A STEP FROM MY TRAVEL BLOG

I have wanted to talk about this for a few years and when the subject came up people just looked at me.  I can see the thought.  She is always complaining,  well I tried not too.  Yes I do a lot of traveling, but I have to push myself to the limit and if I didn't I would be a prisoner in my own home.

The subject is Fibromylgia and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.  I have suffered from this, when I look back over the years, since I had an inner ear virus in the early 70's.  It got progressively worse as the years went on.  Would be fine for months then it would hit, the total fatigue and horrible pain all over my body. Hair loss, very dry skin, dripping nose,  very cold hands and feet were with me all the time. I have had a dry cough and short of breath along with the other things.  I used to think I was nuts: the pain moved, it was never in my muscles just hurt where it settled at that time.  There are 8 pressure points that the push to check for this.  More than 4 you have it.

I complained for years to my doctors, their answer was you know you are getting old and the other was: you know stress will do that to you. I loved my husband and family and we had a great life very little stress.   I have to say my husband was a saint when I would end up in the ICU with chest pain about every month for a period of time.  My kids were only around 5 so I know it scared them a lot.  The doctors never knew what the cause was, but I had every test in the book.  Stress test, echo cardiogram and even an angiogram. They put dye through your veins to see if you have any blocked arteries. Nothing showed up.  They said it was Prinz Metals Angina, again from stress, put me on all kinds of pills that made me even weaker and sicker.  They probably cringed at the hospital every time I went there. My file was really big.

One of the symptons is you don't sleep, well I have never slept well since I was a teenager so just figured that was the way it was.  No, everyone should get at least 7 to 8 hours sleep to refresh the body to give you energy.

The five years after my husband died was the worst stress that anyone could imagine and I think that put me over the edge.  Also driving my motorhome hasn't helped either, but I have learned to do short drives and stop early in the day.

As time went on I couldn't physically work more than a couple of hours a day and when I did I needed one day to do nothing except lay on the couch.  With owning a house now there is a lot of things to do and most of them physical.  I hate paying someone to do things that I should be able to do myself.

As I have said before the networking that I have with RVing is amazing.  One day a friend, who writes a weekly newsletter mentioned that a Canadian from Alberta who had Fibromylgia  had gone to a Clinic in Las Vegas. She raved about what this clinic had done for her and that she had gotten her life back.

I called her to find out just what I had to do.  She filled me in on everything including the price. The price was very expensive, but you know I didn't want to feel this way for another ten years so I bit the bullet and made an appointment.  I was coming west so it worked well for me.  After the long drive 3,500 miles I was totally wiped out and for the month of October I did nothing but lay on the couch waiting for that appointment.

It was a three day with intensive testing.  They took about 20 tubes of blood and intravenous energy boosters.  They were for memory, brain fog and energy.  I also received an iron shot.  B12 every day, women are lacking in this.  Tests showed that my thyroid was on the low side of the normal.  Still trying to figure out how they use the graph, if you are in the normal rang in Canada you are fine.  A couple of other things were low too.  After the three days of intravenous a couple of energy shots and my pills and powers, I was sent home to get started.  Oh did I mention I had three days of massages, wonderful.

Since the middle of November I can now say I can do most anything during the day and just be tired at night.  No total fatigue any more. I can hardly get to 10 at night before I go to bed.  I put that down to getting from 6 to 8 hours of sleep every night.  When I don't sleep I hurt all over the next day and my brain is in a fog again.. I have had some set backs, but they only last a day or two.  I still haven't gotten that real energy back yet, but after a day at the clinic this past week they have upped my thyroid pills.  I will try them for a week and see what happens. A higher dose will hopefully stop my hair falling out, my cold feet, fingers and my brain fog.

There is a book called "From Fatigued to Fantastic" by Jacob Teitelbaum, M.D.  If you have any friends or relatives that are having the same problems as I am, let them know about it. You can get the products at any natural food store.

Dr. Teitelbaum had Fibromyalgia and Chronic Fatigue when he was going to University to be a doctor and had to drop out because the fatigue was so bad he fell behind in his classes.  After that he worked with different holistic and natural drugs and vitamins.  He is a board certified internist and a leading researcher in the field of ChronicFfatigue and Fibromyalgia.  All the things that I take are make personally for me at a Compounding Pharmacy.  The clinic supplies all the vitamins and energy powers.  I talk a lot of pills, but they are giving me my life back.

