OK, I know, I know, it's been ove a week since my last posting. But, we're settling into a regular existence here and it's kinda difficult making routine daily life seem interesting enough for a blog entry. It's like being back in Brighton...no one wants to read about that? Or, do they???

Anyway....

Feb 11

Sam's getting a sore throat! Hopefully not the flu! We seem to be alternating getting sick this year. I'm just getting better and now she's getting sick. So we laid low today.

Feb 12
Last chiro appointment. Another steel cage match but things are sorted out pretty well. This guy did in 3 visits what the guy in Brighton tried to do in 3 months. Hopefully it will last! The good news is my shoulders are level again and both my legs are the same length.....no, really! Apparently they weren't before.

Feb 13
First practice with the band. Colin, the keyboardist from NS, Gary the guitarist/vocalist from Ottawa and Judy the vocalist from California. These guys are GOOD! Colin finished his grade 12 conservatory in piano, and Gary, who has some vision issues, can sing and play over 1000 songs....from memory! It was really intimidating to play with them as I'm a self taught, really bad technique hacker but they really made me feel welcome and I'm learning a lot from them.

Feb 14
Back I'm the saddle for 45 kms. It actually started raining today so we had to cut the ride short. I took my turn leading on the ride back on the big 9km uphill! My heart rate spiked at 175 but my breathing was great (must be clean dry air) and I managed to keep it at 28 kms/hr. with no muscle burn.

Tucson is huge on bicycles and has a network of bike lanes on roadways and network of paved, multi-use trails with over 120 miles that pretty well runs around the outside of the city. It's a lot more enjoyable riding on these trails where you don't have to worry about cars taking you out. Today's photo is a shot of what the typical trail looks like along with some bike art.

Played with the band at the jam session in The afternoon. There were our group of 4 and 9 other players. And guess what the favourite style of music was....Country! And not just any country, we're talking old, birth of radio era type stuff. You, the old classic "My wife left with my best friend and my dog stole my pickup truck" type stuff! So, I spent a good deal of time counting ceiling tiles until our group's turn came around and we played something modern, like from the last half of the previous century.

Feb 15
Rain.......all day long!!! Olympic day!!!

Feb 16
Rain in am. Friday bike ride got cancelled so watched Olympics for our fitness fix! We performed our concert for happy hour. We had close to 100 people in the audience. It went pretty well as nobody threw anything at us and we got a lot of compliments when we were done. And, while we didn't get paid, we did get free beer so I guess that counts as a paid gig! That's the way I'm telling it anyway.

Feb 17th
Rain finally stopped.... 1.5 inches in 2 days but strangely, no flooding. So what happens in the summer monsoon season when it rains and the washes flood over the roads.

Did a makeup ride this morning with 4 other guys. We did 74 kms at a pretty good clip and I took my turns in the lead. The route we ride is nice on the way out as it's net downhill. But, you pay for it on the way home as it's uphill, usually into the wind to boot. And the best part is the 9 km climb at the end of the ride.

Hit the centre for pizza night....all you can eat for $10 and they make it right there on site. Excellent! The chef brings 8 pizza ovens to the centre and makes and cooks the pizzas right in front of you so you know they're fresh.

Sam still has sore throat after almost a week. Convinced her to take Buckley's. (It tastes awful, but it works!). This stuff always works for me as I seem to attract upper respiratory infections. I had 1 down here last year and you can't get Buckley's here so we made sure we brought our own.

Feb 18th

Sam's throat starting to get better.....coincidence, I think not! We hit the rec centre tonight for the weekly current movie showing. Tonight it was "Fences" starring Denzil Washington. Apparently it won an academy award this year. Not sure what category but it should have won in the most depressing category! Glad we didn't pay to see it. There's 2 hours of our lives we won't get back.

Feb 19th

Huge wind storm today with gusts to 45 MPH so we battened down the hatches and retracted the awning. Sam met some new women at the gym and has started doing workouts with them, including Zumba. I decided to pass on the ride today...not a big fan of head winds, especially when heading uphill.

