We made it to AZ!

Sunday-Monday, October 22-23, 2017

It was a beautiful drive both days, through New Mexico and Arizona.   Even though the balloon fest has been over for a week, we saw lots of balloons flying overhead as we passed through Albuquerque, and it brought back great memories.  We stopped overnight in Holbrook, AZ, and we were able to catch the NASCAR race and watch Chase make it to the next playoff round…way to go team #24.  When we arrived in Holbrook, the temperature was a nice 72 degrees, but we woke up to 31 degrees as we continued on our journey.   It’s been such a contrast each day.  We love it when we finally see the saguaros…we know we are close to Scottsdale!  It’s funny how they suddenly appear, almost as if there is an invisible fence.  And, those stunning Arizona skies never get old.

We’ve been gone for 30 days, and have covered over 3000 miles, (I forgot to write down the actual miles when we left the motorhome), we used a whole bunch of fuel, have been in 2 countries and crossed 11 states and passed through three time zones.  We’ve seen sunshine, rain, sleet and snow.  We’ve sweltered in 99 degree temperatures and shivered in 29 degree days. We’ve seen tundra and prairies and plains and desert…what a wonderful, beautiful, diverse country we live in, and what a wonderful trip it has been. 

It will be nice to settle down in one place for more than a day.  I can’t wait for a long hot shower, a daily newspaper, my crossword puzzles and warm weather!

Blowin’ and Rollin’

Saturday, October 21, 2017

The winds were really blowing last night and this morning.  We woke up to find that there were two large rv’s and two small rv’s along with 5 semi trucks that joined us in the Walmart parking lot over night.  Although the lots are usually safe and well-lighted, we didn’t consider the danger of a shopping cart blowing across the lot and rolling into the motorhome!  (No serious damage, just a small ding by the door-ugh!).  We waited for the winds to subside before we took off, but still found gusty winds joining us as we rolled our way across Colorado.  We had a tip from someone on our Polar Bear trip who warned us to avoid the Denver bypass, as it costs about $150 in tolls for a motorhome and towed car!  Yikes—we took their advice and went right through the city for free!  We were glad it was Saturday, so traffic wasn’t too bad, and thankfully there was no football game at the Mile High stadium.   Then the Rocky Mountains came into view—what a pretty sight on a beautiful day!  We knew we were in cowboy country when we passed this rig with horses, all saddled up in the trailer, just rolling down the highway! 

We made it to New Mexico, and stopped at the KOA in Las Vegas, New Mexico.  It is a city of about 16,500 people at an elevation of 6.470 ft.  Before 1937, Route 66 ran right through the campground!  The city has quite an interesting history, but even today the city is quite interesting!   We went to mass at a church on the Old Town Plaza (where the US took possession of New Mexico for the US during the Mexican War).  For Saturday night mass, rather than a guitar mass, Our Lady of Sorrows Church had an accordion mass!  I’ve never heard an accordion at mass before.   It wasn’t quite a mariachi band, but there were several Spanish songs, and the recessional song at the end of mass was accompanied by a harmonica!  It made us smile as we rolled with it!  Although I do have some of the sound back in my voice, I wasn’t able to sing along. After mass we found a neat little place for dinner next to the Plaza—a local brewpub.  We had a great dinner, and saw something I’ve never seen before—Flea a “bar dog” that greeted the customers and watched over us as we ate!  He (or she) was very well behaved, and entertained all of us by posing for pictures and crawling along the booths. We rolled with it!  But, we’ve had enough blowin’ and rollin’ for one day!   Good night!

Crossing the Country!

Thursday-Friday, October 19-20, 2017

We got an early start Thursday morning and watched the sun rise, providing a colorful backdrop  as we crossed the border into the USA!  There were no issues at the border crossing, other than a long line of cars waiting for the shift change at 8am.  We’ve travelled a lot of miles, and have crossed through state after state on our journey to the Southwest—North Dakota, South Dakota, Iowa (right on the western tip) where we stayed in a campground last night.  We got up early, travelled on to Nebraska and finally reached Colorado late today.  It’s kind of fun to try to catch the state signs as we pass each border, and its also great for re-learning geography and remembering how the states line up! We decided to stay in a Walmart parking lot tonight.  We always call ahead and make sure they allow overnight parking in the lot--Some city ordinances do not allow it; if they say ok, we then check in with the store manager when we arrive.  As a courtesy, it is suggested that you shop at Walmart while you’re there (not a problem!)  We bought our dinner at Walmart (a roaster chicken and mashed potatoes—not bad).  I was also able to connect to the wifi, update my Kindle and post this blog!  There are several other overnight “guests” in the parking lot.  We will hit the sack early and head for New Mexico tomorrow night.

More of Morden and meeting Bruce

Wednesday, October 18, 2017

It was too windy to continue the harvest—winds were about 50 mph!!  So, we enjoyed seeing more of the city of Morden.  It began with a beautiful sunrise, and breakfast at the local golf course.   It was too windy for golf, so everyone was in the restaurant—the place was packed.

Morden is a city of about 8500 people, and began as a temporary railroad stop for the Canadian Pacific Railway.  it developed as a farm community which is a big part of the industry there today.

