Kingman, AZ-4-30-07

4-30-07-Monday-63186-36-Kingman, AZ-Sunny, hot-low+68-high+94

We took the motorhome to Kingman Equipment Services and they removed the generator. It took them 1 hour to take it out. Later this afternoon we went back to see how they were coming along and they said the valve adjustment was off and corrected the adjustment. Chris, the owner, wants to flush out the motor and put new oil in, then see how it runs before they have to tear down the engine. We will check with them before noon tomorrow on what it might take to repair the generator's engine.

Las Vegas, NV-4-29-07

4-29-07-Sunday-63186-106-Las Vegas, NV-Sunny-hot-low +71-high +100

After a brief second stay, we thanked Teri and Ed and left about 1130, heading back over Hoover Dam and into Kingsman, AZ. The Kingman KOA had a spot we could camp out at for a couple of days while we had our generator fixed. Thanks Terri for putting up with us for a second visit.

Las Vegas, NV-4-28-07

4-28-07-Saturday-63186-0-Las Vegas, NV-Sunny-hot-low+66-high+110

We stayed over an extra day with Ed and Teri and Roxanne showed Ed how to attach a photo and send it through gmail. We washed clothes and prepaired the motor home for the road again. We missed seeing Robin and Helen this weekend due to scheduling conflicts but left voice messages.

Las Vegas, NV-4-27-07

4-27-07-Friday-63172-14-Las Vegas, NV-Sunny-hot-low+68-high +98

Finley RV could/would not help us. It seems that our generator has a ring or valve problem and it would be hours (and we're talking big bucks!) to tear it down to see what was the cause and IF it could be fixed. They also didn't know if our RV insurance protection plan would cover it or not. We were going to buy a new generator but we weren't sure what to do with the current one and how to trade them out. Instead, we decided to go back to Kingman and have Tonna and Chip’s friend, Chris, repair our generator. We had called him for advice and he offered to work on it for a price of about $400.00 compared to $2550.00 at Finley RV. (Note: We could have bought a new generator for $2647 at Rocky Mtn Cummings, compared to $4200.00 at Finley RV or $4399.00 at Camping World.)

Henderson, NV-4-26-07

Pics: 1) Lake Mead (on the Nevada side); 2) Hoover/Boulder Dam (the Arizona-Nevada line is in the middle of the dam); 3: Lake Mead, looking from the dam; 4) Chip and Tonna Jo, Roxanne's cousin.

4-26-07-Thursday-62974-198-Henderson, NV-Sunny, hot -low +68-high +93

We drove to Kingman, AZ and visited Roxanne’s cousin, Tonna Jo, and her husband, Chip. On the way we drove over the Hoover/Boulder Dam (it is officially Hoover Dam, after President Herbert Hoover, but is also still known by the project name, Hoover Dam. The dam is actually built in Black Canyon, which turned out to be better suited for the design and type of surrounding rock it was built into, than in the original site of Boulder Canyon further upstream. The project name stuck and, due to oscillating political currents over the years following it's opening, the name changed back and forth between Boulder and Hoover and is still used interchangeably. Today they are building a new by-pass highway for the road traffic so the dam can be better protected from terror attacks. At this time, and hopefully in the future, there are still tours down into the dam.

We had a great visit with Tonna and Chip at their place of business, Kingman Starters & Alternators and while there, mentioned our generator concerns. Their friend, Chris, who has a small engine repair business came by and looked at our generator. He wasn’t sure what Finley RV did to our generator but he suggested going back to them to have them fix it. Chris said that he has never seen a generator smoke this bad after only a service job and he has serviced hundreds of them. We drove back to Las Vegas that evening to stay with Terri and Ed a little longer and have Finley RV work on the generator on Friday.

Las Vegas, NV-4-25-07

Pic: Brother Igor/Ed and Teri

4-25-07-Wednesday-62937-37-Las Vages, NV-Sunny-hot-low +61-high +96

After a late breakfast/early lunch and taking care of a few more things at Teri’s house, we headed south. Thanks Terri for sharing your home with us.