Feb 20th

Had our weekly group practice today . I downloaded the same app that the other band members use so I have all the chords and lyrics for the play list now, which makes it soooo much easier. I even got to suggest a song that we're going to add to the list for the next concert. Oh yeah, we're loving watching the Olympics with Canada now being in 3rd place. It's pretty amazing considering the population of the country vs. The US. It's funny, but no one is talking about the Olympics down here now for some reason. Maybe 6th place isn't sitting too well with the crowd down here.

Feb 1st
Pulled into Tucson and set up in our spot at the Western Way RV resort. It's a very nice, clean, friendly park for $700/month, including hydro. That's a deal considering how nice the place is.There are approx. 300 lots in the park with the majority of them park model homes. People here are very friendly!

Couldn't get the Wifi to work and I can't find the location of the wireless access point equipment to try and get a clear line of site on it. So we're Hot Spotting off our cell phone right now, which works fairly well but not good for downloading Netflix programming. Researched signal boosters and it's a wide range of equipment from $40 to several hundred, but no guarantees that it will meet the need. What to do???? They want $40/month for high speed internet and $100 sign up fee.....not such a good deal considering we're only going to be here for 2 months.

Feb 2nd
Went for the free coffee and donut event put on in the resort by a local RV dealer. Apparently they do this every few weeks and bring over 1 of their rigs in hopes of getting a potential buyer. This week it was a 3' class A diesel unit which was marked down $60k and could be yours for the low, low price of only $199k (US). It was nice but considering the depreciation that would hit you once you drive it off the lot, and that pesky US dollar conversion thing, I think not. We live in the hope that The Stable Genius will do something so stupid that the economy down here will tank and that there'll be a 27% exchange rate in favour of the Canadian dollar for a change.

Very spotty internet coverage and no local tv on our antenna. Internet is $40/month plus $100 account setup....no thanks

Sam called the local cable company and got HD tv and high speed for $100/month. Had to go and pick up modem and set top box and do self install....but, it was pretty easy to do and works great! Up until now the only recent TV experience I've had was Bell Fibe service (which was cutting edge 5 years ago and likely still is) and Cogeco TiVo...which sucks! And now, with the local service we have as another comparison, it appears to suck even more!! I still live in hope and wait for the Bell fibre network to be extended to our neighbourhood equipment cabinet so we can ditch Cogeco!

Feb 3rd
Got cable and high speed internet working. Who says phone guys can't do CATV?

Spent part of the day repairing some items on the rig: the kitchen sink decided to detach itself from the countertop as it primarily glued on to the Corion countertop. It's manmade stone so you can't screw into it too easily. There were wooded blocks glued to the underside and clips screwed into the wood. But, washboard roads have a habit of vibrating the blocks out of position and gravity did the rest.

Like everything else on an RV, things are not made to be taken apart so I had to literally stand on my head to get to the brackets at the black side of the sink. Sam said she may have heard the odd swear word as I managed to repeatedly stick my and in the wet silicone glue as I tried to secure it into place. I don't think I invented any new combinations but I was close as caulking is right at the top of my least favourite things to do. At any rate, it's in place now and nothing leaks.

I took the opportunity to wash all 3 bikes and tune them all up. 6000kms took its toll on the 2 that were hanging on the front of the RV for the trip down here. And, I did my road bike as well just, because it is sooo nice when it's clean and tuned up perfectly. I replaced all the derailleurs, cassette, chain rings, chain and cables in October as mine old drivetrain was getting a bit worn out. And the new gearing has a wider range of ratios for easier hill climbing as this rides is getting a bit worn as well.
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Feb 4th

Sam has plugged herself into the pool aerobics most mornings and has met a number of nice people. She also has a knack of meeting people when she's out walking Finn. It's like he's a magnet as people always come over to ask what breed he is.

