Round the World Tour 2011 - Conclusion

Hi All

Well I'm afraid all good things must come to an end. After visiting Utah I skedaddled for

Odessa, West Texas where I picked up the trailer and headed east. After a gruelling 5 days and

4 nights sleeping in the trailer and staying at “Walmart's” each night, I arrived home Tuesday March 15^th. Now for the statistics:

Miles Travelled: 20,640 km / 12,384 miles (including 3 oil changes)

Miles Home from Odessa:     3,846km / 2,307 miles

Number of Days:                   67 (minus 11 days where Wendy & I flew home and I flew back)

Number of States Visited:      23 unique ( 33 if counting the repeats ) (there are exactly 50)

Now Words of Wisdom for Future Travellers

   Satellite Radio: - we had satellite radio in our van the entire trip. It's very good and there's a very good selection of music and talk shows etc. However there are certain things everyone should know. First it's expensive. I bought a unit on sale in Canada for $75 which included 1/2 price for 6 months on activation. Activation for 1 year (they didn't offer 6 months) cost $160!!! Or $75 + $160 = $235 !!! with all taxes.

   Only works in your car or van. Want it in your house? That requires another kit (about $120).

The existing radio will “plug into” the new kit (similar to an iPod docking station).

   Satellite Radio and the Weather – one of the main reasons for buying a satellite radio is to get the weather conveniently 24 hours / day. When I went to activate the weather channel, the radio (there's a video display) displayed an 800 number. I was in the US at the time. I called the number and they had no record of my radio or it's serial number. Turns out it's a Canadian radio so you call a Canadian 800 number which was supplied. They happily programmed my radio BUT NOW I GET CANADIAN WEATHER 24 / 7!! Ottawa weather is nice to have but not when you're in Texas!

Before you ask NO YOU CAN NOT GET AMERICAN WEATHER!!! So you want American Weather? YOU MUST BUY AN AMERICAN RADIO and you MUST activate it in the US. Talk about USELESS !!! Anyways we got American Weather using CNN, FOX and other stations but it's not the same. Why not use some of the not-programmed numbers on the radio for the other country? Well as of this writing, that has not been done. But apart from the weather, all the other stations (about 140 of them) work just fine. So to sum up: Beware of the HIDDEN COSTS! In my case it was a Christmas present to my wife so I was buying it anyways.

Cellphones: - we used NET10 cellphones. We paid $30 which includes the phone, 300 minutes and is good for 60 days. The phone display indicates how many minutes / days are left. A top up card costs

$30 and is good for another 60 days / 300 minutes. When you activate the top up, the minutes / days combine so you don't loose minutes. There are also other (more expensive) packages. Call anywhere in the US for $0.10 /minute (including Hawaii & Alaska). Call Canada & Mexico for $0.15 / minute. NO ROAMING CHARGES. Available at all Walmart & Target stores. Texting is also available.

This worked great! www.net10.com

Getting Cash – I have a Scotiabank account and they are affiliated with Bank of America in the US.

Bank of America has something like 22,000 outlets in the US (which to me means no transaction fees).

Having said that YOU WILL NEVER find a Bank of America outlet when you need it. Other Banks charge $3 to $5 for a transaction. The ATM's in corner stores are the best ($3). Was never denied access to my bank account anywhere. However when I got home my bank charged me a flat $3 fee for each transaction on top of the ATM fees. I guess that's just the cost of travelling! An alternative would be to

look up a nearby Bank of America branch online. Checkout which banks are affiliated with your bank.

Gas Fill ups with Credit Cards – in the US you must PAY FIRST before filling up. If you use a credit card, 75% of the time they require a Zip code. So you have to deposit your credit card with the Cashier before they'll let you pump gas. Annoying but not the end of the World!

Audio CD's – the Restaurant / General Store chain “Cracker Barrel” sells Audio CD's. Bring the CD back within 7 days and get all your money back (usually over $30 each) except $3.49. 14 days = $7 and so on. This chain is country wide and they have maps showing all locations. Great for those long drives.

Free Camping – you can stay at most Walmart Superstores overnight. Just park far away from the

entrances. Only at Superstores because they are open 24 hours and more important are PATROLLED 24 hours. First check with Customer Service.

