Kingman, AZ to Tucson

Today was Kingman, AZ to Tucson on US93 to I10.  It's kind of a pain in the butt. 

The route went through Wikieup, which is a wide spot in the road, populated by people who don't have much of anything.  The gas station there is charging $5.99 for regular gas.  That should be illegal, oil prices have dropped, but the gouging continues.  Speaking of gouging, Safeway is charging $4.99 for a bag of ice.  More gouging.  It's no wonder people think inflation is bad and blame Biden for it. 

Wickenburg is putting in a tremendous number of round abouts to calm their traffic.  People in Arizona drive too fast for their skill level.  Hopefully the traffic calming effects will be worth the amount of construction the citizens have endured.  We were happy when that part was over. 

We drove on the circumferential highways around Phoenix.  The 303 loop is the newest.  The first time we went through there, it was uninhabited, now it's full of distribution centers.  If you build a freeway, they will come.  Phoenix is sort of a pain in the butt.  The speed limit is 65, everybody drives 80 mph (including me) and there's a lot of nervous traffic.  People brake for no reason, clots form and then break up.  It was kind of nerve wracking.  However, it's over now, and we're here. Road surfaces over all were 50-50 good and terrible.

It was 102F (38.88C) when we got here.  Monsoon is trying to happen.  It rained like hell yesterday, we have drift lines of palm tree debris 10 feet into the carport.  The park roads are dished to handle water, but they got topped a little yesterday.

This is a monsoon sky this afternoon.  It promised much, and delivered nothing.

The palm trees are blooming.  The white parts are the blossom spikes.  Park maintenance is out with a cherry picker trimming off the brown fronds and the blossom spikes.  Palm trees make a lot of work.

Tomorrow we walk through the house we're here for.  Lordy I hope we like it.

Ely, NV to Kingman, AZ

Today we transited from Ely, NV to Kingman, AZ.

We took NV318 south out of Ely.  It knocks off a couple of mountain passes than if you go US93.  The road surface was good until Alamo, then it was not good.  NV318 is not visually interesting.  Last year we took US93 to Kingman which looks better, but we can't remember what the road surface was like.  Getting through Las Vegas was not bad.  As we did last year, we took US95 from Las Vegas down to Laughlin, then over to Golden Valley and on to Kingman.  We had forgotten how hilly it is once you leave Laughlin.  Once out of Laughlin road surfaces are ok for the most part.  Please make a note of this.  

This is out there, not sure where.  The hill sides look like draped fabric.

Much of the Great Basin has solar panels on it.  This is south of Las Vegas.  The black stripe sort of in the middle of the is a huge farm of solar panels.  Nevada is a good place for this.

After leaving Las Vegas it rained on us a little.  Laughlin had a huge anvil cloud forming, but we didn't get wet.  This was taken from the parking lot of the Kingman La Quinta Inn and Suites.  The cloud looks wet, but it hasn't rained yet.

So we're back at the La Quinta.  I like this hotel better than the Hampton Inn.  There is not so much scent in the rooms.  The bathroom is good, beds are good, it's an ok place.  The Hampton Inn was making my eyes burn.  When we got here today it was 102F (38.8) and the wind was, as always, howling.  Tucson will probably be the same when we get there.  Spokane is having much better temperatures.  Sad, so sad.

Sorry this is such a boring post, but if I don't write things down, I don't remember them.

Meridian, ID to Ely, Nevada

Today was Meridian, Idaho to Ely, Nevada.  It's a grim drive, mostly through vast trackless expanses of scrub desert.  Navigation was without incident today, there were no missed exits, all was good.   The route was I84 to US93.  One turn and you're done. 

After departing Twin Falls, the road surface was not good.  About 20 odd miles north of Wells, NV we ran into a paving project.  I'm using the word paving loosely.  They put oil down on the road, then they dump rocks on it, then they roll it and sweep it; thus we get chip and seal.  When it's new, before it's fully packed down, if you drive too fast the chips go everywhere, damaging paint.  You can see the chip on the right lane, and the left land being oiled.  It's a terrible surface for bicyclists, there is much rolling resistance.

While we were waiting for it to be our turn to go, we were able to get out of the car, and stretch some.  I took photos.