What I take are bio identical hormones, rest and restore natural sleeping pills (all the roots, flowers and Melatonin plus others things), cortisol, B12, release and renew (again roots, fruits and flowers).  A power called Ribose, it is a natural sugar with other natural ingredients.

When I was home in March I went to the doctor to get more of my prescriptions and I mentioned what I was taking.  Boy she said  "Oh they have not been tested I wouldn't be taking them"  I told her that if I could feel this good I will keep doing it.  I showed her my blood tests and right away she ordered more.  She was not interested in finding out more about it.  All she said was she would call me if my tests came back with something out of the ordinary.  I haven't hear from her.  We need to get this Clinic in Canada and  help anyone that has been diagnosed.

If you know of anyone please let them know about this, I guess it is a disease, I will be more than happy to talk to anyone to help.

Thanks for listening.   Would appreciate any comments you might have on any of my blogs.  Also if you click on any of the advertisements I get paid a few cents.

YUMA COMING TO AN END

First I went to the Q (Quechan) casino for the $2.95 big breakfast.  Two eggs, big piece of ham, hash browns and toast.  I couldn't find anyone to go with me so enjoyed it myself.  You only get this deal if you get a players card.  When you get one they give you $10.00 to play with and I decided I should use it that day.  Well I came out with $8.80 left after I played.  Not bad with free money.  The Q is just over the border into California and just north of the Mexican border (Algodones).  After that headed to the Yuma Territorial Prison.  This prison housed a total of 3,069 and included 39 women from 1876.  The prison was open for 33 years.  This was a model institution for its time and they treated the prisoners well.  The only punishment was the dark cells for inmates who broke prison rules and the ball and chain for those who tried to escape.

The prison sits on a bluff overlooking the Colorado River.  The prison was authorized by the Legislature in 1875 by the Legislature for $25,000.   Crimes ranged from murder to polygamy with grand larceny being the most common.  They made crafts and held a bazaar at the prison after church on Sundays.  Many learned to read and write and had the first public library in the territory.  A fee was charged to visitors for a tour of the institution and was used to purchase books.  

The prison closed in 1909 because of over crowding.  The Yuma Union High School occupied the buildings from 1910 to 1914.  In the 1920's it was used to provide free lodging for the hobos riding the freights.  All that is left after fires and weather is the cells, main gate and the guard tower.

The Arizona government has started closing the State parks and a lot of the museums so the Prison is one of them.   Yuma is trying to raise money to keep it open for tourists to enjoy.   Arizona has also closed all the rest areas, which I don't like.  A lot of people relied on them for a break when traveling long distances.  I will have to rethink how I travel here now.

Another place is the Lutz Casino, not a casino at all but a restaurant that has the oldest pool hall. It is still going strong.  The Casino is in the downtown core along with a few more historic buildings.  From the outside you can hear loud music and burgers frying. On the walls are murals of pool games complete with seedy looking characters out of the Old West and a cringing hound dog with big sad eyes. The place is always crammed with people and the noise level is almost unbearable.  It has the look of an old town saloon.  Not one that was fixed up but one that just got old.  There is interesting junk all over the walls and 12 foot high walls are plastered with posters, paintings, murals and decals of every description.  Suspended from the ceiling is a full size Signal Gas sign and a Western Union one.  If you look up you will see a raggedy foot crashing through the ceiling.  There are regulars and tourists, the tourists are drinking beer and walking around looking at the walls and the regulars.

The children love the place too, there is a whole wall lined with pinball machines and other coin operated space age machines.

The building was built in 1901 and housed the New York Store that sold groceries and general stuff.  Upstairs was a hotel and they operated until 1920 when it was purchased  and turned into a Casino Billiard Parlor.  The specials are the Especial which is a combination cheeseburger and hot dog covered with hot sauce.  You can find people dressed up or just dressed down, they go for the atmosphere.  Members of the San Diego Padres baseball team was seen enjoying a beer and a game of pool.

There is no gambling there just the sale of state lottery tickets.  The men's washroom has a window in it so no one can sneak up and shoot you.  Guess in the old days that happened.

There is a camel farm in Yuma where they specialize if breeding Arabian one hump camels and other exotic animals and birds.  They have so many its too long to list.  They are open from Oct. 1 to May 31st.  The camels can be used for parades and special events.  If you want to check it out go to their web site www.blendradioandtv.com/camelfarm.  I didn't go to this place, but it is on my list for next year.

