What do you think…..we’re thinking that this is a good one!

Still looking for a unit to move down into after our last rig.  We went camping in Banff this past week and traveled like the Clampett’s but realized how much we miss the road and campfires and the scenery and well everything else.  Except for the constant rain we still enjoyed the time away….

 

Thanks for the following…..

Hi everyone,

We are still getting emails and comments on the trip.  Just to update you that we have been taking trips by car and Motorcycle.  Thought we had our fill but no…… we are even looking at another coach…heaven forbid.

In the meantime Jack and Cate say hi!

And in the end…..

For our last post we’d let you know we plan to pick up our coach within the next month in Chilliwack.   From there our life’s plans are in the making.  Will we get a job? ….. or will we take on a business and create something out of nothing?…,  sort of like most projects we take on;  or will we take a breath and get Cate into fly-ball classes with Jack as her supporter?….. believe us,  we will keep on moving ahead until we are unable to do so.

We wish all of you safe times and hope one day soon you too can find the time to do something like this in your lifetimes.  We pass on this little saying which is our way to say to all of you …. keep on!

“You know, I’m sick of following my dreams….. I’m just going to ask where they’re going and hook up with ‘em later….  )”
_____________________________________________________________________

You can still contact us at:  rving@thelaundry.ca

Experience is what you get when you don’t get what you want….

In memory…

To all of you who have sent us well wishes, followed our trip through this blog and continue to read and re-read it, this is our second to last post. Happy to be home but missing the road, we want to remember our two pups Murray and Taylor that didn’t make the trip. In this post we pass on a short reminder that fits not only the loss of these two girls but is a motivator for us to keep moving ahead. It comes from one of our favourite pilots, musicìans and writers….

Grief

Grief is like the wake behind a boat.

Big enough to swamp and drown you -

if you suddenly stop moving forward.

But if you do keep moving -

the big wake will eventually get calm again.

That is when the memories of those who have left,

begin to shine,

As bright and as enduring as the stars above.”

- Jimmy Buffet from ‘A Salty Piece of Land”

And they call the wind……

To update everyone, the coach is now in repair mode.  Parts have been ordered, insurance has been sorted out and now, unlike having a car dent or two, these big rigs require a different sort of expertise.  Fiberglass, glaziers specializing in windshields that weigh upwards of 500 lbs and take 3 people to install.  Painters who can replicate the 6 multi tone colours in the gel coat paint……….

But the good news is we should have our coach within the month or less!!  Yahoo!!

 Now trying to get acclimated to these new surroundings and living in a condo is getting tough for Jack and I.    No running right outside to hit the grass (we live on the third floor) for trees for our regular blessings, only so many rooms we can run around in or hide our stuff in and as if that isn’t tough enough a big, noisy wind hit the beach last night on the lake and knocked down a big sign and tree right by our place….how’s a girl to get any sleep with all that noise.

Ah Cate but with every negative you have to look at the positive…. I didn’t have to go far to find a new place to bless and it reduced the traffic for a few hours so I got back to sleep, no problem……

So what’s next….huh?

So let’s see….

• get trailer in Kelowna and return to Chilliwack to collision center… check
• ride motorcycle over to Victoria on Vancouver Island and deliver it to dealer for sale… sad day…. check
• visit family, pick-up mail, enjoy ferry rides…. check
• spend 7  hours unloading and unpacking  coach ready for trip to Peachland… our new home… check
• take a few pictures of the poor coach… check
• try and load all this stuff into a 5 x 8 trailer… check
• drive 3 1/2 hours same night to Peachland and unload stuff into condo…. check
• try and get around all the boxes, sort of like moving back in again…. check

Don’t forget walking and stops along the way for us to do our dog duty….. check

And then there is the……… to be continued!!!

Now about us….

Thanks for all the concern you have sent to our people and to us of course!  I think I can speak for Jack and myself when we tell you this stuff was scary.  My fur is still standing on end in places….. but we are safe and well cared for.

Yeah Cate and we’re even still able to fool them with our cute moves to get treats playing up on the “poor pups routine” is paying off in spades, especially in turkey leftovers tonight!! Thanks Aunt Trudy!!”

