January 27th -February 2nd Laughlin NV and Bull Head City AZ
We left the Lone Tree BLM by 9:30 am and after fueling up just before I-40 we ended up in Laughlin by 11:30. 10:30 am actually with the time change, back on Pacific Standard Time.
It's time to plug in and flush everything as it had been about 7 weeks we've been dry camping. The Riverside Casino has a great special $99 plus tax ($108) for the week with full 50amp hookup and it included 2 free dinner buffet tickets and 2 breakfast buffet tickets. (We chose the most expensive buffets, Seafood Night and Champagne Brunch worth $66) The resort also has a hot tub for Ray over at the hotel. So basically we're only paying $33 for 7 days or $6 per day! Thanks Wayne and Karen for the tip. Totally worth it even for condo camping. The site we were given is a double site and quite large, a good 20 feet on each side of us between units. Although noisy during the day with the nearby airport … by 10pm it's quiet all night.
I seem to have caught some kind of virus and woke up Thursday morning with severe stomach cramps and a headache. No Happy Hour for me! Anyways, stayed close to home for most of the day doing laundry. We did tour the casino though, and their antique car display which is pretty cool. We drove to the Arizona side of the river for Ray to scout out some good photo ops of the casinos for night shots. We also went down the strip to check out any other camping spots. Above the Laughlin Riverside Lodge, their upper parking lot has people dry camping. We talked to one gentleman and he said that they do not get bothered and they even have a dumpster, so good info for future use. They also have a great view looking over the strip and river.
Apparently the Harrah’s dry camping area has a sani-dump for $10 at the gas station and the Tropicana has a dry camping area and you register with security and then there is a free dump you can use. We checked it out and yes this is all true. You probably have access to their outdoor pool as well.
Friday I still have the virus but my stomach felt a little better and the headache came and went most of the day. We decided to tour the Telephone Cove Recreation site on Mohave Lake as well as the Davis Dam. Very beautiful. The road in to Telephone Cove is too rough for the 4 miles down to the lake for the coach but it was a nice place to visit.
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| Telegraph Cove |
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| Davis Dam |
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| Lake Mohave above and below |
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| Davis Dam Trail |
We drove back home for me to tend more laundry and Ray went into Bullhead City to get some lunch for us to take on a picnic. Once he returned it was off to the Big Bend of the Colorado State Park to check out the campsites and have a picnic on the River. $9 for day use.
What a lovely spot for a picnic but I am sure it is packed in the summer when the temps skyrocket. Freya enjoyed the sand and had a great time swimming. The first time since Roosevelt Lake in November.
We attended the Seafood Buffet for dinner on Friday night and it was pretty good, especially since it is free with the coupons. Fortunately my stomach seemed to handle the food okay.
Saturday we woke up early, still getting used to the time change, losing an hour but it is nice that the sun rises earlier so Freya can get her walk in without Ray stumbling around in the dark. By 8:30 we were out the door and went up the highway a short way to the turn-off to Grapevine Canyon and followed the gravel road for 2 miles to the trailhead. Walking up the 1/4 mile well defined trail we found hundreds of petroglyphs, the best we have seen yet and very clear drawings. Absolutely awesome. This must have been a village that existed here for quite some time to have so many drawings in one area on both sides of the wash. Ray took 36 pictures, but here's a couple of them.
Next it was the short drive to Kathryn's Landing on Mohave Lake. Camping spots mostly way too small for us and who wants to pay $20 for no hookups. Mostly for houseboats and launching your boat to spend the day on Lake Mohave.
After stopping home to drop Freya off, it was time for lunch at the Colorado Belle Casino. This is an old paddle wheeler they have permanently grounded and houses a casino and a microbrewery, so beer was definitely the draw for us. They also had great burgers cooked over hardwood briquettes … yummm.
Outside the casino this motor bike was parked. The graphics were amazing … kind of like the stuff Kount’s Kustom does in Vegas.
A taxing picture morning for Ray so he was grounded on ice for the rest of the day to be able to take a few night shots after dark of the nightlights on the strip.
Sunday 1:45am received a call from Kristi in Fort Lauderdale, Jason went out for a walk because he could not sleep and had been missing for 5 hours. Security was trying to find him checking everywhere on the hotel grounds. Kristi was told to call the police. Apparently the police had found him wandering on the beach completely out of it and thought he was drunk and took him to jail. Somehow he ended up at the hospital and assaulted an EMT and cut her lip as they were restraining him to try to get a blood sample. The blood alcohol sample was 4 times the legal limit??? Turned out her lip required 1 stitch. Kristi finally found him in the local county jail lock-up. Apparently he is quite out of it. Kristi mentioned that he was “off” on the plane ride down and making some derogatory comments towards her as he had not slept in 2 days. Apparently when his anxiety levels are way up this is what happens.
I found the Canadian Consulate phone number and texted her. She called them and got a list of lawyers so she had someone to call. The lawyer took her $600 deposit that she was able to get and he saw Jason in the afternoon on Sunday but he was still out of it. Kristi was not be able to see him. They hope to get the charges dropped due to medical reasons …. I think he has had a complete mental breakdown.
