Serene Wandering

We have enjoyed our month at Fortuna de Oro RV Park.   Fortuna is  a 55 and older park with many daily activities and weekly special events.  It is easy to stay busy here and I did.  Randy chose to spend more leisure time but still enjoyed golfing, pickle ball and bocci ball.

Fortuna de Oro caters well to the clientele.   There was a car show with many old beauties from the 30s, 40s, 50s and 60s.   We even saw a 1964 Ford Falcon Convertible like the family car that was “mine” when I first went off to college and met Randy.  Maybe we belong to this “back in the day” culture after all!

The park also sponsored a terrific show by Jay and the Americans. I didn’t think I knew the group but once they started singing, I recognized many of their songs such as Cara Mia, Just a Little Bit Closer, Only in America and This Magic Moment.

The group currently has three of the original “Americans” and is on their third “Jay”.  The first Jay lasted only a short time while the second was with them through much of their successful recording years.  Second Jay retained the name of the group when they disbanded.  Upon his  bankruptcy, the Americans bought the name back for $100,000 and reformed with a third Jay.   They had connections with many recording groups and musicians in the 60s and 70’s and had entertaining stories to tell.  They were instrumental in launching Neil Diamond’s career when Neil brought them the song, “Sunday” to record.  Although he originally said he was too shy to perform,  Jay and the Americans encouraged and helped Neil to  record it himself. (Thinking of you Cindy Berg!)

The lead guitarist from the USA Band accompanying them looked so much like our guitar playing friend John Sloan, especially in profile,  that we went up and talked with him after the concert.

Outside the park we had more musical experiences from back in the day.   We saw Elvis performing at a local diner for $10 a ticket.  Who knew he too winters in Yuma and gives bargain performances.  We learned then that we are a decade too young to be true Elvis fans.  We knew chorus lyrics – but not every word, of every verse, of every song like everyone else in the room!

Continuing with the Elvis theme – We enjoyed dinner in an “Elvis Room” at a local pizza establishment with friends from our RV park neighborhood.

We had a crazy amount of food because we all ordered the family specials. We took home more food than we ate!

These folks are all from Canada and regularly spend five winter months in the US.  Randy golfed with the guys numerous times and we had a few group dinners and happy hours.   It is fun to make new friends on the road.

Our next door neighbors at the park also became friends.  Peggy and Myron are from Wisconsin and we hope to visit them when we head east next summer.  We went with them to Lutes Casino, “Where the Elite Meet.”  The building dates back to 1901 and is part of the Historic Downtown area.    During the 1950s, the billiard hall casino came into the Lute family as collateral for a failed loan.  The restaurant/bar (but not a casino) is an eclectically decorated place and Lute’s signature meal is a hotdog-hamburger.  Randy and Myron tried it and approved.

We also explored more of Yuma’s historical places from back in the day.  We went to the Quartermaster Depot State Historic Park.   This depot was a supply hub for the southwest during the Apache Wars.

A few old and rehabilitated buildings  remain.  Some hold exhibits  including old vehicles and a section of the plank road through the sand dunes in the Imperial Valley west of here.

This house served as home or office for a variety of territorial government officials but was originally built in 1859 as a riverside home by steamboat captain George Alonzo Johnson. Built for his bride, this is the first, and thereby oldest, adobe house built by an Anglo in Arizona.

One of the more interesting exhibits at the park was about the Colorado River and where the water goes – think Nevada, Arizona, California and a little bit left to Mexico.  These pictures show the Colorado river from the same site in Yuma before and after a series of dams were built to control flooding and provide water to the southwest.

We also visited the Yuma Pioneer Cemetery.   The cemetery was hosting a fund raising event for Saddles of Joy which provides therapeutic rides for special needs children.

The cemetery was divided into sections for Catholics, Yuma’s society folks and a variety of other categories.  I don’t think this group had a lot of clout.

Nearly all the pioneer cemetery was dirt, but other sections had marble headstones and more decorative graves.

Part of the event was storytellers throughout the cemetery representing people who lived back in the day and had stories to tell about their life and death in Yuma and the Arizona territory.  Actors were near where the grave sites were for their character.

This was Sheriff James T. Dana who was the sheriff of Arizona City from 1868 to 1871.  (Yuma had three names over time beginning with Colorado City, Arizona City and finally Yuma.)  He holds the unfortunate distinction of being the only sheriff ever killed in the line of duty in Arizona (while it was a territory and now as a state).

He was originally buried in the cemetery near downtown and his was one of many bodies who “surfaced” during the Colorado River flood of 1916.  Those bodies were reburied in the pioneer cemetery but are only marked with a “county” designation.  His remains are included in that group but his exact location is unknown.  It was a very interesting evening and one we’d gladly do again when we are next in Yuma since they highlight stories about different residents each year.

