Highlights of Trip and Statistics

Here are some highlights of this trip as remembered two days after getting home. Cattails State Park, Lake Havasu, Arizona (hiking). Rincon Country West RV for two weeks (biking, bridge, walking, Christmas Dinner, visiting tourists destinations around Tucson). Would not stay there again because of being on the flight path for two airports – civilian and military. Catalina State Park, Tucson (Hiking, birding, biking, Nabucco (Live at Met at local cinema)). Gilbert Ray Campground, Tucson Mountain Park (hiking and scenery). Organ Pipe Cactus National Park (Hiking and Ranger tour). Ajo (historic town). Quartzite and BLM camping (for the experience). Fountain of Youth RV resort (Hiking, duplicate bridge, very friendly people and hot spring pools). Joshua Tree National Park (the scenery) and Little Creek Casino Resort (good seafood bar!).

Some statistics

For those who may be interested. We were away 59 days. The RV drove 6028 KM – 101 KM per day. (Side trips in Honda Fit not included). We “camped” in 25 different places. Our costs were $69 CDN per day per person. 25% Fuel, 26% Food including alcohol, 6% ferries, 28% parks and 15% miscellaneous.

If it was summer time we would have stayed in more remote camping spots – like BLM lands and National Forest sites. In the winter you prefer to have at least electrical hookup and stay on main routes.

 

The last leg

The seafood restaurant at the Casino in Sheldon, Washington had great dining. See - https://www.little-creek.com/dining/squaxin-island-seafood-bar.php

The seafood bar is highly rated by TripAdvisor. Penny had Crab Bisque Soup and Crab Cakes. I had Crab Bisque Soup and Steak and Lobster. Quite a treat and worth it with the snowy weather outside.

Wednesday 8^th we drove to Port Angeles in snow and slush. (Victoria was experiencing a heavy snow day). We then parked in the Coho Ferry line up for the night. Surprisingly quiet but ready to load at 7 am. The ferry was only half full and the crossing calm. We surprisingly met on the ferry with Marjory (a friend of Penny’s) and her husband who had come back early from Arizona because of health worries.

It was great to be home after two months. The RV is parked again in Brentwood Bay. The snow is rapidly melting. We have been able to take in a few movies for the last days of the Victoria Film Festival and will be attending the Pacific Baroque Festival next week.

Thank you to those who have followed this Blog. There will be one more posting of highlights and statistics.

Nearly home and something different

It’s Tuesday February 8^th.  Hiking friends in Victoria are only hiking in Oak Bay to-day rather than travelling to Sooke because of the snow. A neighbor sends a picture of Pioneer Park covered in snow. We are putting off returning to the last day (Thursday) that we have to be back because of travel health insurance coverage.

We continue to stop at Passport America discount sites. Shamrock RV in Eugene then 99 RV park in Vancouver Washington and now in Little Creek Casino Resort at Shelton Washington.  In Eugene the fridge stopped working so we managed to get to an RV repair shop to diagnose the problem – a broken cooling unit that needs replacing or a new fridge. No problem for now as bags of ice are sufficient. In Vancouver Washington “Tough Top Awnings” replaced the awnings on top of our slide-outs. They had been recommended by RV friends at Fountain of Youth.

This is a huge Casino at Shelton Washington – on Indian land and it looks as though mostly staffed by Indians. There are hundreds of slot machines, the usual black jack and roulette places, six food outlets, and an hotel.  I cannot help but feel sympathy with the poor people who frequent these places and get addicted to gambling. We plan to eat some seafood in an oyster bar this evening. Many Casinos are RV friendly and have excellent RV facilities. There is snow on the ground here but the road to-day was only wet. On Thursday morning we plan to take the Coho from Port Angeles to Victoria. Hoping to find that the snow has melted – it is forecast to warm up.      

The Sunday Oregonian

One of the pleasures of travelling is to read local news. I read an in depth article titled “How will Oregon fill the Medicaid gap?”  It gives an insight into the US Health Care Industry. Medicaid is the insurance scheme for the poor. Medicare is the insurance scheme for those over 65. In Oregon as a result of the Affordable Care Act 436,000 extra people were able to receive health care insurance. “It gave free or subsidized health care coverage to nearly half a million Oregonians. It also drove insurance companies out of business, led to painful insurance rate hikes, generated windfall profits for hospitals and undoubtedly saved lives”. The uninsured numbers dropped from 16% to 5% (about 280,000) Oregonians.  Oregon has a population of about 4 Million (a bit less than British Columbia at 4.6 Million). Every state negotiates different deals with the Federal Government.  In Oregon those who do not qualify for Medicaid (the cut off is $16,394 annual salary for an individual) are required to buy insurance otherwise they get fined. Two 55 year olds with no pre-existing health conditions saw their premiums rise to $1,472 per month, with a deductible of $7,150 per year. “That’s more than double what we pay on our mortgage”.  The Oregon Health and Science University now employs 16,000 staff compared with 12,000 before the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) came into being. There is a lot of uncertainty as to what the Trump Administration and the Congress will do with Obamacare, whether it will result in more uninsured and whether the State will have to pick up more of the costs that until now have been provided by the Federal Government.  In Canada we do not have to be concerned about those uninsured but there is a continuing tug of war between the Federal Government and the Provinces as to how much each will pay. Presently the Federal Government will only agree on increases if new monies are provided for Home Care and Mental Health rather than for hospitals and doctors.

