Oct 9 Monday- We get up early to go to Chaco Canyon but it rained too much and washed out some of the dirt road. We were taking a guided tour. It is clear here today but I guess I can’t win them all. Tomorrow we leave for Chama where we have booked on a narrow gauge steam engine. It takes us 64 miles from Chama to Antonito Colo. We take the bus one way. Then we make our way to Taos New Mexico for a couple of days

bronze statues in front of train station in Durango
murels Durango
Strater hotel 1891 Durango 

Oct 8 Sunday-Today we take the truck to Durango Colorado. We were there last year for the Silverton train ride and didn’t get a chance to walk the town. It’s sunny at the RV park but was starting to rain just as we left Durango. Tomorrow we are booked in to take a tour of Chaco Canyon., an all day trip. I am really looking forward to this . I hope it doesn’t rain.

Oct 7 Saturday- Farnington -A beautiful sunny day. We go to the visitor’s center, then to the Super Wal-mart where I buy an eye patch as I think I am super sensitive to the bright sunlight after cataract surgery and do not have an infection. We step back in time and visit both the Salmon ruins and Aztec ruin. The Salmon ruins AD1088-AD1130. These ruins have little of the drama of Chaco or Aztec. Its rooms- they found 150 ground rooms 100 second story and 75 third story rooms. The 2^nd & 3^rd floors have long since fallen. The great Kiva’s –circular ceremonial pits, carved into the ground are only partially excavated. An old homestead owned by George Salmon in the late 1800 still remains. He protected the ruins from vandals. The Aztec ruins- early settlers mistakenly thought they were decendence of the Mexican Aztec. They were not even living yet. These ruins over 1000 years old were built and used over a200 year period. The west ruins have at least 450 interconnected rooms built like condos around a great open plaza. The site has the only fully reconstructed Anasazi Kiva in the South West

Salmon ruins storage rooms
Salmon ruins once were 2 stories
Aztec ruins has 450 rooms
a 360 ft wall Atzex ruins 

Oct 6 Friday-We phone for a tow truck. He comes fairly quickly. Wouldn’t you know it the truck starts and he unhooks. Bill still has it towed to the dealers. I stay in the RV. At 3pm it gets real dark and starts to thunder and lightening. Then terrible winds and sheets of rain. The 5^th wheel really shook. It was scary. It was like going through a car wash with wind. We quickly have a lake outside our door. It’s a good thing we were not on the road or visiting one of the ruin sites. The storm only lasted 15 min. Thank goodness.

Bill finally comes back around 5pm. It turns out to be the transfer pump again. This happened when we took our first drive with the new truck when we first bought it. It’s a good thing we had Good Sam and it is still under warranty or the bill would have been around 1000. I checked weather.com and it’s supposed to improve tomorrow 70-49 with 40% chance of rain.

Oct6 Thursday- Today is a bad day. We make it to Farmington and a Koa RV park really in Bloomfield 10 miles away. Bill drives into a pull through and goes to unhook from the truck and the truck dies. To make matters worst it has been raining for about 1 hour. The grounds are muddy and the RV very dirty. The truck was acting up just past Moab. Bill went to return to town but the truck seemed to correct itself so we turned around and continued on. The rain stopped temporally so we set up the satalite dish and watched Globel news. It is too late to call Good Sam towing. To top things off my eye is really watering and is itchy the drops are not doing its job. Might have to find an Optometrists . Another thing to think about are we going to be caught up in the long week end. It is Columbus day on Monday in the US.

Bill is very upset he hardly eats any supper. not good Only good thing is I am able to get on line from our rig.

this is 4 corners where Arizona,Utah, Colorado and New Mexico all meet. We will passing this today this is last years picture. 

Oct 5 Thursday- I went to bed too early and woke up at 4, finally got up at five and walked across to the Best Western and played on my laptop. Today we hope to get to Farmington New Mexico where we will find a RV park and use it to spoke out before we head down to Chaco Canyon. Try www.nps.gov/chcu for a good insite on Chaco. the weather has been great in the 60 & 70.

salt flats near the Nevada-Utah border


we stop at another flying j and low and behold there is a Best Western accoss the street free WIFI 

Oct 2- We made it across the border with no difficulty. It took 1 hr. but that was because of a long line up. There is a huge outlet mall across from the Tulalip casino where I had to go to Harry and Davids chocolate. The buffet was great. We have decided to go to Chaco Canyon this year on our way . It is in New Mexico and is an anaszi pueblo dating back 1000 years. So we are heading for Farmington NM. After spending the night at the Alpinlite ,free parking with electric,we first stop at a tire place to have our tires checked after our blowout this summer. The tires are fine but the tire pressure is all out of wack. Bill has 3 tire pressure gauges all read something different and turn out to be all wrong. The tire place reads the pressure with his gauges and sets us straight. We buy a new and improved gauge.

