Spring Trip Part 3

Day 25 Thursday May 7
Worked on the catiary for a while. Got hot fast. Close to 90 again today. Whew.

Day 26 Friday May 8
Catiary all ready for the metal roof. Finally.. Hope it is not windy tomorrow. Paul came over for brats with sauerkraut and beer. Yumm. Found out the gopher snake at least spend part of its time under Helen's house. Helen thinks it is great. Cuts down on the vermin for sure.

Day 27 Saturday May 9
Got about half the metal roofing on. Then got hot and windy so I quit. Helen and I went for a swim in her pool. Ahhhh.Zipper flying.

Day 28 Sunday May 10 Happy Mothers Day
Ran out of screws for roofing. Being a Mormon town the hardware store was closed. We went swimming in the pool. At 830 pm watched Skylab go over the house. Really neat. Took four minutes from horizon to horizon.

Day 29 Monday May 11
Went to town to get screws. They did not have any. Rats. Had to go to Springerville to get some so we went to Safeway to do some grocery shopping too. Goofed off the rest of the day. Although a neighbor had a solar hot water pumping system I got and tried to make it work to heat Helen's pool. No luck making it pump water. Will try again tomorrow after I finish the catiary. Saw Skylab go over again.

Day 30 Tuesday May12
Finished the catiary roof. Yeah. Looks good too. Went over to Paul's and had a few beers.Catiary roof without gutters and touch up painting.

Dy 31 Wednesday May 13
Took a day off. Drove south on hwy 191 to about 15 miles south of Apline. Took forest service road 26. After turning onto FS 24 we saw a coyote. A nice big one. A few miles further Helen saw an elk running away. I did not, rats. At Buffalo Crossing on the Black River we ate lunch. Then took FS 25. We saw 5 mountain sheep who were kind enough to let us take their picture. They seemed to be at a natural salt lick or something like that. Stopped to take a side road to Reno fire outlook. Nice views of the mountains. Back on hwy 191 we saw another coyote. Saw lots of birds, mostly flickers, and no mountain blue birds. It was a nice trip. No cars on the forest service roads. Wild iris.
Saw some campers and parked forest service trucks. Temperature in the mountanins was mostly in the low seventies. A fun day.

Day 32 Thursday May 14
Put up the gutters on the catiary. Went to the neighbors to get a pump so I can make a solar pool heater for Helen. Cut down the rest of the limbs off the dead tree getting ready to put up weather station. Recieved the new solar panel controller from the company I bought it from and got it installed. Also, put in new lavatory faucet in the trailer which leaked when turned on.

Day 33 Friday May 15
Got Helen's weather station put up on the dead tree. It works great. Fun thing to have especially when the wind is blowing. I built a stand for one of the pumps to make a swimming pool heater. I now need to get some fittings and black pipe. I called my friend Lenny's friends in Payson and made arrangements to meet with them on Sunday. We will go together to get some brainstones nearby. Made a nice spicy chicken salad for dinner. Yummmm.

Day 34 Saturday May 16
Went out to my property early in the morning to do some road maintenance work. The road is holding up pretty well. Got hot today, above 90. Too hot.

Day 35 Sunday May 17
Helen and I headed off to Payson at about 7:30 stopping in Show Low for a Burger King ham omlett sandwich for a snack and getting gas. We had a nice time with Lenny's friends Joann and Jack. We went into the hills and got some Payson brainstones. Had a picnic lunch in the mountains. These cute little white flowers were about an eighth inch across.

We then headed home taking the dirt back road to hwy 260 which goes to Show Low. We stopped there to get some groceries. Fun day. Helen's thermoter registered a high of 98 at the house. Whew.

Day 36 Monday May 18
Helped Helen with a few jobs around the house. Mostly relaxed. Went for a swim before the thunderstorms arrived.

Day 37 Tuesday May 19
Went to my property and worked on the road. Should be in good enough shape for a while. After lunch, played around with my rock stuff. Then Helen and I sat outside and watched the weather and read.

Day 38 Wednesday May 20
Helen and I went to Springerville to take back some things we did not need on the catiary. Also bought some pipe and fittings to finish making the solar pool heater. Finished putting the solar pool heater together. Now it is cloudy and sprinkles for the next few days. Hopefully I will be able to see how well it works before I leave.

Day 39 Thursday May 21
Went to my property and worked on the road again. I am making a bypass around an area that was difficult to keep up. After lunch took a bunch of pictures of Zipper the dog chasing a ball that Helen was throwing.

