It visits every table and then plops down for a well deserved rest..so funny!! After a few phones calls the owner shows up and takes the trespasser home.
Sunday, December 15, 2019
My New Friend
After one of our excursions we stopped at a well known bar for a cool refreshment and within minutes the employees were running around trying to get a dog out of the building. It seems that this poor dog is a repeat offender and keeps appearing unexpectedly. It jumps the fence at home and comes to the bar for company.
It visits every table and then plops down for a well deserved rest..so funny!! After a few phones calls the owner shows up and takes the trespasser home.
It visits every table and then plops down for a well deserved rest..so funny!! After a few phones calls the owner shows up and takes the trespasser home.
Hiking
From Lost Dutchman State Park there are numerous hiking and mountain bike trails…today we did Siphon Draw. We didn’t make it all the way to the top but we did go up three kilometres before deciding that our knees were a wee bit sore.
The scenery was perfect and we could see our destination in the distance, but it kept getting colder every metre we went up and it seemed that we were never going to reach the pond at the top.
On the way up we could see hang gliders coming down from the top…pretty hard to get a good picture.
The scenery was perfect and we could see our destination in the distance, but it kept getting colder every metre we went up and it seemed that we were never going to reach the pond at the top.
On the way up we could see hang gliders coming down from the top…pretty hard to get a good picture.
Full Moon
On Wednesday evening we were fortunate to have a perfect view of the full moon from our campsite. Day view vs night view!
Spending Spree
Despite him being gone for 35 years I still remember many of my Dad’s superstitions, with Friday the 13th being his favourite! He hated to go out on that date…just in case!
Even so, I braved the day and we went to the Mesa Swap Meet today…someone told me it was as large as three football fields and after two hours of walking I must say it felt like it.
We bought a few necessary items for Puerto Aventuras [golf grips, golf balls etc] before we decided we had had enough!
On the way back we stopped at a small restaurant near our campground that has the reputation for the best Hog Wings in town! Not sure what they are all about…we took one look and decided that they were not something we wanted to try.
Even so, I braved the day and we went to the Mesa Swap Meet today…someone told me it was as large as three football fields and after two hours of walking I must say it felt like it.
We bought a few necessary items for Puerto Aventuras [golf grips, golf balls etc] before we decided we had had enough!
On the way back we stopped at a small restaurant near our campground that has the reputation for the best Hog Wings in town! Not sure what they are all about…we took one look and decided that they were not something we wanted to try.
I Won't Be Back
We drove to Tortilla Flat, the last stage coach stop on the Apache Trail….how they got there I will never know. It was one of the scariest switchbacks that I have been on for awhile. It even beats China’s roads! And, I won’t go back!!
The end result did not justify the route…the abandoned town was trying to build itself up but so far they have nor succeeded. At least in my opinion, but I may be prejudiced because of the road up.
There was a special restaurant in the village that collects dollar bills...the whole place is covered with them. The seats at the small bar were not very comfortable, but we did give them a try.
On a sad note, the road ended at Tortilla Flat because of flash flooding and road wash outs. Last week a father decided to try to cross a flooded road despite the numerous warnings that cars/people should never enter a flooded road and disaster struck. Three of his six children were washed away and drowned. Two were found but the six year old girl is still missing after numerous searches. A 69 year old man tried to do the same thing, got stopped by the water and stepped out of his car. His body was found 20 miles away.
As flatlanders we never think twice about these warnings that seem to be everywhere in Nevada and Arizona. Now we will and will never enter the flooded roadway in a flash flood.
The end result did not justify the route…the abandoned town was trying to build itself up but so far they have nor succeeded. At least in my opinion, but I may be prejudiced because of the road up.
There was a special restaurant in the village that collects dollar bills...the whole place is covered with them. The seats at the small bar were not very comfortable, but we did give them a try.
On a sad note, the road ended at Tortilla Flat because of flash flooding and road wash outs. Last week a father decided to try to cross a flooded road despite the numerous warnings that cars/people should never enter a flooded road and disaster struck. Three of his six children were washed away and drowned. Two were found but the six year old girl is still missing after numerous searches. A 69 year old man tried to do the same thing, got stopped by the water and stepped out of his car. His body was found 20 miles away.