Thought we’d left this all behind…

The idea of heading to Kelowna that evening seemed a good idea at the time.  Unfortunately the car we drove was meant for Lower Mainland driving…  Winter was supposed to over through the Coquihalla Highway and connector highway to Kelowna , but the heavy snows seemed never -ending and was tricky to treacherous at best. 

We made it with some butt puckering and watching a few vehicles head off into the snow drifts… Luckily, Kirk and Al met us at the condo and helped to get us unloaded for the evening, thank-you again guys!  Then still later, we were off to the storage facility in Peachland where our Ford Escape and trailer have spent the last 8 months.  Jumper cables in hand we got the reliable Escape going and home for the night.

In the morning we packed up and headed back down the highway in both vehicles and trailer to Chilliwack and the collision shop to drop off their car and our trailer for the weekend.  I put on some rain gear and got the motorcycle off the back of the coach which is already undergoing work.  We headed down the highway to the BC Ferries, Tracy in the car and me riding in the very heavy downpour.

2 hours in the rain, while stopping for a serious roll over accident on the freeway while it was dealt with we arrived at the ferry terminal in time for the 9 p.m. ferry to Victoria.  $36 for the motorcycle.  I am sure getting old, when I started taking the ferries, oh a few years ago on motorcycles, it was $8!

A change into dry clothes on the ferry and another 1/2 hour rain soaked ride on the other side and we arrived at Trudy’s place in Victoria for a visit and to deal with the motorcycle.  Now comes the trip to Nanaimo to pick up months of forwarded mail at Delphines place and back to Vancouver to  load up the trailer and see how our poor coach is doing………..

…. to add salt to the wound

You see we had planned to head over to Vancouver Island for a week or so and drop off the motorcycle for sale at brother Dale’s shop and visit more family before returning home. Not to be in that plans present form so thanks to the GPS we found a Wal Mart in the heart of Surrey, slinked into a corner and got some sleep, it was now 4 a.m.

Our island trip with the coach was not to be, ICBC got us in to a local adjuster center by noon, less than a day after the mishap. Sorry we can’t recommend a repair shop but your vehicle can be repaired but can’t leave the Lower Mainland due to it’s undriveable condition. Spent 1/2 an hour at their center looking for a shop. A shop with a reputation for big rig repairs in a timely fashion!

Call, search some more, call, search some more and presto!! A mere 50 miles away in Chilliwack, O’Connor RV and Collision has a new shop just opened, state of the art specializing in Fleetwood. Off we toddle but now how do we get our stuff, the motorcycle and the pups home?? And how long is this gonna take to fix???

Budget doesn’t have any vehicles available till tomorrow to haul everything…..yada yada with all the other companies. O’Connor’s steps up and we can take one of their cars if we promise to be back the next day with our car and trailer to remove what we need and get the motorcycle to the island somehow! So the road to H#ll is paved with good intentions…. we head off into the mountains and off to Kelowna…………

Hello Kirk, can you meet us at the condo, we don’t have a key…. yes that’s right we are a bit early. No, no we won’t be staying long. Oh that, it’s still in Vancouver….”

the time is now 9:30 p.m. and still not home…. see video tomorrow!

Ease on down the road..

It’s now 6 p.m. and the insurance adjuster and glass company have informed us that if the windshield is installed without the body work no guarantee and no replacement in Canada. 3 week minimum stay in Portland to get in to a collision shop and then parts lag time.

Tracy and I look at each other with red eyes and decide that we must return to the home turf to get this taken care of. DUCT tape, having the knowledge of how well the windshield is installed and not being in a hurry we set off. It is now 8 p.m. and into Washington state. You’d think we were a circus act the looks and stares and notes of concern from other truckers and RV’ers which made the disappointment seem not so bad.

Stop for fuel outside of Seattle and lots of onlookers there. Lots with stories to relate but we are still hoping the duct tape holds and the rain doesn’t get any worse as the wipers are able to clear both sides, believe it or not. Arriving at customs around 1:30 am, what a story we had to tell. The agent was professional, polite but did crack a smile with the understanding that we were trying to return where we could get all this damage dealt with at once. OUR WHOLE life is presently in the coach and we didn’t have another 3-8 weeks to spend hoping things got done if we waited in Oregon.

DID you know that if you have body or glass work done in the U.S. upon your return you are responsible for the GST on all work and labour…… learned from our friendly border guard.

Now where to spend the night until we can contact ICBC once again as the coach has now been deemed non-drivable.

