Sawtooth Mountains (09-06-17)

Full Time or Long Time RVers understand that holiday weekends can present a bit of a challenge. 



Paul and I aren’t big on making reservations, so we needed to find a place to go for Labor Day weekend. We decided to pretty much hide in the woods. You can barely see our rig, nestled in the trees.

We were on Federal land, where the camping is dispersed and free. We had pre-selected a few potential spots on Google maps and ended up with a pretty good one. Our only real issue is that our cell phone service and internet were practically nonexistent.

With all the wildfires, there was also a ban on campfires so that was disappointing too. 

Our game plan was pretty simple.  Hang out, and hike.  The hike I was looking forward to most was the one to Sawtooth Lake.  It’s 10 miles round trip, with 1700 ft of elevation gain.

Rather than building up to it by hiking shorter trails first, we decided to go for the gusto and set out the next morning.

To my intense chagrin, I realized almost right away that I had forgotten my camera- so all the pictures from this hike were taken with my phone.  At least it has a decent camera too.



It wasn’t long before the views were amazing! The first lake we came to was Alpine Lake.
The higher we went, the more challenging the trail was to navigate.

I was surprised to see so much snow along the way, since the air temperature was in the high 80s.

We topped out at almost 9000 ft, so there were more times than I could count that I had to stop and catch my breath.

But it was worth it to keep going!

The lake was gorgeous!

Taking a break, we took off our shoes and cooled off in the water a bit.  Other people went swimming, and I half wish I had brought a suit.

Once we had refreshed ourselves, we were sort of ready for the trek back down the mountain.

Everywhere we looked, the views were amazing, and we both agreed it was one of our favorite hikes.


By the time we made it down, we were very glad we didn’t have even another half mile to go.  We were both done in. 

It was also late enough in the day that we decided to stop in one of the small towns and grab dinner on the way back, so we wouldn’t have to cook.




We recovered pretty well by the next day, although we weren’t interested in any hiking.  That worked out perfect, actually.

The nearby town of Ketchum was celebrating Wagon Days.

We arrived in town in time explore, and have lunch before the yearly parade. This is one of the longest parades in the country that includes nothing motorized.









There were a wide variety of non-motorized participants to see!












Apparently anything goes, as long as it has no motor!





























And for the finale, they asked the crowd to be quiet…..

And then came the 6 full sized wagons…..

Being pulled by a full, traditional, 20 mule team.  It was really cool to see- I couldn’t even fit it all into one picture.

This type of parade called for a unique clean up crew.  These guys seemed to be having quite a good time, and got some cheers from the crowd.

Afterwards we hung around a while at the street party, which included live music, more food, and cheap drinks.  Fun time!




We did do some other hiking before we left the area- nothing as memorable as Sawtooth Lake, but the hike to Titus Lake was kind of nice, at about 4 miles and 600 ft of elevation gain.







As soon as Labor Day was over, we were more than ready to get back in the land of signal. We needed to do some refiguring of our plans.

I mentioned wildfires- the picture on the left is what the area looked like when we arrived, and the picture on the right is what it looked like when we left. More on that in the next post.

And now, a word from our sponsor:

Hey! Who keeps moving the sun??

Payson and Phoenix (09-07-15)

Labor Day Weekend.  What to do.  Many full time RVers know to avoid moving on this weekend if at all possible.  When we were boaters, we parked ourselves before the weekend, and didn’t move until it was over.  But these days, we travel in a truck camper, so theoretically, its easier to find places to park.

We started the weekend by heading to Phoenix. No One heads to Phoenix on Labor Day weekend, so finding a place to park was easy (Thanks for the tip, Sandie!)  Our goal was to window shop at MSI, a major supplier of tile, stone and  granite, etc. More on that later.

We are easily entertained when driving 300 miles in one day.  The shine on this tanker was quite impressive, and we enjoyed watching our reflection in the mirror like finish.






















Once our errands were complete, we headed for the hills of Payson, looking for relief from the heat.
Tonto Natural Bridge State Park was our first destination.  This park is so popular, we had to wait about 30 minutes just to enter, because the parking lots were full.  Once there, it was a fairly short hike down the trail to the base of the bridge.


This is one of the world’s largest travertine bridges, standing 150 feet wide, and 183 feet tall.  It’s a great hike for kids, with tons of exploring, and even the opportunity to swim. 





Back up on top, there were several viewpoints available to check out the bridge.  After an hour or so, the crowds got to us so we took off to find a place to spend the night.






Nearby Apache Sitgreaves National Forest has quite a bit of boon docking available, but again the crowds were quite amazing, even considering that it was a holiday weekend.

We did find a secluded spot to spend the night , but our hiking plans for the next day were abandoned when we couldn’t find a parking spot any where near a trail head. Soooooo, we headed back to Phoenix.

Doesn’t Dozer look like he’s a little nervous walking on a high shelf?

In reality, he was on the floor, stalking imaginary mice.

Since we knew we were headed to Phoenix, we had checked the inventory of the Phoenix Sears Outlet, and lo and behold, they had something we wanted. The oven we want is a GE Profile series 5000- but we had noted that if the 7050 model was on sale at a great price, we would really prefer that one.  Well, this Sears had the 9050 model on sale for less than the 5000 model. This store is a “scratch and dent” store so there is one small scratch on the bottom and that was it.

