back and Art was on his way.

A short distance down the road Art found a place to park on the side of the street and waited for Gillian to arrive. She soon pulled in behind and within 5 minutes or so the Jeep was ready for towing and we were on our way.

Before long the clouds gathered and a bit of rain began to fall. All in all though it was quite pleasant the temperature about 17C. We arrived at The Tides Restaurant near Hoodsport, our long time habitual lunch stop on this route. Back at the Ferry terminal we had recommended The Tides to several groups of fellow passengers so were not too surprised to see three of them there.

We chatted a bit then ordered our lunch; cup of chowder and an oyster burger for Art and a bowl of chowder for Gillian. And coffee of course. As usual the food was very good and we were on the road in the rain again.

Today's trip seems to be composed of several distinct phases: Home to the ferry and the crossing to Port Angeles, the drive down the 101, both of which are usually quite pleasant. The next bits just have to be done: The I-5 to Portland, the I-205 around Portland, and the I-5 again.

 Olympia was soon behind us, we're now southbound on the I-5 in quite heavy rain for most of it along with strong gusts of wind. The wipers were struggling to stay on the windshield on the driver's side. We maintained about 55 MPH without obstructing the traffic too much. At one of the rest areas we pulled off to change drivers to give Art a short rest. Trekker wasn't too impressed with the trip at this point. An hour later just before the I-205 exit we swapped back.

It was approaching 6:00 by this time and the worst of the rush hour was over. We never actually came to a stop though it was quite slow for a few miles. At 7:00 PM we stopped for half an hour at a rest area to walk and feed the dogs and by 8:30 we had arrived at McKay Truck in Albany, though we had overshot by a couple of exits and had to double back! Fortunately we had been here before this spring as well as last year so once off the freeway we knew exactly where we were and more to the point, where McKay was!

McKay Truck is set up for RVs to stay the night with a few spaces outside the gate and a couple inside the compound. Inside there is power and water available and they have a sanidump.



Tuesday morning, Art was into the Service Managers office at 7:45. He was the second one in line! Serves him right for unlocking the door before the 8:00 AM opening time!

Everything confirmed, we set off for breakfast after which Gillian dropped Art off back at the shop waiting room while she walked the dogs.

The rest of the afternoon was taken up with grocery shopping and lunch from the deli at Albertsons. Gillian took the dogs for another walk around a lake in a local park while Art had a snooze in the car.

Rig was ready, so back to the shop. The batteries were a tight fit but went in without having to modify the trays. They were even able to reuse the original cables.  The only thing on the list not completed was the awning--waiting to hear on the availability of parts.

Then to Knox Butte RV park where we booked in for two nights. Tomorrow the Jeep goes to the local shop to see if they sort out the nasty wind whistle from the soft top, not to mention the water leak!

Dinner in the motorhome, breaded cod, spuds and veggies. Perfect for the cold night! The satellite dish found the satellite but the front receiver wasn't working though the one in the bedroom worked fine! Art finally called Shaw Direct (formerly StarChoice) and using the self-serve options was able to have a refresh signal sent and withing a minute we were watching the news from CHEK TV (our home independent TV station). This is what we call Roughing it Smoothly!


Wednesday morning Art was up bright and early (well, at least before 8:00) to take the Jeep into the dealer. He then rode his electric bike back to the RV park. Happily not a long ride as it was still pretty cool. Sunny and not raining which was a bonus. In the afternoon he rode back to get the jeep, much nicer! Beautiful sunny day, warming up a bit and he did not need the multi-layers he had worn in the morning: T shirt, demin shirt, heavy sweat shirt, jacket, and reflective jacket which wouldn't zip up as it was much too tight!