I think Bill better trade me in for a new one as my left eye is acting up, watering and itchy. I stop a a medical clinic in Yakama to find out I have an eye infection. He ruled an allergy as it was only in one eye. He looked in the eye but fount nothing. So 60.00 latter I am sent for 15.00 drops. They are working fine and we are off. We are staying the night at a truck stop in Caldwell Idaho. I have another buffet.It is not near as good as the last one but less than half the price.

Sept 30-We leave tomorrow at 8am for a return trip down memory lane. We will spend the first night in the Tulalip casino in Marysville, they have a wonderful buffet. There is also a super Wal-Mart where we can replenish our fresh vegetables, fruit and meat as we couldn’t bring anything across the border. Yakama will be our next stop so they can look at the damage we did with the tire blowout this summer. The only time they had for repairs now was the middle of Nov. So we will order the parts and stop on our way home in March.

This is our tentative schedule we have to pick up our Copper Canyon Caravan Oct. 27(we hope to be there 1 week early to explore the Big Bend area. We come out November 24. We have booked Casa Grande for Christmas. Dec.11-Dec 30(confirmed).We is hoping for Dec30-Jan.14 Ehrenberg. Jan 14-Jan28 Yuma Jan 28-Feb.11 Indio Feb11-Feb25 Desert Pools. Feb25-march 4 Catalina desert hot Springs.March4-18 Pahrump Nevada or St George Utah???????

Hi all. I am home now. Dr Chan performed the sergery and all went well. We are staying at the Burnaby Cariboo RV park . They have free WIFI here so keep in touch.

July 19 Wednesday Burnaby RV park
I guess it"s time I brought you up to date on what is going on with me. Today I went for an MRI. I will not get the results until July 27. I am wearing a catherter and am on supositories and other pain killers. They think it might be a pinched nerve in my back. We made it back in record time 4and 1 half days. I don't know how Bill drove so far. We are staying at the Burnaby RV park not at the boat.

July7 Friday Ottawa -sunny Today I get the results of my blood work and my back x-ray. It seems like I have developed a sciatic nerve problem. We get rid of the quinine pills and add codeine to help me make it back to Vancouver. We decide to let our family doctor help me. They think I should maybe go to a chiropractor. I had a very bad pain day. Hopefully the pills will work for the trip home. We are all hooked up ready to go. What a disappointment but the pain is just getting worst everyday.

We should be home in about a week.

locks in Rideau canal
entrance to center block
24 Sussex Prime Minister's house 

east block of parlement west block of parliment
center block of parliment
Rideau Fall from the boat 

July 6 Thursday sun& clouds Ottawa is a pleasant place to explore especially since Bill doesn’t have to drive in the city. We catch the bus to do the Ottawa River boat tour. First we watch the changing of the guards march to the center. We still have time to watch 5 boats go through the Rideau Canal Locks. We walk to catch the boat ride just in time. We see most of what we saw on the bus only from the water view. We walk back up to the commissariat house a museum now. Next we go inside the Chateau Fairmont Hotel. Lunch time, we settle for a hotdog from the stand in front of the parliament building. Remarkably very tasty. We go to the peace tower to get some good pictures from the top only to find that the elevator is out of order, so much for that. My back is starting to hurt so we head back to the RV park.

Hope for some good news from the doctor tomorrow

the centre block peace tower has a 53 bell carillon
the senate
inside center block
the Rideau canal 

July 4 Tuesday sunny today we opt for the bus tour hop on & hop off all day. We do the whole run without getting off, the bus even took us to Hull Quebec. Bill gets off first at the Air Museum. I go to the art gallery to see Emily Carr, the group of 7 and found a great Eskimo display. The building was awesome. I go across the street to the Notre Dame Basilica just stunning. We pass a lot of ambassador’s and embassy homes, big and expensive. We drive Sussex drive and pass the Prime Minister’s Residence. We also pass the home of the RCMP musical ride; they were not home so all you could see were the stables and where they did the ride. We found Ottawa extremely clean. Just enough time to see Ottawa’s mint. Not that much difference to Winnipeg’s. They do specialty coins here. We meet at the visitor’s center not far from where we get the bus back. We bought combination tour for $20 for both boat (Ottawa River this time) and all day bus. Well worth it. After supper my thigh acts up again. We find a clinic close by. 5 different doctors and 5 different pills. None seen to work this doctor sends me to get x-rays on my back as it starts to hurt too. I am a wreck!

July5 Wednesday sunny I have a terrible night . I get so frustrated I phone my docter at home .He said find a docter who will deal with you. This doctor sends me for blood test. We extend our stay in Ottawa. We might be home yet. The results will be in on Friday so we will make up our minds then thankfully this didn’t happen in the USA or way up north in the boat. I stay home the rest of the day Bill goes of to see Diefenbunker Canada cold war museum. The bunker was built to house the Canadian government and military in the event of a nuclear crisis.