Arizona 2005-06

After spending most of Saturday, the 17th of September, driving south through Utah, we were only in Arizona for a short distance before entering Nevada. From Nevada we entered California then finally back into Arizona.

Crossing into Arizona from Utah was a surprise. We entered the Virgin River Gorge almost immediately. I-15 had been cut through the gorge leaving the road to wind below 2000' feet high walls of the gorge. A real sight!

On Sunday the 18th of September we setup our winter campground in the River Breeze RV Resort in Ehrenberg, Arizona- on the Colorado River at  I-10  and Arizona-California boarder. Temperature in the afternoon was 102°F, a big difference from when we left Idaho at 54°F! But it was not a Maryland triple digit day, the humidity is very low out here.

The campground is very nice. Large pull-thru sites are on grass and back-ins are on concrete pads. Internal roads are concrete. The campground slopes gently to the river. All expected amenities are available except high speed internet. Grounds are well manicured. There are a few park models available. Many people here have boats and jet skis parked on the sites. This is a big water sports area.

Our transition to a Post Office Box in Ehrenberg was seamless.

Blythe, California is the closet town to us; less than 5 miles away. This is where we will be doing most of our shopping and dining out.

I'll be attending Mass at St Joan of Arc in Blythe, a small church within the Diocese of San Bernardino. The Diocese has over one million Catholics.

On Sunday the 25th of September we drove over to Quartzsite, the River's Mecca in the desert. Not much going there now, but in a few months it will be packed with RV's, most of them boon docking in the desert. We did go to the reader's Oasis Bookstore where Paul gave use sodas because it was over 90° F outside. He also autographed one of his "colorful" book marks for me.

The road to Parker, AZ lead us north on the 27th of September. Just north of Ehrenberg, we started to pass through the Colorado River Indian Tribes Reservation. This desert valley is farmed by Indians and irrigated by the Colorado River. On the way we saw many fields of cotton with the California Riverside Mountains on the western horizon and acres of hay with the Dome Rock Mountains in the eastern background. In the town of Poston, a small farming center, stands a Memorial Monument & Kiosk at the site of the Colorado River War Relocation Center. It is dedicated to the 17,867 people of Japanese Ancestry, U.S. Citizen and alien, men, women, and children who were incarcerated here during World War II. In addition to the River Resort and Casino being located on the river in Parker, there are some really nice housing developments with individual boat ramps located in their front yards. After a nice buffet lunch in the casino, we each feed the slots $2.00!

We started October by visiting part of the 17,267 acre Cibola National Wildlife Refuge, approximately 20 miles south of us, on the 3rd. There was an auto tour route at the visitors center that went around a large section of cultivated and irrigated crop area. Hay was being cut when we drove through. Most of the road was "un-improved" traveling through rough desert country. A scenic section of the road was next to the Colorado River and Cibola Lake. The only way to get across the river in this area was by a little cable car. We plan to return in the winter when we hope to see the migratory birds.

Not that we're going to, but we checked out the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) boon docking area around Quartzsite. The dirt roads are passable and there is plenty of wide open space. We saw the remnants of several fire rings at previous camp sites. In the town of Quartzsite a tomb of Hi Jolly stands in memory of the 1857 Camel Driver. Yes, there was an experiment to use camels to ship cargo in the south west.

We drove down to Yuma on the 13th of October. The eighty some miles along US 95 is a straight shot from Quartzsite to Yuma through the desert with the rugged Kofa National Wildlife Refuge to the North.

While at a restaurant in Yuma, we meet Irene and Burt Hoover. Burt is a survivor of the largest naval battle in history, the Battle of Leyte Gulf in October 1944. Burt’s ship, the USS Johnston (DD-557) was sunk by enemy naval gunfire on 25 October 1944. He was among the 144 who survived out of 344. I could identify with Burt because I served on two destroyers very similar to the Johnston. It was very interesting to listen to him recounting his harrowing experience on that forever memorable day of carnage. Burt and his surviving shipmates were in shark infested water for 50 hours before being rescued. There is a link to a website with more information about the Johnston’s sinking.

On the 4th of November, Patricia set out a humming bird feeder in a small tree next to the RV. The next day she counted three humming birds fighting for feeding rights!

A pot luck dinner was held in the Recreation Room at River Breeze on the 6th of November. The park is starting to fill up with migratory snowbirds!

On a recent shopping trip to Yuma (100 miles one way), we saw a farm house like we've never seen before; a true Southwestern structure in the middle of a green irrigated field.