It seems like our errands are never ending like getting gas, groceries, going to a boot store for me, and picking up a gift for Roxanne’s Aunt Janice (in Indiana).

Well, by the time we headed out of Las Vegas, it was supper time and getting pretty dark (and we are trying to only drive during daylight hours to enjoy all the sights along the way). We ended up staying the night in the parking lot at the Joker’s Wild Casino in Henderson. We have really good RV neighbors here in the parking lot who came over to let us know our generator started blowing a lot of blue smoke (we were running the generator so we could run the air conditioner and cool the RV off). It seems the maintenance repairs done by Findley RV in Las Vegas were much less than satisfactory and thought we could burn off the excess oil (which seemed to be causing the smoke) off during the drive to Kingman, AZ, on Thursday. Findley also did a poor job of changing out one of the 12-volt plugs, getting the bed dirty in the process, and didn’t follow our request to use our own synthetic oil during the LOF of the RV engine. We will not use Findley RV ever again and we'll let everyone we know not to use them, either.

Las Vegas, NV-4-24-07

Pics: Las Vegas at night.

4-24-07-Tuesday-62937-Las Vegas, NV-Sunny-hot-low +58-high +91

Saw California quail, hummingbird, road roadrunner

I worked on the motor home again today and we will be leaving tomorrow after lunch.

I called my friends, Don and Janie, but they had left Lake Havasu City on March 31st for home in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. We'll visit with them on our way back to Alaska instead of now.

Las Vegas, NV-4-23-07

4-23-07-Monday-62937-0-Las Vegas, NV-Mostly sunny-very windy

We ran some errands today and worked on the motor home, in preparation to start our travels again.

Las Vegas, NV-4-22-07

Pic: Eric and Anna

4-22-07-Sunday-62937-0-Las Vegas, NV-Mostly sunny-windy-Lt rain

We had a great visit with Eric and Anna and hated to see them leave. We always have a good time with them whenever we get together. Ed and Teri came home and Ed had sold over $1600.00 worth of flutes. Needless to say, he had a great flute circle experience.

Las Vegas, NV-4-21-07

4-21-07-Saturday-62937-0-Las Vegas, NV-Sunny-windy-low +60-high +70

Eric (Uncle Ed's son) and Anna (Eric's girlfriend) drove up from California to visit with us, arriving about 1130. We watched a video of what the Baja 1000 from November, 2006 where Anna was the first woman to finish the Baja 1000 as a single rider and her brother was on the winning team to win this race in his category. We shared pictures of the new Soldotna house and other things we had been doing, including calls to all the cousins (Shawn, Jenny and Jason).

Las Vegas, NV-4-20-07

Pic: Robin and Roxanne

4-20-07-Friday-62937-0-Las Vegas, NV-Sunny-windy-low +58-high +74

Ed and Teri left this morning to drive north to Georgetown, CA, to attend a flute circle on Saturday. We picked Robin up from work (after a long work week) and visited with her again this evening.

Las Vegas, NV-4-19-07

Pic: Roxanne's Aunt Jo.

4-19-07-Thursday-62931-6-Las Vegas, NV-Overcast-windy-low +60-high +69

We had the front brakes worked on at Midas today, who offered a better price than the RV shop and did a better job. We would not recommend Findley RV in Las Vegas to anyone for any repair job (over priced, sloppy and cannot complete the job in a timely manner).

We joined Aunt Jo (Roxanne's Aunt) for a four-hour visit, catching up on family news and sharing pictures.

Las Vegas, NV-4-18-07

Pic: Uncle Ed/Brother Igor working on one of his flutes.

4-18-07-Wednesday-62913-18-Las Vegas, NV-Sunny-windy-low +52-high +81

Saw a hummingbird

We had the generator serviced and the oil changed plus 2 dc receptacles replaced today on the motor home. We picked up Robin (Roxanne's sister) and she joined Ed, Teri, Roxanne and I for dinner and another visit session. Helen's (Roxanne's other sister) schedule prevented her from joining us.

Furnace Creek Campground, Death Valley N. P., CA-4-17-07

Pics: 1 & 2) The steam engines that replaced the mule teams for the Borax mining operations; 2) Badwater Basin, the lowest point in the U.S.; 3) and the GPS screen agrees.