She met a guy working on his bike and he told her the bike group at the park rides Monday, Wednesday and Fridays at 9:00 am so that's all I needed to hear. There were about 20 people on the ride that sorted itself into 3 groups based on speed. I got into the fast group and and managed to draft my way along as I couldn't do my turn leading as I had no idea where we were going. (I'm sure I won't get away with that excuse for long!). I usually ride alone on speed runs so it was nice to gain the 30% reduction in effort that a peloton affords a rider.

We stopped for breaks for the other groups to catch up, and 1 coffee break. Most of the group turned back after coffee but I hung with the speed demons and we ended up doing 74 kms with a nice 2 mile uphill all the way back to the park. That's the longest I've ridden in a while but it was great. I'd say The average age of the 5 guys I was with was around 70 so these guys are pretty hard core! I mean, these guys are tough!!!! I gotta get my fitness level back...quickly! My quads were starting to stiffen up pretty good at the end so I knew I was in need of some food and electrolights.

Feb 5th

We hit the road and found a nice dog park for Finn today as he hasn't had a lot of opportunity to run around so we found a place for him...with grass! That's a pretty scarce commodity in these parts. This park was huge with 2 closed in dog parks, huge kids playground, a zoo, 2 duck ponds and sports fields. Very nice!

We met up a couple we met down here last year, Jack and Claudia, and got caught up with them over dinner. They have been here since December and are staying in the Diamond J park where we met them last year. It was great to spend time with them.

Feb 6th
My back is toast today! It's been bad for a couple of years and lately worse. But it's tight on the right side instead of the left, which is something new! I think it may have been a combination of my acrobatic plumbing activities from a couple of days ago along with dehydration from the bike ride. I spent the day laying around reading hoping that would rectify things.

Feb 7th-8th
Nope, that didn't work! I can't stand up straight without knifing pains. So, found a chiropractor nearby and hobbled in for visit. He did the exam and said I had muscle spasms on my right side pulling my pelvis out of alignment and causing 1 leg to be longer than the other. That explains why I've been walking around in circles. So, he did his best WWF wrestler act on me trying to loosen everything up. No such luck but may start to relax things. Went home and did the heat/ice revolving door treatment for the rest of the day.

Next day still sore and back to Whipper Billy Watson for round 2. He did his contortions on me again and sent me on my way. We hit the hot tub in the afternoon and it started to loosen up...finally. That night they were running a foreign film at the rec centre so we went to see that.

Feb 9th
Things are starting to look up as I can put my own socks on now and stand and walk. We have been watching some of the Olympics although we can only get American coverage. The games look great on TV as we can both appreciate from being involved in the Vancouver Games. Also got up early for the free pancake breakfast at the rec centre. Did I mention this park is great?

Sam's got her ever-expanding friend network going and she's reined in a guy that pays keyboard with a guitaristboth Canadians BTW, and they want me to come and play bass with them. So, I've got to get busy learning all of their 3 playlists. (Not sure how this is going to work out as I've never even heard, or heard of for that matter, some of these songs). But, volume knobs can solve a lot of problems when you need them to.

Headed to the Valentine's dance for the evening with about 100 people and a live 4 piece band. They had a woman keyboardist/guitarist/vocalist that was blind. She was pretty amazing considering she did everything from memory.

Jan 27th
We have 5 days left before we arrive at our Tucson destination for February and March. We decided to head down to Organ Pipe National Monument park which is right on the Mexican Border 120 miles SW of Tucson. There are no reservations taken at the park but Sam called and was told it would be no problem getting in. It's a long way down there but, if the park is full, there is a lot of BLM (Bureau of Land Management) areas where we could boondock if we had to.

The park has unserviced sites (no sewer hookups, hydro or water) but potable water is in the park, and there is a dumping station and washrooms and showers. This has to be the BEST gov't run facility we have ever been to! Big sites with concrete pads on sloping landscape with fantastic views, ground cover between sites for some degree of privacy, and ranger led programs every day, including trips to local natural attractions via van for FREE! all this for $16 per night. There is a no generator section, which we took as we have solar, which in this environment, is more than adequate.

