Day Thirteen - Yakima, WA to Home

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Home sweet home! With that in the back of my mind, I left Yakima, WA at 5:30 am. I couldn't believe the traffic at that time of the morning which of course only got worse the closer I got to Seattle. Again, pretty country as you travel through the Cascade Mountains and Washington does a great job keeping their major freeways comfortable to drive - I think 90 was just recently paved it was that smooth.
The drive was easy though and even Seattle traffic couldn't phase me after all the cities I had driven through in the last two and a half months - at least I sort of knew my way around. Customs didn't seem to have any issues with me and let me back into the country thankfully - much easier then when we left and I thought they were going to ban me from ever entering the States ever again.
On the ferry home, there was a neat welcome - we passed a pod of Orca and although they were too far away for any good shots, it made me feel like I was truly back home.
Mom had put out a 'welcome home' sign for me on my door and the neighbours came over to say 'welcome back' as soon as I pulled into the driveway.
All in all, it was good to home although I wish I had seen more of the parks and stopped in more towns on way back - I don't feel like I took full advantage of the trip by a long shot. However, I wasn't expecting the car trouble and that did take a lot of time to sort out.

I am happy to be home and happy to be working at a desk again instead of a picnic table - I got tired of that pretty quick!
The next trip is in August with the Rover Landers here in BC and Jon is coming up from Dallas to travel with me. I am looking forward to that trip and it'll be nice to have a co-pilot again - always more fun to have someone to share the memories with then traveling alone. More on that trip to come!

Day Twelve - Twin Falls, ID to Yakima, WA

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This had to be the hilliest of all the driving I had done to date! The five hundred miles seemed to take forever as a lot of the hills were steep enough that it meant Kels was climbing at 50 to 55 mph (although I was quite content with that - she was still moving forwards so I couldn't complain!). Google maps says that the distance can be covered in 7 hrs 19 mins but it took us closer to 9 hrs - that is how many hills there were!

Boise, Idaho had one really neat feature that most cities don't post for drivers just traveling through the city - they had a sign that said 'through traffic stay in left lane'. How sensible is that? As a slow vehicle, I always want to move into the right lane to let people pass and then constantly have to move over when there is an 'exit only' lane or when vehicles from an off-ramp are merging into my lane. This makes for a bit of stress when you don't know where you are going. But this permission to stay in the left lane through the entire city, knowing that I wasn't going to get shuttled off onto an exit only ramp was very relaxing. And if people didn't like the speed I was going, they went around me (although that didn't happen much oddly enough). Anyway, all cities should have a lane that is designed for through traffic - it would cut down considerably on everyone's stress.

The prettiest stretch of this drive was between Pendleton, OR and Yakima, WA. That part of Washington is the wine country and I swear it makes you feel like you are in Tuscany! Beautiful rolling hills with neat rows of grapes with small streams winding along beside the highway - spectacular! The month of June may be particularly nice there, I don't know but it sure was pretty and worth the trip.

Although I had thought about driving straight through to Vancouver, BC and the ferries, with the late start in the morning I decided to stop in Yakima for the night. Found a KOA near the highway and pitched my little tent. The campsite was nice - on grass - but the owners have to do something about the mosquitoes which were HUGE and fierce. I finally locked myself in my tent to get away from them and was asleep by 9:45pm.

Day 11 - Page, AZ to Twin Falls, ID

Six hundred and three miles today! Long day but a good one. The scenery was amazing but since I decided to just put miles under my wheels, I didn't stop to shoot any of it.



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Everyone should visit the southern part of Utah at some point in their lives. In all of the 9000 miles I covered on this trip, southern Utah is by far the most spectacular and worth the trip. Unfortunately, driving through with a desire to just get home made it difficult to appreciate but I will come back and with more time on my hands, a co-pilot and hopefully a little less stress!
I ended up in a KOA at Twin Falls, ID and aside from being placed beside a garbage bin (couldn't figure out what the funny smell was for most of the evening), it was the nicest camp spot I have had to date. I had my own shade tree and the site was mostly grass - a huge improvement to the dirt of some and the lava rocks of Williams, AZ which did a great job of getting between sandal and feet with every step.
It was a nice place to stop and ended up spending the evening chatting with a father and son who race street bikes. Different world then what I play in and was interesting to learn about it. And the bikes were really cool!
Headed off at about 9:30 that morning hoping to make Yakima, WA.

