The Great White North

Dec 13/2016. Weather  in Ontario - cold, snowy, freezing.   Oh oh.
Most of the time what Americans think of Us being in Canada is not true.  We don't have snowshoes,,,,,,,,,  
Here is our new view for the next month.  Love the wagons lined up in the field.
We are in a beautiful B&B which we will share in the future.
Home for the Holidays, cherishing family and friends.
Merry Christmas to all.

Rondeau Bay

Nightly Habits

Dec 12/16  Weather  really nice today 74, low 44
We have grown into a couple of nightly habits here in Val Vista RV Park.  When the sun goes down it will cool right off so we either have a fire or hot tub night.  The hot tub and heated pool are empty every night.....Where is every body?   Most nights we head up to partake in both.  A dip in the hot tub then a swim in the pool.  Then maybe back in the hot tub. 

Most nights we just dangle our legs and feet in the hot tub

Pool feels really good when the air is cold

And on the nights we don't go to the hot tub and pool we sit around the fire pit at the happy hour circle.  No stinky smoke smell as you just turn the propane off when you are finished with your fire :)

Hot Chocolate with Baileys and Whip Cream

Run to Chandler

Dec 9/16  Weather is sunny about mid 70's for the next week, night low of 50.  This is my perfect weather.  Not too hot, not too cold.  Could be this way everyday of the year.

Chandler Harley Davidson

We had to make a run to the Harley Davidson shop in Chandler for a new part on the motorcycle.  Right now the shifter rod is being held on by duct tape.  Made it to the shop and half hour later we had a new chrome shifter.

Cafe Zupas

Down the street we found a new lunch spot called Cafe Zupas, which was soup, sandwiches, salads.  It was excellent.  Never been to one before but will definitely come again.  They have very fresh local ingredients.

Gila River Indian Reservation

skeleton of cholla cactus

Our ride back to the RV park in Casa Grande was through the Gila River Indian Reservation.   Views of the mountain ranges in the distance and cactus amongst the land are so different from home.  One of the most unusual things are the skeletons of cacti, they are so strange looking.    The cemetery on the reservation is always full of flowers and memorabilia.... Bright white crosses adorn the dirt grave sites.   

cemetery in Gila River Reservation

Superior - Ghost Mining Town

Dec 5/16  Weather sunny 68, low 43
Arizona is filled with old ghost mining towns.  Today we drove over to Queen Valley to see our friend Ruth.  From her place we popped up to Superior which is in a beautiful setting to see the Apache Leap Cliffs.

driving into Superior

Smelter has been closed for 30 years

 After 71 years of mining due to high costs of mining and low copper prices the mines closed.  In those years they mined copper, zinc, silver and gold.   Thousands of jobs lost and once again the town falls into disrepair.  Empty buildings, falling down housing.  Rumors to start mining again surface if the corporation can swap lands that might be sacred and protected.  So far agreements have not been reached.  The protected land is so beautiful and the corporations want to do block mining which leaves huge wholes in the ground when finished. You can understand why it is opposed by local groups.

Porters Cafe

Every old mining town has an eatery where the locals gather.  Memorabilia adorn the ceiling and walls.  No doubt one of the best cheeseburgers you can find anywhere in Arizona is here. 

Canadian Wall

Post election news

Shortly after the new president

of the USA was elected, several

Americans have been seen sneaking

into Canada.

Canada's Prime Minister,

Justin Trudeau, has made

the decision to build a wall.

Canadians building a wall.

The Little Dirt Road

Dec 4/16  weather - sunny 68.

Dwarf Car Museum looks a bit dilapidated from the outside

One of his dwarf cars

Maricopa is a snowbird town about half an hour away from Casa Grande.  Mostly we know it from hearing about Canadians who have purchased snowbird properties when the housing crunch hit the USA.  We went cruising to Maricopa and found an obscure attraction the "Dwarf Car Museum".   The fellow builds retro cars on a small scale.  Sounds pretty cool and unique,,,, it is in the middle of nowhere..... and down a sandy dirt road.  We went by the place; turned around stopped out front and Billy did not take the motorcycle down the dirt road.  Ok.  If you know him you understand, he does not do dirt roads.

