A bit sore

I am a bit sore right now. Today we rented a raft and went white water rafting.

No we didn’t do the big stuff but what we did got us plenty wet.

The weather was playing games with us with sun wind and then rain.

At one point we were complaining about the rain until we realized we were all wet anyway.

Landen got in some fishing while we stopped for lunch. We were on the river for about 5 hours.

At one point I was telling Landen about all the animals we will be seeing on this trip and he asked me if we would be seeing any Zebra. I laughed and said no.

Well I was wrong, Sorry about the butt shot but he was walking away when I shot the photo.

Tomorrow it’s back on the road. We are heading for the Lolo Square Dance Center…and Campground. No we don’t square dance.

Whew where do I start

We arrived at our friend’s house in Kalispell Montana around noon on Sunday the 4th. What a nice place they have. We got parked next to their house and connected with full hookups including cable TV if we wanted it. I was able to shoot through the trees and get my satellite TV so I didn’t need the cable. After getting set up we headed over to the Kalispell Raceway for a short track race. Landen just had a ball and snagged a couple of hats that were thrown into the crowd. After that we headed back to prepare for the 4th celebration. Fireworks are legal here so between the guests at our friend’s party we had plenty of fireworks. It doesn’t get dark until close to 11:00p here so we had to wait a while to fire them off. This morning we packed up and headed into Glacier National Park. Even though the weather didn’t co-operate too well we still had a great time. We went part way up the Going To The Sun Highway but decided not to go to the top since the top was covered in clouds. Even so we saw some pretty awesome sights. We stopped by the lake to have lunch and let Landen do a little fishing just in time for a big thunderstorm to blow through. After we got back Landen was looking for something to do. Give a 9 year old kid a riding mower and he is good for the rest of the day. He did about an acre before another storm blew through.

Missoula Montana

There were many short thunderstorms yesterday afternoon and by evening is continued raining. When we woke this morning it was still raining. I thought, maybe I will have to drive in the rain this time. It’s been so long since I used my windshield wipers, I didn’t even know if they worked. Well by the time we crawled out of bed, it stopped raining. We hit the road with cloudy skies. As we were leaving the park Susan spotted 2 foxes romping in the field across the street. That was kind of cool.

As we headed on down the road I could see the rain falling up ahead and hoped we would go around it. Well our luck ran out. We hit a hailstorm. Running down the interstate at 60+ with hail hitting the windshield is pretty scary. Good thing they make them things strong. It was short lived fortunately and the rest of the drive was OK. The wipers did work by the way.

We are in Missoula for tonight. I usually don’t make reservations but since it is the 4th of July weekend I did. Good thing since when I approached the door of the campground office I spotted a sign saying Sorry Campground Full Tonight. Tomorrow we will be parked at our friend’s house in Kalispell so we will be good for the rest of the weekend. It looks like the weather is going to get better for a while. We have been very fortunate that until today, all the thunder, lightning, and rain has been at night which makes sleeping real nice and driving safe.

Three Forks

We left Yellowstone this morning and are now in Three Forks Montana. It got down in the 40 last night so this morning Susan kicked on the furnace to take the chill off. When not running the furnace for a while we usually get a little burnt dust smell for a while. This time it smelled like plastic burning and set off the smoke alarms so we quickly turned the furnace off. Looks like I will have to tear into it to see what’s going on. I am sure it just needs a good cleaning.

Anyway, the drive here to Three Forks was real scenic. We had to take a different route than planned because of construction but I had taken this route before and knew it was a good one. It was a short 2 hour drive and we got here about 11:00a. The weather was good until about 2:30 when another thunderstorm came through. It was intense but short. This is a nice place. We came thought here before when it was a KOA. It is no longer a KOA, which is good because it would probably cost another $10 if it were. As it is they charged us an extra $2 for Landen. I don’t understand what it is that Landen will do that will cost them $2 a day. We are only doing one night here.