There were lots of end of the winter parties to say good bye to everyone.  I have to say I haven't cooked a lot of measl in my motorhome this winter, but I haven't put on any weight which is hard to believe.  There are a lot of great cooks on the road.  Now to move on to other adventures.

Just What Is There To Do In Yuma

What is there to do here in Yuma?  A lot of the resorts have jam sessions all week long and dances, along with Happy Hour most days.  In the Foothills where I am staying you can go to a Happy Hour every day of the week and someone is eating out most nights.  I can pick and choose what to do.  There is every kind of restaurant you could think of here, from Chinese, Mexican, Susi, and buffets are everywhere.  I have only been to the Golden Coral, Cracker Barrel, Mandarin (not as good as ours in Barrie), a couple of Mexican restaurants (have decided I am not into Mexican food), The Moose (I am now a member) and of course the Q casino.

I love the homes in the area.  This one had a three hole golf course in its front yard. The homes are interesting they have palm trees and other things added to the walls of the stucco on their homes.  The stucco is painted greens, yellows, beize and browns.  There are a lot of lots for rent and I am renting mine for $300 a month for everything.  I like doing that so I know I have a place to come back to or if I want to leave my motorhome I can.

About 10 minutes away there is a place called the Peanut Patch.  They have tours twice a week, well it is just a barn where they explain everything about the peanut and its uses.  They used to grow peanuts here, but now they bring them in from Texas.

 They have the best ice cream that I have tasted in a long while and only $1.50 for two scoops.  They have every kind of peanut you would want along with home made peanut butter. Chocolates, dried fruit, sugar free candy and of course yummy fudge.

Did you know that the peanut is a vegetable and a rich source of plant protein, no cholesterol so are more beneficial than many sourses of animal protein.  Peanuts can help reduce the risk of heart disease. They are an execellent sourse of Vitamin E and 2 grams of fiber per ounce.  Peanuts provide more protein per ounce than any other legume.   I didn't dare buy some peanut brittle it is deadly. The Peanut Patch was started after World War II it was homesteaded on the Yuma Mesa. the soil was much sandier then the surrounding valley. The first peanut was grown in 1977.

The Canadian Snowbirds Association has their annual information day here in Yuma.  You know just how many Canadians are down here when you get them all together. I did learn a lot about the laws regarding leaving Canada and coming into the U.S.  The association does a lot for Canadian travelers and has changed a few laws that snowbirds have had to deal with.  Check out their site and join to support all they do for Canadians, not just Snowbirds, but all Canadians. www.snowbirds.org 

As I mentioned before I joined the Moose, it is like the Legion and the ANAF.  In the U.S. the Elks, Moose and VFW have some of their lodges with motorhome hookups or you can dry camp.  I hope to use this membership to park the RV when I am on my travels on the west coast.  All you need to do is make a donation.  They are friendly places with very reasonable meals and cheap drinks.  They have dancing at most of them with live entertainment.  The cost is $45.00 for women and $60.00 for men.  I don't know why the difference in price. 

Every one goes to Mexico either to San Luis or Los Algodones.  Most go to Algodones it is about a 10 minute drive from Yuma on the California side.  The Quechan Indians have their reservation just before the border and a big parking lot to park.  Cost $5.00 and all you have to do is walk across the border.  I know you are saying it can't be very safe, well this border is well policed and you see them all over the place.  Their lively hood is made from the American and Canadians going there in the winter to spend their money.  It is called the Medical Border Town because it has a lot of medical, dental and discounted prescriptions.  There are restaurants, all kinds of tiny shops that line the sidewalks.  Lots of silver jewelery, pottery, cloths and purses. All the merchants take U.S. money.  The dentists are less than half the price of any place in North America along with the optical stores.  You can get your teeth done in an hour and if you want bridges you can get them the next day usually.  Glasses you have in two hours, my friends did and paid $60.00 for frames and biofocals.  Hair cuts are from $5.00 to $8.00 and you tell them what you want and they know how to do it.  Cheap liquor stores that sell everything.  Every kind of tequila you could think of.  That is all you see people coming back across the border with a purple bag from the Purple Liquor Store.  Prescriptions are very inexpensive, I bought some arthritis gel for $2.85 and the Canadian was $58.00.  It works just as good so will be bringing a lot back.  Also retinol E cream for $3.95 and I payed $28.00 in Canada and it was a smaller jar.  They have outside eating places in courtyards with entertainment.  The margarita's are really good and almost too big to drink.  The only drawback is the wait at the border to come back across.  I have waited for about two hours while other times half an hour.  They are equipped to handle the people they have walk ways that have a sun covers over it so you are in the shade.  A plus is that you get to talk to all kinds of people while in line.  I have never had any trouble coming back, they sometimes ask you what you are bringing back and other times they just look at your passport. One picture is a shot of the jewelery booths in the court yards and this guy in a Mexican dress played the flute and danced around.  The other is the line up under the cover at the border.  The guy sitting down was selling food along the street and the boganvia flowers were in full bloom. The border has all kinds of camera's plus this look out that keeps tabs on the border.  They are always checking to make sure the Mexican's don't cross into the U.S.  They go through every car and motorhome coming into the U.S. Will finish Yuma after I return from a rally  I will be attending for the next four days.

