March 1998

<<< Sunday, 1 March 1998

We were up early for a Net meeting with Kevin, June and the grandchildren where we were able to have a transatlantic family conference lasting over an hour for the cost of a local phone call.  Having caught up on the family news we set off for Seligman, Arizona stopping on the way at the Hoover Dam so Mac and Jane could do the dam tour.

Today is Jane's birthday and typical of American restaurants they conjured up a cake topped with a sparkler in no time, which was presented by all the staff including the chef to the refrains of happy birthday.  Today Seligman is an isolated town, bypassed by the I40, whose claim to fame is being The birthplace of Historic Route 66, originally called America's Road".  It is questionable how true this "Mother" claim is but it is certain that much of the towns early prosperity is due to the generations of railroaders and cowboy families from the huge surrounding ranches.

Monday, 2 March 1998

Tuesday, 3 March 1998

Continuing south mainly along the I17 we initially drove through dramatic red rock mountain scenery and then started the descent from 4,500 to below 2,000 feet as we approached Phoenix.

During the past couple of weeks, Mac had worked hard to obtain information from numerous golfers about golfing opportunities, which lead us to book the Happy Trails Golf Resort near Sun City which was today's destination.  As we approached the campground we were somewhat surprised to see prisoners in the traditional chain gang black and white striped outfits picking oranges from the roadside trees, guarded by gun-carrying warders. The campground is built around an 18-hole golf course, so we made the most of the opportunity by playing a very enjoyable 9 holes during the afternoon, which was followed by a BBQ and then Pegs and Jokers, which by the end of the evening brought the score to a 3 to 2 advantage to the men.

Wednesday, 4 March 1998

At 08.00 the golfers teed off on the adjacent resort while Valerie took her exercise walking around the vast campground, which is so large that our RV site is located some 1.1 miles from the entrance. Happy Trails is not a campground but a membership community development selling lots of ground to adults over 55.  Lots cost  $20,000 upwards plus annual dues, and the majority of owners electing to erect a mobile home rather than use an RV.  The community has several swimming pools, numerous tennis courts as well as a vast range of activities and craft rooms, however unbelievable to us, the resort does not have a restaurant, the nearest being some 7 miles to the east.  If nothing else it provided a good excuse to get out the BBQ and enjoy the pleasant evening air and spectacular sunset.

Thursday, 5 March 1998

A message from June reporting a problem with the central heating in Eastfield lead to phoning our property management service, which unfortunately was followed by a problem with the computer, leading to a trip to Radio Shack and a temporary repair by George.  Valerie drove the golf cart for the 18-hole game in the afternoon but it was so dark by the time we got to the 18th that it became more of a game of chance.  Mac was somewhat surprised to see so many custom golf carts including one with a Rolls Royce radiator front topped with the flying emblem.

Friday, 6 March - Monday, 9 March 1998

The golfers continued to play 18 holes most days, the last game having an 07.40 tee time meant a cool start which, however, was more than compensated by a good game with George breaking 100 for the first time since Mac & Jane arrived. 

On the last evening of their visit, Mac and Jane treated us to an excellent steak at the Outback Steak House, nicely rounding off an enjoyable four-week visit by M&J.

Pegs and Jokers ended in a win for the girls!

Tuesday, 10 March - Thursday, 12 March 1998

As the awning repair appointment in Tucson was not until Friday we decided to stay at the SKP park at Casa Grande for a few days. For the first night, they only had boondocking space available but we were able to move to a site with full hookups for the rest of our stay. 

The notebook computer had developed a more serious problem with the input power connector, so George spent a complete day taking the whole thing apart but could only carry out a better repair since it was not possible to obtain the correct replacement part.   Time was spent shopping, practising on the golf driving range and preparing our itinerary for the coming couple of months before joining the caravan to Alaska at the end of May.

Friday, 13 March 1998

When we arrived at All RV Repairs in Tucson we found thankfully that the parts had arrived which took about three hours to fit. George was not happy with the result since they had failed to recognise that the roller had also been damaged and as a result, the awning no longer retracts smoothly.  However, given the choice of waiting another week for a replacement roller for $200 or living with a minor problem, we decided to go with it. On the way back we stopped at a car wash and spent some time washing the RV which was followed by an overdue 3,000-mile oil change.  On return to the campground it was polishing time, so all in all it turned out to be RV day rather than bad luck day.

