Humphrey Blog: December 2008

Mt. Shasta!

We headed home on the afternoon of the 6th. We travelled over to Palm Springs, CA, and spent some time there with friends before we continued on our way. We drove as far as Los Banos, CA where we spent the night because of fog and as the night wore on the fog got worse. The next morning after filling up with gas and a quick stop at Subway for a sandwich(next to the gas station) we got back on the road. There was still a lot of fog, BUT, easier to see through during the daylight hours as we travelled. After getting thru most of California the fog finally lifted and the roads were good, and the weather was nice. The pic above was taken as we were cruising through Shasta National Forest, after passing Dunsmuir, CA. The trip was uneventful from there and the road miles past quickly as the Siskiyou Mts past in our view. We continued on only stopping for gas and a stretch. We crossed the Canadian Border just after 11:00 pm and the border guard was one of the nicest & friendliest we have encountered. "Welcome back to Canada" he said. Nice touch we thought. We stayed with friends in Abbotsford for the night. We got back into Kamloops on the afternoon of the 8th. On the 9th we spent some time with our granddaughter who turned 14. For the rest of our stay, before heading back on the 26th, we made the house that we rented ready for the next tenant. Christmas Day was spent with our daughter & her family. We had Christmas Dinner there then headed back home for the evening. On the morning of the 26th we left Kamloops and headed back south towards Parker AZ.

On the morning of the 12th we woke to this senerio. SNOW.

The view out our front window on the morning of Dec. 12th

We had a lot of snow during our stay home. I believe it snowed every second or third day we were home in Kamloops. I didn't have a snow shovel, but soon acquired one and used it quite often. The temperature dipped anywhere from -10C to more than -25C while home in Kamloops. Below is a pic of me shovelling the white stuff.

Fun stuff!

We left Kamloops at about 10 am on the morning of the 26th, glad to leave the snow and COLD. By midnight we had past Grant's Pass, OR and there was a flashing warning sign that all truckers had to chain up, to pass over the Siskiyou Mt. Pass. OH NO we thought, us too! It was decision time, to pack it in for the night or push on through. We chose to push on through as the snow was coming down quite hard and we felt that if we stopped for the night, we most certainly would be chaining up in the morning. Truckers were at the side of the freeway chaining up. We didn't have to, and we felt sorry for them to do this task. Snowing and cold!! After we got though the Siskiyou's it was too late to look for a motel, so we decided to travel on. We only stopped to refuel and change drivers, while one tried to sleep while the other drove. We drove straight to Emerald Cove RV Resort arriving just after 2 pm on the 27th. Upon arrival we went to bed and had a couple of hours of sleep. That was a comfortable bed, & being able to stretch out. About 6 pm we are up & after a quick shower we joined our friends down at the pool bar(private party) for karaoke. Marge & I got up and did a duet. My first!!! About 10 pm I had "hit the wall" and needed a good nights rest, so off we went back to the comfort of our motorhome and our own bed. That was a good night, slept like a log!

On the morning of the 28th we packed up the motorhome, hooked up the car after helping our neighbour, Marcel hook up a reverse osmosis system, and off we go again. This time just a short day trip down to Pioneer RV Park in Wellton, AZ where we have a reservation for the next month and a half.

This photo was taken at 7:09pm - MT while standing outside our motorhome. This was a timed photo whereas the photo below, taken one minute earlier was just a snap pic.

One can see the cresent moon and the outline of the moon, below this was the planets Venus & Jupiter. Very clear to the naked eye. The night was clear with a few wispy clouds, but this did not interfere with the view of the two planets in conjunction. On the other side of earth (Europe/Asia) this appears as a smily face.This view of the two planets will not appear again till March of 2012 we are told. But the moon will not be in the picture and a similar occurance will not happen we are informed till 2052. When one stops to look at this celestial happening, we can see the moon which is approximately 250,000 miles from earth. Whereas Venus is approximately 26 million miles from us and Jupiter is about 390 millions miles away. When you stop to think of this, we are but a pin drop in the scheme of things.