Classes of 2008 and 2009

[palamine]

89A goes through Oak Creek Canyon. It's beautiful but the climb out on the North end is a doozy. You can stand at the top and view the same road 5 times below you. 89 regular, has some Switchbacks just south of Prescott and Yarnell hill just above Congress is a long pull but not very crooked. 89 reg. hits I-10 at Ash Fork just west of Williams and the Grand Canyon turn off. Granite Dells in the Chino Valley is kinda pretty with huge granite boulders.

 

Thanks for your vast knowledge. Some of this we knew, others we didn't. And then a SKP here said there is a sign that actually says something to the effect that road is not safe for trailers longer than 30 feet.

 

However, we got out the chalk and changed our plans. No more Grand Canyon. Cancelled our reservations and just lost $10.00. We figured that with the price of gas, the entrance cost and the fact that we would have only two nights, we decided it was just way too complicated.

 

So after Pahrump, we think we will go to The Valley of Fire. Sue mentioned the boondocking near Overton. Friends - tell us about it. Thank you.

[IYQ]

Tomorrow morning is the day. I'm all hooked up and ready to roll. The wind has been blowing at about 30 MPH all day and promises to do the same tomorrow. I should get some good gas mileage because it's going my way. The Rally here at the ranch is over and people are heading out by the bunches. Me Too.

[steved44]

Anyone know what the 89 is like between Congress and Grand Canyon State Park?

 

We were just there a couple of weeks ago. We took 89 out of Congress to Kirkland junction. Then Turned left to Kirkland and just before you cross the railroad tracks in Kirkland turn right and take the road through skull valley to Prescott. We left Prescott on HW 69 and turned off on HW 169 to end up on Interstate 17, then North to Flagstaff. All of those roads were fine and although a little steep, you miss the bad part by turning at Kirkland junction. Once at Flagstaff it's a smooth drive on 17 up to Grand Canyon. Steve

[Striper]

Just got back from a week in the sun of Kauai, Hawaii. While it's not raining, YET, the sky is gray and the wind is blowing 30+ miles an hour. Oh well, break out the foul weather gear and go for a walk.

 

Joe

[steve & sandy]

Just got back from a week in the sun of Kauai, Hawaii. While it's not raining, YET, the sky is gray and the wind is blowing 30+ miles an hour. Oh well, break out the foul weather gear and go for a walk.

 

Joe

I thought you were going to bring some of that Sun back with you? I've adjusted to the Gray & rain But the Gusts @ 50+ this far north is getting old. We have a Wingard antena & I have to keep putting it down for the wind @ least once a week for a day or so. And I bring in the big slide for the topper noise. Four to 6 more weeks up in Blaine.

 

Do you know any good eating places around the area we might try?

[IYQ]

ON THE ROAD AGAIN. I woke up extra early this morning and couldn't get back to sleep so I finally gave up and got up and got the rig ready to roll. I arrived at Oliver Lee State Park (site 40) a little after 10:30 AM and bought a new Parks Pass. By buying it at the first of the month I get 13 months free parking for the price of 12. Oliver Lee State Park is off US 54 just south of Alamogordo, NM at the end of Dog Canyon Road. It's high on the slope at the base of a mountain range and offers a grand view of the valley below. The grade coming up here is hardly noticable until you get here and look back at the valley. You can see the White Sands and part of Alamogordo. The Cacti are starting to bloom. The Yucca are in bloom and the Ocotillo and Prickly Pear are just starting to bloom. I expected the wind to be pretty bad because there are wind warning out for the valley. Guess what, there isn't much wind at all but I can see dust storms down in the valley below and at the White Sands. I think I'll enjoy it here. I'll probably spend about a week. I have a couple of chores I want to get done while I'm here.

