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.

Phoenix, AZ

Before we left Willcox, we grabbed another pie so we could bring it to my cousin Linda's house.  After making the easy drive to Phoenix, we pulled in to Usery Mountain Regional Park.  They have about 70 Rv spots but they were full, so we stayed that night in the overflow lot.  It really wasn't too bad- it was gravel and there were picnic tables directly behind us.  We didn't care much, since we were going to Linda and Michaels for dinner and would be back late.  There was no electric hookup in the overflow.  My only complaint is that $17 is a lot of money to pay for a parking lot.
I felt a little like a vulture.  We knew they would probably have room for us in the regular campground the next  night, so we drove through the campground scouting to see which spots would be opening up, and which ones were the best.
We had a great time at Linda's house.  I was sorry that some other cousins couldn't make it, but we had a great dinner and a fun time with Linda and Michael.

The next morning we played vulture again, to make sure that people were actually leaving their sites( they always have the option to re-up)- if you want a site you have to be at the ranger station at 9 am because thats when they assign them. We did get a nice one, with plenty of room.

We set out to hike around the mountain- a 7+ mile hike (Pass Mountain trail).  It was a meandering type of trail, not very difficult, and we were done by 1:30.  We're getting so we can move pretty fast if we want.  The scenery on the first half of the hike was great, but the second half was pretty boring, and pretty rocky, so we didn't stop too much along the way.  At least we got some exercise.
The weather was really nice so we sat outside for a bit, then ate dinner outside at the picnic table.
Yesterday we took our time in the morning- we fueled up the truck and did some errands, then headed off towards Nevada.  We split the trip into two days, since its about 425 miles, which is just a little too much to do in one day.  Instead, we had another new adventure.
For the first time, we spent the night on BLM land. (Bureau of Land Management).

Basically it is federally owned land that you can park your RV on for free, and spend up to 2 weeks, if you want to.  A lot of people use it for ATVing.  I did a little research and found a spot that wasn't too far out of our way, that I knew was accessible because people had posted on forums that they stayed there.

We got there early  in the day, which was great, because it meant we didn't  get antsy or anything.

After an early night we left this morning and arrived in Vegas around lunchtime.