Day Ten - Williams to Page, AZ

Leaving the Williams KOA was a bit of a blessing. Don't get me wrong, its a nice KOA as KOAs go but the wireless internet didn't work at the campsite so I had to sit up on the porch to do any work! Crazy stuff! And it got cold at night...real cold...like 2 degrees Celsius cold! Made for a bad night's sleep! Nice enough people though and my neighbour's were very friendly and interesting to chat with about their travels and the local area.
I left at 10am not really knowing where I wanted to spend the night tonight. I wanted to get all the way to Glendale, UT but that was nearly 5hrs driving by Google so add about an hour to that for Range Rover time. Seemed a bit much on a bad night's sleep and left no time for siteseeing in Flagstaff. I was considering whimping out and staying at the Flagstaff KOA - a whopping 30 miles down the road. However, their night would be just as cold and I ended up driving right past it anyway. So on I went to Page, AZ where Jon recommended I stay the night. Pretty drive - amazing scenery and not a main freeway so speed limits stayed within old Rover ranges - no Fear Factor necessary.

I am getting ahead of myself however. Old Town Flagstaff is wonderful! I could have stayed there all day and considered grabbing a room at one of the old original hotels but that seemed too easy for some reason. I just got in the rig and headed towards Page (actually aiming for the KOA but it proved impossible to find). To the left is the back of the Hotel Monte Vista and to the right is just a pretty street. I could have spent a ton more time there - maybe next time!

Tonight I am going to work (of course) but catch the sunset over Lake Powell - should be pretty so watch for the photos later on!

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Day Nine - Scottsdale to Williams, AZ

I get to leave Scottsdale! Yah!

"On the road again
Goin' places that I've never been
Seein' things that I may never see again,
And I can't wait to get on the road again."

Thank you, Willy, that's enough of that.

Side note: the May issue of Texas Monthly magazine did a feature on Willie Nelson that was amazing - well worth the read! The pictures alone are worth the time - honest. Never knew Willie could be so dramatic.



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I headed out from Scottsdale at 9:30ish. First stop was gas at $4.29 a gallon - the hightest yet. Must have been a Scottsdale thing because a few miles away it was down to $4.19 - not quite so bad.

The drive went fine. Glad I wasn't trying to head south on I-17 as there was an accident that had the two lane highway backed up for 18 miles and I am not kidding. It was ugly and I was so glad to be a) heading north and b) to have a new rad installed in old Kels!

My only stop for the day was supposed to be Prescott but along the way, there was a lovely little western town frontage called Dewey-Humbolt. Very sweet and nice little stop. There were a few antique shops, a real estate office and the local Chamber of Commerce. Took some fun pics of antique saddles - old leather and silver are great to shoot!
Prescott was amazing! It was 

the original territorial capitol and President Lincoln wanted it to look like a northern town versus the rest of Arizona that had the adobe look that is still prevalant. It made Prescott stand out then and it still has a flavour all its own. Fun to shoot and as usual, I would love to have had more time to spend in the neat little town.
Prescott's other claim to fame is it was the home base of Teddy Roosevelt and the Rough Riders during the Spanish Wars. This statue is in honour of the Rough Riders and was made by Solon Hannibal Borgum (1868 - 1922), America's first cowboy sculptor. Its lifesize - huge!!!

The rest of the drive was uneventful although I had forgotten how boring it was to drive the freeways. I will be avoiding them from now on!
The KOA at Williams was nice although they did not have wireless at the campsites which really put a damper on my evening. My site was a little barren - a couple more trees would have been much appreciated as the sun was intense. Once the sun was down however, the temperature dropped alarmingly and by the morning it was 2 degrees Celsuis - what is up with that?!? Made for a heck of a chilly night and after two months of Dallas and Phoenix temps, it seemed even colder!