Saturday, 14 March 1998

It rained on and off most of the day however our mail arrived mid-afternoon leading to a flurry of excitement catching up on the news (history) but for once the mail did not have any nasty surprises or bills.

Sunday, 15 March 1998

At dawn, the rain was still in the air so we decided to wait one more day before moving north.  Visited the local Factory Shops which failed to tempt us into spending any money, is this a sign of getting older?

Monday, 16 March - Tuesday, 17 March 1998

Time to start moving north so we drove to Big River, CA which is a nice campground on the side of the turquoise-coloured Colorado River.  Upon arrival, we learnt via our message service that Sam & Marrianne were hoping to see us as they had recently arrived back in Phoenix, which unfortunately was where we had just travelled 200 miles from!

The route to Big River was mostly through open desert, which during the last month or so has become surprisingly green and over the last few days wildflowers have started to blossom.  Some parts of Arizona have had their wettest winter for fifteen years leading to a profusion of desert flowers.  Amazingly, for most of the year, the desert is dry and brown but in no time vast areas of predominately yellow and purple flowers with occasional swaths of light brown have appeared.  Being close to the river we were awoken by the unusual sound of a dawn chorus from numerous birds including the grackle which is a shiny highly iridescent black bird with a long wedge-shaped tail.  As we planned to stay for a few days Valerie took the opportunity to treat herself to a perm, putting George's long hair to shame.

Wednesday, 18 March 1998

With a few days to spare before we need to move further west George announced that he would like to visit Laughlin which is a mini Las Vegas.  Laughlin, which is in Nevada but lying very near the California border and just across the Colorado River from Arizona, was little more than a nameless bait shack in 1970. Today, however, it is a gambling Mecca in the middle of the desert but much more focused on gambling for adults than Las Vegas.  There are hardly any attractions, illuminations or free entertainment to appeal to young families.

Thursday, 19 March 1998

We crossed over the Colorado River into Bullhead City where we were delighted to find a gas station where we could fill the RV and car at $0.89 a gallon  (0.15 pounds per litre).  This will probably be the cheapest gas we will find for a while since we expect to be in California for some weeks, which due to its tougher environmental legislation and higher taxes has some of the most expensive gas in the state, but still only 19p per litre.

The SR95 south followed the river for some distance, along the side of which, masses of wildflowers were in full blossom.  We stopped overnight at Calico where we met a delightful English couple who upon retirement 8 years ago, decided to emigrate to Canada where they acquired dual citizenship.  We spent several hours chewing the cud and putting the world to right, upon departure they insisted we visit them on our way to Alaska, which we may well do.

A mockingbird decided to sing during the night sitting on a branch just above the RV, keeping Valerie awake most of the night but as usual, George slept through it all, the sleep of the just!

Friday, 20 March 1998

We drove west through Barstow which is yet another town founded on and even today still depends heavily on the railroad, however, it also appears to be the scrap capital of the west since all we could see was miles of scrap stuff of every description.

The road continued through the desert countryside but after passing through the Mojave Desert the countryside started to rapidly change as the road climbed into the Sierra Nevada foothills, passing hundreds of wind-powered electricity generators on the hilltops.  The road then continues through the Tehachapi Pass which peaks at 3,793 feet and then descends for 14 miles through spectacular mountain scenery.  In stark contrast to the dark green of the desert, the vegetation through the pass was a lush and vivid green.  We marvelled at the ingenuity of the railway engineers who managed to construct a line through such difficult terrain, in fact so difficult that we were amazed as we watched a typical American half-mile-long train going in a complete circle and coming out through a tunnel underneath itself!

By early afternoon we had arrived at Edison just to the south of Bakersfield, where we camped in what looked more like an orange grove. Unfortunately, we were about two weeks too late since the majority of oranges had been picked but there was still enough for those who made an effort by borrowing the very long handle grab from the campground office.

Saturday, 21 March 1998

It was then on through Bakersfield, which lies near the southern end of the San Joaquin Valley which is an important shipping and marketing centre for oil, natural gas and farm products of which we saw plenty of evidence in the form of oil storage facilities and the like. It is also known as California's country music capital but we did not see any evidence.  We are now in a lush and fertile farming country where virtually anything appears to grow well, with nuts and fruit trees doing particularly well, growing in abundance for hundreds of miles. We had been told it was a good time to visit the area since the blossom is at its best in March and a 68-mile route near Fresno is of particular note.  We saw some blossom as we arrived but we are not sure if El Nino has affected the timing or if we are not yet in the right area.  The KOA site at Visalia is laid out in a pleasant grassy location where we will spend a couple of days while we explore the area.