Raceway Bar and Grill

So our next stop was at another obscure looking place that lots of motorcycles were sitting at the "Raceway Bar & Grill".   Apparently even the American Pickers have stopped here.  It has a paved driveway so we are ok!!  Old signs and paraphernalia inside and outside with a sunny spot on the patio to have a Corona and Pizza.   Funny story.   Billy talks to a fellow biker while we are having our pizza - about the Dwarf Car Museum that we did not go into and this guy says "it's so cool" and he proceeds to show Billy pictures of the dwarf cars on his phone.   Smiling I tell him ..."Sometimes you just have to brave the little dirt road."

It's a Dry Heat

Dec 2/16  Weather  - sunny and getting warmer again, high of 68 and up to 70's
nights about 38 to 44.   Just beautiful weather for being around the RV park.   Doing our walk around the other day we spotted this little setup.  Just had to laugh!  Most people are setting up Christmas displays; this one shows the remains of living in the Desert!!!!    All the characters all have a name badge from the park.   Haha.  His says "Slim Pickins".  Hers says "Daisy McQueen".  The dog says "Buster McBones". 

RIP Bitter Betty

Nov 29/16  Weather Sunny but Chilly  - daytime 60 nighttime 32 - yikes!!!!
The temperatures have now dropped to 10 degrees below normal for the next few days.  Of course this comes right at the time we have an appointment to be in Tuscon with the motorcycle..... well we put on every piece of leather and layers and gloves.  The temperature when we left the park at 9:30 am was 47f.  Thank goodness the sun was out and no wind.  About an hour and half later we were sitting in the shop in Tuscon having a cup of coffee. 
Poor old Bitter Betty bit the dust.  She was our Motorcycle GPS.  We nicknamed her Bitter Betty cause she could be a real snoot when giving us directions!!!   We do so much riding and in some back country roads which really necessitate having a GPS - especially for the times when we get lost.  It happens!   Today Tuscon Harley Davidson hard wired our new Garmin into the motorcycle.  Kind of an early Christmas present for us both.  What shall we call our new girl?

Merry Christmas present to Billy and Rosey

Lucky for us we have some McGregor RV Park friends in Tucson.  The Calverley's picked us up for lunch so we could share some RV tales over a burger.

Calverley's and Bourne's at Tucson HD

One unique landmark you see between Casa Grande and Tucson is Picacho Peak.  It looks like a volcanic neck in the distance and can be seen for miles.  The State Park has many hikers that attempt to reach the top. 

Picacho Peak

What Was I Thinking?

U.S. Thanksgiving Day - 74 degrees, sunny, great day. 

Turkey Dinner in the clubhouse

Val Vista is having a sit down family style Thanksgiving Dinner.  This is a different approach than we have had at most parks.  Usually it is buffet or potluck style.  There has been a sign up sheet in the clubhouse for tables of 10.  Each sheet has 1 couple doing the Turkey, Dressing, Gravy;  1 couple doing the Desserts, 1 couple doing the Salads, 1 couple doing rolls and pickle dish, mashed potatoes, 1 couple doing the hot vegetables.  So "what was I thinking"?   I signed up for Billy and Rosey to bring the Turkey, Dressing, Gravy.   Ok so now how do I cook the thing?  Back to the clubhouse I go.   The kitchen has electric oven bakers that you can borrow to do the Turkey.  Great...     Dinner is at 1 pm.  So the Turkey needs to be finished by 12:30 to serve.   Wait a second that means it needs to be in the oven by 6 am?  Can I count on this to cook the way a conventional oven works.   Talking around the park I found out best to do it all the day before then reheat for 1 hour in broth on Thanksgiving Day.   Phew !   So glad we found that out.   Wouldn't it be terrible to have a table waiting for Turkey and it not be ready. 

