Managed to get both our travelling Covid 19 tests done today (negative)
👍
Bill, the computer guy, got our Arrivecan documentation wrestled into submission.
👍
Off to the Coutts Alberta border crossing in the morning.
👍
Looking forward to being with Janine and family for a meal Wednesday evening and then with the grandboys on Friday as originally scheduled.
😍😍😍😍
We are in warm and calm Great Falls this evening.
Seem to have the covid testing set up - just have to pass!!!! Found free testing at Walgreen's pharmacy (not sure why we had not been able to track this down earlier) and have RL's test booked for tomorrow with Bill's on Tuesday. Some Alberta neighbours here in our RV park had theirs today and had results very soon after - hope that's how it goes for us.
Then we will set sail for the border on Weds morning. It seems the weather may get below freezing by then but will deal with that when it arrives.
In Dillon MT tonight after another good day on the road. It's stayed mild and calm and we've knocked off the Monida Pass - always a dreaded high part of I15 as we continue towards Great Falls and the Alberta border south of Lethbridge.
We planned to be back to babysit our grandboys on April 1 but finding covid testing is proving a challenge because of the availability of appointments (only M-F and few options), the turnaround of results and the $$$. We may have to delay our return to Canada 'til April 1 when such documentation will no longer be required, but that would mean not being there for our daughter and family who are in a childcare crunch for that day.
Off to Great Falls tomorrow to see what we can arrange - fingers crossed!
Another smooth drive today as we travelled north through central Nevada on Hwy 93. We are happy for the quiet smooth roads, warm temperatures and calm winds.
However...there is snow on the peaks to the west!
With the exception of a slow section caused by rubbernecking in our lanes (of a crash on the opposite side of the road) we had an uneventful day on the road and spent the night in Las Vegas. The weather was beyond warm there with temps in the high 80s.
The scenery along the coast was lush and green with many agricultural operations but turned to desert as we crossed the Sierra Madre mountains into Nevada.
Just a short note to say that we were having so much fun with Gary & Lenore that we stayed an extra day! They are great hosts with lots of ways to enjoy their part of California walking and cycling (...and eating!)
Photos later.
We took a slow trip from Apache Junction west to coastal California; some of it was planned and some of it was purely traffic volume! For starters, it took us about 90 minutes to clear the metro Phoenix area even though we were on freeways 😝.
Driving through Los Angeles area was even worse, it seemed; traffic volume coupled with the fact that many road surfaces here are concrete made for a very rough ride and a tiresome day.
Our first night was on the Colorado River on the California side, just north of Blythe - scenic and quiet (except for the howling coyotes...).
Our second night was in the town of Indio just east of Palm Springs - a very pretty park but adjacent to a Firehall and Police station so, again, not very quiet.
After we cleared LA, we enjoyed seeing the Pacific on our left as we headed north. Now we are near Pismo Beach (it's quiet here!) looking forward to a couple of days with our friends seeing their new place and getting in a beach walk!
Tomorrow morning we are leaving Rock Shadows RV Park in Apache Junction, heading for California. We'll be visiting Gary and Lenore in the San Luis Obispo area north of L.A. After that, we are on our way back to Alberta planning to be home in the last days of March. Looking forward to a day with our grandboys on April 1 😍
On the road we are unlikely to have good WIFI, but we can be reached by text, Messenger and the good old-fashioned phonecall!
There was a lot of red, white and fun going on as 120+ Canadians gathered together in the Rec Hall at Rock Shadows this evening. It was a major departure for us to gather together indoors with crowd!
We are leaving Rock Shadows RV Park on March 18th heading west to visit friends in California then home to Alberta by the month's end.
Not wanting to join indoor gatherings, Rose Lynn has been participating in making charity quilts by sewing at home The fabric and other supplies for these quilts has been donated and after construction, using the Fun & Done* technique (a quilt as you go method not requiring longarm quilting), they are donated to the local charity Genesis Project**. The quilts are a collective effort with people cutting squares of fabic and batting, marking the sew lines, creating "tops" of donated fabric scraps and squares that they pin to the "sandwich", securing the layers by stitching (quilting) and then joining the squares together to finish the project. It's an ingenious technique that involves folks of all skill levels and Rose Lynn has missed the camaraderie of the Monday afternoon sewing sessions.
Here are the three that Rose Lynn was involved in:
* You can watch a video demo of the method here (we use a slightly modified procedure but you'll get the idea):
https://www.notyourmamasquiltstore.com/shop/c/p/Fun-Done---Batting-Buddy-Template-Set-x37899216.htm
**Genesis Project is a coalition of churches in the Apache Junction area who have banded together for the common purpose of aiding the less fortunate.
The gila (hee-la) monster is native to this part of the world, the Sonoran desert. It's a slow-moving, thick bodied lizard who ranges from 10-14" in length, with a venomous bite that can be very irritating but not fatal. They feed on small and young mammals (for example, baby rabbits), nestling birds and eggs, reptile eggs, and carrion. Apparently this time of year and temperature allows for more sightings but they spend much of their time in underground burrows.
The name "Gila" refers to the Gila River basin (a tributary of the Colorado River) in the states of Arizona and New Mexico, where the Gila monster was once plentiful.
P.S the very warm weather is about to end with a chance of rain and temperatures back to the 60s & 70s (15-20C) in the next few days.