Tomorrow we are off to Tucson for the month of February.  We can explore places Randy remembers from when he was a boy there back in the day.

Friend, and blog post reader, Shari, requested a post on whether the decisions we made going into this lifestyle were the right ones for us, or would we do some things differently. So, this is for Shari – and hopefully it will be interesting to the rest of you too.

Those of you who know Randy may remember that for the last five years of his working life, he could think (and talk) of little else than retiring. So this lifestyle choice, which went from a possibility, to probability, to certainty, was thought out and discussed for years during car trips and over dinner.

Some decisions were huge – when to retire, to sell the house or keep it, what type of RV to have and where to have our legal domicile.

Some decisions were small – how were we going to make ice, will we get a washer dryer combo and how was I going to travel with my jewelry.

In the midst of it all, one decision was totally non-negotiable – traveling with a pet. Elko is part of our family and we never considered leaving him behind. He is with us for his duration – period.

Pets, especially our mellow old guy, are great conversation starters with people in campgrounds and we often remember people by their pet more than their names. Elko gets us outdoors when we might not want to go and brings a contentment to our lives that only pet lovers understand.

However, on the sad, sad day that we lose our sweet boy, we will make a different choice – for a time. Pets can limit where you can go, what you can do and how long you can be gone. National parks are notoriously “paw un-friendly” so our visits there are less than we’d like them to be. When the weather is warm and we leave for a time, we worry about the power going out in the park, or the air conditioner failing and Elko being too warm in this fiberglass box of a home. Randy had to figure out a warning method involving an extra cell phone and a temperature monitoring alert system (contact him for details.)

So, back to the big decisions….

We feel very blessed to have been able to retire at 55 (Randy on his 55th birthday and me 5 days after mine). Randy was unhappy in his job and, even though I was still a mostly happy teacher, we haven’t missed working at all. He had prepared the financial part of it and the Affordable Care Act made the last obstacle doable. (Yes, some of us like Obamacare!) Randy likes to say he can recommend retirement!

With advice from our realtor, we bought two rental properties and paid them off when we sold our house. We get rental income from the houses and also have options if we need or want to get off the road. We sold, or gave away, everything in our home except a few totes of sentimental items, stored at our daughter’s house.  We do not have a storage unit.

Where to domicile is an important legal decision. This involves where you vote, where you license your vehicles, where you obtain insurance and where you pay your taxes. Three states cater to full time RVers like us: South Dakota, Texas and Florida – all with reduced taxes, licensing, official mail forwarding systems etc. Randy figured out how we could get our mail and still stay residents of Idaho.  We just kept it simple because, in all probability, we’ll end up back there someday.  Most businesses and agencies will allow our mail forwarding address but, for those that won’t, we use our daughter’s address in Boise.

We bought our 2012 Montana Fifth Wheel (and truck) before we retired. That allowed us to pay for them while we were still making money and also to be sure we had any potential bugs worked out. We had owned a weekender fifth wheel previously and knew what we wanted in a live-in version. For several years we had seen the Montana 3400RL model at the Boise RV show and had decided it was the best for us. Randy found  this link a couple years ago (when he was still doing the blog) to a video about our trailer model.

We like this model because the living space is very generous – more than any motorhome we’ve seen. We went from a large house to a large fifth wheel but do not feel cramped unless it is rainy and cold and we can’t get outside for several days. Two things that were huge for me were a separate desk and a front closet. Those of you who know me well know that I don’t do clutter so I need a place for everything and everything in its place!

It seems that slightly more full timers own motor homes than trailers of any type. I think traveling from place to place, and setting up and taking down may be easier in a motor home but at this age and physical ability – we don’t have any issues with our set up. Randy generally does the outside work and I generally do the inside things and we double check each other. It is working.

The only downside to our situation is that our drive around vehicle is a big truck. Randy usually drives when we are together (a pattern established 35+ years ago) but when I have to park this big truck in a crowded parking lot, I grumble…. If we had a motorhome, we could have a little run-about car but towing a car involves a whole other set of issues that we don’t have to worry about. There is no perfect answer and we’ve met people with fifth-wheels that have gone to motorhomes and people with motorhomes that have gone to fifth wheels. Each have advantages and disadvantages. We are also seeing more and more toy hauler type fifth wheels – allowing people to bring motorcycles or ATVs or other toys – but the living space is less.

One decision we made, related to the fifth-wheel, was to buy a seven year extended warranty. The jury is still out on whether that was a good decision. Because it is SO much trouble to use the warranty when you live in your RV – it took 3 months to get our broken steps fixed – Handy Randy just fixes things on his own.

