Travel Day 3

 It's late, nearly 10 p.m. as I sit down to write this. No, my drive was not nearly that long. Rather I woke this morning at 3 a.m. and could not go back to sleep. On the road by 6:30 a.m., I arrived in Laughlin, Nevada about 4 p.m. After an early dinner, I lay down and fell asleep, waking after a nearly a 2.5 hour nap. Honestly, I feel as though I could crash again but am forcing myself to stay awake for a couple of hours.

If you are wondering why I was awake so early, I didn't take a nap after arriving in Wells, and was asleep by 8:30 p.m. As my daughter reminded me that's 7.5 hours of sleep. Anyway I'm not making that mistake twice.

Today's drive was mostly overcast with short bursts of heavy rain, leading to potential and actual flash flooding, a thunderstorm near Vegas, and a detour due to an accident on the secondary highway I was on.

Here are a few photos from the day:

I stopped in Ely for fuel ($4.299 per gallon) and breakfast as I'd left too early for the hotel's continental breakfast.

My plan was to avoid Vegas and travel through the Lake Mead recreation area. However my GPS had me accessing the park where I would not be able to purchase the necessary pass. My fault likely, as I wasn't specific enough. After it re-calculated, I turned and made my way to Longdale-Overton.

There were signs indicating water over the road but these were mere puddles when I went through. I continued happily travelling along and enjoying the views. And yes, I even stopped for these.

The last three were taken at Red Rock canyon. It was spectacular and if I hadn't been anxious to get to Laughlin, I likely would have stopped more frequently for photos.

I was a mere 20 miles from my next turn-off when a police car came towards me with lights flashing and siren sounding. As I slowed it did a u-turn and sped off. Down the road and through a downpour I spotted another police vehicle blocking the road ahead. I assumed, incorrectly, there may have been a bit of flooding on the road. However after a wait the fellow in front of me walked up to the officer. As he returned to his vehicle he signaled we all needed to turn around. There were a number of us lined up at this point. 

Fortunately we were at a junction and after the u-turn were able to head to Vegas(oh yippee). We met a emergency vehicle on this highway so I'm assuming there was an accident on the other road. The incident was down in a valley and far enough ahead I couldn't be certain. 

In any event, my desire to avoid Vegas traffic was thwarted by this detour. However the GPS came through. I asked for a route with no toll roads and no highways. It may have taken longer but it came through for me. All of my travel through the city was on streets with two lanes on either side, top speed of 35 mph (about 50 km). As I left Vegas I did have a short drive on the I-15 before accessing Highway 95. 

There were periods of heavy rain along the way and some thunder and lightning.  As I neared Laughlin, I got an advisory on my phone of flash flooding in the area.  Arriving in Laughlin it was evident it had happened earlier in the day as some streets had mud, rocks, and debris. My trip took nearly 9.5 hours, almost 90 minutes longer than originally planned. Oh well, it was certainly entertaining. 

I'm at the Golden Nugget Casino and hotel for the night. They have a great restaurant here, and the rate wasn't too bad. It definitely wins over the last two nights. Dinner was a half-order of Cobb salad...I was craving vegetables! It was delicious and filling.

At a reasonable time in the morning, I'll be on the road again for a short'ish drive to Yuma, about 4-5 hours. This is the route I took last year so will seem familiar, I'm sure. I am so ready to settle in for the winter!

Thanks for following along. Much of this info is meant for me to look back on for next season. I know I'll never remember all of it!

Friday Funny

 

Travel Day 2

It turned out the highway traffic noise was a bit more than I originally thought. After watching the final game of the World Series, I was kept awake for a few hours before I could tune out the noise...or maybe the traffic slowed down.

In any event I was up and down to breakfast just after 6 a.m. it certainly wasn't anything to write home about. After a chat with my daughter I was in the car and heading out of the parking lot by 7:30 a.m.

I had chosen the route through Ennis as it looked less "moutainy" but my GPS switched me to the 91 which had me driving through Yellowstone National Park. It definitely had some twists and turns but didn't make me feel we were constantly climbing or descending. I kept under the posted speed limit as did those in front and behind me and never felt concerned. It is a pretty drive, with the forest and mountains on either side, following the meandering Yellowstone River.

