A Good Time at Lake Havasu

One of the most exciting things that happened to us since leaving Quartzsite happened the morning we were leaving Cattail Cove State Park. First, though, let me say that Cattail Cove, which is located on Lake Havasu about 15 miles south of Lake Havasu City, was singularly the nicest state park to which I've been thus far. The sites were spacious and staggered in such a way that you didn't feel you were walking into your neighbor's space just by stepping out your door. They had electric and water, but no sewer hook-ups; however, they do have a dump station conveniently situated as you enter or exit the grounds. The restrooms were very clean, the showers generously sized and with plenty of hot water. Cattail Cove also has wonderful walking trails that overlook the lake and a boat launch, which is a must-have for any campground along the lake.

The second night we were in Quartzsite, Rob and I went to a mexican restaurant. When I slipped into the booth I noticed a newspaper on the seat, which turned out to be the local classifieds. I thought it would be good to bring it back to the Beast with us to use as fire starter for our charcoal chimney. That evening I decided to take a look at what people around Quartzsite were trying to sell and I found an ad for the 3rd Annual Havasu Balloon Festival, which was due to begin the day after we intended to leave Cattail Cove and Lake Havasu. The festival coordinators set up RV parking/camping on a lot at an adjacent marina that is normally used for summer boaters to park their boat trailers. We chose to cut short our stay at the next destination, Lake Mead, by a few days and reserved a space at the festival. We are so glad we did, too!

The morning we left Cattail Cove, I found I had an email from folks who posted a comment on one of my blogs the night before. It explained that they had been at Cattail and, as they were leaving, took a photo of my blog address, which is on the side of the Beast. They said they were going on to the balloon festival. I responded and let them know that we, too, were leaving just that morning to go to the festival. I suggested that they make contact since they knew how to identify our motorhome. That night at about 9:00pm, there was a knock on our door. Rob answered, was handed a note and the fellow said they were parked right behind us just across the 'roadway'. We went and knocked on their door the next morning, met Judith and David. We intended to stay just a few minutes but it turned into a couple of hours. In that time we found we have some preternatural things in common. To our delight, they agreed to join us that evening for a campfire. We thoroughly enjoyed their company, their sense of humor and outlook on life, and we look forward to seeing them again in the future.

Also there were our friends from the sand dunes. Mark and Jeannine live in Lake Havasu City and drove their motorhome down to the festival, parked next to us and we shared as much time as we could with them. They are raising their granddaughter, who is 14 months old, and as any parent knows, the kid's schedule tends to rule. With them was a friend, Eric, who came down from Washington to look for a house to buy. Eric makes his living as an Alaskan fisherman. It was interesting to hear him talk about that kind of life. And around the campfire, we learned that both Mark and David also had something in common: They both hailed from Washington and both had worked for Boeing—at the same time! But, David spent 34 years with Boeing, and Mark about 15, if I remember correctly. We all experienced a few woo-woo moments over those few days.

The festival was set up at the golf course, so there was an abundance of space for the multitude of food vendors as well as the typical clothes, jewelry, art and souvenir vendors. In the center was the balloon field, of which the vendors and other activities surrounded. They had shows where you could watch dogs display their prowess at frisbee catching, a radio-controlled aircraft area, a carnival area with a ferris wheel and an assortment of other rides, as well as boat and travel trailer brokers and a few old cars to view. 

Of course, the most fun was seeing all the grand and colorful balloons. We suffered with some wind during the festival, so the balloons flew mostly in the early morning. Most flew over the RV area and over the channel that flows under the London Bridge and they often landed wherever they could. One morning, Rob helped one land right in our roadway in the RV area. How fun is that? In the evening with weather permitting, they had what they called 'Night Glow,' where the balloonists filled their balloons so they were illuminated against the night sky. It was quite a sight.

In our travels, Rob and I want to note the cities or towns that interest us as possible places to settle once we are finished with RVing. Lake Havasu City has made it on the list so far.

A view of the beach and boat ramp at Cattail Cove State Park.

