Amtrak

A pleasant if not slow way to travel.

Sentinel Peak Park

This was a steep bike ride up to the peak but was worth it for the view of Tucson

Titan II Missile Museum

A few photos to show

Pima Air and Space Museum

A few photos as a reminder

Hawker Hurricane - Battle of Britain fighter

A V1 "Doodlebug"

P51 Mustang with Rolls Royce Merlin engine.

B 52

Another B 52

Arizona-Senora Desert Museum

A few photos to show.

Tourists in Tucson

Son Mark joined us for five days and he was keen to see the most popular attractions. We started with the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum. Although it was a windy day the variety of animals and birds is remarkable. Then he and Penny went to Mission San Xavier del Bac (which we had visited three years ago). The present church was constructed in 1783.  It is considered to be the finest example of Mexican Baroque architecture in the United States. To-day the Franciscan Sisters of Charity still operates a K-8 mission school. The following day we rented a bicycle for him and he and I went on a 30KM ride. Being a tourist is very easy when you have a small tow car (Honda Fit Sport). The next day Penny and Mark drove to Bisbee (about and hour and a half drive) - in the Mule mountains. A historic town where there used to be a copper mine. "A quirky, artsy town that offers historic lodging, fine dining, museums, art galleries and antique shops". Then they visited Tombstone and watched a reenactment of the "Shoot out at OK Coral". The next day was a "boys" day and he and I visited the Pima Air and Space Museum. I will post photos in a later Blog. We had also hoped to take in the Boneyard air park - where there are hundreds of mothballed military aircraft parked. Unfortunately the tour was fully booked when we arrived so we then went to the Titan II underground missile museum. A reminder of the days of the "cold war". From Wikipedia "The first flight of the Titan II was in March 1962 and the missile, now designated LGM-25C, reached initial operating capability in October 1963. The Titan II contained one W-53 nuclear warhead in a Mark 6 re-entry vehicle with a range of 9,325 miles (15,000 kilometres (9,300 mi)). The W-53 had a yield of 9 megatons. This warhead was guided to its target using an inertial guidance unit. The 54 deployed Titan IIs formed the backbone of America's strategic deterrent force until the LGM-30 Minuteman ICBM was deployed en masse during the early to mid-1960s. Twelve Titan IIs were flown in NASA's Gemini manned space program in the mid-1960s."  The 54 silos were all built in a three year period 1960-1963. An extraordinary undertaking when you see what was in the underground silo and control rooms that were manned 24 hours a day for 20 years.
After five days we put Mark on an Amtrak train to Austin Texas where he was going to visit a girl-friend.

Rincon Country West RV Resort

It was a relief to arrive here on December 20th after 8 days of travelling. We came here because it was recommended by a fellow RVer we had met at a Great American RV club meeting in Westport,  Washington last July. He and his wife spend three months here every year. There are 1139 RV sites here. Probably 2/3 are occupied by manufactured homes that people either own or rent. The rest are RVs like us. It was started in 1970 by the O'Leary family who still own it. It appears to be very well run and one of the main attraction for those that live/stay here are the multiple activities. I counted 51 clubs/activities that one can be involved in. In six days we have participated in a HAM radio club, fun bridge, a Christmas sing along carol evening with some locals also performing (recorders, singers, flute, guitar), attended a Christmas lunch (for 387 people), and watched an outdoor model railway. We may, before we run out of steam, also participate in a hiking group, a biking group, duplicate bridge, a birding group, swim in the pool, go to an exercise room, take in a farmers market, or participate in a pancake breakfast etc etc!  
The residents here come from all over the US and across Canada. Most seem to just stay a few months in the winter and come here for the climate, the many activities in the resort but also many interesting places to visit around Tucson. Quite a few RVers are full timers and travel all over the US and Canada.

Lake Havasu City

We had visited Lake Havasu City three years ago. Lake Havasau itself was formed in 1938 by the building of one of the many dams on the Colorado river. The lake is part of the water supply for Los Angeles. Luckily there are agreements to keep the water level with limits to enable recreational use (unlike Lake Mead behind the Hoover Dam where the lake level is very low).
In 1963 (when I was a student in London) Lake Havasu City had a population of about 140 people. To-day it has a population of 50,000. The main tourist attraction is London Bridge and the extraordinary story of how it was purchased from the City of London by entrepreneur Robert P. McCullouch. It was reconstructed and rededicated in 1971. McCulloch had purchased 26 square miles of land with the intent to develop a new city. By 1975 the population was 15,500.
We stayed two nights south of the city at Cattails State Park - a welcome day's rest after the journey south.  We continue to enjoy the delicious orange juice from Orange Grove RV park.
It was about a four and a half drive to Rincon Country West RV resort in Tucson. We will be here for two weeks. I was pleased to be able to attend a meeting of the HAM radio club this morning and acquired a 2 Meter hand held radio from a person who wanted to almost give it away.  It was 15C this morning but surprisingly rained in the night.