As flatlanders we never think twice about these warnings that seem to be everywhere in Nevada and Arizona. Now we will and will never enter the flooded roadway in a flash flood.
Ventured Out
Last Tuesday we decided that we could venture out of the park as the weather started to clear up…we have been hit by rainy and windy weather for the last three days.
We walked to Goldfield Ghost Town and did a pretty thorough tour of the place. It is very similar to many of the other ghost towns we have seen in Montana and Idaho, but this one has been converted to a money making project with museums, restaurants and stores using the old buildings.
The homemade fudge is calling us back so after Christmas we will walk back and make a few purchases to fill someone’s unending sweet-tooth cravings.
We walked to Goldfield Ghost Town and did a pretty thorough tour of the place. It is very similar to many of the other ghost towns we have seen in Montana and Idaho, but this one has been converted to a money making project with museums, restaurants and stores using the old buildings.
The homemade fudge is calling us back so after Christmas we will walk back and make a few purchases to fill someone’s unending sweet-tooth cravings.
Thursday, December 12, 2019
Campsite
We are camped at Lost Dutchman State Park from December 8th until December 27th. We have a view of Superstition Mountain from our front door…it is supposedly the second most photographed sight in Arizona, after the Grand Canyon.
If you look closely in this picture you can see our site! Just kidding, but our unit is down there somewhere.
If you look closely in this picture you can see our site! Just kidding, but our unit is down there somewhere.
Sunday, December 1, 2019
Once Again
Once again we decided to travel the primitive, unmaintained road to the Nellie E Bar...more commonly called the Desert Bar. I think everyone goes at least once every time they visit Parker....I know we do!
The road to the Desert Bar is dusty and unsuitable for an ordinary car....we had the truck in four wheel drive most of the time. Dirt bikes and quads everywhere!
The number of people at the bar was astounding....we are guessing around 600 people and almost as many trucks and quads.
The owner started this establishment out in the middle of the hills, at an abandoned mine, site with a single bar serving five people and now he can't build fast enough.
The place is rustic with a mess of outbuildings that were built with no rhyme or reason. There are no servers or cleaners so you are expected to get your own beer at one of the any bars he has set up over the area. If you are hungry you join the long line and wait your turn for the hot dog or burger/fries...no other food available that we could see.
The bar is only open Saturdays and Sundays from noon to 6:00 in the winter....don't know about the summer.
We never seem to stay long enough to to see the place close down, but I would imagine the traffic on the dirt road would be slow and dusty. The Desert Bar is only 7 kms from the highway but it took us half an hour to get there so I can guess the time it would take us to get back if we closed the place down at 6 pm!
The road to the Desert Bar is dusty and unsuitable for an ordinary car....we had the truck in four wheel drive most of the time. Dirt bikes and quads everywhere!
The number of people at the bar was astounding....we are guessing around 600 people and almost as many trucks and quads.
The owner started this establishment out in the middle of the hills, at an abandoned mine, site with a single bar serving five people and now he can't build fast enough.
The place is rustic with a mess of outbuildings that were built with no rhyme or reason. There are no servers or cleaners so you are expected to get your own beer at one of the any bars he has set up over the area. If you are hungry you join the long line and wait your turn for the hot dog or burger/fries...no other food available that we could see.
The bar is only open Saturdays and Sundays from noon to 6:00 in the winter....don't know about the summer.
We never seem to stay long enough to to see the place close down, but I would imagine the traffic on the dirt road would be slow and dusty. The Desert Bar is only 7 kms from the highway but it took us half an hour to get there so I can guess the time it would take us to get back if we closed the place down at 6 pm!
Friday, November 29, 2019
Races
Today was a little cooler so we stayed away from the golf course and went to watch the Formula 1 boat races.
The Formula 1 boats have an American tour and a European tour, much like the cars. They were reaching speeds of 159 miles per hour today...and they are so loud!
The Cracker Jack race was going well until the orange boat couldn't manage a curve and they flipped sideways. Not head over heels like you see in movies, but just as frightening.
The Water Rescue boat was out in minutes and had the two men on the way to the hospital shortly after. One was on a stretcher so he may have been seriously injured but we don't know.