End of Quartzsite and Now Yuma

Well it has been awhile don't know where the time goes.  Before I headed back to Yuma I went 4 wheeling out into the mountains.  There are abandoned mines all over the area so four cars (4W) did an all day trip.  You can tell where there was a mine by the tailings that are outside it.  Our leader had a GPS and a book on 4 wheeling so he tried to find all the places.  Let me tell you it was a rough ride, very narrow paths that were filled with rocks and the washes were so deep that you needed the high clearance cars to drive them.  Well our car had a flat tire, thank goodness there were a lot of guys there to change it.  I was worried that the donut that they put in cars now would not last either. The only place that was the worst was the one we had to go back over to get out.  The tire held and we were back just before the rain started.

Notice the picture of the guy, he has a small catcus on his butt.  They were all over the place and thank goodness we found it before he sat down they hurt like hell and they are hard to get out.  I had some on my shoes but they came off fine.  You needed gloves to take the one off the butt.  It was a great way to meet new people and learn about the area.  There were lots of holes in the rocks, that looked like they were test holes to see if there was anything worth mining for.

This was just off the side of the trail, amazed that it was still there. There were a few areas with just foundations of houses.  Would love to know the history.

I packed up that night and left the next day to avoid the storm.  It was a beautiful day to drive and only just over an hour to Yuma from Quartzsite.  I will stop by there again over night when I head up to Vegas in April and will check out the vendors that I didn't get to see.


The storm hit that night and boy did the wind blow, up to 50 to 60 mile an hour gusts with torrential rains.  They lasted for 24 hours so I just sat inside and enjoyed it.  You don't get rain here at all, but they got over 2" in that time.  The most they have had has been .75 in for the whole year.  The washes were running and a lot of sand in them and rocks.  We now have dew in the morning, an unusual thing for this part of the country.

Yuma is in  Arizona and on the border of California, less than 200 miles from Phoenix and San Diego and only 15 miles from the U.S. Mexico border.  Yuma weather is the best in the U.S. from January to April with average daytime temps during these months of 76.5 F and average nights of 43.3 F.  Perfect for sleeping. There is the odd fly, but  you can leave your doors open and no bugs.   I am renting a lot in the Foothills for $300 a month everything included.  Try and find that price on the east coast. The campgrounds are a little more expensive and you are very tightly parked.  The lot is double wide and I share it with another motorhome, but we have lots of space with a gate.  The view of the Gila Mountains is something to see when the sun comes up or is going down, it changes every minute.  The sun doesn't get over the mountains until about 8 and then it warms everything up.  Yuma is know as the lettuce capital, 58 % of its gross income comes from farming.  There are thousands and thousands of acres of different lettuce, cauliflower, broccoli and seed plants.  In the spring and fall they pick melons.  Workers are brought in from Mexico every day and they earn from minimum wage to $13.00. An estimated 50,000 workers work the fields during the peak season. They are hired through an agency so the farmers don't have to do all the payroll work.  The people are skilled at picking the right produce, people are very picky about what they will purchase when it comes to lettuce so you will see some left in the fields.  They used to let you pick them but that has stopped some people abused it. It is so nice to have day old produce it lasts for weeks. Asparagus is $2.00 for a big bunch and it has a really fresh favour.  Its so good it doesn't last long. I took a bus tour out into the fields and learned a lot about how they grow the produce.  The farmers hate it when it rains, it makes the fields mud bogs and the produce rots faster.  They buy a certain amount of water from Lake Havasu and it come from the Colorado River.  The fields are all irrigated.

