Day 26–Quartzsite, Arizona Day 3

Another cold night in the desert. I called several  different CG’s in the Lake Havasu area but could get nothing for tonight. I was able to get a three day stay at Cattail Cove State Park 15 mile south of Lake Havasu City . So we will be here for another night. UGGH! Ron and I are ready to leave but will make the best of it.

We went back to the show and Ron made an appointment to get our Blue Ox tow bar rebuilt. Blue Ox has a booth at the show and charged only $30.00 for the rebuild.

Oh, did I mention that Ron buried the Jeep in the sand??????

   

We wandered around and I bought some jewelry that I didn’t need.

Then it was back to the desert for the rest of the day.

Ron is so anxious to get out of here that he packed up his lap top and put it away. A first for him, but then again, the service is painfully slow and intermittent.

Tomorrow it is off to Cattail  Cove State Park, Yeah!!!

Day 28–Cattail Cove State Park, Lake Havasu City, Arizona, London Bridge

Today we woke to overcast skies and cool temps. The CG host told me that there was a huge weather front coming in from California with predicted rain for today. and tomorrow. Ron was reading that this part of Arizona gets a total of 36 days of rain a year  resulting in less then 8 inches total per year. So, here we are, going to experience one of those 36 days – go figure.

We drove into Lake Havasu City to check out the London Bridge. The bridge was bought by McCulloch (the chainsaw guy)  in 1968 for 2.5 million dollars and another seven million to ship from London and reconstruct it  here in Lake Havasu.

 

                                                                

 

 

 

The CG host told Ron about a great Mexican restaurant overlooking the bridge so we stopped for lunch eating outside on the deck.

 

Our waiter was very friendly and told us that the high season here is from the end  of February to September. He said that there are so many people  you can’t see the lake for the number of boats on it.  Right now it is quiet with very little traffic – just how we like it. After lunch we walked across the bridge and down to the marina and shops to look around.

Just Love Those Stairs!!!

    

   

 

Boat tours were offered but only at two specific times and we missed both of them. We thought we might might be interested in the lighthouse tour but that is offered on Wednesday and we will be off to  our next destination.  The Copper Canyon  tour sounds interesting  so  maybe tomorrow if it’s not raining.

 

We did encounter brief episodes of sprinkles and although the temp is 64 degrees it is damp and cold – so much for being in desert country.!

I did a little shopping and so did Ron. He was going through racks of shirts and was showing me what he had found. Who is this man????? Shopping has never been his thing but the last few days he has turned over a new leaf. I now have a shopping buddy! LOL

Then it was  back up those stairs to street level.  Sure gave my knee a good work-out today!

 

 

We  drove  around and checked out the area. We spotted a lighthouse in the distance and decided to  investigate.  As it turned out  there were several  replica lighthouses along the shores of Lake Havasu. We did our own land tour and stopped at each one. Happy to say we didn’t spend $40.00 to  do the lake tour to see 12 foot lighthouses! LOL  We had visited three of the lighthouses represented in our journey across the country. Not replicas – the real thing!

            

                                   

 

One of our goals today was to link into internet access. I fired up the Hot Spot and was on line in a heartbeat. It took 40 minutes to download the first of five days of blogs then we lucked out  and linked  into 4G! YEAH. While we rode around visiting  the lighthouse replicas I kept downloading the blogs. Just as we were ready to leave the city and go back into the mountains the last blog posted. I spent so much time posting blogs that we didn’t get a chance to check our e-mails or any news from home.

The sky was darkening and the rain started coming down pretty steady but since our car was filthy from the desert sand  we stopped at a car wash to  get the desert dirt cleaned off. Sounds crazy but the rain just made the dirt mud so a car wash was desperately needed.

Not long after Jewel got her walk it started to pour and didn’t stop for the rest of the evening. Ron and I are trying to plan the next leg of our journey but without internet access we are at a disadvantage. Never thought we would be so dependent on technology, but we are.

 

Day 27–Cattail Cove State Park, Lake Havasu City, Arizona

It is a beautiful sunny day today and the 62 miles to the CG an easy drive. We arrived at the CG around 11:30 am mountain time but our phone registered  10:30 am. The CG is directly across the Colorado River from California so the signal is coming from the Pacific Time Zone. We were made aware by the Ranger and to be sure to use Mountain time here.

It is a very pretty area and the park beautiful sitting on the banks of the Colorado River.

Once settled in we had a quick lunch and walked down to the river/beach area.

               

                                           

 

 

We are in a valley surrounded by mountains so learned quickly that we have no internet access or TV reception. We do have two to zero bars on our cell phone so are  basically off the grid – for now.

 

After dinner we took Jewel for her fifth walk of the day up the hill  overlooking the river.  We had o walk up a stairway that someone 6 foot 10 must have built! LOL The rises were about one foot high and my short legs getting up each step was a struggle.

 

 

It is very quiet and serene here. With the mountains surrounding us there is no traffic noise or ambient light to block out the night skies. Just beautiful!

 

 

Tomorrow we plan on going into Lake Havasu City and check out the London Bridge and see if we can get a signal so we can post our blog and answer e-mails.

Day 25 – Quartzsite, Arizona

It was quite cold during the night (41 degrees)  but we were nice and cozy with our furnace running.

 

We were up and out the door by 9:30 am to take in the RV show. It is the biggest event in the US with more then 1000 vendors.

One of the vendors was Amazon looking for help! NOT!

 

We spent the entire day there and managed to buy a few items we didn’t need.

Surprisingly Ron was enjoying himself despite the large crowds.