4-17-07-Tuesday-62741-172-Furnace Creek Campground, Death Valley National Park, CA-sunny-windy-low +66-high +89

We proceeded on through Death Valley today. There were a few things we did not have time to stop and visit so they will have to wait until another day. Death Valley National Park is a nice place to visit so we'll be back. We arrived at Uncle Ed (my brother) and Teri’s (Ed's girlfriend) about 1600 and Roxanne went to pick up her sister Robin. Uncle Ed made supper and we all visited.

Ridgecrest, CA-4-16-07

Pics: 1) Indian Paintbrush flowers; 2) the 20 mule team wagon, used to haul the borax out of Death Valley; 3) fuel sticker shock in Death Valley

4-16-07-Monday-62604-137-Ridgecrest, CA-Sunny-windy-low +49-high +88

Saw 1 Chuckwalla lizard

Route 178 took us to a fork in the road - left on Panamint Valley Road to route 190 or right to Wildrose and then route 190. We took the right fork and not having a good map it turn out to be the slowest route because about 5 miles of the road was rough, narrow, winding, gravel, and broken pavement. The good thing about this road was the wild flowers that we stopped and photographed, the Indian Paintbrush, and the only blooming flowers in Death Valley at the time. We made it to route 190 and the lowest point of elevation (today) was -272 feet below sea level. This is not the lowest point in the valley, however, and we'll see it tomorrow.

It was interesting to visit the site where Borax was made and one of the 20 mule team wagons used to haul out the Borax. Then on to the Furnace Creek Visitor Center and Campground, where we stayed the night. One other thing of interest was the price of gas at Furnace Creek. Regular $4.36 and Diesel $3.91. Tomorrow - Las Vegas.

Madera, Ca-4-15-07

Pic: A California ground squirrel.

4-15-07-Sunday-62375-229-Madera, Ca-Overcast-light wind-low +48 - +64

Saw 6 ground squirrels

We were going to take the more southern route out of Bakersfield but decided to go the way of Route 178, through Kern Canyon. The west end of the canyon is really something to see - I have never seen so many rocks and boulders anywhere ever and it’s worth the drive. At Lake Isabella, near the top of the pass, is where we found the ground squirrels and they were a lot of fun to take their pictures. After going over Walker Pass at 5245 feet, the same route as that of the Freemont expedition in 1845, we camped at Bertrand RV park in Ridgecrest, CA. This part of the world is really windy tonight and the motor home is really rocking. Tomorrow - Death Valley.

Wawona Campground, Yosemite N. P., CA-4-14-07

Pics: 1) Some of Yosemite Valley's highlights - El Capitan, Half Dome and Bridal Veil Falls; 2) deer in Yosemite Valley; 3) a tree in the fog in Yosemite Valley.

4-14-07-Saturday-62230-145-Wawona Campground, Yosemite National Park, CA-Rain-low +39-high +60

Saw 8 black tail deer, 6 gray squirrels, & a few hawks

Our motor home took us to Yosemite valley. We saw El Capitan, Half Dome, Bridal Veil Falls, Yosemite Falls, and the Merced River. The rain and low cloud cover hampered our view. The road to Glacier Point was closed. Also Hwy 120 that goes through the park was closed. We will have to come back at another time. There is a large RV campground and a large campground with tent cabins to rent in the valley. You are limited to a 28-foot motor home in some places. I was disappointed in the lack of RV parking and the one-way road, for the most part, doesn’t have any shoulders to pull over on. Our carriage stopped at the Country Living RV park in Madera, Ca.

Oakhurst, CA-4-13-07

Pics: 1) Yosemite Sugar Pine Railroad; 2 & 3) Yosemite Sequoias.

4-13-07-Friday-62203-28-Oakhurst, CA-Sunny-low +35-high +70

Saw 5 gray squirrels

We took a short, but winding drive today to Yosemite National Park. Roxanne finished the de-winterization of the motor home which gave us a late start. We ate lunch in Oakhurst at a restaurant called Pete’s Place.

