Solo travel again, Brother Bob has headed home to Oregon, I am stopping in Phoenix, AZ to see Earl and Denise also friends at the lodge before continuing to Lake Havasu City, AZ to catch up to the WIN's. A few people were still at he Lodge that I met last month and catching up was easy for they are all travelers too.
Hiking in Saras Crack
Dinner is T-bone over the open fire! Andy did a really good job with this.
The timeframe was important, companies that manufacture pyrotechnics or fireworks, demonstrate to potential buyers their newest products over a long weekend. Visitors can go and watch for $10.00 parking.
I am only a small fan of fireworks so I stayed in camp and only the highest fireworks were visible. Still was cool, hear them for long into the night.
Next stop is Laughlin, NV only a few members continued on but we still had a good time. I caught up with Rod here and we both went on a kayak on the Colorado River. Rod had lived here for a few years and has "floated" this section many times. It sure was fun catching up with him.
We had a really nice bike ride and I gotr to use my new E-bike! It performed well and I like it! See, I had a bike that fit me very well (I'm short) so I ordered a retrofit kit and converted my existing bike into a E-bike. This was the longest trip with it (12 miles) and it performed very well, kept up with the others on their expensive E-bikes.
A day trip to Oatman, AZ where the burros roam the street, gunfights in the street and all the buildings are gift shops. Fun!
The only restaurant has money posted on every surface. Andy, Beth, Kat
Rod and me
Time for a few more VA appointments, so I go to Las Vegas and stay at the Air Force Base campground. This is a very nice campground, clean, nice sites and bathhouses.
So I had noticed that during conversations, I am more and more asking people to repeat themselves and had scheduled a hearing test. Not overly surprising I learn that at 4K range I am now "significantly impaired". Although all other appointments are completed I am hanging around waiting for the arrival of hearing aids.
Day trip to Valley of Fire less than an hour away. Beautiful scenery, easy hiking WOW! Take a look.
I liked the hiking here, as long as the wind is not blowing.
The sandstone rocks with white, pink, red colors in fantastic shapes. Not very much elevation to hike in.
After receiving the hearing aids and taught how to use them I am ready to go. I have been in Las Vegas for 3 weeks and time for some new scenery.
Watching the weather I decide to wait a week or two before starting Route 66. There are a few others that may travel with me and they are in a dispersed camping location near Laughlin, NV, so I go there to wait out the winter storm.
I like this camp area, along the Colorado River, a sheltered bay with Mallard ducks, coots all day , very few motor boats and nice for kayaking. Although the waters still a bit chilly, days are warming fast.
Jody, Bob, Misty, Donna are here also and we have done a few hikes, kayak, dinner at a casino featuring prime rib! Yum. Im enjoying the stay here, keeping busy.
Bob and friends
Left to right - Donna, Jody, Bob, Misty, me
Misty took a photograph and doctored it to add WIN's. I love it. Going to use this on Facebook while traveling Route 66.
A month ago the WIN's club was purchased by a long time member and changes are inevitable. I myself along with Jody have volunteered to do Circuit Planning. This involves designing RV trips just like I did for Alaska. We didn't realize what we were in for, so very much time is involved to do this we have approached burnout and needed some off time.
Fortunately, we are getting to hike, kayak with the others here in Laughlin. Boy I really needed a break from the computer.
Potluck dinner for Saint Patrick's Day was great, the wind was up so we all sat in Jody's house to have a meal, chat and relax. Good times!
OMG, wind was so strong the other night, the RV was rocking quite allot, wheeew I didn't get an awful lot of sleep. I had briefly though to check on my kayaks but rolled over going back to sleep.
In the morning, I look outside and the chair I had left out within 2 feet of the RV was still there. The kayaks that were pulled up on shore were not there! I look up and down the beach and see that others had left stand up paddle boards, kayaks out and they were all still there. SO confusing that my much heavier kayaks got blown away when much lighter objects were undisturbed. I had also cable locked both kayaks together!
As the sun rose higher and using binoculars I could begin to see the shoreline on opposite shores. Eventually I did see both my kayaks on a rocky shore about 3/4 mile away.
Borrowing a kayak from Bob, I paddle out. Both were full of water, still cable locked together, up on top of rocks. 1 compartment that had never had water in it before did have water inside.
Pumping water out, unlocking the cable, flip the kayaks over and find NO damage! Connecting a chain I tow them back to my campsite.
Later that day I held paddling classes and had a good time. Jody had learned so well, I thought to ask her to help teach. Wow, her retention is excellent! I backed off and let her have at it. Later she told me that by repeating it to others helped solidify it for herself.
Jody did the safety paddler for both students. So cool.
Misty shared that she was ready to go to another place that's near Valley of fire, all 5 of us opted to go along. This spot overlooking Lake Mead and is inside the National Park, so much quieter than previous site. Really nice.
Campfire tonight and Misty used the app that shows the planets, look closely and that's me looking through binoculars at Saturn. Hahaha
The group, Bob Schools, Misty, Jody, Donna, Sarah went hiking in Valley of Fire and completed the longer loop hike that included a lot canyon, so much color on all of the rock's.
This is a water spring that puts out 400 gallons per minute. Here in the desert!
I "read the drawings out loud" bottom right hand flows to hunting, there's a conflict with other humans, build ladder up to dwelling, now on the left going down the water flows to the trees and fruits.
Another day we toured a cool museum, it had a cactus garden that I enjoyed very much.
My most favorite part is seeing workers doing the annual maintenance on a adobe dwelling. About 1/4 of this house is underground.
A town that was under water in Lake Mead, that through the drought is now above water
Times were much more difficult then.
I really liked this refrigerator. Sometimes these simple things are forgotten and not shared. This is the very first example I have seen.
