Home Archives Français

January February March April May June July August September October November December

1 to 15 November 2022 16 to 30 November 2022

Tuesday, November 1, 2022.

On the road again!
Before we get on the main highway, we stopped and double-checked around the MH and the car.
We do this when we have not towed the car for a while.

We are on our way to the ferry in Nanaimo.

We are taking a different ferry this time. This one leaves Duke Point and goes to Tsawwassen, south of Vancouver. This way, we do not have to drive through Vancouver.

Our home for the next two hours.

We left from somewhere in that bay.

It is windy and cold on the water.

Passengers can not stay in their vehicles during the sailing.

Back on dry land, we are close to the border.

There is a little bit of a lineup at the border.
The customs officer asked us if we had fruits and veggies. No.
They decide to do an agricultural inspection on us. No problems.
Surprise! We cannot bring raw chicken across the border. The officer takes all the frozen raw chicken, our bad.
The officer is nice. No fines are given. Just a lecture on why we cannot bring raw chicken into the US.

Fifteen minutes later, we are back on the road and driving south.

Our first stop is at the next Walmart to pick up wine and Gin. And maybe chicken?
We checked our freezer and found more raw chicken. They did not take it all !!!

Our next stop is for gas.
With the exchange rate, it turns out to be about $1.51 CDN per litre. In Comox, it was at $1.95 $ per litre this morning.

Our first night is at the Casino Tulalip in Marysville, Washington.

We covered a lot of ground today.

Wednesday, November 2, 2022.

The parking lot for RV at the casino.

Seattle is easy to cross.
Oregon, here we come!

Portland is no problem either. The I-5 in the cities of Seattle and Portland are nice.

We noticed the west coast states have a lot of religious billboards along the I-5.

This is an old camper!

Our plan was to drive to Salt Lake City, Utah then carry on to Reno, Nevada.
After looking at the weather and some of the passes we would have to drive through, we decided to go straight south to California and Yuma, Arizona.
We can see snow in the mountains.

We get some rain at times. The high for yesterday and today was only +9° C.

Our campground for the night. We are in Eugene, Oregon.

It was a good day on the road.

Thursday, November 3, 2022.

This is not the greatest campground, but still safe. The price was right.

Some left over from Halloween.

Today was a day of going up the mountain pass, and going down the mountain pass, was not fun.

More religious signs.

Clouds, rain, down in valleys and up mountain passes.

On the good side, we have a lot to see on the side of the road.

We did not know why, but two trucks were slowing down the traffic on Interstate 5. We are driving at about 25 km/h. This lasted over 15 minutes.
After we passed a construction zone, the trucks left. We resumed speed.
It makes sense. Why stop traffic completely and cause accidents when you can slow it down and keep moving.

The I-5 is very nice.

One more stop for gas. This time the price is about $1.55 $ CDN per litre.

Hummmm, we see more and more snow in the mountains.

And we are in the snow, not on the road tho.

Here is the reason, we are over 4,300 feet in elevation.

If it goes up, it must go down.

California.

I am hard at work.

Mount Shasta is in the distance.

That is one big mountain.

Our home for the night.

Basically, put money in an envelope and pick a site.

All day, we drove in mountains.
We still covered a lot of ground.

Because I am still not 100% from my pneumonia from a few weeks ago, my sinuses are still not cleared. So going up and down mountain passes (more than 3,000 feet) hurts my ears.

To finish our day, Natasha tries to catch raindrops on her tongue.

Friday, November 4, 2022.

We had to drive a little on the back road to get back on I-5.

Sacramento, here we come.

Shasta Lake (reservoir). It is almost 150 feet below the normal water level.

It is so nice driving with no winds.

We are leaving the mountains behind us.

We are now in Central Valley in California.
From Wikipedia:
The Central Valley is one of the world's most productive agricultural regions. More than 230 crops are grown there. On less than 1 percent of the total farmland in the United States, the Central Valley produces 8 percent of the nation's agricultural output by value: US$43.5 billion in 2013. California's farms and ranches earned almost $50 billion in 2018. The valley's productivity relies on irrigation from surface water and a badly depleted underground aquifer. About one-sixth of the US' irrigated land is in the Central Valley.

Sacramento is easy to cross.

One of the many irrigation canals in California.

We stop near the town of Patterson for the night. It is close to the I-5.
We will spend two nights here. It is warm now, at +20° C.

We unhooked the car and took a drive in town.

It was a good day driving.

Saturday, November 5, 2022.

A day of doing hardly anything.

Natasha with her horse.

Sunday, November 6, 2022.

Near the RV Park, we stopped for gas one more time.
We pay about $1.66 CDN per litre. Remember, California has the highest gasoline prices.

A date palm by the road. It is full of dates too.

Very nice roads.

We do not know what is hiding under the big tarps or what those mountains of ?? are.

We saw oranges.

And grenadines.

Going up again?
Tejon pass at 4,144 feet elevation.

We leave the I-5 behind to take the 138.

Our next home is in Palmdale.

We spend the night in the parking lot of the local Lowe's.

