Desert Boondocking (04/04/22)

 Once January came around, Paul and I, and Liz and Randy had sort of made a pact that we would do some exploring, so we packed up the rigs.  Our main destination was Anza Borrego Desert State Park, in California.  Its only a few hours from the house, but surprisingly we have never been there.  We have tried, but something always got in the way. But this time, we made it!

Our first stop however, was the small town of Quartzsite. We have been here many times- its a haven for RVers in the winter, and much of the appeal is boondocking in the desert with friends.  It was a smallish group compared to years past, but we had an awesome time.  We met up with old friends Tom and Dianne, and re-connected with friends Tina and Jeff, who we haven’t seen much of the last few years.  And….we convinced our friends Al and Debbie to give boondocking a try for a few days.

We even resurrected our traditional quesadilla and margarita night- we used to do this in Q every year, and have served as many as 46 people.  Not this year though- it was a nice cozy small group.

After a few days, we peeled off and headed to Anza Borrego, the largest state park in California- 585,000 acres large. Although we stopped at the campground to dump the tanks and get information at the visitor center, our goal was to find a quiet spot to ourselves to boondock for a week.

Anza Borrego has tons of miles of off road Jeep trails, so we had brought our truck camper and towed the Jeep.  Liz and Randy had their bigger rig, of course.  We ended up parking in an old parking lot so we could explore without getting into a situation that was hard to get out of. After looking around, we could have moved to a little nicer spot, but we were content where we were, and pretty much had the place to ourselves.

Parking in the desert doesn’t mean we eat jerky and nuts for dinner- Liz and I put our heads together and planned some pretty tasty meals for our stay in the park.

We started our exploring with a hike to Borrego Palm Canyon. This trail is just over 3 miles round trip and leads to an awesome grove of California Fan Palms, fed by a running stream. Fan Palms are the only palm tree native to California, and it was incredible to find a grove of them in the desert.

The following day we hiked a short but extremely fun trail called simply “the Slot”.  It’s a relatively short slot canyon that packed a lot of scrambling and climbing in a short distance.  We had a blast.

Since we were done with that early in the day, we trekked up the windy mountain road to the small town of Julian. Pioneers discovered that this area is rich farm land, and especially perfect for growing apples.  They are now known for their world class apple pie.  Paul says its the best he has ever had (he still talks about it).  

There are also wineries, breweries and shops that line the old fashioned Main Street.  Because Julian sits at almost 5000 ft, it was a bit chilly, and windy, so we didn’t stay too long.

One of the major Jeep trails we took was to Calcite Mine. The narrow, dirt road with steep cliffs was not for the faint of heart (although it really wasn’t too bad as long as there were no vehicles coming the other way).  

At the end of this two mile road, we were able to get out and explore on foot. 

 

You can see in this picture the remoteness by how small the Jeep looks. The calcite mining in this area was done during World War II, and the calcite was used for making gun sights for the Navy.

On the way home, we stopped to explore anything that caught our fancy, including the Carrizo Badlands Overlook. The views here were incredible and reminded me a lot of Badlands National Park in South Dakota.

In between all the exploring, we, of course, had to check out the metal sculptures.  The late David Avery, a landowner in the area, envisioned the town with lots of freestanding, life size metal art and set out to make it happen. 

There are now over 130 sculptures, all around the town of Borrego Springs and the outlying areas. We saw a lot of them, and we each had our favorites.

Our final day was a busy one. We drove the Fish Creek Wash trail with the Jeep, stopping to explore along the way.  

The Wind Cave Trail is a short hiking trail to some “caves” created by the wind.  They were fun to climb around on and reminded me of the Flintstones.

Towards the end of Fish Creek Wash is Sandstone Canyon.  This was a very cool slot canyon that is navigable by Jeep.

We didn’t immediately run home after our stay in Anza Borrego.  We all made a short stop in Yuma to see some friends (of course, I didn’t take any pictures), and then Liz and Randy went back to the house and Paul and I continued on to El Paso to spend a few days with his mom.

January 2018 (02-12-18)

Many times we hear about the lull after the holidays, and that it can be a quiet or dreary part of the year. Well, I am happy to report that that is not the case at the Porter Project and Party Place.
After New Years, we took a deep breath and plunged right back in to project and party mode (more about the projects later).

There is always something going on in Havasu, and in January, its the Balloon fest. By the way, all drone shots were provided to me by my friend Randy.

This particular shot of our yard shows the configuration we had during that weekend.









Our friends from California brought some of their friends….and they also brought the cold weather.  Although we ate outside for a couple of meals, mostly we were confined to the house.

In fact, the weather was so windy, the balloons didn’t fly during the 3 day festival, they flew the day before it, and the day after it. 

We had some seriously windy weather, and some really cool cloud formations and coloring.


Still, we always have a great time when they show up, and this trip was no exception!

Amazon gets a lot of our business and just before the January playoffs, I received delivery of my new flag.   Unfortunately we all know how the Super Bowl turned out, but I am  proud to fly the flag- only two teams make it that far, and we were one of them.

As soon as we said goodbye to the Californians, Paul and I packed up the camper and Jeep, and headed out on a short road trip. Our first stop was Quartzsite, and since we were traveling with Liz and Randy, Liz and I drove the short ride in her car.

Our time in Quartzsite is all about hanging out with friends, and we share many a meal with whatever group happens to be congregated with us.

