Arizona and New Mexico: Baseball and the Desert March 4, 2016 to March 27, 2016

The last blog ended with our stay at Emerald Cove, CA, on the Colorado River.  From there we crossed into Arizona and headed for Wickenburg, AZ, about 60 miles NW of Phoenix.  We had stopped here overnight last year on our way north and knew this campground to be a good one.  We spent 4 nights here, “treading water” until we could get into the Sun City campground where Jon and Norma Owens and Deb and Brian Kennelly were parked.

We wandered the streets of Wickenburg and found a little museum with this sculpture out front, called “Thanks for the Rain.  Wickenburg is famous for its team roping events, held in many different venues around Wickenburg.  

Wickenburg is also famous as the location of the Vulture Mine.  Although the Vulture was the largest producing gold mine in Arizona, it never paid off for its investors or its discoverer, Henry Wickenburg.  It shut down for good in 1942. Now, it was a popular tourist attraction, luring visitors from nearby Wickenburg, the town named for the hapless Henry, who may or may not have posed as the prospector in the photo with Jerry.

Sunday, March 6, we chose a Lutheran Church in Prescott, AZ, since we wanted to explore that area as well.  We found First Lutheran Church, a Wisconsin Synod congregation.  As always we found the congregation very welcoming, but very small in this lovely big church.  How long will this church survive with their aging membership?  After church we explored downtown Prescott and wandered through some model homes on the NE side of the city.  Prescott is one of the cooler places to live in Arizona, due to the city’s elevation. 

Tuesday, March 8, we joined the Owens’s and the Kennelly’s at Paradise RV Park and Resort in Sun City.  Many of you may not know how we’re connected to these two couples…and there are many links!  Jon Owens is the big brother of my K-12 best friend Ardith.  Jon and Norma went to the same high school as Jerry and I but are two years older.  They’ve lived in Renton, WA, a suburb of Seattle for many years.  Brian and Debbie Kennelly also went to the same little high school in west central Illinois.  Brian and Debbie are two years younger than we and were in the same class as my brother, Roger.  Debbie and Norma are sister and Brian’s brother Phil was in our high school class.  Brian and Phil’s mom, Mary was our Latin teacher and one of our favorites in high school.  Teddy, Brian and Phil’s dad, was one of Jerry’s baseball coaches.  Yep, a small world!

We're still learning about this RV lifestyle and Paradise RV park gave us some more lessons.  This is a huge park for 55+ folks and caters to snowbirds.  We saw lots of license plates from the northern tier of states, as well as Canada.  The snowbirds really got into decorating their campsites and making them their own.  This one was across from Jon and Norma.

The whole point of meeting in the Phoenix area was to attend spring training for the Seattle Mariners, Jon and Norma’s favorite baseball team, and the Chicago Cubs, favorites of Brian, Debbie, and Jan.  Jerry put up with all of us and frequently reminded us of the successes of his team, the St. Louis Cardinals.

We had not been to spring training before but, luckily, Jon and Norma were old hands at this and showed us the ropes.  We learned that it’s invaluable to attend the morning practices.  The Mariners players made themselves very available to the fans who turned out to watch their drills.  It was relatively easy to get autographs and to talk with the players.  The Mariners were particularly responsive to the kids in the crowd and made it a point to stop and talk.The boys in the photo had plastic sleeves full of baseball cards.  Every time a player walked by, they flipped through their binders trying to find the right card for that player to sign.  Very sweet!

The night we arrived, Jon and Norma had invited one of their classmates, Regina Morse Shelton, who lives in Phoenix, to come for dinner.  We covered all the teachers, classmates, and gossip of Spoon River Valley High School and loved every minute!

Jon and Norma’s younger daughter, Christie, her husband, Rennick, and their daughter Alyssa arrived on Thursday to join us for spring training and some ballgames.  They stayed in Jon and Norma’s motor home, Jon and Norma stayed with Brian and Debbie, and we were parked several blocks away in the pet section!

