Tuesday, December 23, 2014

We Made It

Big questions – what do you need for a three and a half month trip living in someone else’s space? Especially when you are not sure what it looks like or what is there?

I packed, unpacked and packed again.

Do I need a mixer? Do I need a vacuum? What about Fred’s bread maker? How much can we pack into the Journey?

How do we know that the place we just put a deposit on really exist or if it really looks like the pictures we just saw?

Then it became: “nothing more we can do – if we need anything we’ll have to buy it. If it isn’t what we think it is . . . we’ll just deal with it.

Geez, I wish we still had the Motorhome!”

Crying over spilled milk? You betcha!

Did I have a choice?

Yeh, either go with it or stay home!

No choice – get back to work!!!!

We left in a dusting of snow . . . Hm–m-m, not bad. Some snow all the way to Conrad, Montana . . . still not bad.

Good weather and good roads all the rest of the way . . . Hm-m-m great!

Our First Misadventure

Everyone at home who drives down in a car or truck make Pocatello, Idaho their first stop. Okay – sounds good – we can do that.

We used either Booking.com or Best Western to find a reasonable accommodations.

Best Western had three places in Pocatello and we chose the least expensive one. As we passed a road sign, it said 80 miles to Pocatello. We looked at the GPS and it said 30 miles. Opps! The motel that turned out to be in Idaho Falls turned out to be just terrific. Good blunder!

Virgin River Gorge

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Each time we travel through the gorge (that takes us out of Utah, through a small piece of Arizona into Nevada and Mesquite), I am awestruck by the mere overwhelming geological spectacle.

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The next stop was at Mesquite, Nevada. The Virgin River rooms are hardly worth the advertised price of $27.00 but the Champagne Brunch at the Eureka was a plus.

Las Vegas

It’s been almost 15 years since we spent any time touring around Las Vegas. When we were there in 2000, there were complimentary attractions and the customer was royal. Now money is king, there are no real comps and every attraction comes with a substantial fee.

clip_image008Freemont during the day is certainly not the attraction that it is at night but you do see the reality of the place.

 

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People-watching was a consuming activity – all sizes, shapes, colours and languages. We toured the Strip via the double-decker bus. Our seat mates were a nice young Pakistani couple from Pittsburgh and behind was a newly retired couple from Scotland. We managed to sit in the front seats on the upper deck and got above the heads of the crowds to capture some shots.

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My favourite time was at 7 in the morning. It was relatively dark and quiet with fewer people.

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We finally made it to the Desert Holiday Park in Yuma on Sunday after a very slow trip down.

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The place here looks mostly like the pics only a bit more worn and smaller.
It has an overabundance of "stuff" like artificial flowers and plants and cupboards full of kitchen paraphernalia and bedding.
It may take us a few more days, but you know us, it will become comfortable.

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