Most recently he fixed a hydraulic leak effecting our slides and leveling system.  Granted, most people probably can’t do that – but he can.    So we will ignore the extended warranty unless a major appliance or system goes down which can cost several thousand dollars each to replace. If nothing happens, we will have spent $2000+ to replace broken stairs.

Another big decision was how to stay connected in a way that is secure, robust and stable. Randy has an unlimited data plan on his android phone and we stream off his phone when we want to watch movies, sporting events etc. and project them onto our TV. We have a Verizon jet-pack that I connect onto with my iPhone, Mac, iPad etc. It is interesting that in different locales different combinations of thing work better or worse,  even though they are all Verizon.  Of course, these only work if we are in an area that has cell coverage.

As for the smaller decisions…..

We had new window shades installed throughout, and maybe this shouldn’t be in the small decision category because they cost $3000+, but we would do it again. They include a day shade which reduces the sun, while still being able to see out, and a night shade that is totally blackout. The greater benefit is that the trailer doesn’t get as hot or as cold using these shades.  These are our very favorite upgrade.

Randy changed hitch systems sometime along this journey to lighten our load and reduce strain on his back in the event the hitch had to be removed. Another benefit of this Anderson hitch is a much smoother ride!

Our TV service is through DISH satellite. It works very well and we have no issues except we are in the dark ages with our DVR. We can only watch or record ONE show at any given time because of the type of mobile satellite system we are allowed to have.

Absolutely yes to the washer-dryer combo – now that we have a quality one that is vented to the outside, rather than a ventless model. We would buy another unit tomorrow if this one died.

Portable ice maker is sitting on the washer-dryer combo. Both are in the important front closet.

We bought a portable ice maker which we pull out every few days to make ice and store in ziplock bags. We don’t have to take up limited space in the freezer with a built in ice maker, or mess with ice cube trays.

My jewelry boxes were not coming with us so I found this two sided hang up version and it works just fine.

The decision we’ve failed at twice is what BBQ grill to own and cart around. We started out with a full standing camp stove with all kinds of heavy attachments that we already owned. We donated that to a YMCA group next to us less than a month out. Then we bought a Coleman Road Trip system which basically did all the same things but was smaller and lighter. After a year or so we set it, and all the attachments, by a dumpster and “donated” it to someone in the park who picked it up. It still worked fine, but was a pain to keep clean. Now we are on to the Weber Q – it doesn’t do anything but grill but so far so good.

I could go on and on with a dozen more decisions we had to make to do this but enough is enough! One size definitely does not fit all with any of these questions and answers, but we are happy with our decisions. Things may change down the road with age and time, but for now all is well.

Yesterday we visited the Yuma Territorial Prison State Historical Park and learned some interesting facts about the infamous prison which was in use from 1876 to 1909.

One of the things we learned was that most of the 3069 prisoners were pardoned (instead of being paroled) before their term was completed, allowing former prisoners  to vote when released.   The territory of Arizona needed voters.

Thirty nine prisoners were women and they were often released early because, without good separate facilities,  the women were more trouble than they were worth. Some were released with the provision that they leave the territory.

The visitor center highlights a few of the more notorious prisoners including RL McDonald who, as superintendent of the Phoenix School District, embezzled funds.  Because of his money savvy, he was put in charge of the prisoners’ monies.  Upon his release, it was discovered that he once again embezzled funds.   Duh?

Prisoners were incarcerated for a variety of crimes including burglary, murder, robbery, adultery, selling liquor to the Indians, obstructing the railroad, seduction, polygamy, and prize fighting. Very few prisoners escaped (28) because of the isolation with the desert on one side and a much more vigorous Colorado River on the other. No prisoners were executed on site.

Prisoners worked 48 hours per week on the prison grounds and learned a variety of trades. The prison was mostly self sufficient and there were many opportunities to learn skills which could benefit a prisoner when released. During off hours prisoners were able to make crafts, including the knitted lace below,  which were sold at a public bazaar on Sunday afternoons.   If a prisoner took advantage of the opportunities, he or she could leave prison with marketable skills and a small nest egg.

Although infamous, the prison was really quite progressive in its operation. Prisoners had opportunities to learn to read, write and do arithmetic. They had opportunity to learn English, Spanish and to play a musical instrument. Classes were taught by guards or by prisoners with those skills.

There was an onsite library, also available to the public, that was one of the first in the territory. Visitors paid a 25 cent fee to the prison for musical programs, tours or to borrow books and the monies were used to buy more books.

There was a well maintained onsite hospital and dental care was also available. One hundred eleven prisoners died while in prison, most from consumption (tuberculosis).