Good but disappointing

Today was another good day in the park, but also disappointing. The good part was we saw a bear.

We were on our way back and came across a “bear Jam”. That’s what they call it when all the traffic is jammed up and you can’t get through. We knew right a way it must be a bear. The disappointing part was Mammoth Hot Springs is nearly dried up.

When we came through here in 2005 it was one of the best things to see in the park. Now I would probably not bother unless you have plenty of time.

There are just a few hot springs flowing. I would have gone back over to the Yellowstone Grand Canyon waterfalls if I had known the hot springs were dry. On the way back from the springs the wind was howling. I was driving along and saw a tree blow over right in front of me. Fortunately it only made it to the edge of the road and didn’t land in the road.

Today’s weather was a mirror of yesterday. We woke to a thunderstorm that passed over by the time we were ready to go. So far the thunderstorms haven’t arrived this afternoon but the wind is blowing and I can see them off in the distance. I just hope they will be done in the morning like the last two mornings because we are moving on tomorrow. Tomorrow’s drive should be a nice easy, little over two-hour trip. We will be following the Gallatin River up to interstate 90 then over to Three Forks where we will spend a night. Landen just had a ball and doesn’t want to leave.

Thunderstorms

After a beautiful day yesterday we had a pretty wild Thunderstorm last evening. It just came out of nowhere. This morning when we woke it was still raining and the thunder was still roaring. I thought, this is great, we came all this way and won’t be able to see the park. As sudden as it all came, it disappeared and the rest of the day was great, temps in the mid 70 and light clouds. At one point we were standing next to the car getting sprinkled on but there were no clouds in the sky. Couldn’t figure out where it was coming from. Well as I write this at 7:20p the thunder, lightning and big raindrops are back. As long as it is only at night and the days are good we are fine with that.





As I woke this morning and thought to my self, I don’t need to get up right away today and I don’t have to drive the motorhome for 3 hours today, so I just laid there and relaxed. Well I was wrong. We headed into Yellowstone today and I put 125 miles on the car. Seems like I drove for 6 hours, and we didn’t even see a fraction of it. We only did about half the lower loop. All the way into the park Landen was saying, where are all the animals. Then finally we started seeing them and all he could say was Whoa! We didn’t see any bear today but I think you have to hike some of the trails to see them. Tomorrow we are heading back in to see more if this thunderstorm will let us.

Stuck in the back

We are now in West Yellowstone Montana right outside Yellowstone National Park. We got pretty much the last campsite in town so we got stuck in the back of the park, I will get photos later. There was construction on the way and they stopped us for about 10 minutes

so I got a chance to get out and stretch my legs and snap a few photos.

We also picked up a few bugs on the way. Tomorrow we will be heading into the park for the day. The guy in the office here says everyone that has gone into the park has seen bears. One even spotted a grizzly with her cubs. I will be sure my camera is charged and ready to go.

Pocatello Idaho

We are now in Pocatello Idaho. The drive through Salt Lake City was no bad at all except for the idiot trucker in front of me. He didn’t know how to keep a constant speed. When I tried to get around him he would speed up and not let me pass. At one time we were going over 70 mph before I backed off and got back in behind. Then he slowed to 60. I was ready to pull off the interstate for a few minutes and let the idiot go.

The place we are at is not bad but Susan wasn’t too happy that we got the spot right next to Gomer.

When you call ahead the night before for a spot, you get what they have left.

It’s just one night and really not a bad spot.

Tomorrow we will be in West Yellowstone right outside Yellowstone National Park. Landen is anxious to see the park. We have a National Geographic videotape that he watched the other night.

What time is it

Susan called me in today and asked me why her phone says 4:00p but the TV says 3:00p. I though a while and said it’s because out Sat TV is based out of San Diego (Pacific time) and we are Mountain Time. Then she said, but Arizona is in Mountain Time but we are on the same time as California. After thinking a while more I remembered Arizona doesn’t change during Daylight Saving Time. Confusing…

We moved up from Cedar City to Provo today. My map program said it was going to be a little over 4 hours but we made it in 3.5 hours. I set the cruise control for 65 and sat back and enjoyed the ride.

