Arizona Winter Golf

So here we are on March 9, and Judy is playing in a charity golf tournament with our friends Dan and Sandy.

Those really are winter mitts that Sandy is wearing, and it really is 46 degrees. Cool weather follows a day of heavy rain in the Phoenix area, and winter storms in the high country.

The good news, temperatures will be back in the 70s tomorrow.

How Hot is Hot?

This is a case of melted candles. What the two candles on the outside should look like, is the one you see in the center of this picture.

How do you achieve this squished (melted) look? Leave them in your un-airconditioned park model over the summer months in AZ.

Fall Weather in Mesa

Desert Landscape Along Hwy 60

Now that we are in Mesa, blog posts will slowdown eventually, but there are still some photos to share, and there are other updates worth posting - besides, we don't want you thinking all we do here is party.

Speaking of parties, today there is a Halloween Dance. Life at VDO is never dull.

A common question is how's the weather? So, we should have something on the blog about weather.

Fall weather (meaning anytime before the end of November), is normally like summer weather at home in Ontario. Days are normally hot, evenings warm, and nights cool - but not cold. The temperature at 6 am today is 60 degrees. This will be a day in the 80s. Just like yesterday, and the day before that. Skies are clear, no rain is forecast. Arizona is in a drought, and has been for a number of years. Rain is a good thing, but it is rare.

What's different about fall weather - you can sit out comfortably in the evenings.

Late in the year, and early winter, days are warm, nights are cool, and sometimes cold. You can sit out after dinner if you have a heater. We have a gas fire pit, and we wouldn't be outside after dark in the winter if we didn't. Daytime heat evaporates quickly after the sun goes down during the winter months.

Elk City Camp Hampton

Looking East - View From Our Hampton Suite

No travel coupons tonight, but did manage a little rate manipulation, so we're in a rather classy campground, which happens to be directly beside a Wal-Mart. Judy wasted no time in heading over for much needed supplies.

Noooo, staying in the Roadtrek on the Wal-Mart lot was not a consideration.

Low tonight 29 F. This area is under a breeze and freeze warning. When temperatures drop this low, we prefer being inside brick and mortar.

This day was totally up to expectations. We left Little Rock in rain, it cleared quickly enough, and then it was about the wind behind the front, which was pushing from the NE. That should have helped, probably did, but it made for some nice jolts from time-to-time when gusts hit. We shared the driving.

Beyond Oklahoma City there was slight less truck traffic. Only slightly less. This is America, and there are trucks on the Interstate. Millions of trucks.

We're now out of the mountains and onto the plains. Tornado Alley.

Oklahoma where the wind come rolling down the plains. Windy today, but NO tornadoes.

Tomorrow morning, we off to Amarillo, TX. It won't take long to make Amarillo, and we'll make some decisions then based on wind and weather as to where we head. We've got close to 2,000 miles behind us now, we're on the downwind slope. With luck, Mesa, AZ by Sunday. Here is our expected route.

Okay, it is about the journey. So here's a little bit about Elk City from Wikpedia, which we consult constantly as we travel: Elk City's history dates back to the days immediately following the opening of the Cheyenne-Arapaho reservation in western Oklahoma Territory on April 19, 1892, when the first white settlers made their appearance. Prior to this time, many early ranchers had driven cattle over the Great Western Cattle Trail from Texas to Dodge City, Kansas, the present town-site of Elk City being in the direct path of that famous trail.

We're humbled thinking of what those early pioneers went through in their travels, over these exact same trails. We think of them constantly.