Steve and Carol headlined a Spaghetti night for everyone….

And we hosted our 5th Annual Margarita and Quesadilla night.


Look at our little truck camper, smack dab in the middle of all the other rigs.









It was a very short stay for us in Q this year…after just a few days we headed off to Phoenix for our annual doctor appointments, and then a quick stop in El Paso to check in on Paul’s mom. She is doing great, and and is quite busy with her daily activities!


During our “down time” we have been taking care of some projects and doing mundane things like going to the gym.

We had help with one issue that had been bugging me for a while.  Our liquor cabinet contained many bottles of alcohol that we don’t care for. Liz and Randy helped us test them all and either dump them down the sink, or put them in a pile to donate to friends.  Now I have more room for tequila!

We aren’t the only ones who do projects at our place. Our friends make use of the tools, opinions, and extra pairs of hands that are available while staying in our yard.

While Liz and I spend our time getting fit at the gym, Randy was helping Paul with a major project.  After having the house for a while now, we decided to move the fence.  Not all of it, just some of it.

We originally thought we would put a fire pit outside the fence, so our view of the sunset wouldn’t be marred, but in reality, that never happens…we always put the fire pit inside the fence- guess we are too lazy to walk that far?

Although Paul has always wanted to play with a bobcat, he found out it was less expensive to pay someone to do the work, rather than renting one for himself.  So he paid someone to level off the lower level of the yard.

And now, the fence at the corner of the property has been lowered to the next level down.

This is an ongoing project so I’ll write more about it in the next post.

Usually things start to warm up here in January, but this year has been pretty chilly.  I won’t complain though…we don’t get snow, and many nights I can sit out and watch the hummingbirds flock to the feeders at sunset. I was lucky enough to snap a picture of 3 of them on one feeder, which very rarely happens- they hate to share!







I guess it can’t be that cold if the citrus trees are giving us fruit, which they are.  I love the fact that my neighbors all have grapefruit, lemon and orange trees.  There is nothing like fruit fresh from the tree! I even picked the very first lime from our lime tree ! Yum!

In early February Paul and I celebrated our 18th wedding anniversary, and after 18 years of hard use, his wedding band gave up the ghost. Turns out it wasn’t fixable so we mailed it back to the jeweler who we bought it from and they reset the diamonds into a new setting.  Should be good for another 18 years!

Around Town –Lake Havasu (06-28-15)

We’re sort of getting into a rhythm of being in town during the week, and taking off for cooler pastures when the weekend comes along.




This past weekend was no exception, but we had to stick around until Saturday.


Friday we made the trek down to Quartzsite, about an hour and a half away.  Our daughter Jess and her boyfriend Kellan were passing through town on their way to Phoenix, so we made arrangements to meet them at one of our favorite restaurants- Silly Al’s Pizza.

Kellan works for Tesla, and was driving an electric car, so we picked them up at the nearby charging station and took them to the restaurant.  Of course, Paul and Kellan had to talk cars for a while.

We were blown away when we returned from lunch and found 5 Tesla cars being charged at the charging station!

Once back in Havasu, we headed downtown to await the arrival of the cars participating in the Great Race.

This week long classic car race isn’t really a “race” in the sense that the fastest car wins.

Each morning the drivers are given their route to travel for the day, along with a start time and an end time.  They are awarded points based on how well they do arriving at the exact minute that they are supposed to.  No electronics are allowed- not even a digital watch.







The “race” course changes every year.  This year started in Tennessee, and came across historic Route 66, ending in Santa Monica, California.

The variety of cars was amazing- everything from open air classics to 1969 Corvettes, to…..










   a one of a kind…..something or other….












When the cars started arriving, it was 114* out and I don’t think any of them have air conditioning.  Lucky for us, whenever there is an event in town, you can always buy bottles of cold water, and support local causes at the same time.

Of course, Havasu residents need very little encouragement to show off their toys, so the streets were lined with classic cars.

 
Once we got tired of water, and the heat, we headed to nearby BJ’s Cabana where the misters were working quite well, and the music was live. 


A very busy, but very fun, day.

In general when we’re in town, we manage to keep pretty busy every day- mostly finding ways to spend money it seems.  After taking the boat out on the lake just one time, it became obvious that it needed two things- the main thing was a bimini.

Its just too hot and sunny here to boat without shade.  We had this custom Bimini made here in town.  The guy says it will survive speeds of 70 mph.  Maybe we’ll see.  Probably we won’t.

The other thing the boat needed actually had Paul wincing, but his wife insisted. My days of trying to haul myself into a boat are over.  I needed a ladder.

As soon as the wind stops blowing, we’ll try and put it back in the water!

 Random Thought

One thing about Arizona- I never get tired of the sunsets.

House Update

Progress is being made on a daily basis, and they are apparently now ready to pour some cement!

They water the dirt to get it as compacted as they can before the cement pour.

In the meantime we spent some time investigating pools. The couple we bought the lot from invited us over their house to see their new pool and ask any questions we may have.

The basic shape is similar to what we want, but their needs are different from ours, since they have young kids and live here all year.




This is the basic design we have decided on, but we haven’t picked the pool company yet.  Plenty of time for that.  Also, we are still researching things like heating and cleaning methods.  Some people hate the popup cleaning systems, and like the vacuum hose, but we are leaning towards the popup self cleaning system.