Day 40 Friday May 22
Cool and rainy this morning. According to Helen's rain gauge we got 0.3 inches of rain. One thunderstorm too. Started packing up some stuff for leaving here on Sunday morning.

Spring Trip Part 2

Day 13 Saturday April 25
Worked on the catiary for part of the day. Put the new facia boards up on the house. Helen painted all the new wood. Got really windy, storm warnings for this afternoon.

Day 14 Sunday April 26
Helen painted some more stuff while I got the pier blocks lined up and some other things done. We decided to go for a drive into the mountains. We made the loop from Springerville to Big Lake and back. Saw two deer which drove Zipper wild and a turkey, but no elk. Zipper had a great time barking at the fishermen at the lake until Helen convinced him it was ok.

Day 15 Monday April 27
I went to my property to play around. Got some juniper wood to make some stands for my blinking and LED light rock project. Back at Helen's I cut the juniper limbs into useable lenghts. Did a little works on the rock polisher.

Day 16 Tuesday April 28
Helen and I did a few small projects around the house in the morning. Played one game of Joker which I was lucky enough to win. After lunch took Zipper the dog to the vet in Holbrook for his rabies shot.

Day 17 Wednesday April 29
We cut the 2x6 rafters down to 2x4s. This turned out to be not as bad as we thought it would be. We had to buy 8 2x4's since the 2x6's were too badly damaaged to use. Helen did lots more painting. I got a lot of the frame up for the catiary. Busy day. Helen won at Joker.

Day 18 Thursday April 30
Spent a good part of the day working on the catiary. Should be done tomorrow except for the roofing. I won at Joker. Nice day, not a lot of wind and temp topping out at 80. I got my slab saw running with the new blade. The mineral oil seems to be evaporating here.

Day 19 Friday May 1
Worked some on the catiary. Did some shopping. Played around with my rocks. Good day.

Day 20 Saturday May 2
Very windy, that is, very windy all day. No way to safely work outside. Helen and I did a few inside jobs today. Went out to lunch. Watched the Kentucky Derby. I am glad a longshot won.

Day 21 Sunday May 3
Worked a little on the catiary. Went over to neighbor Paul's for a few beers. Temps still in the 70's.

Day 22 Monday May 4
Just about got the catiary ready for the metal roofing. Main thing left is to make the concrete piers much more sturdy.

Day 23 Tuesday May 5 Cinco de Mayo
Built two new piers for the catiary and prepared forms for two more. Need to get piers done before adding roofing. This should now withstand over 100 mph winds. Aspen and Zipper cornered a big gopher snake which we estimated to be about 5 feet. This one was not agressive so Zipper did not feel the need to kill it. Helen likes the snakes around the house.

Day 24 Wednesday May 6
Helen and I decided to take a day off and go to the Boyce Thompson Arboretum which is just south of Superior on US 60. We left about 5:30 since it was suppose to get hot today. Saw several groups of antelope just outside of St. Johns. We enjoyed our about 3 hour walk among the cacti and trees and flowers. A lot of the cacti were blooming as well as other plants. It was about 90 degrees when we left. I saw several rocks with copper ores which reminded me that at Superior they are planning a huge underground copper mine said to be a very big reserve. We had a fun day.

Spring Trip Part 1

Day 1 Monday April 13. 118125
Left home at 8 am and drove to Eunice's house to pick up black bread she made for Helen and me. Then headed north to Bellingham to pick up Laura. Left there a bout 11:45 and headed south. Drove through many rain and hail squalls on the way. Spend the night near Centralia at Midway RV park space 51.
346 miles

Day 2 Tuesday April 14 118471
Headed south on I-5 then took I-205 around Portland. Some sprinkles and some hail. Stopped at rest area south of Roseburg and who was there? Laura's granddaughter Holly's grandparents.. Amazing. Let my gas gauge go to "low on gas" light and drove about 25 miles. Still had 3 gallons left. No worries. Spent the night at Rogue River Campground space A 15. Cold and windy.
339 miles

Day 3 Wednesday April 15 118810
Left the campground and headed south on I-5. Took hwy 89 east towards Reno. Had to turn onto hwy 44 and then 395 through Reno. Lots of thunder/hail storms along the way. No snow. No critters except a squirels. Got to Laura's sister's about 3:45. We would have had to go through some snow if we had left a day earlier.
355 milesRight to left. Laura, her sister Lois, and Lois' daughter Vickie.

Day 4 Thursday April 16 119165
Leasurely day. Went to Scheels sporting goods store and walked around. Huge with just about anything anyone would need for any sport. For dinner went to the Tammarac Casino for a seafood buffet which was an appreciation dinner for some customers. Yummy. Went with Laura, her sister Lois and Lois' daughter Vickie. Lost a dollar on the keno machines.