Yuma residents sometimes thought prisoners lived better than they did because the prison had gravity running water, telephone service and a basic ventilation system. It also had lighting due to one of the first power generation systems in the area. The prison sold electricity to the town of Yuma after 9:00 pm.

Although this all sounds pretty good, it was not a club med prison!

There were six inmates housed in each small cell.  There was also the dreaded “dark cell” for those who didn’t behave. We were able to go into each and have a brief experience.  Neither were anywhere we would want to spend any time!

From its beginnings in 1876, the prison had an interesting run. Seven prisoners built the first two cells and moved in. Prisoners continued to build cells to allow for increased population. In 1878, the first escape occurred and the first female was imprisoned. The prison closed due to over-crowding in 1909 and the prisoners were moved to the new prison in Florence.

After their school burned, Yuma High School moved onto the site from 1910 to 1914.  Former and current students are called the “Criminals” or “Crims”.

The county hospital used the site for a number of years and hobos stayed in the cells during the 1920’s.   Depression era families moved in during the 1930’s and Yuma locals  used the site to obtain free building supplies.

In 1939 local residents evicted the squatters and made the first efforts to protect the site for its historical value. Yuma residents raised monies to restore some of the buildings, beginning with this guard tower. The city operated the park until the site became Arizona’s third state park in 1961.

The rounded area under the guard tower was for water storage.

In 2010 the state of Arizona resolved to close the park due to the budget crisis. Once again the residents of Yuma raised awareness and monies to save the Yuma Territorial Prison Historical Park and keep it open.

Although few buildings remain (original or reconstructions), the prison park was very interesting and worth the time we spent there.

Now that we have seen it, we are interested in watching some of the movies filmed at the prison.  The most famous movie about the prison, “3:10 to Yuma” (both the original and the remake) contain no scenes from the site!  Movies filmed at the prison are To Kill a Memory (2012),  Riot (1969), Badlands (1958 – a cell entrance was lowered for this movie to make Alan Ladd look taller), Red River Valley (1936), Three Mousketeers (1933) and three silent films, one each in 1919, 1917 and 1914.    Popcorn?

Yesterday we were happy to see friends from Boise, Andy and his wife Julie, who were spending several weeks in Yuma. We were glad they made contact! We have been so busy enjoying all the activities in the RV resort (line dancing, biking, zumba, golf, happy hour, bocci ball, pickle ball, hot tub, visiting etc.) that we have hardly left the park.

Today we decided it was time to get out and explore a bit. What better destination than the Center of the World!

We fueled up in Yuma (happily at $1.85 per gallon) and headed west on I-8 into California. Along the way we saw other RVers who chose to forgo all the RV park activities, conveniences and expense to just hang out in the desert.

Fortunately, Randy and I agree that this form of RVing is of no interest to us whatsoever!

You may remember that last July we saw the the Center of the Universe plaque in Wallace, Idaho.

Just 1345.9 miles south of there, we came to the Center of the World Plaza in the very small town of Felicity, California.

Based on the children’s book Coe the Good Dragon at the Center of the World published in French and English in 1985, the Supervisors of Imperial County, California designated this site, by law, as The Center of the World.

Inside this pyramid is the marker.

We were given a certificate acknowledging our presence at the Center of the World.

There are a variety of other interesting things at the plaza.

First we came upon a sundial depicting the “Arm of God” from “The Creation” painted by Michelangelo in the Sistine Chapel in Rome.

The Arm of God points to the Chapel on the Hill, used for special events and services.

These stairs were part of the Eiffel Tower in Paris, built in 1869. Over the years the weight of iron stairs caused the tower to sway and five hundred feet of stairs, from the second level to the top, were replaced with lighter stairs in 1983. Twenty sections were removed. This was section twelve and was climbed by many millions of visitors to the tower from 1869 to 1983.

The History in Granite Museum is also on the same site! This is a work in progress but it is amazing.

There are large granite panels formed into long presentations depicting many aspects of history including  the histories of California, Arizona, the United States and the French Foreign Legion (The owners are French).

There is a Korean War Memorial – We hadn’t known that over 4000 US Marines were killed in the Korean War.  Their names are all inscribed here – similar to the Vietnam Memorial in Washington DC.

The work in progress is The History of Humanity. All of the granite walls are in place – it is the carvings that still need to be completed.

We didn’t expect anything this cool at the Center of the World!

A few more miles into California we came to Imperial Sand Dunes Recreation Area. This is an off road vehicle paradise but we just used our 4 feet and our 4 paws to climb a few dunes.

It was a fun day – maybe we can drag ourself away from the park again sometime soon.

It is also a sad day because cousin Audrey, the person who invited us to come have fun in her park, passed away today in Washington state.   We know why you enjoyed spending your winters here, Audrey.  Your Yuma friends, and we, will miss you.

