Leaving Mesa and the trip home

The Trip Home

Tues 13 Apr
At Val Vista Village RV Resort, Sheila went for a last swim in the pool near our campsite while I unhooked the services, then we went for one last lunch at the Cactus Ranch House Grill and finally pulled out of Val Vista just before noon. Down to a nearby ARCO for enough gas to make Kingman, then on through Phoenix & onto the Hwy north. At Kingman we stopped at Zuni Village which had cablevision so Sheila could watch "Dancing with the Stars".

Wed 14 Apr
Filled up with gas in Kingman at "Terrible's gas station" and off to "Terrible's Lakeside Casino & RV Park." Terrible Herbst, (not his real first name I'm sure), has several casinos and a chain of gas stations. His casino in Pahrump, (near the CA/NV border), has an RV Park and it is Passport America, so for $15/night we got a lakeside site with GREEN grass around us, (instead of the usual gravel), free use of paddleboats on the lake, a pool & hot tub. They also had free WiFi. I tried to send pictures of the place but couldn't get anything to upload to either blog or email. Otherwise, it was a great campground!

Thurs Apr 15
Off to Death Valley, CA as it is right on route more or less. We bought a
park pass for $20 for the car, good for 7 days & stopped at the Visitor's
Centre at Furnace Creek for their slide show & a a Ranger presentation on
the "Creepies & Crawlies that live in Death Valley." First, she talked about
Tarantula spiders, & how like octopii, they have been seriously misrepresented in the movies & literature. They are a very shy, non-agressive animal who spends most of its time hiding in its hole or cave. You will only get bit if you don't give it time to run away & then the bite is no more serious than a wasp sting.


The scorpion, however is a different matter. It will stay & fight, i.e. sting! However, though VERY painful, unless you are very young or very old, the sting is not life threatening. The scorpion is the oldest living creature, having been on earth 450 million years! It loses less water in the heat than any other animal, i.e. it can lose 40% of its bodily fluids before dying. It can go for months without eating.


Finally, she described & showed us photos of the 3 species of Rattlesnakes that live in the park. Of the three, the Mojave Rattler is the most poisonous & agressive. She said they only had 9 snakebites bites last year, even though over 2 million people visited the park. All 9 got the anti-venom & were fine. She said that 58% of snake bites occur because people are teasing them & that 25% of rattlesnake bites are
non-poisonous because the snake just bites, but does not inject it's venom.
Most of what she said about snakes & tarantulas was quite reassuring, tho I
sure would watch out for scorpions!


After that enlightening talk, we drove on enjoying the desert flowers & mountain scenery enroute to Scotty's Castle at the north end where we would exit Death Valley, when about 3:30 pm, all of a sudden--a loud BANG! One rear outside dual tire had blown out, no damage to anything, except the tire. We discovered there's no cell coverage in the middle of Death Valley, so we unhooked the car & I drove 20 miles, (30 Kms) to a pay phone & called 'Good Sam' emergency service. After I finally got through, the dispatcher & I finally, after a lot of explanation, pinpointed where we were, (10 miles north of the junction of Hwys 190 & 374). He said it'd be 60 to 90 mins.till they could get a truck to us. I drive back to the RV & Sheila. No show after 3 hours, so Sheila drove to another pay phone to find out what had happened. After 40 min. on the phone with Good Sam, she found out the Tow company had said they couldn't find us. Apparently, they were not given all the info on where we were & were looking in the wrong place! (They were not given the "10 miles north" part of the information). It would now take 4 hours to get someone to us! Since it was now almost 9 pm, Sheila said phooey! Come tomorrow, about 8 am. We were level on the side of the road, so we camped there for the night. The road was not much traveled so we had part of a day & all night, to experience the solitude & silence of Death Valley.

Fri Apr 16
No one showed up by 9:30 am, so once more, Sheila drove for half an hour to
the nearest phone, to discover there was no record of a request for service at 8 am! We FINALLY got someone out to change the tire by 1:30 and we're off to Scotty's Castle to tour it on a 1 hour guided tour. It really does look like a small castle from the outside & is lavishly furnished inside. The costumed tour guide entertained us with many interesting stories about it's inhabitants. Then, back into NV towards Tonopah and the Banc Club Casino parking lot for the night. Got back into cell range in NV. We had what I thought was a nice supper at the casino restaurant, (Sheila didn't--she said the meat was OK, but veggies & baked potato weren't). Next trip she's going to try their Chinese dishes which looked really good. Sheila played the slots for a while, resulting in lots of play for an investment of $10.

Sat Apr 17
Off & away along the hwy. Nice lunch stop at a picnicking/camping area overlooking Walker Lake just north of Hawthorne. One interesting thing about Hawthorne, (in the middle of the Nevada desert). . . Beside a large ammunition storage depot, (there are bunkers all across the desert, scores of them), there is a sign saying, This is a "Navy Underwater Warfare Training Centre"; & we are in the middle of the desert????????