Paying Bills from Afar – I used Canada Post's service called ePost. It worked very well. Easy to sign

up with. Just make sure the bills get paid before you start depending on it. It's a good idea to start say three months before your trip. I'm never going back to bills in the mail again. You even get reminders on your e-mail. http://www.epost.ca/

The Weather – Don't Travel by Car in January, February or Early March! - when we first started planning our trip. We went on the Weather Channel and other sites to get an idea what kind of weather we could expect. Of course all the sites could tell us was the Average Weather in any given month in any given State. We didn't get Average Weather. We got Extreme once in fifty years Cold Weather!

Speaking to someone in South Carolina, they told us the winters are now colder than normal and the summers hotter.

Where can you Comfortably Expect “Warm” (over 70 degrees Fahrenheit) Weather – four areas:             1). Orlando and south in Florida, 2). Corpus Christi in Texas, 3). Arizona and 4). Los Angeles, California and south. Even these areas get “below” normal temperatures for a few days each winter.

Sorry the Words of Wisdom goes on and on. But it's VERY IMPORTANT. YOU are not in Canada

as soon as you “jump on that plane” or “cross that border”. I apologize for all the spelling mistakes especially in the early days of the Blog. Although a lot of fun, there was a definite “learning curve”.

Next time (once I learn how) there will be a map which would help followers immensely.

So there you have it. Our Looooooooong Trip has come to an end. We hope you enjoyed reading it as much as we have enjoyed writing it! It was a lot of fun AND we got to see a lot of new places and a lot of new faces! Wendy's leg is in a cast of course but that will come off the end of this month and she will be as good as new. Her big complaint about the trip (aside from her foot) was I cram too much into a trip. I think she's on to something there!

Our trips are Legendary !

Take care and we'll talk to you on our next trip!

Wendy & Ian Walker

Greetings from Utah !

Hi All

     Today we'll tackle Utah. The first picture shows the Bonneville Salt Flats / Speedway. As you first enter Utah from the west on Interstate 80, the first turnoff literally on the border with Nevada is the Exit for the Speedway. The Salt Flats are approximately 20 miles across at this point. Wider if you travel North to South. This is where many of the land speed records were carried out in years past.

    The second photo is a general view approaching Salt Lake City. Again that pesky snow has been following me everywhere I go.

     The third photo shows the Great Salt Lake. This is a huge lake that covers 1700 square miles approximately in the centre of Utah and east of Salt Lake City. The maximum depth of the lake is 35 feet and it is 3 to 5 times saltier then the Pacific Ocean. No fish live in the lake. Only Brine Shrimp and Brine Flies which birds and other wildlife live on.

     The fourth and fifth photos are taken in Southern Utah showing Zion National Park. This Park, located in the southwest corner of Utah is somewhat off the beaten path but is well worth a visit. It is approximately 229 square miles of sculptured canyons and soaring cliffs.

     The last two photos numbers six and seven show Glen Canyon Dam and gorge along the Colorado River on the Utah / Arizona border. This dam is located to the east of the Grand Canyon and created Lake Powell behind it. Like the Hoover Dam, it is used for electricity and irrigation throughout the southwestern States.

Take care and talk to you next time.

Greetings from Nevada !

Hi All

Today we'll take a look at a different side of Nevada.

The first picture shows Walker Lake (no I didn't name it – though it's a very good name!) This was

taken in Central Nevada. A lake in the desert is a “big deal” as it very rarely happens. Usually it's

only a mirage.

The next two pictures show the pretty little town of Virginia City. Formerly the capital of the

Nevada Gold Rush of the 1870's. Now of course the “gold” comes from the tourists. This is a very

mountainous area with severe grades. In fact to get to Virginia City, there are two roads, one for tourists and one for trucks or RV 's (and NO I didn't take the trailer up there).

Of course no photo portrayal of Nevada would be complete without an image of Reno, Nevada and here it is.

The original plan had been to drive to Sacramento, California and then cross the Sierra Nevada Mountains to Reno, Nevada. However Mother Nature had “other”ideas. When I got to Sacramento,

there were weather warnings out for the Sierra Nevada. They would allow you to cross, but only with “Chains” on. As I told one Police Officer, Canada hasn't used chains since the 1940's ANYWHERE.