“The last person to leave Canada left the door open.” That is one person’s assessment as to why the weather in Yuma is much colder, and wetter than it should be. Yuma is supposed to be the sunniest city in America with 330 days of sunshine a year.  So far we’ve had way more clouds and rain than is typical. We laugh because 10 days ago (while still in Boise) we would have thought low 60s with rain and/or overcast skies would be just fine. How quickly our perspective changes – and we know that none of you are going to feel sorry for us at all! Nor should you.

We are pretty sure the Canadians aren’t really to blame and it would be hard to find the one who was responsible anyway because there are lots of Canadians here. We heard one estimate that 65% of park residents are Canadian.  We have met people from British Columbia, Alberta, Ontario, Saskatchewan and Nova Scotia. In fact, in our visit to the hot tub last evening, we were the only Americans there amongst a dozen Canadians.

We had a fun conversation with a couple from Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. Apparently the combination of Simplot potatoes from Idaho and canola oil, supplied exclusively out of Saskatchewan, is the secret for McDonald’s excellent French Fries.

Our truck and trailer have been so dirty for the last few months and we were glad to have the opportunity to have them washed and waxed between raindrops. The park does not allow washing vehicles ourselves but does allow professionals to come in. At a cost of $135 for both – we were delighted to let someone else do the work! It is so nice to live in a clean trailer again.

There are many activities here in the park and we have been partaking in a variety of them. The only time this week that the Sports Complex schedule and the weather matched up nicely for us was the afternoon they were teaching Bocci ball. We really enjoyed learning the basics of the game and liked that the rules are quite simple. There is lots to learn regarding technique and strategy, but the rules are simple!

One rainy evening we enjoyed a Savor Yuma Food Tour with our next door neighbors from Wisconsin, Myron and Peggy.  

We began with appetizers at a restaurant called Yuma Landing. It is so named because the first plane ever to land in the state of Arizona came to Yuma on October 25, 1911. Piloted by Robert G.Fowler, the Wright Model B biplane, weighing 800 pounds and capable of reaching a top speed of 45 MPH, stopped here for a few days on its successful route from Santa Monica, California to Miami, Florida.

We then had a salad course at a local hotel restaurant – the salad was good but the destination was unremarkable.

However, the destination for our main course, Old St Paul’s Church, was quite remarkable. The church was built in 1909 in the style of an English chapel and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The stained glass was imported from an even older church in Europe but the details are lost. Old St. Paul’s is considered to be the finest Gothic building in the southwest and is now a cultural events center.

It was raining quite hard the night we were there and there were buckets inside the church collecting rainwater. I’m glad to say they were able to find an area where we could eat without getting wet and are happy they are already scheduled to get a new roof next month.

Continuing the water theme, the tap water in Yuma is really not drinkable. It tastes very salty so buying drinking water is the norm. We have a dispenser very close to where we are parked and a gallon costs 25 cents. Elko and I walk over and buy water nearly everyday.

I took this picture of Randy and Elko on our first day here and it hasn’t been that warm and dry since. However, the skies seem to be clearing up so we are encouraged that the weather, and the choice of outdoor activities,  will be better soon!

The sunrise out of our back window.

Randy told me that being at Lake Mead is good for his soul. Having grown up in Tucson, he loves the blue skies and landscapes of the desert southwest. Lake Mead, the largest reservoir in North America, has both.

He certainly had to work to get us here! Because of repeated snow and rain in Boise, we had two inches of ice on the top of each of our four slide-outs. He spent hours on Sunday chipping and washing the ice away so that our slides could close Monday morning. We left Boise at 6:00 a.m. and arrived in St. George, Utah 12 hours later. He drove the entire way. (Yes, I offered.) That is 3 times the length of our typical driving day but we had to go that far south to get out of frigid temperatures.

The following day we had just a three hour drive  to get to Lake Mead RV Resort, 25 miles from Las Vegas. Dedicated in 1964, Lake Mead National Recreation Area is our nation’s first national park dedicated to recreation. Thirteen percent of the recreation area is water with the rest being portions of the Mohave Desert.

Lake Mead provides drinking water for 25 million people, yet is designated for recreation. It makes us marvel at the lake we visited in California where there were signs indicating No Body Contact With the Water to avoid contamination of the drinking water.  That blog post is here:    https://serenewandering.com/2015/01/20/no-body-contact-with-the-water/“

The Lake Mead RV Resort is operated by a concessionaire and our site is magnificent! We are paying a discounted rate of $45 per night for our lake view site (about 50% more than typical) and it is worth every penny. We have a wonderful view of Lake Mead through 8 of or our 11 windows.