Assistant Chef watching the Turkey cook in the electric oven

Where Ever You May Go

Nov 22/2016  Weather  A more normal temperature cooler front has settled into central Arizona.  Days are mostly in the 70's.  Sunny.  Really comfortable.  Nights about 45. 
It's funny how where ever you may go there is possibly someone you might know, especially since we have met so many great people along the way in the last 5 years. 
About 1 hour away from Casa Grande, we have a wonderful friend from our McGregor, Ontario  RV Park.   Ruth is quite a character an such a laugh to visit with!!   We chat at the park back home but in the fall we missed her as she had left for Arizona in September and we were not back from Scotland.  We sent a couple of emails while in Arizona and located her then picked a restaurant to meet for lunch. 

Ruth and Rosey

Tag's Cafe is a cool little old diner in Coolidge.  We had been here before about 4 years ago to meet for a motorcycle ride.

Billy parking in front of Tag's Cafe

While we were waiting for Ruth I popped into the thrift store next door and just had to buy this quaint little teapot that looks like a cottage!  At first I thought I could use it as a gravy boat or just fill it with candies.

$2 dollar thrift shop find - still had a new sticker on it

Mr. Fix It are you looking for a lightening bolt?

Casa Grande Arizona Weather 82 and sunny, low 51
This RV park (Val Vista RV Park) is older but kept up nicely.  Monthly only $450 which is extremely inexpensive.  Part of inexpensive is no cable TV hookup at your site. 
We have a small stick on antennae for the window which till yesterday gave us about 25 channels.  Then a big rig pulled in where the window faces and no TV signals or it blinks in and out so bad it drives you crazy.

If the lightening strikes now?  Electricity Mr. Fix It?   

Today Mr. Fix It has had enough of TV blinking in and out!   Honestly the top of our motorhome has more antennae and satellite domes and dishes than Radio Shack but hey what's one more.....  hah!  We stopped at Home Hardware and picked up a small cheapy outdoor antennae.  Clamps.  Pole.  Voila!  Billy is making a Beverly Hillbilly's hookup on the back of the coach which he will attach to the ladder.  Temporary because we will take it down when we move.  It will be useful when sitting for a few weeks and we want to get local channels for weather "and" there is no cable TV hookup in the campground.    We do have a dome satellite on the roof that connects to Dish, Direct TV and Bell but after using it for the first 4 years we find the cost is just not worth it.  You get 120 channels of "nothing" for a monthly fee of $39.99 usf or roughly $50 canadian. 

$34 at Home Depot and some Duct Tape

While Mr. Fix It was up on the ladder looking for lightening I was inside with my sewing machine out.  Quilting.
We are both in our happy places.

Rosey topstitching another homemade quilt

In the Arizona Night Sky

Nov 13/16 Weather is above 80's everyday.  Nights about 55. 

Pulling into Val Vista RV Park

We have dropped down into Casa Grande, Arizona.  That is about the midpoint between Phoenix and Tuscon.   We find it is not to busy on the motorcycle and yet the city has most everything you will need.  The first year we came out to Arizona (2012) we stayed at Val Vista RV Park.  Surprising to us there are still many couples we met still coming here.  You know that is what most snowbirds do.   They find a spot they are comfy with and go back year after year; and 25 years later they are still returning.  Billy and I are a bit on the abnormal side...... I know your thinking "really as if we didn't know that"!  There are places we like to go back to and yet after 1 month we are usually ready to move on.  So here we are booked in for the month.   It is fun to see friends we made a few years ago; they were surprised to see us and so welcoming.  Should be a good month, and we will definitely have some r and r days right by the pool.  

Pool area

On a whole different note - Did you see the Supermoon? It is the closest full moon to the Earth since 1948, and another like it won't occur until 2034.   We have been out walking last night and tonight.  Neat.

Super moon with Saguaro cactus

The other picture that we must share with you is a sunset we had before leaving Lake Powell over a week ago; makes you think  Fire in the Desert!

Fire in the Desert?  Nope just the sunset.

North or South on 89A - Both!