[palamine]

ON THE ROAD AGAIN. I woke up extra early this morning and couldn't get back to sleep so I finally gave up and got up and got the rig ready to roll. I arrived at Oliver Lee State Park (site 40) a little after 10:30 AM and bought a new Parks Pass. By buying it at the first of the month I get 13 months free parking for the price of 12. Oliver Lee State Park is off US 54 just south of Alamogordo, NM at the end of Dog Canyon Road. It's high on the slope at the base of a mountain range and offers a grand view of the valley below. The grade coming up here is hardly noticable until you get here and look back at the valley. You can see the White Sands and part of Alamogordo. The Cacti are starting to bloom. The Yucca are in bloom and the Ocotillo and Prickly Pear are just starting to bloom. I expected the wind to be pretty bad because there are wind warning out for the valley. Guess what, there isn't much wind at all but I can see dust storms down in the valley below and at the White Sands. I think I'll enjoy it here. I'll probably spend about a week. I have a couple of chores I want to get done while I'm here.

 

 

One day I will figure out how to make this a new box.

 

We too are ON THE ROAD AGAIN. Mixed emotions. Leaving all of the friends we have here is sad. Going somewhere new is exciting. Eventually getting back to Vancouver and family is well......you know.

[Striper]

I thought you were going to bring some of that Sun back with you? I've adjusted to the Gray & rain But the Gusts @ 50+ this far north is getting old. We have a Wingard antena & I have to keep putting it down for the wind @ least once a week for a day or so. And I bring in the big slide for the topper noise. Four to 6 more weeks up in Blaine.

 

Do you know any good eating places around the area we might try?

 

 

I tried, really I did. Been so long since I worked up in the Blaine area I don't remember any of the places I used to eat there, sorry.

 

Joe

[palamine]

One day I will figure out how to make this a new box.

 

We too are ON THE ROAD AGAIN. Mixed emotions. Leaving all of the friends we have here is sad. Going somewhere new is exciting. Eventually getting back to Vancouver and family is well......you know.

 

We've arrived at North Ranch, near Congress. Uneventful trip even with all the traffic in Phoenix, sheesh. Just going in the office and along comes our friend Ed. He was the guy that was our neighbour at Rovers Roost. Nice guy.

 

Anyhow........no generator use in Boondocking. Oh well just two nights here.

[palamine]

One day I will figure out how to make this a new box.

 

We too are ON THE ROAD AGAIN. Mixed emotions. Leaving all of the friends we have here is sad. Going somewhere new is exciting. Eventually getting back to Vancouver and family is well......you know.

 

We've arrived at North Ranch, near Congress. Uneventful trip even with all the traffic in Phoenix, sheesh. Just going in the office and along comes our friend Ed. He was the guy that was our neighbour at Rovers Roost. Nice guy.

 

Anyhow........no generator use in Boondocking. Oh well just two nights here.

[IYQ]

I drove over to Holloman AFB this morning and went to their Personel Office to see if they could help me change my legal address with DEERS. (That's the Office that Pays us Old Foggies.) They not only helped me they did it for me. As I was walking in the door a Sergeant was just going in too. I ask him where the Office of Retired Services was. He said he didn't know but to follow him inside and he would find out for me. Man they treated me like Royalty. I'll have to go to more Military installations just to make me feel good. After I got that taken care of I went into Alamogordo and tracked down the Post Office to get my Quarterly Income Tax payment sent off Certified mail. Alamogordo has grown since I was here 5 years ago. The rest of the day was spent carving and walking around the park looking at all the cacti in bloom.

[Wanderin]

I drove over to Holloman AFB this morning and went to their Personel Office to see if they could help me change my legal address with DEERS. (That's the Office that Pays us Old Foggies.) They not only helped me they did it for me. As I was walking in the door a Sergeant was just going in too. I ask him where the Office of Retired Services was. He said he didn't know but to follow him inside and he would find out for me. Man they treated me like Royalty. I'll have to go to more Military installations just to make me feel good. After I got that taken care of I went into Alamogordo and tracked down the Post Office to get my Quarterly Income Tax payment sent off Certified mail. Alamogordo has grown since I was here 5 years ago. The rest of the day was spent carving and walking around the park looking at all the cacti in bloom.

