Along an Arizona highway we seen prison inmates cleaning the roadsides, we noted that they tow an outhouse along with them and that the transport buses have air-conditioning, some buses had as many as four a/c units on the roof, we also noted that school buses have no air-conditioning! Glad they have their priorities right! Remember how we got storm-stayed in Virginia because of a snow storm, well, a wind storm almost done us in this time, winds gusting to 60 MPH in the high desert lifted our camper 6 inches up and almost tipped truck and camper over a few times, that is not an exaggeration, we travelled for 25 miles at 10 mph hoping we would not tip over trying to get to town so we could get some shelter. We finally pulled into a persons yard that had a for sale sign and parked with their house protecting us. They come home and we explained why we were there. They suggested we park behind their garage and make ourselves comfortable until the wind died down! We played cards and had a drink while the wind still shook the camper relentlessly! We finally made it into Lordsburg, New Mexico and got a motel room, the winds continued until nine o'clock, we watched the news to hear many tractor -trailers had flipped over in the area, we were very lucky. Bought some more tie-down straps today! Roofs were blown off houses, cows were tipped over, and over 3000 people lost their power because of the winds. We thought the winds were stressful, but today we had to face steep mountain roads again, the worst yet, 9000 feet, no guard rails anywhere, while I sweat, Trish prays, she says," Hail Mary, full of grace, get me off this goddam mountain face!" We crossed the Continental Divide, we hope that means no more real mountains! We had to travel slow also because of the " Tour of the Gila" bicycle race, Lance Armstrong was competing! We don't think Brian Barkhouse was there!

Pleasant Acres RV Park, Apache Junction, AZ, waiting for the sun to finally set, so it will cool off to sleep comfortably, daytime temps are in the 90's. We love it !

Hello to our latest follower Johnny Brennan.

The quintessential tourists, except we don't send post cards we blog.

Brent, all outhouses in California and Arizona, it seems, must now post this warning, like all governments, one little incident and they pass a law!

Watching the weather here, freezing temps at the Grand Canyon, glad we didn't go. We spent 4 months looking for hot weather all around America and now we chase the shade around our camper, in the morning we sit on the north side, move to the east in the afternoon , and stay away from the south side. 93 in the shade is just nice. At home in the winter , you heat up your vehicle before leaving, here you turn on the air-conditioning for fifteen minutes before leaving!
I know we keep saying it, but today we paid 12.99 for a forty-ouncer and 12.99 for 30 beer, and the beer is 5.9% alcohol! The temp goes down at night, comfortable for sleeping! Camper door is fixed, the owner, the manager are very nice, we used their workshop, tools, etc. We could not have lucked in more than to find Pleasant Valley RV Park in Apache Jct. Arizona, not many parks would be so co-operative! Trish says McGyver has nothing on me, but you have to have the tools!

Another day in the heat,(but), it's a dry heat!!! We had supper at Post 9399 VFW , Superstition Mountain branch, supper for two people $9.00, beer $1.50 for a large Bud Light Draft. We may stay until Friday, they advertise , All You Can Eat Cod for $7.99 on Fridays. fish day! Temp. is 93, but going down to 73 by Thursday, looking forward to the drop! Lucy tells us we can look forward to lots of humidity in Louisiana along with the high temps, we will suffer through it, they have a new pool!

Here we are in Apache Junction, Arizona, pretending it is August in Nova Scotia, 93 degrees today but no humidity! Sitting out under the stars wondering how we could spend six months every year in the south! Repaired the camper door today with the sun beating down, lathered in Sun block and pouring down the cold beer! We always seem to hit the right places, last evening we drove into this campgound, paid our 20.00 bucks, then mentioned we needed tools and work area to fix our door, the manager pointed out the workshop, and said we can have access to everything there! Just great! The biker bar across the street was a little loud but the music was great! After the last bike left, we were able to sleep great!

Changed our minds about the Grand Canyon, started up that way and it got colder and colder, we said, that's it and turned south again, presently in Scottsdale, Arizona and continuing south, enough of that cold weather! We think warm weather is more phenominal than looking down a big hole ! We hear you had snow this week in Halifax! We are driving around looking for a new camper door, the wind did a job on ours, holding it together with bungee cords until we find a new one ! But ,Cecil, the new door knob is still in good shape, Another reason for warmer weather when your door won't close! Trish says we are starting to resemble the Clampett's, but unfortunately we don't have an oil well. Right now , we are more like Red Green, then again he is probably rich also! We woke up in one campground and our neighbour gave us the bird-watching tour, he showed us a hummingbird sitting on it's nest, he showed us a nest with two baby hummingbirds in it, he also showed us a Morning Dove sitting on her nest, then he showed us a dozen quail eggs, when a fifth-wheeler went to leave he discovered them under his doorstep, he left the step and they are hoping the mother quail comes back, another lady discovered baby birds born on top of her motorhome, so she is delaying her departure uintil they can fly. We seen a pizza place in Nothing, Arizona, for fifty miles in both directions there is nothing but that pizza place, he doesn't do delivery! The people here in Arizona and California must have heard about Jimmy Flynn, like he says, they always greet us when finally passing by indicating they think we are number one, only here they use the middle finger, has something to do with the fact we seldom go over 50 miles per hour, we lead a lot of convoys!

