Coming Home

Brad positioning the trailer in the driveway for the rest of the winter after we've cleaned it out

This drive home is fairly uneventful until the very end.  We leave the Petrified Forest National Park in Arizona in warmth and sunshine and spend the first night in Amarillo, Texas (almost freezing at night, but sunny and in the 70s F during the day), the second night in Springfield, Missouri (a bit warmer at night due to a warm front, and mostly sunny and in the 60s F during the day), and PLAN to spend the third night just north of Indianapolis, Indiana, but after an early dinner Brad checks the weather again and it has changed - for the worse.

A "slurry" of mixed snow, ice and rain is expected to start around 9am with severe thunderstorms expected by afternoon.  So, we decide to drive through the night and go all the way home - 500 miles or 800 kms!  However, overnight in Michigan and at home in Ontario, it's supposed to get very cold, so now we have to winterize the trailer.  We stop at a travel center and put the antifreeze in the water lines and get that done.  Then we have to stop in London, Ontario to dump our grey and black tanks because the RV dump at the travel center in Michigan is frozen.

By the time it gets dark (shortly after dinner in Indiana), Grady starts to get upset.  He's done for the day and wants out of the truck.  He lets us know by howling, and when we ignore him he grumbles to himself under the back seat like a sulky kid!  I try to tell him we're going home, but ...

The worst part of the drive is right after we cross the border into Sarnia, Ontario, where thick fog slows our drive.  But we do make it home safely at 4:30am - 20+ hours on the road.  Grady is very happy to see the inside of the house and the outside of the truck.  Dixie (our stay-at-home cat) is not happy to see Grady.  We are happy to see our son, and I hope he is happy to see us.

Total distance driven this trip between September 4, 2013 and February 20, 2014:	11,720 miles (18,860 Kms)
Average daily cost for trip expenses (excludes groceries and non-related expenses):	$40/day
Total amount spent on diesel:	$3,665
Total amount spent on camping fees:	$820 (thanks to all of our free camping spots.  In February $0!)

Petrified Forest, AZ

We leave Lake Havasu at about 80 degrees F and 500 feet elevation and climb up to 7,300 feet in the Coconino National Forest (down to 62F and breathtaking with its gorgeoous tall Ponderosa Pine trees), through Flagstaff and Winslow (Eagles' song "Take It Easy" - "Well I was standing on the corner in Winslow, Arizona; such a fine sight to see...") and to the Petrified Forest National Park outside of Holbrook.  We take Interstate 40 which mostly follows Historic Route 66 which was the only road from Chicago to Los Angeles for many years.  They call it the "Mother Road" or "Main Street of America", and you can purchase much memorabilia imprinted with these messages.  Sadly, the building of the interstate caused many businesses to close along the old highway, but some history is now preserved as people are returning to the slower route for nostalgia.  We will follow I-40 much of the way home.

Unfortunately, the day we spend at the Petrified Forest is windy and totally overcast (hence not great photos), but we are reminded how beautiful these ancient trees are.  We are also reminded that we have been here before.  I originally thought we hadn't been to the south part of the park, but alas, we have - five years ago!  Sigh.  And I don't even drink!  At least we find a hike we haven't done before and spend a couple of hours roaming among these fallen, mineralized beauties.

	A reconstruction of a native dwelling from a millennium ago. The walls are made from petrified logs held together with clay mud.
	A couple of petrified logs laying along the trail. Petrified wood is created when dead trees fall into a river and quickly become encased in sediments. Minerals from the water seep into the wood and fill the gaps, then over millions of years the organic tree materials decay leaving the solidified minerals. Different minerals create different colours - hematite (a type of iron) creates red or pink; goethite (another iron) produces yellow, brown or orange; green is produced by copper; manganese gives a purple or blue colour; carbon and pyrite produce black; and silica (quartz) gives a white colour.
	This specimen is VERY long - I'm at the far end of it. Most trees erode in sections which split as cleanly as if sawed into pieces, but a few are intact. The longest in this area of the park is 120 feet.
	I'm a real tree hugger.
	Another beautiful sample of "rainbow logs". These photos are taken within the national park where collecting is prohibited, although staff claim they lose 2 tons each year due to illegal collecting. However, stores in the area sell pieces that have been collected from nearby private land. Many are polished on one surface; many are made into furniture like table tops and they are stunning - and expensive. We purchase a small piece to bring home and display.