If you need to know whom the Mariners played, what the scores were, or who made significant plays, you’ll just have to read someone else’s blog…not this one!  Even though I claim to be a Cubs fan, I didn’t know the teams or their stories.  My primary purpose was to take photos and enjoy the “ambience” of the ballpark…hot and dry!  I can tell you that we saw games at the Mariner’s stadium in Peoria.  They shared the complex with the San Diego Padres.  The stadium was about 15 minutes from our RV park and easy to reach.

Friday, March 11, Jon et al decided to go to Scottsdale to see the Mariners play the Giants.  The tickets were expensive, even to sit on the berm in the sun, so the Kennelly’s and we chose to explore old town Scottsdale instead.  Jerry, true to form, found a microbrewery for lunch, “Two Brothers Taproom.”

We rendezvoused in Old Town to explore the touristy shops with the baseball fans.  Brian and Jerry really got into the Native American theme.  Silly guys!

Sunday, March 13, it was time to pull up stakes and head to Mesa to be closer to the Cubs spring training stadium, Sloan Field.  Who knew Phoenix was so huge!  It was almost 60 miles from Sun City to Mesa…just across town.  We settled in to Val Vista Village RV Park and prepared to watch some awesomeness from the Cubbies.

This RV Park was also a snowbirds' haven and catered to us retired folks.  There were activities galore...woodworking shop, an entire building dedicated to fabric arts, four pools, beauty shop, line-dancing around the pool, and several fire pits.  We spent several evenings on the patio enjoying happy hour, watching the sunset and re-hashing the day's events at the fire pit.  Tough duty!

Monday morning, March 14, we were off to see Cubs' spring training.  We knew that they had just opened their new stadium, which they didn't share with another team, as many did.  The architect designed the field to resemble Wrigley Field, and, of course, we found lots of photo opportunities.

Brian, Debbie, and I were quickly disappointed in the Cubs lack of concern for their fans.  The players were very inaccessible, the ground crew made us feel very unwelcome, we suffered a sad lack of bleachers and Porta-Potties.  Yikes!  We decided the Cubs’ architect should have visited the Peoria Sports Complex.  We also found that tickets to the Cubs’ spring training games at home were quite expensive.  It would have been cheaper to purchase tickets at the ballpark, but the ball-park was sold out…all the tickets had gone to third party providers like Stub Hub, who added about 25% to the ticket price.  Once again, we Cubbies fans were rather disgusted. 

It was a struggle, but Brian did manage to get a couple of autographs, including this one of Wilson Contreras, a catcher.  Note the huge green fence barrier. 

We saw lots of fans watching practice and lots of Dads and kids playing catch, while waiting for an errant fly ball to come their way.  My favorite was this little girl, who had quite an arm!  Her Cubs' T-Shirt is green for the St. Patrick's Day game.

Tuesday, March 15, friends from Anacortes, WA, joined us for lunch at Wilderness Brewing in Gilbert, AZ, just south of Mesa.  Chuck and Bev’s son and daughter-in-law live in Gilbert, a good place to visit, away from the rain and cold of Anacortes.  Jerry and Chuck, although about 10 years apart in age, are cut from the same cloth!  Chuck was an engineer at Boeing for many years, working with United Airlines.  These Anacortes Lutheran Church friends have made us feel very welcome in Anacortes.

Tempe, just west of Mesa, is home to the Arizona State University Sun Devils, and was an interesting non-baseball place to explore.  The Sun Devil football stadium, easily visible on our route to Cubs games, caught our eye.  We were directed to the Student Athlete Center, to view the football field.  (It was always our policy to smile, ask permission, and be completely honest in our quest for entry into non-public areas.  Worked every time!).  On our way up in the elevator, we met a lady who was the Sun Devil team’s education specialist.  We explained our purpose (with our beaming open, honest faces and charm turned on to 1,000 watts) and she told us to go to the 7^th floor where we would get great photos of the stadium.  Indeed!  You’ll notice the stadium is in complete disrepair but they expected to have the stadium ready for football in August!  On our way down to the first floor, we were once again joined by the education specialist and one of the football players.  He shook all our hands, was very polite, and “sirred and ma’amed” us all over the place.  We were charmed.

The parking deck we used was across the street from the "university hill” and we watched these two young men climb to the top.  What views they must have had!

