Lazy morning. After breakfast we hopped on the bicycles and headed out. A quick loop through the park covered it. Everything’s full – the group site is filled with Lazy Days RV’s – it’s a whole gathering full of the Class C’s. Fun to see a field full of them. Then we headed out on the road, first to the north. They’re doing construction of some sort so after a few miles it’s closed down. We u-turned and headed south. Did a few sprints along the way and really felt it. Cool morning air, sprinting, and out of practice – our lungs were burning!

We passed by the park and continued on South. Stopping for a breather next to the river, we really enjoyed the view. The Colorado River is so clear! We can see all the way down to the bottom. There was a flock of ducks scattered out over a few hundred yards. We watched as they dove down – you can see them all the way down to the bottom – and then again as they floated back up to the top. It was loads of fun, as well as a beautiful sight.

The Colorado River

Back on the bike, we continued down the road to the major intersection and then back to the RV.

Yesterday I must have snagged the trailer jack on a curb somewhere (I think when we u-turned in the hardware store parking lot) and nearly ripped it off – completely removed the crossbar on one side and half-way on the other. I was going to pull it off completely but couldn’t, so I drilled holes through both pieces and bolted them together. It’s not the prettiest fix, and definitely not the best option, but without a welder of some sort it’ll have to do. And seeing as how little we use the jack (basically never) it’s no real loss.

ugly fix!

General chores throughout the day – cleaning and such. Cut my hair. Ashley cooked a white chicken chili with the beans we soaked last night. Delicious over some quinoa!

We discussed Ashley’s goal of bicycle riding as if for the RAGBRAI. We altered it for the year, settling on a goal of riding 3,750 miles throughout the year. This will keep us in good riding shape but will give us flexibility in our schedule to adjust bicycle riding around backpacking/hiking, driving, and generally exploring throughout 2016. We (especially I) do a better job of getting out to ride when we have a goal we’re working toward. So this will help keep us motivated throughout the year.

Called Mom and Gary. Great to talk with them – fun when they can picture where we’re at. Even if they are home-sick for being here, too. Would be awfully nice to caravan around for a bit!

After breakfast we headed into town to check out the offerings in the tents. Lots of gems and rocks, the usual tools with RV accessories added in. We managed to escape without spending any money. Unfortunately, the big RV show was still being set up so we didn’t get to see everything – though we did walk through some of the other RV setups.

While the class-A’s are nice, and the big 5th wheels, they just aren’t appealing to us. It’s funny, hearing the salesman going through his schpeal, because none of the things he mentioned applied to us. We would want to go smaller, if we were going to get something new, we don’t have kids, don’t want slides, aren’t hauling around golf clubs, etc, etc. Just save your effort and let us wander around to look on our own. There were no class B’s or Airstreams. We’re curious about looking at the RoadTreks and the Airstreams, so eventually we’ll stop at a dealership to check them out just out of curiosity. But I guess not here at the show.

Back at home we fix lunch and then pack up to mosey along. Too many people around and we’ve stayed longer than anticipated already. Plus, we need a water refill.

While loading the motorcycle our neighbor, Les, comes over and introduces himself. Wanted to let us know that we’re right next to a group so more people will be arriving. WIN – Wandering Individuals Network – a group of singles who gather throughout the country. He said that he lives in his RV for about 8 months of the year and spends the rest of it bicycle riding across the country. Sounds like someone we’d really enjoy chatting with, but not while we’re in the middle of loading up and heading out.

On up the road to Parker, we stop at WalMart to resupply. The place is wiped out and still very busy – all of the RVers are more than they are prepared for – but we manage to get almost everything off our list. Continuing on a bit we stop at the La Paz County Park. It’s got hook-ups so we can refill our water and enjoy a bit of electricity without running the generator. The hot-air balloons aren’t for another couple of days so we pay for two nights. There’s something to be said for staying more than a night – hooking up in the evening and then unhooking the next morning is a bit stressful. (The water doesn’t taste so great, though, so we’ll be paying to fill up some drinking water, methinks.)

Settled in, we grill supper.

After breakfast we geared up and headed north to Lake Havasu City. It was a pretty ride, much hillier and a bit curvier than any of the other rides we’ve been on in the last few days.

A real London Bridge is there, stretched between the main land and an island in the lake. It was purchased from London after modern day traffic was taking a toll on it and they had to rebuild their bridge. I can’t imagine how much time and work it would take to move a bridge across an ocean – they numbered each stone, dismantled it, and moved it in pieces. I’m also not sure how one dismantles a mortared-together block of stones without damaging all of them!

We pulled into the visitor center parking lot and walked underneath the bridge then climbed up the stairs to the “street level” and walked across it and back. Very cool! I was surprised, and disappointed, that there wasn’t a geocache in the area.

Still cold, even after our stroll and picnic lunch, we head out to find a local coffee shop. It doesn’t take long, and we settle in to use their wifi while holding our mugs close. We both look up the Balloon Festival that will be taking place in just a couple of days. Since we can’t make it to the big festival in Albuquerquie we’ll head up here, instead. It’s getting too crowded near Quartzsite, anyway, and we’re ready to head out.