 

Well, we spent the day trying to beat the "late winter snow storm" and fight the winds. Then, finished it off with a glass of wine parked next to my cousin in one of the best $11 COE parks ever .... or, maybe it just seemed one of the best since the last two days have been so rough. Either way, I'm too tired to think to blog so I'm posting instead.

Edited April 4, 2012 by Wanderin'

[Guest coldsmoke]

well we arrived in vegas. staying fora few days. then we start the slow trek back to alaska.

 

see you all next year

mike and deb

[Sandie & Jim]

We'll be going to Superstition Skies again tonight with Paul and Marsha. And it's nice to know it won't be overrun with people. Be safe out there everybody.

[palamine]

Well, we spent the day trying to beat the "late winter snow storm" and fight the winds. Then, finished it off with a glass of wine parked next to my cousin in one of the best $11 COE parks ever .... or, maybe it just seemed one of the best since the last two days have been so rough. Either way, I'm too tired to think to blog so I'm posting instead.

 

Another problem. Same problem really. The hub that was originally installed in Olympia, WA January 2nd was the wrong size, just a tad, but has now burnt out the bearings. We tried to order a new hub from Alko, nope. So we are just going to buy new bearings and hope they last until we get back to BC. So happy Doug can do all this work himself.

 

I need help. Is the only sani station/water near Overton, NV the one in Valley of Fire State park so we will have to pay $10.00 park entrance fee and $10.00 for the dump. Any suggestions or should be just haul a full tank of water from here (North Ranch). The dump part is okay as we plan to stay about a week boondocking near Overton and can hold ten days worth of stuff easy.

 

Thank you friends.

[soos]

1333577880[/url]' post='535446']

Another problem. Same problem really. The hub that was originally installed in Olympia, WA January 2nd was the wrong size, just a tad, but has now burnt out the bearings. We tried to order a new hub from Alko, nope. So we are just going to buy new bearings and hope they last until we get back to BC. So happy Doug can do all this work himself.

 

I need help. Is the only sani station/water near Overton, NV the one in Valley of Fire State park so we will have to pay $10.00 park entrance fee and $10.00 for the dump. Any suggestions or should be just haul a full tank of water from here (North Ranch). The dump part is okay as we plan to stay about a week boondocking near Overton and can hold ten days worth of stuff easy.

 

Thank you friends.

 

I think Echo bay at lake mead has a dump astation etc

[IYQ]

A fantabulous day today, Warm, Sunny, only a breeze, made to order. I didn't do much except enjoy the nice warm sunshine and fantastic View. And, It looks like we are lined up for a string of carbon copies of today. I hope I don't run out of the nice weather when I go farther East come Monday.

[Onthego]

well we arrived in vegas. staying fora few days. then we start the slow trek back to alaska.

 

see you all next year

mike and deb

 

Where are you? We are at Sam's Town and our daughter flew in yesterday and is going home Saturday night. How long are you staying? If we don't see you be safe going home.

 

Jeff and Tina

[Guest coldsmoke]

Where are you? We are at Sam's Town and our daughter flew in yesterday and is going home Saturday night. How long are you staying? If we don't see you be safe going home.

 

Jeff and Tina

we are in arizona charlies, we will be here untill next tuesday or maybe a few days longer.. lets get together.. is meghan enjoying this weather ?

mike and deb and smokey

[ccsimpson]

45 to 4/12 we are at The Ranch in Congress. SOOO...... glad to be on the road again after 4 months in Mesa, AZ. Had a great time with great friends but are ready to explore other areas! Will drive up to Prescott and Jerome while we are here.

Sandie and Jim, so glad we got to see you one more time before we left the valley! Be safe!

Carol

[IYQ]

Twas a little on the warm side today. 85 but, there was enough of a breeze to keep it comfortable while sitting outside. I managed to keep it down to 87 inside the trailer with my O2-cool fan. I may have got it down another degree by turning on both Fantastic vent fans but I didn't want to use the electricity. One of my neighbors came over and started gabbing about 8 this morning and didn't stop talking till 1 PM. I finally had to tell him "I'm going inside to fix my lunch. Good Bye. I hope he was offended cause I can't take that much gum beating again. After I got some lunch I took a nice long STEVE to recuperate.