Nov 11/16  Close by Camp Verde are two extremely worthwhile scenic drives...  both involve hwy 89a.  Head over to Cottonwood and south on 89a you climb to the mile high old miners ghost town of Jerome.  Lots of quirky little shops to explore and numerous foodie stops.  Jerome is now an Artists town.  Somehow the last time we were here we missed stopping in at the State Park which has the Douglas mansion built in 1916 who were influential mining entrepreneurs in the mining boom town era.  The views from here looking up at the town of Jerome are probably some of the best.  The town is built on the hillside so you can never get a good picture of it as you weave back and forth on the highway in and out of Jerome; but now we see the mansion has a perfect view.  No wonder they built on this property, which also had their mine called Little Daisy Mine...   Run up through Jerome towards Prescott to find the perfect viewpoint looking down from Mingus Mountain.

view of Jerome on the hillside from Douglas mansion (Jerome State Park)

The second drive is to head north on 89a through beautiful red rock Sedona.   The road winds and twists following Oak Creek.  Stay with it for about 15 miles to the top ledge leading into Flagstaff.  Once again you will be rewarded with some gorgeous views.   We met a fellow the other day who told us he took these hairpin turns in his Motorhome pulling his car...... Why would you do that???   Crazy.  Ha! There are signs on 89 a to Jerome and Oak Creek telling you nothing over 50 feet allowed.  Lets say both are great rides on the motorcycle !

89a - Oak Creek Canyon Scenic Drive

Green Camp - Camp Verde

Nov 6 - 13/16   Sunny Weather in Camp Verde - 82, 82, 81, 78, 77, 76, 78 Nights 54, 54, 52, 52, 51, 52, 53.  Cannot ask for better weather at over 3,100 feet and November.    We motored south from Page past Flagstaff and dropped into the Verde Valley.  Four years ago we stopped here in the spring and had a snow storm one night.   We remember!  Forecast looks better this time, and everything does look green in the distance.  Verde in spanish means green.  For the week we are camped out at a very nice RV Park called Distant Drums.  The RV park has especially nice sites around the edges that are pull in's for motorhomes.   That way you get the view out your front window! On our way for a ride we stopped in historic downtown Camp Verde at a collectors antique store and tack shop. 

Cowboy Corners - everything you need to get on a horse

Camp Verde has some history to it.  In the mid 1800's the newly moved in Anglo settlers, miners, farmers were at war with the already established Tonto - Apache and Yavapai Indians.  The military was called in to keep the order and a Fort was built here; and to the east in Fort Apache and to the west in Prescott.  Infantry troops built a wagon road connecting the three forts so supplies could move between them along the Mogollon Rim.  Mogollon is pronounced "muggy-own".    (I know... no matter how I sound it out I don't see how it is muggy-own).  But there you have it.
We decided to ride out along much of the now paved wagon trail that takes you through the Rim Country.  Almost to the town of Payson we came across Tonto Natural Bridge.  It is known to be the largest natural travertine bridge in the world.....  Wow sounds like something we should go see.   Good thing we are on the motorcycle as there is a 14% grade down into the valley to enter into the park area.  The bridge can be seen from four viewpoints and you can hike to the bottom and walk under it.  The rocky bridge is 183 feet high, 400 feet long and 150 feet at its widest point.  Story has it that a prospector stumbled upon the bridge in 1877 while being chased by the Apaches.  He hid in the tunnel for 3 days.  After he was safe he laid squatters rights to the land and built a lodge and brought his family from Scotland to live here.  What a shock the landscape must have been for them!

Tonto State Park Natural Bridge

In Payson we grabbed some lunch at the airport diner...  Crosswinds!  While having lunch you can watch the small planes come and go and the view of the Rim Country is right at your table side.

