Aloe Bloom

 It is the second day of Winter.  I have a bloom to show you.  Because Aloe are from the Southern Hemisphere they are beginning to bloom.  Here is an early Aloe bloom.  More to come.

Where Have We Been?

 Good question, but you know the answer.   On our way down to Arizona.  So here's the trip.

Day 1:(Fri)  Canby to Redmond : (156mi)  Left Canby before 10am  ( very good)  Drive over Santiam Pass was uneventful.  A little snow on the side of the road.  Arrived at RV Park in Redmond about 3:30.  Supper and conversation with Jason and Toni _ Priceless !

Day 2:(Sat)  Redmond to Standish, Ca:  (335mi)   Dry conditions, mixed sun, Arrived at RV park at 4:30.  

Day 3:(Sun)  Standish to Tonopah, Nv:  (308mi)   Sunny, dry, best fuel price (4,75) arrived at RV park 4.  Cool night at 6000 ft.

Day 4:(Mon) Tonopah, Nv to Cal Nev Ari, Nv: (280mi)  Nice dry drive, open skies.  Arrived at 3pm.

Day 5:Tues) Cal Nev Ari to Yuma:  (225mi)  Got going by 9am. This is my least favorite part of the trip (from Cal Nev Ari to Parker. narrow, curvy, "up and down").  Arrived at Quartzite about 1pm.  While fueling up, someone mentioned that one of the tires on the trailer was "dragging".  Thinking about the bearing problem we had two years ago, I checked all the hubs.  (No heat, so not the issue.)  Further searching revealed the back tire on the passenger side was missing one of the treads.  Yipes !  I called a local tire shop and found out that a new tire was in stock. "We can do it today"  Drove over and waited 2 hours until we could get the trailer into the shop.  Further searching revealed the problem; a broken spring.  The other three springs were sagging as well so the trailer's day was over.  All needed replacing.  The shop said they could do it.  The Trailer was unhooked.  We grabbed what we thought would last us the 3/4 nights in a motel; clothes, shoes, dog supplies, meds, cooler full of snacks,  Found a suitable motel with Travelocity on our way to Yuma.  By 6pm we were checked in and unloaded.

Day 6: (Wed) Trip to Los Algodones, Mexico:  (10mi)  Visited our favorite dentist and discovered that the work recommended by our local dentist is not needed.  On day is all that will be needed.  If the trailer was not an issue, we could have driven to BTA on Thursday .  However, the parts were scheduled to arrive on Friday.

Day 7&8 (Thurs) Trip to Imperial Nat. Wildlife Refuge on the Colorado River.  Perfet example of a riparian zone in a desert environment.  There were 3 Desert Tortoises that had been "pets" so could not be returned to the wild.  Each on has it's own space to roam and a den for brumation.  The day we were there one of the areas was being worked on so "Digger" was in a plastic container which he did not like.  

 

Isn't he a cutie?

Day 9  (Sat)  Yuma, Quartzite, Superior)  (250mi)  Picked up the repaired trailer.  Drove east on I-10 and arrived at BTA about 1:30  Set up in the rain.   (but that's another story)