Discussions and hearing from Americans

We were in Vancouver, Washington in a coffee shop. There was a table of six people, likely locals having a regular coffee morning meeting. Of the six four voted Republican and two Democrat. The two who voted Democrat were supporters of Bernie Saunders. Of the six one of them voted because she wanted to influence the Supreme Court appointment. My guess was she was interested in overturning Roe vs Wade (the decision making abortion legal in Federal law). The group, who detected my British accent, asked about Brexit and what did I think. My response was the Brits do not know what will happen with Brexit with many issues such as immigration, the economy, the financial industry (City of London). It appears at this time that the British Government does not know what it is going to do and even whether it will require a vote in Parliament.
Another discussion in Redding, California with a farmer. He was towing a small RV and told me he had come into town to visit the Veterans Hospital. He owned 10,000 acres about 100 miles from town and had 600 head of cattle on the range. The land has been in his family since the middle of the 19th century. He said he had a bigger RV - a 5th wheel at home that he used in the summer. During the summer the cattle are trucked to eastern Oregon to graze there (We saw the extensive grasslands there on a previous trip). He manages his herd with the help of one employee. However he said at branding time all the neighbours like to come and help. In our brief discussion there was no time to talk politics!
When we can we listen to National Public Radio (NPR) which provides the most informative and balanced view of US news. However one evening we could not get NPR and listened to Fox Radio. Extraordinary and to me shocking rhetoric. Highly influenced by "Christian" values. Clearly supporting Republican viewpoints. Still demonizing Hilary Clinton. Supportive of the Supreme Court overturning Roe vs Wade. Also a demonizing of Rex Tillerson, the nominee for Secretary of State because when he was President of the Boy Scouts of America when the organization developed a policy which promoted tolerance of LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, BiSexual and Transgendered) people.
Getting the New York Times on line and the Economist daily is resulting in information overload but it has been difficult to withdraw from the fascination of US Politics and the surprising election of Donald Trump. The story behind Rex Tillerson, the Chief Executive of Exxon and his involvement with Russia is fascinating and how if he does get confirmed it will affect the US Economic Embargo of Russia.      

Orange Grove, RV park, Bakersfield, California

We visited Orange Grove RV park, Bakersfield, three years ago. RV friends will recognize it as a very well run park on the Interstate 40 route to Arizona. One of the main attractions is that you can pick as many oranges as you wish. They are beautifully ripe at this time and we celebrated with a Vodka and Orange having made it this far!
We have been able to pick up British Columbia TV on our Shaw Direct satellite dish and saw the very cold weather all across Canada including Victoria and Vancouver. Even here this morning it was 3C at 7.30 am but is rapidly warming up as we have sunny weather. We talked to Ottawa this morning and it was -25C !
On Thursday we had another day of high winds and driving rain. There was an hours delay at one point on the Interstate due to a crash. However Friday was better. We have averaged 390 KM per day which is not far off the distance from Victoria to Tofino (317 KM).
We will be in Arizona on Monday.
 

Escaping Victoria

With winter weather forecast we spent Sunday night (December 11th) at Oceanside RV in Sidney. This enabled us to put some water in the RV and get it warmed up. We awoke Monday morning to find it snowing and a strong SE wind. Was there going to be a ferry delay? We made it in very good time to the 0900 Ferry from Swartz Bay to Tsawwassen. There was fresh snow on the road and patches of compacted ice/snow on the road until we had passed Bellingham. It then rained heavily on and off till we made it to Vancouver Washington (99 RV Park). The next day we made it to Myrtle Creek Oregon (Tri City RV Park). Then we were both somewhat anxious as to whether we would make it over the Siskiyou pass (4000 ft) into California. It was possible to check the weather on line every couple of hours. We left just as it was getting light. There was heavy rain on and off on the Interstate (I5). We stopped in Medford for a leg stretch in a large shopping mall and coffee and WiFi at a Starbucks. By then it was 1000 hrs and the Siskiyou pass temperature had risen to 2C although they were reporting 5 inches of snow on the roadside. We carried on in heavy rain on and off and fortunately went through the pass without a problem. After more rain and some heavy winds we arrived in Redding (Marina RV Park) at about 1400 hrs. It was a relief to have got this far. The temperature is 13C this morning (Thursday 15th). It has rained all night. Victoria is -2C to-day! Last evening we celebrated our 48th Wedding anniversary by going out to dinner at a local Steak House. We will continue south on I5 to get to Arizona as soon as possible!

Getting ready to set off

It is December 8th and in Victoria it is -1C outside, there is ice on side roads and snow is forecast for the next two days. We are hoping to leave on Monday 12th to head South. Last weekend the RV water system needed winterizing because of the weather forecast so there is no water on board. We will probably spend Sunday night in the RV at Oceanside RV in Sidney. This will enable us to warm up the inside and at least partly fill the water tank. The 32 Foot Triple E Commander RV has double paned windows and a layer of insulation around the outside. It was specifically designed for the Canadian market where people use their RVs in the winter. Now it is just about waiting to see how the weather unfolds. We have a tentative booking at a Passport America RV site just north of Portland (about 5 hours of driving from the ferry). When you belong to Passport America which costs about $50USD per year you get half price at all participating RV places. At this time of the year we need to go into RV sites with hookups - electricity, sewer, water etc. Our aim is to be in Tucson at Rincon Country West RV Resort from December 20th to January 3rd. Son Mark will join us from Toronto for five days on December 24th.  The great thing about RVing (similar to boating) is that you have a lot of flexibility and changing plans because of the weather is not a big deal. Best to wait and see.