Month: March 2022

CrossCountry Bob knew that Utah was high.  Winnie found out the hard way, guzzling gas as she climbed this pass towards 9,600 feet…

As for dry, Utah was more than one kind of dry…

The other kind of dry caught CrossCountry Bob by surprise.  Turns out that Utah is the driest state in America – you want a bottle of gin to replenish supplies before venturing into the backcountry? – too bad, Mr. CrossCountry Bob with your not so bright assumptions; (but in his defence, CrossCountry Bob couldn’t have imagined a place (even a place thick with Mormons) that was so much like the days of WAC Bennett in British Columbia (say 1970 or so) when liquor was only sold in government liquor stores and cash only (WAC didn’t want anyone getting drunk on credit).  But, yes, in spite of that history lesson, Utah had stepped right up to the plate and knocked it out of the park with its “State Liquor Stores” and in smaller towns, “Package Agencies”, the relevant one of which CrossCountry Bob found was open noon to 6 pm, closed weekends

The sad result of all these control issues was that Winnie was forced to venture into National Park wilderness without the sustaining power of end-of-day gin and tonic.  A gruelling proposition to be sure, but CrossCountry Bob and Paintin’ Peggie were determined.  After all, there were scenic treats as consolation…

And so, CrossCountry Bob and Paintin’ Peggie managed without, and even thrived, with high trail desert hikes providing an endless supply of often stark beauty and, even though the weather was chilly, the cold beer (left over from hot Valley of Fire) provided a reasonable end of day substitute.  Not a perfect trade-off, but workable.  And the hiking was interesting after the parking lot…

Utah might limit gin access but the supply of natural beauty was unlimited. And not just the National Parks.  The Escalante region for example…

There were also high end state parks that CrossCountry Bob and Paintin’ Peggie explored (cleverly, early in the season before the crowds but maybe not so cleverly, as winter’s bite was still active).  At Coral Pink Sands State Park that bite was a swift wind over the dunes but your intrepid duo climbed the dunes anyway…

By now, CrossCountry Bob and Paintin’ Peggie had (thought CrossCountry Bob) developed a substantial immunity to cold and wind, so Bryce Canyon National Park was next up at an elevation of over 8,000 feet.  The campground in the Park wasn’t full (Clue one) and part of the campground was closed due to snow cover (Clue two).  But, paying full attention to those clues, CrossCountry Bob and Paintin’ Peggie donned long underwear, gloves and toques before hopping onto the mountain bikes to “feel” Bryce and allow its rocks to show off their true nature…

Next up was Kodachrome Basin State Park which was a lower elevation than Bryce.  Lots of optimism by CrossCountry Bob was not misplaced as there was enough warmth for CrossCountry Bob and Paintin’ Peggie to mountain bike over some miles of great trails, ending on a ridge that someone aptly named Panorama Point…

What a day!  Loving this, CrossCountry Bob was pleased that Paintin’ Peggie had wanted a four day stay here to have a patch of down time and paint.  Kodachrome didn’t really care about those plans and the next day provided a generous helping of wind blow snow to complement the multi-hued rocks (and remind CrossCountry Bob of who really runs the show in Kodachrome)…

And once again, Winnie proved herself the core of the campaign.  Warm and snug inside, Paintin’ Peggie got a lot of painting done (and CrossCountry Bob wasn’t idle, writing part of the time and reading part of the time, and wondering part of the time whether an undiscovered side effect of omicron was temporary insanity randomly dispersed across the globe with special concentrations in government). 

CrossCountry Bob could pause here and reflect on what happened to seventy years of relative peace in Europe but that brings on concern, sadness and a sense of disbelief.  A descent into old ways with sociopathic authoritarians creeping out from under their rocks.

So, for the moment, CrossCountry Bob dropped back into the Utah landscape and its sandstone brilliance…

And arches…

Hiking through this land was a pleasure of discovery (and by the way, for those of you surprised at CrossCountry Bob hiking, that was a surprise to CrossCountry Bob as well).  In his defence, CrossCountry Bob points out that every climbing trail in the Parks yields vistas and landforms and constant reminders of how temporary each of us are.