We hit the amphitheatre talk on cactus and after dark screen show at 7 pm. It was windy and cool so it was bundle up time again, with the temp. dropping to 42F at night but quickly warmed up during the day. It ended up being very windy over the next day and night as warm front moving into the area.




Jan 29th
We needed some groceries so we hit the road and headed to the town of Ajo, a 20 minute drive north, after we checked through the Border Security stop on the highway. There are signs everywhere warning of illegal immigration and smuggling, and border security vehicles everywhere you go.

Ajo is an old copper mining town with a 1200' deep, mile by 1.25 mile open pit and slag piles around the perimeter. We boon docked here last year on the scenic drive that runs around the southern boundary of the town. We learned about the area from watching RV Youtube videos posted by a guy named Ray. His channel is called Love Your RV and he has lots of great tips and destination suggestions.

So we're cruising slowly through the scenic washboard and we come around a bend and see a Cougar 5th Wheel with a yellow flag and a bright blue Ford 1 ton pickup at a site. Low and behold, it's actually Ray! What are the chances? We stopped to say hi and thanks him for all his great videos. I think he was actually surprised we knew who he was!

We did some grocery shopping and found a new type of potato chip.....lime flavoured. We grabbed a couple of bags and they go great with Bud Light Lime beer. Who woulda thunk that?

We hit the visitors centre back at the park for 1 of their ranger talks, this 1 being about pack rats. Very interesting stuff and just the right amount of info contained in a 20-30 minute talk. They run 3 of these per day on a number of different topics so it's worth checking them out as the desert is a very unique place.

It's warmed up considerably and it stays in the 50's at night now. It's the first time since we've been away that the furnace has not come on!
Bought Lime flavoured Lays potato chips...great pairing with Bud Light Lime beer. Who knew?


Jan 30th
We rode our bikes over to the visitor centre for the talk about desert birds today. The centre also has WiFi so I took my tablet and downloaded a few Netflix shows as we watch TV at night on our inverter.

We also went for a drive to an old, abandoned cattle ranch right down on the Mexican border. Talk about a harsh environment! this would have been a tough place to live and even tougher to make a living. The guide told us the ranch was the biggest in Arizona at 1 time and they ran about 1200 head of cattle. During a 2-3 year drought they actually lost 2/3 of their cattle due to lack of water and food. They resorted to cutting up cactus to try and keep them alive.

When the area was made into a national monument in the 30's by FDR, there was a battle to evict the rancher, who actually didn't own the land. Court battles for years ended up letting the rancher stay until he and his sons died. When that occurred in the 70's it took them over 2 years to round up and remove all the remaining cattle from the park land.

Jan 31st
Last day at a the park. I went for a mountain bike ride in the morning, and yes, there are mountains here. I'm actually surprised I didn't bonk as I haven't ridden too much in the past few weeks. I came across a tattered old flag on a pole out in the desert and went to check it out. There was a plastic water barrel there with a tap on it so I'm guessing it's a water stop for the Mexican Underground Railroad that's in the area. I didn't stick around to find out!

We took at 16 mile road tour up into the mountains. It was very scenic and they provided a guide to tell us about features along the way. What a tough place for anything to survive. We also went on a moonlight hike with a ranger as it was a Supermoon tonight. We met a young family from Hamilton with 2 kids that were travelling around for the year while home schooling their kids. What a great experience for them but I'm wondering how they'll adjusts to dull, regular life once they get back home.

Jan 25th
Today we headed down to Whitewater Draw conservation lands which is southeast of Tombstone Az....yup, the same Wyatt Earp, OK Corral place. We did the town last year so didn't stop to see the same touristy things we already took in. This place is unique in that it provides up to 3 days of free, unserviced camping and is also the winter home for some 30,000 (that's right, thirty thousand ) Sandhill Cranes. These birds are between 3 and 4' tall and weigh in up to 10lbs.

The conservation area has a large pond area with water under 2' deep on a flat plain. Not a lot of cover from predators, that's for sure. The birds spend their nights here and then at dawn they take off for their morning forage for food in area farm fields. A good number of them return at noon for some reason and the rest of the day is a combination of small groups coming and going. We missed the noon return as we didn't arrive until after 1 pm.