We are sitting here in the Calizona campground looking across the Colorado River, we drove across the river yesterday to discover gas is one dollar cheaper a gallon than California, also Trishes cigs were $1.60 a pack cheaper, booze was about the same! Very high winds when the sun gets high, it blows all afternoon, but a very hot wind. The wind does not cool you off it seems. The dry heat is nice, you don't seem to perspire,even though it is 90 degrees, it cools off nicely in the dark, every star seems to be out! A guy returned from his walk yesterday with a dead rattlesnake, a truck had run over it, Trish told him to get away from this camper "Now", he apoligized in the morning! We are still waiting to see a roadrunner! Lots of lizaards lurking, we have a woodpile next to the camper! On our day trip we met a young fellow working at one of the resorts, he asked if we were going to the Grand Canyon, we said we weren't sure, he said he couldn't believe we would drive all this way and not see it, we came home, thought about it and we are going!

Another day in the desert,enjoying the heat , 93 degrees today. spent some time in the rec hall, with the swamp cooler running on high. played a few games of pool. When the sun goes down, Trish goes topless, otherwise she just goes underwearless, with her terry cloth sundress! Passed a few nude RV parks in our travels, but haven't got up the nerve to go in yet! We sit here watching lizards, hummingbirds, ravens,hawks, while sipping on cold beer and cheap whiskey, a forty ouncer of Canadian Mist is only $16.00, thirty beer is $15.90! Well within our budget! Next three days are going to be cooler, not over 89 degrees!

On our last visit to Post 145 in Leesville we were fortunate to be entertained by the one and only "Andy" !

Cattle Drive in Chowchilla, CA !

Looking out our back door at an Oasis in the Mojave Desert!

To travel six months on the road like us you don't have to be rich, you just have to have all your ducks in a row !

This is Tehachapi, CA. This many turbines on Prince Edward Island and it would fly away !

A turtle in our desert campsite, like us, taking his time and carrying his home on his back !

Calf-roping in Chowchilla, California !

Lucy and Andy's lovable Sugar Babies have arrived, eleven of them, hopefully there is still room for us Canadians at the Laverty house !

We meandered along the Madera Wine Trail to Bakersfield, our favourite memory of this town is the story of our friend Brent, from Chester, who spent four days in the hospital here years ago, he used to work in the oil fields and believe it or not, got bit on the bag by a black widow spider, he tells the story about how all the nurses wanted to see his appendage, swollen beyond the normal size! This city's other claim to fame is that it is the home of Buck Owens! Trish enjoyed her first ever Denny's breakfast in Bakersfield, it was so generous we got a doggie bag and had a second Denny's breakfast in the camper, the next morning! We seen wind power at it's ultimate near Tehachapi , hundreds and hundreds of wind turbines, maybe even a t'ousand! Very Impressive! We have finally found the heat, there is no doubt, it only took us four months, we are in Needles on the Colorado River, and the temps for the next week are predicted to be in the high eighties and even ninety! Low at night 60. We are in the Mojave Desert. We are staying for a week, the park manager asked if we had air-conditioning, we said no, he said you will be spending a lot of time in the air-conditioned rec hall, we said, we don't think so! Burn, baby, burn! We travelled the historic Route 66, we think it is pre-historic, very rough, it is a National Trails Highway, but the federal government can't afford to repair it, I think we might need new front shocks!

This is the gate to Trish's school in Victoria, BC. The place where she became the well rounded person she is, that person who would not say S_it, if she had a mouth full HaHa !

Trish pouring Atlantic Ocean water from Front Harbour , Chester into the Pacific Ocean at Lagoon Beach near Esquimalt, BC. She is returning with a bottle of Pacific Ocean water to pour into the Atlantic !!

It's a slow news day, second day of rain here in our Sunny California campground, Trish had never ever met her grandson's other grandparents even though he was 14 years old so I'm going to relate a rhyme I wrote on our road trip to Newfoundland and their home, it's called: "Screeched In at St. Lawrence

We snuck into town and registered at the Ocean View
We weren't there an hour, when Cody said, "Nan, is that you?"

Then we met Bill, he parked in the middle of the street,
We chatted, and chatted, he didn't move and no one dare beep!

