Digging In (05-07-15)

Once the boat was settled it was time to dig in to the storage unit.   


Our first stop was the office at the storage center, where we discovered that the unit across the hall from ours is available, so $90 later, we had a place to throw a bunch of our stuff so we could dig deeper into the unit.








It was pretty convenient, and quite a time saver, to have a place so close by to put our stuff.

As we made our way towards the back we had to think about our stuff, and whether we would have a spot for it at the new house.  It was a sometimes painful process because anything we didn't care about was discarded 6 years ago, when we went on the road.  So, anything that is left is something somewhat important to us.

Not everything made the cut, and we have made several trips to Goodwill and Salvation Army.  The barber chair stays, though. We’ll find someplace to put it!








 
Some items that seemed important to keep 6 years ago, now seem very old school and outdated and were donated.

There are things we come across that are bringing back a lot of memories, and are kept for that reason, even though we don’t need them. In the pre-automatic feeder days, Dozer, the Emmy award winning actor, would routinely score at least two, and sometimes three, dinners in a day.

I finally made this door hanger that we put on the closet door where his food was kept.  Whoever fed him dinner flipped the sign, and when he was fed breakfast it was flipped to the blank side.

When we packed the camper for this trip we tried to pack light, figuring there would be some items that either because of their fragility or their importance, or both, we would want to bring back with us. 

The original tailgate for the truck has been in storage since we bought the truck, and rather than try to pack it for shipping, we are bringing it with us.  Unfortunately we can’t keep it on the truck with the camper on, so it will ride in the back seat….

What else is coming with us?  Our jewelry, my keyboard, and the stain glass windows that Paul’s mom made for him years ago.  They are crated pretty well, but we are going to see if we can incorporate them into the house while it’s being built.

One of the things that has made life easier is that we were very organized when we stored everything 6 years ago.  Every box was labeled with a number, and a master list was created with a list of all the contents.  We knew we would probably be having things shipped, so most things were crated or packaged with that in mind.  That sure has helped keep our stress levels down!










We’ve contacted several major moving companies and on Monday they will be coming to look at our stuff and give us an estimate on the move.

Short Stop-in Havasu (04-23-15)

Life is quite busy right now, and our stop in Lake Havasu was a brief one. We arrived in town just in time to meet up with our friends Kirk and Karen, who were on their way back to California from Mexico.

We showed them around town, and of course stopped by the model home to show off what our new house will sort of look like.

One of the things we like about Havasu is that there always seems to be something going on. 





  After Kirk and Karen went on their way, we realized that the coming weekend there was going to be a Poker Run, featuring  boats that attain speeds in excess of 160 mph. {Update; This year's Shoot Out  Race winner topped out at 182 mph}

Although we wouldn't be in town for the actual races (Next year!), we heard about the Desert Storm Street Party.  The main road in Havasu was closed to traffic, and many of the race boats were on display.

These boats represent some serious money….

and as Paul said “some serious testosterone”.

Many of the “players” showed off their cars and trucks as well-

We saw a Maserati, a Ferrari and a GT, among others.

As I said, we would have loved to have been here for the races, but that’s OK- we have some awesome plans for the weekend and were quite happy to head out on our mini road trip.

House Update

When we were last in town, the grading of the lot had been started but not finished.  It is now done and here are the before and after pictures.  What a huge difference!  We weren't completely satisfied with the job the grader did, so we asked Wes to meet us at the lot. 

 He explained that a few areas will have to be finished later, once the house is started, but also agreed with us that they stopped short of the lot line, and need to bring in some more fill to finish the job.

Here’s the view looking towards the lake-before-

and after-

Here is looking towards the street- before-

and after.

While we were in Vegas we looked at granite, and once we got to Havasu we started trying to narrow down some other items.  We have chosen the exterior color ( a very light sandy looking color):




And we have also chosen the roof color. The company we are working with sent us around town to look at houses that are the same color as the ones we were interested in, so it was easier to make a decision.

We looked at a lot of floor tiles and think we have a decision made, but we will revisit it some other time.  We really need to look a the granite, floor tile, wall color and back splash all together to see if it works for us, but we don’t have the time right now.  At least the basic exterior colors are chosen!

Telephone Cove (04-04-15)

Moving the trailer after sitting still for 6 weeks is always an adventure.  The term “urban sprawl’ comes to mind- the longer we stay, the more “stuff” finds its way outside, sprawled around the yard.



Still, it felt good to get the wheels moving again.  We didn't go too far.  One of our friends had written a blog post about a great spot on Lake Mohave- Telephone Cove.  After confirming that we could, indeed, make it down the road to the cove, we made it our destination.

This was a 4 mile trek down a washboard road- easy enough to do in the truck, but a little trickier with the trailer.  About 3 miles in, the lake became visible and we could see how gorgeous it was going to be, making the rough road worth it.

Once we arrived, our biggest regret was that we wouldn’t be there long enough to put the boat in the water.







  

We got there early enough in the day that we could go exploring among the nearby hills and get a better view.

This is a free, federal campground where (if you get there early enough) you can back your rig right up to the water’s edge.  Pretty awesome!










One thing we found odd was the Penske Rental truck that came in shortly after us. We wondered what the heck it was doing here, in this remote place.  Well, we didn’t have to wonder for long.  The driver quickly made the rounds to let the existing campers know that they were, in fact, the advance team, sent ahead to do the initial set up for the 150 YMCA members that were due to arrive the following day for a week of camping.



Oh boy. Most of the other campers left, hoping to avoid a bunch of noisy kids.  We figured we could survive one night of loud teens/pre-teens.  In fact, they arrived after 9 pm and set up their tents in the dark and they were very well behaved.


