Back in Spokane

Today we went back to Spokane via I5 to I90.  Traffic from Everett to Bellevue, where the turn for I90 is was bad, but not terrible.  Apparently there had been an accident which they had cleared, but the memory lingered on.  Here is traffic.  We were fortunate that we could do most of the route in the HOV lanes.  People still do not like to car pool.  Even with traffic, it was faster to take the non-scenic route.

 Here we are entering the Cascades again.  It's pretty out there. 

I'm not sure where we were when I took this, it was out in the great wide open of eastern Washington.  Tucson has dust devils, but only one at a time.  I have never seen three at once in the same area.  So that was pretty cool.  They're the vertical columns of dust.

Why, you may wonder, didn't we mail the EE savings bonds to the treasury.  This is why.  In 2022 our taxes made multiple round trips between Spokane and Cincinnati.  It took 38 days for them to arrive, IRS tried to hit us with a late fee, and the whole thing was the fault of the post office.  Last winter, we had our mail being forwarded to Tucson, to the park model.  In that time frame, an RMD check was marked undeliverable and returned to the people that manage our 401k accounts.  Also during that time frame, several bills were marked undeliverable and returned to sender.  Also, they quit forwarding our New Yorker magazines.  The last one we received was the front and back cover only, dated December 18, 2023.  After that, silence.  My faith in the USPS is nil.  So, it felt better to us to drive to the credit union and hand deliver them to a teller.  I would not want that much money floating around in the post office ether.  Turns out they were worth more than we thought they would be.

Anyway, it's done, it's over, and now when the last of us dies, the executor of our will, who is a friend, will not be bothered with fooling with the bonds.  I read up on it, it's no small feat to convert them after the people are gone.

I think we're done with Seattle.  I used to miss living there, but it has become too crowded, they're still putting up apartments with no new roads to support the development, and prices are crazy.  

So now I will return to my regular programming of riding to the lake and being pissed off about the 45th president's behavior.

A Trip to Everett, Washington

Greetings from Everett, Washington.  Why, you wonder, are we here?  When we used to work for Boeing, managers put intense pressure on employees to buy EE savings bonds. Jim was a manager and for him it was a condition of employment, so there was really no choice but to buy them.  I guess because the company had military contracts.  So we did.  Redeeming these bonds has become a nightmare.  No one wants to do it because it's time consuming and generates no income for the financial institution.  So, we drove from Spokane to Everett to go to our credit union, who has two offices that will still cash bonds for customers.  It's a loooooooooong drive.  You can mail them in, but given the current state of the USPS, we don't like to mail anything.

In July 2022, we drove to Bellingham (north of Everett) and the traffic on I5 from I90 to Bellingham was so horrendous, we declared never again.  Returning home, we took US 2 to avoid the traffic between Marysville and I90.  We remembered it as a pleasant drive.  Today we again took the US 2 route, and it was horrendous.  It goes through downtown Wenatchee, which took forever.  Every small town seems to have sprouted stop signs and round abouts. Part of the problem is that it's harvest season, there are many trucks on the road transporting food.  So, I think US 2 is now on the banned list.  Tomorrow, we're going to try I5 south, and then east on I90.  This is probably our last trip to the Seattle/Everett area.  The traffic is so bad, the drivers act like it's a personal insult to them if you change lanes, and there is really nothing over here worth a six hour drive.

Eastern Washington is really different from the western side of the state.  They get way more rain than we do.  Eastern is more desert-ish.  The area around the Columbia Basin is full of fruit trees, lima beans, alfalfa, timothy, sweet corn, seed corn, and potatoes. 

Here are photos from the day's drive.  They grow Kentucky Blue Grass for seed here.  Then they burn the fields to get rid of the grass part of the plant.

This looks like the Palouse.

We are heading down to the Columbia river.

The Rock Island dam.

Now we are entering the Cascade mountain range.  They keep the west side wet.