[Sandie & Jim]

Twas a little on the warm side today. 85 but, there was enough of a breeze to keep it comfortable while sitting outside. I managed to keep it down to 87 inside the trailer with my O2-cool fan. I may have got it down another degree by turning on both Fantastic vent fans but I didn't want to use the electricity. One of my neighbors came over and started gabbing about 8 this morning and didn't stop talking till 1 PM. I finally had to tell him "I'm going inside to fix my lunch. Good Bye. I hope he was offended cause I can't take that much gum beating again. After I got some lunch I took a nice long STEVE to recuperate.

 

8 a.m. to 1 p.m.???? I would have cut him off a lot sooner than you. You have the patience of the angels. That STEVE probably helped a whole lot though.

[steved44]

[IYQ]

Another warm day (Hi 87 LO last night 61) but was very comfortable in the trailer or in the shade outside. I stayed inside almost all day to avoid a talkathon with my neighbor. I did get in a nice walk and while walking one of the LOW gals was driving past and recognized me. We talked a few minutes in the road and she left to go hiking up Dog Canyon Trail. I sat outside in the sun for 15 minutes with my pantlegs rolled up to my knees to get a little color on those stark white legs. I guess I'll have to wear shorts about once a week so I don't look like a ghost.

[steved44]

ZZZZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzz, Huh?, I think I heard IYQ holler revile!!! OK, I'll give you one to laugh at. We pulled into our new "home location" the other day. Carol said, "lets see how quickly we can do this". Famous last words! This is a small mobile home park (10 units), and one was empty, so we convinced the owner that he needed to have a RV here. The utilities were not in a good place for a motor home, but we figured we could handle that. The water and sewer were right in the middle of a pair of concrete strips that the mobile homes had been located on. When we backed into the site, we had to position the bus over the top of the sewer/ water connections because the satellites had to shoot around two trees to be able to get Internet and TV. Because of the location, we had to hook up the sewer hose, and the water hose before we backed the bus into position. While we were doing this, (I was too far to the right, or was it the left?), I managed to back the inside dual over the sewer hose crushing the end of it. Hmmmmmm now I had to cut a couple of feet off the hose to get rid of the bad part, and guess what, yep the hose was now too short to reach the sewer pipe. OK, back to the store and buy a 10' section of hose to make up the difference, along with a connector and clamps. Hooked that up and tried it with a little gray water and although it was pretty good, it was leaking a little too much at the connection. OK, next day. I tightened the clamps and tried it again. No flow????? Looked further up the hose and whoops! The jack had come down and crushed the hose up behind the wheel where I couldn't see it. Aarrrggghhh. OK, cut off the bad part and back to the store for another connector. I came back after dark and decided to try it again. I installed the connector and pulled the valve to see if all the leaks were gone. Now, note that it was now dark, and I was without a flashlight because this darkness had taken place while I was trimming the hose and installing the connector. No leaks (at first glance), but as I looked toward the front of the bus I saw (in the moonlight)water coming out from the front of the bus. I immediately shut off the drain, but a lot had escaped by this time. Well, I decided to stop everything and wait until the morning so I could at least see a little better. Now this morning, after coffee and encouragement from DW, I looked at the situation again. Seems there was a 4" PVC sewer pipe coming straight up under the bus, I had put a 90 degree end on the sewer hose going into it. Problem was, under the bus there is a steel cross-member about 3" wide that was positioned directly over the sewer pipe. When I leveled the bus, it dropped down enough when the air bags exhausted, to cause that cross-member to shear off the 90 degree sewer fitting. Now I knew where the real leak was. So, now with a new 90 degree fitting, a little crawl under the bus in the gray water sludge, we now have sewer!!!!! So the answer to Carol's question, how quickly can we do this? 5.4 days seems to be the answer