We used our free breakfast coupons on the Champagne Brunch today and then just stayed home as Kristi was calling every hour, so no point going anywhere. I only got 3 hours sleep plus one more hour and Ray only got about 4 hours as well. I am sure we will go to sleep early tonight. We took the dog for a walk up the road in the sand and tired her out chasing her ball. As predicted by noon the black clouds and wind have moved in … we might get some of the forecasted rain this afternoon so it is good that Freya is sleeping.
Monday morning the lawyer spoke to Jason and he was able to make bail … he seems more coherent so must have got some sleep. It will take 5 hours before they release him and then we will have to see what is next. Kristi is supposed to get supporting documentation from Jason’s doctor. The hope is that no charge will actually get laid. The best part is that Jason’s lawyer used to work for the Judge that is handling Jason’s case. Fingers Crossed. Don’t know if they will just catch up with the cruise or fly home … depends on the outcome regarding the charges if they stick.
Jason was released Monday afternoon, and the kids were on a flight first thing out of Florida to Kelowna via Toronto. Don’t know what the final outcome will be. He posted bail of $5000 of which Kristi had to pay $500. He definitely has a concussion but whether he received it before being arrested or after is still to be determined.
The last day before we left, we took the short drive to the old town of Oatman Arizona. What an interesting place.
Even saw a shoot out between 2 guys on the main street.
Yup this is Route 66 on the way to Kingman (looking back towards Oatman). We only drove a few miles so see how windy it actually is!
February 3-6 Fantasy Springs Casino, Indio California
Instead of heading further north we decided to go south to Palm Springs as it's much warmer. Our original destination, the Mohave Desert National Preserve, is slated to have temperatures below freezing at night … and only up to 52 F during the day at 4200 feet. Way too cold. After arriving on Wednesday at Indio’s Fantasy Springs Casino’s parking lot, we set up and then sat outside to enjoy the rest of the afternoon. It sure was warmer here than Laughlin.
Thursday we did a little more touring around Palm Springs to the Revival Stores and Costco. We stopped for lunch at the Emperor’s Buffet Yumm.
Friday was a cooking day for me to get stuff ready for our own personal Super Bowl Party!. After the chili simmered in the slow cooker and the other dishes prepped, I took off to the Walmart a few miles down the road and picked up a few things on the list. Back at home by 1:30 we sat in the shade side of the coach chucking the ball for Freya. She loves the sandy lot behind us.
Saturday, we did the hour run into San Bernadino to return the chair we've packed around for 2 months! They did not have any replacements, so we will see about getting another lounger in Canada. Now we are good to go back into the boonies!
February 7th, Salton Sea, Super Bowl Sunday
We only stayed 1 night. Corvina Beach, our intended destination was very, very smelly. We made a unanimous decision to pay the $30 at the “New Loop” full hookup campsite even though smelly and get caught up on laundry, watch the Super Bowl and head north the next day. Although only 30 amp with the windows open it's bearable in the 80 plus degree temps as I could not run air and laundry at the same time. Only a few shore bird here at this time of year. Ray tried walking in bare feet on what he thought is a sandy beach..... not. It's all crunched up shells, which stuck in this feet. The place stinks because when the wind comes up, it creates turbulence below, which stirs up the globules of rotted fish laying on the bottom. YUCK!
February 8th - North Joshua Tree BLM Area
Monday morning up by 6, packed up inside, water tanks full and black and grey tanks empty, we were off by 9am. Stopped for fuel at the Pilot Station at North Palm Springs and continued on to the North Joshua Tree BLM. (This fuel station is kinda hard to get into and only 4 lanes for Trucks. The best roads to get into the dry lake off of Sunfair Road are Broadway and further up Sunflower Road. Miles of dispersed camping. Need to be careful in soft sand though. And if it’s going to rain, get the “h…..l out of dodge. We spent the afternoon on the shady side of the motorhome relaxing.
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| Mt San Gorgonio in the morning sun |
Joshua Tree Park entrance is fairly close and the Indian Cove Campground as well. Ray is in picture haven! Tuesday morning we drove off to check out the Indian Cove campground which have water and dump station, and then onto Black Canyon Campground in Joshua Tree National Park. The Black Canyon campground has a few spots we would fit, but I don’t think we could get into their dump station. Not worth the bother for $30. We did dump our garbage though and filled up a container of water.
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| Black Canyon Campsite above and below |
The Indian Cove campground is situated among boulders people can climb. Kind of like the Jumbo Rock Campground we toured last year in Joshua Tree. Great picture taking opportunities for Ray. The only spots we would fit is in their group campground area that you have to reserve ahead. Don’t know how much that would cost??? Seems like $25-50 according to the website if they would let us use it.
The temps are mid 70’s in the afternoon with a gentle breeze … perfect. The solar is working great as well and keeping up, now that the sun is higher in the sky.
Lots of open space here in this dry lake. However, we did get a cling-on after a couple of days! Just 100 feet away when the whole place only has 1/2 a dozen other campers. Oh well he'll have to put up with the generator on at 5:30 am!
February 10th
I spent the day baking bread, buns and a big patch of cabbage rolls. We were both sitting outside in the shade by 3pm. Absolutely gorgeous.