See you in the morning he said, we drove around St.Lawrence, Eastside,
Then pizza in the pool room, met some locals, they all knew "Kacky" Bill and his bride!

In the morning Bill came to get us, Donna was at Emergency,
Cody was in Marystown, we met Lucky & Spot, the tongue washes were free!

Donna returned from the hospital, she cooked mooseburgers for lunch,
Bill took me on a tour of the old mine area, and I met a few of his 'bunch'.

The cold beer and the conversations were great, and I guess Bill and I started to bond,
The hunting stories were fabulous, I learned the difference between a lake and a pond,
Watching foxes was great, but then he wanted me to tangle with a swan!

Next day Bill didn't fish, but we drove around town with cold beer, just the same,
"How ya gettin' on?" he said to his friends, 300 lbs they said, good, give us a few!

Fresh cod for supper, yes, there's some left in Newfoundland,
Donna added "scrunchions", the meal was so grand!

"Save one of those cod-heads for the screech-in"", said Bill,
It lay on the counter all night, put it in the freezer," it will do, it will!"

Friday was the night, we were all feeling pretty good,
The beer and rum were flowing, after wonderful food,
We forgot to thaw the fish's face, but that didn't mar the ceremony,
Trish kissed the cod, there was celebration and cacaphony!

This was quite an honour Trish received,
But then, in Conception Bay, she was conceived!

Ken Hutton's Harley !

Lucy, this is the Trike my friend Ken will drive when he is too old to drive his Harley. He really enjoys riding !

Another 88O warrior, Bob MacDonald telling yours truly to "F" off !

Two ex 880 warriors with Ken's 1929 Ford, with a Vette engine !

Rennie Doll, Jim McCaffrey, yours truly, Gerry Unger. We are 880, we're on the ball ! Wahunga !

Had to get some welding done on the frame of the truck, between the rust and hitting a bad pothole , it was needed badly, otherwise Bernie, she's holding up well! Three sunny , warm days in a row, wow, we are enjoying our stay in Chowchilla campground, right down town, very near the rodeo. We got to chatting with a real cowboy and he told us stories of his broken ribs, ruptured spleen, broken fingers and such, I told him I had heard stories of rodeo guys that had broken nearly every bone in their body, twice! He then related a story of how his nephew broke his urethra tube on the saddlehorn, if you don't know which bone that is, I ain't telling ya!

This fellow is retired from the Rodeo! He lives on the edge of town! As you can see, none of the prize money went to him!

Passed through Cottonwood, California, a famous cattle town, not by choice, a state trooper escorted us off the interstate for driving too slow, in the rain and very high winds, that didn't stop others from keeping up the 70 mph speed limit! That's it, no more interstates, even if they do get you to the warmer weather faster! Northern California's claim to fame is more cattle per square mile than any where else in the U.S. We are stopped for a week in a place called Chowchilla, CA, going to their stampede, it starts off with a cattle drive through the main street of town, we will be there! Stay tuned for Trish's video if a steer doesn't get her! If you look Chowchilla up on the internet, they are famous for a kidnapping of a whole busload of students years ago, a movie was made about it!

Camper would not fit through, so we walked through. This tree is in Redwood Forest in California.

In Cathedral Grove, near Port Alberni, BC, this tree is 800 years old and Trish is ...............

Some RESORT this is !!! Snow capped mountains and oh so cold temperatures !!!

Can you believe we drove Vancouver Island, the state of Washington and the state of Oregon, then arrive in California to encounter snow, what is going on with our weather, we had a little snow in the campground on the Oregon border and they said it was the first time they had snow in twenty years in April, must be an April Fools joke! Rain, high winds, Sunny periods, Sun showers, rainbows and then snow all in a few hours, we are also back to very mountainous driving again. Mt Shasta is 14,000 feet above sea level, we are staying in Lake Shasta for Easter. The world really is going to the dogs, we passed a library yesterday that advertised "reading sessions for your dog on Thursday afternoons".

We traded in our tabs for two free Tim's before getting on the ferry to Port Angeles , Trish got a few more photos in Beacon Hill Park, her favourite place in Victoria! Well, Washington is behind us and we are now in Oregon, just passing Mt. St. Helen's, a few more days to sunny California, wet weather is the norm in these two states! We have to keep moving or we will go mouldy or get covered in moss! Broke one of our major rules and did an Interstate yesterday,just to get south faster, back today to mountain roads around Portland, Eugene and other major cities! We are showing South east on the compass most of the time, Lucy in Louisiana just e-mailed and said in was 80 degrees there, that's our kind of temps, hope to spend a lot of time lying in the Sun for the next six weeks before we arrive in that lovely state!