Just outside of the park we rode on the Yosemite Sugar Pine Railroad. This railroad was used in the logging business between 1899 and 1931.

Just inside the south entrance of Yosemite National Park, you make a right hand turn and can drive to the Mariposa Grove of Giant Sequoias. What a grand sight to see these huge trees that were here before us and will be here long after us. We didn’t walk most of the trails because we wanted to get a camping spot for the night, we'll see the rest of the trees the next time we come here. The we were able to get the last camping spot at the Wawona campground and spent the night next to the Merced River.

Napa, Ca-4-12-07

Pic: One of the many grape vineyards along the road.

4-12-07-Thursday-61986-217-Napa, CA-Sunny-low +40-high +72

Saw 4 hawks hunting, 1 tom turkey (I80 & hwy 12) right side going south in field

We had breakfast with Diane and left the Parker house at 1000. Stopping at Camping World in Fairfield, CA, and did some shopping. Made it to Oakhurst, Ca about 2100, camping at the High Sierra RV park. We are 17 miles from Yosemite National Park. Thanks Ed and Diane for having us in your home.

Napa, Ca-4-11-07

Pic: Diane and Ed.

4-11-07-Wednesday-61980-6-Napa, Ca-Rain/sunny/rain/sunny +50 @ 0800

We cleaned up the inside of the motor home, washed all the clothes and repacked all of our stuff while Ed and Diane were at work. We had supper at their house this evening, met Ed’s son, Dan, and had a nice visit. It was good seeing Ed and Diane again. They are always fun to be around. Thanks for a nice visit.
Napa, Ca – temp +46 @ 2300

Palo Alto, Ca-4-10-07

4-10-07-Tuesday-61713-267-Palo Alto, Ca-Sunny-temp +40 @ 0700

Saw 1 deer, 2 jack rabbits, 2 emus

After a nice morning visit with Avi and his wife Gale we drove north to Yuba City, CA and picked up a soft top at Points West Argo for All season Argo in Anchorage. I called Ed Parker in Napa, CA to see if he was home and his wife, Diane, answered. She was very excited to hear from us and wanted us to stop and visit. We arrived at 1900 at the Parker house. We also got to meet their oldest grandson, who is attending college in Napa. Napa, CA – temp +52 @ 2300

Palo Alto, Ca-4-9-07

4-9-07-Monday-61693-20-Palo Alto, Ca-Overcast +60 @ 1030

The sun finally came out today. Went to visit Avi Meyers at his home. Avi is CEO of Unicat Americas, the company we would like to have build for us an expedition motor home for our Unimog. Avi had a couple of appointments so Roxanne and I went to lunch, coming back to meet with Avi at his house later in the afternoon. We met Gale, Avi’s wife - a delight to be with and she made us feel right at home. Avi, Roxanne and I went to supper as Gale had a dinner date with some of her longtime lady friends. We visited the rest of the evening and they offered for us to stay camped out in their driveway, so we did.
Palo Alto, CA – temp +40 @ 2230

Grants Pass, Or-4-8-07

Pic: View of Mt. Shasta, CA.

4-8-07-Sunday-61238-455-Grants Pass, Or-Overcast +40 @ 0700

Saw 15 mule deer, 2 jackrabbits.

Drove south all day with a high daytime temp of +79. Saw a junkyard near Williams, CA. at mile 575 or 576 on I 5 South that had a lot of old cars in it. Stayed the night at a Motel 6 in Palo Alto, CA.
Palo Alto, CA – temp +48 @ 2130

Kennewick, Wa-4-7-07

Pics: 1) A paddlewheel on the Columbia River (we are on the Oregon side, looking toward the Washington side); 2) Sheep along the Columbia River (Oregon side).