It was such a normal day…

pulling in to the alley to park. Stopped in the spot and WHAM , 2 minutes later, transport trailer meets motor coach. Motor coach loses big time! Over 23000kms (14,200 miles) without a scratch, so to speak. Over 7 months on the road and a 4 mph collision between a loading trailer and our parked coach in south Portland. Glass covered the entire front interior as if it had exploded. Cate is still shaking and Jack has just come back out from behind the rear slide.

Well the pictures tell the story… we were devastated. We know it was an accident but so close to the end of the trip has made it a bit more disappointing.

So call the police, get the file number, get their insurance and try to get at least a new windshield to drive home with. Over to the local Good Sam park and camp for the night. Frame around the windshield is damaged and will not hold a seal with a new windshield.

Body work is required there as well….. the saga had only begun believe us!

So here we sit…. broken hearted

We left Sacramento on a blustery day for points north. Decided to stay overnight at the Randolph Collier rest stop just south of the Oregon border. Set in the river valleys you can watch the traffic as it makes its way along the cliffs, as if to float off into the night skies. This park is well maintained and not very busy this time of year. Down to 29 degrees that night…. rude awakening trip is coming to an end!

From here it was on to Oregon and to our heart breaking end of our journey……

Crabby Sacramento

What is visiting friends if you don’t go out for a few waddly pops and some good eats before heading up north back home. Julie and Joe took us down to “Old Sac” to Crabby Joe’s and a waddle (after eating some great seafood). Of course I had to remind the waitress of my eating habits and she decided that a bib would befit the dining experience.

Then checking out a few of the shops in the area which also had horse drawn carriages and a bridge that Julie said was painted a S**t brown. We also took in yet another RV show that was held just around the corner at Cal Expo where we stayed. Lots of trailers, coaches and the like but no vender’s… a first for this show. The economy has made vendors rethink where they attend to sell their wares, so we are told. The weather was great and the company was even better. Now it is time, really this time, to head north for a few days of driving and then onto Vancouver Island for us to get acclimated back to B.C. weather and of course a farewell…..

Holy S**t

So off we go down the highway with Tracy at the controls. Beautiful day, sunny with wind gusts of around 30-40 mph. Not a big deal we thought as we have seen winds of 60-70 mph on our trip. Traveling highway 15 through the Mojave desert.

Well we’ve seen these on TV and in movies but never, never been in one and don’t want to experience it really, ever again. The coach was rocking and within 30 seconds we went from 70 mph to 0 mph. Afraid we were going to get hit we tried moving on but HAD to stop dead in our tracks….click on the link for the video.

Mojave sandstorm

When the sand cleared the two vehicles in front of us were moving away from each other but were almost touching prior to this picture and we couldn’t see out of our rearview camera or mirrors which were coated in sand. Later on we were told the winds got upwards of 80 mph blowing the sand directly across the highway.. We couldn’t have been in the wrong place at the right time even if we tried!

Buffet grazing, extreme speed touring and supporting the economy

To review……… The Belagio, the Flamingo, Caesar’s, Excalibur, the Lexor, the Rio, The Hotel, Encore, Circus Circus, Mandalay Bay, Silverton Lodge and M resort. We figure we lost an even amount of $$ at each while we continue on this trip to stimulate the U.S. economy. No floor shows as none really caught our eye except that Elton John is returning for a short tour with his Red Piano, but alas yet again we miss him…

With the ability to come and go without restrictions on types of tours or hotels and casino’s we chose a couple of nights and a couple of day trips to the casino menagerie. From the top of Caesar’s we had a birds eye view of the strip…Of course our favourite restaurant on any strip is Jimmy Buffet’s Margaritaville. Spent a few hours wasting away and remembering all the really good times we have spent enjoying these idiosyncratic eating places….. each with it’s own brand of talent and crowds. We did get to 5 out of 8 North American Margaritavilles… not a bad average and we did remember all of them though not for a lack of margaritas!

After our non-professional reviews which included drinking, eating and waggering the winner is M Resort. A new casino resort on south Las Vegas Blvd which opened this past March 1st. Built and owned by the son of the owner of the Rio Casino and Hotel. If you get a chance when you come to Vegas, the place is fresh, the slots are loose (we all like loose slots!) and unlimited wines/beers with the 200 item haute cusine buffet….. after a week it is now time to move on from our stay here in the windy but warm Las Vegas. California here we come!