Our motorhome is center right with the silver CR-V parked in front.

Feeding the locals at Cattail Cove.

A view of Lake Havasu from the hiking trail. That's California over on the other side.

Rob pretending to be Edith Ann in Mark's oversized camp chair.

Here come the balloons.

A look inside.

Deflating the balloon.

Rob after helping land the balloon.

Volunteers helping to bag the balloon.  

A close up of the beautiful stitching on the bottom of the balloon basket.

Aerial entertainment. 

Night Glow.

Filling the balloon.

An inside look at Night Glow.

The view toward the RV park from the Ferris Wheel.

This balloon proved to be very photogenic.

Above the London Bridge

Just a bridge reflection.

An American balloon and my favorite photo.

Getting its feet wet.

Through our windshield.

The same balloon that Rob helped land.

The goldfish was my favorite balloon.

Judith and David

In the Desert

Today is my mom's birthday. Happy Birthday, Mom!

Today is also our last day in Quartzsite. Rob and I are not desert people, but overall we have enjoyed our time here. We could have easily spent a lot of money here, but we restrained ourselves. We enjoyed visiting many different vendors, especially the food vendors. There's an abundant assortment of nuts, seeds, candies, jams and fruit butters, honey, beans, marinades and barbecue sauces. You name it, someone made it and its for sale. There are several clothing vendors, too. I bought a jean jacket and a t-shirt, both decked out with a little bit of bling that was applied by the store's owner. And she does a beautiful job. There are also about a million motorhomes, 5th-wheels and trailers for sale. The most interesting to me, however, are the swap meets. I love looking at anything old. Pots and pans, cast iron (that was over-priced, darn it!), farm equipment, dishes, glass bottles, guns, gears, tools meant for giant equipment, books, trinkets, geodes, silverware, horseshoes, shot glasses, jewelry, wheel rims, meat grinders, pressure cookers, marbles, saddles and the list goes on.

Meeting people who actually share interests with us has been the most surprising. We now have friends in Hazen, Nevada, Brad and Patty and, outside Bend, Oregon, Phil and Linda, who we'll be able to visit when passing through their areas. We also have Dante to visit in Houston, although he does spend most of his time on the road. We could cross paths almost anywhere in the country just by happenstance. And wouldn't that be neat? Brad and Patty came here to Quartzsite so Brad could get together with Phil, who he met online. What brought them together was their hobby: Radio controlled aircraft. Rob used to fly RC gliders, so he also shared their interest, which let to lots of conversations. Patty, Linda and I get along quite well, too, and I found conversation easy with both of them. I really look forward to calling them in the future saying 'Hey, remember us? We'll be in your area. We'd love to see you.'

We ventured into the desert yesterday. We drove down a dusty, gravel road that at times became downright rocky. Our GPS showed the road so we could tell where we were, but no one else was out on it. Its remoteness made Rob a little nervous, but it eventually tied into a paved road on which we saw several cars traveling. We decided to take it toward a town called Bouse (rhymes with mouse), and along the way we found a small stand of saguaro cacti that I wanted to photograph. When we finally got to Bouse and made our right turn to head back to Quartzsite, there on the corner was a food vendor. We stopped and tried his bacon wrapped dates and bacon wrapped, cream cheese filled jalapenos. Yum. He let us taste his smoked, pulled pork, too. Oh my! It turns out that JT's BBQ has been in business exactly three weeks. He says he's sold out every evening. No wonder! He's only in Bouse during the winter. Otherwise, you'll find him in Redmond, Oregon. If you are ever traveling through Arizona during the winter and have the option to take highway 72 through Bouse, do it and plan to stop and eat some of JT's food. You won't be sorry. And he's a really nice guy, too.

When one thinks of desert, one usually thinks sand. There isn't too much sand in this area of Arizona. It looks like degraded volcanic rock—red and black. There is a ton of quartz as well, hence the town name, and its just laying around everywhere. Also found is a lot of copper-rich, green rock. As we walked around, we came across areas where the ground look hard and rocky, but actually gave way and felt spongy under our feet. It would have been interesting to have a geologist with us to explain it all. 