After a delicious lunch on the ASU campus, we decided to explore Camelback Mountain, the peaks on the east side of Phoenix.  The profile of the mountain suggested a kneeling camel with two humps and was rather interesting geologically.  The granite that makes up part of the head of the camel dates back 1.5 billion years ago. The puzzle to geologists, though, was that most of the mountain, including the hump, was made up of red sandstone from a measly 30 million years ago. There were spots on the mountain where the billion and a half years older and much, much heavier granite lay right on top of its younger, lighter neighbor. How exactly it got there, though, nobody yet knows.  Another Arizona mystery!

We drove all around the mountain and stopped to check the views and explore at every opportunity.  The photo of Jon and I shows Phoenix well below us.

Partway up the mountain we spotted an open house sign in one of the swanky neighborhoods and couldn’t resist stopping and exploring.  Once again, we used our wide-eyed tourist approach and the realtor invited us in.  I suspect he was bored!  He gave us a lengthy discussion on the Phoenix area real estate market and we got to see a gorgeous million dollar home with amazing views. 

We did a little hiking in the Echo Canyon Park, through the sandstone cliffs.  We weren’t nearly adven-turous as some, who were off to the summit of Camelback Mountain on a trail that quickly gained 1200 feet of elevation.  We were more interested in selfie shots…like this one of us on the hike.  We were fortunate to be there in time to see many of the cactus varieties blooming, like this ocotillo at left and the blooming barrel cactus at right.

Our final ballgame was at the Camelback Ranch Stadium in Glendale, vs. the White Sox, on Saturday, March 18.  In true Cubbies fashion, we lost 3 – 2.  This was the hottest day yet and we just about melted in the 90^o sunshine!  We did get to see one of the Cubs’ stars, Anthony Rizzo, play.

As we entered the ballpark, we saw this little guy in his stroller.  Mom was a Cubs fan and Dad rooted for the White Sox, so he was the product of a mixed marriage!  He seemed to be taking his dual role very seriously!

Saturday, March 19, was a get-ready-to-depart day for the Kennelly’s, and us so we didn’t schedule a ballgame or a practice to watch.  We did find time, however, to go to the huge Mesa Market Place Swap Meet.  I’ve never seen such a large collection of stuff!  It was advertised as the ultimate in recreational shopping covering four huge buildings.  We saw everything from camping equipment to cacti.  I think every snowbird in the Phoenix area came to the swap meet on the Saturday we were there.We managed to walk through two of the four buildings and that took several hours.  Living in a motor home certainly reduced our need to buy stuff!

Sunday, March 20, we pulled up the jacks and headed to the Lazydays KOA RV Resort in Tucson.  We had read about this campground in one of the blogs we follow and knew that this park was unique.  It had two acres of solar panels, beneath which RVs could park.  Clever!  The lady who checked us in told us that in the winter these panels provided 85% of their power needs and in the summer, when the park was quieter, the park sold power back to the grid.  Smart!  We chose not to park underneath so that our DirecTV satellite receiver would bring in the March Madness ballgames.  Priorities!

Tuesday, March 22, we had lunch with Visalia friends, Maureen and Lynn Heiges, who were travelling in their 5^th wheel.  They had parked on the north side of Tucson and periodically were in Phoenix to visit their daughter and her family.  After lunch we explored downtown Tucson, including this beautiful old church, The Cathedral of St. Augustine.  It was completely restored for its 100^th anniversary during 1966 – 1968.  Beautiful inside, it has a sloping floor so all that 1,250 parishioners can see the altar.

Exploring downtown Tucson was hot work, so, true to form, we found a microbrewery to slake our thirst.  This one was called “Thunder Canyon Brewery” and had a rather rustic, industrial feel to the tasting/dining room.

Wednesday, March 23, we drove northeast of Tucson to Oracle, AZ, to tour Biosphere 2, an "Earth systems science research facility."  Back in the early 90’s, this complex was used to research the effects of a closed biological system on plants and humans.  Eight men and women spent two years sealed inside Biosphere 2 and were surprisingly self sufficient, although they had problems including low amounts of food and oxygen, die-offs of many animal and plant species, squabbling among the resident scientists and management issues.  Biosphere 2 was now owned by the University of Arizona and longer a closed research site, and we were able to tour most of the buildings. 