Heading back home, we cross over the Parker Dam (that creates Lake Havasu) and travel south on the California side of the river. The dam is pretty attractive, though we don’t stop for any pictures. It’s a short half-circle to get across it (with guards on both sides!) and soon we’re winding down the road next to the river. Burros, and signs warning of burros on the road, are everywhere! We see a few dozen along the way.

Before I realize it we’re back in recognizable area. Before crossing the river into Arizona we continue on and find the Big River RV Park where Mom and Gary stayed last year. We need to be heading on home so we don’t stay long.

On back to the RV we head. Too late to visit the RV show and market in Quartzsite tonight, so we go home and fix supper and retire for the evening.

Fun day, plans made for tomorrow, and generally enjoyable!

I got up with a headache and couldn’t seem to wake up today. So we spent the morning lazing around, reading after breakfast. I took a nap while Ashley finished her book.

Seemed like a good day to stay home, so we did. Tomorrow we can go into town to explore the stalls and market. There are at least two solar vendors, so we should be able to learn more about solar setups for RVs and maybe even pick up some of the necessary equipment that we need.

There’s also been some discussion about riding down to Yuma and on to Mexico. We could both stand to update our prescriptions and are over-due for dental cleanings and it’s cheaper on the other side of the border. Maybe we’ll go and see if it’s the worth the savings to get it done there.

Until then, though… today we made some hot chocolate, spiced shortbread and even some pizza from scratch. Found a quick pizza dough from scratch that only took a few minutes to assemble and rise – boy was it delicious! With the left-overs from the Christmas cookies we’ve got baking goods again. We both were craving some junk food and making it ourselves not only scratched that itch while being… maybe not healthy, but both better tasting and better for us than store-bought varieties.

Mmm… pizza in the works!

Found some other pizza recipes for future attempts – an over-night dough and some good topping options.

More people have moved into the area, but we are still fairly separated.

Beautiful sunset!

Woke up early in the WalMart parking lot. Found a laundry-mat on the GPS with some good-looking coffee/breakfast places next-door so that we could enjoy a treat while taking care of chores. Alas, there was no parking for a vehicle our size. On to the next best option – where there is also no parking. Another try… and it’s a dry-cleaing service, not a laundry-mat. Finally we head a few miles down the road, back past where we started, and found a confirmed coin laundry. Ashley bleached a few of her undershirts and our quilt took forever to dry, but ultimately everything was ok in the end and the mountain of dirties is gone.

We decide to give a breakfast place a try and really luck out. Parking is about half a block away in the Walgreens parking lot but we lucked into some seats at the bar a few moments after arriving (the couple right before us had a 20 minute wait). Everything was absolutely delicious. And since it was raining we decided to delay our run back to the RV with a cronut – a donut-shaped croissant topped with a delicious cream cheese frosting, blueberries and almonds.

After finally finishing I went and picked up the RV, fortunately the rain had slowed down a bit, and swung by to pick up Ashley. A quick detour through the bank and Trader Joe’s and we’re on our way, back to Phoenix on our way west.

A lot of circling through city streets today, frustration with the laundry process (and bleach in the wrong washer), and plans generally not going as smoothly as we’d hoped. Not a great day, but definitely not a bad one, either. We drove through some pretty solid rain without any issues, had some delicious food, and came up with a general game plan for the rest of 2016’s journey. We have an idea how to hit the rest of the states and parks in the west either in 2016 or over the winter of 2017 before heading east to wrap up next year. Whew… lots of travel and driving and exploring! If only the weather would cooperate or we could more easily play in the snow – this trip would be a cinch! But where’s the adventure in that?

After breakfast we packed up and headed to the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum and parked for the day. Left the RV in the lot and headed across the street for the King Canyon trail up to Wasson peak. A bit of a climb, we’re definitely out of practice, but the scenery was beautiful and much better than we expected. Based on what we’d seen around Phoenix and what we’d heard from others, there was no way we expected to enjoy the view – but we really appreciated it. Greener than we anticipated, and interesting with the combination of mountains interspersed between flat lands.

Hiking among the Saguaro

Windy up on the peak, though, and thus chilly. We snacked and then headed back down, ignoring the mine shafts that we’d peaked into on the way up.

Back at the RV we ate a cold lunch (no generators in the museum parking lot) and debated on heading into the museum or not. It received rave reviews from Jo (our boss’s wife at the tree lot) and so we decided to give it a go. On in we went, and are we glad that we did!

The desert museum covers the desert, from gardens to animals, caves and mines to birds and bees. It was a combination zoo, aquarium, garden, aviary, and science center. We had to rush through due to pending closing time, but were able to see just about everything, though we didn’t get to work our way through the maze nor were we able to read all of the plaques. The mountain lion sat, inches away from us, for a few moments. We spelunked our way through the cave. In short, we had a fabulous time – if only we’d had more time to enjoy it. But this means that it’s worth coming back to and now we have soemthing more to look forward to on a return visit.

It really is laid out extremely well. Rarely are you in sight of other exhibits so it feels like you’re out in the desert, exploring. That’s a lot of fun. And there were quite a few activities for kids to do – it would be a great place to come with family.

Back in the RV, we head to the nearest Walmart for an easy over night stop. We don’t see a laundry mat on the way so tomorrow we’ll do that never-ending chore while hiding from the forecasted rain. Looks like weather is going to be pushing us west. Or at least not really letting us go east to explore New Mexico, as was our plan.