The resort is very well done in other ways too. There are utility hook-ups on both sides of the lake view sites! A motor home has a big window in the front and a trailer’s big window is likely in the back and with hook-ups on both sides, either RV can be accommodated, while preserving the great view. We have never seen this before.  The resort even supports recycling – something we don’t see nearly as often as we’d like.

Because we view campgrounds through the lens of “would we want to volunteer here?” we spoke with Jerry, the camp host. He served 5 deployments in Iraq and is now spending time volunteering here at Lake Mead and going to culinary school on the GI bill. He says that camp host commitments here are for a full year. There are many people interested in volunteering here in the winter, but not so much in the summer heat!

$8000, or make an offer

This campground also includes a “vacation home” mobile home park, begun in days past. Owners can live on-site for 180 days per year. The National Park Service is trying to transition away from having mobile home parks within the national parks. Those who already own mobile homes are allowed to keep them as long as they maintain their homes and site leases. These mobile homes may be bought and sold but no new mobile homes may be moved in. Currently there are three homes (vintage 1969, 1971 and 1991) for sale, five abandoned homes set for demolition, and a few vacant lots. These lots, and future ones that become available, will be repurposed for regular recreational vehicles like ours. There will be even more magnificent sites at Lake Mead!

We have enjoyed walking around the RV resort and adjacent campground. One afternoon, we walked the long way down to the water’s edge but only Elko felt like wading in.

Although boating activity is huge in the warmer seasons, we saw very few boats in use during our stay.

Our big event was to bike to, and along, the Historic Railroad Trail at Lake Mead, part of the National Trails System. This 3.7 mile trail is part of the 30 mile railroad grade used during the construction of Hoover Dam. The trail connects the Visitor Center at Lake Mead National Recreation Area and the Visitor Center at Hoover Dam and is open for hikers and bikers.

Along the way we saw an area  in the desert where the workers and  families lived in the make shift community of Ragtown in the 1930s while working to build Hoover Dam. We learned that Hoover Dam workers came from every state in the country with the most from Nevada and the least from Delaware.

The Historic Railroad Trail goes through five tunnels. These tunnels were blasted/built in six months.  They were built to be exceptionally large, 18 feet wide and 27 feet tall, to allow for the transport of construction materials to the dam site. The original supporting timbers were destroyed by fire in 1990 but have since been replaced by the park service.

Copper roofed building is the new visitor center.

We have driven and walked over Hoover Dam several times in the past.   We even went inside the dam on a tour many years ago. With the new bridge in place, most traffic avoids the dam itself but the area was still very busy with visitors. There is a parking structure, a large gift shop, a restaurant, and a new visitor center. Tours are still available. Since we still had the trek back home we just enjoyed the view for a while and saved more exploration for another someday.

Although the Historic Railroad Trail itself is fairly level, the hard parts (for me anyway) were the elevation changes in and out of the visitor centers on each end. From our site, we had a 3 mile incline to begin the ride and I didn’t enjoy that part of the trip at all.   As encouragement, Randy reminded me that we’d have that same 3 mile decline on the way back.  As a reward for our efforts, we were hoping to go the entire 3 miles down without having to pedal at all but had the misfortune to meet a vehicle at one of only two crossroads.  Bummer – we had to pedal about 4 times to get going again!  All together we rode  11-12  miles – and had the aching body parts to remind us that we really should ease into these things!

As our friend Cindy said, we needed a get out of jail free card!   Boise has been like a jail for us the last month – somewhere we didn’t want to be, at a time we didn’t want to be here. But, today we are free!

Randy got the all clear on his medical tests and we can leave! Thanks to those of you who have prayed on our behalf! We feel blessed by your support and by these better than expected results. Praise God!!

We aren’t usually so glad to leave Boise but, “Baby, its cold outside!” Lows will be in the single digits over the weekend with highs in the twenties.

We are so appreciative of the many people who invited us to stay in their homes if our time here was extended for more tests or treatment.

Even though it has been nice to see more of our family, friends and BSU basketball games, our hearts were not in it. It has been hard to be confined to our small space in winter weather.

We are looking forward to including the outdoors in our living space again! It will be nice  to go out and explore!

We are now able to fully rejoice in Christmas and will enjoy Archer’s second birthday before we leave.

We will head towards Lake Mead (near Las Vegas) on Monday, 28th and then on to Yuma for the month of January.

Whoo-hoo! We are free!

When we left you last, we were on our way into Boise, planning on enjoying most of a month there. We did that! We spent lots of time with Natasha, Seth and grandson Archer.  Archer was Elvis for Halloween – he was so cute!

We spent time with friends and went to Boise State football and basketball games.

