Migrating

Last week we finished up all our doctor and dentist appointments. Brenda is sporting new choppers and the implants are working great or so it is reported. Over the last week we had been hauling stuff out to the RV, loading things we needed and unloading things we didn't. Wednesday was the big move day for Brenda's clothes and the remainders of our fridge stuff.

Thursday we woke up early, finished loading and then got hooked up and headed south. We had no destination in mind but were just playing it by ear. We stopped in Nanton for breakfast and a good visit with our old friend Van Greig, before continuing on towards the border. A few questions at the border, where are you going, how long are you staying, how much money do you have with you, are you sure that is enough to last the winter, and we were headed south out of Sweetgrass, Montana. We decided because it was cold we would overnight at Dick's RV Park in Great Falls and continue in the morning. Just yesterday I was reading a Technomadia Facebook post about the new Verizon pre-paid jet pack. It is a truly unlimited device and is only throttled if you get in a crowded area, not our usual habitat, so I ran out and signed us up. It is about $65-$70 dollars a month, considerably less than the $220/month that Telus charges us for only 40GB. Hope it works out, but so far it is doing yeoman's duty here onboard Dogpound Anywhere (DPA).

Friday we were up early and on the road before the sun brightened our journey up the Missouri River valley and then south to those flatlands of southern Idaho. We hit Salt Lake City right at rush hour and a little construction caused some slow going for a while. We holed up for the night at Cabela's in Lehi, it was a little warmer there in Utah. Sadly Cabela's big parking lot that used to harbour a few RV's has been taken over by a new building and it looks like that is coming to an end. Luckily I spotted the construction superintendent and convinced him that we would be decent security for the night so we had one last night in this familiar stopping place.

Again, we were on the road before daylight and headed for the desert. I always look forward to the slide down the hill from the high desert of Southern Utah and through the Virgin River Gorge to the Mohave Desert surrounding Las Vegas. Usually there is a dramatic temperature increase as you make that journey but this year it was only 10F degrees difference. Still warmer is good. We made it to Wikiup and stayed at Dazzo's campground, the campground was ok for what we wanted, to water up and flush out some antifreeze, but it was not Brenda's cup of tea. BUT, the restaurant, was great, the wait staff a little ranchey, but the food was second to none.

Sunday we slept in, till sun-up, topped those tanks that needed topping, flushed the rest and then headed down the road again. We stopped by our friends, K&T's place for a short visit and swapped a few lies before heading on to our final destination for this part of the journey here at Picket Post. This mountain is one of our favourite spots to hole up when we are in the Phoenix area.

Picket Post Mountain

We had scheduled some Scrambler Therapy (Calmare) for Brenda and her CRPS, on Monday but as we were pulling into the parking lot the doc called and had to delay it till tomorrow. She is booked for three days of therapy so hopefully that will push her nerve pain away for awhile.

With our therapy session cancelled we headed over to Walmart for some supplies, and then back to camp for the day. A long way from home you will never guess who came to our camp for a visit.

Libby

Ken and Verna Pohl, along with Vic and Marilou, stopped in for a couple of days riding here on their way to the South Pohl.

I'll leave you with one last pic of our rig in front of the mountain.

Dogpound Anywhere (DPA)

DPS

Last Friday morning, early, I hit the trail south. We had spent the couple of days before that making sure we had everything loaded so Max, Maya, and I just had to jump in the truck and we were off. It was a quick leisurely drive south. Without the ponies we saved a couple of hours at the border so the first day we made it to Lehi, Utah where we pulled off at the Cabela's to spend the night. A walk with the dogs, a bite to eat and it was an early night.

That made for an early morning so we were up and gone long before the sun, in fact we were coming down the hill into St. George, Utah when that lazy old sun made an appearance. We have done this trip a few times so have figured out where to fuel and where the dogs can get out for run. We were pulling into Dogpound South (DPS) about mid-afternoon. Everything looked good here, so we got a bunch of stuff unloaded and then kicked back and enjoyed the sunset.

Sunset at DPS

Sunday morning early, I was up and enjoying Ol Sol's return to DPS.

And then it was time to get the deck and house pressure washed to get rid of the dust, and spider webs that accumulate over the summer. Shorty does a great job of the yard so there is not much to do there, it is just a matter of getting the deck spiffed up so I can haul all the patio furniture out of the house. It was good to get an early start because it was heating up pretty good by noon. Getting the outside stuff done early meant once it got hot I could move inside to start doing a clean-up inside. Long time readers will remember we had some work done to repair some storm and robbery damage last year. That meant we got a new door, complete with new frame. The old door had a gap underneath it that the bugs and dust availed themselves of to find a nice summer home, this new door appears to have been a better barrier so there were a lot less bugs and dust to vacuum up. 

Monday it was time to put some provisions in the fridge as well as head into Costco to get some steaks and a few other things like dog food. Then a stop at Home Depot to pick up a new post for our mailbox and some hardware for that job. I got the post for the mailbox set in the ground so we'll let it set up overnight.

Today I got the mailbox mounted and let the Post Office know we were ready for mail again, as well as making an appointment to get the snow tires off the Buick. When I brought it down here a couple of years back it had a pretty decent set of winter tires on it and as I figured it might never see snow again I decided to just run them off. It also has a set of good summer tires so we will get those out of our shed and on the car tomorrow.

After our break-in last year where the perps shut off the power I locked up our power box but I guess the power company doesn't like us to use our own locks so I stopped by and picked up one of their locks on my way home.

I also hit the pool for a quick swim. It has been a few months since I was in the tank and my body sure felt it. I wasn't sure I was going to make it to ten lengths, sad since in the spring I was doing 160 with a break. But I did get forty in and tomorrow is another day.