Lake Havasu, Again (06-22-15)

Once we got back to Lake Havasu, we started to….um…..we immediately…..um…..honestly, I have no real memory of what we did when we got back to town.  Paul has his projects that he works on, but I can’t talk about them because they are part of a future blog post.

We DID finally hear from the city and got the go-ahead on building the house.  More details on the in the lower section.

We also got a taste of what Monsoon season may look like.  Although you could see the lightning and rain in the distance, mostly what we got was the wind, which came up very quickly!

So, other than house stuff, what did we do when we got to Havasu?  We made plans to leave again.




One of the bonuses to Havasu is that I have a few cousins who live in the nearby Phoenix area.  My cousin Linda sent me a note asking if we’d come down and go boating for the weekend, to celebrate her husband Michael’s  birthday.  Well, heck yeah.


Linda and I go way back.  We are essentially the same age, and as kids, we hung out quite a bit.  Our mothers are sisters and Linda was a bridesmaid at my first wedding. The handsome young man next to her is my brother Ray.



A strange coincidence occurred many years ago. Linda’s daughter, and mine, were born on the same day.  They consider themselves to be “twin cousins”.

  We packed up the camper and off we went.  The closest campground to Lake Saguaro is Usery Mountain Regional Park.  It’s one of our favorite campgrounds but so popular, it’s difficult to get a spot in the winter time.  No such issue in the summer though!! We had our choice of sites!

We met up with Linda, Michael, and their friends just in time to have happy hour on the lake before heading in to the restaurant for dinner.
















The birthday boy was overwhelmed with his delicious dessert….or maybe it was all the singing.  Anyway, he shared with all of us :)

















Both my cousin and one of her friends have boats, so we elected not to bring ours.  Plus, our Bimini top is not ready yet, and with temps in the 116* range, you really need a bimini.

As we zipped around the lake, we managed to see this guy out of the corner of our eye….we stopped and watched him scramble up the nearby rocks.

Of course, not having our own boat with us doesn’t mean Paul didn’t get to drive.  Michael was more than willing to share the helm. He was a little disappointed not to get a ride in the jet boat, but they have every intention of spending some time on Lake Havasu with us…..as soon as it cools off.








After  a fun filled day on the lake, it was time to head back to our campsite. The weather was perfect for sitting outside watching the stars- although in this picture, what you are looking at is the moon, Venus, and Jupiter.









Over breakfast the next morning we were entertained by the birds eating the fruit of the Saguaro.

Once we’d had our fill of both breakfast and birds, we started the trek back to Havasu once again.

House Update

Yay! I finally have something to post here!!  On Monday, June 15, we received approval from the City to build our house. 

The next step was to meet with Wes and “paint” the house on the lot, to make sure it’s placed exactly where we want it.

 

Once that was done, the real work started. The backhoe was brought in to dig the trenches for the plumbing, water and electrical.

It really looks like termites or ants have been busy at work.

Soon enough, the pipes started entering the ground.  This is the front, right side corner of the house.  See that pipe sticking up?  One of the two sewer hook ups for our friends will be in that corner.






On the other side of the house you can see all the pipes where the kitchen will eventually be.







That’s as far as we have gotten, so far, but work is being done every day and its exciting to see!
Meanwhile we are trying to finalize some decisions on granite etc.  although we haven’t been too successful.  We still have plenty of time, but it gives us something to do.

A Couple of National Monuments (06-10-15)

Although we left Kaibab National Park, we didn’t go all that far.  We first stopped at Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument.





This is a very young volcano, having erupted just 900 years ago.  The cinder cone that was created stands 1200 feet high, but access to it has been eliminated, due to the severe damage that was being done. 
There are several cinder cones in the area however, and we hiked to the top of Lenox Crater.  It was only a 300 ft long trail, but it was straight up!

The eruption of Sunset Volcano created the Bonito Lava flow, which covers 5 square miles. There are short trails that meander through the lava.

Once we had had our fill of volcanoes, we headed to nearby Wupatki National Monument.

Wupatki is home to several ancient pueblos. This particular one is called Wukoki, which means Large House. People have lived here for over 10,000 years, with the most dense population occurring in the 1100s.

When we glanced over at the horizon, we were reminded that we are at a higher elevation.  Snow!  When we left Havasu, we couldn’t imagine needing a comforter for the bed, but the temperatures have dipped into the 30s!





We slowly started heading back towards Havasu, stopping briefly in the town of Jerome on the way.




.
Jerome is an old mining town set on a hillside.  Although the population is about 500 these days, back in it’s glory days, over 15,000 people called this town home.  It was also home to the second largest JC Penney in the store’s chain.


Our intent was to drive over the mountain and spend the night near the town of Prescott. We can’t tow the trailer over this mountain, so we were looking forward to driving it in the camper.




Along the way we stopped to explore whatever took our fancy, and found a campground with an amazing view and we went no further:




This mountain has such a steep drop off that it is a premier location for hang gliding.  We didn’t get to watch anyone jump, but it would have been cool.



Once we eventually made it down the other side, we hit up the local Costco before making our way back to Havasu.

House Update

Nope, no news here.