We enjoyed being back at our church. We walked the greenbelt along the Boise River several times daily. We re-licensed the trailer and the truck and Randy got a 50 gallon fuel tank installed.  All three of us did the dreaded annual doctor visits.

The snow started falling in mid-November and it was time to move on! This far north… in the snow… This is no place to be if you live in a trailer!

Our plans were to head to Vancouver to spend a week with my parents and then have a family Thanksgiving in eastern Washington.  Then we planned to head south, see some friends on the way, eventually catching up with the Boise State football team for their bowl game before settling in Arizona for the winter.

We made it to Vancouver and had a fine time with my parents. We enjoyed watching the Seahawks – 49ers football game with cousins Connie and Michael. (Randy was in the other room watching the Packers and who-ever they were playing.)

One afternoon, Mom and I decided we would make lefse – a family tradition from my paternal grandmother.  Although we took a short cut using mashed potatoes – the end result was just fine!

Another afternoon we went to the Fort Vancouver National Historic Site. This is a very expansive property and we were there a on a very cold, late afternoon. We committed to returning another warmer someday and only ventured into the visitor center and the Marshall House.

The Marshall House is one of 22 fully restored homes on Officer’s Row. Two of them are open to the public. The Grant House was home for post commanders and is now a restaurant. The Marshall house is named for General George C Marshall  who served as commander of Vancouver Barracks from 1936 – 38.

And who was General George C. Marshall?  In addition to being the Barracks commander, he served in both World Wars and rose to be US Army Chief of Staff. He was responsible for taking an army of less than 200,000 soldiers when WWII started and building it into a well trained, well equipped force of 8,300,000 four years later. After WWII, he became Secretary of State and created the Marshall Plan for European Recovery. He received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1953.

Remember the dreaded annual doctor visits I mentioned earlier? While we were still in Vancouver, one week out of Boise, Randy got the call from one of his doctors that she didn’t like his test results and we needed to come back to Boise.

En-route, we were  able to go to our family Thanksgiving in the Tri-Cities, home of Aunt Bonnie and Cousin Lisa and her family. We had a nice time visiting, playing cards and watching football.  Though they did almost all of the work for Thanksgiving dinner, Randy did carve the turkey.

Over the last year and a half we’ve always been so happy to return to Boise.   It felt very strange to be so unhappy about it this time- of course, we had the medical stuff to be concerned about and we’d only been gone for 10 days.

We came back on November 28 to frigid temperatures. Randy had his first tests on November 30 and the temps were still frigid. We were using and refilling a seven gallon tank of propane every other day to keep the waterlines in the enclosed underside of the trailer from freezing. Thankfully the deep freeze broke up after a week or so and unseasonably warm weather came in.

We are again seeing Natasha, Seth and Archer. I joined the Christmas Choir at church and we are again enjoying time with friends. We are going to Boise State basketball games and seeing lots of matinee movies (4 this week).

On the medical side, things are moving frustratingly slowly.   Randy’s doctor was on vacation this week (of course) and his next set of tests (surgical) are on December 18th.  Because of Christmas, we won’t get results, or have an idea where we go from here,  until December 28th.

We don’t know if we’ll be heading south (as we had planned over a month ago) the very next day, the next month, or at all this winter. Prayers are most welcome.

The RV park manager has been terrific. We didn’t pay for our site at all while we were waiting to see if we were going to be here for just days, or for a week, or for a month (rates are less expensive by the month).  She said we could have our favorite site until April if needed- but then someone else had it reserved.  Oh wait – we are the ones who have it reserved in April!

By far the most gratifying part of being back during this difficult time, is the number of friends who have invited us to winterize our trailer and move in with them. There have been at least a dozen offers. We hope to be able to live in our trailer but if we end up staying in Boise into January and beyond, we may very well take someone up on the offer.

Even though our plans went south, when we did not, what a wonderful place it is that we call home.

We were very content to spend the last few days with good friends, Kent and Pam. We have traveled with them for many years and knew when we left Boise that they, who travel a lot anyway, would be willing and able to meet us occasionally along our way.

In the last year they have caught up with us in Delta Utah, Pahrump Nevada and now Logan Utah. The reason to meet in Logan, Utah?  For the Boise State – Utah State Football game. We’ve done this trip to Logan for football games before and it felt like old times – until the game was actually played…..

Unfortunately the game was a disaster for Boise State, something we don’t usually have to deal with. The Utah State coach said winning this game was the biggest win in school history – good for them.
The next day we left Logan and mixed up the driving pairings heading north.