We are in a nice campground right next to Utah Lake. The only problem is, Landen and I were our playing at about 6:00p and damn near got carried away by the mosquitoes.

Next stop, Pocatello Idaho.

Cedar City Utah

We arrived today in Cedar City Utah just before noon. It was an uphill drive the whole trip.

My co-pilot enjoyed the trip. We are at close to 6000 feet now and everything we open explodes. We really didn’t expect much but were pleasantly surprised. This is a nice little town, very neat and clean.

The place we are staying is actually a Best Western, Town and Country Hotel with 10 full hookup sites in the back.

This is a real find. We have all the privileges of the hotel guests with an indoor and outdoor pool and breakfast in the morning. Today there is a festival in the park right across the street and Landen and I took a walk over to check it out. Lots of booths and bands. It is in the 80s here which is nice compared to the 100+ weather we have experienced in the last month. It should get cooler as we head more north.

Whoosh, no more Vegas

We are done with Vegas..for now that is. Susan and I are beat and we even wore out our 9 year old Grandson. Yesterday we spent the day at Circus Circus and Landen had a ball.

We rode the roller coaster 4 times along with all the other rides.

Of the whole Vegas experience Circus Circus was the best deal. We picked up a couple of $5 off coupons for their all day pass so for Landen and me (Susan doesn’t do rides) the day cost us $40. After Circus Circus we cruised the strip and headed back to the motorhome for a little R&R. Then last night we took in the Freemont Experience.

Today we walked the strip

and checked out the attractions at the various casinos. Between the crowds and heat we have had enough.

Tomorrow we hear out. Next stop Cedar City Utah. It’s about a 3 hour drive and we will be doing a one nighter there. In fact the next 3 stops are one nighters until we get to Yellowstone.

Las Vegas

Since it is only 3 hours to Las Vegas we didn’t hurry this morning. Even so, we got on the road a little after 8:00a which got us to Vegas around 11:00a. It was already 100 and then some degrees. I decided to upgrade our site from a 30 amp site to a 50 amp site so we can run both our roof airs and everything else at the same time. One thing I messed up on though is I got a site with the windshield facing the afternoon sun. Even though I got a sunscreen for the windshield, it’s like a big ol’ heater with the sun shinning on it. Landen and I took off to Fry’s Electronics to get a memory card for our new cell phone. Not sure if you have ever been to a Fry’s but they all have some sort of a theme. Well of course this one had a casino theme. We did nothing today. Tomorrow we are going to take Landen to Circus Circus.

Almost too late

Last time we traveled through Yellowstone we had no problem getting reservations at Grizzly RV Park. This time we weren’t so lucky. They are full for the time we plan to be there. This didn’t bother me too much since their price had also gone up more than $10 since the last time we were there. So I started checking around. I think I got lucky. I think I probably got the last spot in town that is suitable for us. Well, at least I think we got a spot. The woman I spoke to on the phone was kind of dingy. She said I did things backward. I was supposed to make a reservation request online and they would call me if I was in. She said now I will have to go online and fill out the reservation request and in the note section state that I already called and made the reservation. She said I will get an instant response via email. I filled out the online request but did not receive a conformation via email. Yes I am worried. If I see nothing in my inbox by tomorrow I will have to call back.

So far so good

Our credit cards are in so we are ready to go. I made our first reservations for our trip. We are booked in Las Vegas for 3 nights starting Wednesday. I worked on our tentative itinerary today. I say tentative because it could change day by day. That’s why I am not making reservations for the whole trip. I will be making them as we progress if I think we need them. The weather here in Lake Havasu City has been very nice since we got back. Sure it’s hot but so far it has stayed under 110, which is good. We have been going to the pool everyday to cool off a bit. Our grandson likes that. He has mixed feelings because he is anxious to get going on his western tour but likes to spend time here also.