Gas is $2.69/ gal, but Sam's has it for 10 cents cheaper so I bought a Sam's card and go there now.  Too bad the motorhome won't fit at the pumps. Paid $2.73 the last time I filled up.  There is lots to do in Yuma so will fill you in on the next blog.  Happy Valentine's Day everyone.

Quartzsite Continued

It is the the 19th of January and at the moment I am sitting in my motorhome out in the desert with the wind blowing the coach all over the place and the rain is coming down.  It is supposed to be bad for the rest of the week, but it just seems to rain at night.

I hung out with the SOLOS singles group for the past week and between Hugs and Mugs in the morning and Happy Hour in the afternoon we did fun things during the day.  After I got back from Blythe with a new roof, it deadens the rain now which is nice.  Before it used to be so loud that I couldn't hear the TV.  Every group has happy hour so we visit them all.  One had great entertainment with one of the singer with the Sons of the Pioneers.  Of course they had finger foods, I did resist this time.  We checked out a couple of other places and stopped at the famous Reader's Oasis Book Store.  This guy, Paul Winer, has been around it seems forever, a really nice guy that doesn't like cloths.  He seems to be the only one that can get away with it.  The last time I was out here I didn't get a picture so here it is.  Only in Quartzsite.  He owns this bookstore and has every book and tapes you could think of.  Just ask him and he will find it.  He is a poet and has had his poetry published, boogie and blues piano player and singer.  He performed all over the northeast U.S. and coast to coast in Canada.  He was the naked boogiwoogie piano player.  He is a nudist and has been all his life.  If you are ever in Quartzsite stop buy and say hi.

They have almost everything you want in this little town, lots of restaurants with very reasonable prices.  A place where you can get breakfast all day.  Thursday was a veg out day, but that didn't happen a friend called so we walked around one of the flea markets along with the wind and dust.  We tried to find the Pipe Museum and thinking it was a building looked for awhile.  It was in one of the tents in the market.  This museum houses over 1,500 smoking pipes and stands from as early as 1600's.  For the $2.00 admission it was well worth it. Pipes have been made of everything from corncobs to silver and gold and other prescious metals.  One popular material is meerschaum (meaning Sea Foam in German) was the superior material.  They receive these pipes from all over the world.  There are also metal advertisements all over the walls.  Ashtrays  that brought back memories of my childhood.  When a lot of people smoked one thing or another.  They are trying to raise money to buy a truck to house the collection so they can travel around showing people the history.  Quartzsite had a bad wind storm come through in December and it did destroy a few of the display cases.  Tents are used and the wind can destroy them very fast.  There is also a gum museum, but I didn't have time to check it out, always next time.
Friday was dancing day, a group of us went to a place called "Somewhere" in Bouce.  We stopped and had supper then went to this bar.  It is very small with very little dance floor, but it was packed.  They had a live band and I danced almost every dance.  The group I was with has a policy that a guy has to dance with all the women and the women can ask the guys to dance.  Another late night.

Saturday we took about 8 cars and went to the Desert Bar.  This is north of Parker and about 5 miles off the main road and is dirt it winds through valleys and up into the mountains.  This place was an old mining town and this guy bought it in 1975and turned it into a bar.  It is only open for the winter and only on Saturday and Sunday from 1.00pm till dusk.  They have no electricity only solar.  They serve hot dogs and hamburgers (not very good) didn't have any.  A band plays all afternoon and you can dance.  The water was trucked in for years and now has a well that only goes down 367 ft.  There is a church there but it is only a wall that is built like a church, weddings are held there, but no services.  The windows in the bar are old refrigerator window doors and the bar stools are made of steel and they sway from side to side.  The top of the bar is brass and the ceiling is made of stamped tin purchased from a factory in Missouri.  The womens washrooms have stalls of thick steel and the sinks are overlooking the hills, a beautiful view.