The Formula 1 boats have an American tour and a European tour, much like the cars. They were reaching speeds of 159 miles per hour today...and they are so loud!
We also stayed to watch the Cracker Jack races. These boats are operated by two people and they are even louder.
The Cracker Jack race was going well until the orange boat couldn't manage a curve and they flipped sideways. Not head over heels like you see in movies, but just as frightening.
The Water Rescue boat was out in minutes and had the two men on the way to the hospital shortly after. One was on a stretcher so he may have been seriously injured but we don't know.
Thursday, November 28, 2019
Scenery
When we were driving from Rio Bend to Parker Arizona we came across some very different landscape near the Imperial Valley....I think the dunes were actually called Imperial Valley Sand Dunes.
Dune buggy loving people were camped out in the hundreds waiting to race their machines across the sand.
Dune buggy loving people were camped out in the hundreds waiting to race their machines across the sand.
Wednesday, November 27, 2019
Like Glass
We are camped at Buckskin Mountain State Park and the Colorado River runs right beside the campground. Yesterday morning the water was like glass and the reflections were huge.
My Favourite
Emerald Canyon Golf Course in Parker Arizona is a beautiful and difficult course to play. We played it yesterday and it ate me up! Fred, on the other hand, did extremely well....no canyon walls for him.
Eventually I just picked up a cooler with ice at the clubhouse, threw a few beer in there and just enjoyed the views! The only way to golf when having a brutal round!
Monday, November 25, 2019
Tough Job
We pulled into Rio Bend RV and Golf Resort on the 17th of November not knowing what to expect and left on November 24th already planning to return.
The park is located about 10 kms from Mexico so it definitely has a Mexican feel to it, but it still retains the look of any RV park in Arizona and California.
There are many things that appeal to us including the three minute walk to the golf course. The gym is a good size, there is a pool plus an activity centre for zumba, yoga…even line dancing should Fred so desire!
The golf course has a snack bar plus there is a full size restaurant in the clubhouse area. An outdoor pub keeps people entertained with dancing and music many nights of the week.
We really enjoyed our time there and will someday probably join Saskatchewan Row….three families from Rosetown have set it up. The one family knows Bob and Verna Nunweiler…they live at Lake Diefenbaker in the summer plus they sold their land to Bob.
The park is located about 10 kms from Mexico so it definitely has a Mexican feel to it, but it still retains the look of any RV park in Arizona and California.
There are many things that appeal to us including the three minute walk to the golf course. The gym is a good size, there is a pool plus an activity centre for zumba, yoga…even line dancing should Fred so desire!
The golf course has a snack bar plus there is a full size restaurant in the clubhouse area. An outdoor pub keeps people entertained with dancing and music many nights of the week.
We really enjoyed our time there and will someday probably join Saskatchewan Row….three families from Rosetown have set it up. The one family knows Bob and Verna Nunweiler…they live at Lake Diefenbaker in the summer plus they sold their land to Bob.
Tuesday, November 19, 2019
Settling In
We are in El Centro, California at the Rio Bend RV and Golf Resort and plan on staying a week to do some golfing and enjoy the benefits of having electricity....good TV not included as part of the park is having a TV problem and it looks like we are in that part of the park.
We golfed yesterday and found it to be a very challenging course....not very long, but well kept with lots of hills and some water.
It is a little cooler so this morning we are hibernating and trying to catch up on E Mails and paper work. We will hit the gym and then do some golfing this afternoon, if the weather smartens up.
We golfed yesterday and found it to be a very challenging course....not very long, but well kept with lots of hills and some water.
It is a little cooler so this morning we are hibernating and trying to catch up on E Mails and paper work. We will hit the gym and then do some golfing this afternoon, if the weather smartens up.
Not a Good Day
On our last day we usually get ready to travel by organizing items so the bumps and bruises they receive on the road don’t cause any real damage…no broken dishes or stuff falling out of the fridge.
We were close to being ready when I went in to change into something warmer and Fred followed me outside. He closed to door to keep the warmth in and that was the last time we were able to get into our 5th wheel for at least four hours.
Jayco trailers and 5th wheels seem to have a problem with one of the locks slipping and locking the door on its own…it happened once before in Wickenburg, Arizona and now again today.
