We arrived in Mesa, Az. on December 31st after a short drive in from Blythe, California. It was great to have a short (3 1/2 hours) day on the road after our marathon the day before when we drove from Orem, Ut. to Blythe, CA - 591 miles (950 km). Most of our trip from Orem to Blythe was on Interstates where the speed limit was between 75 mph and 80 mph - 120 - 130 kpm. The new 4Runner handled and ran beautifully.
We finally left the snow somewhere around St. Georges, Utah. When we got in the 4Runner in Orem in the morning it was snowing lightly with a bit more than an inch of fresh snow. The temperature has been a pretty constant 21F or -6C. When we got into Nevada the temperature went up to around 50F or 12C. Nice to get into some warmer, drier climate.
When we arrived in Mesa yesterday our first stop was T-Mobile. We signed up for a pay as you go monthly plan that will give us North America text and calling and 2G of data for $50/month. When I told the sales rep that I was paying more in Canada for less he said he hears that all the time from Canadians here for the winter. He told us that we could use the plan when we went back to Canada with no additional fees. I can't see our big 3 telecommunications companies allowing that to happen. It's not like there is a Free Trade Agreement between Canada and the USA. Oops, wait a minute, I guess there is and it is called NAFTA. I think telecommunications are one of the **10,000 products and services excluded from NAFTA. Why do we have NAFTA any way? Someone will have to enlighten me on that. But, I digress....
Daytime temps seem to be normal for this time of year. You wouldn't know that by all the negative comments from residents here at the park who are complaining about the cold weather. The first thing we did when we got here was put on shorts and t's and get rid of the gortex hikers. We got up this morning, had a good breakfast and went for our New Year's Day ride. The wind was cool but the sun was warm and temperature was near 60F, 15C The ride was a bit shorter than we would normally have done because I seem to be coming down with cold, or something..... (some congestion, temperature is up, I'm tired) Dang! I hope to rebound quickly.
Our new trailer house is terrific! Very clean and the layout is perfect. A second bathroom would be great but, nothing we can do about that. We have met most of the folks on the street. It was great to be reconnecting with friends. Dana left to walk over to the store and it took her about 2 hours as as she walked down the street folks wanted to visit and know how we are. Very nice feeling and reminds us of our good friends back home on Dawe Road - you know who you are ;-) Quite a few folks are still away but every day more are returning from being "home" for Christmas.
Here is a photo of Dana after our ride. Still smiling..... Happy, Happy.......
**Number exaggerated for affect. Known as editorial licence. Also known as Barry Facts, copied from Carly Facts. Never let the truth get in the way of a good story ;-) I will do this from time to time if my extensive research (Google and Wikipedia) fail me.
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