Pam and I watched our trailer from behind as we came back into Idaho.  Pam is usually a speed demon but she did well slowing down to Randy’s trailer pace.
We headed to Ketchum – or Sun Valley for those of you who aren’t from Idaho. When the four of us were in Ketchum last (summer of 2013), they were experiencing terrible fires.

Dense smoke from nearby fires in 2013!

We enjoyed a walk along Adam’s Gulch and fire scars are visible but the forest’s recovery will come.

As we came back to our RV park, we saw these recently sheared sheep being driven along the highway.

There were a couple of men on horseback, a couple of men walking and 4-5 dogs that were doing most of the work. It was fun to watch.

Kent and Pam stayed in a cute guest house they rented on one of the many $2-million ish properties in the area. It was tucked way back from the highway and it was a beautiful drive back into their place.
It was very comfortable to wander around past haunts and eat in some familiar restaurants.

The next day was rainy and we opted for a drive up into the mountains.

Elko had to share his usually spacious backseat with Pam and me. He tolerated it pretty well as it was better than staying home!

Along the way we saw a few deer, lots of hunters, and a beaver dam.

Our truck ended up being the dirtiest it has ever been but between the rain and a little effort on Randy’s part when we got back – it got back into normal form.

After enjoying our time with Kent and Pam, we separated today. They headed back to Boise and we stopped along the way at one of our favorite, and most frequently visited southern Idaho State Parks – Three Island Crossing.

Three Island Crossing was one place Oregon Trail emigrants crossed the Snake River.

Although we have been here MANY times it just seemed perfectly nostalgic to stop one more time for a beautiful fall visit on our way back to Boise on Thursday.

As we said, familiarity breeds contentment!

We spent a quick couple of days in the Utah section of Flaming Gorge National Recreation Area. We have always thought Utah, with such varied and dramatic scenery, is one of the most beautiful states in our country and Flaming Gorge just strengthened that belief.

The area has a rich history in geologic and fossil terms and these types of signs are fairly common and  interesting to see!

One of the highlight drives is the Sheep Creek Geological Loop.

Supposedly there are bighorn sheep living in these rock cliffs but we didn’t see any. It was hard to feel disappointed though when the rock cliffs and formations were so stunningly beautiful.

We liked it so much that one day we went one direction, and the next we went the opposite because sometimes the best view can be behind you!
We also went to Red Canyon, a canyon that is 1700 feet deep and 4000 feet across. The Green River runs through it and although the pictures don’t show it, the water definitely has a green tint.

Although not the first white men to explore the area, both Red Canyon and Flaming Gorge were named by Wesley Powell in 1869 because of the beauty and red tint of the walls along the river. The area also has a “colorful” past with outlaws such as Butch Cassidy and the Wild Bunch spending time in the area.

At the south end of the Flaming Gorge National Recreation Area is the Flaming Gorge Dam. Access is restricted on the dam but we were fortunate to be able to take a free tour the day before they were discontinued for the season.

Flaming Gorge and Glen Canyon Dams were the last large concrete dams built in our country and completed in 1964 and 1965 respectively. The concrete in a dam this large takes 100 years to fully cure.  This one should be “done” in 2064 and Randy says he probably won’t live to see it!

The white shaft in the center is hollow and has fully cured.

The Flaming Gorge Dam serves several purposes. It was primarily built for flood control with a secondary purpose to provide water for agriculture.  Those goals are represented in the Bureau of Reclamation’s past logo.

Power, supplied by three turbines, was a third benefit with each turbine providing power for 32,000 homes in the western grid. We have three power grids in the United States – the western, eastern and Texas. (I thought the Texas individuality was interesting!)

Recreation is an additional benefit. There are miles of boating and fishing opportunities above the dam in addition to marinas, campgrounds and lodges.

Given a cliff edge, Randy is compelled to stand by it!

Below the dam, the Green River is famous for rafting and trout fishing. The river’s water temperature below the dam is modified (depending on the depth of the water released) to assist in habitat needs for fish and other wildlife.

Although the area supposedly has rich wildlife variety, we saw very little. We saw reference to bear, elk, deer, moose, and big horn sheep. The native big horn sheep died off years ago after exposure to domesticated sheep but have been re-restablished and are doing well. We were slightly disappointed not to see more, but we did see these mountain goats in a field outside of town!

There were hunters all over the area outside the recreation area so maybe these sheep, and all the other animals, were just taking cover in unusual places.

Sometimes we felt as though we had Flaming Gorge all to ourselves, but  that isolation came at the cost of reduced opportunities.

Some visitor centers and activities were closed such as the Ute Fire Lookout, built by the CCC in 1937.  Although no longer actively used in fire detection, it is seasonally open for viewing and tours.

You would expect a place called Flaming Gorge to be beautiful and it is.  Seeing it in the fall was just made it more so!