Home to Cochrane, AB - 420 km day

On the road from Dupuyer at about 830 am. We know we are getting close to home when the Rocky Mountains are on the horizon :) 

Rocky Mountains in Montana. 

We cross the border at Carway, just south of Cardston, AB around 10:15 am. All the young border patrol man can say is "Welcome Home". It has never felt better to be in Canada!

Shortly after 2 we are taking the exit onto highway 22 to Cochrane! Home by 2/30. 

Cochrane sweet Cochrane....

Thankfully it was 14 degrees out when we arrived home. The deep freeze that had a grip on Alberta for the past 3 weeks broke. BUT....this is now just a few days after our arrival home. It doesn't matter...it is still awesome to be home. 

Monday, March 3rd - days after we get home. 

Travel north to Dupuyer, Montana - 672 km day

Happy 31st Birthday to Joel :)

Again we are on the road by 7am but today we take highway 20 out of Idaho Falls. It is a new route we have never been on before and it takes out the Monida Pass, which is very steep and high. 

Sunrise on Idaho.

The road starts out dual carriage traffic but after about 20 minutes we are down to two lane traffic and we begin a fairly steep climb up into the Targhee Forest. We are shocked at the amount of snow up here.

That's a lot of snow!

Fog briefly sets in at the top. 

More snow than we saw heading south. 

Eventually we come down out of the snow. 

Stop for the night at Dupuyer, Montana

Sheila's ancestors likely passed through here

Last sunset in the trailer

Last pizza in the trailer - so good. 

It's a great rest stop. We settle in for the last night in the trailer for a couple months. 

Heading north to Canada - 850 km day

 We depart at 6:50 am from the Virgin River Gorge, AZ

Sun coming up. 

We make it all the way to the Blackfoot Rest Stop just south of Idaho Falls. 

Virgin River Canyon Recreational area

 The weather is fantastic and we do a nice hike along the Virgin River. 

Love the Joshua trees here. 

Virgin River. 

Virgin River Canyon in the back ground. 

We spend the night getting everything put away as tomorrow morning we are bugging out. Donald Trump says he is going forward with the tariff wars on Canada so we are out of here. 

Travel day north to the Virgin River Gorge, AZ

We are on the road out of Laughlin about 9:30 am. We want to get through Las Vegas before any hint of rush hour starts in that crazy city. 

Vegas strip on the sky line - Mt Charleston has snow. 

Traffic is quite good - just before noon. 

We take the I15 heading north. 

Quick stop in Mesquite for a late lunch. 

The Virgin River Gorge - quite the cuts in the mountain here. 

We are looking for a place to have a last couple days of warmth before the big push north to Salt Lake City. We stop at the Virgin River Recreational area and find this campsite for $8 a night. The red rock is so nice and it's a pleasant 27 degrees. :)

 

Joshua Tree alive and well here. 

Laughlin, Nevada - Davis Dam

Goodbye- Lake Havasu and Arizona as we head north to Laughlin, Nevada for the night. Chris found on-line a concert at the Riverside Casino that we think maybe good. We decide to take in the concert and while in Laughlin, we can visit the Davis Dam, which we have always just driven by.

Don Laughlin - an American gambling entrepreneur. 

While standing in line to get tickets to the concert "Cash, The Killer and The King", (a tribute band to Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis and Elvis) we start chatting to a young couple in front of us. After a couple minutes they ask if we would like their 2 free tickets! Thankfully the world still has a lot of kind people. 

Riverside Hotel and Casino - our rig parked in the lot. 

We head out on our bikes and stumble upon a great bike loop that takes us to the Davis Dam. It's a beautiful loop along the Colorado River, up and over the dam to see Lake Mohave, which is the massive body of water created by the dam, and back down around to where we start. 

Davis Dam spillway and the Colorado River

This dam is equipped with power-generating turbines that use the water flowing through the dam to generate electricity. It currently supplies power to around 1 million homes. Taming the mighty Colorado River is the only way people exist in these desert areas today. 

Views behind as we bike up to the top of the dam.

Lake Mohave upstream of the dam - it's massive.

It is a beautiful 27 degrees out with beautiful blue skies. We love it when we stumble on gem-days like this. What a great day and bike ride. 