We're staying at what appears to be a new Hampton Inn in downtown Everett.  It's very nice.  Rooms are a little small, but we won't be here very long.

Butte, Montana to Spokane, Washington

We are back.  It is 103F (39.4C), with more humidity than Tucson.  It's so uncomfortable.  Because we did not anticipate this weather, we left for Tucson with the air conditioning turned off.   The house is just heat soaked.  It's been running all day, and the thermostat is still showing 83F.  I have my little fan pointed at my feet.

Today was Butte, MT to Spokane.  We are not that fond of Butte, we think.  As I previously posted, we are done with the Best Western motel chain.  We are also not fond of crossing the Bitteroot mountains.  There is much up down, and twisty roads.  It seemed like the entire stretch of road in Montana had construction going on.  In places, they had the old road completely torn out, down to dirt, so I suspect the project may take awhile.

Visually, it was nicer than yesterday.  I have a few photos.  Unfortunately, I have no idea where they were taken.

In the time we were gone, the yard has sprouted giant weeds.  We have thistles!  We've never seen those before.  So, in the morning, before it is hot, there will be sitting on the ground with weed stickers uprooting the little devils.  My mandevilla has put out foliage, but quit blooming.  My double blossom impatiens is scorched, and that pot is also full of weeds.  I think there will be at least one eviction.  So, back to normal now, we will get back on the bikes and live a healthier life style.

Spanish Fork, Utah to Butte, Montana

Today's journey started in Spanish Fork, UT and ended in Butte, MT.  It was a long drive, but not terrible.  We hit morning rush hour in Salt Lake City, but they have a transit lane for cars with 2 or more people.  Apparently people in Salt Lake don't like to car pool, there were few people in the lane.  Most of the way through the megalopolis, we were cruising at 80.  That was good.  

The route goes through northern Utah, southern Idaho, and into Montana.  Parts of Montana are pretty.  Southern Idaho is not lovely.  Here are some pictures of the route.  The first photo is what we were looking at most of the day.

We are at the Best Western in Butte.  This is absolutely positively the LAST time we will be staying in a Best Western.  The one we were in two nights ago was bad, this is also bad.  Internet is really slow, it's about 40 seconds to load a photo.  Without going into a lot of detail, I will just say we hate this hotel, we're never coming back, and Best Westerns in general are off the table.  We ended up here because of price.  There was some sort of cultural event, and all the hotels had doubled their prices.  This was the least worst choice. 

Tomorrow we're back in Spokane, where it is a hundred degrees.

Boulder City, NV to Spanish Fork, Utah

Today we drove Boulder City, NV to Spanish Fork, Utah.  Spanish Fork is nine miles south of Provo, proper, and is part of the Provo-Orem megalopolis.  We spent the day on I15, which is a good road.  It's cooler here, when we arrived it was in the 90's and it felt cool to us.

First there was Las Vegas to transit.  Henderson, a bedroom community to Las Vegas, is growing exponentially.  So is the number of distribution centers.  It's amazing to me how many new houses we saw.  Here is a not great photo of coming in to the city, the windshield is covered in dead bugs.  I was trying to portray the vastness of the sprawl out from the strip, but it's too poor of a photo.

We were going to stop at the Beaver, UT Subway, but it was packed.  So, we went to the Port of Subs in Fillmore, which was not great.  The phone did not mention that there was another Subway at exit 188 in Nephi, which would have been geographically good.  If we drive this route again, please make a note of this Subway.

We went through the Virgin River Gorge.  It's a beautiful, but bugs on the wind shield and harsh sunlight conspired against my photography.

Further up the road, there was some red rock showing.

But after awhile, there was a lot of not too much to look at.

Driving into Spanish Fork from the south was shocking.  The amount of new housing devouring agricultural land is shocking.  Entire neighborhoods of identical ugly houses have been built.  Spanish Fork itself seems to be a center for retail.  There's not much else other than Big 5, Joanne Fabrics, Walmart, Costco and etc.  The west has become all retail all the time. 

