April 2013

4/22/13:  What a difference a day makes. Now we're under a winter storm warning, 6 to 12 inches expected, and it's supposed to get down to 9 tonight.  This is what it looked like when we got up this morning:

This one is out the front window, looking at the street

This one is out the back window looking at the comfort station.

4/21/13:   We got to Hart Ranch yesterday afternoon.  We had to unload the bikes in the arrival parking lot, as there was too much snow around to unload at the site.  We actually had to shovel the site before we could back into it!!!

We left Las Vegas on 4/13, and got as far as Nephi, UT, where we had to wait for 5 days for the weather to clear in Wyoming and South Dakota.  It cleared enough by Thursday for us to get out. We stopped one night in Rock Springs, WY, and one night in Casper, WY, and then to Hart Ranch.  We were lucky with the weather - we had a tail wind most of the time and averaged 10.7 mpg.  Not bad considering we're towing 18,500 lbs!   Here's a picture of the rig at a rest area on the Wyoming/South Dakota border.

The 5th Wheel is 43'. It makes the truck look like a matchbox!

We're all settled in, and hunkered down - it's going to snow tonight and tomorrow, and get down to 16 tomorrow night. We're not used to this!  We both start work tomorrow.

But, it's a usual anniversary in the Black Hills.  Snowed in in a trailer - it's happened 3 or 4 times now, so nothing new.  This one's the big one (25 years) so we were hoping to go out. We'll go out next weekend. Tonight we're celebrating with chicken and dumplings (and wine of course)!



4/11/13:  We got to Las Vegas on April 1st, and it's been a whirlwind visit.  We're trying to cram in seeing everybody, dental appointments, and getting ready for the trip to Hart Ranch.

We're leaving on Saturday the 13th, and we hope we'll have good weather.  It snowed there yesterday - reports of 20 inches. YIKES! We'll start work as soon as we get up there.

We did manage to squeeze in a short motorcycle ride to Nipton with good friends Mike and Annette Yarusso.  We met them here at the Oasis Las Vegas RV Resort four years ago, and we ride together whenever we can.

Mike and Annette - Nipton, California

More later when we get to Hart Ranch!

March 2013

3/19/13:  Ellen and I went to see Biosphere 2, which was used in 1991 - 1993.  The scientists were locked in there for two years, growing all of their own food and studying the environment.  Now it's run by the University of Arizona, and is a research facility.   Seems to me it's a bunch of tree huggers - our guide kept talking about climate change and how we're going to have such severe droughts, storms, etc.    It was interesting.

The Rain Forest

Biosphere 2

The Ocean

After the Biosphere tour, Ellen and I stopped for lunch and at an "Antique" store in Oracle, Arizona:

3/15/13:  Today we had a great off road Jeep ride with Joe and Ellen.  They had been wanting to go through Box Canyon, which is just outside of Florence.  It was beautiful scenery, exciting moments, and a lot of fun.  We got stuck at one point with the underneath of the Jeep resting on a rock, and Mike and Joe couldn't get any of the wheels to catch.  Luckily a big group of ATVers came by, and they helped lift the Jeep off so that Joe could back it up.  Whew!

Then, we  kept going until we got to "The Wall".  There was no way us novices were going to try to go over that, so some folks there told us a way around. (Too bad we didn't get a picture of it)  There were a million roads and we didn't have a detailed map, so luckily Ellen had her GPS which guided us to the main road that got us to State Route 60, or we could have been lost for days.  Moral of the story - don't go without a detailed ToPo map!   We had lots of fun.

Mike directing Joe over the rocks

In the Box Canyon

Our picnic spot - Cheers!

Joe and Mike at the map at the entrance of the canyon

An old house, way station? Who knows.

3/10/13:  We got to Coolidge, Arizona on February 23rd.  We're staying at the Indian Skies RV Resort.  We chose Coolidge over Casa Grande because it's closer to Joe and Ellen's house in Sun City in Florence.  Mike and Joe have been golfing quite a bit, and Mike has been doing handyman work at their house.

The weather has been beautiful - sunny and warm.  Friday was rainy and cold, but now we're on an upswing.

Last Sunday we went on a 260 mile ride with friends Lee and Deb Ralston and some friends of theirs from their RV park.  We rode up to Mt. Lemmon just outside of Tucson.  We rode up to the ski area, above 8,000 feet.  It was beautiful - there was snow on the sides of the road and it was cold up there.  A really pretty ride.   I was exhausted at the end of the day; it's been a while since we've ridden that far.

View from halfway up to the top

Rest stop!   All Gold Wings, except for the Spyder.