At one point the GPS announced "welcome to Wyoming ". I thought what??? That's not the direction I want to take. It only lasted about 10 or 15 minutes when I heard "welcome to Montana". I took exactly one photo as I was leaving West Yellowstone. 

From there I took highway 20 to Idaho Falls, the I-15 to Twin Falls. I know that Idaho has some lovely natural areas but the highways are pretty boring. I did see a sign for a potato museum but chose to drive on.

My next stop was Twin Falls where I found gas at $4.219 per gallon at the Fred Meyer Fuel Stop. Most other stations were $4.55. Any savings were likely erased when my GPS took me north and west and finally south of the city before connecting me with highway 93 to Wells.  

I'm spending the night at the Sure Stay by Best Western.  Ot won't win any rewards for beauty but seems clean. It too offers a continental breakfast...we'll see how it compares to the Microtel. 

P.S. a note for Kim and anyone else who may be curious.  Yes, Kota has taken over Sage's crate. Sage only stays in the crate when my son and his g/f are away for work or running errands. Otherwise she prefers to hang out on the couch. :)

Travel Day 1

I managed to get everything on my list for my time in the city completed by midday on Tuesday. And then it started to sleet/snow. While my original plan was to head out on Friday the weather was the proverbial straw. 

I was up and out the door shortly after 7 a.m. this morning. The border crossing is a little over a 2 hour drive and it went fine though I did have to deal with some slush on the first hour. Then it was light rain for a bit. Crossing the border was quick, a few questions and a glance at the containers in the back ( through the back  passenger's window) and I was waved on with a "have a good trip". And I was in Montana!

The clouds stayed with me for awhile but the highway was dry and clear. I stopped at Glendive Conoco for fuel ($3.859 per gallon), the best price I would see all day.

I had originally planned to stay in Billings for the night but arrived there about 2:30 p.m. It was too early to stop for the day so I carried on to Bozeman. Below was my first full view of the mountains ahead.

My first stop was to fill my tank  ($4.256 per gallon)and then i headed to the Microtel Hotel.  At about $115 Cdn for the night, they offer a continental breakfast. There is a highway just a short distance away but it doesn't seem too noisy. 

I arrived shortly before 5 p.m. and was very pleased with my room. Here's a photo.

I've enjoyed a soak in the tub, put on my nightgown and am watching the 5th game of the World Series. All in all a good day.

 



Wordless Wednesday

 

Another busy week, almost on my way

I normally don't cover the previous weekend but for this post I'm making an exception. 

What a day Saturday turned out to be! When I arrived at the community center at 9:15 a.m. one of the board members asked if I would work in the store that day, rather than in the gym. I readily agreed, as I knew it would be a busy day in both locations. Two women were assigned to the cash desk in the store, and I roamed, picking up clothes that were dropped on the floor, collecting empty hangers, and helping customers with their questions.

The gymnasium where the winter/autumn sale was being held was incredibly busy, and in turn the store was too. Folks would walk down to the store after visiting the sale and buy more stuff. Keep in mind that very few items in either location were priced at more than $5. I won't give a precise number but if all of the items were $5 each, we sold over a thousand items. In actuality it was a lot more items than that as children's mitts were 2/$1, winter coats were $3/children, $5/adults,  children's clothing is $1-2/children and adult clothing is $2-3 in the store. Another volunteer arrived at the store shortly before noon, and I moved into the sorting room to sort...hangers!

As a result, I didn't get the annuals pulled on Saturday when the temperature reached 20C/68F. Instead the job was done on Sunday afternoon. It was a bit cooler (13C/55F) but in the sun it felt quite warm. All the containers and garden tools are now tucked away for the winter. It looks barren out there now. 

With everything done outdoors, I'm ticking off my list indoors. The Christmas gifts were wrapped and tucked away in the closet, or in my bag to be dropped off at my son's this weekend. I finished a snowman for my daughter - realizing that I didn't have any yarn for the nose, D used her cricut to create a cone out of foam. I think it turned out pretty cute!

