OK, OK, I’ve fallen and I had a heck of a time getting back up…(to write the blog of course). Our drive out of Mexico was un-eventful with but one exception… a few miles north of Santa Anna, I got a little sleepy so I decided to find a spot just outside of a small village to pull over and grab a quick nap. Our location was directly in front of a gated hotel and with the large pull off they had, I felt it was just perfect. I had been back on the bed about 15-20 minutes and I heard Louise talking with someone and telling them that I was just back taking a short nap…well hearing that, and already having had my shut-eye, I got up. What I found as I walked to the front of the couch was one of the most unbelievable sights I could have imagined…we were being “guarded” by a large group of “Federal Police”. I’m not sure why, but I sure didn’t mind one bit. As we pulled away and continued heading towards the border, we both waved at our regiment but they just kept their eyes and emotions to themselves. After we had our “vehicle import” stickers taken off and crossed the border, we stopped for the night at the Oregon Pipe Cactus National Monument. That is one great and beautiful spot to enjoy a night or a couple of weeks stay. Yuma was our next stop for a couple of weeks and then another week in Pahrump.
While in Pahrump we decided to head toward Death Valley and another visit to the China Ranch Date Farm. I had a need for a date shake...
Unfortunately we had to make an appointment with Cummins motors in Las Vegas. I say “unfortunately”, but we had a problem and they fixed it, so all was good. It was so good that we decided to stay in Las Vegas 3 more nights to enjoy the “Fremont St” area AND take a drive out to the Valley of Fire.
From that point we finally decided as to which way we were going to travel to Spokane…I-15 to Butte and then I-90 to Spokane. Bbbuuuttt…., not so fast !!! This route also took us into some areas of Utah that we haven’t been in before. Provo, Salt Lake City, and I must say so much more. Our drive north was great. We celebrated Louise’s mother’s memorial in Spokane, drove to Seattle in our car to see our doctors (for our “annual check-ups), visited great friends in Mt. Vernon,
family in Manson, and then back a month and 2 days later to pick up the coach and move to Coeur d’Alene. If we plan our trips to Coeur d'Alene right, we find ourselves there in time to enjoy the annual "CAR d'Alene. They always have a great weekend for this and this year was no different. Outstanding cars from all over the Northwest come into town to drive the circuit and show while sitting in the "show and shine" area.
In the meantime, I ordered a new bicycle that was delivered to me when we arrived in CDA and now we’re ready to finally head east.