Monthly Archives: April 2021

So we had been on the road now for 2 weeks.  You may remember that we had left our son in charge of showings of our house back in Ottawa. Well he had given us a heads-up that a couple in the neighborhood had returned for a 2nd and then a 3rd look. He thought an offer to purchase was imminent. We processed this good news as we motored from Garden Grove to Oceanside, CA a distance of 100 km. Oceanside is the quintessential name for a town next to the ocean isn’t it? However there is also WaterColor near Seaside on the Florida panhandle that we would discover a few years down the road. After all the driving, we were looking forward to spending a lazy week in Oceanside and hooking up with our friends Norm and Patty from Calgary. We had just checked into a nice RV resort not far from the beach when we received an email from Kyle that the couple were going to send us an offer to buy our house by email.

• 

• 

• 

We were operating on wifi at the RV resort. We did not have a data/roaming plan. Dave received the email offer and got so excited that he could not remember his password when he went to reply. After 10 tries didn’t his Blackberry reset itself and so he lost all his email addresses, etc.. He remembers breaking out in a sweat even though it was not that warm on the coast that day! So there he was phone in hand trying to negotiate the sale of our house by email with a wiped phone. It was not lol but sol – swear out loud! lol!

• 

• 

• 

Well somehow he got reconnected and traded emails back and forth over a couple of days with the potential buyers. Finally we had a deal! All done by email on a Blackberry on wifi in the Oceanside RV resort lol! Now we were truly going to Arnprior and could really relax.

We headed to a nearby mission and enjoyed the warmer air inland, the beautiful grounds and history lesson. All told Spain established 21 missions in California between 1793 and 1833. Their stated purpose was to evangelize Native Americans. Today there is controversy about their methods and the degree of success. As in Canada, there is evidence that many natives were treated harshly and died of diseases that they had no immunity against. St. Junipero Serra a Franciscan, founded the first such mission in California and was canonized by Pope Francis in 2015.

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

We returned to the coast to get together with Norm and Patty and their daughter Jessica. They were here for the winter. We had some good times together, played a round of golf and visited Escondido. Surprisingly on the coast it was not that warm – we needed a light jacket unless we could get out of the wind. Inland, like in Escondido, it warmed up 3 or 4 deg C.

• 

• 

• 

• 

We certainly enjoyed our stay in Oceanside but after a week, it was time to push on again.

So there we were out on the road from Omaha westwards in early March. We were some 1000 km from our destination on the other side of the Continental Divide. It would be a long day.

Our goal was to get safely over the Eisenhower Tunnel Pass west of Denver which is 3400m (11,158 ft) above sea level. We hoped there would be no snow storm. This meant only minimal stopping today – bathroom breaks, fuel and coffee. We were up for it!

• 

• 

• 

We turned SW into Colorado passing our namesake Fort Morgan. It wasn’t long before we could see the snow capped Rockies in the distance. We motored right through Denver without stopping and heading for the steep climb ahead. Going up steep hills I would usually stick to the right lane and let the Trekker slow right down. I was reluctant to go faster thinking of gas consumption and wanting to avoid potential overheating. We chugged and chugged uphill around bends enjoying the views of snow covered peaks near and far. It was cloudy but no snow. Yeh!

We eventually stopped for the night at a roadside motel. We had not camped once on this trip so far. It was still winter and few RV Parks were open yet. Plus we were in a hurry a bit. We had a reservation coming up at the Oasis RV Resort in Las Vegas and did not want to be late. The next morning we set a goal of reaching St. George on the Utah-Arizona state line – about 950 km, another really long day. We sailed by the turnoff to Vail and gave it the gas downhill. We soon came to the Utah state line and the most of the snow was gone. We drove across a vast rolling stone plateau with little sign of life – few trees or vegetation. It was an endless rock desert. Marie felt a bit uncomfortable looking out at the desolation. We would have hated to have a breakdown here – no gas, water or food for over 200 km.

• 

• 

• 

We kept going to St. George and found a nice roadside motel around 6 PM with palm trees. Aha we thought, we are out of winter now. But no!!! Overnight there was a 20 cm snowfall and the Trekker was covered in the morning! It soon melted away once we were on our way to Las Vegas, now only 200 km away. We passed through the NW corner of Arizona and drove through the well irrigated Moapa Valley in Nevada. We finally drove down the strip in Las Vegas marveling that there was not much traffic. We found the Oasis RV Resort south of town and checked in. This was one of the most luxurious RV parks. Spacious, lovely landscaping, huge pool and clubhouse enriched by endless sunshine.

• 

• 

We decided to take the bus back into town rather than unhook, drive in and find parking. Las Vegas! The thing I remember most is people – of all ages in colourful clothes, some laughing, some crying, some preaching, others muttering to themselves. People approached us continuously, inviting us in to their casino or restaurant or trying to sell something. Very strange but interesting. Lot’s of souvenir shops, huge luxurious hotels, fountains and casinos.

• 

• 

• 

We had a great dinner after wandering through the casinos and picking up some souvenirs. The next day we went swimming in the resort pool and then downtown again. Soon we had had enough of the big city and were ready to push on for the desert.

• 

• 

•