Sunday, 22 March 1998

At the Giant Forest, we stopped to stare at the huge Redwood trees which towered over two hundred feet above us. The Sherman Tree is a particularly prize specimen of redwood as it is about 2,500 years old and at 274 feet high and 102 feet around the base, it is the largest living thing on earth

We were above the snow line at 5,000 feet and soon the roadside snow was towering above the car where it had been ploughed a few weeks earlier. 

Surprisingly for a sunny Sunday, there were very few visitors to the mountains however a few families were sledging on the slopes or walking through the forest using snow shoes. 

Monday, 23 March - Wednesday, 25 March 1998

The blossom trail was a little disappointing in that we were too late for some varieties and too early for others.  However the countryside was full of fresh growth and we gained a better appreciation of the variety of things grown which included oranges, lemons, grapefruits, nectarines, tangerines almonds, pecans and walnuts.

During the afternoon a storm came in from the west producing heavy rain and at about six p.m. the power to the campground was cut, but like other RVers, we were barely inconvenienced as we were able to run the generator to cook the evening meal.  Power cuts and brownouts (low voltage) are fairly common in the states, particularly during storms which can contain numerous lightning strikes.  George went out after dark to check if the power supply had been restored, however, he returned even quicker when he found a black widow spider sheltering from the rain in the campground's power supply box!  As the heavy rain continued throughout Wednesday we decided to stay for another day spending part of the day shopping.

Thursday, 26 March 1998

We travelled north about 125 miles mainly along Interstate 5 where on arrival at Gustine, CA we camped for two nights at the San Luis Creek Reservoir, where most sites have views of the lake and surrounding grass-covered hills.  Upon arrival, we were somewhat surprised to find that nobody else was staying at the campground.  We settled in and after about two hours we were taken completely by surprise when an RV arrived we found out that it was the same English couple we meet 7 days ago in Calico now some 400 miles to the south. What a small world it is. They were on their way home to Canada and had about 1,200  miles to cover in six days so they decided to explore the local countryside.  Together we visited the local Andersen restaurant which claims to have the best split pea soup in the world, which was delicious. During the meal we learnt more about some of the best in Canada, which should serve us well when we visit in a couple of months.

Friday, 27 March 1998

We had hardly said goodbye to Eric and Barbara when an RV arrived from within which came an English accent.  It turns out that Dave and Penny have been touring for a year and we were the first English couple they had come across.  They had purchased an eight-year-old class A in Oregon and during their travels had experienced various mechanical problems as well as two broken windscreens which had cost them over $2,000 for replacements, however, they had enjoyed every moment and were very sorry to be returning home.

Saturday, 28 March 1998

The wildflowers continued to be spectacular though out the drive to Morgan Hill where we camped for two nights, being the nearest campground to San Jose and the homes of Sikko and Iain.  The hillsides were covered in a blaze of various coloured wildflowers including the California poppy which is the state flower, which is faring much better than the state animal, the grizzly bear being killed off years ago.

Sunday, 29 March 1998

During the afternoon we visited the Winchester Mystery House in San Jose which was originally an 8-room farmhouse until it was purchased by Sarah Winchester in the late 1800s. 

Sarah Winchester was very intelligent but was driven by the words of the fortune teller and the guidance she received from the spirits every evening. Unfortunately, the spirits gave her conflicting messages which frequently resulted in knocking down recently installed rooms and starting over again.

It was then off to visit George's ex-Philips colleagues where he caught up on all the changes and challenges within the company and even though a reminder was unnecessary it made him more than glad that he was retired.

Monday, 30 March - Tuesday, 31 March 1998

After a visit to Camping World which is a supermarket for camping equipment, we drove the 50 miles to Sonoma where we stayed with Pat & Dick for four days.  Again throughout the route hillsides covered in wildflowers of every colour were a delight to the eye. We are now in the heart of California's wine region so we spent some hours driving through the Alexander and Napa Valley where vines were planted in vast rows for hundreds of miles. >>>

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