The land is too dry for a British Columbia type forest and so, as Paintin’ Peggie notes, this is different than hiking in the forest where all you see is trees).  And a bonus, no bears to worry about and too early and cold for rattlesnakes and scorpions.  Happy days for CrossCountry Bob who last hiked through forests way back (as in long, long ago) during his brief tenure as a forestry student (no laughter or sarcastic emails please).

The final National Park for CrossCountry Bob and Paintin’ Peggie, Zion National Park, had Winnie retracing our steps after we managed to snag three nights of a very hard to come by camping site.

First glimpse of Zion coming in through the eastern tunnel…

Zion was a lower elevation than Bryce or Arches and the season was already underway with people swirling like ants about a honeypot.  But a cure for that was onto the mountain bikes and cycling up the road where cars were not permitted. And this is what we saw…

Still, starting early in the day, there were a minimum number of talkers (perhaps they need extra sleep to restore vocal cords energy?) and CrossCountry Bob and Paintin’ Peggie were able to hike in relative peace up the famous Angel’s Landing route which quickly turned into a candidate for best hike of the trip, tied overall with Valley of Fire (which was Paintin’ Peggie’s top choice).

What was left after Zion?    By then, Winnie was like a horse that smells home – no matter how much you work the reins to delay the inevitable, home is where you are going.  And Spring was creeping closer up north with CrossCountry Bob tiring of American news and looking forward to simpler things such as figuring out “what is the agenda of that guy Trudeau anyway??”.  But first, a Costco stop for some of the best priced wine in America and, of course, a final clip of Americana…

And with that, CrossCountry Bob and Paintin’ Peggie are ready to leave America, a unique and beautiful land, vibrant and flawed like any, a mixture perhaps like no other. It is where CrossCountry Bob would go if there were no Canada.

This won’t be the last time CrossCountry Bob and Paintin’ Peggie go to America.  But with omicron backing off, other places beckon (and other places don’t).  The world is pushing an increased sense of urgency into CrossCountry Bob now.  Don’t wait it whispers, “I promise you nothing if you wait”.

Goodby, America and Hello Canada!

With Paintin’ Peggie finished with her plein air painting course in Tucson (a fine time was had), the time had arrived to point Winnie north towards Las Vegas.  CrossCountry Bob picked a route through Quartzsite, then north to Parker, Lake Havesu and on to Las Vegas.  Sounded like a plan (to him, yes, but not so much to Paintin’ Peggie).  Turned out to be a less than perfect plan. Quartzsite was flat, bleak desert festooned with off road vehicles, wind and dust and to top it off, it was Presidents Day weekend. Yikes! 

A shade north of Quartzsite is one of the largest BLM boondocking sites in America (BLM stands for Bureau of Land Management).  Cross Country Bob saw an abundance of home town Americana around Quartzsite, worth checking out (he thought) but Paintin’ Peggie said please no (a clue perhaps to where the tastes of Paintin’ Peggie aren’t), and so Winnie passed on by…

Although CrossCountry Bob missed taking pictures of specific Quartzsite Americana, he rose to the challenge and located some quality substitutes…

By the time Quartzsite receded in Winnie’s sideview mirrors, the sun was sinking lower than CrossCountry Bob liked and it was now “find a spot very soon for the night” time – something that was not always easy with RVs littered across the southwest, filling most RV parks and campgrounds like sardines in a tin.  The next town on the road was Parker which had thosel sardine RV resorts – not an option for this picky duo.  But to the rescue, on the outskirts of Parker there was a Reservation and in this area that meant (surprise) – a Casino – and this particular Casino had a big parking lot with lots of RVs stopping over.  Turns out casinos have other uses than vacuuming up money. Winnie stayed over, not quality camping for sure but okay for a night and better than rumbling diesels in the truck stops that Paintin’ Peggie preferred to avoid.