We're at the Provo-Spanish Fork Hampton Inn and Suites.  It's a nice hotel, it's new, like much of Spanish Fork.  The bathroom has multiple levels of horizontal surface, which makes putting out all of our stuff easier.  The air conditioner does have a thermostat and is quiet.

This is the view from the room.  We're facing away from the freeway, which is very good. 

Tomorrow is the really long day, hotel to hotel is 468 miles.  That's far.  We need to rethink the lengths of our drive segments.  Of course, there is often nothing where a person would like to stop.

Tucson, AZ to Boulder City, NV

Greetings Mellow Humans.  I write to you from beautiful downtown Boulder City, NV where it is currently 116F (46.6C).  The last summer we were in Tucson, we had 110 degrees, this is noticeably worse.  The air on my face feels like a blow dryer.  The plan had been to drive over to Albertson's and get a rotisserie chicken and a bag of salad for dinner, but we have a parking spot in the shade, so we're ordering pizza.  There is a case of whiskey in the car and we're hoping for it not to get cooked in the heat.

Today's route was up through Phoenix, then on to US60 to US93 to Kingman.  We departed the carport at 0800 hours, which for us is an early start.  Traffic through Phoenix, Wickenburg and Kingman was very light in our direction.  The portion of US60 from Surprise to just south of Wickenburg had an abysmal road surface.  Once again, we did not take US93 after Kingman, we crossed over to US95 which is a better road surface and less traffic.

There is a road project planned for Kingman which you can read about here.  Some projects are just stupid, they make a person want to pull their hair out and rend their clothing.  This is a good project.  Currently when exiting I40, you have to get on surface streets to get to US93.  This is the route from Las Vegas to Phoenix.  There is a stop light at Beale Street involved in this path, and this is what it does to traffic, especially on a Sunday afternoon when people have to go home so they can get up and go to work on Monday.  This went on for miles.  I feel so bad for those people, especially if they were low on gas, or needed to pee.

I drove a bunch today, so there are not a lot of photos, and most of them weren't great because of the dead bugs on the wind shield.

This is heading toward Laughlin.  One climbs up and over the pass way out there.  It's not bad in a car.

This is the fan I used for rowing and general cooling.  It's from Target, it's a great little fan.  It ran non-stop while we were in the park model packing up.  Now it's sitting on the bed advancing cool air from the air conditioning unit in the wall to the back of the room.  Good fan.

At about 4:45 pm, this tour bus rolled in and discharged its passengers.  This bus is full, it's a double decker and every seat was full.  I think it was a nature break, they were not here long.  One wonders if they knew it was going to be this hot.

We were in Boulder City in October 2018.  It was an excellent visit, with one caveat.  The day we wanted to walk around Boulder City and enjoy its cuteness there was an Art in the Park event.  There was not one single empty parking place available.  Today, of course, it's too stinking hot.  

We're in an old Best Western Hotel.  It has the doors that open directly on to the outside, and not onto a hall.  I like that kind of room because it shortens your exposure to other people.  It's ok, they've done some updating, the floors appear to be some sort of vinyl plank, the lighting is good, pillows are ok, my mattress is a little on the firm side, but tolerable.  The bathroom has adequate counter space for all of our stuff.   Just took a shower, getting the water temperature set was difficult; too hot, or too cold.  It's sweltering in the bathroom, the A/C unit which is not great, and which is very noisy, is not cooling the bathroom or that side of the room.  It's too hot to blow dry my hair, it can just do what it wants.  I would give this hotel a definite maybe on returning.  Update to post:  Nope!  Never coming back here.  There is no thermostat on the A/C, it appears to run forever, even after it reaches a temperature lower than what was set.  Fan speed settings make no difference to the fan speed.  Bathroom is still an inferno.  There are not enough outlets in the room.

It's 116 here, and 122 in Needles, CA.  I'm glad we're here and not there.  Here is hot enough.