“In 2015, total health expenditure in Canada is expected to reach $219.1 billion, or $6,105 per person. It is anticipated that, overall, health spending will represent 10.9% of Canada's gross domestic product (GDP).”

“U.S. health care spending grew 5.3 percent in 2014, reaching $3.0 trillion or $9,523 per person. As a share of the nation's Gross Domestic Product, health spending accounted for 17.5 percent.”

From the World Bank – the following are % of GDP spent on health care on selected countries to compare. Argentina 4.5, Austria 9.4, Cuba 11.1, France 11.5, Japan 10.2, Netherlands 10.9, New Zealand 11.0, Sweden 11.9, UK 9.1.

What really needs to be compared are Health Outcomes – such as average life expectancy, infant mortality, maternal mortality etc but also responsiveness (timeliness of access to care). The US and the Oregonian article spent most of the time commenting on costs but not on outcomes. That could be another commentary piece!  

Nearly caught in a flood

We arrived in Wonderland RV park just north of Redding at about 3.30 pm on Friday February 3^rd. Within a short time it started to rain very hard. There was thunder and lightening. It rained continuously for about six hours and we guess it must have been 2-4 inches of rain. We watched a John Wayne movie, which we had bought at a truck stop, in the RV but the noise of the rain made it difficult to hear the dialog. At about 9.30 we found that we were in a flood. There was a creek that ran down beside the RV site had overflowed and the front wheels of the RV were in about six inches of water. With the help of neighbourly advice (we were told it had happened last about six years ago) we moved the RV to higher ground. In the morning the water had subsided. Looking at the creek we estimated that in the night it had been about six feet above its normal level. We checked the weather further north and set off early for Siskiyou pass. The road was bare but wet and the temperature about 11C. The weather was better than what we had experienced travelling south on December 14^th. After Siskiyou we stopped in Ashland. It was sunny and we went for a walk. The Shakespeare festival does not start plays again until February 17th. We have happy memories of previous visits to Ashland. The first was in about 1977 when we flew down with friends in a Cessna 172! We then returned to TriCity RV Park at Myrtle Creek (Passport America and well rated by Good Sam) where we had stayed on the route south in December. 

Heading North in California

California has a population nearly the same as Canada (about 35 Million). A radio commentary said that it produces 50% of the food supply needs of the whole of the US. As we drive north the scale of the agricultural activities is amazing. Everything is on a huge scale – whether it be vegetables near the Mexican border or further up nuts, fruit, olives, grassland for hay, and cattle feed lots – everything is vast. One is also conscious of the need for irrigation. Californians are relieved that the seven year drought has come to an end but whether this is enough to solve the ongoing water needs (a large proportion is for agriculture) remains to be seen.

We have been driving up interstate I 99 before joining I 5 at Stockton. Each night we try and stop at a Passport America site where you pay only 50% of the regular rate. Some of the sites are a bit “grotty” but once we are set up we are able to enjoy our “glamping” (glamorous camping) in comfort and sometimes accompanied by a Gin and Tonic. We tend to fuel up at Flying J/Pilot truck stops where you get a discount for being members of Good Sam.

California is pushing back on Donald Trump’s immigrant policies. One commentator said that the national government needs to learn from the history of California’s racism and xenophobia and how over the years California (like Canada) learned to assimilate foreigners. There are safe haven cities in California where undocumented immigrants by law will not be sent home. Of course much of Southern California depends on Mexican labor in the farming community and in the service sector.  

We were in Lodi on Friday February 3^rd. There was a forecast of a major weather system coming in from the pacific with snow at higher levels. Even Vancouver BC is forecasting snow again to-day. We will progress slowly north and plan to be in Redding to-night. From there there are excellent web cam views of I 5 and of hourly reports of road conditions. The Siskiyou pass just south of Ashland is at 4,300 feet. We might get delayed in Redding which is two hours south of Siskiyou pass. One day at a time. Still planning to be back in Victoria Thursday February 9^th.