Well, again a few days have passed here and it's found us back on Canadian soil once again. We spent last night in Chilliwack where we reminisced of a place called Sunset Beach......it's just north of Seaside Oregon and it's a truly amazing place. I was fortunate enough to be able to reconect with some of the new friends I'd made at NABX and we shared a short but worth it time flying in the clean, clean coastal winds of Sunset Beach. The whole Oregon coast is really a beautiful place and we'll definitely be back.
Today's plans take us to interior BC and then tomorrow to Golden. Sadly we'vehad to cut the Vancouver Island / Saltspring Island / Vancouver parts out of this trip that has turned into a bit of a marathon to get home in time and still married ; )
Don't worry....we'll be back to the coast before too long - we promise!
Better pack up and hit the road.
4.13.2010
4.07.2010
Miles away from home
Well, it's been a few days apparently. We made our way to Yuma after a quick overnight stop in a place called Parker (I think it was in Arizona?....hard to say since we were zig zagging in and out of California ll the way down.) Anyhow, it was pretty neat. Right down on the Colorado river (post-canyon), we stayed at this regional park called La Pas. Huge park, right on the river's edge and right next door was a greasy spoon that made a great breakfast. We had burgers at another one the night before but both of them were actually floating on the river! Quite cool but definitely a watersports, drinking cold ones all day kinda place.
The next day we completed the trek to Yuma and of all the places in the world I had my first real taste of "artful sushi". It was crazy cool - made it super hard to pick something to have it all looked so cool. I had some Red Ninja something or other and it was unlike anything I'd ever had. So, so, so good!
After sushi we meandered our way around looking for a Verizon store, then a Walmart, then a UPS store, then Cocopah where we set up for the night with Bob & Dallas. Visited with them briefly that night and then went over to see where they call "home" for the winters and visited a bit ore before heading out.
That takes us to yesterday which saw us leave Yuma around dinner time and make a short trek just to get an edge on the drive ahead......we're a LONG way from home and, being able to only travel about four hours a day lest Anna get bored and make things miserable OR poor Holly just looking like she just can't take any more....well, we're managing as best as we can but staying happy is the most important goal ; )
Anyway - we made a short trek to a place called Yucaipa in California where we pulled into a regional park that was the most amazing place we'd stayed yet (sorry to Yuma and the Playa ; ) It was like Hawrelak park only better, bigger AND you're free to camp for the night. Even better was that we rolled in short on US cash, after hours and just happened to catch the gate keeper staying late to study in the quiet. We had enough cash for the non-serviced tent rate so he let us drive into the tent side and park in one of the group parking lots. Thing is - NOBODY else was there! Well, there were two other tents but they were way far away from us. It was amazing! (Except for the rattlesnake advisory Kathy found on the washroom door the next morning.)
So we went into the bank in Yucaipa to cash more travellers cheques - something we'll NEVER do again.....it's been a crazy hassle getting them cashed and NOBODY will take them as payment. Visa and some US cash from Canada is the way to go it seems. Anyhow, we got the cash and as we were leaving this sweet old lady said she overheard we were from Canada, chatted us up a bit and it turns out she had lived in Edmonton for 10 years AND attened the West End Christian Reformed Church where I do the anual nativity ice carving!
Small world.
And that takes us to today. Anna was sleeping as we passed Bakersfield where we had planned to stay and since we had just missed the office ofthe RV park we were gonna stay at and that meant staying in the "registration/check-in" lot for the night we decided to carry on an hour or so to this place called Tulare. Funny thing is that we turned down a night in the "reg/check-in" lot and got a "people live here and Tulare is the agricultural capital of the world" place. Meaning it's weird here - definitely not really a "RV Resort" and it......well........well it smells. Kathy figured it smells like manure which is understandably possible but it's not really that. Well, it probably is but it's weird....to me it smells like that smell/feeling you get in your nose when you dump the Kool Aid powder into the juice jug....you know that smell / feeling you get if you inhale some of that powder? That's what it smells like. Not bad really, just weird.
It'll be nice to get outta here.
So there was one neat thing about this place though. The fences along the highway were labeled with the crops growing behind them. I saw fields of Almond trees, grape vines, pistachio trees, orange trees and lemon trees. And trucks and trucks and trucks loaded with oranges and lemons. Kinda neat to be where this stuff grows. Makes me wish we'd have opted for the "Orange Grove RV Park" back in Bakersfield.......they said you could pick oranges on your morning stroll but I figured they'd not be in season. I mighta been wrong.
Oh well. I'll enjoy the charms this place has to offer ; )
So that's that. We're keeping it together for the most part. Not gonna try to fool anyone into thinking it's easy though. It's officially time to rethink what a "trip" is. This is most definitely a road trip - not a vacation. We'll get through, get home and start to come to terms with the "weekend trip".