One of our reasons to stop in Tucson was to visit former Anacortes friends, Jan and Chuck Mallory.  After 25 years in the Northwest, they chose to re-locate to this sunny, warm climate!  They had a beautiful home in the foothills of the Catalina Mountains, not far from Biosphere 2.  

Thursday, March 24, we drove to the top of Mount Lemmon, a 9,100 peak in the Catalina Mountains, following a route recently designated as a Sky Island National Scenic Byway.  We drove through many of these spires called hoodoos. This was a very popular recreation area for Tucson residents and we shared the road with lots of bicyclists who rode the 27 miles to the top, gaining about 6,000 feet.  Whew!  We climbed out of the Sonoran desert, full of Saguaro cacti, to pine trees and snow.  

From near the top of Mount Lemmon, looking down the backside to the north, we could see Biosphere 2, sitting way below us in the desert.  We ran out of time to see all that we wanted to see in the Tucson area and will return here next winter.

Friday, March 25, it was time to hit the road again; this time to Las Cruces, New Mexico.  We chose this spot for two reasons…1) we hadn’t been here before, and 2) there was a Lutheran Church where we could attend services on Good Friday and Easter Sunday.  We arrived in time to easily make the 7 PM service at Trinity Lutheran, and looked forward to returning on Easter.

Saturday, March 26, was another day to explore.  We drove about an hour north of Las Cruces to the White Sands National Monument.  We found out that these white dunes aren’t silica…usual sand…but gypsum, washed down from the mountains.  Water settled in Lake Lucero, which held water only part of the year.  As the lake dried out, the prevailing southwest wind broke down the deposits into crystals of gypsum and piled it into dunes.  You’ll notice the wind was blowing strongly the day we were there.  We saw lots of folks climbing the dunes with their snow saucers, to the ride the dunes to the bottom. The museum displays told us that this area has been inhabited for the last 11,000 years, just after the last ice age.  Part of the diet consisted of mammoths!  They knew this because mammoth prints had been found in the mud of the basin.  Obviously this whole area was a lot wetter then. 

The monument was surrounded by White Sands Missile Range and the route between Las Cruces and the monument closed during testing.  The closures average twice a week for about an hour.  Wouldn’t it be interesting to see that happening???

In the afternoon we drove further north to Alamogordo to see the New Mexico Museum of Space History.  The museum presented a detailed picture of the development of the US’s space program, beginning with Germany’s V-2 rocket in the 1940’s; Operation Paperclip which brought German rocket scientists to the US after WWII; and the role New Mexico played in the research and development of the space program.  The museum included five floors of displays; a Hall of Fame of astronauts, scientists, and even Walter Cronkite; and a Space Park of rockets, missiles, and rocket engines.  It was a lot to take in and we quickly realized how little we knew about this piece of history. 

Easter Sunday, March 27, we went to back Trinity Lutheran Church, a small congregation full of warm, welcoming people.  We were invited to the after church brunch and loved visiting with the church members, snowbirds, and their interim pastor.  We leave Las Cruces on Tuesday to go to the Midland-Odessa, TX, area and learn about the Permian Basin Oil Field.

More to come!!!

Grandmas and grandpas are best!

San Jose  to Lake Havasu, CA                                February 10 – March 4, 2016

         I must warn you that this post may damage your pancreas…diabetes is imminent!  We spent 2 weekends with our sweet granddaughter (oh, yeah, and her parents and Joy) and the first half of this blog is all about our time with her.  Beware!!!

          We spent 12 days parked at Coyote Valley RV Park north of Morgan Hill, CA, which is about 20” from our older daughter and her husband, Jill and Bob’s house.  When we weren't with our family, we enjoyed Coyote Valley Trail.  One morning we found these deer in the meadow.

        

          Friday, 2/12, was Jill’s birthday so, of course, we were together, including Joy, who flew down for the weekend from Portland.  Lauren had celebrated her birthday the week before, so she knew all about birthday cake, candles, and presents.  She was all set to help mom unwrap her package.  We gave Lauren her present, a baby doll (Bitty Baby from American Girl) from us, too.  The baby doll’s eyes open and close, so Lauren promptly named her “Sleepy Baby”, to go along with Little Baby and Pink Baby.  I had knitted an outfit for Sleepy Baby, which she promptly removed.  None of her dolls get to wear clothes!  (Yes, I should have a photo to insert here, but I don’t have any!)