Eeny, meeny, minee….Bass Pro

While cruising the Las Vegas strip on the motorcycle we or should I say Tracy got to look around really well at the sights and sounds. Picking her favourite casino’s we then headed to Circus Circus for their buffet and then back to the site to make plans for the rest of the stay. Oh yes, a couple of bucks or so into the slots there.

The standard photo by the Vegas sign, avec some guy who didn’t know at the time which side is up….

A quick stop at the second largest Bass Pro Shop in the U.S. (160,000 sq ft) just to get a feel for Larry the Cable Guy’s lifestyle. In store fishing tank full of bass and other native species. A waterfall that comes down by the escalators two stories to the store main floor. Could put our brother-in-law Frank in there today and he’d still be there in the summer dreaming of this coming Christmas.

Even some of the people who shop there drive up in their camouflage trucks. If it wasn’t for the parking lines which are stamped fish outlines, we would have never seen this one….. )

We then filled our list with the next couple of days of to do’s and see….

What happens in Vegas…. does anyone care?!?

So here we are, posing in front of Ethel M’s chocolate lounge, can you believe it, chocolate lounge! M & M’s founder and his wife Ethel started this line of chocolate and look it up, they are high priced M & M’s chocolate, veiled in another name. Thank goodness dog food filled with white or yellow corn isn’t made the same way….. right??

We took a day to check out the area and even went for a walk/fly. A mere 50 mph wind pushed that showboat Cate back almost to where she came from……

Ya Jack, who pees into the wind???….hummm blondie ?

Well we are meeting several pups in this park and a few at the Las Vegas Strip sign who are stored in luggage and purses?? What’s with that, you mean I’ve been walking all this time when someone could be carrying me!!?”

Not in this lifetime Cate, not in this lifetime…..

Super sonic

Pulling up to the Sonic drive-in we had mentioned, we parked in their back lot and walked up to the front to place an order. At the door Sue-Ann came roller-blading up and immediately put a stop to our entry. “You can’t walk in you have to place an order from your vehicle” Sue-Ann forcefully announced. Pointing to our coach she said again. “Don’t care it has to be from your vehicle!”

Okay, we replied and gladly followed her directions blocking 10 stalls at the front of the drive-in, walked out, hit the button on the sign board, got back in. We mused that it must have been the fastest service anyone will ever get…………at that drive-in today. Good food though………..

Vegas via Chiro…..

So after visiting the town chiropractor in the evening and early next morning we were off to Las Vegas, you know, after things were straightened out so to speak. Traveling the famed hwy., Route 66. We did have a quick lunch at the local roller derby serving Sonic drive-in but that’s another post.

Some 3 hours later we arrived in Vegas on a bright sunny day, straining our eyes to see the city through the smog. It was about 2 km from the north end of the strip before we could make out the actual buildings clear enough to know what they were. We arrived at the Oasis RV resort which is about 4 miles north of the strip. We plan to be here for a week to take our time to take in as much of the sights and sounds that we can.

Having stayed at the KOA at Circus Circus on the strip last trip and comparatively speaking, this park is an oasis. Dog runs abound and we picked, in Vegas terms, an upgraded site with a picnic table and 8′x 10′ grass patch for Jack and Cate to run out quickly when nature calls. Now, what to see what to see?!?

The chilly night…. snow’d right.

After the beautiful weather over the past few days we did have that chilly night we spoke of (28 F) and found snow in the mean time. Water lines in at night and playtime for the pups who hadn’t seen snow since September in Banff. We know we missed a record cold up in Kelowna, record since 1991. Some called it lucky on our side but we called it pre-planning or being on the right side of the weather.

The overnight campsite at the KOA was a bit uneven, so much so that it put our rear levelling jacks at their extreme lifting the coach off the rear wheels. Normal for some rigs but never happened before on ours. Didn’t want to chance another site as we didn’t get in until dark and were afraid the next site might be worse and we’d lose a dog when we stepped out into the night….

Next morning we headed out for Kingman AZ and a spa day for the coach. Deciding that 5 hours to wash and detail the outside was not for us this week we stopped in at a Truck/RV brush-less wash and they were done including the hand drying within 35 minutes. Then off to the Flying J for a fill up, @ $1.95 gal/U.S. and some adjustments…………

It was Grand…!