The main obstacle would be transport back to Havasu, but we’d had the foresight to put the hitch on the truck.  So, we rented the smallest U-Haul available. (although that sounds simple, its a whole other story…..)

We wracked our brains trying to think of something else we could buy, but in the end, the oven was the only cargo in the trailer.

We had an uneventful trek back to Lake Havasu with our treasure, and saved over $1000 on the oven!

House Update

Phoenix is where MS International is located, and MS International is where everyone in Havasu gets their stone and tile.  We’ve been struggling to come up with a back splash that we really like for the kitchen, and stonework we like for the exterior, and had decided a trip to Phoenix was warranted.   As a bonus, we got to check out the granite we want.

Blue Pearl is a little different, since it’s more in the gray tones than brown, but we already have a table made with blue pearl and we know we like it.

We arrived at MSI late in the day Friday, but we thought we’d have all day Saturday to wander around.  We didn’t realize they were closed all weekend. Thank goodness we decided to get a head start by taking a peek on Friday!

Luckily we saw a backsplash we liked right away.

There is a corresponding stone pattern that we can use as an accent on the front exterior of the house ( this picture really doesn’t do it justice) and to tie it all together, we will also use this stone on the spa surround.

We have very few decisions left to make.  I hope we don’t get bored, with no shopping to do.  Just kidding- once the septic is in, (hopefully next week) we can start our own projects on the exterior of the house.  The first one will be to build a small (30’ high) stacked wall along the side of the property.

Back at the house, the drywall is coming along.

The Sheetrock is all up, and the taping is done. They have started the sanding, but that will go fast because the  walls will be textured.   Wes says they will paint the interior next week!

The stilts look like fun- I can just picture myself landing gracefully on the floor if I try them!

As if the progress on the interior wasn’t enough, they are simultaneously working on the exterior.

“Brown coat” is what they call the first layer of stucco. They literally spray on the cement and then smooth it out to the texture they want.

It took a full two days to do the entire house. 

There was quite a good sized crew working on the stucco…

It kind of looks nice, until it starts to dry….then it looks blotchy.  They have to water it for 30 days so that the cement doesn’t dry too fast, and crack.

The final color, a light sandy color,  as seen here, won’t be added until close to the very end, so that it doesn’t get damaged.

Speaking of the very end, we had a short conversation with Wes about an estimated move in day.  Although he wouldn’t commit, he did say we were about a “long two months” away, which means we might be in the house by Thanksgiving!

Kaibab National Forest (06-07-15)

Kaibab National Forest, in the Flagstaff area of Arizona, also sits at an elevation of about 6500-7500 feet, and when we arrived, it was a brisk 54*- quite a bit cooler than the 93* in Havasu. The section of forest we headed towards is the Bill Williams area, near the historic town of Williams, AZ. If we had more time we would be blowing through Williams and driving just a little further- Williams is a major jumping off point for The Grand Canyon.  Some other time.




  The route we chose to get there took us along parts of historic Route 66, and through the town of Seligman.  We have fond memories of this town- we stopped here with the kids on our vacation way back in 2002.

We actually ate with the kids, at this Snow Cap, where the owners are known for their sense of humor. 

Do you want ice in your drink?

I made the mistake of asking for a small cone. 

The signs on the building say things like “sorry, we’re open” and “ we serve cheeseburgers…with cheese”

My favorite (ok, not favorite, but strongest) memory of this place is the outhouse.  Back in 2002 I asked if they had  a ladies room and I was directed to the Outhouse- a fully functioning bathroom, set up as an outhouse. It wasn’t until afterwards that I realized that there is, indeed, a regular bathroom attached to the building.  Oh well, the kids thought it was funny.








Once we arrived in Williams, we stopped at the Forest Service Visitor Center to find out about local hiking and dispersed camping.  Dispersed camping is when you are (usually) alone, and not in a campground.  It’s usually either free or very low cost.


  We got some intel on some good spots, and headed out to the forest to find a place to park.

Paul immediately went on the hunt for firewood, but as it turns out, it was too chilly and too windy, to have a fire that first night.

We were moving pretty slow the next day, but we had already decided which trail we were going to hike.



  There is an 11 mile trail called the Sycamore Canyon Rim Trail. At this elevation we had no intentions of attempting the whole trail, so we started at the most interesting point, and walked till we didn’t feel like walking anymore.









The first point of interest was the Pomeroy Tanks.  These are natural reservoirs that provide water to the local wildlife.














Next up was Sycamore Falls.  Unfortunately there is no water falling right now.  We did get to watch some kids zip line across the chasm.

Further down the way, we watched some people do some rock climbing, and about that time we thought we had hiked enough and turned around.

The closest thing to wildlife that we saw was a HUGE flock of sheep being herded by both a shepherd and a dog.  The dog blended in quite nicely with the sheep.












  The following day we hiked another….um…..uninspiring….section of trail, and found another pretty neat place to spend the night.












As we sat around the fire looking at the sky, we started wondering what we were looking at, so it was time to get out the smart phone Apps that are so amazing, all you have to do is hold it up to the sky and it shows you what is up there.












After three nights in the National Forest, we headed into Williams for the night so we could recharge the batteries and empty the tanks..
Of course, we were hungry, so we stopped at the Grand Canyon Brewery, where we ate outside while listening to some really good live music.







It is really different traveling with absolutely no destination in mind except someplace cool.  Soon enough we were ready to move on……