          Bob had gone surfing in Santa Cruz early Saturday morning so we all drove to the beach to join him for a picnic lunch.  Lauren loved the swings and slides and running around the playground, so we ran around the park, watching her play.  She’s quite agile for a 3 year old, I think!  Of course I might be slightly prejudiced.

          She thought it was great fun running up and down these steps and quite stylishly dressed, I might add.  Jill had bought these boots a couple of months ago for Lauren to wear to the snow and she loved them…pink, hearts, Velcro closure!  What’s not to love!

          Sunday we had a late breakfast at Jill and Bob’s and then it was off to Campbell to go to the Farmer’s Market.  This one was nothing like the one we went to Visalia and had all sorts of vendors selling everything from jewelry (I got a lovely pair of earrings!) to free range eggs.  Of course, there was a park close by so we had to check out a new set of slides and swings.        

          Our family doesn't get together very often.  It was so good to have our daughters together for a few moments!  Bob and Lauren with us, too, made for a wonderful weekend.  After a busy family few days, we took Joy to the San Jose airport to return to Portland on Sunday evening.  We hope to be together again in Illinois in the fall.  After we dropped Joy off, we returned to the bus to rest from our fun-filled weekend.

          Monday, President’s Day, both and Jill and Bob worked, but Lauren’s day care was closed to we stayed with Lauren all day.  Yay!  We pulled weeds, explored all her sticker books and colored.

          Lauren posed in this day’s outfit of choice, plus a hair-do that Grandma created.  This child certainly has a fashion sense!!  You’ll notice her temporary “Frozen” (characters from the Disney movie) tattoos on her arms.  She’s got two favorite buddies all secured in the stroller…Monkey and Little Baby.  Everyone is ready to pull weeds in the front yard.

         Lauren was just waking up from a nap.  She was holding her two “Frozen” dolls on her lap…Elsa and Anna, plus monkey.  Covering all of them is the blanket I had made for Sleepy Baby.  (I am making the quantum assumption that you know about "Frozen".)  My great niece, Lily, is a big fan of "Frozen" but is about a year older than Lauren, so I've decided this Disney infatuation of the latest character is a developmental stage for little girls.

         Tuesday was a catch up day on the bus and dinner with Kathy and Larry Belikoff, a couple who we’d met last year here in Coyote Valley RV Resort.  They were full-timers as well and had lots of wonderful recommendations and resources to share.  They were definitely foot-loose and fancy free, even though Larry still worked full time, using his computer and the Internet.  They were originally from Pennsylvania, doctored in Stanford, California, were residents of South Dakota, had bought their bus in Georgia, and owned a lot in Alabama!  Wow!  We love meeting folks like this!  They were also in a Tiffin Allegro Bus although theirs was much larger.  We hope to see them again in Texas.

         Wednesday and Thursday, 2/17 and 2/18, we went to see Beth in Turlock.  We didn’t stop to see her on our way north last fall, since we were trying to beat a storm in the Siskiyou’s.  She had redone her kitchen, turned a garden shed into a sewing/quilting shed in the back yard, and was in the process of re-landscaping her front yard.  She’s a busy lady!  Jerry was ready for Beth’s “honey-do” projects, but she didn’t have many.

        It was a pretty time of year to drive into the central valley.  The trip through Pacheco Pass showed the San Luis Reservoir much fuller than we had previously seen, but still was far from full.  Jim Munch, our Anacortes friend, was working close by so he was able to join us at Dust Bowl Brewing, in Turlock.  We had a great evening catching up with everyone.

        Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, February 19 – February 21, we were back at Jill and Bob’s.  We babysat Lauren again on Friday and had another great day with our sweet little granddaughter.  Lauren, wearing the outfit she chose for the day, was “getting ready” in the photo above.  She has obviously watched Mom getting ready for work, and copied Jill’s make-up techniques.  Of course, all Lauren used was “Frozen” Chap Stick.  Hilarious!  Look out, Jill and Bob, life is going to get crazier!

