California Has A Monopoly

I do believe that California has a monopoly on the worst roads in the nation. We left Pahrump and headed towards Yuma, Az. US95 in California is probably on the top 10 list of worst roads to travel. Not only is it narrow, full of dips (California doesn't believe in culverts, so they just have ups and downs) it was falling apart . We had to stop for road construction ( I know it's hard to believe that they were actually working on it) and I stepped out of the motorhome and you could actually pick up chunks of asphalt 6 ianches square from the road.

But now on the brighter news. We're in Yuma, Arizona for the next 5 days or so. We'll go to Algodones, Mexico a couple of times for the food, and of course bargain shopping. Other than that, we'll just sit back and play it by ear. The long pants have been put in the laundry hamper and the short pants are back out.

We haven't noticed any more "signs" in the coach, so we think that our hitchhiker was a single, but we're not letting our guard down. Peppermint oil on cotton balls in all the cupboards and drawers. The coach smells like Christmas Candy.

More later.

On Our Rumps In Pahrump

We're spending 3 days in Pahrump, Nv visiting with friends from Redmond and doing a little geocaching while here. We've been to this park before and it really is quite nice. Of course, there is a casino on site, so the Misses is quite happy about it.
Somewhere along the way, we picked up a little hitchhiker and we were'nt very enthused about him tagging along, so we bought sticky mouse traps as well as several of the "live trap" ones too. I didn't much care whether he was caught alive or dead, just caught. They have been out for several days now and this morning, there was the little furry creature squeaking on one of the sticky traps. Now, if he didn't have a friend traveling with him, then we are mouse free. Now, we need to get Bounce dryer sheets and place them in all the drawers, cupboards and bays. I guess the little suckers don't like the smell. We'll do anything to keep them from invading us again.
Tomorrow, we're off towards Yuma. How far we'll get - who knows. Stay tuned.

Death Valley

Our second day in Beatty was mainly so we could take the Honda and the "babies" and head into Death Valley for the day. We started our day with a stop in Rhyolite, Az. Supossedly, it is the most photographed ghost town in Az. From there we went on to Furnace Creek, Ca. It's not at all what we expected. It was a regular resort. But, a 4 slice pack of bologna was $5.25 and a gallon of Diesel was $4.88 We ventured on to Badwater, which is the lowest point in the US and is 282 Feet below sea level. I'm glad the dam holding the ocean back didn't break. On our way back, we took a side trip though Artists Drive. It's really a must see and pictures don't do it words. From there back through Furnace Creek and up to Stovepipe Wells and back to Beatty. There is much more to see and we will make another stop on our way back north in the spring.

A Fairly Exciting Day

The travel wasn't bad. We only drove from Hawthorne, Nv to Beatty, Nv and the distance traveled was 93 miles. It's too bad Oregon and California can't take highway maintenance like Nevada does. Highway 95 is a wonderful 2 lane highway and for the most part smooth as glass. The only exciting part of the trip came 20 miles from Beatty. It seemed that the driver needed to make a pit stop and the co-pilot found a wide spot off the highway. While the driver was pitting, the co-pilot ventured out to have a quick smoke. For once, she actually looked down before she stepped to far from the coach. Can you say "sidewinder rattlesnake" about 5 feet from her feet? Yep, when I went out, there it was sidewinder slithering away. Those little things move really fast. We watched it until it crawled up into some scrub brush. We are spending tonight and probably tomorrow in Beatty at the www.beattyrvpark.com . We went out and did a couple of geocaches before dinner and tomorrow we will take the Honda and make a nice little side trip into Death Valley and visit Furnace Creek, Rhyolite, Stovepipe Wells and Scotty's Castle.
Stay tuned for further adventures.

It's Taking Forever

We left Fallon this morning and headed down 95 towards Beatty (which was to be our stop for the night. Didn't make it. We stopped in Hawthorne, Nv to do a little geocaching and as we finished up, we looked at the sky and say the ominous rain clouds so we scurried back to motorhome and headed over to the Whiskey Flats RV park and are staying the night. Tomorrow we will venture on down to Beatty. I don't know how you can beat $21 per night for a nice park with full hookups as well as cable TV. www.whiskeyflats.net is their webpace.

Out of California and into Nevada

We left Corning, Ca this morning enroute to Fallon, Nv. After leaving the armpit of Northern, Ca (Corning - Orland - Chico) we meandered thru the countryside on county roads and headed towards Grass Valley, Ca. Although the road was narrow, twisty and ups and downs, it was a beautiful drive until the time we merged onto I80. What a piece of garbage that highway is. It looks like there are earthquake fault lines running down the middle of the highway and rutty to boot. Driving it was a handful. Nevada was a welcome sight as the road was wonderful - except for 18 miles of road construction and traffic running on a narrow single lane with the cones on one side and a Jersey barrier on the other side. We are spending the night in Fallon, Nv at the Fallon RV Park. Not a place for long term stays, but adequate for overnighters. Depending on the thunderstorm activity tomorrow, we may only go as far as Hawthorne or on to Beatty. Stay tuned.

Slightly Longer Drive

We left Canyonville around 9:30 in the morning and drove I5 through Oregon and into California arriving at the Rolling Hills Casino in Corning around 3. Have I ever mentioned just how much I hate driving over the Siskiyou summit????? Long pulls uphill at 35 mph and then using the exhaust brake coming down at 55 mph.
Now, this RV park is something to behold. Self service check in and parking. Full hookups at $25 per night. Use your credit card and the little machine prints out your receipt and you put it in a little holder by the end of your space. We may just stay here another day or so.
When we left this morning, it was long pants and sweatshirt weather and the furnace was running. Now, the Air conditioner is running and we're in shorts and sandals. 87 degrees and bright sunshine. We were planning on heading towards Reno in the morning, but the weather forcast for Reno is rain. Sunny beats rainy any day. Stay tuned for the latest.

Long Days Drive

120 miles. WHEW!!!!!!!!! We left Florence this morning and drove to Canyonville, Oregon. It was a beautiful, but real twisty and turny drive along the Umpqua river. The fall colors were changing and with the bright sun shining on the river, it was gorgeous. We're spending the night and maybe tomorrow here before we head towards Susanville, Ca. I really don't want to drive down I5 again so we'll cut across and go towards Reno and then points south. Stay tuned.

On The Road (Finally)

We left the Deschutes county RV park this morning and had a nice leisurely drive over the mountains as we headed to the coast for a couple of days. We stopped in Veneta Oregon and had lunch with a friend that we met last winter in Arizona. Anne came by herself since Maury was having an attack of OCD (they have tradesmen laying a new bamboo floor) and he had to supervise. We're spending a couple of days in Florence, Oregon at www.hecetabeachrv.com and then will head down the coast and visit other friends that we met last winter before continuing our journey south.
It's typical coast weather. Cool, damp and foggy. Cheryl likes it and I can do without it.

Out Of The Repair Shop

We're finally out of Coachmaster's repair lot. We spent 3 weeks living in the motorhome while the rear end damage was being repaired. Twas a mite inconvenient, but we made the best of it. The coach looks good and after spending today and tomorrow at the Deschutes County fairgrounds RV park so we can catch up on the laundry and clean the inside of the coach, we will really start our "fulltimer" adventure. Where the 1st stop will be, we don't know yet and probably won't know until we stop for the night. Stay tuned.