However the onus is on you to get safely across the mountains not the other way round. That's quite different from the thinking back home. So not having chains and not wishing to buy any for what would normally be a three hour trip, I drove the long way around through Las Vegas. I had images of breaking down in the mountains and freezing to death. Not a pretty thought.

Talk to you soon!

Greetings from the Hoover Dam !

Hi All

Continuing our trip back to Las Vegas, we got off the local Interstate (here known as Interstate 40)

and took the secondary road – Highway 66. Before the Interstate network was built, this was one of the only ways to cross the country. Of late, Highway 66 has become quite historic and many books, movies and TV series have been produced about it.

Our first picture shows a mile marker along Highway 66 in this case near Seligman, Arizona. Our next stop was the Hoover Dam. This was a massive project to dam the Colorado River. It was constructed between 1930 and 1935 during the depression and is 726 feet high built entirely of concrete.

The second photo shows the dam and part of Lake Mead which was created by the dam. In the background is the new bridge which was recently built to alleviate a traffic bottleneck over the dam.

The third photo shows the downstream side of the dam with the hydroelectric infrastructure. Hoover Dam produces over 1.3 million kilowatts of electricity. It provides all the electricity for Las Vegas and a large portion of Los Angeles in California. Notice the distinctive high water mark along the rock above the river.

The final photo shows part of Lake Mead which was formed when the dam was built. It has many uses including the marina we have here. The lake is over 110 miles long and irrigates more than 1 million acres throughout the U.S. and Mexico. It is known as the Lake Mead National Recreation Area and is managed by the National Park Service.

Talk to you next time.

Greetings from the Grand Canyon !

Hi All

   Finally made it to the Grand Canyon. During the week I spent with JoAnn & Randy Braidwood

in Las Vegas, we took three days and drove to Williams, Arizona. Here we boarded a train on the Grand Canyon Railway which took us to the South Rim of the Grand Canyon.

   The first picture shows the 9 car train at the South Rim. The second picture shows the Grand Canyon at Hopi Point. If you look to the centre left, you can see some rapids on the Colorado River (very muddy this time of year). This is the river which carved out the Grand Canyon after many thousands of years. The remaining pictures of the Grand Canyon speak for themselves however the very last picture shows the Bright Angel Hiking Trail. It is possible using this trail to reach the North Rim of the Canyon after a extremely rigorous crossing. The Grand Canyon ranges from 10 miles at it's narrowest to 18 miles at it's widest point.

   The Grand Canyon Railway offers year round trips to the Canyon allowing visitors approximately

four hours to view the Canyon before returning to Williams. In addition to the train they offer a Hotel, a Restaurant and a Campground for Recreational Vehicles. In summer they also use a steam locomotive

for travelling to the Canyon. It is also possible to drive to the Canyon and stay in a hotel or to camp. However if travelling to the Canyon by car or motorhome, book your reservations early.

Talk to You Next Time!

Greetings from Las Vegas !

Hi All,

Spent a week in the city of “Opulence” Las Vegas.

It's a huge city of about 800,000 people but it's very spread

out. I'm here visiting with my wife's best friend and her husband

JoAnn & Randy Braidwood. We've been getting along famously

as the Casino's slowly bleed away our “pocketbooks”!

The first picture shows yours truly under that most famous of

signs. Followed by a shot of the Casino Bellagio. Every night the

Casino puts on a beautiful “water show” with lights and sound and

it is quite spectacular. Then we see the Casino Paris with a “copy”

of the Eiffel Tower and finally there's a shot of the Casino Mandalay Bay.

Many of the Casinos have outdoor shows like the Bellagio and it's all free!

Just show up at the right time. Each Casino has a different theme.

Everyone should see Vegas at least once!

Talk to Ya next time!

Greetings From Arizona & California !

Hi All

Not much text today as the photos can do all the talking.

I passed through Arizona on the way to California. The first three photos are

typical Arizona landscape. No Grand Canyon? Patience everyone! The fourth picture is entering California on Interstate 10 with snow capped peaks in the distance. The remaining

pictures are along the Pacific Coast showing the Pacific Highway Number 1 from Morro Bay near San

Luis Obispo to the beach at Carmel by the Sea. Very beautiful drive but very isolated. Only about four small towns in 150 miles. Unfortunately the day was quite dreary and wet. Oh well you don't get to pick the weather. But as my wife keeps telling me: “ I've Been There !”