Packed and ready

We are ready to head back to Havasu. We will spend about a week in Havasu before heading out on our summer journey with our Grandson. One reason we need to spend some time in Havasu is because of credit cards. The situation is, our cards expire at he end of this month and we have not received out new cards yet. They always wait until the last couple weeks before sending them out. We can survive without them on this trip but having them will make things a lot easier.

By the way, we did get a new phone yesterday, and it only cost me $16.62. Well actually $66.62 but I got a $50 mail in rebate. What a joke. Why make me mail in for a rebate, just give me the discount right there in the store. The girl that helped us at the store had the personality of a rock! She never smiled, in fact never even looked up at us. She went through all the motions and handed us our phone and sent us on our way. Next time I think I will just do it all on line. I think my computer has more personality than she did.

Just had an earthquake

Now I remember what it was I liked about California. Honest, I do like earthquakes. This one just happened about 80 miles away and was a 5.9 Mag. Since we have lived in a motorhome for about 6 years now I am used to the “house” shaking. I almost missed it. It was Susan that pointed it out. Nice little ride.

Free = $270

Our Verizon plan allows us to get a new phone every 2 years for free or at a discount price. Since there is no such thing as Verizon in Lake Havasu City we decided to pickup a new phone here while in California. So we headed over to the Verizon store and picked out a phone that had a big FREE sign on it. Well, sure the phone is free…but we are required to pay tax on the full amount of the phone (a little over $30) and add an additional $10 per month for a “Required” data plan. Let’s see, that’s $30 for the tax and additional $240 for the $10 per month data plan for 2 years, that comes to about $270. So if I had to pay full price for this phone it would add another $300. That would come to about $570 for the phone. Oh, do you want a car charger with that…How about a case to protect your new phone, don’t forget the additional insurance plan. I ended up walking out frustrated with no phone. When I got home I went online and found another FREE phone that will fit our needs that doesn’t require the extra data plan. Tomorrow we are going to head on over to the Verizon store and try again.

Busy Busy

I have been very busy since we arrived back in California. As some of you may know, I am a member of the Elks. A lot of the Elks Lodges have RV parks for their members and that is where we stay. They are always happy to see us here because I always volunteer to help out with lodge and RV park maintenance. I have also taken advantage of the cool coastal weather to do some cleaning and polishing on the motorhome. Susan has been equally busy visiting with her parents. In a few more days our grandson will be out of school and we will be taking off on our summer trip. He is very anxious.

Another hot one today

We are packed and ready to head out in the morning. We are going to try to get an early start to beat some of the heat. The way I got it figured, we should be able to travel in under 100 degree heat the whole trip since it gets cooler as we head to the coast. Right now (5:30p) it’s 109 here in Havasu and 66 where we are going. Huh, the low here at 5:00a was 82. We are going to freeze!

No TV after 12:00

Just out of curiosity I read the specs on my patio TV. The Max operating temperature is 104 degrees. Well today by noon it was 109 on the patio. I had to head inside to watch the races today. This after noon Susan and I went in the pool and the water was over 90 degrees. Not too refreshing there. With both airs running, it stays pretty cool inside. At least we can get some relief. Check the flag in the left column to see what the present temp is.

3 digit day

Today we reached a temperature of 3 digits. My patio thermometer read 105 at one point. I am not sure what the official high was according to the weather stations but it was a warm one. I spent most of the day outside as I usually do but just moved a little slower. It is supposed to get hotter as the weekend progresses and on into the first part of next week. Good thing we are heading for California Monday. At least we will get out of some of the heat. We are going to spend 10 days in California to pickup our Grandson and visit family. We will bring Landen back here for a few days then off to Las Vegas for a few then on up to Yellowstone National Park. It should be a bit cooler up there.