We did take Finn for a walk in the afternoon but stayed away from the main pond as we didn't want to spook the flock. We did come upon a small group of close to 100 birds and were very slow in aproaching. We got within a couple of hundred feet and them they got nervous and a group lifted off in a noisy formation letting us know that we weren't welcome (or maybe more that Finn wasn't welcome).

There was also a hay barn on the property, which has a roof but open sides, complete with a Great Horned Owl in the rafters. All day long there are bird watchers coming and going, some with cameras outfitted with monster telephoto lenses. This is serious business for some!

There ended up being 7 RVs in the parking lot for the night. I took Finn out for his bedtime squirt and you could still hear the birds squawking, which continued through the night. I guess they talk, or squawk in this case, in their sleep.

Jan 26th
We decided to get up at 6 am to see mass exodus of Sandhill Cranes. It was about 25F and there were parts of the pond with ice on the surface. We had on full winter gear! It was still pitch black but there were several people that drove in to be here for the show. One surprising thing was the lack of any kind of odour here, which is kind of amazing considering how much waste 30,000 birds must produce. Maybe that's why they all take off first thing in the morning.

Dawn started to lighten the eastern skyline and the bird chatter really started to pick up. Small groups of 10-20 birds began lifting off and heading out. Within about 15 minutes, huge flocks of birds lifted off and it wasn't unusual to see hundreds of birds in the air at any give time. Within about 15 minutes, it was pretty much over! It was a pretty amazing sight to see for sure. On the way back to the rig we heard the owl in the barn hooting it up so I guess he wanted his Andy Warhol 15 minutes of fame as well.

So, with that we hit the road with the intention of going to Patagonia State Park. The last 3 miles into the place were like steep curvy mountain roads with no guard rails. I'm glad we have a diesel as we needed the power to get up some of these and the engine brake coming down! Important safety tip: don't look over the edge of the road!

We got into the park only to find they only had 1 site for 1 night and wanted $55. No thanks, so back out the Khyber Pass and on to look for something else. We ended up in a place about 40 miles south of Tucson. The RV park guide had a great description but when we get to the office...surprise, the price has gone up. The pool ended up being closed, I needed a shoehorn to get the rig into our site and gag for the mouth of the guy across the way that was telling me how to drive! It was late in the day so we bit the bullet and stayed for the night. I can't believe some people stay in these types of places for the entire winter. This 1 certainly wasn't worth what they were charging.

Jan 23rd
Drove through New Mexico and finally made the Arizona border and the site of today's Hoodoo photo! We decided to check into Benson at a neat little park with 3 ponds and trees surrounding. The area is quite the bird watching site due to the water and trees. It's situated down in a low spot so it's like a little oasis in the desert. Very well kept and large sites so you have some elbow room. The birds love this place as the trees are full of the chirping little critters when the sun rises each morning. I'm not sure if they do this to keep from freezing to death as there are no wing de-icing rigs here to assist them prior to take off.

Jan 24th
We decided to stay another day and catch up on some things that needed doing. I also wanted to see if our fuel issues were resolved while we were in a town with a mechanic nearby so I didn't plug in the block heater overnight. I cranked it over in the morning and it started right up in spite of 22F temps overnight. Yesssss!
Did some chores, laundry, wiring on the rig for my basement heater/lamps (they are getting a lot of use these days!) and checked out the town. It's a nicer than average town for out here with a lot of amenities. I also got a chance to go for a run which has been long overdue. Sam hit the pool and the hot tub.

Jan 21st

It got below freezing overnight...again! But, sunny in the morning and it quickly warms up.
I watched a park warden kick out a bunch of guys whose campsite was littered with bottles and cans. They must have come in later in the evening and partied through the night, much to the displeasure of their neighbours. I asked her if the park was going to remain open and she said yes, for the time being anyway. There is a wind advisory for today with gusts coming out of the west from 45-60... and that's miles per hour not kilometres, so we decided to stay an extra day and wait it out vs. Risk a capsize on the open desert. We were lucky to find a good spot that was not reserved so we moved the rig as our reservation had expired.