Many of the cities in the Southwest paint their water tanks other than standard grey; they jazz them up with colorful designs. We saw a set of these tanks on US 95 in Yuma.

The road from Ehrenberg to Parker runs through The Colorado Indians Tribe Reservation. This is all irrigated desert land which is well maintained. It looked like the cotton was ready to pick on the 12th of November while on our way to Lake Havasu.

Lake Havasu ( the word "Havasu" is from the Havasupai Indians meaning "Blue Water") was formed by the Parker Dam, just North of Parker on the Colorado River.

"Parker Dam is the deepest dam in the world; 73% of its structural height of 320' is below the original riverbed. Two-hundred and thirty five feet of the Colorado riverbed was excavated before concrete was placed for the dam's foundation. Only about 85' of the dam are visible; the dam's superstructure rises another 62' above the roadway across the top of the dam."

Lake Havasu City was established in 1963 as a self sufficient town by McCulloch Properties, Inc. This city of less than 50,000 spreads along the lake shoreline and up the mountain side. It is water sports haven in the desert. In 1963 the city's designer purchased the London Bridge for 2 million dollars and invested another 4.5 Million dollars to dismantled, ship, and rebuild the bridge. The street lamps are original and were made from metal that was melted down from Napoleonic War Cannon. Lake Havasu's London Bridge is one of the Arizona's major tourist attractions. There are many shops, restaurants, and hotels surrounding the bridge. While driving around the residential area of this planned city, at least two things become evident. First, all of the houses appear to be single story; city code has a 15' height restriction on residential houses. Next, a very large number of homes have large attached garages to house a boat, RV, and a vehicle! Some of the RV garages can house a Motor Coach; the garage door has a 13' opening. Many of the garages are  pull thru for the boats. For us, Lake Havasu City is high on the list of cities to relocate to. For 8 out of 12 months the weather is near perfect. There are city amenities, mountains, desert, and water within minutes of each other.

21 November: The price of diesel fuel has come down 97¢/ gal since we paid $3.31/ gal in Nevada on the 17th of September.

We spent a few days with Ann and Lou in Corona (near Los Angeles) and all of us had Thanksgiving dinner with Ann and Jim in San Diego.

There are several talented people at River Breeze who sell their goods at craft shows. On December 3 we went to the Quartzsite Improvement Association craft show where our neighbors had set up tables; a good place for Christmas shopping.

Just off of US 95, a little North of Yuma, there is a “Little Church” in the middle of the farming area. It seemed strange to see this doll house size church in the middle of a vegetable farm.

On 8 December, returning from the commissary in Yuma (100 miles from River breeze!), we stopped at the Imperial National Wildlife Refuge. The refuge is located along 30 miles of the lower Colorado River in Arizona and California. The visitor’s Center is a modern facility and very well maintained, with sever native wildlife displays which included a Desert Tortoise.

The little village of Martinez Lake, adjacent to the refuge, has some interesting homes built on the lake. There is also a Military Recreation Area on Lake Martinez.

On December 10^th, we had an evening cook-out in the River Breeze Park, down by the river. It was a pot-luck dinner complete with camp fires and portable fire places. There was plenty of food and everyone had a good time. There was also a Karaoke Singer who was really good. The weather was perfect with a half moon and stars galore in the cloudless sky.

We drove through cotton fields in California before seeing Canadian Geese in flight at the Cibola National Wildlife Refuge on the 13th of December. It was strange to see geese with mountains in the background. There were also Sandhill Cranes at the Refuge, but not as many as we had seen previously during our trip to New Mexico in 2004.

We are actively considering a relocation to Arizona or at least finding a home base for the RV so that we could stay here for 5-6 months a year. On the 21st of December, it was 75°F, so we drove to Salome and looked at deeded lots at Outback Acers, a new RV development. Salome is located 86 miles West of Luke Air Force Base, near Phoenix, and 54 miles to the nearest Safeway in Wickenburg! We put our name on the list to be called when one of the remaining 9 new lots becomes available. There were 90 names on the list for 27 lots; they are now calling names in the 50's for the remaining 9 lots. Hard to say if we'll be called for this current set of lots. However, our name is also on the list for an additional set of 100 lots which may become available later in 2006. We are number 91 on that list! The demand for deeded lots in the middle of the desert is unbelievable!

In Salome we saw a different and new type of community that we had never seen before. it was an air park; small airplane hangars with living quarter built into the hangars or attached to them. Seems like a pretty neat way to take a vacation in the desert if you have your own airplane.