Tomorrow we head to Lake Havasu. Our first stop will be at Cat-Tail Cove State Park. Its right on the lake. The likelihood of us having internet access is pretty slim, so I'll update as soon as the opportunity presents itself. In the meantime, take a look at the photos I've selected.

A sunset seen from our camp spot.

A dramatic view of a Saguaro.

Junkyard cat. His name is Lover Boy. And he is.

Bottles for every need.

A socket set meant for earth movers.

If you're out of shot glasses, you'll find all you need here.

That's not a knife. Now, this is a…

Anyone thirsty?

All their luck is running out.

Tea kettles and an old pressure cooker.

Such a grind!

A very old and stately Saguaro.

It was tall.

All things must pass.

You'd think this cactus's spines would be flexible. Nope.

These are so beautiful back-lit.

Evening light.

Rob acting like a Saguaro.

JT's BBQ. Yummy food! Bouse, AZ

An Unexpected House Guest

On Thursday morning I was inside doing the breakfast dishes when Rob exited the Beast for his morning cigar. We noticed a brand new motorhome pull up to the RV wash area. Rob wandered over to check it out and talk to the owner, as he is wont to do. The next thing I know, Rob is asking me to get him some dish detergent for these fellows who needed to wash this motorhome. When Rob returned with the container of detergent, he explained that these fellows are delivering this motorhome to one of the RV sales companies here in Quartzsite. This is their job. In short, they pick up motorhomes or big rig tractors, etc, for delivery to whomever is purchasing them from the manufacturers. Hearing this, I figured I might be able to go inside for a look-see. I wandered over to the wash area with Rob and asked if it would be alright for me to take a look and one of the fellows responded with a big smile and a 'sure you can!' 

This 'Georgetown' motorhome was very pretty inside with cherry wood cabinets, an ultra-leather L-shaped sofa, glass vessel sink in the bathroom, flat-screen TV and 'fireplace.' But, the dinette table was too narrow, the seat backs too upright, the sofa seat not quite deep enough, and no place to put computers. Great for week-long outings but not for full-time living, in my opinion.

After I came out, I was properly introduced to these men. Dante, who was the driver delivering the motorhome, and Anthony, who does the same kind of work as Dante but was just riding with Dante in order to get to a place where he'd catch a bus and get back to where he could pick up another vehicle for delivery. Anthony planned to spend the night in a motel and catch the bus at 5:00am the next morning, and Dante would be sleeping in the motorhome at our RV park. We all got talking and felt a definite rapport. Both men are very, nice guys. 

It turned out that Dante would be delivering the motorhome in the morning, but then would have nowhere to go until his bus came at 7:00pm, Friday evening. Apparently this kind of thing happens frequently, but because of our meeting he asked if we'd be around and if he could hang out with us. We told him yes and welcomed the company. He went online to make his bus reservations but found there were no seats available until the following evening. Rob invited him to spend the night with us. Dante is our kids' age so we just treated him like we would our own.

Dante is from Houston, TX. He spoke to his mom on the phone and was telling her about us. She was grateful that we were watching out for her son. Rob got on the phone with her to tell her what a good son she has because Dante was, for every moment, respectful, kind, friendly and open with us. He told us a lot about his life, his daughter, his experiences, his mom, and his dad, the effect their divorce had on him as a teenager and his decision that he wouldn't let anything interfere with his desire to be the best man he can be. Good decision that.

On Saturday, we all drove out to a back-country area and followed the roads and washes around until we felt we couldn't go any further. I was searching out things I want to photograph in a late afternoon setting. We had a good time exploring. After that, we came back to the Beast, watched a football game, had dinner and then took Dante to where Greyhound picks up their passengers and said goodbye. We are hoping Dante stays in contact and that we see him again somewhere in this big country.

I think spontaneity is an aspect of RVing that both Rob and I will always enjoy. You never know who you will meet and we look forward to newfound friendships potentially turning into lifelong friendships.