4-7-07-Saturday-60808-430-Kennewick, Wa-Overcast +50 @ 0700

Saw 3 dead beaver, 10 sheep

We left Pete and Becky’s house about 1230, heading south. We had a great time with them. It will be nice to see them again in Alaska. Thanks Pete and Becky for having us in your home. Spent the night at a rest stop about 84 miles from California near Grants Pass, OR. Grants Pass, OR - +40 @ 2400

Kennewick, Wa-4-6-07

4-6-07-Friday-60808-0-Kennewick, Wa-Sunny-temp +46 @ 0700

Pic: Becky and Pete by the Columbia River in Kennewick, WA

Saw 1 Pheasant, 1 quail

We drove around the area most of the day. Went down to Aaron’s (their son) house about 25 miles South. Kennewick, WA temp +40 @ 2300

Kennewick, Wa-4-5-07

4-5-07-Thursday-60808-0-Kennewick, Wa-Overcast-+38 @ 0700

Saw 6 quail

Pete and Becky Feigum our good friends in Alaska spend the winter in Kennewick so they can be close to their son and family. They also have a cabin about 3 miles down the road from us in Soldotna. After breakfast, we went house hunting with Pete and Becky, not returning until about 1800. We had a nice day driving all over. Kennewick, WA temp +58 @ 2430

Pullman, Wa-4-4-07

4-4-07-Wednesday-60655-153-Pullman, Wa-light rain-Overcast- +40 @ 0700

Pics: Dave Belcher and the pheasant.

Saw 1 pheasant, 3 quail, and 3 hawks

Roxanne writes:
Scott and I took Martha and Sam into Spokane to catch her flight home, then we packed up shortly after our return to Pullman and continued our journey ( so Scott, Emma, Henry and Nellie could have some quiet time together). Thanks Scott and Emma for sharing your home. We made our way to Waitsburg, WA, to visit with Dave Belcher and had a great opportunity to see a beautiful pheasant enroute. Dave and Michael worked together for a few years in dispatch. We had lunch and spent about 4 hours with Dave. Dave has a very nice house and it was alot of fun catching up with him. We had a great visit. Arrived at Pete & Becky Fiegum’s place in Kennewick, WA about 1800.
Kennewick, WA temp +36 @ 2400

Pullman, WA-4-3-07

4-3-07-Tuesday-60655-0-Pullman, WA-Sunny - +32 @ 0730

Same as yesterday - playing with the kids, holding Nellie and visiting with everyone. Mailed a couple of packages to Alaska.
Talked to Dave Belcher, we will see him about noon tomorrow.

Pullman, WA temp +44 @ 2100

Pullman, WA-4-2-07

Pics: 1) Scott (proud daddy) with Henry (2-1/2 years old) and newborn Nellie; 2) Emma (proud mama) with Henry; 3) Aunt Martha (Emma's sister) with newborn Nellie; 4) Cousin Sam (Martha's son) with Henry; 5) Nellie - our new granddaughter.

4-2-07-Monday-60630-25-Pullman, WA-Sunny & cold -+32 @ 0800

Scott (Roxanne's son) worked today and we just laid around the house most of the day visiting with Emma (Scott's wife), Martha (her sister) and the kids (Henry, Nellie and Sam). Went to the store for groceries and propane. It snowed a couple of times but did not stick. Received an email from Hans, then called him. He had some ideas about building the motor home.

Pullman, WA temp +42 @ 2230

Spokane, WA-4-01-2007

Pics: 1) Tim Jr., Roxanne, Rebecca (TJ's wife), Brother Tim; 2) Jan, Tim's wife), Michael, Brother Tim.

4-1-07-Sunday-60535-95-Spokane, WA-Sunny, breezy-+48 @ 0830

1 fox squirrel, 4 hawks

We went back to Uncle Tim’s house because we forgot to take pictures. Tim and Jan were there and while we were talking to Uncle Tim, Tim Jr. and Rebecca came home and we were able to get pictures of them. It was good seeing all of them, its been a long time. We camped at Trailer Inns RV Park. The shower ran out of hot water (in the building, not in the RV).

Roxanne writes:
Arrived in Pullman at 1700. It was sooooo good to see everyone again since it had been over a year since I was down to visit with Scott, Emma and Henry (Roxanne's son, daughter-in-law and grandson, respectively). Emma's sister and nephew, Martha and Sam, were also on hand as well. And the spotlight was on Nellie (Elenore Rose's nickname), our new granddaughter (Scott and Emma's second child).

Pullman, WA temp +32 @ 2300