         Part of Friday we went to the park once again.  Anything to keep our little lady happy!  Lauren loved to swing and the higher the better!  She liked to swing to swing so high that she almost stopped this Grandma’s heart.

         We had to take her two of her favorite dolls to the park in the stroller…monkey and Little Baby.  She was very determined to push the stroller all four blocks, stopping once or twice to make sure their blankets were securely tucked.  On the way home, she held Grandpa’s hand for awhile   Sweet photo!

          After a nap, and a new outfit, it was time to give Little Baby a bottle, while Lauren watched a little bit of the movie “Frozen”.  She rocked in the “family” rocker, the little chair that was purchased by Lauren's great-great-grandmother and passed down through the Woodall family.  She was finally tall enough to make it it all work well.  By evening we were exhausted again!  Running after a toddler all day was tough work. 

         Saturday and Sunday Bob was off to a company skiing weekend in Lake Tahoe, so Jill had found tickets for her, Lauren, Jerry and me to go to “Disney On Ice Presents Frozen” in downtown San Jose.  Lauren was beyond excited and, of course, wore her Anna costume from Halloween.  We all enjoyed it immensely and it probably helped that at this point we had seen the movie a few times and knew the story.

         

          Bob surprised us by coming home Saturday evening, so he was able to join us on Sunday.  We went to Happy Hollow children’s park in south San Jose.  Lauren had been here before and made a beeline to her favorite rides.  The park is designed for kids up to about age 10…perfect for her.

       

          Jill and Lauren riding the “Frog Hopper”.

         

          On the swings.

         We went to lunch in Morgan Hill and then the Kluck’s came to see the bus.  By this time it was late afternoon and everyone was winding down so we said good-bye.  We won’t see them again until June when we will meet in Visalia.

         Monday, February 22, we were off to Visalia.  We had recently learned that many Elks Clubs have RV parking for members and guests so that’s where we put Abe, thanks to Visalia friends who are Elks members.  We were in the back of a parking lot, but had power and water hook-ups and were right in the middle of town.  Location, location, location!

          Tuesday afternoon we went for a drive into the Sierra Nevada foothills to enjoy the fabulous flowers, thanks to a rainy winter.  Our route took us up Dry Creek Road to Mountain House.  The photo above, from Mountain House, has a funny story.  We stopped here to share a burger and a beer, before we made our way back to Visalia.  The only open table in the sun on the back deck was next to four folks (three men and a woman, obviously old drinking buddies) who were feeling no pain.  We couldn't help but here their plans for the week, their solutions for hang-overs, and their route down the mountain.  Most entertaining!  One of them apologized for their "boisterousness" as we left, but our response was, "No problem...we were well entertained!"

          It was delightful to see the green hillsides covered with lush grass and fields full of fiddleneck. 

        

Further up the road and higher into the foothills we saw gorgeous hillsides covered with California poppies.  (OMG, I sooooo look like my Grandma Rask here!!)

         The week in Visalia passed quickly.  Jan had lunch with former co-worker and good friend Nancy in downtown Visalia.  Where else could you find a specialty spam croissant?  We visited with old friends, had our income taxes done, and re-supplied for our next adventure.  We drove by our old house in Visalia and saw that a new fence had been put up on the east side of the lot.  Yay!  The old one was in bad shape.

         Friday, February 26, we drove to Earp, CA, on the Colorado River below Lake Havasu City…a big day of 420 miles for us!  Visalia friends, Mike and Sandy Albaugh were members of Emerald Cove RV Resort, a huge snowbird park on the west bank of the Colorado River, and invited us to spend a few days with them there.  Another new experience!  Mike and Sandy had been here many times before and were ready to play tour guides.  

          Our first stop was the Poston Memorial Monument, south of Poston, AZ.  This memorial marked the site of a war relocation camp where over 17,000 Japanese Americans were interned during WWII.  Poston was built on the Colorado River Indian Reservation, over the objections of the Tribal Council, who refused to be a part of doing to others what had been done to their tribe.  Not much was left of the buildings and town has grown up over the site. 