We checked out the local grain silos where the corn from the fields is dropped off. It is a huge operation. The guys there had a good time yesterday with the “city slicker” Jim being exposed to the farming way of life. And, speaking of huge, we met Bruce, a local celebrity…the largest mosasaur on display in the world! He is part of the collection at the Canadian Fossil Discovery Centre located in Morden.   It houses the biggest collection of prehistoric marine reptiles in Canada.  Although these creatures look like dinosaurs, they are really marine reptiles.  80 million years ago (during the Cretaceous period) most of North America was a saltwater ocean where Bruce and his buddies hung out.  Bruce was discovered in 1974, near Morden, and is 50 ft. long!  How interesting to think these bones were found and identified after that long.  A few days ago we got to see the world’s largest trilobite fossil and today we got to see the largest mosasaur bones—wonder how many people can say they’ve done that in a week!  Also, I’ve sure learned a bunch of new words through this experience…cretaceous and mosasaur…to name a few.

Hockey is a big deal in Canada, and in Morden there are two rinks in the community center.  We had to peek in.  Several players from the area have gone on to play with NHL teams. 

Another landmark in the area is John & Myrna’s party barn.  The barn is over 100 years old, and they have adorned it with lights, old tools, a 100 year old wooden bar from a local establishment, and John’s stereo fireplace that he purchased 40 years ago with money from their wedding.  It still plays 8 track tapes—too funny!  The barn is often used for weddings, celebrations, parties and dances. Spot joined us as we closed out the evening in the party barn with music and a toast to good friends and a special presentation to Jim—a jacket from the grain silo, designating him as an official “farmhand”. 

What a fun visit with great friends who treated us like royalty.  We will see them in Arizona in December.

This signals the end of our visit to Canada.  We got things packed up to head south toward Arizona. I have had laryngitis for two days—no voice at all (yes, that’s Jim cheering in the background). I hope to find my voice along with warmer weather soon!

Combining Goodbye and Hello

Tuesday, October 17, 2017

We bid farewell to our Polar Bear friends with a “going away” breakfast. There were lots of hugs and  goodbyes. What a wonderful experience, with a great group of people--This trip has been fantastic!  15 days went by so quickly, but still, there was enough time to explore a new part of the country, make new memories, and make new friends.  It was strange leaving the campground without a trip log to the next destination!  We’ve travelled about 2900 miles since we left home.  The Polar Bear trip was 1160 miles from start to finish.

But, we didn’t have far to go for our next adventure….we traveled to Morden, Manitoba, about 60 miles away, to say hello to some friends we met 6 or 7 years ago in Arizona.  Morden is a farming community with rich fertile land, that was under the same lake as the one that covered Winnipeg thousands of years ago.  We were struck by the acres and acres of farmland surrounding the area.  We thought there were big farms in Indiana, but they’re small compared to these.  John and Myrna were there to greet us when we arrived at their farm.  This is harvest time, so we joined them in the fields and experienced something totally new.  They are completing the harvest of their 3000 acres of bean, corn and canola.   We got to ride the combine to watch the amazing process of bringing the corn in from the field.   The combine travels along the rows of corn, plucks the corn from the stalks, threshes (separates) the kernels from the cob, deposits it in the hopper, and cuts the stalk off at the bottom, leaving the field flattened after the combine rolls through. The machine had interesting technology that gave an indication of moisture content (18%) and provided a notification when the hopper was 70% full.  It also measures the amount of land that has been harvested.  One trip down and back filled the hopper with the harvested corn.   The corn was then transferred through a big tube to a large truck to haul it to the silo where it is weighed and dumped.  Fully loaded, the truck weighed over 140,000 lbs!  What a fascinating process, and a great learning experience.  Farming is much more of a science than I ever realized.   The guys worked  past dark to get in as much as they could.  What a day—combining great adventures and great friends!

Wildlife in Winnepeg!

Monday, October 16, 2017

Oh what a beautiful morning!  The sun was out and provided the perfect day for a visit to the Winnepeg zoo.  The main attraction at the zoo is a “Journey to Churchill” exhibit, so we thought it was appropriate to check it out.  It was so fun seeing the display featuring the small city, bear traps and pictures of a place we had just visited.  But, we also got to see the polar bears swimming, which we did not get to see in Churchill.  What a neat exhibit and what a treat to see the bears frolicking in the water!   The zoo takes in abandoned cubs and raises them until they can be sent to other zoos.  They will also take in bears that have been caught too many times in the city of Churchill to avoid having to destroy them.  There were two cubs almost 2 years old who fascinated the crowd playing with a ball.  They look so cuddly!   We saw the arctic fox, and which looked just the same as it did in the wild!  I was happy to be able to see a snowy owl, an animal we didn’t see on our trip to Churchill.  We did get to see a live elk (the one we saw in Churchill was the leftovers from the bears’ dinner on the tundra.)  We saw wolves, muskox, bison, and plenty of other wildlife.  It’s been awhile since we’ve visited a zoo--what a great experience.

 

We also welcomed Bogart “home”.  Sometime during the trip, he ate something he shouldn’t have, and a large pit got lodged in his small intestine.  Luckily his parents recognized there was a serious problem, and took him to an animal hospital who did surgery at 4:30 am on Friday!  He seems to be recovering well and is glad to be home.  They retrieved the pit, and it’s been part of the “show and tell”.   Last night we had our Farewell Dinner at a great restaurant in St. Boniface, a suburb of Winnipeg.  The restaurant was a train car!  Everyone shared stories about the trip, and discussed what each is planning for the next trip.   There was a little wildlife at the restaurant too!