Lake Havasu, AZ

	These signs are everywhere, and it's true. What a paradise. Like an oasis, the reservoir that is Lake Havasu creates a welcoming atmosphere in this arid desert land. The city is full of snowbirds and vacationers who come for the boating and warm weather. The lake is thanks to the Parker Dam about 30 miles downstream on the Colorado River.
	This is London Bridge - for real. Purchased from London, England in 1968 by the city's founder for $2.5 million, it was dismantled, shipped to California, trucked to Arizona and reassembled across the channel.
	At the end of the channel that separates the city from the island in the middle of the lake, palm trees and sand remind us of Florida beaches. Brad and I have the opportunity one evening to play beach volleyball with a group of locals, most in their 20s, but a few our age. Great fun!
	One big reason for coming to Lake Havasu City is the fireworks convention. Fireworks companies show what they can produce in hopes of getting new business. A lot of the fireworks are experimental. We regroup with our "Quartszite friends" for quesadillas, margueritas and an evening show! Over one hour of spectacular pyrotechnics. What a blast! (Hard to choose one photo from the 200 we shot.)

The Desert Bar near Parker, AZ

	We meet our "Quartzsite RV Friends" at the Desert Bar just north of Parker, Arizona for an afternoon of beer and music. This is an outdoor bar in the middle of - nowhere!  Here's our friend Sue's blog post about this adventure.
	The band was great, playing rock songs from the 60s to the 80s. They really had the crowd partying. The lead singer is standing on the bar in front of a wagon which is hanging on the wall.
	Here's a view of the bar. It's quite large with seating for about 500 or more? It opens at noon, but the parking lot is almost full by 11:30. It's totally run on solar energy. Even the bathrooms are "outdoors" with views of the desert from the sinks. The toilets are installed into rock walls - very unique!
	A "steeple" built entirely of steel by local ironworkers. It's just a facade, but again, unique.

Camping on the Colorado River, AZ

After two weeks camping with thousands of other RVers, we need our peace and solitude.  The Quartzsite party breaks up and we head to the Colorado River, south of Ehrenberg, Arizona.  We find a fabulous camping spot on the river with no one else around except the farmers across the river in California.  Unfortunately, the campsite we choose is a difficult spot to get a fifth-wheel trailer into because the access road drops sharply from the main (dirt) road, and the sharp angles created by the hitch movement cause the trailer to bump the top of the truck bed - but we squeak by and make it in - who knows if we'll get out!  (We did.)

As I'm walking around the trailer determining the most level spot to park, I hear sssssss - that's not good!  We have sprung a leak in one of our trailer tires.  Luckily, Mr. Fix-It plugs the hole - caused by a small stone of all things - and we get set up, although Grady is not happy about the delay in opening the sides of the trailer.  But he forgives the crisis because he LOVES it here - so much sand and lots of wildlife (birds and bunnies) so there are plenty of good smells.

As dusk approaches, the owls start - and there are many of them communicating with each other up and down the river.  One is definitely in the bush beside us, although we never see it.  I am assuming they are burrowing owls because there aren't many big trees around for them to spend the day.  The coyotes howl nightly too, although we never see them either.  And one day, while we're driving down-river checking out other campsites and what's in the area, we end up at a one-lane, dead-end road.  I get out of the truck to help guide Brad in a 10-point turn and suddenly he's excitedly pointing behind me.  The window is rolled up, so I walk up to the passenger door as he rolls the window down.  "A bobcat just crossed the road 20 feet behind you!"  Huh!  And I missed it!  The cat must have been drinking from the river (it's a steep embankment about 15 feet) and the sound of our truck made him nervous.  We look into the marsh where he ran (Brad said he was just trotting, not in a big hurry), but we don't see him again.  However, the morning we leave, we say goodbye to the river (Brad's idea!) and we see bobcat tracks from one side of "our" beach to the other along the river's edge.  He probably visited during the night or early in the morning.  Wish I'd seen one of these beautiful cats.  Here, kitty, kitty!

We are also near the Yuma Proving Grounds which are just south of us, so daily we hear explosions as they test weapons and F18s roar a few hundred feet over our heads.  It's like our own private air show!

Although the scenery and the serenity are wonderful, there isn't much to do in this area.  We hike away from the river on ATV trails where we find lots of shotgun shells, so perhaps this is a popular hunting area - there are certainly a lot of animal tracks in the sand.  We take advantage of the sunshine and just relax, knowing that in a few weeks we'll be heading home to snowstorms and freezing cold.  Yuck!

	Taking Grady for a walk on the beach.
	Our campsite on the Colorado River, taken from the roof of the trailer. That's California on the other side and is all agricultural; we're in Arizona.
	Brad along the river during our drive to the Cibola Bridge. The river is flowing very fast and is about 55F (12C).
	An old, graffiti-ridden building we found during our drive along the Levee Road which follows the Colorado River. No idea what it used to be.
	Some beautiful flowers growing out of the rock and sand deposited by a stream on the banks of the river. So unexpected in this arid environment.