After we left there we headed

.

to the Blue Water Casino in Parker.  We stopped and picked up their players card and received $10.00 in cash. While waiting for the card we had a late lunch out on the patio right beside the Colorado river, what a view.  There is a marina there, no boats too cold, but lots of ducks. When we picked up the $10.00 I was just going to put it in my pocket, but decided to put $5.00 in.  Well I played three times and the machine started dinging. $59.95 later I quit and cashed it in.  So I came out with $66.00.  

The RV show started on Saturday, but I waited until Monday to try and avoid the crowds.  I go over early like 8 am to get a parking spot.  You can't move in there most of the day and forget getting a parking spot.  I met a friend and went for lunch and the rest of the day I tried not to spend any money.  That was a lost cause.  I needed water filters 2/9.95 so bought four, they are that for one in Canada.  I almost bought a flag pole, but talked myself out of it.  They now have lights that are brighter for your RV and use less wattage, picked one up, but my coach is too old and it wouldn't work. I also got some orthotics for $200, in Canada over $400.  So back I went today to pick them up and take the light back.  Oh then I bought an external hard drive and a flash drive. 

I got to talking to the lady that was helping her son with the orthotics and they host camp up in Utah right where I want to go so she invited me up to camp with them free.  She is going to take me to all the great places I want to see.  Its amazing who you will meet and what they do, that is what is so nice about RVing.

 I am glad I am heading back to Yuma tomorrow if the rain and the wind dies down enough to drive. I have had enough of dry camping for awhile. Have a great week everyone.

Quartzsite

In my blog I have been trying to catch up to where I am now, but the last few days have been so great I wanted to fill you in.

I left Yuma last Thursday and arrive in Quartzsite mid morning.  It is only 68 miles so it was a leisurely drive, with very little traffic.  The scenery as usual was magnificant with the mountains in the background against the blue sky and the desert.  Just north of Yuma they have a border patrol where you have to stop and check in.  They have sniffer dogs that check for every thing.  The guy asked me if I was an American citizen and when I said Canadian he said have a nice day.

Quartzsite is a small town of about 2,000 people during the "off" season but swells to over 100,000 RVers in the winter time.  You can park for 14 days in the desert for free, then you can move to another part and start again.  You can also get two week passes for $80.00 or 6 months for $180.00.  You can go where ever you want on these passes.  I joined a group called the WINs Wandering Individual Networks, a group that is very active Kayaking, hiking and biking. I am not a member, but my friends are. They only dry camp and live off solar panels and wind generators and know where all the free camping is.  My friends were there and Bob was replacing my old TV with a flat screen.  He put the frame on a hinge so I can open it up and I am now able to store things behind it.  I can also access my audio and video plugs (Wii coming up shortly to play with).

What is so much fun is when you wake up in the morning and you look out at the mountains with the sun coming up and a coyote wanders right by your window, sniffs around and moves on.  Grabbed my camera, didn't get a good shot, there is always another morning. A knock on the door and my friend Donna is going to Parker did I want to go.  It is the only town that has a Wal Mart Supercenter and it is 24 miles away so got a few things that I needed.  I was looking for walking sticks and they had them for $18.00 a lot cheaper than Canada. All RVers work around Wal Marts they are one stop shopping. When we got home someone mentioned All You Can Eat Fish Fry so a car load went to a little town called Bouce 23 miles away.  I could have gone dancing that night, but ran out of steam.  When I came in I bottomed out and it broke my connection to my brakes on the car.  Well at happy hour I asked if someone could fix it and it was fixed in 5 minutes, got to love the networking.

In Quartzsite everyone works around whatever hours you want to work it seems. Information was closed at 3 and didn't open until 10.  Sally Ann open at 9 closed at 1.  Forget going to the post office the line up is a mile long outside in the sun.  Can you imagine 100,000 people waiting to get their mail, Well not all in one day, I know a few drive all the way out to Bouce for theirs.  Left for Blythe, Ca at 9 the next morning, was only a 40 minute drive.  While I was waiting for the roof guy I parked by a part of the desert across from his house.  While having lunch I see about 15 Quail running past my window and hiding in the bush beside me.  Out comes the camera, they are so cute the way they try to run fast with little legs.