Tomorrow is tentatively Sacramento I believe - or Alameda. It depends. We're up and out early - having breakfast in town and hitting the road so if I play my cards right and I don't have to stop midway through the day to work like I did today (normally I just push everything to the evenings) we might just make Alameda which means I MIGHT get the kite-trifecta and hit the water but I'm not holding my breath. I'm just taking it as it comes and have come to terms with the fact that this isn't the trip we all signed up for anymore. Not in a bad way - just the new way ; )
The next day we completed the trek to Yuma and of all the places in the world I had my first real taste of "artful sushi". It was crazy cool - made it super hard to pick something to have it all looked so cool. I had some Red Ninja something or other and it was unlike anything I'd ever had. So, so, so good!
After sushi we meandered our way around looking for a Verizon store, then a Walmart, then a UPS store, then Cocopah where we set up for the night with Bob & Dallas. Visited with them briefly that night and then went over to see where they call "home" for the winters and visited a bit ore before heading out.
That takes us to yesterday which saw us leave Yuma around dinner time and make a short trek just to get an edge on the drive ahead......we're a LONG way from home and, being able to only travel about four hours a day lest Anna get bored and make things miserable OR poor Holly just looking like she just can't take any more....well, we're managing as best as we can but staying happy is the most important goal ; )
Anyway - we made a short trek to a place called Yucaipa in California where we pulled into a regional park that was the most amazing place we'd stayed yet (sorry to Yuma and the Playa ; ) It was like Hawrelak park only better, bigger AND you're free to camp for the night. Even better was that we rolled in short on US cash, after hours and just happened to catch the gate keeper staying late to study in the quiet. We had enough cash for the non-serviced tent rate so he let us drive into the tent side and park in one of the group parking lots. Thing is - NOBODY else was there! Well, there were two other tents but they were way far away from us. It was amazing! (Except for the rattlesnake advisory Kathy found on the washroom door the next morning.)
So we went into the bank in Yucaipa to cash more travellers cheques - something we'll NEVER do again.....it's been a crazy hassle getting them cashed and NOBODY will take them as payment. Visa and some US cash from Canada is the way to go it seems. Anyhow, we got the cash and as we were leaving this sweet old lady said she overheard we were from Canada, chatted us up a bit and it turns out she had lived in Edmonton for 10 years AND attened the West End Christian Reformed Church where I do the anual nativity ice carving!
Small world.
And that takes us to today. Anna was sleeping as we passed Bakersfield where we had planned to stay and since we had just missed the office ofthe RV park we were gonna stay at and that meant staying in the "registration/check-in" lot for the night we decided to carry on an hour or so to this place called Tulare. Funny thing is that we turned down a night in the "reg/check-in" lot and got a "people live here and Tulare is the agricultural capital of the world" place. Meaning it's weird here - definitely not really a "RV Resort" and it......well........well it smells. Kathy figured it smells like manure which is understandably possible but it's not really that. Well, it probably is but it's weird....to me it smells like that smell/feeling you get in your nose when you dump the Kool Aid powder into the juice jug....you know that smell / feeling you get if you inhale some of that powder? That's what it smells like. Not bad really, just weird.
It'll be nice to get outta here.
So there was one neat thing about this place though. The fences along the highway were labeled with the crops growing behind them. I saw fields of Almond trees, grape vines, pistachio trees, orange trees and lemon trees. And trucks and trucks and trucks loaded with oranges and lemons. Kinda neat to be where this stuff grows. Makes me wish we'd have opted for the "Orange Grove RV Park" back in Bakersfield.......they said you could pick oranges on your morning stroll but I figured they'd not be in season. I mighta been wrong.
Oh well. I'll enjoy the charms this place has to offer ; )
So that's that. We're keeping it together for the most part. Not gonna try to fool anyone into thinking it's easy though. It's officially time to rethink what a "trip" is. This is most definitely a road trip - not a vacation. We'll get through, get home and start to come to terms with the "weekend trip".
Tomorrow is tentatively Sacramento I believe - or Alameda. It depends. We're up and out early - having breakfast in town and hitting the road so if I play my cards right and I don't have to stop midway through the day to work like I did today (normally I just push everything to the evenings) we might just make Alameda which means I MIGHT get the kite-trifecta and hit the water but I'm not holding my breath. I'm just taking it as it comes and have come to terms with the fact that this isn't the trip we all signed up for anymore. Not in a bad way - just the new way ; )
4.04.2010
Coming to an end it seems
Well, NABX appears to be coming to a close. The final dinner, the draws (that netted me a nice stash including a new kite, a book on the history of kites of all kinds and an autographed Peter Lynn hoodie) and everyone talking about when they are heading home or where they're off to next. It's kinda something to have flown with these people - some of them the best in the world. Peter Lynn himself was right next door to us and that was quite a treat. They had all kinds of gear out including some of the pioneer gear of this sport including "kite on sticks".