Talk to you soon!

Greetings from Odessa, Texas!

Hi All

This will be a short note. I'm catching up from two weeks ago.

The first picture shows a typical oil well head. After the well is drilled, this type

of well head replaces the drilling rig and is used to pump the oil to the surface.

There are literally thousands of these well heads throughout West Texas. In fact in some

areas it's like a forest of well heads. About half operating and the rest shut down.

Under West Texas is a Lake of Oil called the Permian Basin and there are still

new wells being drilled all the time.

The second picture is case in point. This particular company is the Big Dog Drilling

Company.

The third and final picture shows typical West Texas grazing land. When you drive out of a town the locals tell you ”Make Sure your Gas Tank is Full !” The view you see here might follow you for a hundred miles. There's just nothing out there. It's owned mostly by ranchers who graze their cattle here.

As I write this I'm looking out over the Pacific Ocean. Yes that's right I've finally

made it to California! There should be another blog in a day or two.

Take care for now.

A Note About Travel Insurance - Please Read !

An Update for All our Loyal Fans

Sorry for the long break. We've been very busy. VERY LONG BUT IT NEEDS TO BE TOLD !

Here it is from the top:

On February 4^th while descending some stairs in a Motel in Fort Stockton, West Texas,

My wife Wendy fell, dislocated her right ankle and broke two bones. We immediately took

her by Ambulance to the local Hospital. They were only able to stabilize the foot as they had

no Orthopaedic Surgeon on staff.

So after Wendy was stabilized, she was sent by Ambulance to Odessa, Texas a 1.5 hour

Ambulance ride. I followed with the van & trailer. We spent most of the rest of the day there

as Wendy was examined and I dealt with our Travel Insurance. It being a Friday, we were not able to see the Orthopaedic Surgeon til Monday. So we were stuck in Odessa at least for the weekend. So

we decided to make the best of it. I got a Motel in Odessa with a place to store the trailer in the back. Odessa and the neighbouring twin city of Midland are each respectable towns with a population of 100,000 each so there's a good selection of stores and restaurants. Wendy was given a pair of metal crutches to use however Wendy isn't very tall and the smallest size they had was a 5 foot 3 inch pair while Wendy is 5 foot 1 inch. So she used them but wasn't very comfortable (or stable ) on them.

February 5th Saturday we went out shopping. However I should mention that West Texas

was experiencing snow and extreme cold for at least week. Worst winter in 50 years !As we were out shopping, Wendy slipped on the icy sidewalk and fell twice. The first time wasn’t very bad but the second time she went right down and landed on her right arm. Her arm was very sore and she bruised a rib as well. Her arm was in fact so sore that she couldn't grip the crutches any more. Now what to do. I called the Travel Insurance but they would only pay to RENT a wheelchair which was useless to us as we planned to continue our trip to California after Wendy had her surgery. Where would we return a rented pair?

So I located a Medical Supply Office in Odessa and we went to visit them. They wanted $900 FOR A NEW WHEELCHAIR!!!! Anyways I dickered with them and managed to buy a used one for $300 ( which is almost brand new anyways ). So Wendy was reasonably mobile now and of course had

lots of pain killers and her leg elevated.

Monday February 7^th at 8AM sharp we were at the Orthopaedic Surgeon's office. Wendy got

right in to see him. His assistant removed the cast and of course numerous X-rays were taken. Dr. Ingram said he could do the surgery but he did surgery Tuesdays and Fridays and Tuesday was already full. So we booked for Friday ( what choice did we have! ) A new cast was made ( in hot pink!! )So it's Monday morning and we're stuck in Odessa for at least four more nights! A couple more calls to the

Travel Insurance were made and they were fine with everything ( of course they're NOT paying for the Motel for now seven nights! - I'm going to work on that ). We were also scheduled for more tests and more X-rays on Thursday in preparation for the surgery on Friday.

Wednesday February 9^th we get a call from the Travel Insurance informing us that Dr. Ingram has

advised them Wendy is “Fit to Travel” and would we please get her on an air plane back to Ottawa!