Navajo Tapestry

Nov 3/16  Weather sunny high about 69, low 48.  We are still loving this fall Indian Summer temperatures here in Page, Arizona.  While staying at the Lake Powell Resort and RV - Wahweap Campground which is on Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, we are taking the opportunity to view the narrow, colorful, and sculpted geology of the lower end of Lake Powell.   The Lake Powell Resort Lodge just down the road has a marina and boat cruises available and staying in the campground we were given a 10% off coupon.  We both agreed we may never get the chance to do this again without fighting off throngs of tourists so we booked the only boat tour available on Thursday.  Once again it was better than we ever thought -  the boat circles around Glen Canyon Dam on Lake Powell then heads 4 miles down the high-walled Navajo Sandstone water arm of Antelope Canyon.  The trip last about 1 1/2 hours and was really worthwhile.  Trying to pick out a few pictures to post is incredibly hard, they are all so beautiful.  The dark stained coloring on the sides of the canyon walls is referred to as "Navajo Tapestry".

Heaven on Earth

As close as you will get to Heaven on Earth

Nov 1/16  Weather partly sunny/cloudy high of 69, low 47. 
The most important reason for coming to Page, Arizona was the hopes to hike Antelope Canyon.  We had seen pictures of this amazing slot canyon from other RV'ers and found it hard to believe their pictures were real.  The pic's below were all taken with our I Phone.  Amazing !!!!   To tour Upper or Lower Antelope Canyons you must enter Navajo Nation Tribal Land and there you will need to take an Indian Guide.  Our Lower Antelope Tour (Ken's Tour) was $28 each; for 1 1/2 hours, it was excellent value.  Lower Antelope Canyon is also known in Navajo language as "Spiral Rock Arches".  By using a series of very steep stairs and ladders you will descend into the canyon.  The canyons were formed by erosion of Navajo sandstone  over years of flash floods. Rainwater, especially during monsoon season, runs into the extensive basin above the slot canyon sections, picking up speed and sand as it rushes into the narrow passageways. Over time the passageways eroded away, making the corridors deeper and smoothing hard edges in such a way as to form characteristic 'flowing' shapes in the rock.   This place is one of the 7 wonders of the world;  to us!   One word describes the incredible beauty and spiritual feeling of this canyon:  ethereal .

A Dam, A Ferry and a Horseshoe

Oct 31/16  Weather high of 72, low 50  sunny
Billy was doing the touring today and he packed the whole day of sites to see.  We took about a 44 mile drive from our campground to Lee's Ferry and back.  First we stopped at Glen Canyon Dam.  It separates Lake Powell from the Colorado River, generating lots of power and controlling water downstream to the south.  Since Billy worked in land surveying he finds these things fascinating.

Back side of the Dam, adjacent to Lake Powell

To travel to Lee's Ferry from Page it basically looks like a V on the map.  We crossed the Colorado River's Marble Canyon at the Navajo Bridge (built in 1929) which up till then the northern Arizona/southern Utah was only accessible at Lee's Ferry.   Once across the bridge you drive along the Vermilion Cliffs and see the Cathedral Rock formation.

Navajo Bridge spanning the Colorado River

Vermilion Cliffs, Cathedral Rock

the road along Marble Canyon from Lee's Ferry

Lee's Ferry service was started in 1871 by the namesake John D. Lee for the Mormon settlers moving south to Arizona from Utah.  The unique geography of the river crossing is accessible here only and cannot be found for hundreds of miles along the Colorado River.  These days it is a very popular spot for rafting companies to take tours on the river.

Lee's Ferry

To return we just retrace our drive as the only other alternative route would be hundreds of miles into Utah and back to Arizona.  There are few routes available in this terrain.  We enjoy the drive back since we always find everything looks different the other way.

Rosey and Billy in front of Horseshoe Bend, Colorado River

Just outside of Page we pulled into a scenic view point called Horseshoe Bend.   It is the Colorado River in a 270 degree turn.  It is about 1 and 1/2 mile hike but you can actually walk right up to the cliff edge, no fees, no guard rails.  The vantage point is amazing.

saw this heart shape in the path we took to Horseshoe Bend, has to be a Good Omen

Billy was quite the tour guide today!  Time to put our feet up and watch the sunset back at the campground.  Page, AZ is glorious.