We stopped in Wells for gas and lunch.  Today we had chicken sammies with left over chicken from dinner, and bread we got from the free breakfast, and an apple.  We do not feel poisoned like we did yesterday.  There was this next to the Conoco.  Wells is a wide spot in the road, in a lily white part of the country.  I am just astonished that they opened the restaurant here.  We wish them every success with this.

Later, 30 or 40 miles north of Ely a car was coming at us in our lane.  The driver had made a bad passing decision.  I stepped on the brakes, and the oncoming car was able to get back in to their lane.  It was a matter of seconds before we had a head on collision.  Then, about 15 miles down the road, there was another closure due to an incident.  There was a terrible head on collision between a pickup truck and a car.  I would be very surprised if the drivers survived.  This is the problem with two lane high ways with high speeds.  Everybody wants to pass.

We're at a La Quinta Inn in Ely.  It's old, but it's ok.  The rooms are not bathed in scent, the bathroom is larger than last night.  The bathtub corners are large enough to hold the shampoo and conditioner bottles.  However, there is virtually no light in the bathroom.  Good thing I don't wear makeup.  We asked for, and got, the top floor and away from the elevator, so I am hoping for more sleep than there was last night.  Jim does not like the parking lot,  it's small and the slots are really narrow.  This would not be a good choice if were were towing a trailer.  The shower is awful, water pressure is really low, and it's difficult to regulate the temperature.  

So, we might come back here.  We have yet to see how much road noise there will be in the night.

Tonight's key learning from making dinner is to BRING SCISSORS.  Everything these days seems to be packaged like it's nuclear waste.  Scissors would be good.

Spokane to Meridian, Idaho

Today's transit was Spokane to Meridian, ID.  Idaho feels like a foreign country to me.  There are trump signs and flags everywhere.  More men than in Spokane look menacing.  The amount of neck tattoos is astonishing. Anyway, it was a loooooooooong day.

The first learning is to take I182 to US395 in the tri-cities.  We missed it, and ended up on a neighborhood tour to get across the river.  Then we missed the second turn at the round about, but that was easily recovered.  

Second learning is to bring litre bottles of water for the hotel room.

Third learning is to PACK A LUNCH.  There is no edible food in the area we were in around lunch time.  Actually, there is no edible food anywhere.  We went to an A&W at the junction of I82 and I84, and it was pretty terrible.  Two kid's meals, $15.  There is a Subway down the road, and a Burger King in Pendleton.  A person could starve out there.

I guess they haven't heard people are really ticked about the sudden increase in fast food prices.  At McDonald's if you order in the app, in the line to order from a person, it's $2.99.  If you actually order from the person, it's $7.  I'd like someone to explain that pricing paradigm.

We're at the Hampton Inn in Meridian.  It's ok.  The bathroom is really tiny.  Another foot between the vanity and the bath tub would have been good.  The shower sucks, low pressure, tiny holes in the shower head.  The water is verrry softened, it feels slimy.  I forgot to ask to be far from the elevator, we're adjacent to it.  People get off talking, and I can hear them. If we were away from the elevator, I think it would be pretty quiet.  Jury is out on this hotel, and Meridian in general.  Meridian is part of the greater Boise megalopolis, and Boise is growing by leaps and bounds.  The traffic here is really terrible.  It's also in a fascist red state that hates women.  Update:  This hotel is not a keeper.  Sound insulation is not good.  The guy upstairs is being referred to as Big Foot.  I can hear people taking a shower and flushing the toilet.  For a new building, it's pretty bad.

This is the only picture I took today.  I think this was in Washington, maybe Idaho, who can tell?

So, this is the route for today.

In other news, Tucson had a haboob today.  They're usually in Phoenix, but today was Tucson's turn.  I posted a cool picture of one awhile ago, which you can find here.  It also rained yesterday, which was good.

Day one drive down, three to go.

More Weather and a House

The weather is/has improved.  Monday and Tuesday were sucking the life force out of me, it was so grisly and it's cold in the house, and so I am cold, which makes me tired.  Until today, I've been wearing socks in the house, which is just sad.

Monday we did a short walk up the big hill.  I bailed earlier than usual because (wait for it) I was cold.  We did see a marmot residence on the way back down.  There is a trail to his lair.  If you look really hard, you can see the pile of marmot poop outside of the opening.  The mouth to his house is at the top right of the photo.

