Boomerville at the end of the first week ...

As of happy hour tonight we have 170 rigs signed in; about 300+ people in our group here.

This is a sample of the daily schedule if you're curious ...

Boomerville activities. Sunday, January 20, 2019
9am. Trash run. Double bag, please. Trucks leave around nine so get bags there early. (Trash only, no recycle)
8:30 AM. Cinnamon roll pick up. If you didn’t order any there will be about 8 extra...first come. $4 (or more) donation that goes to c.a.r.e. @ welcome tent.
9:30. Meet @ welcome tent to car pool to desert bar
Redberg. Cash only.
1 to 3 PM. Square Dance @ MS+Plus on Quail Run RD
3PM. Stitch & Bitch @ blue tent
6PM. 4 Fold Fun: 1. Funny Signs
2. Wine Tasting (bring wine to
share)
3.Dessert Social (bring deserts)
4. Lunar Eclipse (starts around
7:30ish..full eclipse around 9:30
@ Norms theater. Bring warm jackets and blankets. If someone builds and starts it will move around the fire pit to watch full eclipse after 1,2, and 3 are done!

And here is a picture of the Desert Bar (an abandoned mine that runs entirely on solar power; open weekends only from 12-6pm).  It's in the middle of nowhere!











And a couple of the beautiful sunsets this week:

The Big Tent officially opened today, so that's on the schedule for next week sometime!  Lots to do.

Boomerville 2019

Hi all!

It's been a while since my last blog.  I was staying in Coarsegold, California reorganizing and cleaning and preparing for the road.  This trip I started on January 8th will take me across Canada, down the East coast and a zigzag pattern across the central USA on my way back to Coarsegold.  If all stays on plan, I will get to Coarsegold December 2021.

I have made my first reservation for 2020 - the Florida Keys for 5 days in February.

The trip will cross several "bucket list" items off the list .... the Keys, Marti Gras, Paducah, the Alburquque Balloon Festival, the "slabs" and the Death Valley Encampment.  I'll give more details as they happen.

What is "Boomerville"?  In short, I belong to a full-time RV organization called Escapees.  I won't bore you with all the "founding" details, but there are a couple dozen or more BOFs (bird of a feather) subgroups, a couple of which are the SOLOs and another is Boomers, both of which I have joined.  In the 3+ years (times flies, right?!) I have been full time, I have joined events of several RV groups and find the Escapees my best fit. All of the groups I have joined since 2015 are here in Quartzsite, but I am camped with the Boomers this time.  I have buzzed around and checked in with friends from the other groups.  It is nice to catch up.

I arrived in Quartzsite on Sunday the 13th, with the time change, about 4pm.  Quartzsite, AZ is about 25 miles inside the California/Arizona border. There is a small town surrounded by BLM (Bureau of Land Management) land as far as you can see.  Every year in January about 10,000 RVers descend on this land for 2 or 3 weeks (or longer) to catch up with old friends and meet new ones.  It started out as a great place to get work done or pick up parts and accessories at a great price.  Now it is basically a huge swap meet and people having a great time on free land.

Every day all of the organizations have different activities you can join or go do your own thing.  It's a great time had by all!


First, I parked "out" where there was room between the rigs.  There was a "call" for volunteers with Class A coaches to form a circle around the welcome tent to serve as a windbreak, should it be needed.  I wasn't sure about parking "in the middle of things," as I spend so much of my time on my own, but I moved to the circle.  Having people standing, talking and walking constantly right outside my windows took a little getting used to, but, surprisingly it has become "normal."  I'm not minding at all.  The second day I was parked at the Hospitality tent was the first pancake breakfast.  You can see my rig at the "head" of the line.

Day 2

As of happy hour last night, there are 152 rigs signed in at Boomerville.

One of us is a former member of the group the Kingsmen.  He put on a show last night of all the old music videos and commercials of the era, complete with speakers, two screens, and a dance floor and film of him singing Louie! Louie!   Lots from other groups joined us and it was loads of fun.

It rained one day, but the weather is perfect and the sun shines down on us and the flowers and grass are popping up.

I am here until the 26th, but will out and about in Arizona until the end of February.

Took a drive ...

I'm still sitting in Junction City having work done on my coach.

It is unbelievable how much damage all that shaking on the highways up north did to my coach.  It didn't feel terrible when I was driving, other than I seemed more tired than usual, but the vibration shook screws out of my microwave door, my entry door, the bottom cover on my cab, the window shades, the shower doors ... you name it.  I had an entire list of stuff that just needed to be reattached!

And the dirt!   Plugs, outlets, lights, cupboards, bays .... again, you name it, was covered with dirt and collected some inside as well.  My air filter was half full of dirt!  Words are just not enough of a picture.

I won't be able to completely empty every bay and cupboard and closet to clean until I get back to Coarsegold in December.


As we were expecting some rain, I took advantage of the beautiful weather on Thursday to take a drive.  I had intended just to drive to Florence, but ended up all the way in Coos Bay and back.  It was lovely. I saw lots of sheep and cows and beautiful fall color.

