We head out to Havasu National Wildlife Refuge to see who
might still be hanging around. Most of
the migratory flocks have moved on and sightings of any kind are few. We spot two roadrunners; one is carrying his
lunch-lizard. Grackles and cowbirds
entertain with their antics and racket.
Several large V’s of pelicans circle overhead in search of their next
spot to alight. We spot a few coots and
a couple great blue heron drift in on their enormous arched wings. We picnic and find a Dairy Queen on historic
Route 66 for a treat while we are out and about, then head on home for the
afternoon.
It is windy and rough out on Lake Havasu. Today is not the day to go exploring so we
hide out behind the island and watch the parade of boats making the loop
through the island channel. Might as
well wet a line while we float….the result; two nice large-mouth bass. Kent wins the prize at 4 ½ pounds but mine is
a respectable 2 ½ pounder and fun to catch.
We call it a day after a few hours so we don’t get sunburned the very
first day out here.
We are camped out on a mesa just north of town where the
breeze is keeping things fairly comfortable even though we are hitting the high
80s.
We have a couple more days left on our second two week pass
but highs in the mid 90s are a bit much.
Plus, we have been to Silly Al’s for pizza so we can declare this year’s
stay official and complete. It is time
to start north; just as far as Lake Havasu City for now.
Quartzsite deserves a bit of a summary. People are friendly, sunsets and sunrises are
often beautiful, the wind can and does
really blow, beautiful creative rock art is scattered among sites, there is a great 3 mile walking trail, the
Magic Circle, around the clothing optional section, and there are a few birds
to watch and listen to along the washes (ash throated flycatchers, black
throated sparrows, white crowned sparrows, doves, and occasional vultures and
ravens). I was thrilled that a
hummingbird finally found my water bowl but seems he never told any of his
friends. No others visited the bowl even
though we saw them daily as they checked out our orange window sticker…almost
the same color as a hummingbird favorite, ocotillo blooms!
We are still hanging out at Quartzsite where we can dive
into home projects in earnest. For today
it is touch up paint on the trailer and the motorhome steps plus brakes all
around on the trailer—a tri-axle!
We are off to Phoenix for Carol’s 4PM flight but we have one
more mission before she heads back to PA.
We are checking out Class B motorhomes at LaMesa. They have a bunch of them. We traipse in and out of probably a dozen.
Carol learns lots more about what she wants and what is out there but none are
“just right”. We send her on her way
with more looking in her future.
The drive takes us past Mittry lake. The huge agriculture area surrounding it
confirms they have about wrapped up truck farming/vegetable farming for the
season and moved on to wheat and alfalfa.
We see only a few pickers in the last broccoli fields.
Our destination; the Center of the World in Felicity CA. We just had to take Carol to see it! We wandered and read a few more of the granite tablets and even met Felica, the town namesake. Carol rang the Liberty Bell replica, yikes that was loud!
It is lunch time and we find Las Herraduras Mexican
restaurant in downtown Yuma. Cheese
crisp with green chilis, burritos, chimichanga…everything is delicious.
We are off to see the Bouse Fisherman a geoglyph in the open
desert just north of Quartzsite created by American Indians somewhere between
450 and 1000 years ago. Check it
out. Then we go for the more modern run
of the mill exploring, a quick walk through the stalls still open at Tyson
Wells market. We mostly stroll and look
but do find a couple things including some pretty good small batch sodas: Rat
Bastard Root beer – actually very good, Fanta grape, and key lime soda. We head back home for some great burgers and
a quiet evening. It is a great night for
star gazing, beautiful!
Kent and I try to get to this unique desert bar outside of
Parker AZ anytime we are in the area and it is a weekend and it is between Oct
and April (they are definitely seasonal and 100% weekend only).
We head that way today with Carol along for the ride. The place is at the end of 5 miles of rutted,
rocky jeep road that is maintained just barely passable for sedans. Dozens of pickups, SUVs and sand buggies overtake
us but Kent does a fine job getting us out there. The upside of moving slowly is that we get to
check out lots of wildflowers and cactus that are in bloom; plus, we got a
great look at a snake that glided across the road in front of us.
The place is jumping when we get there. Parking is jammed full but Kent gets atypically
lucky when a spot opens up not far from the main “entrance”. The music reaches our ears as we get out of the
car and head for the entry bridge. There
is lots more seating since we were last here and they have formed a partnership
with a Lake Havasu City restaurant, Niko’s Bar and Grill. The food is fantastic: pulled pork, pastrami
and garlic fries. Yum! Thank you, Kent
for the 45 minutes of your life that you spent in line waiting for it! The bar is growing in size and popularity but
is still a unique, fun place. We soak in
the atmosphere, food and drink for a great afternoon. No visit would be
complete with out pics in the horseshoe rocking chair under the horseshoe
cactus and a shot of the old-time church.
Bye ‘til next time!
We took a side trip to the California side of the Colorado
River on a search for the feral burros that wander the BLM land. We found them, at least two of them and they
are as cute as ever. This riverbank has
certainly changed a lot as homes of all types have popped up along much more of
the bank. It looks like the BLM has
partnered with lots of different folks and allowed huge development. It is sad to see so much more of the river side
built up….guess I would feel differently if I were one of those who wanted to live
here!
We are still chasing the annoying stink bugs that invaded the
motorhome last winter while it was in storage; so today we unpack every outside
storage compartment in search of their hideout.
No luck. We vacuum out about 5 years
of dust though so it isn’t a complete waste.
Kent airs up tires and services batteries and a few other odds and ends
then we take the rest of the day off.
It is a beautiful afternoon to just hang out in camp. I face off against Carol in ladder-ball. In what is only her second game ever, she
beats me. I didn’t fare any better when
I challenged Kent.
Carol goes hiking! We
head out to Palm Canyon to check out a palm grove perched in a narrow side canyon. The hike is about ½ mile each way with 300 ft
elevation gain and a fair amount of loose rock underfoot. It is worth the walk with beautiful
wildflowers and grand views. Check it
out.