Our camping neighbour drove Fred into 29 Palms for cell service and to contact CAA…long story short, CAA couldn’t or wouldn’t send someone out. Too busy. And, we had topped up our CAA coverage before we left to include the RV.....so that didn't work!
Fred and Tony had to hire an independent locksmith to come out to pick the lock. Should be easy, right? No such luck. Eventually he had to drill out the lock in order to open the door. We had to pay him $100 USD to pick the lock, which he couldn’t do and now we have to spend $100 USD to get a new lock.
At least we got in and didn’t have to sleep in the truck and we didn’t find any more Kangaroo Rats in the unit. It has been a strange day and the glass of wine tastes mighty fine right now.
We were close to being ready when I went in to change into something warmer and Fred followed me outside. He closed to door to keep the warmth in and that was the last time we were able to get into our 5th wheel for at least four hours.
Jayco trailers and 5th wheels seem to have a problem with one of the locks slipping and locking the door on its own…it happened once before in Wickenburg, Arizona and now again today.
Our camping neighbour drove Fred into 29 Palms for cell service and to contact CAA…long story short, CAA couldn’t or wouldn’t send someone out. Too busy. And, we had topped up our CAA coverage before we left to include the RV.....so that didn't work!
Fred and Tony had to hire an independent locksmith to come out to pick the lock. Should be easy, right? No such luck. Eventually he had to drill out the lock in order to open the door. We had to pay him $100 USD to pick the lock, which he couldn’t do and now we have to spend $100 USD to get a new lock.
At least we got in and didn’t have to sleep in the truck and we didn’t find any more Kangaroo Rats in the unit. It has been a strange day and the glass of wine tastes mighty fine right now.
Rats!
When we arrived in Jumbo Rocks we took our apple cores out of the truck and put them in the belly of the Jayco to go into the garbage later. To make a story short, we forgot and the next morning we found that something had gotten into the belly and found our apples.
We set out traps and by the evening we had caught a Kangaroo Rat by the side of the 5th wheel….just looks like a large mouse with a long tail.
Nothing else showed up so we thought we had cleaned up all the mess. Until tonight!
I went to the pantry to get some juice and could smell something that reminded me of the shed when we caught mice out there.
Fred took the cover off the water system [which is in the bottom of the pantry] and sure enough we had caught a rat in there….we don’t remember even putting the trap in there….must have been in the spring when we did our spring cleaning of the unit.
Now I won’t put my feet down on the floor because I think there may be more hanging around!
BTW, these rats look just like mice so to make ourselves feel better we will try to call them mice from now on…Kangaroo Rat is just a name!!
Another BTW....we caught two more rats in the belly of the 5th wheel before we left Jumbo Rocks...the good news is that we haven't caught any for two days!!
We set out traps and by the evening we had caught a Kangaroo Rat by the side of the 5th wheel….just looks like a large mouse with a long tail.
Nothing else showed up so we thought we had cleaned up all the mess. Until tonight!
I went to the pantry to get some juice and could smell something that reminded me of the shed when we caught mice out there.
Fred took the cover off the water system [which is in the bottom of the pantry] and sure enough we had caught a rat in there….we don’t remember even putting the trap in there….must have been in the spring when we did our spring cleaning of the unit.
Now I won’t put my feet down on the floor because I think there may be more hanging around!
BTW, these rats look just like mice so to make ourselves feel better we will try to call them mice from now on…Kangaroo Rat is just a name!!
Another BTW....we caught two more rats in the belly of the 5th wheel before we left Jumbo Rocks...the good news is that we haven't caught any for two days!!
Recap
I thought I would give a recap of the National Parks we have been in since arriving in California. Furnace Creek at Death Valley seemed very primitive when we first arrived…no water at the sites, no electricity and no showers. But, they did have large RV sites, dishwashing stations, modern bathrooms and showers were available at the Ranch Swimming Pool. We also had cell service. If need be we could hook up and go fill up with water and to dump our tanks.
There was always something to do in Death Valley…hiking, golfing, swimming at the pool, eating out [we didn’t even do that] and they also had a little bar where we could watch a sporting event if we so desired.