There are a lot of these pretty birds in the desert and are fed very well in some areas.  I am having the roof on my RV redone in Acrylic at half the price I would pay in Canada and it has a 10 year warranty.Scott Christian arrived so I backed into his driveway and he set up.  He owns two beautiful homes on the Colorado River with decks at the back.  They have three garages that house their pontoon boats and their four wheelers.  The family comes and plays when school is out for the summer.  Scott has been doing this for about 5 years and is a guy that has had his hands into almost everything.  When he retired he got bored so now he works all over the U.S. fixing roofs.  What was nice about it was we went into Blythe to shop and ended up at Sizzler Steak House for dinner.  What a great way to spend an evening talking to someone interesting.  I usually have dinner by myself.  Today is another beautiful day up to 28 in the shade with a nice cool breeze. Sun deck here I come.  I will be here for three days then I will go back to Quartzsite for the RV show and a rally with the singles.

As you can see every day is a present you never know who you will meet, what you will do and where you will go.  I wonder what is next..........................

DEATH VALLEY

After Shoshone we headed to the China Ranch Date Farm.  I am glad someone else was driving I would never have found it.  You have to go through very narrow canyons with only rocks looking back at you.  It took us about 15 minutes to arrive.  It is found in a beautiful piece of the Mojave Desert.  It was beautiful with its date palm trees, cottonwoods and willows by a stream. The Old Spanish Trail is within walking distance and the historic Tonopah & Tidewater railroad bed. They have a store where you can buy everything made of dates.  Everyone loves the date shakes, but I find them super sweet so I filled up on the samples of the breads they make.  I have come to learn that I don't buy sweets because I will go home and eat them in one day.  They had a   very small motel where you could stay overnight. As you can see in the picture they cover the date seeds so the birds don't eat them.

They had these old cars and I what I would call a shack, you wonder how they lived in them.  Of course it doesn't get cold down in this valley.

Next was off to see Badwater, the name comes from the salt that is in the water then dries in the heat, you can't drink it. It is the lowest elevation in the U.S. 282 ft. below sea level.  You can walk out onto the flats where it is wet.  There was a hole dug so you could see the water just under the surface.  The sand was as fine and hard as some of the beaches in Florida.  You could walk for miles if you wanted to.  There was actually water in a little pond by the walkway.  As you can see by the picture that says sea level way up the cliff just how far below sea level it is and where I was standing. You will have to make it bigger to see it.

It was quite warm there as you can see.  I felt the salt and it, of course, was very sharp and gritty. We were trying to fit a few things in so we didn't have time to walk out on the flats.  When you go by yourself you can take the time to check it all out. Next stop was back to the Sunset Campground in Furnace Creek where the singles group was parked for the Death Valley Days.  I had Happy Hour with them and then drove back to my motorhome.  We did meet the wagon train on our travels that day and got to talk to them and find out how they survived.  It didn't look like they were suffering, they told us they trailered most of their things to the next stop.   One day we went to Titus Canyon three cars with four people in each, plus 3 dogs. We went up over 3,500 ft. We stopped at a Mexican restaurant in Beatty for a breakfast Buretto before we started.  There was far too much so it was lunch that day.  This canyon was a one way drive and after going through it you wouldn't want to meet someone on the way.  It is a very rough and narrow road, sometimes so narrow you could touch the rocks. It winds up to the top of the mountain and then down so four wheel drive is a must.

Our driver stopped a lot along the way and I took so many pictures it is hard to pick what ones to put on here.  The road to the left is what we traveled on up the mountain and you can see what beauty you find in the middle of nowhere
There were mines all along the road and you found them by looking for the tailings in front of the mine.

About half way along the canyon there was an old ghost town called Leadfield with mines all around. A couple of tin buildings and as you can see by the picture a little hovel that someone lived in.  Again it is warm there so they didn't need much.  It is hard to believe that it would take them  days to get supplies in, it took us over four hours.

There were Petroglyphs along the way and you had to watch closely. I loved the rocks that were in waves, it is hard to believe that over millions of years the rocks formed that way from pressure they look bent. Near the end of the Canyon the road was so narrow that you had to be careful not to take your mirrors off.  As we went we had to let people pass us they seemed to be in a hurray.  The last picture was eroded by the rain washing down the canyon and wearing away the rock over millions of years.  You wouldn't want to be caught in any canyon if there is rain in the mountains.  I was going to go up to Death Valley for the 49ers days, but was not feeling very well so hopefully will catch it in 2010.

Please bare with me regarding the pictures they won't go where I want them.  Any questions let me know and I will answer them.  I was going to do Scotty's Castle on this one but ran out of time and space.  Enjoy