5C's Que Pasa

We were fortunate in that the forecast never happened and we awoke to just a light dusting of snow on the vehicles and 27F/-3C.   But it was still cold 🙁

Who in their right mind is cutting grass ( that does not need to be cut ) at 8AM when it is -3C?   We were off, heading North.

Nothing but snow in them there mountains.

Colin was only wearing one layer of fleece while I had on two layers as well as a heavy fleece blanket.

There were areas that we had snow along the side of the road.

Almost a winter wonderland.

Usually we take Hwy 93 thru Twin Falls and back to I84 but today we decided to take 30 West thru some small and picturesque towns for about 40 miles before connecting with I84.

My first sign of spring.

The hay has to be moved to another area.

Such a beautiful area with lots of natural falls.

Back on I84.  Idaho is a lovely picturesque state to drive through.

We needed to refuel.  In fact we needed to do so earlier than normal.  Perhaps fighting all the wind as we did today drained the tank sooner than expected.  Usually we can get into Oregon before refueling but not today.  So we checked out a few places just before and in Boise.  The reasonably priced diesel @ 3.199 per gallon were at stations that we could not get into.  So we were forced to deal with a truck stop and we did check out two before we stopped.  We have never ever paid 3.559 per gallon in over twenty years of RVing.  Sadly the difference of .36 cents per liter times the number of liters we took on resulted in a difference of $28.32US.  Something is very wrong in our world right now.  By the way Colin spoke with the manager of the station we fueled up at and he told us that there is a scheduled .50 cent increase per gallon of regular fuel coming in two weeks 😯

After a very long day of driving from 8:15AM to 5:30PM ( including a few breaks and fuel stop )  we finally stopped right on the edge of the Idaho/Oregon border at the Visitor Welcome Rest Area which does have fast free wifi.  We put in 431 miles today.  We chose to spend more time on the Isla and do a longer run just before we get home.  After all, what would we do in this cold weather?  In all honesty is it only 57F outside as I write this.

This is the first time we have ever seen any other RVs here.  We usually are in the last spot where the red truck and RV are but last year a semi stopped right beside our bedroom window and I could not sleep.  Fortunately with the bus beside us we will have no noise.  If you look closely you will see that the bus is towing a trailer and behind that a small truck.

Looking forward to a quiet and peaceful evening.  Who knows what tomorrow will bring.  Stay tuned.  We are almost home 😀

This showed up for one night and left Wednesday morning.  I missed getting a shot with the slide out.

It is from Alberta and I can only assume that it pulls a larger 5th wheel.  Lots of chrome.

We finished off some to do’s Wednesday morning.  Colin has been looking for a windshield cover for the Jeep.  He has noticed a few tiny pits/nicks in the glass likely from various small pieces of gravel thrown up as we tow it.  He came up with the idea of finding some material and getting someone to custom make a cover.  Of course he wanted that to happen right now.  He found someone with the material who said that the guy across the road from him could probably sew it up for him right then.  So off went my husband.  He was gone for over three hours.  I got caught up on a lot and also got a head start on research for our fall vacation.  Colin took the iPhone so he could call me on our US Magicjack number as I could not call him.

I soon received this photo into my email.  Colin certainly made good use of his time learning how to take a photo and then send it to me.  A  little small but good job.   The material being used is the same that car bras are made from.

It took a long time as they went back and forth to get the perfect fit.  This was a first for them and they had to figure it out step by step.  They are Mexican and we will be using them again for other things next time we are in Las Vegas.  The material was 40.00US and the labor 75.00 but we gave them 95.00.  Great deal for a custom windshield screen.  There is a long piece of velcro along the curve of the door pillar.  There is also one snap on each corner of the lower part of the windshield.

Meanwhile Las Vegas was under a high wind warning.  The RV was already rocking from time to time as the wind picked up.  We began to wonder if we would even be able to leave on Thursday.  We are what they describe as ‘high profile vehicles’.  We decided not to worry about it but we where prepared.

Hey, here we are back in Venice with a bad selfie.  Colin wanted to go back to the Venetian Casino to check it out now that we have seen the real thing.  It really is a good representation of Venice.  Colin read somewhere that it is the largest hotel in the world, 7000 rooms.  Not to mention the free parking that we took advantage of.

Saint Mark’s Square and there were live musicians in tuxedos playing but we did not dance Wednesday evening as we did last June.  We saw many little details  that we now notice, having seen the real thing.  We had a great time wandering about.

We got back to the RV about 11PM more or less and the wind was really blowing.  Time to take the satellite dish down as well as the individual window awnings.  We sleep with the windows open and I had to keep closing them through the night as I was being blown away while in bed.  Talk about wind gusts, they really did get to 75mph.  We took our time and did not leave until about 11:30AM today, as we wanted to be safe.  However we did have strong winds all afternoon.

