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Friday, November 4, 2011

Stuck in the snow in Idaho…yikes!

Friday November 5, 2011

We left Kelowna on Tuesday morning in above freezing temps and sun.  Easy pass over the border at Osoyoos, B.C. and then onward.  Sun and no wind for driving…bonus.  We stopped at Dry Falls, Wa for lunch and although it was cool we managed to sit outside for our sandwiches.  Every time we stop there we are amazed by the immenseness of the gorge.  To imagine that the water level during the great flood was 300 ft above where you are standing at the top of the gorge boggles the mind.  I took pictures and posted them on other blogs so I’ll leave that out.

We arrived in Othello, Washington and stopped at our usual Wal-Mart around 3:30 pm after an easy drive.  A little shopping and a couple of beers and all was well.  Once again we are grateful for our little Glow Warm propane heater when we are boon docking.  She keeps us toasty warm. 

Wednesday we were up early and on the road by 7:30 am.  We bought a Tom-tom 550 xxl before we left home (on line for a good price) as we want to use it for travel on the Harley.  Eric ordered a replacement gas cap that has a mount for the the GPS so we’ll be able to see it as we travel.  They can be mounted on the handle bars but Harley’s vibrate so much it didn’t seem to be the way to go. 

As we travelled I played with the Tom-tom and compared it to my laptop loaded with Map point software and plug in GPS.  I think we’ll get used to the Tom-tom  but you can’t beat the big screen on the lap top for accuracy.  I usually run my pre-planned route with my GPS trail over it and then open another window with Map Point up again for planning at the same time.  It is nice to have the voice on the Tom-tom telling you where to turn and if she’s right we call her Eric and if she’s wrong we call her Kathy!

As anyone who uses a GPS knows they are never right 100% of the time.  Maps are always a good back-up. 

So….we travelled through the tri-cities (Pascoe, Kennewick & Richland) and on south with no wind or fog so that was good.  When we hit the big hill (Cabbage Hill) just past Pendleton, Oregon the wind picked up and started to scream…..right on the nose and we got our worst mileage ever going up the hill.  Swell!  The wind eased off slightly around Baker City, Oregon but continued all the way to Meridian, Idaho (by Boise) where we now sit.  We booked one night and then checked the net for weather in the Ely, Nevada area for our next travel.  As there is a huge storm off the West coast we are now feeling it’s affects.  Ely and area had a severe wind warning posted so we decided to sit tight for a couple of days.

We had hoped to leave tomorrow (Saturday) but now there is a snow warning in Ely and as well it is going down to 16F at night.  Burr!   We will stay here till Monday and then just move to Twin Falls, Idaho which is only 150miles from here and at 3500 ft not over 7000 like Ely.  We will then make a run from Twin Falls to Ash Springs, Nevada on Tuesday…..subject to weather.  Now I know there are lots of people who just travel and weather be damned but we aren’t those people.  We aren’t in a hurry and we don’t want to drive when there are wind and snow warnings.  We are warm, dry and in a nice park and as well I have my favorite grocery store (WinCo) here to shop at.  We went to the Harley shop today and I had a look at heated jackets but will do some more research before I buy one.  Everything is always more expensive if it has the Harley logo on it. 

We also got three new tires for the 5th wheel yesterday.  Three of our six tires had cupped and Eric suspects it was from the worn out inferior factory shackles.  He has since replaced the shackles with heavy duty rubberized ones but once the tires start to wear you can’t stop it.  We have about 40,000 miles on them but the three originals left on the rig are fine for now.  Eric is fanatical about tire pressure and rotation and it has really paid off and he does it himself so he knows it has been done right.  If the new ones from Les Schwab wear well we will replace the remaining three next year with the same tires.  We also had the new tires balanced which seems not to be something they usually do on trailers but Eric thinks it will make a difference.  We don’t want bad tires on Mexican roads.   

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