Friday morning Joan heard on the radio that California was instituting a mandatory 'Stay at home' order to curtail the spread of coronavirus. We decided we should head home before this started spreading. We had booked an axle packing and greasing with Alex's Tire in Blyth for the 27th, when we were planning to start heading back. We phoned them and were able to get the trailer in the same day. They did the axles for the most reasonable price we have ever paid. By 11:00 PST we were on the road heading for AVI Casino on the Colorado at the very south tip of Nevada. We had a chat with a couple from Alberta. When we asked them whether they were heading back because their insurance coverage for the virus expired on the 23rd, 10 days after the Canadian travel advisory was issued. They had called their coverer and found out they hadn't had any travel coverage for the last few months, because their pension plan coverage had reduced travel coverage to 60 days. The notice of the change had gone to a previous address. They were full-timers, so were looking for a place to stay in the Okanogan until the weather in Alberta warms up.
Saturday, we headed for Alamo Nevada, north east of Las Vegas, south of Ely. When we stopped for lunch, we called the RV park. They were full, so we checked with Young's in Caliente, where we have stayed a couple of times. Fortunately they had space. We were watching TV about 8:30 when we heard a racket in the trailer. After checking around, we determined it was coming from the insides. It turned out to be the hydraulic brake controller. This should only be running when the brakes are on. After a bit of checking around, we determined it would go off if we moved the emergency brake mechanism, which in theory only gets triggered if the trailer separates from truck somehow. There is a cable that wraps around the hitch that pulls out a tab if the trailer gets off the hitch while the cable is still attached. If the tab is pulled out, the brakes go on. Somehow this got loose, and activated the brakes. When we reinserted the tab, the controller turned off. A similar thing happened to us the year we were coming down the west coast when a piece of wood shifted in the box of the truck and landed on the cable. Another one of the security processes that is only a problem in situations other than the intended ones. We were quite relieved we were able to figure out the cause of the noise, and could get it fixed. Not the time we want to be looking for an RV tech to fix a problem.
Sunday, we phoned our usual stop at the casino in Fort Hall, Idaho. Since they closed the casino, and the cashier in the casino was where we paid for the RV, they closed the RV park too. That was a bit scary. We stopped at Jackpot, Nevada, at the very north end of highway 93. They have a self-serve pay option, so quite a few snowbirds heading north stopped there for the night.
Monday, we drove to Dillon, Montana, after calling a RV park we stayed at before. They weren't open yet, but referred us to Beaverhead River RV Park. We called them, and paid for site 6. When we got there, a motorhome was in site 6. They had also called and been given this site. It turned out the guy we both talked to thought the second guys were us, calling again for some reason. Anyway, we were able to park in a different site.
From there we drove to Helena, to the KOA, and paid for 2 nights. We did this because the weather the next day in Vulcan was supposed to hit a low of -9C. We could handle that but preferred not to. But just to be nasty, the low in Helena the second night was about the same. John topped up our propane tanks, so we would have 3 full ones when we arrive in Vulcan. We need to run our propane furnace to heat under the trailer when the temps are below freezing. With the mandatory self-isolation in place after hitting the border (ie. you have to drive straight to where you are staying and cannot stop anywhere to shop or whatever until the 14 days are up), we figured we should have plenty of propane. Since the RV park had a propane tank, John walked the 2 tanks over to get them filled. Later in the day, one of our neighbours came over to see if we had a problem with the truck, since John didn't drive to get the propane. He offered to drive us if we needed. We had thought he was from Montana, since he had a truck with Montana plates. He explained that he was from Alberta, but his new truck had a blown head-gasket after 10,000 km, and it was going to take 12 days to get the truck repaired. They had provided him with a rental.
What bad luck!
On Thursday we headed for the border. Not too far from the border, we saw an Alberta motorhome on the back of a tow truck, going off at an exit. Another traveler with problem getting home.
The wait at the border was pretty short, with only about 7 vehicles ahead of us. After the usual questions about what we were bringing back, the agent read off the information about the mandatory self-isolation, and sent us on our way. We didn't even have to go in to pay the duty on our excess wine, due to the risks of spreading the virus. About 3 PM we arrived to our usual spot at the Petro-Can in Vulcan. We arranged everything on the phone, as we can't go into the station. We had a one choice of putting cash in a sealed envelope, which they disinfect after opening. Since we didn't have enough cash to pay until May 1, we opted for the e-transfer method.
We are all set up for our 14 days, except for some fresh vegetables, which you aren't supposed to bring across the border. If we can't get them delivered to us by someone in town, Trev has volunteered to have someone in his family bring them out to us. A bit of a waste to have them come this far, and not even be able to visit in person. We'll see how that goes.
We have paid for our campground and golf from May through September. We'll see whether that is till feasible. When we checked with the town to see whether we could stay in Virginia Mitchell Campground with just power and sewer, no water, no washrooms, they said no, and they weren't even sure they would be opening the campground this summer due to the virus, if the Alberta Government decides campgrounds aren't safe. Could get interesting for full-time RVers. Several states in the USA have already closed down all RV parks, etc, even ones with permanent residents.
If anything out of the ordinary for the the next month happens, we will add a blog entry, but otherwise we won't be creating another entry until sometime in mid-October.
Have a good and safe summer.