Day 5 Friday April 17 119165
After breakfast, Laura and I went to a rock hounding site about 7 miles south of Fernley off of I-80 on hwy 95A south. No wind and warm about 65 degrees. Found some agates that were fairly nice. Saw a herd of wild horses on the way home. Fun to watch. Had a nice time. Lois made taco salad for dinner. Some of Laura's relatives showed up for a nice visit.
105 miles (non-trailer)

Day 6 Saturday April 18 119270
After a breakfast of nummy biskets and sausage gravy, I headed out. Took 395 north towards downtown Reno and then took I-80 to exit 46 which is US 95A south. Then on to US95. Saw three wild donkeys. Drove through Tonopah which was 65 degrees at 6000 feet. At 6.7 miles south of Scotty's Junction searched the side of the rode and found lots of Apache tears (obsidian). They are suppose to be facet grade from this area. Spent the night at Bailey's Hot Springs just on the northern edge of Beatty, Nevada, space 14. Went into the hottest pool, about 107 deg. F. for about 6-7 minutes. Heavenly. These are nice since they are private.
336 miles

Day 7 Sunday April 19 119606
Left the hot springs and continued south on US 95 to hwy 160 which goes to I-15 just south of Las Vegas. The exit off I-15 to Laughlin (hwy 64) was blocked so I had to go out of my way by about 10 miles to get onto 64. . At Laughlin/ Bullhead City the temperature was 93 degrees along the Colorado River. Whew. Drove all the way to I-40 at Klingman, AZ and spent the night at Circle S campground just north of I-40. After setting up the trailer, went about 10 miles north to a site that has grey and white banded onyx. Needed hard rock tools to get it out and it was hot (86 deg) so only picked up chunks others had left behind. Found a few nice pieces.
Drove 20 non-trailer miles.

Day 8 Monday April 20.
Continued on I-40 to Holbruck and then took 180 south to hwy 61 and to Helen's just outside of St. Johns. Helen, and dogs Aspen and Zipper, and of course, Beaner the cat were happy to see me.
Drove 584 trailer miles the last two days.

Day 9 Tuesday April 21. 120211
After breakfast started taking apart the catiary roof which was blown off by 70-90 mile per hour winds this last winter. Looks like most of the wood is salvageable but not the brackets or the roofing. Quit at noon because of the heat. After dinner went out to my property to watch the sun set and go for a walk with Zipper the dog. I was happy to see that most of my water control for the road was successful. I think it is knowledge learned at trail crew. Lots of fresh deer tracks and bunnies too. Pretty sunset.

Day 10 Wednesday April 22.
Finished taking apart the catiary roof. Only need to buy a few rafters and hardware and roofing. Went to Show Low to Lowes and Home Depot to buy the stuff to put the roof back. This time with more hurricane wind protection. Temperature was 82 degrees today and a nice sunset.

Day 11 Thursday April 23.
Unloaded the truck. I built the pier block frames to put the posts into. Went to town to do a few errants. After lunch went to neightbor Paul's to have a beer and chat. Watched Survivor after dinner.

Day 12 Friday April 24.
Poured the concrete into the post blocks. Helen and I had lunch then went to Springerville to go grocery shopping. Of course, Helen stopped by the quilt shop. We stopped by the Little Colorado river for a walk and to let Zipper the dog do his thing. Got really windy this afternoon.

Spring Trip Introduction

Follow this latest addition ot my blog to see what I am doing on my spring trip. I will take a friend Laura to Reno, Nevada to see her family, then to St. Johns, Arizona to visit with Helen and the pet gang, and then on to Cincinnati, Ohio to visit with my son Daniel and family. There I will see my new granddaughter. Of course, I plan on doing some sight seeing and rock hounding along the way before coming home sometime.

Day 171 to Goodbye Australia

Day 171 January 19 Monday
Left Nowra and took the road to Fitzroy Falls in Morton NP. Went through the tourist trap of Kangaroo Valley to get there. The falls would be spectacular if there were a lot of water flowing but still was pretty country.

