June 3rd, May Family Farm..
So, in our waning days at Imperial Dam, we began reconfiguring our 2026 travel plans….in which things…. um…decidedly changed. We touched upon that in the last post, and nothing much has altered, in that regard: Fuel costs are still high and are likely not to go back down this year.
As a result, we canceled all our West Coast plans: we were going to lazily meander up through California, seeing sights, taking six weeks or so, then on into Oregon, Washington, continue up into the lower Provinces, to see Victoria, Bouchard Gardens, and a little of all there is to see in the PNW. We wanted to travel down from there and end up back at the farm in Oklahoma, right around Labor Day, but….all that had to be scrapped.
Remember? “We’ll figure it out!"
The travels up through the West Coast states, into/around Canada, and onto Oklahoma ,would have added a minimum of $4000-$6000 to our fuel costs, alone, and that was simply untenable.
We made our way up to Las Vegas, on our journey back to the Mile High state, to do much needed maintenance and repairs, on the rig and The Beast. The trip to Vegas was primarily to be near an affordable airport, which allowed me to travel to Denver, where I sang with the band, then humped it back to Vegas, where, after a 9-day stay, we headed for Colorado, in late April.
Renee had never been to Hoover Dam, and I had never toured the insides, so we took that in…this year, the dam is 91 years old, and the engineering scope and sheer awesomeness of it never ceases to amaze!
 |
| Looking down the face, all 726 feet of it! A few folks at the top refused to join me…. |
 |
| Looking down river, and at the botton of the highway overpass, built in 2011, to ease traffic congestion over the very narrow dam road. |
 |
Renee, for scale…. |
 |
| This is the overflow channel, which is one of two: Lake Mead has only ever needed them once, in 1983, and it’s unlikely they will ever be needed again. |
 |
| Talk about having a bathtub ring…..this was taken on the Arizona side, looking back to the Nevada side. |
 |
| Looking up-lake: Mead is at historic lows, due to overuse and the effects of climate change. On the left is the Nevada-side penstock, which is the intake for the water that powers to turbines. |
 |
Bureau of Reclamation benchmark set 91 years ago. |
 |
Cool Art Deco bronze sculptures, at the visitor center. |
 |
| More Art Deco touches, which you will see all over the place. This is based upon some Native American symbology. |
 |
| The eight enormous turbines that generate the power that light Las Vegas: due to low water levels, only one turbine was in operation. The trip also allowed us to stop over in Vegas, so I could—AGAIN—pull off the belly pans, to replace rat-gnawed hydraulic lines, which caused us no end of grief since we left Yuma. Being in Las Vegas was also needed, to find an outlet, where I could purchase replacement hydraulic hoses that would be less-tasty to the vermin that visit us. |
In a trailer like ours, with hydraulically-actuated slides and landing gear, there are literally hundreds of feet of these hoses, and, in keeping with the tradition of virtually all RVs, are made of the cheapest, lowest-quality stuff that will just barely suffice. It also happens to have an outer covering, made of soy-based plastics which—you guessed it—rodents find extremely tasty!
 |
| View out the camper window, reminding us why we spend winter in Arizona…. |
 |
| And I thought my wrenching days were in my rear view mirrors…!!! |
 |
How a shopless mechanic works on their truck… |
We haven't seen snow since early December 2024! We were reminded why we didn't miss the snow and cold. But I digress...
As I touched upon in my last blogpost, and this one, the situation, with respect to fuel costs, has drastically altered our plan of action, going forward. We’re still planning to motor on up to Clayton, Idaho, to be camp hosts at the May Family Ranch, and we’re looking forward to the adventure…just like our spiritual icons, Carl and Ellie…
Adventure awaits!
In Colorado, I got a whole bunch of ankle-biters done: refinished the dining room table, maintenance of The Beast, and most importantly, caught up with friends and family. Renee and I had some doctors’ appointments to attend to, and we visited with our tenant. We parked behind the old John Denver Festival stage, where we could hook up to electricity.
We departed Denver and did a series of one-night stays, along the route, at Harvest Host sites. HH is a service where owners of vineyards, restaurants, and other similar businesses allow you to stay in their parking lots, almost always dry-camping, one or two nights, usually free.
It’s customary to drop a few coin at these places; a few where we stayed…
 |
| Elk Mountain Lodge |
 |
| No caption needed!! |
We arrived in Clayton, Idaho on May 27th, and began familiarizing ourselves with the ranch, and its owners. While we had some time, we visited Craters of the Moon, a simply astonishing volcanic feature a few hours away. It’s as a result of the same hot spot that formed Yellowstone NP.
 |
| Inferno spatter cone, a big pile of small volcanic cinders, up which we hiked! |
 |
| The top three photos are of tree molds, formed as a result of hot lava flows surrounding stands of trees. The 2nd photo shows what the bark looked like. Some got knocked down (3rd photo), and some were standing and left a round hole in the lava (1st photo). |
 |
| On our way back down Inferno Cone. |
 |
| “STOP!! I see a rock!” |
So, that brings you, dear readers, a bit up-to-date. More adventures to come!