Rob and Dante enjoying the sunshine.

Rob and Dante looking tiny next to this Saguaro cactus.

These cacti look amazing back lit, although this shot is not because it was high noon.

Pretty awesome looking from this perspective.

New Year's Beginning

I find that the older we get the more each day is like any other. It may seem pessimistic to some, but New Year's Eve just doesn't hold the same sense of newness and excitement that it used to and staying up until midnight to ring in the new year just messes up my sleep cycle (although it might have been nice to watch Ryan Seacrest honor the late, great Dick Clark). I wake up in the morning and it is a new day. Every day. That's seems pretty good to me. I really don't care what year it is as long as I, my family and pets are healthy, warm, housed and fed.

Yesterday was New Year's day and it was cloudy, cold and windy outside, so I spent the day on the couch reading. I haven't done that in weeks, which is unusual for me, so it was a treat. A good way to spend the 1st of January regardless of the year. My cats loved it. They cuddled with me almost the whole time. At one point, I had to push Louis (my orange tabby), off my lap so I could cool down. He was radiating heat like a furnace.

The wind died down in the evening so I bundled myself in two sweatshirts and a stocking cap and set off on a walk around the RV park, which is pretty large, and I walked every street. Many people live here year round and have patio covers next to their mobile homes, trailers or motorhomes. Lots of them have their areas strung with Christmas lights and other holiday decorations. It looks festive and it gave me something to look at during my walk. I wonder when they'll start taking them down? The walk was invigorating. The air was cold, but not in a damp, chilled-to-the-bone way. It was a dry cold like how I remember New Jersey in the fall. It was crisp and clear and hushed. The stars shone brightly, and truly, like diamonds. It pinked up my cheeks nicely.

Today was sunny and a bit windy, but cold unless you stood in the sun. Rob and I ran a couple errands and bought some rib-eyes to barbecue. While I was prepping our dinner, Rob was outside getting the barbecue started when he found out that this evening's entertainment  at the community center was 'The Grandmas and Grandpas.' We decided we'd go listen tonight. It was delightful, but we stayed for only half of the performance. Many people got up and sang even though you could tell they never were very good at it, but they were fearless and unselfconscious, and that in itself was worthy of lively applause. There were probably a dozen people playing instruments, but two musicians stood out. One was a guitarist called Tex. He got the spotlight as he carried the riffs. He got up and sang a tune as well. I'm guessing he was somewhere between 80 and 85 years old. The other was a fiddle player called Willie. He was really darned good and garnered a lot of applause during his solos. I wondered out loud how old he is and Rob somehow knew that he and his wife have been married for 66 years. Doing the math, he's pushing 90 at the least, but I think he's older. Rob and I left at the break but first I watched people help Willie get on his feet, keeping hold of him the whole time, while someone else brought him his walker. If we come back here next year for a spell, I hope we get to see him again. Each day may be like the others, but each day is a gift—to use, enjoy, appreciate, and to savor—as I'm sure Willie would agree.

Quartzsite… so far

We arrived in Quartzsite, Arizona, on December 26th. A day earlier than originally planned. We were pleasantly greeted by Judy here at the Holiday Palms RV Park. She was friendly on the phone when I made the reservations, equally friendly when I called to inquire about arriving a day early, and was as welcoming as can be when we checked in. Just the way I expect to be treated because that's the way I treat others. Great first impression.

Because people we'd talked to said that lots of RVers come to Quartzsite every year to winter, that there is lots to do here, and a fun place to be, we thought we'd check it out on this trip. I'd done quite a bit of research as to where to stay while in Quartzsite. I'd checked the Trailer LIfe Directory and found that this park is a 'Good Sam Park'. That was the first good sign. I felt the fees were reasonable, although a little more expensive than other places, and that was also a good sign. I looked at the park, and others, on Google Earth, and found that this place had trees. Palm trees to be exact, hence the name 'Holiday Palms'. There are other trees in town, but not really in the RV parks. Not that they provide shade, but it does feel more green. Another good sign.