Horsfall Dunes

Junction City, Oregon

Well, I have been here over a week now, parked at the Winnebago Factory Service Center, waiting for service/repairs to my coach from my trip north.  They are swamped!  The entire holding area is full with coaches circling for a place to park.  Its crazy.  Needless to say, I haven't been looked at yet.

I did manage to get to the Ortho doctor this week.  After x-rays, I found that my wrist was really broken when I fell in July, not sprained, and has now started to heal with the bone pretty far from where it needs to be.  I also tore a ligament also that has now split .... so I'm looking at surgery.  I had a CT scan as well, so we'll see what the surgeon has to say as to when it can be repaired and the recovery and PT time involved.  After having a splint on my right arm for 3 months, I am definitely not excited about a cast for another 6-8 weeks!

While I'm waiting for my turn in the service bay, I have some pretty exciting things planned for the week:  a much needed haircut and a facial.  Whoopee.  Hopefully, I'll also have a trip to the surgeon as well.

One great thing this past week was I got both vehicles cleaned!  It feels so much better and I'm not embarrassed anymore.  Unfortunately, when I was cleaning the inside of my Jeep I managed to misplace my keys.  I have never lost my car keys; hopefully I haven't now but I'm out of places to look.  Darn!

I still have to empty all my cupboards and bays to be cleaned (wow that was a dirty trip!), but the living area is clean and that feels so much better.

I'll keep you posted on my surgery and my exciting time here in the parking lot.  And a special thank you to all who remembered my birthday.  I love and appreciate all your good wishes.

Summary of my trip north of the US/Canadian border

LENGTH OF TRIP:

I was gone for 166 days from when I left Junction City on April 3rd until I returned to the same parking lot on September 16th.

That involved 10,609 miles on my coach and about 7,453 miles on my Jeep for a total of $19,062!


STATES, PROVINCES & TERRITORIES:

US:  I drove through Oregon and Washington on the way to Alaska and Idaho, Washington and Oregon on the way back.

Canada:  The Yukon and The Northwest Territories (twice), as well as British Columbia (twice) and Alberta

I drove to the Arctic Ocean twice; once through Alaska and again through the NWT

British Columbia had awesome fresh fruit and vegetables.

Towns I enjoyed the most:  Valdez and Homer and that would probably have to be the combination of the water and mountains together.  

Everyone was very friendly and Alaska, overall, was extremely RV friendly.  Part of that was the dependence on tourism, but not all.  Alaskans and Canadians look out for one another because of the weather and terrain and extend that to visitors.

Prettiest drives:  Glenn Highway and Haines Highway.  The drive from Skagway to Carcross may have made the list if not for the fog obstructing my view.  

There were a lot of glaciers and waterfalls to be enjoyed, along with some pretty awesome scenery.

Animals I saw in the wild:  Brown bears, black bears, lynx, caribou, moose, Dali sheep, muskox, fox including an Arctic fox, and lots of Eagles (although not an animal)

That was the good; now for the ugly:

Camping expenses:             $2,418
(The most expensive stay by far was over the July 4^th weekend in Soldatna.)

Gas/Diesel expense:           $4,179

Plus, I purchased 3 new tires on this trip; one for the coach and two for the Jeep. 

When I returned, I had to have the engines cleaned, as well as the undercarriages on both vehicles. 
And there was body work involved ..... and lots of repairs to be made.

I did not total the food expense, but know that it was high as well, from 25% more at the grocery store, and much higher in restaurants, than in the lower 48 states.  For example, it was common for a hamburger to cost $20.

The exchange rate in Canada is favorable; 20%, but every one of my credit cards charged me a foreign transaction fee every time I used them (most frustrating).  I'll definitely change that for the next trip.

It was a wonderful trip and I'm very glad I did it.  I'm looking forward to the next adventure!

The road south ...

I left Banff in the snow and 33 degrees and crossed the Canadian/US border later the same day at 78 degrees and sunshine.  They did an on board inspection of my coach and confiscated my peppers and tomatoes as they were grown in Canada.




It was an odd feeling after I crossed the border and didn't have to do any of the calculations on the speed signs.  Of course, when I saw a sign for 70mph I immediately tapped the brake to reduce my speed to 45km.  ha.

On the way to the Whitman Mission in Walla Walla, my coach GPS took me along the twisty back roads.  I got to see a part of Washington I'm not familiar with.  I think of Washington as trees and green and coastline, when on the other side of the Rockies it is dry with cattle and wheat and hay fields.  Very different, but pretty.

 

Meanwhile back in Oregon ... I love the beauty along I-84.  As an added bonus, I saw beautiful fall colors.






I would like to develop some interest or hobby that I can do along the road, i.e. golf or wineries or fishing, but none of that interests me.  Oh well, I'll just have to content to see all the wonderful sights I find!



I'm back in Junction City, Oregon at the Winnebago factory.  I feel like I limped in ... the vibration from the roads north shook everything loose.

Bow Valley Parkway and Lake Louise