Today I made a milestone in my kiting life. They have a challenge here called the Out 'n Back which is simply put a geocaching exercise done via kite. They posted the GPS coordinates and the rest was up to you. It was about 6 miles away as the crow flies but was actually roughly 30km round trip. For me anyway.....someone did it yesterday and after 22 tacks he had logged over 40km....lucky for me the wind was such that I had quite a straight shot for the bulk of the journey. Quite an accomplishment and perhaps, just perhaps I felt that thing they call axomoxa?
Now that this part of the trip is over we can concentrate on the family trip part of the plans. Destination unknown but definitely somewhere a little less wind and a little less dusty maybe? I'm in no rush to leave but it'll be nice to get on with the rest of the trip.
Today I made a milestone in my kiting life. They have a challenge here called the Out 'n Back which is simply put a geocaching exercise done via kite. They posted the GPS coordinates and the rest was up to you. It was about 6 miles away as the crow flies but was actually roughly 30km round trip. For me anyway.....someone did it yesterday and after 22 tacks he had logged over 40km....lucky for me the wind was such that I had quite a straight shot for the bulk of the journey. Quite an accomplishment and perhaps, just perhaps I felt that thing they call axomoxa?
Now that this part of the trip is over we can concentrate on the family trip part of the plans. Destination unknown but definitely somewhere a little less wind and a little less dusty maybe? I'm in no rush to leave but it'll be nice to get on with the rest of the trip.
4.03.2010
Pictures!
Aha! I finally got around to it.
Flickr Album
So the long & short? Went out yesterday to explore this thing that is the lakebed and 24km later logged into the GPS I made my way back to buggy camp. New personal best top speed? 65km/h. I'll see if I can crack that today. My strop broke (the line holding the control handles to my harness taking the load off my arms) so I had to fly it back in without any extra help and have the sore arms to show for it today but it was so worth it. I've got some video that I'll post later during the trip or when we get home so you can get an idea of the expanse of this place. It goes on forever.
And forever.
Mom and Anna are gonna make the 4.6km walk from here over to Primm to do some Outlet shopping and with luck they'll make it back without incident (ie - Anna melting down.) I"m going to take the morning to repack all the kites I hastily wrapped up so I could keep flying yesterday and then maybe some stretches and then some more flying.
Flickr Album
So the long & short? Went out yesterday to explore this thing that is the lakebed and 24km later logged into the GPS I made my way back to buggy camp. New personal best top speed? 65km/h. I'll see if I can crack that today. My strop broke (the line holding the control handles to my harness taking the load off my arms) so I had to fly it back in without any extra help and have the sore arms to show for it today but it was so worth it. I've got some video that I'll post later during the trip or when we get home so you can get an idea of the expanse of this place. It goes on forever.
And forever.
Mom and Anna are gonna make the 4.6km walk from here over to Primm to do some Outlet shopping and with luck they'll make it back without incident (ie - Anna melting down.) I"m going to take the morning to repack all the kites I hastily wrapped up so I could keep flying yesterday and then maybe some stretches and then some more flying.
4.01.2010
Back to Primm
We tired ourselves out walking around Vegas for the day and saw a few of the sights but really, we'll have to come back to really do the Vegas thing. It's bizarre seeing people walking around everywhere with drinks on the go - even more bizarre to see people at 11am walking around with drinks. We parked at Mandalay Bay and after realizing I'd left the wallet in the RV (having waited in line to see the Shark Tank at Mandalay only to realize we didn't have our cash along). Whoops. No big loss since Sea World San Diego is only a few days away anyway.
We got the wallet and walked up to see New York New York. Nothing spectacular but kinda neat. THen we went into the Excalibur, stopped for a Vegas buffet (which we're paying for now) and then slid over to the outlet mall where we proceeded to spoil Anna to death. Or us I guess......it's all clothes so surely we'll get more enjoyment out of it than she will ; )
We got back to Buffalo Bills only to realize that we should have checked in on the old propane tank before we came back out here where it seems you can't get anything you need other than gas so it's likely that the morning will mean one more 1/2 hour drive back out to Vegas to fill and then get back to NABX. I have a funny feeling we missed a pretty great day out there but we had an equally great day in Vegas so no loss really. I do have a few sets of tires I was hoping to scrub up a bit but there's still a few good days left of kiting AND I should be able to leave a few tracks on Sunset Beach in Oregon.
Looks like an early to bed night tonight and then we park and play for a couple days. The weekend's here so I've got just a bit of work to do then I can put that hat away until Sunday evening.
Happy easter everyone!