That place was just plain luxury compared to Jumbo Rocks Campground at Joshua Tree National Park. Here the sites are obviously made for tenters so we had to do some pretty good truck driving to fit into our site. There is absolutely no cell service, no showers anywhere, no water anywhere in the park, no electricity, just ugly, dirty pit toilets and no dump stations for units like ours.
Jumbo Rocks has so impressed us with the beauty of the place that I’m sure we would return in a heartbeat. Death Valley has a different kind of beauty with a large part of that coming from the fact that it is 200 feet below sea level and the landscape is so drastic.
There was always something to do in Death Valley…hiking, golfing, swimming at the pool, eating out [we didn’t even do that] and they also had a little bar where we could watch a sporting event if we so desired.
That place was just plain luxury compared to Jumbo Rocks Campground at Joshua Tree National Park. Here the sites are obviously made for tenters so we had to do some pretty good truck driving to fit into our site. There is absolutely no cell service, no showers anywhere, no water anywhere in the park, no electricity, just ugly, dirty pit toilets and no dump stations for units like ours.
Jumbo Rocks has so impressed us with the beauty of the place that I’m sure we would return in a heartbeat. Death Valley has a different kind of beauty with a large part of that coming from the fact that it is 200 feet below sea level and the landscape is so drastic.
E Mails
On Friday we drove to Split Rock to do one last hike before heading out on Sunday. This one was a little different in the fact that the boulders were actually split from breaking away from the main wall. There was a little more climbing on this hike too.
We had only gone about 50 metres when we realized we were already off the trail and hiking through some unknown territory. Correction made and then it happened again. Now I know why a guy I talked to yesterday said he had been lost on the Split Rock Trail for over three hours before he finally found his way back to the trail. This one isn’t marked as well as the other hikes we have been on.
From Split Rocks we drove into 29 Palms for water and to pick up our E Mails. Last week we received verbal offer on our house in San Carlos from the people who are renting it and we had told them to give us a few days while we mulled it over.
I have been slowly changing my mind about selling the house as we find it very comfortable. How long do we want to do this RVing? What if one of us gets sick..where would the survivor go? Those are the type of the questions that have been rolling through my mind.
I know Fred wants to sell but he told me today that the sale was up to me. I was pretty certain I knew what I wanted so I E Mailed and said no sale, unless they want to pay full asking price. Now what have I done!
We will probably talk to them more on Sunday, November 17th when we get to Rio Bend RV and Golf Resort. Finally we will have water, electricity, internet and TV!!! I am getting excited as we haven’t had anything like that since we left home on October 19th, with the exception of the KOA in Las Vegas while we visited Diane.
We had only gone about 50 metres when we realized we were already off the trail and hiking through some unknown territory. Correction made and then it happened again. Now I know why a guy I talked to yesterday said he had been lost on the Split Rock Trail for over three hours before he finally found his way back to the trail. This one isn’t marked as well as the other hikes we have been on.
From Split Rocks we drove into 29 Palms for water and to pick up our E Mails. Last week we received verbal offer on our house in San Carlos from the people who are renting it and we had told them to give us a few days while we mulled it over.
I have been slowly changing my mind about selling the house as we find it very comfortable. How long do we want to do this RVing? What if one of us gets sick..where would the survivor go? Those are the type of the questions that have been rolling through my mind.
I know Fred wants to sell but he told me today that the sale was up to me. I was pretty certain I knew what I wanted so I E Mailed and said no sale, unless they want to pay full asking price. Now what have I done!
We will probably talk to them more on Sunday, November 17th when we get to Rio Bend RV and Golf Resort. Finally we will have water, electricity, internet and TV!!! I am getting excited as we haven’t had anything like that since we left home on October 19th, with the exception of the KOA in Las Vegas while we visited Diane.
Lots of Rest
We have no internet or TV so we have been doing an enormous amount of reading…even Fred!
We try to fill our mornings with hikes before the weather gets too hot.
There is a Trailhead right in our campground so we followed that to find the Skull Rock we have been reading about. It is hard to get a good picture of the actual rock but we think we did okay by moving farther away and climbing higher.
We try to fill our mornings with hikes before the weather gets too hot.
There is a Trailhead right in our campground so we followed that to find the Skull Rock we have been reading about. It is hard to get a good picture of the actual rock but we think we did okay by moving farther away and climbing higher.
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