Riverside Casino by night.

Cash, The Killer and The King. 

Fairly 'meh' concert. Super glad we didn't pay $40 USD a ticket for them..lol  We sit with the couple who gifted us the tickets (Joe and Leah). Very nice younger couple who want to teach us all about gambling after the concert. We thank them so much, but make a pass as we are travelling tomorrow. 

Jet Ski Races and Kayaking on Lake Havasu

Right off the beach of our campsite at the State Park, is a huge jet ski race today. We walk over and see what it's all about. 

Apparently it is a 300 mile endurance race. The course on Lake Havasu is just over 8 miles long so about 34 to 35 laps to complete the race. Into the wind they go about 62mph but downwind they get up to 70mph. 

Boat launch pull out for refueling. 

They cannot refuel in the lake itself, so they pull out every 5 or 6 laps to refuel on land. 

Refueling on land...huge fuel jugs. 

After a quick refuel, they relaunch and join back into the course. 

Back in the water after fueling

Quick dash out to rejoin the race. 

This poor guy's engine wouldn't restart after fueling so a tech is in the engine box. He finds the battery is totally dead from the continual pounding out there. A quick reinstall of a new battery and the guy is off...doubt he won after at least 8-10 minutes on land but who knows. 

New battery being installed. 

We don't stick around for the end. Since it's a pretty calm day, we decide to do an afternoon triathlon starting with launching the kayaks. We launch at the Havasu National Wildlife Refuge and head up the lake about 2.5 km to a sand bar teaming with birds.

Sand bar in Lake Havasu

As we get to the sand bar, the wind is picking up a little bit so we head back down the lake. Chris has been wanting to try an umbrella in the wind to see if it can work as a sail. 

Sailboats??

Sheila lets Chris go off and have a sail on his own. 

You can't take the sailor out of this man :)

We paddle back down the lake to the state park where we are camped. It was about a 6.5 km kayak. Then we ride our bikes back to pick up our truck, this is the second leg of our triathlon. 

The 3rd and final leg of our triathlon a sun downer on the beach from our RV. 

Ben and Trish, friends from Saskatchewan we have crossed paths with over the years happen to be at the state park as well. They join us for our last night here. 

Chris, Sheila, Trish and Ben

Lake Havasu puts on a beautiful California sunset for our last night here. 

California lies on the other side of the lake. 

Good bye Havasu. 

Lake Havasu on bikes

We bike the Lake Havasu City Island Trail, which is a paved loop around the island. The lake shoreline hosts an impressive collection of 28 scaled-down lighthouse replicas of famous lighthouses from across the USA. Each has a plaque with a description of the original lighthouse and all are totally functioning navigational aids.  

One of the many Lake Havasu light houses. 

After the island, we bike over to Rotary Park. Another lovely place to hang out and relax in Havasu.

Rotary park.

After many kilometers of biking, we decide to treat ourselves to a Big Blue Van craft beer and a snack at The Chair under the Lake Havasu London bridge. 

A treat under the bridge. 

The Chair deck lighting coming on as we are leaving. 

Another day done :)

Lake Havasu and the Four Nations Cup final Canada vs USA

We head into Lake Havasu to get a spot in the state park overflow. We land a spot just off the beach with a great view of the water. We head into Havasu to McCullagh street and meet Elaine and Terry along with their daughter Rheanna and family. We opt out of pizza with them and head back to our RV for the Four Nations Cup tonight. 

Favorite car on the street. 

Tonight is the final game in the Four Nations Cup,  Canada is playing the USA for all the glory.  Apparently Donald Trump asked Governor Trudeau to fly down and watch the game with him. What an ass. If ever Canada needed to win a game it is this one!! Sadly, there is so much more on the line as Trump has turned this game into a blood match. 

Pre game ice. 

Sunset out our door mid first period.

Canada scored first. USA tied it up. USA went ahead 2-1. Canada tied it up 2-2. Game went into OT. 

Connor McDavid scores for the 3-2 win for Canada!!!  Absolute tears of joy all around the nation. 

Thank you and Congratulations Team Canada

It really was an amazing hockey game that either team could have won. Grateful it went our way. Everyone in Canada will sleep better tonight!!