Havasu eye candy

Here is some Lake Havasu eye candy I found. Be sure to check out all the vidios.



Click here for more

Disaster in the gulf

The oil spill in the gulf it a real disaster. Marine life and life along the beaches will not be the same for MANY years to come. This has put a lot of people out of work since the fishing industry in the gulf is non-existing. It however is making a lot of people a lot of money. Hotel, Motel, Restaurants, and Grocery stores along with other stores are prospering and will for quite some time. Out of work fisherman are being paid by PB to help with the cleanup. I saw were one restaurant owner (former shrimp fisherman) is expanding his restaurant because of the increase in business. This is defiantly an ecological disaster but could be a financial boon for the area.

Beautiful Sonora Desert

I received this in my email box and just had to pass it on to all of you. The author is unknown.


Hey everyone out there!

We, in Arizona, know you're boycotting us -- but you really should come out here and see our Beautiful Sonora Desert. It's just gorgeous right now! We know you'd love it and maybe you can share what you saw with the rest of the country so they can love it too!

This is on an 'illegal super - highway' from Mexico to the USA (Tucson) used by human smugglers. This area is located in a wash, approximately 1.5 miles long, just south of Tucson, Arizona. If a flood came, all this would be washed to the river and then onto the sea!

It is estimated over 5,000 discarded backpacks are in this wash. Countless water containers, food wrappers, clothing, feces, including thousands of soiled baby diapers. And as you can see in this picture, fresh footprints leading right into it.

As we kept walking down the wash, we thought for sure it was going to end, but around every corner was more and more trash!

And of course the trail leading out of the wash in our city, heads directly NORTH to Tucson, then leads to your town tomorrow.

They've already come through here. Isn't Arizona just beautiful, America? Why would you boycott us??? Our desert has basically been turned into a landfill.

The trash left behind by people illegally crossing our border is another Environmental Disaster to hit the USA. If these actions had been done in one of our Northwest Forests or Seashore National Parks areas, there would be an uprising of the American people.....but this is the Arizona-Mexican border. You won't see these pictures on CNN, ABC, NBC or the Arizona Republic Repugnant newspaper. Nor will they mention the disease that comes from the uncovered human waste left in our desert. However, with respect to CNN, ABC & NBC, they do offer us “Special Reports" on cheating celebrity spouses.... This information needs to be seen by the rest of the country. "It's not about Right vs. Left, Liberal vs. Conservative, Republican vs. Democrat. It's about supporting the US Constitution"

What boycott

After the signing of State Bill SB-1070, which gives the local law enforcement the right to question the legal status of a suspected illegal immigrant, several California cities staged a boycott against Arizona claiming this could lead to racial profiling. Well it appears the boycott is having no effect on Lake Havasu City since the hotels and campgrounds are reporting record bookings for this holiday weekend. In the same sense San Diego has reported a number of reservation cancellations from Arizona residents for the summer. The term “Stepping on your own…well you know what” comes to mind.

The weather has been fabulous here in Havasu. We haven’t seen the 3 digit temperatures we usually begin to see this time of year. It has been very warm but comfortable.

We have been of the lake a couple of times this month and the water is smooth as glass and the temperature is very nice. The resort is empty and I personally think everyone left too early, but they all had their own reason to head north this soon.

We will be heading to California soon but only for about 10 days to visit with family and pick up our grandson for a summer of travel. We are really looking forward to having him for the summer and he can’t wait to travel with us. He calls every night and talks to Susan about it.

You gotta see this

Hi there America. My name is Lucas Van Engen. Dutch last name, the "Engen" pronounced like "Singin". And now you know.

In 2 days I will be getting on a Craftsman 54 inch Kohler Courage Riding Mower (basically, a kick-butt riding lawnmower) and traveling from coast to coast, starting in Fontana California, ending in New York, New York. The whole trip will cover 3,300 miles and take about three months, roughly the time it took for the Mayflower to crash on our shores. In that time I will be making several stops across America, many of them planned, most of them unplanned. The mission is two-fold: a durability test on the lawnmower and a chance to meet America.

