Driving, Driving Driving!
OK, anyone that says, “it’s the journey, not the destination”, has never had to pull a large trailer from Edmonton to Yuma in 4 days!
Day 1 – 9 hours of hard driving at 120KMs per hour whenever possible. 3 fuel stops to get to Great Falls, MT. It was quite cool, so we wimped out and took a hotel room instead of setting up the trailer and waiting for it to warm up. The hotel was right beside the Flying J, so parking the rig was easy.
Day 2 – 9 hours of driving at a slightly more leisurely pace, only 110! We got to Ogden (north of Salt Lake City) and de-winterized the trailer. I am a little rusty at de-winterizing, so it took me a couple of days to figure out why no hot water (more later).
Day 3 – The best time to go through the Salt Lake City corridor is Sunday morning when most people are at church. We made it to the Las Vegas Sam’s Town KOA just in time to avoid getting wet setting up the trailer. It rained a good part of the night and the next morning when we were leaving. Who would have thought rain storm in Vegas!
Oh yeah, I figured out how to get the hot water working so we could shower in our trailer. Sonya was thankful so that she didn’t have to walk in the rain to the camp showers. I said, “you’re going for a shower, what difference does it make if you get wet from the rain.” Anyway, we got away in the rain.
Day 4 – Hooray, the last day of travel! On to Yuma via US 95. After watching the rain pour down while we were leaving Las Vegas, the trip was for the most part uneventful. We went directly to Wellton (20 miles east of Yuma) to get some gear for the trailer.
On our way back to Yuma, we had a blow out and shredded the right rear tire of the trailer. As soon as I saw smoke out the mirror, I pulled over as quickly as was safe to do so. As luck (or not) would have it, we stopped on an overpass! Our Good Sam Roadside assistance came in very handy. The tow truck driver called Highway Patrol so that they would park behind to slow down and shift over traffic for us. 90 minutes after our flat, we were on our way to our Yuma home for 7 days – only to set up camp in pouring rain!!!
Here’s our tire:
Of course, no self-respecting Arizona bar / diner would be complete without a picture of Duke. Randy, this one is for you!
Then off to Martha’s Gardens Medjool Date Farm to learn about cultivating and harvesting dates in Arizona. This is an incredibly manual process with hand pollination, – 80 percent of the crop is manually thinned out in order to produce the perfect date – and then harvested by hand. No wonder dates are priced like gold in Canada!
Day 1 – 9 hours of hard driving at 120KMs per hour whenever possible. 3 fuel stops to get to Great Falls, MT. It was quite cool, so we wimped out and took a hotel room instead of setting up the trailer and waiting for it to warm up. The hotel was right beside the Flying J, so parking the rig was easy.
Day 2 – 9 hours of driving at a slightly more leisurely pace, only 110! We got to Ogden (north of Salt Lake City) and de-winterized the trailer. I am a little rusty at de-winterizing, so it took me a couple of days to figure out why no hot water (more later).
Day 3 – The best time to go through the Salt Lake City corridor is Sunday morning when most people are at church. We made it to the Las Vegas Sam’s Town KOA just in time to avoid getting wet setting up the trailer. It rained a good part of the night and the next morning when we were leaving. Who would have thought rain storm in Vegas!
Oh yeah, I figured out how to get the hot water working so we could shower in our trailer. Sonya was thankful so that she didn’t have to walk in the rain to the camp showers. I said, “you’re going for a shower, what difference does it make if you get wet from the rain.” Anyway, we got away in the rain.
Day 4 – Hooray, the last day of travel! On to Yuma via US 95. After watching the rain pour down while we were leaving Las Vegas, the trip was for the most part uneventful. We went directly to Wellton (20 miles east of Yuma) to get some gear for the trailer.
On our way back to Yuma, we had a blow out and shredded the right rear tire of the trailer. As soon as I saw smoke out the mirror, I pulled over as quickly as was safe to do so. As luck (or not) would have it, we stopped on an overpass! Our Good Sam Roadside assistance came in very handy. The tow truck driver called Highway Patrol so that they would park behind to slow down and shift over traffic for us. 90 minutes after our flat, we were on our way to our Yuma home for 7 days – only to set up camp in pouring rain!!!
Here’s our tire:
Day 5 – Yuma
A little history lesson about Yuma. The first American to live within the bounds of what is now Yuma was a prostitute, and the first building was a combination restaurant, bar and the home of several ladies of the evening. The woman who built and operated the establishment was Sara Bowman. Standing six feet tall with blazing red hair and a body “filled out with ample endowments in the right spots”, Sarah was dubbed “The Great Western”. She was married three times but there is no record of any divorces. Lieutenant Edward Tuttle who attended her funeral recalled that when he first met her, she was serving as a laundress for the officers. He also remembered that when she died, the soldiers showed their affection for her by providing a funeral escort and firing a salute in her memory. History provided by Frank Love – professor of history at Arizona Western College.
Today we had lunch at Lutes Casino – a must see place when you visit Yuma. Arizona’s oldest pool hall and still going strong. Bobby Lutes says – “In the old days, there were some vicious fights with pool cues …, but not anymore.’ The “old days” date back to 1901.
A little history lesson about Yuma. The first American to live within the bounds of what is now Yuma was a prostitute, and the first building was a combination restaurant, bar and the home of several ladies of the evening. The woman who built and operated the establishment was Sara Bowman. Standing six feet tall with blazing red hair and a body “filled out with ample endowments in the right spots”, Sarah was dubbed “The Great Western”. She was married three times but there is no record of any divorces. Lieutenant Edward Tuttle who attended her funeral recalled that when he first met her, she was serving as a laundress for the officers. He also remembered that when she died, the soldiers showed their affection for her by providing a funeral escort and firing a salute in her memory. History provided by Frank Love – professor of history at Arizona Western College.
Today we had lunch at Lutes Casino – a must see place when you visit Yuma. Arizona’s oldest pool hall and still going strong. Bobby Lutes says – “In the old days, there were some vicious fights with pool cues …, but not anymore.’ The “old days” date back to 1901.
Then off to Martha’s Gardens Medjool Date Farm to learn about cultivating and harvesting dates in Arizona. This is an incredibly manual process with hand pollination, – 80 percent of the crop is manually thinned out in order to produce the perfect date – and then harvested by hand. No wonder dates are priced like gold in Canada!
Here is my special recipe for Medjool Caramel Dip:
1 cup cashews – cover with water and soak at room temp 2 – 3 hours
1 cup medjool dates – pitted – cover with water and soak 2 – 3 hours (save soaking water)
¼ pure maple syrup
2 tsp vanilla extract
pinch of sea salt
-drain and rinse the cashews – drain the dates and save the soaking water.
-place cashews in a blender – add dates and maple syrup, vanilla and salt – add 6 – 8 tbsp of date soaking water and blend until ultra-smooth
-serve with sliced fresh apples - hmmmm….
After Martha’s it was back to our RV Park. It is appropriate that we are staying at The Palms RV Park. As you can see, we were lucky to get a spot!
But what we really like about coming down here is this –
That’s all for now. Stay tuned for prison tour details as they become available!
All the best,
Paul & Sonya