Later it did this.  There was thunder and lightning.  It did it again Tuesday.  Look at the water piling up in the street.  We do have storm sewers, they're overwhelmed.

Today, the sun came out.  We rode to the lake.  It was a chilly ride, but it was good to be outside and moving.  As much as I like the rowing machine, outside is better.

See the yellow streak on the water?  The milfoil is starting to bloom.

Friday we are leaving for Tucson.  Apparently we have bought a house. It does need a new roof, the current owner has taken the cost of a new one off the purchase price.  It does not appear that she is leaving all of her fabulous furniture and art.  I don't blame her, she has some nice things that would be hard to replace.  My plan is to print out photos, and buy cheap frames at Michaels and hang them up.  I thought about printing to canvas, but after pricing them, decided that would cost way too much money.  There may be a trip to Ikea in the fall, they have gone back to selling frames and framed art, so maybe we'll find stuff there.  I'm going to order this to use as a laptop and phone charging station, and to put stuff in it.  It's metal, I like it, it's cheerful. 

 
We are not looking forward to the drive, or the heat in Tucson, but there you go.  And there we go.

Weather, the Former Coup Plotter and Spying

I can not get over the weather!!!!!  It's June 15, it's 55F (12.7C), the sky is throwing hail, rain squalls, and the wind is up.  Despite predictions of the hottest summer ever, I'm not seeing it.

The Supreme court did not ban bump stocks.  The Las Vegas shooting was so horrific because the shooter had a bump stock which allows an AR-15 to repeatedly fire rapidly.  They told Congress to write a law banning them, and they would not over turn it.  As if that will ever happen.  They did unanimously uphold the selling of mifepristone in states where abortion is legal.  One wonders if pharmacies will ship into red states or not.  The orange menace went to the Capitol for a love-fest with the republicans.  I have never seen such a bunch of sniveling sycophants as there were on display.  Look at the face of John Barrasso (R-Wyoming) as he watches orange blow out his two candles.  That's the smile you give a toddler who has decided not to smash the cake.  These people are just pathetic.

Look at their faces.  Also read the chyron.

While he was speaking to the sniveling sycophants, orange referred to Milwaulkee as a sh*t-hole city.  That would be where the republican convention is being held.  Nice public relations, eh?  Some progressive people got a bill board up 14 hours later. 

This was on twitter awhile ago.  If you have women relatives or friends using period trackers, consider this.

"Others" just might be law enforcement in places like Texas.

This video showed up on twitter again recently.  The link to play it is here.  Every time I see this, it makes me laugh. 

That's it then.  My spleen is now properly vented and I am ready to go about my day.

Windy!

Today has been windy.  I believe there is a cold front passing through.  Sustained winds 20 to 30 mph, and gusts higher.  Oddly enough, the entire state of Washington is currently classed as in a state of drought.  Department of Natural Resources is concerned about fire danger.  This came across on the phones today.  It got our attention.

Other than this, I have zippity-doo-dah to report. 

Update to post:  Here's a link to the Spokesman-Review article.  It appears that some person was burning a slash fire in high winds, and with predictable results the embers spread to a bunch of dry grass.

We Purchased a Winter Residence - Pending Inspection

The park model turned out to be a failed experiment.  It wasn't the park model itself, it was the local street racing at midnight, as well as being on the final approach course for the main runway of Tucson International and the 162nd Fighter Wing of the AZ Air National Guard. The 162nd flies F16s and they are loud! Freight train traffic has also increased since we were there in the RV.  The noise made it difficult to sleep.  We've been looking at houses for some time.  We're back in the old neighborhood that's as quiet as a tomb.  It came down to a three bedroom house with a den, or a small two bedroom.  We're going with the two bedroom because we're not ready to commit living there full time.  It's going to hit 110F (43.3C) on Friday.  It's a shorter term decision and we know it, but there you go.  Yes, we have, again, bought a house without seeing it.  This time we know the area it's in, unlike our current house.  We totally lucked out on location in Spokane through no fault of our own.  Here are a few pictures.

They are leaving a king and queen bed.  I'm really hoping they'll leave everything.  It does happen.  I've never had a red couch before.  Yes, the houses are close together.  However, we spent eleven years living in RV parks, and now a park model in an RV park, so we've mastered the art of not seeing the neighbors unless we want to.