The Second Part of Day Four and Day Five, Six, Seven & Eight

Saturday evening was spent on the trail in the Sonora Desert with the Arizona Land Rover Owners. Kels got left behind as it was way too hot and way to hilly to even take her to where we were camping, never mind on the trail. I hitched a ride with Rob Woodward who I had met in April at the Death Valley event hosted by the Land Rover Club of Las Vegas.
Because of the high temperatures here in Phoenix, the AZLRO guys run the trails in the latter part of the evening and into the night so as not to overheat the rigs. This made for interesting photography and the added challenge of working in low light was a trick. The remaining pics I will get up soon - promise!

It was a fun event and as always, I was welcomed like an old friend by everyone. Enjoy the pics!
Once we returned from camping in the desert (crazy hot!), Sunday was spent finding me a hotel for a few days while Kels was booked in with Rover Techs in Scottsdale to install her new radiator. I ended up in this amazing hotel called the Scottsdale Thunderbird Suites - I highly recommend it to anyone traveling to Phoenix! Nicest people and the off-season rates were incredible.

I am sad to leave as it has been a wonderful little oasis but Kels is 100% again and itching to finish this journey. We are heading to Williams today with a stop in Prescott, AZ to do some shooting in the downtown core.
More about that a little later I guess!

Day Three & the First Part of Four

Friday began well - got up, got some work done, ate left over pizza and once the checkout time had passed, worked in the breakfast room of my hotel. Then the shop called and Kels was ready to go an hour and a half earlier then expected - great news!

I was back on the road by 2pm heading west. The shop, Aguierre Motors, replaced the split upper rad hose and also the thermostat as there was a pretty good chance that it wasn't working properly. About 100 miles later, the now working temperature gauge started to spike and I found a place to pull over. After a few phone calls with Jon and Jayson from the Arizona Land Rover Owners Assoication, I got back on the road and headed on to Lordsburg, New Mexico, hoping that topping up the coolant would make a difference. Well, it got me there.

I decided to stay in Lordsburg for the night and make an early start in the morning. If given a choice, I would rather break down at a time when the wait for the shops to open is only a few hours at most, not ten.

Since it was only going to about six hours before I was back on the road, I didn't want to spend much on a hotel. I found the cheapest motel in town and stepped into the lobby. The place was a dive but I decided to have a quick look at the rooms before passing judgement. There was an elderly man behind the counter who quickly started telling me his entire life story as well as a long gab about how polite Canadians are and how so many big city people have lost their manors. When he offered me his best room - his 'special' room - for the same price as a regular room, I figured it couldn't be too bad, could it?

It was more then bad - I should have taken a picture of the dead cockroach or the food I found in the fridge that wasn't plugged in. Nice place. Couldn't even shower since I didn't feel like sharing the small space with a inch long roach kicking up all eight legs...six legs? Roaches are insects so he should have had six but I didn't stop to count as he was pretty darn gross. I am not squeamish but what got me this time was not the roach, it was the fact he was dead. The copious amount of chemicals needed to kill a roach that big were more then this chick wanted to face! So I just left at 3:30am deciding I would find a shower at some point during the day.

Thankfully Kels co-operated and we made it to Phoenix in one piece. She didn't start to overheat until we hit the hill part of Fountain Hills where Jayson lives. Beautiful area and the name comes from the local park having the tallest fountain in the world which we drove by but it wasn't fountaining at the time - no pics.

We spent the rest of the morning getting ready for the off-roading that evening but that is an entry for another day. Enough for now!

Day Two - Not a Good Day!

Wind, heat, hills - 1

Range Rover - 0

20 miles east of Las Cruces, New Mexico, in the middle of the Fort Bliss Military Reservation aka a US Military Missile Testing Site, Kels blew her top rad hose all over the highway! Nice day two...