How did the diesel prices get so high?  Last year we paid 2.849 per gallon as we fueled up just off I15 and HWY 93 North.  The prior year in April of 2016 we paid 2.189.  Today we paid 3.449, cash!  A full 60 cents per gallon more than a year ago.  Actually a year ago exactly, as I just realized today that we are traveling on the same day, April 12th, as we did last year.

So based on my call with the Happy  Camper people we added the double dose of product and 10 gallons of water.  Once at the fuel stop we added two large bags of ice just as we were heading north in Highway 93.

Love how the scenery changes as we head north.

Colin stopped and turned us around to get this shot.  The new windshield screen on the Jeep has been perfect.  Funny how the Jeep looks so small.  This was taken with my point and shoot.

Is that snow up there?

As we headed North I added a sweater and then a blanket.  When we got out of the RV in Ely, Nevada I literately froze. How can one go from being in Vegas and using AC 24/7 to being in 39F temperatures in a mere 255 miles??  The forecast is for -8C/18F tonight with 6cm /2.3 inches of snow.  Hello Mother Nature, this is April 12th.

So first thing we did once we pulled into the RV Park ( we need electricity for heat ) was to pull out the heavy winter clothes from the basement.

So no jacks, no slides but in order to plug in and dump Colin needed to bundle up.  A ski jacket on top of a fleece with hoodie and fleece pants on top of shorts.

First we needed to fill the black tank to the brim ( yup hose in the door and into the toilet leaving the door open…..COLD ) and then we needed to dump in order to follow through with the Happy Camper directions to further cleanse our black tank sensor.  If we had not put so much energy and money into this we would have given up based on the weather but we followed through.

It worked!! Both the black tank and the gray tank are showing empty.  The fresh water is down to 3/4 ( because we have been using it ) and the propane and the battery are full.  Good job!!

It is 9:45PM, yes it takes a long time to write a post.  I still have to proof this before I publish it.  Colin has made the salad, the quinoa is ready and I need to cook the salmon.  We are skipping veggies tonight.  We are cold and tired.  We have two heaters going to keep us warm.  We are 64F inside ( and both wearing fleece layers ) and 33F outside.  We likely will put a heater in the water tank compartment tonight.

Hmmm we are contemplating not having a shower as we are so cold.  Actually I am in deep trouble as I forgot to turn on the hot water heater 😳

This is when we really each need one of the girls to cuddle and keep us  warm 😐

We really are on the road again>  Who knows what tomorrow will bring.  Please……no snow.

Monday ended up being a get things done day.  Colin concentrated on reorganizing all of the basements while we are warm and dry.  Likely it will be cool and wet when we get home.  The forecast is for rain most of the way.  Meanwhile I was clearing out my inbox, doing some business transactions, banking and setting up a few appointments for when we get home as well as catching up on blog reading.

Our new ( expensive ) inverter arrived here at the RV park about 40 minutes before we did on Sunday. Here Colin is checking measurements to make sure the dimensions are the same.

One thing I also did was to call Happy Camper to discuss our 50% success with the Extreme Tank Cleanser.  The lady I spoke with suggested that we empty our black tank, then put in a double dose of Happy Camper into the tank along with another 10 gallons of water.  Then just as we start driving after being hooked up, etc. we should add two bags of ice.  She explained that the Extreme Cleanser is exactly the same as Happy Camper but 10 times more potent.  Good to know.  So we are going to try this when we leave Thursday.  We will be driving 254 miles then rather than just the 147 we did to get here from Lake Havasu.  More shaking might just do the trick.

Next it was time to change the two smoke detectors. The one on the right came with the RV back in 2001. Still works but we thought it was time to put something newer in.  Safety first.  He also repaired a drawer slide and a closet latch.

Next we were off to Camping World. We picked up a few light bulbs that Spanky’s did not have in Parker and that was it.  For such a large store they have very little product.  On the right is what our former tow car was, an HHR, same color.  We decided that we prefer the Jeep.

Saw this homemade RV in the parking lot. Neat world map on its side.

From there we headed to Costco to pick some Eggplant Parmesan that we had purchased last November.  It was so good that I have been salivating waiting to have it again.  They did not have it 😯  Seriously.  We settled for a lasagna made in Italy which was very good but just not the same thing.  So disappointing but that is the thing with Costco, things change.  We also looked at pricing certain items that we buy in Canada and bring down to Mexico.  Much better selection in Canada for a similar or lower price in Canadian dollars.  I was hoping to wait until we got here to do the buying but just not worth it.

Monday’s sunset.