From Parker to the Parker Dam is a 30 kilometre strip of the Colorado River thick with mobile home parks, RV Parks, strange looking aluminum park models, each with a big garage area for the toys (boats, skidoos and ATVs). 

Using a favourite CrossCountry Bob expression, “we came, we saw, we went” (excepting a pleasant stopover at a BLM campsite along the less populated side of the river with some wild burros that somehow survive both the desert and the torrents of sun-seeking snowbirds)…

Next up was Lake Havesu City which Paintin’ Peggie indicated was not an improvement (unless you like RV lots, golf carts and gun stores)

Moving on north from the limited pleasures (warm weather) of Lake Havesu City, the weather turned C.O.L.D.  Canada was apparently sending down a reminder that winter still had a bite.  CrossCountry Bob and Paintin’ Peggie had that reminder pounded home while camped in Golden Valley south of Las Vegas as nasty, swirling winds rattled and rocked Winnie for hours then (just in case more ha ha! was required) delivered a snow shower in the morning chill (this is Vegas country, remember?).

By now, you might be thinking that CrossCountry Bob and Paintin’ Peggie were hankering for a slice of city life and yes, that was the situation.  A snowbird refuge – Las Vegas RV Resort – well run, clean and rows of RVs, but with all the hookups and only an Uber ride from the Vegas Strip.  RV resort living (good for a few days but all winter? remarks Paintin’ Peggie with a slight shake of her head) and then she was off, CrossCountry Bob in tow, not for the casinos but for the budding Las Vegas Arts District north of the Strip.  A low rise area of old industrial transitioning into a curious mix of art and offbeat retail.

A Bonus (this is Vegas after all), after some hours of walk about and browsing a few eclectic stores – there was a rustic little restaurant serving tender, high flavour BBQ brisket that CrossCountry Bob savoured to the point of overdose.  Best in the American southwest so far was the satiated conclusion of CrossCountry Bob. Oh, and there was the cake shop (spotted by Paintin’ Peggie) where she lasered in on a luscious slice of birthday cake. Happy Birthday to Paintin’ Peggie!

After a fine day in the Art District, there were a couple of days of painting on the agenda for Paintin’ Peggie while CrossCountry Bob, with his own serious agenda, booked an Uber to the casinos to meet good friend, Dave Marshall, who flew down from Kelowna to see Metallica (believe it!) and partake (with CrossCountry Bob) of a healthy dose of poker action.

Aside from the poker, the concert idea took root and the next night CrossCountry Bob, Paintin’ Peggie and Dave were in Allegiant Stadium to see Billy Joel.  Now that man (age 72!) knows how to put on a concert!  Grade A+ which more than made up for the traffic jam on the way to the concert stadium during which CrossCountry Bob’s kidneys went on a rampage, leaving CrossCountry Bob feeling as if the only thing that existed in the world at that moment was his bladder (you all know the feeling).  Made it to a porta potti outside the Stadium – just,oh just – and do you know how wonderful the inside of a porta pottie can feel?  Grand! But that was a side issue for the night as Billy Joel and his band took to the stage…

And after over 2 hours of memory lane with Billy Joel…

End of Act I.

ACT II

There is another side of Las Vegas.  Eighty kilometres east is the Valley of Fire.  No slot machines inhabit this landscape.

Time to explore the timeless with Winnie settled into a Valley of Fire campsite

But first, a bighorn sheep checking us out…

Act II continued with hiking  through glorious terrain…

Paintin’ Peggie was loving it, popping up all over…

And the rippled rock that CrossCountry Bob called the ice cream rock which Paintin’ Peggie just had to climb..

Oh, and the temperature was plenty warm; by the time the kilometres of hiking were finished CrossCountry Bob and Paintin’ Peggie were quite happy to rest in the shade. That Vegas sun can be mean if you don’t pay attention. Lots of water. Hats and sunglasses mandatory. CrossCountry Bob and Paintin’ Peggie pay attention to the rules (sometimes).

End of Act II.  It existed before Act I and CrossCountry Bob figures it will still exist long after Act I is done.