Not happy with the so called service at Mark Thomas Motors. They seem to be part replacers rather than technicians with diagnostic skills. Art had specified and described the problem and explained that the soft top did not fit square on the windshield and he thought that perhaps the top has shifted. The top gasket was compressed more on one side than the other. When he went to pick up the car (they had spoken on the phone first) he was told the the problem was the door seal on the driver's side which is where most of the water entry was, and of course the needed seal was on back order! When he mentioned the wind noise again they said we'll have to replace that gasket as well. They had done that in the spring and the fix didn't stay. They obviously hadn't listened to what Art had told them. When Art mentioned again that he thought the top may have shifted a bit and that may well be causing the noise problem they sounded like they had never heard that before and more or less brushed him off. $50.00 for nothing.We had saved $1000.00 by buying the top in the US but are now regretting that.  End of Rant!

Desert Hot Springs to Home, and the Summer

 At 8:30 AM on the 23rd we said goodbye to Peter and Celine and headed west on the I-10.  We set the GPS to take us to Santa Clarita, the first city on the I-5 north of Los Angeles. We thought it would direct us along the 210 but it sent us along the 60 for quite a distance. We skirted LA via Riverside, Ontario, Pomona, Pasadena, and Glendale to the I-5.

From there we just followed the I-5  north to the Santa Nella RV Park (off  I-5 near San Jose California) for the night, arriving there at 6:30 more than ready for a relaxing drink and a nice dinner which we enjoyed in the motorhome.


24 March      Not exactly at the crack of dawn, we left the RV Park and 10:15 and then almost immediately stopped for fuel, rolling again at 10:45.

When we reached I-580 we turned west towards San Francisco and followed the 580 through San Rafael where it essentially became the 101. Weather wasn't too bad though it was cool and cloudy there wasn't much in the way of rain. And not like last year, the dash heater kept working!

6:30 again we stopped for the night, at Riverwalk RV Park  in Fortuna CA, on the Redwood Highway.

25 March     We left at about 9:45 continuing on up the 101 through not particularly great weather--overcast and rainy periods. Getting us in the mood for home I guess. We took a short lunch stop at Port Orford Oregon  then on to Florence where we turned inlane to pick up the I-5 at Eugene.

By 6:40 we had arrived at McKay Truck in Albany where we had an appointment for vehicle service. This would take a couple of days at least as the battery trays we had ordered had not yet arrived. They were supposed to have been shipped three weeks ago but Kwikee (the maker) had decide not to ship that week. Apparently they only ship on Fridays!
 
For years we had planned on upgrading the house batteries to the true Deep Cycle 6 volt "golf cart" type of battery but weren't sure of they would fit. After a lot of searching on the internet and a lot of careful measuring Art decided that they would, just. The service manager at McKay had, in e-mails including photos, and the odd Skype call, assured us that given the dimensions he had to work with he could make it work one way or another.  So we told him to order the trays (the old ones were pretty much worn out anyway) which we charged to our credit card.


We also had a problem with the soft top on the Jeep; it was making a whistling wind noise where it met the windshield so we dropped in off at the local Jeep dealer. They changed the front seal and said all was now fine.

We still had lots of time to spare so we set off for the coast once again to Depot Bay to visit our friend Steve, who's wife was away for a while. We had a good visit, Trekker and Tia enjoyed Mo's (Chocolate Lab) company, but we missed Nancy. Look forward to seeing her on our way south perhaps, or at least in Mexico where we first met some years ago.

While returning to Albany we heard from our friends from Desert Hot Spring: They were on the I-5 already passed Eugene and reported that they had indeed run into snow on the way up. Glad we had taken the coast road.

By noon on the 29th the battery trays had not yet arrived. On checking with Kwikee, the parts manager discovered that they had only been shipped the previous Friday!!!!!  Even if they arrived tomorrow, they would not have time to do the installation before we had to leave for home, so at 12:20 we left for Knox Butte RV Park for the rest of the day and night, leaving for home in the morning.

9:00 AM on the 30th we were northbound once again. The last long run for this trip. We made one quick pit stop at a rest area at noon then at 1:20 stopped for lunch at our favourite cafe on the 101, The Tides Restaurant just north of Hoodsport, and just under 2 hours from Port Angeles.