We met couple from Ottawa, Bruce and Tracey, who came in and took the spot we stayed in for 2 nights. Had a few beers with them and swapped stories. They just bought a new compact 5th wheel that they drove out to BC to pick up from the factory and then headed down the coast to California and then started heading east.


Jan 22nd
Below freezing overnight again, but bright sunny morning. Left the rig hooked up overnight so we just had to pull in the slides and away we go as there were no water of hydro hook ups to worry about. Not so fast! Hopped in the truck and it turned over, fired a couple of times and quit. It would not fire again after that. OK, as I said before I'm big on preventative measures and contingency planning to mitigate the risk of problems. And, the prospect of having your truck break down literally 3 hours away from help and 1 hour away from cell service was exactly what I had in mind when I did all my preparations. But, here we were, exactly where I thought we'd never be. I checked the owner's manual for tips and it outlined a procedure to follow but if that did not work, see my dealer. I'd be happy to if he wasn't 4 hours away!

I took a diesel repair course when we had our boat so I could deal with issues should they arise on the water. (At least with a sailboat you have 2 forms of propulsion so you're never really stuck without the ability to get somewhere.). Diesels are actually quite simple in their functionality as they only need clean fuel and air to work vs a regular gas engine that has a complex ignition system. Being off the grid at this park we were relying on battery power and solar panel recharging each morning as generators weren't allowed in our location. We even had the luxury of watching movies recorded on the Ipad, hooked up to the TV. This required the use of the inverter I installed which was also a holdover from the boat.

So, I thought let's hook up the block heater to the inverter and warm things up and maybe we'll get out of this jam. I plugged it in and I could hear the coolant in the engine hissing, meaning it was working, but the inverter was squealing like a stuck pig! It was obviously drawing more current than the unit could provide as it was only a 1000 watt unit. So, scratch that idea before I add setting fire to the rig, and the park to the list of problems. Our new friends Bruce and Tracey offered the use of their truck to go for help, which as very nice of them considering the distance. I also had offers of help and tools from 2 other guys near by. Campers are very nice, helpful people after all.

So, while we were waiting for the sun to warm things up, I decided to check my fuel filter for water. Diesel filters have a water separator built into them and a sensor that tells you when water is present. Diesels suffer from paralyzingly hydrophobia after all doncha know! Anyway, I opened the drain on the filter and a bit of fuel came out but no water. I went to loosen the vent screw on the top and it was loose. Yes, this is the same filter the dealer in Buttplug Tennessee replaced a few weeks ago. So I hit the primer on the filter to pump any air out of the system, (diesels don't take kindly to air in their fuel systems either!) and got fuel coming out of that after a few pumps.



Slide into the drivers seat, cross my fingers, legs, toes and eyes and turn the key. It fires right up....and stays running just like normal. So, I'm not sure if it was the temperature finally getting warm enough, water in the fuel, air in the fuel or any combination of the 3 but I wasn't looking to find out. We hit the road with the intention of not turning the truck off until we were in civilization! And it ran fine for the rest of the day. When we needed fuel we opted for a Pilot station, which is where all the truckers fuel up. It costs more but at least you should be getting good quality, clean, seasonally adjusted fuel.

Contrary to popular belief, not everything is big in Texas. Today's photo is of the world's smallest Target store located west of Marathon Texas. If they had scaled down their store sizes a bit when they expanded to Canada, they may have been able to make a go of it.

We tucked into the RV park for the night in Las Cruces and awoke to a new record low, for us anyway, of 18F. I have learned that if they are calling for cold weather, I top up our on board fresh water tank and stow the water hookup hose in the basement compartment of the RV. That way we are self contained and don't have to worry about freezing pipes etc. As everything is within heated space. We couldn't get a 50 amp hookup so I used the 30 amp and also ran a regular extension cord into the rig that was hooked to the 20 amp service in the pedestal. This is getting to be a habit!