I also updated my list for the items I'll be taking to Yuma, revised my itinerary slightly. It adds about a half hour of driving time, but the cost of a hotel for the night is less than I'd pay for accomodations on the other route. I've double checked my Airmiles (now Blue Rewards - I believe this is a Canadian thing) and can book at least one of the hotels on their website using points, thus only paying for taxes and fees.  

I put in another nearly 5 hours at the thrift store on Tuesday. More donations had come in through the week including Saturday, and the volunteers were piling them in every storage area they could find. We were able to sort clothing donations but only until we filled the available racks in the sorting room. Several racks from the winter/autumn sale were brought in to the hallway and store. I spent some time sorting and then went into the store to help the lone cashier. It was busy again, as families had received child benefit that day and were filling up their baskets. There was also a woman who shopped for a group of South African individuals expected to arrive in the community in the next few weeks. It was wonderful to see so many items head out the door as there is still so much more to be sorted and put out in the store. That includes about 15 or 20 bins of winter clothing still in the bins from the weekend! 

Neither D nor I had anything booked for Wednesday. While she worked on tidying counterd and then went for a nap, I started on the Christmas baking. She had asked me to make my shortbread. It's the easiest recipe but she insists that I make it better than she can.  One half cup of butter, 1/2 to 2/3's cup of berry sugar (I prefer the lesser amount), and two cups of flour. Cream the sugar and butter together until smooth, and add flour a half cup at a time. I usually turn the dough out on the counter to add the last 1/2 cup of flour and knead the dough. Divide the dough in half and refridgerate for about 30 minutes or so (or leave it overnight). I shape the dough in small balls, press with a fork and bake on ungreased baking sheets for about 10-13 minutes at 350F, turning the pan half-way through. If you prefer you can pat the dough into a round cake pan and bake, though I've no idea how long it would take as I've never done it. For fun, I sometimes add sprinkles to the cookies.

In between batches, I got working on Eli's sweater. I'd started it last fall, put it away for the winter, and then couldn't find the pattern this spring. It's been lanquishing in a bag since then, but I recently dug through my patterns and found it. After blocking, it was time to sew up the raglan, the sleeve and side seams, and finally knit up the neck and button bands. 

I took it with me to Knit and Natter on Thursday afternoon, managing to get the seams completed and started on the neck band. I also a hat for Willie Wonka to go with the scarf I made last week. The librarian told me they'd received a gift from another patron of a red jacket so he'll be all decked out for the winter. :)

With rain in the forecast for the weekend, and possibly Friday afternoon, I spent some time in the morning cleaning up the car interior and loading most of the items I'm taking with me, either to the city or to Yuma. I'm hoping this year is the last of the multi-container loads. I'd like to pare down to a bag of clothing, personal toiletries, bedding, and a few food items. I bring home all of my unmentionables as elastic gets destroyed by the heat (no personal experience, this is what I've been told), and the bedding will go back and forth as I bring it home to wash. This year I'm taking down a Breville convection oven, a Costway washer/spin dryer, and several containers of craft, household, and food items.

In the afternoon I worked on Eli's sweater. The knitting is complete, but the buttons I have are too small. D will look for others and sew the buttons herself. That should be interesting as I don't think she has ever picked up a needle and thread. There is a first time for everything. 

The winds picked up overnight and parts of the province experienced heavy snow. We missed that, thankfully, and only got a bit of rain. I'm off to the city this morning and will spend a few days there. I've been watching the weather in Montana, thanks Jim for the heads up), and will wait until I'm certain the storm they are getting has passed and I get few things done. I originally planned for this upcoming Friday, but am hopeful I'll be on the road no later than Wednesday morning. Wish me luck! 

P.S. The photo on Wednesday was Eli, first time riding a horse. He has been working with the horses, especially the pony Rocket (since passed away) in the arena and lately has been learning to bridle the bigger horses. His therapist asked if he wanted to try riding, and he enthusiastically agreed. I suspect it won't be last ride. :)

 

Friday Funny