The day started badly - if anyone every tells you it is easy to sleep in a tent in a wind storm with gusts up to 60mph, tell them they can do it alone! No sleep all night and I wasn't alone in the agony! I think the entire campsite was awake - no way anyone could have slept through it considering you could hear the gusts coming from hundreds of feets away. They sounded like a freight train and considering all the tornadoes recently, I have to say I didn't like the sound much.

The drive was laboursome. Heavy head winds meant that every mile (which wasn't many - only about 160 total miles today) was work - I guess too much work for the old girl. Heading up a steep 6% grade leaving the missile testing grounds, coolant started flying out of Kels and I barely got pulled over before she stalled. Nice. Thank goodness for BCAA and being able to call a 1 800 number to get a tow truck sent which was an adventure in itself.

Ever tried to tow a Range Rover? They don't like being towed. With a regular tow truck, you have to disconnect the rear drive shaft so its easier to use a flat deck. Remember when I mentioned I was heading up a steep hill? Made for an interesting angle to then winch her up on the deck and, oh, a tow truck driver that didn't know where to hook the chains. Steep angle, emergency brake off, transmission in neutral and one of only two tow hooks popping off the frame...thought I saw the last of poor Kels and was wishing I had taken out my camera so I could at least have captured the chaos for prosperity.

Eventually we made it to Las Cruces and Kels was dropped off at the local NAPA authorized dealer and repair shop. Of course, there is no replacement rad hose in the city so it'll be noon tomorrow before the shop can even begin to repair her.

So I am in the local Comfort Inn for the night - hopefully for only one night but at least there is no way the wind will keep me awake tonight!

Day One - Rowlett, TX to Carlsbad, New Mexico

First day ate through about 520 miles - not bad for the shake down day! There was a nasty head wind the entire way so that made it an exhausting 500 miles but oh well, it can only get better from here!
Carlsbad, NM looks like a great area to spend some time exploring and I wish I had some time to spend here. The whole drive was pretty and I wish I could have stopped to take some photos but between the wind and the dust, it was not really a photo day.

Except for this little cutie! 'Sass' is my neighbour dog. She is a 5 month old Pughuahua - an oops on the part of the breeder. Sweet, out going disposition and all she wants to do is come visit my side of the fence.
I am staying at the Carlsbad KOA - 
a brand new facility that is really quite amazing! I am in the Tent Pavilion - a hexagonal covered area with fences between camping areas. Kind of tight quarters but with the heat and the wind we have had today, I am happy to not be in the more private, grassy area. 
Temperatures topped out about 39 degrees Celsius by the way - that's 102 Fahrenheit. Nasty! That kind of heat is enough to boil brain cells and thank goodness for swimming pools - this one saved my sanity tonight!

This is the campground firetruck - pretty neat, huh?!? Typical me - always looking at the vehicles.

Tomorrow I am aiming for Silver City, NM - a much shorter drive then today! It is supposed to be cooler there - mid 20s versus high 30s sounds like a nice break to me! So more tomorrow and I will try to take more interesting pics - couldn't shoot while driving today it was that windy!

The Rambling Freelancer Begins the Next Stage of Her Journey

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From Rowlett Texas to somewhere near Fountain Hills, AZ to cover a Land Rover off-road event held at night because it is too hot for the rigs during the day - cool, huh?!?

I am leaving here June 4th at about 6am and staying just north of Carlsbad, NM that night. Then head to Lordsburg, NM for Thursday night. Friday is a short drive to Benson, AZ and spending part of the day in Tombstone, AZ. Saturday is a short hop to the staging area for the night run and at this point, I am not completely sure where that actually is, just that it is near Fountain Hills (more information on that later I guess).

Google says it is 1150 miles and it will take me 20 hrs to drive this far. With the old Rangie, I always add a bit of time to that but I shouldn't be too far off. I am curious to see if my fuel consumption gets better with all the work Jon has done on the rig - it should make a huge difference as she is not fighting herself anymore!
I am not staying anywhere too exciting on this trip - all KOA campgrounds. They are cheap and they all have free WiFi so I can do some work while I am travelling - pretty important for this freelancer.
Should be an interesting trip - watch for further updates from Wednesday on!