Stopped in Fallon NV for gas at $2.83--cheapest I've seen, including the big truck stops. Then on past Reno, back into CA to Honey Lake RV Park, a Passport America campground overlooking Honey Lake, oddly, Honey Lake has no water in it that we could see--maybe there's some out in the centre. It is a big lake bed, 20 miles long. The RV park person said the deepest it gets is 6 feet, so dry season really affects it.



Note: I figured out, that this trip we have used Passport America for 12 nights,
saving $15 to $20 a night.

Sun Apr 18
Late start, but off & away to Klamath Falls, just after 10. Unfortunately it is Sunday & the "Les Schwab Tire" shop, (for chains for the Focus & a new tire for the RV), is closed. I checked, & Walmart doesn't carry tires in our RV size, so we'll have to stop there for the night instead of moving on to a casino a bit further north. We will do Les Schwab tomorrow AM. Went to Sizzler for supper then to a movie, "Date Night"which was quite funny. We both enjoyed it, ($6.25 for seniors in a Silver City type theatre.) Manager said we'd be welcome to camp overnight in their lot if we're going to a movie. He said to park over by the back fence, which just happens to be next door to a police station--nice safe place, I'd say. Good to know as it's on one of the hwys into town.

Mon Apr 18
Up early, well for us early - about 7:30 or so. Received a text message from Adeline about her having contractions. Told her hang in there, we are on route as fast as we can, or fast for us. I got my new RV tire & put it as a spare, plus I got good snow chains for the Focus. Drove over to Fred Myers for the discount gas with my Fred Myers card & met Sheila who had been shopping at Wal-Mart while I waited for the tire to be mounted. We hooked up & were off at about 10:45. After one gas stop, lots of enroute snacks, and 2 or 3 "change driver" stops, we pulled into Emerald Queen Casino at exit 135 on "I"5, 420 miles, (680kms), from Klamath Falls at about 6:45. We had supper at their Asian Cafe, (reasonable price & good-sized servings). Two entries, with noodles for $8 filled me! Sheila stayed to play, I came back to RV. No more text messages from Adeline so I guess it wasn't real labour.

Tues Apr 19
Off & away to the border. Sheila wanted to stop at "Burlington Coat Factory" at the outlet shops near Bulington. We got there & couldn't find the coat factory but Sheila did find an "OsKosh & a Carters" so while I went next door to Costco for gas, she shopped away, getting Mikaela another swimsuit, a T-shirt; two cute newborn sleepers etc. & met me at "The "Curious Chef" for lunch--good, healthy food. I discovered they are building a Fred Meyer gas station, plus there is the Costco there, (exit 229 is closest). Good for gassing up going down & coming back. Next stop, Duty Free at the border, then over border, bit of a line, so it took a while, (20 min. or so). Once over the border, we unhooked the car & Sheila headed to Michael & Adeline's to be on hand to take care of Mikaela when Adeline & Michael have to go to the hospital. I joined the Roamers RV outing at Pacific RV Park, arriving mid-way through tea-time. I spent the next 3 nights there. The weather was quite good--we were able to have our tea-times and play Washers & the golf ball game outside. I spent the evenings playing Hand & Foot in the clubhouse.


On Thursday morning, April 22nd, I finally received this text message from Michael: "Welcome to the World, Erica Stephanie Tufts. Born 6:51am, April 22nd. 6 lbs 11 oz. Another granddaughter--how wonderful!

On Friday, Apr 23 I left the RV Park and arrived home late morning after being away since Dec. 29, 2009. Unloaded some of RV, then Ken & I headed out to meet our new granddaughter/niece who also, had just arrived home!

For the record: In the RV we covered 5694 kms, (3538 miles), & drove the
Focus for 2180 kms, (1350 miles).

I tried to post pictures so that they would be in chronological order with the first ones posted below this dialogue being the start of our trip home. They seem to have posted in reverse and are mixed up. The first ones after leaving Mesa, AZ should be Kingman, AZ and the Bolder Dam Bridge! Then we went to Terrible's in Pahrump NV and on into Death Valley. Then out of Death Valley to Tonopah NV and to Honey Lake, CA, then to Emerald Queen Casino, with Erica's pictures being at the end, not the beginning where they are.

So endeth the 2010 snowbird trip blog

Arrived home for the arrival of Erica Stephanie Tufts

This is a cell phone picture Michael took shortly after Erica was born. It is the only one I currently have on the computer of Adeline with Erica.

Erica Stephanie Tufts, first day

Erica in her car seat ready to go home

Erica with Michael & Mikaela at home
Erica, Michael, Mikaela, Ken
Erica, Michael, Bren