So, we're pretty excited.  There will be a hot trip down to Tucson to get the bikes and the rowing machine out of the park model and get that on the market.  Someday we'll sell the Spokane house, but we're not ready to do that just yet.  Maybe never, given the rate at which global warming is going.

Speaking of which, this was on Twitter today.  Mexico is just getting hammered by the heat dome.

This is sea temperature rise, also impressive.

So, that's it for us.

It's Finally Warm Here

Finally!  The switch has been flipped and the cold, rainy, and windy weather is over.  For now, anyway.  We rode to the lake today and it was just glorious.  The air was calm, it was warm and not hot.  It was very enjoyable.

The always lovely lake.

We reached the mid-point and had a tiny snack.  There was a man wearing a kayak outfit, practicing rolling the boat.  The maneuver is called an Eskimo Roll.  Here he is, pushing himself over.

Now he is laying on his side in the water.  He never did go all the way around.  I look at this, and then I look at the average person in a kayak and there's no way they could do this, nor would they.  The roll is a recovery technique for a capsized kayak.  Most of the kayaks we see, you'd just fall out of it and yell for help.

A marmot has moved into our rockery.  I don't want that.  They carry Hanta virus and ticks that cause Lyme and other dread diseases.  So, we've tried to barricade him out of his den.

This is one end.

This is the middle.  I really hope this keeps him out.  Poisoning is no bueno because then the predators eat the corpses, and they die.  Those are very heavy stones, they're basalt.  So, I doubt if he'll push them aside.

Some of the peonies have opened.  Some have not.  The extended period of time of thick clouds and rain seem to have glued the blossoms together.  I doubt if this will open.  It's gummed up and black on the tips.

The peony we bought last year has made an effort, but it's damaged, as well.

The best of the lot is the Fried Egg.

In April 2024 I had to buy a new lap top to replace the one I bought in December 2021.  Today the new laptop froze while I was not watching it.  It would not respond to the off button, control alt delete or anything.  After about 10 minutes or so, the fan started running hard, and it came up with a completely different greeting screen.  It seems to be fine now.  I wonder if it was a big upgrade Microsoft decided to push, or what.  While it was frozen I got the old broken laptop from downstairs, I had been using it to put stuff on the TV screen since it's Windows 10.  Thought it might be a good idea to read how to file a claim if current laptop stayed dead.

This is why I had to replace it.  The frame that holds the screen separated from the screen on the sides and bottom.  This time I bought an extended warranty for the new lap top.  It's interesting that it physically broke.

I mention this because if the freeze happens again, I'll know when the first time was.

Mustache the rabbit has returned.  We've been out three times this afternoon to ask him to eat elsewhere.  We get within two feet of him before he runs.  We still haven't seen the other two, so they may still be on the eaten list.

Wild Kingdom

It was grizzly today.  We started the day using the hedge trimmer on the hedge again.  We did the major shearing yesterday, but there were a couple of wows that needed to be fixed.  I got the protruding wows, but then made a new one that will have to grow out.  All in all, it looks pretty good and I am glad that is done.

We considered riding, but there was a high wind advisory (which never materialized) as well as rain in the forecast.  So we didn't.  I did a 20 minute spin class on Youtube.  It never ceases to amaze me how hard the spin bike is.  It does cross over to road bike, so that's good.  Here is the weather radar.  It's an amazingly big weather system.  The west side of the state is soaked.  We've had a few hours of gentle rain, which the grass is enjoying.

The rabbits are missing.  I don't know if they got tired of us going out and talking to them and asking them to eat the neighbor's grass, or if they've been eaten.  There are owls nesting in the area, so they could be eaten.  Here are their photos, we miss seeing them, but the grass is happy.

The marmots have discovered our yard.  They're another species who eat grass and flowers.  Our neighbor had a lot of something flowering on the hill behind his house and they ate all of it; he's pretty distressed.  Another neighbor is trapping them and taking them out to an area that hasn't been developed yet.  These guys were on the rocks this morning.

This afternoon we had a turkey come by.  It's odd to see just one, they're usually in groups.

So, that's it from suburbia - hedges and animals.