Ellen Griswold: I honestly don’t think we’re going to find the Grand Canyon on this road.
Clark: Jesus, it’s only the biggest God-damn hole in the world.
Aunt Edna: Clark, watch your language!
Clark: Make that the second biggest. ……….       and so went the quotes from the movie American Vacation (1983). 

 We decided to take an  extra day to take in this wonder of the world.  We stopped overnight outside of Flagstaff and stayed at a rest stop and the next morning headed off  to the Grand Canyon.  7400 feet above sea level and $25 per vehicle to enter the park.  Like the fees at Banff and Jasper.

Off loading the motorcycle in order to see as much as possible worked well.  Although they do have frequent shuttles to and from sites the motorcycle proved very adept at helping us finding parking spaces which are at a premium and allowing us to see the complete village and South Rim in under 4 hours.  However,  to do this wonder of the world justice you should take the train ride and or the mule ride to the bottom.  Helicopter (approx. $275 Cdn per person for 40 minutes) and aircraft rides (approx. $165 Cdn per person for 40 minutes) were available. 

Our budget didn’t allow that but just the view alone and being there was really breath taking.  Tracy did really well with being afraid of heights and no real fences or gates to prevent you from taking a tumble if you choose to get too close.  The park ranger told us that they rescue approx. 250 hikers, tourists and rafters per year.   

It was 6 p.m. by the time we loaded the bike back up and headed to Williams some 60 miles away and a chilly nights stay at the KOA on Hwy 40.

Ouch, ouch, these pesky stickers..

In our travels through Texas, New Mexico and here in Arizona the cholla cactus distributes what the locals call “stickers” which look like small, pea sized landmine burrs which find their way into the paws of Jack and Cate.  They have gotten so bad at times that if Jack now gets one,  he will stop the walk and stay there, (5 minutes is his record) and refuse to move.  The walk ends and the carrying to the pavement/vehicle begins.  These things are quite painful.  Cate has used her mouth on a few occasions to remove them in her impatience to keep on moving…. but she is doing this less and less as they stick to her lips….. ouch!

Orange blossoms and red rocks…

 8 years ago we sat and watched the sunset on the red rocks of Sedona, in the same place even the same time of year.  Driving  our rental truck 110 miles north of Phoenix to Sedona we took in this beautiful village with amazing scenery and vistas once again.  43 Western movies, documentaries and commercials have been made in these hills.

We loved this place as the first time to get in some great sniffs and inspect some prickly plants…

C’mon Jack, are you kidding?!? I was freezing, did you know it is 18 degress colder here than in Phoenix, where I prefer the warm weather and the smell of the Orange Blossom trees  on our site…

Take me out to the ballgame…

The boys of spring are at it in big numbers.  Over 1500 players  trying out for what they call the Cactus League here in Arizona (Grapefruit League in Florida).  14 MLB teams here for spring training until the beginning of the baseball season in April.  We were able to get seats on the first base line for the Cleveland Indians (8) vs. San Diego Padres (6).  6 foul balls came our way but the people all around had their gloves at the ready and the poor fellow next to us got one in the jaw,  bruised ego more than anything.

Now the great part of this spring baseball is the tickets, only $16 U.S. each but after we finished snacking and having a few “waddly pops” the snacks cost $48 U.S., including $4 for a bottle of diet pepsi and $4.50 for a bottle of water……   you gotta love professional sports.   It was a great day to spend in the sun with a fun group of fans!

Electra glide in Blue…

Buddy Stubbs Harley Davidson in Phoenix is the place to see this great ride.  The movie Electra glide in Blue, from 1973 featured Robert Blake as a shorter than life Highway Patrol rider.  This bike was used in parts of the movie and still runs fine.  Having ridden Harley FLH’s for almost 10 years at work this was a bit of a mecca for me on this trip.  Tracy and I took advantage  to pick up a few Harley souvenirs as well…..  this was a fun place just to hang and visit and talk to the staff.

Not enough Tracy to go around…

Earlier on in our trip RV West magazine wrote an article about our journey.  There was a note about Tracy doing most of the driving while Ewen rode his motorcycle.  Actually the driving has been pretty well shared equally and the bike has stayed on the back except for sunny day rides together and shopping trips… but I digress.