Interesting sign on the back of the waste water tank. LOL

 

There was a gem fair adjacent to the RV show so we walked around there and bought some T-shirts. After walking around for 51/2 hours we headed back to the MH. It was another beautiful afternoon so we sat out and enjoyed the sun in the desert.

It is not pretty here (except for the mountains) no grass, trees are even bushes. Very barren and unattractive. We both decided wintering in Quartzsite is not for us.

Not sure if we will stay another day. Will be calling CG’s in the Lake Havasu area tomorrow.We do have cell service but very poor internet access. We think the towers are overloaded so unable to post any blogs or check e-mails.

 

 

Day 24–Drive to Quartzsite, Arizona

The drive to Quartzsite was uneventful. However once there we encountered some issues we weren’t expecting.

 

There is no good signage  pointing you where to go so after some hits and misses Ron decided to drive into the first wide spot that looked like a roadway into the desert.

HMMM – Not so much. He took a left and the road was not a road at  all. So here we are in a no turn around area on soft sand with the car in tow. Not looking so good. We disconnected the car and Ron backed the MH onto a harder surface to turn around. I didn’t do as well and buried the car in some soft sand.

I couldn’t get out but Ron was able to use hi superb driving  skills, once he put the car in four wheel drive,  to get the Jeep back on solid road.

Back on the highway we stopped at a long-term parking area to find out where we could settle in for a couple of days. Ron, looking for free parking –off course. We were directed about three miles from our current location. Despite all the research we had done we did not read about how well the place is monitored. There are ranger stations everywhere and one must register to park in the desert.

There is a charge of  $180.00 for long term parking form 14 days to 6 months that includes the use of sewer and water in the area. Short term 14 days or under $40.00 with water and sewer access in the area. We planned on staying for no more then three days so opted for the up to 14 day stay for free – no sewer and water access. Our water tank was full and holding tanks empty so we were good to go.

 

We got to the free camping area and were lucky enough to get a spot that was not crowded in  by the other 500 other campers. Actually the free area was less crowded then some of the other areas we drove by. 

 

 

It was warm  and sunny so we sat out and enjoyed the good weather. Later we took a ride around the area to check out the other campers. Back, further from the road it was more crowded then up front where we chose to park.

We ran into a lot of campers that were traveling together  and formed pods to block themselves off from the rest of the world. All there activity happens in the middle of the pod just like in the wagon train days.

There were signs directing people to their pods that included painted yellow cowboy boots to lead the way to the pods.

The bigger pods with 15 or more campers were located in the long term desert parking areas. Many large groups come together like the Newmar owners club or the Winnebago owners club. We have never seen so many campers in one place – ever!

 

Ron wanted to get a picture of the sunset over the mountains so we headed further out into the desert.

He found a lone cactus and thought it would be a good backdrop for the sunset but instead managed to capture what looks like Mickey Mouse waving! LOL

 

Once the sun went down it got  really cold very quickly so we we went back to the MH to settle in for the night. We really don’t like being without electricity but we opted to try  Quartzsite boon docking -  so there we go.

Friday, we planned to go to the RV show 2 miles from us. It is suppose to be another beautiful day in Quartzsite land!!!!

Day 23 - Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, Ayo, Arizona

After some debate and discussion we decided to take the 81 mile drive to Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument. It was a beautiful day and a quick ride with the speed limit between 70 & 75 mph.

 

We had to pass through two border patrol stops on the way into the Monument. The  border of Mexico is only  seven miles  away so they are on patrol all the time.

Along the way we saw many shires set up for those people who died in auto accidents. Out here there is no restrictions of what families can place at the scene. The shrines range from small to very large with multiple decorations.

 

Ron and I are always very curious as to how so many people die on such a straight ,  flat road.

We also spotted a plane in the middle of the desert! This area is home to an Air Force gunnery range training ground.

 

                              

Driving through the town of Ajo we spotted multiple businesses selling Mexico Trip Insurance. Some places had drive through windows to purchase your insurance.

   

We arrived at the national park around Noon and watched the video presentation explaining the monument.

 

The monument was closed from 2003 until 2014 due to  safety issues.  See link below – very interesting reading.

After 11 years, Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument ...

www.hcn.org/.../after-12-years-organ-pipe-national-..

We opted to take the 21 mile Ajo Mountain Drive Loop. 

 

Along the loop we stopped to view different  varieties of native  cacti.

 

 

Organ Pipe Cactus is human friendly with the fruit of the cactus made into sweet jams. This organ pipe has an abnormal growth on an arm growing out of the center of the cactus. It is called a “crest” and can occur in almost any plant species. No one is really sure why this occurs but it is very pretty.

                                                   

    

 

 

Further along the trail we encounter the Teddy Bear Cholla cactus.  They get their name because they look fuzzy and cute. However,  looking carefully they have millions  tiny hooked spines genetically designed to attach to anything that gets close!

  

                                        

 

After finishing  our  21 mile Ajo Mountain Loop we headed down another dirt road looking for another point of interest. The Mexican border is to our left marked with a fence made of railroad tracks that traverse over the top of a mountain.

  

We almost drove into Sonora, Mexico by mistake stopping at the border. We didn’t have our passports with us so that would not have worked out so well.   

It was a great road trip but then back to the CG. We opted to check out the local neighborhood for a restaurant and chose an Italian place to eat. Before going to dinner we stopped at the MH and took Jewel for her much needed walk.

I know we are in the heart of Arizona with Mexican restaurants everywhere but decided on Italian. The food was excellent and we had plenty of leftovers for the next night.

Tomorrow it is on to Quartzsite. Not sure what we will encounter but have to try the desert boon docking at least once in our travels.