We got the wallet and walked up to see New York New York. Nothing spectacular but kinda neat. THen we went into the Excalibur, stopped for a Vegas buffet (which we're paying for now) and then slid over to the outlet mall where we proceeded to spoil Anna to death. Or us I guess......it's all clothes so surely we'll get more enjoyment out of it than she will ; )
We got back to Buffalo Bills only to realize that we should have checked in on the old propane tank before we came back out here where it seems you can't get anything you need other than gas so it's likely that the morning will mean one more 1/2 hour drive back out to Vegas to fill and then get back to NABX. I have a funny feeling we missed a pretty great day out there but we had an equally great day in Vegas so no loss really. I do have a few sets of tires I was hoping to scrub up a bit but there's still a few good days left of kiting AND I should be able to leave a few tracks on Sunset Beach in Oregon.
Looks like an early to bed night tonight and then we park and play for a couple days. The weekend's here so I've got just a bit of work to do then I can put that hat away until Sunday evening.
Happy easter everyone!
Vegas Baby!
Well, we've escaped the wind of the Playa by hiding behind a resort in Primm proper for the night and woke to deep blue skies and nice breezes (aka - not gale winds). We are making a trek into Vegas for the day to see some sights, service the RV's tanks and just relax in general. We'll be back out on the lake tonight and spend the rest of NABX enjoying the lakebed and the new friends we've met.
Short post - gotta pack down for the trip into town. More tonight. And yes - I'll get the pics happening.
Short post - gotta pack down for the trip into town. More tonight. And yes - I'll get the pics happening.
3.31.2010
"I can't hear you...let's get outta the wind!"
Wow.
We're here. And so is the wind! You'd hardly know we weren't still driving the way this RV is rocking in the wind. I think they say it's gusting to 60MPH? I'm staying here for now. If we blow back to Vegas at least we'll be inside ; )
All in all it was a long drive with some amazing scenery. I can't get over how decidedly different and distinct each state is...and seemingly the moment you cross the state lines.....everything changes. Perhaps the most stark was crossing into Arizona. It was like the earth opened up and swallowed us. Very, very beautiful.
We made it to Vegas just in time for rush hour traffic which was a treat but really not all that unmanageable. We had some errands to run before we hit Primm so we did that and now here we are. In the wind. Did I mention it was windy? Couldn't pick a better place for a kite festival I guess but if this keeps up the only thing I'll be flying is the Canada windsock I brought along with me!
I think the biggest hope is that Kathy, Anna and Holly get on OK out here. It's one thing to be out enjoying the wind but the thing is you don't feel it the same as you do when you're "stuck in the wind". We'll see what life brings us. Sounds like Thursday might be a Vegas day as some bad weather is expected. Works out actually because we've had some minor issues with the tanks on this RV and need to dump. Who knew there'd be no RV service in Primm? Go figure.
Anyway. We're here, we're connected thanks to Verizon and we're gonna be here until the end of the weekend. I know I promised pics but I've just finished a few hours of real work and after all the driving in the wind today (oh yeah...forgot to mention that.......Kathy has some video of it...I have never had a more white-knuckled drive than I did today....no doubt a new record was set today! I wasn't sure if we'd stay on the road at some points!)
Anyway. Tired, excited, nervous....all that. I better get some sleep. I get to meet a whole bunch of new friends tomorrow morning.
We're here. And so is the wind! You'd hardly know we weren't still driving the way this RV is rocking in the wind. I think they say it's gusting to 60MPH? I'm staying here for now. If we blow back to Vegas at least we'll be inside ; )
All in all it was a long drive with some amazing scenery. I can't get over how decidedly different and distinct each state is...and seemingly the moment you cross the state lines.....everything changes. Perhaps the most stark was crossing into Arizona. It was like the earth opened up and swallowed us. Very, very beautiful.
We made it to Vegas just in time for rush hour traffic which was a treat but really not all that unmanageable. We had some errands to run before we hit Primm so we did that and now here we are. In the wind. Did I mention it was windy? Couldn't pick a better place for a kite festival I guess but if this keeps up the only thing I'll be flying is the Canada windsock I brought along with me!
I think the biggest hope is that Kathy, Anna and Holly get on OK out here. It's one thing to be out enjoying the wind but the thing is you don't feel it the same as you do when you're "stuck in the wind". We'll see what life brings us. Sounds like Thursday might be a Vegas day as some bad weather is expected. Works out actually because we've had some minor issues with the tanks on this RV and need to dump. Who knew there'd be no RV service in Primm? Go figure.
Anyway. We're here, we're connected thanks to Verizon and we're gonna be here until the end of the weekend. I know I promised pics but I've just finished a few hours of real work and after all the driving in the wind today (oh yeah...forgot to mention that.......Kathy has some video of it...I have never had a more white-knuckled drive than I did today....no doubt a new record was set today! I wasn't sure if we'd stay on the road at some points!)
Anyway. Tired, excited, nervous....all that. I better get some sleep. I get to meet a whole bunch of new friends tomorrow morning.
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