On the road again (somebody should write a song!) at 2:10 we enjoyed a pleasant drive, the last leg to Port Angeles. We ducked into Safeway for fuel and by 4:30 we were parked on the street infront of the Tourist Office, waiting for the morning ferry.

The weather was quite reasonable, at least no rain. Early in the evening we checked out a restaurant bar by the tourist office and had a before dinner drink. The menu here looked tempting but we can never pass up  Bella Italia, our favourite PA restaurant. Excellent Italian food with a magic wine list, just two blocks away. Again we didn't regret the decision.

31 March

Up, walk and feed the dogs and ourselves, into the ferry terminal with lots of time to spare. The Coho left on time (8:20) and after an uneventful crossing we were home by noon.

Nice to be back. Wish someone would do something about the weather though!

15,764 kilometers since 16 Oct 2011






This summer on the Island we made 5 shorter trips in the rig attending 4 FMCA Vancouver Islander Chapter Rallies plus a visit up Island for a Family get together near Cassidy.

We also actually took a trip without either motorhome or dogs: 5 weeks in Europe; 4 days in Madrid, Spain, and a month in England with a side trip up to Scotland.

Before I actually got around to writing even this little bit,I made sure that the rig is basically ready to head south again in less than 4 weeks. Fuel, propane and fresh water tanks are full, black and gray waste tanks are empty and the house sitter has been confirmed.

20 March Ajo to Desert Hot Springs

20 March Ajo to Yuma and Desert Hot Springs. 

No rush setting off this morning; destination? Where ever we get to. Yuma? Desert Hot Springs? We have some FMCA Vancouver Islander Chapter friends who may be still in Yuma. If not we'll press on to Desert Hot Springs.

After breakfast and walking the dogs Art began to tidy up a little—make the bed, dishes etc, and getting ready to pullout while Gillian walked across the road to the grocery store. She soon returned struggling with a shopping cart on the gravel drive so Art fired up the rig and went to meet her near the entrance to the park.

 

By 10:00 AM (pretty good since we weren't in a rush!) we were rolling north on 85 again towards Gila Bend where we would turn west on I-8 for Yuma. The road climbed through a few hills but we made good time over all.

We needed an AT&T store in Yuma where we could buy a phone card to reactivate our US cell phone. We found the address somewhere and when we approached in Yuma we set off following the GPS directions.

Things started off well enough but soon we seemed to be driving through a residential area, turning left or right every other block. We finally came to a large stone wall built across the now dead end street! A resident told us that the road had been closed for ages—the wall had been there at least 15 years! Thanks Garmin!

So back to a familiar routine: Disconnect the jeep, turn the rig (not easy in this residential cul-de-sac but we have doen it in worse places. We made free use of someone's driveway and now facing the right way set off for the nearest Shopping Centre (sorry, Shopping Center in the US!) We managed to finally get the phone sorted out. Also on the urgent list was dog food as we had run out of Trekker's grain free food and had been mixing food for him using chicken, potato etc. Poor Trekker! Back to the kibble!

Needless to say by now it was now time for lunch. A nearby restaurant did fine. We had arrived in Yuma at 12:30 and three hours later were back on the road for Desert Hot Springs to spend a few days with yet more friends that we had first met in Zihuatanejo! Peter and Celine now winter here in the Sands RV Park and had arranged a space next to theirs.

Scenery along the way was different than we had encountered previously, particularly the spectacular sand dunes followed by dead straight flat roads.

We arrived at about 7:30 and were greeted by Peter. The site is beautiful with a nice golf course (too bad we don't golf) and spectacular mountain views.

Next day we were taken on a great tour of the area, the best being to San Jacinto State Park and San Bernadino National Forest, wonderful scenery, excellent lunch in the village of Idylwild, even to seeing snow on the ground--Tia was not impressed!

Here, after a few days of watching weather reports for the various routes home we finally decided to take the coast route home to avoid the forecasts of snow and ice on every other route! Once more it seemed that we would be cruising Los Angeles freeways in the motorhome.  Having done that last year we were much more confident this time round.