We had dinner while we watched a one hour TV show and then we both headed to bed.  I don’t think that we have ever been in bed by 9:50PM before.

Yesterday we had an RV tech scheduled to arrive between 9:00 and 10:30AM.  Finally as it approached noon I suggested to call him as we had spent the entire morning waiting and here were better things to do.  So Colin called him and found out that he was just finishing up his first job of the morning ( poor time management on his part ) and that he was in the wrong RV park clear across town 🙁   He had tried to call us but the Mexican SIM card in my phone did not allow someone without a Mexican package to call me.  We were no longer happy campers, in more ways than one.  The phone thing is a real pain.  I realized that if we were on the side of the road awaiting roadside assistance that no one could contact us.  We can make unlimited calls to from the US and Canada as well as text but are limited as to return calls and texts.  My plan runs out Sunday the day we get home.  We used to activate Colin’s cell for US roaming but my Telcel plan cost less than 1/8 of the price to activate Colin’s phone.

I need to figure out a new plan for next year.  If anyone has any suggestions that would be great.  I am looking for something that we could use in the USA for two months in the fall.  Also looking for something with lots of data for those two months for my hot spot device.

So back to the inverter.  What to do?  First off,  after a few days in the heat of Arizona the inverter started to work normally again.  We suspect that the Isla humidity ( fog ) might have been the culprit but we still needed to be able to function properly.  So Colin decided to take out the old inverter and put in the new one himself.

I mean how hard can it be?  You just have to remember what wires go where.

It took a while but he did it.

And it works.  Great job Colin and thanks for saving us $300.00US in RV tech fees.

Colin had the dirty hands to prove he did the job.

So what to do but head out for dinner and some fun. Sunset from the freeway.

Cheers to us.

We have come to love eating at Nacho Daddy just off Fremont Street.  I had a fish taco and a lobster & crab enchilada.  Very very good.

Colin had two of the lobster and crab enchiladas.

We then went for a long walk to wear off some of that dinner.

Just a wee bit more exercise.  After all we still had to pay for that inverter.  Hmm not last night.

Love this area of Las Vegas.

I never posted about it at the time but twelve days ago marked the one year anniversary of  losing our girls.  Never does a day go by without us talking about them.  They are missed so very much.  Colin still keeps a dog bed with some of their toys in it on the dash.

I saw a cute story online the other day.  Someone has opened a dachshund museum in Germany.  You can read about it by clicking here.

Caeli on the left chewing her sprinkler head and Carmeh with her ever present ball.

I was a happy camper Sunday morning when we left Lake Havsau.  Our RV is pretty much windows on all three sides except for the back area and the site that we had surrounded us with direct sunshine all day long and it was just too hot.

We spent the first part of the morning working on our black tank.  Remember my post about what product you all used.  Well we decided to go with Happy Camper.  So the first step was to drain the tank and then to flush which can no longer do.  So we filled the bottom of the tank ( with a hose from inside the RV ) directly into the toilet.  Then we drained it.  Then we added the full container of the Extreme Happy Camper Tank Cleanser mixed with hot water as per the instructions.   Colin then figured out how many gallons he could fill a pail with in 30 seconds and then did the math.  I can say that we pretty much then filled the black tank to 50% with fresh water again from inside the RV as per the instructions.

We left Lake Havasu at 10:05AM and pulled into the Las Vegas RV Resort at 1:15PM.  We were set up in our site by 1:40PM.  All of our parcels had arrived except for one, but the inverter was one of them 😀

Saw this Class A towing a truck that had this ATV that just fit.  They even manged to wedge the bike on top of that.

Adios Lake Havasu.

Trailers for sale ( or rent ) as the song goes.

Some road construction on the way to Vegas.  Single lanes on the east side as the west side on the other side of the divider is being resurfaced.

Truck pulling a huge toy hauler 5th wheel towing a boat!

New roads almost complete coming into Las Vegas.  Love the art.

Happy to be in Vegas where it is not quite so warm and there is a cooler breeze even though it was still 85F.

First thing we did was dump the black and as we could not flush we did it from inside the RV. We actually filled the tank as full as it would go and then let it all out.

Well from usually showing 3/4 to full we were down to a 1/3 indication on the tank monitor.  Best of all it has stayed there as we have been using it.  We are happy about that.

Heat taped pipes in Vegas.  I know it was cold over the winter but this is a first for me.

Just a hint of sunset reflection.

We quite like this park despite its many rules.  Partly because it is adult only and the $29.00 special per night special price works for me.  We had a quiet rest of the day, sorting our many parcels, had a good dinner and relaxed with an hour of TV which we have not done for over a week.  Twas a good day for a pair of happy campers 🙄