Back in the desert again

After enjoying a few days of (relatively) balmy weather we headed back over to Vanderhoof on Jan 6 for another short visit with my mom before heading back south.  We felt as though we'd helped out with the new baby about as much as they could stand us...

Temperature and roads were normal:

A couple days there and it was time to embark on our second southward migration of the season.  Hotel stopovers at Kamloops BC, Pendleton OR, and Provo UT before rescuing Tussy from the storage yard on Jan 13th.  Here are some of the "exciting" pictures from the trip:  

(Either I made a wrong turn and got onto the ice rink, 

or somebody forgot to send the sand trucks out between Prince George and Quesnel.)

(Fatality accident just north of Lac La Hache shut down the highway for a few hours and backed up traffic quite a ways.  In BC there are usually NO alternate routes: when the highway's shut down you sit.  Fortunately even though they published that the road wouldn't reopen til 6 PM they started letting us light traffic go through around 3.)  

(Northern Washington doesn't look much different than BC, eh?)

(Southern Washington.  Yay, I can see the road again!)

(Oregon)

(Idaho)

(Utah)

If you got bored by the last few pictures, be thankful that it only took you 15 seconds to get through them.  It took us three days... 

And then 

(Yay!)

Don't get too excited though: it's only the strip.  Still a ways to go.  But soon we were able to free Tussy from the kennel (she'd survived just fine thanks).  

Move on up to the top of the mesa.  

Grill up a meal.  

And get some normal TV on the tube.  

It's great to travel, but it's sure good to get home, too.  

Next day (that would be Jan 14) we were back on Plomosa Road.  We looked up the SKP Boondockers BOF group the next day (we joined the Escapees last year, and the Boondockers in the fall).  And have been hanging out with the group since.  

(This is the Boondockers group (group fire ring just right of centre)  Lots of room between rigs.)  

(One of the other groups just to the northeast.  A little more "togetherness" over there I think.) 

Visited the vegetable vendor (in Brenda this time, for a change).  Prices might be up a bit: $28 to stock up the fridge this time.  Will have to watch the budget! 

On Friday we made a day trip up to the Lake Havasu City Balloon Fest.  Unfortunately these were the only things flying, for obvious reasons.  

Still, there were bands to be heard, expensive drinks and food to be consumed, and dozens of vendors with amazingly useless trinkets to be browsed but not purchased.  A miniature Quartzsite, but without quite as much "Made in China" atmosphere.  

Although they didn't fly that day, they did do the "evening glow" event only without the ballons inflated.  Impressive, and definitely warmed up the field, but just not the same without the balloons attached.  For better pics cruise back to my Jan 2014 blog when we attended the event.  I also have a very amateurish video on my Youtube channel if you want to have a look.  

Ma nature helped out and gave us this to the west though.  

Anyway, that's all I got for now.  Here's a few oddball shots that didn't fit anywhere else.  Talk to you later.  Stay Warm!!

(Always interesting what the Beetle People come up with. The top pic was actually in Parker, the bottom at the Balloon Fest.)  

(I always knew that.  Probably get a copyright infringement for this pic though.)