Another good day of driving (for us).

I am still not 100 %. It does not make driving as easy.
Tomorrow, we will be at the RV Park Fountain of Youth for a week.
It will be nice to do (almost) nothing for a week.

Monday, November 7, 2022

This is the last travelling day for a week after.
A good omen.

We are heading towards this black cloud.

One more mountain pass with clouds at the top.

Before we even got to the I-15, traffic came to a halt.
We moved at about 4 km-h for an hour before we got to the I-15.

Once on the I-15, we got rain, but at least the traffic is moving well.

From the I-15, we take the I-215 and finish on the I-10.
One more pass to get over.

We see a lot of windmills in this area.

We drive by Palm Springs and the San Andreas fault.

We get off the I-10 to 111.
We stopped for lunch at this abandoned gas station by the Salton Sea.

Michele's feet.

The Salton Sea.

We are getting closer to our destination.

We cannot wait to see if the photos are the same as in real life.
Nice entrance.

Our home for the next week.

Over the next few days, we will show you the amenities of the Park.
For now, we head to the pool and spas.

Today's drive.

We partially filled the MH with gasoline. We have enough to make it to Yuma, where gasoline is cheaper.

Tuesday, November 8, 2022.

The view from the kitchen table.

The Park has many hiking trails around the outside perimeter.
Time to hike one of them.

This one has a labyrinth along the way.

Some residents have added some paintings with words of wisdom written on them.

The view to the Salton Sea.

The Chocolate Mountains are behind me.

It is us!

The labyrinth.

Us again!

Everything is so dry.

The scenery is beautiful.

All the hiking trails are marked with painted rocks. This trail is white while other trails are different colours.

It is a nice hiking trail.

Wild palm trees.

Surprise. One of the bushes has flowers.

We hiked for 3.5 km.

The Park has a wash station for cars and RVs.
It is not free, but cheap. The water in the bucket turned black in no time.

Let us do a tour of some of the amenities of the Park.
This is the plaza. You have the registration office, laundry area, post office, etc.

And this morning, the fruit and veggies man is here.

Why the name Fountain of Youth.

Here is the story behind it.

Since the closest store is at 20 minutes from here, they have a small store in the Park.

A small snack bar/grill.

A breezeway with a laundromat and one of the pools with a spa.

The pool and the spa.

A view from the other side.

We can see the MH.

You will see more of the amenities tomorrow.

Wednesday, November 9, 2022.

We hiked another trail this morning. It is the "Denny's Speedway".

It is a fitness trail, they say.

No bicycles are allowed on this one.

The first half has desert art along the way.

Very well marked with red colour rocks.

Everything is dry and suddenly, a green island.

A nice little walk of 2.4 km.

Michele found some "mud pots" to visit nearby.

They use geothermal energy to generate electricity.

We are looking for the "new mud pots" but could not find the road to access them.

We found the "old mud pots" but they are located on private property.

We are in the Imperial Valley. It is very agricultural. Lots of hay is being cultivated.

We saw fields of clay with deep tranches. No idea what for.

Michele found a place called "Red Island Volcano". They are two domes of lava from a volcano that has been inactive for 2,000 to 8,000 years.

We are looking for some shiny black lava rocks.

On our way back, we drove into the little town of Calipatra and Niland.

In Niland, we decided to go and check out (again) Salvation Mountain.

And Slab City.

It is supposed to be without law and order. We saw the sheriff drive by.

We had to drive through a USBP (Border Patrol) station. No problems.

It was a busy day.
Now it is time for a good supper.

Thursday, November 10, 2022.

This morning, I will show you the mineral pool area.

A view of the whole place.

The really warm pool.

They have three spas here. This one is the Lobster Pot. It is the hottest spa.
The water is a weird colour because of the chemical they have to add.

The second warmest spa is the gossip spa.

And the least warm spa, the Waterfall spa.

They have three soaking tubs.

A steam room.

Our Natasha.

Tonight they have karaoke at the Grill.

It is a small world. The lady you see next to us. She is from Moose Jaw!!!

We end the day at the spa.

With a nice sunset.

Friday, November 11, 2022.

Let's continue with the visit to the amenities of the Park.
From the breezeway, they have a commercial-grade gym.

A small library and computer room with computers available.

A shuffleboard room.

The Park has other buildings around the site. It is a very nice Park.

We have a yard sale in the Park this morning.
They do not have many vendors yet. Too early in the season.

The BBQ counter where sell hot dogs.

We went for a car ride after the yard sale.
Not too far, just up the road to check out the other two RV Parks.
They are not as nice as the Fountain of Youth.

Eh, palm trees without the head!

To all military veterans, thank you for your service.
We will remember forever.

Jeremy is ready for the Remembrance Day parade.

Saturday, November 12, 2022.

Natasha at her swimming lessons.

She loves to play with the cushions on the floor.

We are visiting the little town of Bombay Beach. The closest town to the RV Park.

The town only has 9 avenues and 5 streets.
It was a destination in the '50s and '60s. In the '80s, the water turned bad. People left town.
The population stands at 231 now.