Always the blog after the trip home is superseded by the to-do lists that await us.
We had a wonderful trip home. Laurie was nervous that something may fail on the new motorhome but all performed greatly. Gas mileage much lower than the diesel mileage on the old RV. But the handling by the less-experienced driver was much easier than expected. We, of course, hit the spring winds which were sometimes up to 40mph but the new RV handled well.
We needed to modify our earliest planned trip home for a couple reasons. 1) Death Valley National Park had quite amount of flood damage in 2015 and our planned route was still blocked.
Hmm, ok. We'll go around and still go north on Hwy 395. 2) Planning that leg on Hwy 395, we found most every park we checked was still closed for the season plus the night time temperatures were in the teens. A bit cold for boondocking.
We needed to modify our earliest planned trip home for a couple reasons. 1) Death Valley National Park had quite amount of flood damage in 2015 and our planned route was still blocked.
Hmm, ok. We'll go around and still go north on Hwy 395. 2) Planning that leg on Hwy 395, we found most every park we checked was still closed for the season plus the night time temperatures were in the teens. A bit cold for boondocking.
When we first left Mesa on a sunny day. We found our way to Prescott was blocked by a fatal accident. Add 50 miles for a detour. Too many miles in one day - so 2 days in Prescott Valley. Visited with friend Kay and Steve.
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| Snow Cap on Historic Route 66 |
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| Lots of folks stopped by - so I am sure they weren't SORRY they were open |
Wanted to stop at the Snow Cap. Too cold for ice cream but the place was a treat especially the funny clerks!
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| The door handle that worked is on the right. Funny folk. |
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| Didn't find Charlie - just his truck |
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| Thank you for the offer but we didn't need the SLIGHTLY USED NAPKINS AND STRAWS |
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| Saw NO BARE TOPS, BARE BOTTOMS, OR BARE FEET Wonder if they would have been served or photos taken |
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| Dean got a smiley face in his fries |
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| Always love mural walls - some from the motel in town |
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| Dang it! We missed Peggy Sue's think we were in California by this time |
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| Not sure what this was but made us want an ice cream sundae |
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| Ah, Baker, CA - warmest town in the country. World's Tallest thermometer is lit and displayed for all the travelers going to Las Vegas. We boondocked here. Plenty warm! |
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| IVANPAH SOLAR POWER FACILITY |
Wow - traveling new roads you never know what you might find.
Figured this might be something to pick up or send radio signals from outer space.
This is the Ivanpah Solar Power Facility where the circles below each tower are fields of mirrors which focus sunlight on receivers in the towers. The receivers generate steam to drive specially adapted steam turbines.
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Onward west up and over mountains we didn't even know about. Examining the atlas before going up Tehachapi Pass we found a new road we hadn't been on. Up and over Walker Pass and past Lake Isabella through parts of Giant Sequoia National Monument. So glad the experienced driver drove the skinny roads to Visalia as I normally only had one eye open.
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From Visalia we headed directly up I-5. With a stop at Harry & David's in Medford and at Motion Windows in Vancouver to order 2 thermopane windows for the new RV (since it had proven itself keepable!).
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Home! The flowers and lawn looked wonderful. The snow hadn't caused the damage we feared. And our neighbor had trimmed a few errant branches that hung awry from the heavy snow.
Oops,one last thing for the new rig to prove out. It is listed as 12' 2" tall - our garage door is 12'. Slowly Dean backed in - slowly - slowly. It fit! Hooray!