When we have the 400 to 500 mile day drives and switch off driving, the two furry one’s can hardly wait to take their turns cuddling with Tracy while she catches some shut-eye.  In my estimations I think Jack is still leading in the cuddles department but there usually isn’t enough of Tracy to go around …  )

Now Leslie before you say anything…. I know I am not as cuddly as Tracy… K!!

and to summarize…

Tombstone included cowboys and cowgirls. 

 

 

Getting to watch the re-enactment of the shootout at the OK Corral…

 Taking part in a few light refreshments at the Crystal Palace Saloon………

 

A guided trolley tour through town took us smack into the US Army traveling through town..

 

Of course Boothill graveyard …   

We had a fun time reliving the old west and relating all the stories you hear as kids to the Wild West and the characters that made up these tales. Driving off into the sunset….

    We endured a vehicle search by Homeland Security and US Border Patrol agents at a check point just out of Tombstone.  Apparently being so close to the Mexican border has its drawbacks with such a big rig and lots of place to hide “Aliens”, you remember our Roswell posts and Aliens?!? (ps – they don’t like cameras or pictures while they are working – note to self)

Stopping once again to do a bit of shopping at Camping World in Tucson where we were entertained by the amazing flying/piloting of an USAF F-24 Raptor which spent upwards of an hour in the air around us in stunts we’d never seen before at any airshow.   Next door to Camping World was the country’s second biggest RV dealer Beaudry RV so a quick visit there as well and then a bit more road behind us and a stop at a roadside rest area for the night…

We have now arrived at the Desert’s Edge RV park in north Phoenix where our plans are to rent a car, see at least one Cactus League Baseball game, have a meal at another of Jimmy Buffet’s Margaritaville Cafes and hopefully get a drive in north to Sedona to see the red rock mountains in the sunset once again!!

Sorry for the large update but it seemed like a good idea at the time..  Thank you for your ongoing support, emails and phone calls, we really enjoy and appreciate them.

 

 

 

Dig faster not smarter…

Some one said there were lots of bones around here!  I’ll check here you head over there….

C’mon don’t you think if we worked together we’d find them faster Jack?

Nope, I’ve heard that you have to dig faster not smarter to get what you want here in Tombstone!!!”

 

Desert wandering

Lyndon B. Johnson/White Sands NASA propulsion and missile range which was home of the testing of the first A-bomb, Virgin Galactic Private Space Port and Almorgordo’s worlds largest pistachio.  From Roswell to Las Cruces we visited or drove by these sites.  Speed touring we call it.  As we enjoyed the sunshine here in Las Cruces which is unseasonably great right now, we also toured the village of Old Messilla where Billy the Kid was captured,tried and eventually hung.

Unfortunately if you have been following the news at all we are a mere 50 miles from the Mexican border and Jua’rez where there has been a lot of violent crime occuring which has been spreading into Texas and New Mexico particularly in the past month. http://www.lcsun-news.com/ci_11765061

With the weather on our side today we are heading west to Tombstone, Arizona for a real touristy stay at their RV park and to watch the daily staged gun battles and munch on pistachio’s courtesy of Almorgordo of course!

We believe..

To say it is a confluence of tourist schlock meets inter-spacial reality here at Roswell, NM is putting it mildly.   We arrived looking for lots of solid information on Area 51(which is really a far off farmer’s field), Hangar 84 and the Air-force base where the aliens and spaceship were taken (which had been shutdown for years) and a museum/historical archives for education (retrofitted movie theatre turned museum).  Today, the old army base which houses Hanger 84 where the pieces of the alien spacecraft and aliens were taken is considered part of Roswell Industrial Air Center, a private air landing field and training ground for the International Law Enforcement Academy. While the general public can drive the fences and take pictures of the outside, the area inside the fences is still restricted.  Going inside the fences without permission will apparently IMMEDIATELY LAND YOU IN JAIL, so we don’t recommend you try!

Although not a point of interest we would recommend as a drive off the beaten path, it was informative and obvious some very dedicated volunteers are keeping the legend alive.  After we visited the museum,  roads and airbase where the craft was supposed to have gone in 1947,  Tracy and I looked at each other and said…we believe and we believe we’ll move on!

Just a side note, the difference between the daytime and nighttime temperatures the two nights we were here was 30 F(-1C) to 86 F (30C)  in the day!