Tomorrow we are up and out to Provo.  From here to Spokane, it's an all freeway drive, so we should make better time than we did today.

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.

Butte, Montana to Spokane, Washington

We drove I15 to I90.  We think we're not crazy about I90 through the Bitterroot Mountains.  It rained a lot, clouds were stuck on the trees, it reminded us a great deal of driving over the Cascades from the west side and descending into the terrible weather that is so often in Seattle.  Anyway, there's a lot of up down and twisty roads.  So, maybe something else will be better.  The fundamental problem here is that there is no good way to get from Tucson to here.  Because of  the terrain, like the Grand Canyon, all routes are not a straight shot.  Wah, call me a wahmbulance.

The other issue is that we're old now.  Various and sundry body parts are not enjoying being in a car for hours at a whack.  We think about shorter days, but that is another hotel bill and three more meals out.  Yes, I know, first world problems.

It did rain a bunch, but earlier in the drive it was not bad.  In the agricultural areas, there was the burning of the fields.  Being of the city, I have no idea why this is done.

There was scenery to be admired.

This place is something else.  They have bill boards up for miles, advertising 50,000 Silver $.  There is a huge "gift" store full of worthless crap from China, a bar, a restaurant, RV parking and a motel.  Most importantly there are restrooms.  We ate lunch there in the parking lot standing up and walking around some to get the feeling back in our extremities. 

It's funny being back, we can't remember where stuff goes in the bathroom and kitchen cabinets.  It will probably take awhile for that to be sorted out.  When we left Tucson I photographed all of the shelves, drawers and cabinets so I will not have to reinvent the wheel upon our return.  I think I'll do that here before we go.

We have weeds growing in the lava rock areas.  Some will have to be pulled by hand, they're too big to spray and leave on the ground.  "Gardening" season, other wise known as killing weeds, has begun.

Ely to Kingman, AZ

We are staying at the Hampton Inn in Kingman.  They do not levy a (refundable) charge in case you smoke or vape in your room.  Currently there is a citizen with a bull horn down on the street somewhere.  Jim thinks he's talking about Palestine and Israel, but we can't hear him well enough to determine which side he's on.  It's an interesting choice of activity in a place that is as red as this one is.

We read on Restoration Cowboy that US93 from Las Vegas to Kingman was so rough that the hinges on their toy hauler were broken.  Normally we would go that way, but today we took US95 out of Las Vegas, down to NV163 and then to AZ68E to US93 just shy of Kingman.  That route was way more better.  The great percentage was four divided lanes (not limited access) and the road surface was good.  For future reference here is a map snippet.  It's a little bit longer than US93, but the roads are good.  They did get a little lumpy just past Golden Valley, but not too bad.  Once we hit US93 the road surface went to heck in a hand basket.

This is south of Ely.  It's scenic.

We stopped in Pioche, NV for gas.  It's a former mining town built on the side of a hill.  It reminds me of Jerome, but without the tourists.  I was driving after leaving the gas station so I failed to get a photo of the house covered in Trump flags and posters, and an out building with a banner proclaiming "No More Bullshit."  It's a red part of the state.  This is the downtown.  There is a good wiki, which can be found here.

A mine head from back in the day.  Silver was mined there. There was money to be made in mining.

Heading further south.  This and the Joshua Trees were on US93 out of Ely, before we hit Las Vegas.

These are Joshua Trees.  This batch looked really happy, there were many baby trees, so I guess life has been good to them.

Now we are on NV163, south of Las Vegas.  It's a pretty drive.  There is a fair amount of up down on NV163 as well as AZ68E.

So, how is the Hampton Inn?  It's ok.  It's old, and hasn't had much done to the rooms.  The beds are not great, not terrible.  They could be better.  There is too much scent in the rooms, it's irritating my eyes.  There is parking available for vehicles towing trailers, that's why we're here, for the parking lot. The free internet is really slow, uploading a photo takes time.  We would probably come back here if we do this route again. 

That's it!  That's all I have to say about today.