Took hwy 48 through Mcquarie Pass NP. The road was twisty and windy and mostly 25 to 35 km curves. When I reached the coast, took the scenic highway north through Wollongong. Spent the night in the small coastal town of Bulli, at Bulli Tourist Park. Nice chat with a man and his son.
Day 172 January 20 Tuesday
Left the camp ground, as I got close to the turn to Royal NP I noticed the engine warming up. Pulled to the side and steam came out of the motor well. Found a hose off, so put it back. Tried to call AAA but the phone did not work. The van started and I went about a 300 meters and the engine quit. Lucky there was a place to pull over and the phone worked. NMRA man came and determined no water circulation through the motor and called a tow. Took me to Heathcote to a repair man. The radiator repair man will take things apart and I am to call in the am. Bugger. Spent the night at Heathcote Motel.

Day 173 January 21 Wednesday.
Called the repair man who took the van to a radiator repair shop. Walked the 2km to the shop. They showed me the radiator which was clogged outside and inside and the hoses were in very bad shape. They replaced the radiator, hoses and fan belt. Whew. I spend the day at McDonalds in air conditioning with free WiFi. Well about 2 hours worth. Went to Com Bank and got copies made of the an sale agreement and learned how to transfer my money back to Shelton. I will leave it in OZ as I can get 45% interest on saving. Hopefully, some day the Australian $ will be buying more than $0.66 US$. Picked up my van in early afternoon. Drove to Adele’s in north Sydney area. Glad I had my GPS. Met her partner and three nice young boys.

Day 174 January 22 Thursday
After breakfast went to go to Kings Cross area, east of downtown Sydney. I tried to get on the Harbor Tunnel but the roads are so confusing I ended up going over the Harbor Bridge which worked out ok. Big problem in that the car market where people went to buy and sell cars was closed. I had to make some flyers to put in all the hostel around. I put ads on two car sale websites. One German couple looked but did not buy. I had planned to leave my car at the car market and take the bus back to Adele’s. Drove back instead, again glad for the GPS.

Day 175 January 23 Friday
Drove back to Kings Cross, this time went with not prepaying the e-pass toll, and found a place to park. Decided to stay in the area instead so got a place at a youth hostel. Made some new flyers with pictures of the van and put them around at hostels and also added pictures to the web site ads. Hot day. Got an email response to one of my ads. Eventually sold it to an older couple from Ireland. Hope they are happy with it. At the hostel had BBQ and beer party for $5. Now I can relax and enjoy Australia Day weekend. Monday is a holiday.

Day 176 January 24 Saturday
Walked from Kings Cross to China town where a Commonwealth bank was open so I could deposit the money from the sale of the van. Walked to the Harbor Bridge/ Opera House area and had lunch and watched people for a while. It was getting hot so I took the bus back to the hostel. The temperature was 40 today (104 deg F). HOT and HUMID too.

Day 177 January 25 Sunday
Took the metro train to Darling Harbour. Huge crowds and suppose to be half a million or so tomorrow for Australia Day. Watched a cute juggling act, aboriginal musician, and watched Chinese groups preparing for tomorrow. Tomorrow is the Chinese New Year of the ox. Had a mocha cappuccino and later a beer. Stated to get warm and I was getting hungry so went back to hostel.

Day 178 January 26 Monday Australia Day
Took train to town and then bus 207 to Cammeray Store stop and walked the two blocks to Adele’s to pick up some stuff I stupidly left there. I too the stuff back to the hostel then walked to Hyde park where there were lots of activities for Australia. Supposedly 1000 old cars on the streets and I believe it. Got a beer and watched some music acts on one of the stages. Saw part of swearing in ceremony for new citizens. Watched some more music acts while talking to Scottish couple who are here on a work permit for four years. Rain showers so went back to hostel.

Day 179 January 27 Tuesday

Rainy this morning. May go to the famous Bondi beach if it stops raining. Otherwise just resting.

Day 180 January 28 Wednesday

GOODBYE AUSTRALIA

Day 165 to Day 170

Day 165 January 12 Monday
Whew am I knackered. Hiked the 18km return (11miles) to the top of Mt. Kosciuszko. It took four hours including eating lunch on top.

The views were great but to me it looked like some peaks were higher. The hike was along a road that used to be open. The basin below the mountain is the start of the Snowy river.

(This is a special fish that lives only on the upper part of the Snowy River)

There were lots of wild flowers all over. Beautiful. My other alternative was to go to Thredbo and take the chair lift up ($28 return) and then hike the 13.7 km return trip. Shorter but steeper. The day way beautiful with some clouds.

Spent the night at Thredbo Diggings camp in the park. The camp is along the Thredbo river.