    

         

          Saturday, February 27, we drove to Bluewater Resort and Casino to hear Lee Greenwood perform.  He recorded “I’m Proud to be an American” along with many other songs…some of which I had never heard of…but gave a great show!

         Sunday morning, after several Sundays of sleeping in, we were off to Messiah Lutheran Church, in Parker, AZ, with Mike and Sandy.  They had been here many times before and knew this little congregation to be warm and welcoming.  For being first time attendees we received a coffee cup and an information packet…nice!  We were surprised to see that the sanctuary was almost full.  This congregation, openly invites and welcomes the snowbirds from the RV parks in the area to come for worship.  What a great idea.

         It was a good thing we went to church Sunday morning because we took off for the Desert Bar in the afternoon.  Ha!  Five miles down a washboardy dirt road, this famous bar draws crowds from all over.  The history:

The "Nellie E Saloon" (DESERT BAR) is situated in the Buckskin Mountains, in Parker, Arizona, on land that was an old mining camp. The camp was located on the portion of land that is now the parking lot. When Ken acquired the land in 1975, there was nothing left of the old mining camp. With the land and a liquor license from an old business on leased river land, the owner decided to give the "bar in the desert" idea a try.

         Monday, February 29, was our day to explore Lake Havasu City, about 30 miles north of us.  We made the obligatory stop at the London Bridge.  THE London Bridge was brought from its original location in London, England, in 1968, for $2.4 million.  The bridge was dismantled, block by block and moved to Arizona and, was re-dedicated at its new site in 1971.  It has become Arizona’s second largest tourist attraction, after the Grand Canyon.

         Lake Havasu City had four intersting microbreweries and Mike and Sandy, good sports that they are, agreed to explore them with us over the next few days.  We liked College Street Brewhouse and Pub the best, which is where this photo was taken.

          On our return to the RV park, we drove across Parker Dam, which created Lake Havasu, around and read the signs. Built between 1934 and 1938, it extended 235 feet below the riverbed, making it the deepest dam in the world.  The building of this dam was quite controversial and to this day Arizona would like to renegotiate the terms of the water and power alotment agreements!  It primarily distributes water to Southern California.

         Tuesday, March 1, we were off to do some more exploring.  This time we went to Oatman, AZ, an “authentic western ghost town and gold mining camp” on the old Route 66.  Famous for its street-wandering burros it draws lots of tourists, us included.  We had lunch in the old hotel, explored the shops, and all agreed this was a great place NOT to live!  The burro in the photo was licking the rocks in the old ore cart.

         We hadn’t had enough travel over rough roads yet, so on Wednesday we drove to Swansea Town Site.  Located about 30 miles NE of Parker, AZ, this mining camp was once a flourishing copper mine.  The mine was worked by various owners from 1862 to 1944, when the final owner declared bankruptcy.  At one point the town had 500 people, a movie theater, and a hospital.  Today, the shells of a few of the buildings remain.  The photo shows the ruins of the old smelter.

         In all our travels and explorations we had driven through the Sonoran Desert several times.  Wildflowers were in abundance as well as several cactus varieties.  We saw lots saguaro cacti, which are unique to this area.  I read somewhere these cacti grow 1” year!  

          We also saw blooming prickly pear cactus, barrel cactus, and teddy bear cholla.

          Blooming sand verbena

       

          Blooming creosote bush

          Flowering brittle bush.  And lots and lots more.  A great time of year to drive through the desert.

         While we were in Emerald Cove, the days were quite warm for February…low 90’s a couple of days, but, of course it’s a dry heat!  The evenings were beautiful with lows into the high 50’s.  We had little light pollution and a new moon, so the stars were glorious!  Since Mike and Sandy’s RV site was right on the beach of the Colorado River and it was lovely to sit outside to listen to the river flow by as we talked and talked.  

         One late afternnon we had an unexpected visitor come wandering up the beach!  Burros are all over this area and it’s a stretch to call them wild.  They liked to hang out on the golf course, enjoying all that lovely green grass.  Since we had no carrots to offer, this gentleman agreeably wandered on.

         Join me next time for more Arizona adventures!