We're in total shock! After much back and forth and about 10 calls with the Travel Insurance they inform us that Yes we can have Dr. Ingram do the surgery however they don't “Guarantee” that

they or OHIP ( the Ontario Health Insurance Plan which covers us in Canada ) will cover ALL the costs

involved. So I called Dr. Ingram's office to ask what such an operation would cost. See Below:

Dr. Ingram's surgery $3,000

The Anaesthetist $2,000

The O.R $20,000

The Next Day Recovery $10,000

Each additional day $10,000

That is only the Up Front costs. If there are complications or anything extra is needed well

you get the drill. Wendy & I conversed and it was pretty obvious that we couldn't afford to

have the surgery done there. However would the Travel Insurance fly me home to help and assist

Wendy on the plane? Yes and they had two possibilities. I could fly with Wendy and return

myself later to pick up the van & trailer or they would have someone bring the car & trailer

for us. However Wendy could fly Business or First Class ( whichever cost less ) one way. I on the

other hand could fly on the same plane but they would pay an economy return ticket.

The Travel Insurance requested that we book the flights (and pay for them – to be reimbursed

later ). This is not easy to do because one is going Business class one way and the other is going return economy. Finally after getting a live person at Expedia it was all arranged for us to fly out

Friday February 11^th out of Midland International Airport ( I guess Odessa got the Hospital and

Midland go the Airport ) to Ottawa. We flew Midland / Houston,TX / Newark, NJ / Ottawa.

Wendy arrived in Ottawa on Continental Airlines and had to leave the plane on her bum down the

stairs from the plane into the snow! There a wheelchair took her into the Terminal. Pretty pathetic!

Wendy went to the Ottawa General Hospital on Saturday February 12^th and had to stay there til Tuesday February 15^th. Her surgery was done on Monday February 14^th and all went well. Her arm

was only severely bruised likewise the rib.

I flew back to Midland Texas yesterday February 22^nd and the Blog can now continue.

I know this is rather long but I think anyone who travels to the US these days had better know

what kind of medical insurance they are getting. At last count there were over 140 companies

offering coverage. Fortunately ours was one of the better ones ( We used CAA Canadian Auto Assn )

and as you can see they didn't agree to pay everything – YET !

P.S. One more thing to think about. An Ambulance ride:  MINIMUM Charge $800 !

Greetings from San Antonio, TX !

Hi All

In spite of many set backs we're still moving forward. Wendy will have her surgery on her

right foot this Friday Feb 11^th. However this delayed us quite a bit.

Meanwhile here's our pictures from San Antonio, TX

The first two pictures and the leading tourist attraction in San Antonio is The Alamo and this

year is the 175 Anniversary when a small group of “Texans” (including many other states

and countries) defended the Fort for 14 days against a siege by the Mexican Army.

The next three pictures show “Riverwalk”. A refurbished section of downtown which

runs for several miles along the river. In the second picture notice all the vegetation

which has badly wilted. That was due to the below zero weather.

We also spent some quality time with our good friends Maureen & Glen Grasley who

have spent the last month in Phoenix, Arizona and are now heading home.

Take care and we'll talk to you next time!

A Note from West Texas

Hi All,
    Some bad news I'm afraid. Yesterday Wendy fell and broke two bones in her right ankle.
We spent most of yesterday in two hospitals. She's being well cared for however she has
to go back in Monday for surgery. I'll post more information as it becomes available.

Take care for now.

Greetings from Texas!

Hi All

The first photo shows us entering the great State of Texas. That's State # 43 for me (that is

States which I've visited at least once).

Next up is the Battleship (BB35) USS Texas. Permanently moored in Houston, TX since

1948. One of the first warships ever preserved.

Picture Number 3 & 4 shows some of the beautiful architecture on Galveston Island. Galveston

is a town on the Gulf of Mexico which was hit by Hurricane Ike in September of 2008.

There was severe damage throughout the town but the community came together and

most of the homes have been restored. The more notable homes have a plaque on the walls

indicating where the high water mark was. Some as high as 5 feet!

Picture Number 5 shows another Oil Rig Museum which I visited, the Ocean Star. Owned by the Ocean Energy Company which also owned the Oil Rig Ocean Ranger which capsized and sank off the east coast of

Canada some years back.

Our final picture shows part of Galveston Harbour including the Carnival Cruise Ship Ecstasy.

So there you have our latest collection.

We found a wonderful campground in Houston and we've been able to “hot tub it” two nights

in a row!

So long for now!