Episode 6 - Becoming a Lifestyle Rather than a Vacation!

Just realized we haven't written into our journal since December so it is time again. I guess that means we've kind of settled in! Both of us ended up with a very unpleasant bug that left us coughing, sneezing and snorting for a almost six weeks. Because electricity was included in the fees at the RV park, we got an electric heater, toaster and a vaporizer to make life more comfortable and as far as cooking, with the prices for meals at the casinos, we didn't cook all that much.

This has been quite a learning experience for us from the topography and flora of the areas to recognizing the differences when you are living in a foreign country that seems so similar and different all at the same time. We've needed to learn a lot about ourselves and each other just to survive in extremely small spaces.

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We haven't done much travelling but I have been doing a lot of work on my "Manoeuvring the Career Lattice" e-book. My first challenge has been to get it into MSWord and then simplify the format and get it online. I was set up to work in the Add-on-room, but the weather has not cooperated-it's been too cold (maxing out at 60 F and around freezing at night) and far too windy.

They tell us that these temperature are unusually cool - doesn't help much BUT compared to home - I guess it's great. We got coupons for two free nights at the River Palm Casino and Hotel, so we celebrated Fred's birthday and our anniversary in luxury. I got some bubble bath, ran a huge hot bath, got a glass of sherry and sat there forever!!

Like we planned, we stayed at Bullhead City in the RV park until the 26th of January and now we are dry camping at AVI, a Resort/Casino on a reservation outside of Laughlin and everything has changed. We are now dependent on propane and 12 volt power primarily from the solar panel. With the weather and lack of daylight, we found the solar panel did not give us enough power to run the furnace so we invested in a gas powered generator and are again very comfortable. Actually, we are finding the folks here more friendly and compatible than the RV park and we're saving money besides.

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A couple of day trips have included Barstow, Calico (Episode 5), Chloride and the Hover Dam.

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Chloride, Arizona

Chloride is an old mining town that dates back to the 1960's. It boasted one of the riches silver mines in the area. Many of the original building have been reclaimed and restored. A lot of local artists have settled there and the small place is dotted with examples of their work.

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Lake Mead and Hoover Dam

Lake Mead is a large National Recreational Area that is extremely popular for all kinds of water activities. Lake Mead, itself, forms the reservoir for the Hoover Dam.

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Palm Desert area and Joshua Tree National Monument

And then we went off to Thousand Palms (Palm Desert area) to visit friends from Calgary and Lethbridge for a few days. So far our impressions of this part of Southern California have been that it's fast, expensive and the people are very impressed with themselves. Golf courses on every corner but we're not golfers. It is beautiful, though.

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Wind Farms

They're absolutely massive. There are hundreds and hundreds of windmills and they go on for miles and miles.

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Holocaust Memorial at Palm Desert

This is one of the few Memorials I've seen. The whole memorial site is shaped like the Star of David. There is a post at each point that represents the various methods of extermination and there are relief plaques depicting the various camp.

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Joshua Tree National Monument

We spend an entire day wandering around the park. Did you know that the Joshua Tree is not a tree or a cactus, but a Yucca plant, hundreds of years old? They grow mostly in the high desert and can grow tens of feet high.

Again, the topography is facinating and different. No matter where you go in this southwest area, you are surrounded by hills or montains with various outcropings of different shapes and compositions. There are places out here that look like God took a massive dump in the middle of a huge flat.

We started to really notice all the cacti and other plant life. We're actually starting another page to collect the information.

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Hills around Palm Springs

The Palm Springs, Palm Desert, Thousand Palms, etc area are really connected throughout the valley. Again, you are surrounded by hills/mountains and get some spectatcular views.

At the top of the summit, a group of Navajo Indians from Arizona had brought their wares up there to sell. There was jewellry, leather goods, and blankets. Ah - h - h American entrepeneurship.

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We stopped at the "Swap Meet" (Flea Market) at Quartzsite on our way back. It is rather spectacular - just imagine hundreds of vendors in an area of about one square mile but it was cold, windy and very dusty. They sell everything from cloths, toys, crafts, junk to complete solar panels systems. This is where we bought the Add-a-Room in November. When we there in November, there were maybe a dozen vendors.

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Our next adventure will be to Death Valley and our plans are to go up through the Sacramento Valley on our way home (during March) and then over to the coast and up thru Northern California and Oregon.