Being that we intend to be here only two weeks, we were put in the 'overnighters' area. No problem with that except that we meet people and then the next day they're gone. We are also right by the main street. Kind of noisy, but we're very close to the laundry room so that makes up for it in my opinion. We are also right by the community center so we know when something is going on. There are quite a few musicians here and they like to have jam sessions and everyone is invited to come listen and socialize. That was a good sign. Rob and I were excited about that and were eager to check it out—until we walked in and took a look. Everybody is OLD! The musicians are old. The audience is old. Nice as can be, but OLD! We felt entirely out of place. We aren't exactly spring chickens, but neither are we quite ready for this kind of socializing. I think even my mom would've felt too young for this crowd. Not that she's too young in age, but too young in heart and thinking. That's how it felt. And I know I could be completely wrong about these folks because we didn't really give them a fighting chance, but we just couldn't see ourselves mingling.

I did laundry yesterday morning. When I walked into the laundry room, a man well into his 80s was doing his. He acknowledged me with a nod and then proceeded to explain to me why not to use a particular washer that I was just about ready to use. I let him know I appreciated the tip and we started chatting. Nice man. I left and returned when my washers were finished. The same man looked at me and didn't say a word when I smiled and said 'Hello, again!' Did he not remember me? I think not. Sigh.

Later when I returned to the laundry room to fold my now dry clothes, there was a couple with their backs to the room looking at some sort of circular or publication while leaning over a high clothes-folding table. I wasn't trying to be stealthy but, when they turned around, they were obviously surprised to see that someone had entered without their knowledge. Then the man said with a twinkle in his eye, "I'm glad I didn't give my wife a little pat like I often do!" So I told him that it wouldn't have been anything I hadn't seen before, which got a chuckle and wide grin out of him. He left and I talked with the wife while I folded clothes and she added fabric softener to her wash. I watched her hands and arms shake a little as she filled the cap with softener. They've been coming here every year for 25 years spending 5 months at a time and she says it isn't like it used to be. I didn't ask where they were from, but I'm sure it snows there. She mentioned that she has Parkinson's and I told her I thought she was doing really well. She agreed that it appeared that way—until she tries to do anything that requires concentration and/or fine motor skills. She can no longer sign her name and feels badly that she can't pay the bills anymore, which had always been her job. Her husband has to do it now. He's nearly 90! She's 87. And they were adorable.

Quartzsite is a quirky, little place. Well, not so little. It's pretty spread out. 36.3 square miles to be exact. Their claim to fame is that it's the mineral and geode capitol of, if not the world, at least the southwest. Most years, we are told, RVs are found far and wide at the parks with full or partial hook-ups and on open land boondocking. There are swap meets galore and vendors of food, clothing, flags, RV supplies and services, antiques, art, some good art, some junk, junk and more junk, lining the streets. Some feel this town has had too long a history of crooked counsel members. They thought they got them out last year, but the new bunch aren't much better. According to the few locals we spoke to and some who come here every year, the town got greedy. They raised the rates and fees they charge the vendors to such a prohibitive level that the majority of vendors decided to just not come this year. Then there are other vendors who don't feel too much has changed, that the rates and fees are reasonable, and don't understand what the brouhaha is all about. They feel positive about the near future and that business will pick up in a week or two, just as it has in years past.


We had neighbors arrive yesterday two spaces over. They are staying two nights—leaving tomorrow. Patty and Brad are towing a huge storage trailer filled with radio controlled aircraft. Rob was in seventh heaven seeing that! We went out to an airfield set up for the local RC group to watch Brad and others fly their planes today, but I got engrossed walking through a very special place called Celia's Rainbow Garden located next to the air field. Celia was a child who started life fighting, and fighting hard, but died too young. I invite you to read Celia's story and how her garden got started at http://www.celiasrainbowgardens.com/Story/. Celia's Rainbow Garden has become a beautiful memorial for many who once walked among us. For now, please enjoy the few photos I took there because, with all the negative in the world, all that is decent and worthy just needs another good sign—from all of us.