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……

Escaping The Heat (06-05-15)

What’s the difference between 470 and 7500? If you answered 7030, obviously you would be correct.  But in my particular example, the more important difference between those two numbers is about 25-35* F.  At 470 feet above sea level, Havasu temperatures are in the 80s and 90s.  At 7500 feet above sea level, the temperatures would be in the 60s and 70s.







I was perusing the literature and brochures that Paul and I had picked up about Havasu and surrounding areas, when something caught my eye.

Hualapai Mountain Park

This park is less than an hour and a half drive from Havasu, but it sits at an elevation of 7500 feet. Lake Havasu City is at 470 feet, so instead of the 98* in that it is in Havasu, the temperature was only 73* at the park.

We made a day trip out there and hiked one of several trails- we ended up hiking about 6 miles with 1400 feet of elevation gain.  Hiking at such a high elevation knocks the wind out of you pretty fast when you haven’t acclimated to it. We elected not to overdo.

We were pretty happy with that outing, even though the trail was nothing spectacular.










You might wonder where all my pictures are.  I mean, two measly pictures is not much.  Well, I’ll tell you. I took my good camera on that trip because I didn’t think we’d be doing a long hike. So that’s where my pictures are.  Still in the camera.

Here’s what happened.  Although the weather hasn’t been nearly as hot as it will be in a month or thereabouts, boredom and frustration are setting in.  We have not heard from the city about our house plans, so there is nothing we can do to move the project forward.  Rather than sitting and twiddling our thumbs, we loaded up the camper and left (and I left my good camera behind).

House Update

Nothing to see here.  There is nothing happening on the house at this point.  Apparently, the city is experiencing a mini housing boom so it’s taking a long time to get house plans approved.
We have been shopping around though…..

a potential back splash…

Or, maybe this…

Originally we were thinking a granite in the brown tones, in order to be neutral, but realistically, we will be decorating in a lighter, Caribbean-ish theme, so we have (pretty much) decided to go with our favorite granite- the Blue Pearl.



We already have one end table that features this granite- its one that Paul made a few years ago. We are hoping we can find a slab that leans more towards the gray tones, and less towards the blue.

Fun with Boats and Jeeps (05-29-15)

It wasn’t long before we took the Jeep on a road trip. Memorial Day weekend we packed up a lunch and took off for the Parker Dam.  We detoured first over to the island, for two reasons- to see how many boats were out on the lake, and to give the Jeep a taste of off-roading.

The island has several trails- although many of them are more suited to ATVs.  And no, we didn’t take the Jeep down that slope, we turned around.

After about an hour or so drive, we arrived at the Dam.  As you approach it, there is a sign that states “No Trailers, No Trucks” so we have never been across the dam.










As it turns out, we could have made it in the dually, but we’ve never thought it was worth testing it.

The Parker Dam is one of the tallest dams in the world, although it doesn’t look it.  73% of the dam is under water.  That’s how deep they had to go in order to find solid bedrock to build it on.











Historically, the dam has been part of a bitter dispute between California and Arizona.  It was built in the 1930s in order to “corral” the Colorado River for use by southern California, and although there had been previous agreement between the two states, when it came time to build the dam, the Arizonan government called in the Arizona National Guard to stop the building process.  Obviously it was eventually resolved, although I am not sure that all Arizonans have gotten over their hard feelings.

Across the dam, our view went from one of Lake Havasu to one of the Colorado River.  River or lake, there were still a crazy amount of boats out on the water.

As we turned back towards home, we veered off onto a road that we have passed by many times.  It is for roads like this that we bought the Jeep. Primitive road?  Bring it on!

The road has many twists and turns and leads through a wildlife preserve.

We followed the road to the end, and even got out to take a short walk.  We didn’t see much wildlife- although we did see a quail crossing the road with what seemed like 2 dozen chicks.  Couldn’t get a picture though.

Once Memorial Day was over, it was safe to put Blue Magic in the water to give her a test drive.

The engine started right up, but since the boat has been sitting for over 8 years, we weren’t interested in pushing too hard or going too far.

Still, we did get it up to 55 mph- not bad for a first trip out.  Paul says next time he wants to try full throttle- I say, 55 mph feels quite fast enough, thanks.

Eventually we were done putting her though her paces,  and it was time to find a spot to chill out and have lunch.  The water temperature is perfect for lounging around on floats right now.
One decision we made before we even got back to the dock.  We have no choice but to get a Bimini top made.






We stopped at several shops on the way home, so they could physically see the boat and make suggestions.  After getting some prices, and recovering from the sticker shock, we also checked out West Marine to see if we could  manage with a pre- made top.  That led to a whole discussion about our future boats and what role Blue Magic plays in that line up.  I think we’ll invest in the custom top.

P.S.

My blogger friends are very aware of  an issue that has come up recently in the blogging world that made posting this blog more .....annoying.  The Microsoft software that we use on our laptops to create  a blog post, called Live Writer, is no longer "playing nice" with the website -Google's Blogspot- that we use to host our blogs.  That means that until they figure it out, I can't use the relatively intuitive software to create my post, I have to do it completely online, through Blogspot.  There are a few workarounds, but none of them are great.

Part of the reason I like Live Writer is because it automatically saves each post to my computer in a way that is easily viewed, so I hope they get it worked out sooner rather than later!!