Snowbird 2017 Part 1 RV's, Rain, Joshua Tree and Yuma

After 8+ years with the 25' Winnebago View motor home I felt it was time for a change.  The View was great for a single guy but was a little cramped at times with two inside.  So, I thought we might give a trailer a try.  I ended up really liking the Timber Ridge 250 RDS and decided to trade the View for one.  Interestingly, the local dealer in Spokane wanted $20,000 with my trade-in.  After checking several other dealers in the Northwest I ended up with a small dealer in Sumner Wa. who only wanted $250 in addition to the trade-in.  Plus the Sumner trailer had several upgrades that I would not have gotten from the other dealers.  Go Figure!  Every other dealer wanted so much more money with my trade-in that I was at the point of just keeping the View.

I must admit that I was having second thoughts when we drove into the RV dealership.  This is the first thing we saw.  Turns out the two RV's burnt the night before, cause unknown.  I told them they need to improve their curb appeal.

Here is the new rig parked at a friends house.  My friends were already in Arizona and offered their driveway to place the rig until we could leave ourselves.  We had quite an adventure getting the RV there.  First I parked it at my niece and nephew's house.  My daughter and son-in-law spent the better part of a day digging out a spot for us to park it due to all the snow.  A couple of weeks later when we were about ready to go, it took about another full day to get the trailer out.  We ended up backing it out to the highway due to all the new snow and ice that had accumulated.  In fact, we had to have my son-in-law pull the back of the trailer with his truck while I pushed out with my truck from the front.  It was a real adventure and not fun.

I didn't mention yet that I bought a truck to tow the trailer with.  It is a 2010 Ford F250 diesel  It was a bit of a sticker shop when I started looking at trucks.  I could have purchased a new car for what I paid for a really good used truck.

We were so happy to get on the road.  The snow was bad this year but the ice was worse.  I couldn't even walk out of my house without having some sort of traction on my shoes (yaktrax) and my driveway is flat!  There was over inch of ice over everything and the ice was such that it was like an skating rink.

Most times heading south we will swing down through Portland to Yachats Or on the coast.  We stayed there a couple of nights until it started to rain.  And it rained, and rained, and rained until we were just north of Sacramento.  The rain was so intense that it closed I-5 for several hours.  The above picture is I-5 under over a foot of water.  After several hours they allowed us to proceed through the flooded section.  The State Patrol officer told everyone to head straight the middle of the overpass and we would be OK.   I was sure glad we were in the truck and not in a car.

 On the way down we visited Mona's nephew in Portland, friends in Eugene and Oakland, Mona's son and his girl friend in Hermosa Beach and my brother and his partner in Palm Springs.  We then spent several days exploring around Joshua Tree National Park.  

Not only are the rock formations utterly fantastic, but the area has quite an interesting history mainly around mining.  I don't think anyone ever struck it rich there, but they sure tried hard.

 

The are many hikes in the park, most of which lead to some sort of mining historical place, except this one which loops past this lake.  Most folks visiting just go out and pack to the lake and don't take the loop.  That's probably because the loop is hard to find.  We came close to going the wrong way when we stumbled onto the loop trail.  The secret is to go left when you reach the lake and not right which the way your instincts want you to go.  

After Joshua Tree we continued south and spent a night on the ridge above the Saltan Sea so Mona could watch the Oscars, an annual religious event for her, then onto Yuma.  I like to stay in the Long Term Visitor's Area about 15 miles north of Yuma.  There we got a few hikes in, some bicycle riding and kayaking on the Colorado River.  

While in the area we met up with my Son-in-laws parents, Ralph and Janice, who were spending the winter in their motor home just east of Yuma in the small town of Wellton.  One day we all went out to the old mining museum town of Castle Dome.  I've been there a few times in the past but it was still a fun place to visit, especially with Mona, Ralph and Janice who had not been there before.

I always like looking at the old machinery and some of the craftsmanship that went into them.  A good example is this old wooden pulley and crank shaft.  I don't know what it was used for but it certainly is a work of art.  

When I was in junior high and high school my dad owned a 76 Union gas station.  I remember he had one of these engine testers in the garage.  I also remember being very young and handing him tools as he worked underneath cars.  While I still do lots of my own car repairs I think he must roll over in his grave whenever I take a car in to have someone else work on it.  Sorry Dad.

Each year Yuma has this huge car show with hundreds of cars.  Mona and I spent the good part of a day wandering around the cars and listening to the bands.  There were several 56 Chevy cars there, like the one I had in high school and college, more than I've ever seen in one spot.  When I win the lottery (I should buy some tickets) I would love to get one again.  Mine was two-tone blue.  I've never seen a two-tone blue one at any of the car shows I've been to.  It's a good thing since I would probably start crying.