This weekend he was here in Lake Havasu. You can follow him here. http://www.facebook.com/craftsman?v=app_121480821206742

Read from the bottom up because the newer post are at the top of the page, similar to my blog.

Interesting day

My day started out pretty good today as I popped out of the motorhome to be greeted by this little guy.

Look how small he is compared to my finger. I watched as I sipped on my coffee and soon he scurried off. A bit later I turned on my patio TV and was disappointed at what the Stock Market was doing. After today, this year has been a total loss. In other words the market took back all the gains I made so far this year.

On a good note, I called about the shade screen I ordered for our patio and they informed me it would be installed today. I hurried off to put gas in the car before they came but when I got back they were here and just about had the job done. Wow, that was quick.

Now I feel better about my patio furniture knowing that I won’t have to buy a new set next year after the sun destroys this set. The shade will keep the sun from baking it and also me. The shade will roll up when I want my views, even thought I can see through it, or I can roll it down to protect my patio.

I like cold beer as everyone else does, even though it’s fake beer (non-alcohol), but I guess I got my frig a bit too cold.

I found this can sitting in the bottom of our casita refrigerator after it tied turning itself inside out knocking it off the shelf. Now that’s cold.

No one left

Well we are alone again. All our neighbors have left and we are the only ones left on the block.

I still say they left too early. The weather is the best right now.

Yesterday we headed out on the lake

with some friends and even the lake was empty. Well, it was Thursday. It can get pretty crazy out there on the weekends.

Wind wind wind

It’s been downright windy here the last couple of days. We are getting a bit tired of it and it doesn’t look like it will let up soon. Oh Well, I guess it could be worse as I look at the weather across the nation.

I had quite a scare in the stock market the other day. I have a good chunk of money invested in the market and as I watched the other day the market took its worst plunge ever.

I kept thinking, don’t panic, we are in it for the long run and it will come back. Turns out that it came back as fast as it plunged. Although it was still at a great loss, it could have been worse. The scary thing is no one knows what happened. There is a lot of speculation but nothing definite yet. Today was a good day as the market saw it’s biggest jump since 2005 but still has a ways to go before it pays back everything it took last week.

The resort here in Havasu is about a mile from the Havasu Airport where a number of small planes fly in and out everyday. There is no official rule but they are not supposed to fly over the resort on their approach or takeoffs. Sometimes, however, It appears they are going to land right here in the resort. We all say it’s a matter of time before one does just that. Well the other day I was sitting outside when I heard a plane go over that sounded like it was having a problem. Shortly after I heard a BOOM! I wondered what it was but didn’t give it another thought until I started hearing sirens. I took a look around to see if I could tell where the sirens were headed when I spotted a cloud of black smoke rising from the airport. Sure enough the plane I heard crashed at the airport, flipped over, and burst into flames. Fortunately the student pilot made it out with only minor injuries.

Sure is thinning out here at the resort. Most have headed out for the summer, a bit early in my opinion. We are going to head on over to California next month to pickup the grandson for a summer of travels. He is pretty excited about that.

Dodged a bullet

Sometimes you have to spend a little money to save a lot of money. Today I did just that. We have a very limited calling plan on our phone and have been able to live within those limitations for a long time. But things in life change and so did our calling habits. We have been receiving and making a lot of calls outside of the Verizon network during this last billing period and have greatly exceeded our allowed minutes. I was looking at an additional $400+ this month over and above our usual bill. So what I did was bumped up to the next plan, which not only gives us twice the minutes but also allows us to add 5 out of network numbers to call without using our minutes. Now the reason I dodged the bullet is because during the change over I was given the option to start this new plan beginning with the present billing period. So the additional minutes are now covered. So for only an additional $20 a month I saved over $400 in just this month.