Our only full day here was spent hiking the Grapevine Trail- the main reason we wanted to check out this area.  After not hiking for many weeks, the 4 mile hike was just the right length.

The hike started at the mouth of Grapevine Canyon and within minutes we were seeing petroglyphs on the nearby walls.

The trail leads through a small slot canyon, and eventually ends at a waterfall.  On the way there we walked inside the canyon and when it ended, we had to climb out.















On the way back, we stayed on top of the slot canyon and didn't go down inside.  It made for a completely different look on the way back. 

We made it all the way to the waterfall, but I guess I forgot to take a picture.  It wasn't all that impressive and we didn't stay too long.

Back at the ranch we relaxed while watching the sunset on the mountains.

Way too soon we were back on the washboard road, headed away from the lake, and towards Las Vegas.

House Update

While we’ve been away, the grader has finished grading the lot.  We are anxious to see it but we won’t be back in Havasu for at least a week.  We looked at and finalized the house plans, and they are now with the engineer to get finished.  While in Las Vegas we are looking at granite and other things to start narrowing down our choices to our favorites.

A Visit From the Kids (03-30-15)

After the winter he has endured in Boston, Stephen was quite happy to bask in the heat and the sunshine of Arizona. We wasted no time in getting the boat out on the water, where we spent many hours scooting around the lake.












Back on land there were plenty of things to keep us occupied:

The car show showcased both new models and many classics:
































We just peeked through the fence to catch a glimpse of the World Off Road Championship races on the Island.

Seems like there’s always something to see or do around here, if  you are easily entertained. Yup, that’s a pig on the beach.

  

One of the perks to being here during spring break is Free Pancakes!

Every morning the local churches sponsor a free pancake breakfast- and if you are on the wrong side of the channel, don’t worry- the shuttle boat will bring you across to the island.

Once the weekend arrived, so did our daughter Jessica. She lives in L.A., about a 5 hour drive from here, so we hope to see her on a fairly frequent basis.

Once again, the first destination was the lake.  All four of us love boating, and being on the water puts a smile on our faces.

We took the kids to what is quickly becoming one of our favorite restaurants- the Javelina Cantina.

Of course, in the blink of an eye it seems, Stephen was on a plane, headed back to the snow and cold of Boston.

Our own visit to Lake Havasu is drawing to a close as well.  For now. The dinghy has been put back in it’s coffin, ready to be stored in the basement.  Today we leave Havasu and we won’t need to be back here until the end of April.

House Update

On Thursday, we met with the builder, and the draftsman, to go over the drawings for the house. There were a fair amount of things that needed to be changed, so he will adjust them and email them to us so we can check it out one last time. . The next step is to send them to the engineer, and then on to the city for approval. This is our last chance to make real structural changes, and the last input they will need from us until May.

Wes knew we were leaving town and wanted to watch the grading of the lot, so asked the grader to move his schedule around to accommodate us.  On Friday, we were happy to see the equipment arrive at the lot!

The first step was the de-brushing. Basically they scrape along the top of the soil, removing any plants.  A water truck will be on site for the duration, keeping the dust to a minimum. Apparently they do that to keep the neighbors happy.

This part went remarkably fast, but took long enough for our neighbors to get curious and come over to say hi.  It was nice to meet them!  One couple is building a house 3 lots down from ours, but they are further along.  They are also RVers and are building a winter home.

This roadrunner came running over to check out the commotion.  He was really funny.  Instead of running away from the noisy equipment he tried to get as close as he could, probably looking for lunch. (Hopefully we didn't disturb his nest- Its the first time we've seen him so I doubt it)

Once the brush was cleared, the leveling of the lot began.  Unfortunately, the dirt was more compacted than the grader thought, so he is going to have to bring in a bulldozer, and finish the job next week.  We won’t be here, but at least we got to see some of it!

Spring Has Sprung (03-24-15)

There are many signs of spring here in Havasu, but probably my favorite is the flowers on the Prickly Pear.  I am always amazed at how gorgeous this cactus is when it is in bloom.










There are garage sales and home shows.  We learned a ton of stuff at the home show, some of which caused us to make some minor changes in the house plans.  We still don’t buy much at garage sales, but we did score a ladder that Paul has wanted for a long time, and got it at a great price.






The lake is more crowded, and the channel is crammed with boats, all blasting their own music.  Everyone seems to be having an awesome time.














And, of course, for us, Spring has sprung when the snowman no longer decorates the front of the truck:



The last few weeks have been very busy with house stuff, but we’ll be taking a break from all the running around because our son is flying in from Boston today!

House Update

We have arranged for the grading of our lot, which hopefully should happen soon.  Paul has placed his sign announcing our intentions to 

our neighbors.

We have been “pre-shopping”-making decisions on kitchen appliances and such, which needed to be done because the electrical and plumbing had to be decided.  We chose to go with an induction cook top.  Neither of us have ever used one, but we’ve heard they are pretty awesome.

All the major decisions regarding the house have been made.  The RV garage will be bumped to 18 ft by 65 ft, the back patio will be deleted (the pool people will put in Travertine tile) and the front patio will be expanded.  The laundry room will be bigger than the plans call for, but the guest rooms will remain the same size.  I would have liked them to be 2 feet bigger but couldn’t justify the expense.

Once we had put together our 3 page list of customizations, and gotten prices on them, we sat down with the builder and signed the contract!  We’ll still make tons of running changes, but the big stuff had to be decided before the plans were submitted to the City. Once they are drawn up, we’ll look at them one more time before the go in for approval.

In the meantime we can take a breather and enjoy our visit with Stephen!