Day 166 January 13 Tuesday
Headed towards Tredbo. Once past it the traffic disappeared and the road got narrow with no lines. It was a beautiful drive through the park with spectacular scenery. Went to Yarrangobilly Caves which is in the park. First hiked to the thermal pool, 27 C, and went for a swim. Felt good as the temperature was getting warm. Hiked along the river to Glory Arch and Glory Cave. The cave is unguided but lights up as you walk through. This one was interesting as it it mainly white inside, due to lack of iron in the limestone and the cave was very wet. Continued heading north and spent the night at Tumut Reservoir about 39 km from Tumut at Old Yacht Park. It was hot and suppose to get to 40 tomorrow. Whew. It was funny to watch the crows. They would feed in the shade of trees eating, flies I hope, and then when they reached the edge where the sun was, they raced to the next shade area where they slowly started eating again.. Once I saw them huddle in the shade near the base of a big eucalyptus
Day 167 January 14 Wednesday Two Weeks Left
Left the park and drove to Tumut. The lady in info said to go to Adelong where a mile out of town is an old gold mine to tour. It is now a park with trails around the ruins. Very nice along the river. Drove from there to highway 31, a divided 4 lane one to Vass. Really hot for me. Stopped at the Vass Caravan Park. Suppose to be cooler tomorrow.

Day 167 January 15 Thursday
Left Vass and headed south on hwy 25 to Canberra, ACT, Australia Capital Territory. Lots of traffic. The city is planned but by whom? I would think not by anyone who needed to live there. The streets are increasing concentric circles with some roads crisscrossing the circles. Wanted to go to National Museum but found no signs. Since it was suppose to get close to 100 F today decided to keep on going south through town and go back over the coast range to the sea. As I crested to the east side of the mountains it was very much cooler. Good choice I said to myself. Drove north on the coastal highway from Bega to Mystery Bay. Cool and nice with thunder storms from 5 to 6 then sunshine till dark.

Day 168 January 16 Friday
Drove to Batemans Bay up highway 1. Went to Bunnings to get paint for the van wheels. Also went to the auto store to buy some polish and oil and filter. Went to a auto shop to get a pink slip inspection. The guy says that now they are no longer required for selling a car, only for reqo. I was glad of that, one less thing to worry about. Spent the afternoon cleaning and waxing the van. Will spray the wheels tomorrow is the wind is favorable. It is looking good. Still worried about getting my rocks home. May have to send some. Stayed at the Pleasurelea Tourist Resort space 9.

Day 169 January 17 Saturday
Spray painted the wheels, cleaned everything else I did not do yesterday. Started packing my rocks to see how it will go. Went for a walk to the beach. Drove a short distance to the store to get ice and some food. Found a book store and traded five books for two, could have had three but would not have time for them. Waypointed Adel’s address on my GPS. Went for a swim in the pool. Casual day. I think the van is ready to go. Only minor things to do the day I take it to the car market.

Day 170 January 18 Sunday
Left Batemans Bay and headed north. Stopped at Kioloa and checked out the beach. Went to Jervis Bay, Booderee NP, and all the camp sites were full. Went to Nowra and spent the night at Nowra Wildlife Park Reserve. It is a private zoo where you can go pet and get up close with animals. It is next to the river. In the evening, peacocks and guinea hens were wondering around the camp. Made arrangements with Adel to be at her house on Tuesday.

Day 162 to Day 164

Day 162 January 9 Friday
Left Orbost and took the scenic route into the Snowy Mts. Via C612. Had to watch out for logging trucks that take up all the road and drive fast just like in the states. Beautiful drive. Went to Bombala in NSW and then went back to Victoria to Cann River on A1 using B23. Drove 11 miles to Turra River roadside park.

Nice 1 km walk there along the river. After dinner a bunch of us got together and sat a round the fire and had a good time. That is me in the maroon shirt just in case you can't recognize me. Two OZ couples, one British, on Spanish couple and me.

Day 163 January 10 Saturday
Continued north on A1. Stopped in Eden at the library and paid my Visa bill. Also stopped in Mirimbula. Bought some car vinyl polish to do the van. Both towns loaded with people. Stopped at Yellow Pitch Dam wayside park for the night. Spent some time cleaning up the van washing and polishing most of the vinyl parts inside and outside the car. Looking good. Had a nice chat with a couple from Austria.

Day 164 January 11 Sunday
Left the wayside park and drove over the great dividing range to Cooma. More second and third gear driving again. Steep and windy road. Stopped for the night at Jindabyne, at the base of the Kosciuszko National Park, home of major ski resorts and the highest mountain in Australia. Mt. Kosciuszko is 2228 m high (about 6700 feet. Stayed in Jindabyne Holiday Park space 20 right on the lake. Powered site for tonight as it is suppose to get in the low 40’s tonight. Did some laundry.