Many of the RV's in the park have been nicely decorated for Christmas; some very elaborately.

On Christmas day we went to Corona, California to be with my brother Lou and his wife Ann for a few days.

For the past three months River Breeze has been a truly wonderful Snowbird experience. A couple of ladies had taken it upon themselves to organize activities that everyone thoroughly enjoyed. These ladies loved what they did and their personalities were magnetic. Everyone loved them, not only for what they were doing in the park to make the Snowbird experience most enjoyable, but as truly loving people. But, on January 4^th these ladies were evicted from the park for being “trouble makers” Unfortunately, the park’s ownership and management elected to conduct business based upon personalities rather than on sound business practices. For what ever reason, the park’s manage had her feelings hurt over a truly miniscule trivial incident. Within a week, this incident escalated into three evictions from the park for being “trouble makers.” It appeared that a “trouble maker” was anyone who dared to criticize management in private. Within a week, the atmosphere in the park went from a “Rocky Mountain High” to “Death Valley Blues.” In addition to the three that were evicted from the park, two others moved out voluntarily in support of the “trouble makers.” The owner lost over $2,700/ month, unnecessarily, for the next three months. Unbelievable! I just don’t understand how an eviction over a trivial incident could have happened or am I to naive to believe that the customer is always right?

On the 9th of January, Paul completed installing satellite TV connections in the RV; thank you very much Paul. We then went to Quartzite with Kathy and Paul where we visited Quartzsite Rainbow Garden and the Hi-Jolly Tomb. Paul and Kathy say that the number of RV's parked in the dry camping areas around Quartzsite is significantly reduced compared to last year. Fuel prices ????

We took an overnight trip to Oatman, Arizona with our friends Kathy and Paul on the 10th of January. Oatman is an old mining town on Historic Route 66 where wild burros roam the street and a gunfight is held daily to benefit the Shriner's Transportation Fund. We stayed overnight at the Pioneer Hotel and Gambling Hall in Laughlin, Nevada, just across the river from Bullhead City, Arizona.

After a short visit on 26 October, we returned to Robson’s Arizona Mining World and stayed in their boarding house for two nights. This little desert gem is isolated in Maricopa County, within the McMullen Valley, and nestled at the foot of the Harcuvar Mountains. It is in a notch of the Sonora desert covered with Saguaro Cactus. Boasting to have the World's largest collection of antique mining equipment, Mining World also has a wedding chapel, gift shop, miles of hiking trails, and they host cowboy cookouts. We had a very comfortable accessible room in their 26 room B & B. Rooms do not have TV or telephones. Mining World is self sufficient- water from a well, and electric power from solar panels and generators. On Saturday the 14th of January, Rosa fixed Carne Asada, an authentic Mexican dish, in the café. She cooked the marinated thin strips of steak on an outdoor grill and served them as a tacos. They were delicious! Also at the Boarding House were the Davenport's; three generations on a week-end biking trip enjoying some real family fun. Popa Max,76 years young, and his two sons, Chris and Kim, along with 7 year old grand son Wyatt, appeared to be having a good time with granddaughters Laura, Heather, and Rachel; kicking up dust in the desert on their motor bikes and four runners. Sammy is one of Mining World's dogs. She is a "Wonder Dog," having been bitten by rattle snakes on four different occasions and surviving. According to the grounds care taker, Sammy would find rattle snakes, play with them 'till they bit her and then her face and neck would being to swell up. Sammy's fix for the snake bites was to drink plenty of water and the pouch under her neck formed as a result of the bites. On Sunday we took a short trip to Wickenburg and visited the Desert Caballeros Western Museum, "Arizona's Most Western Museum." We enjoyed seeing the numerous originals by Russell and Remington. Also on exhibit at the museum was "The Next Phase: Navajo Weaving in the 21st Century from the Getzwiller Collection." The Navajo blankets in their beautiful colors were absolutely stunning! We really enjoyed our week-end in the desert before returning to Ehrenberg to move the RV to Two Springs Resort in North Palm Springs, California next Wednesday.

Metal detecting is a favorite pastime for many snowbirds in Arizona. Our friend from River Breeze, Paul Roy, recently found a 1.6 gram gold nugget. To avoid a gold rush stampede, we'll just say that he found it somewhere in Arizona!

Please click on the Side Trip link below to follow our adventurous nine day to Northern Arizona and New Mexico trip.