February 11th - Big Morongo Canyon Preserve
Thursday morning it was off to the Big Morongo Canyon Preserve. Freya will stay home as dogs are not allowed. We enjoyed a leisurely walk along some boardwalk viewing the marsh. Very lovely.
February 12th - Indian Cove Campsite
Friday morning, Ray is up early to get some sunrise shots at Indian Cove Campground. When he came back, it was my turn to go into town for a haircut, pedicure (for my Valentine’s present) and a few groceries and then back in the shade with a few cool bevies. The country ribs were cooking nicely in the slow cooker, so just had to make some veggies for dinner.
February 13th - Whitewater Canyon Preserve
Saturday after our one coffee and Carolan’s, and breakfast we were off to Whitewater Canyon Preserve with Freya in tow. What a gorgeous place for Ray to take some pictures.
While waiting for Ray to bring his tripod from the car I spotted this lizard basking in the sun.
They even have trout ponds.
Absolutely stunning views around the ponds. They also have a tent camping area with tables on site and hold seminars etc. This is also part of the Pacific Crest Trail.
Freya was able to get a drink from the little stream entering this pool. She sure wanted to just get in the water with the kids though.
Part of the Pacific Crest Trail going through the preserve.
Another enjoyable short trip.
February 14th - Hidden Valley
What a glorious sunrise this morning!
Sunday, after coffee and Eggs Benedict for Valentines, we drove into town and picked up some KFC and then went for a drive into Joshua Tree Park to scope out some more sunrise and sunset venues for Ray to take pictures. One area we didn't explore last year called the Hidden Valley, has the most promising views of rocks and Josuha Trees, so I think Ray will be there tomorrow am. There were tons of people in the park today … did not find out until later that it was “free day”. When we came through the West park entrance towards home, there's a mile of cars lined up to get into the park. No sunset pics tonight as it clouded over this afternoon. Besides, I am making Prime Rib for our dinner tonight.
Here are a few of the wonderful pictures that Ray was able to take today on our drive.
See the Aerial guy?
Mount San Gorgonio poking up in the distance.
Monday morning while Freya and I stayed in bed, Ray departed by 5:20am to get the sunrise pictures where we scouted yesterday. He arrived back home shortly after 8am with a big smile on his face, so he must've been successful. Here are a few of his best pictures.
Tomorrow we move further north to Sawtooth Canyon BLM.
Sawtooth Canyon February 16-21
Tuesday morning after dishes, vacuuming and washing floors, we were on the road by 9:15 a.m. Highway 247 is in pretty good shape for the most part, although we hit a couple of good unmarked woopdedoo’s! Curse words may have been mentioned as everything clattered inside the coach. No damage though. We passed through the Johnson Valley and then Lucerne Valley and made the swing up into the hills towards Barstow. Looking towards our final destination we could see black smoke. As we got closer and closer it looked like it would be at the campsite. As it turned out, the fire is only a mile from our turnoff on Highway 247. Some poor guy in his work truck is up in smoke! We carefully passed him and the 6 cars/trucks stopped to help him and carried on our way to the campsite. Only one other set of campers here at the other end of the campsite and only 2 bunches of rock climbers came visiting for a while. Otherwise peaceful all by ourselves.. Another beautiful day.
After setting up and once the sun was setting so the air was cooler I made us a wonderful campfire with the wood we had collected at Fantasy Springs Casino. We had a late lunch and dinner was just heating up some spag so we spent a few hours around the fire watching the stars appear. It was so quiet out.
An absolutely gorgeous campsite. We had a wonderful campfire looking at the stars
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| View towards Barstow |
They even have a dinosaur play park for kids.
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| Dinosaur Hungry |
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| Dinosaur Digesting |
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| Dinosaur Pooping |
Afternoon Entertainment - Rock climbers
Wednesday morning we woke up to another lovely day. The forecast however is for some stiff winds with it clouding up and it did by noon, with the possibility of rain in the evening. So it was a cookie baking day for me and Crockpot Jambalaya for Ray. By 2pm the satellite dish is down and the winds are gusting pretty good. At 10:30 pm I checked the weather on the computer, as originally it was supposed to die down by 10pm, and it's now going to be after 2am before the winds are to dissipate somewhat. I decided to bring in the driver side big slide as the topper is lofting way up and it's very noisy slapping as the coach kept swaying. At 11 pm I decided the bedroom slide needed to come in too. The winds were supposed to gust to 50-60mph and I do not doubt that they did! The rain did come, but nothing substantial. Not much sleep for me until after 1:30 am when the wind dissipated somewhat. Ray of course with his sleeping medication missed most of it until I woke him up to get off the bed to put the slide in. He was back to sleep shortly after. Earlier in the day the ladders Ray laid down beside the coach so as not to rattle on the back of the coach, managed to get blown under the coach and scratched a pretty big area on the bottom of a compartment door. :( We were up at 6am and it seemed relatively quiet so we deployed the slides out and put up the dish. The winds picked up again so the dish came back down by 7:30am. It is supposed to stay pretty windy until this afternoon, so we will have to see if the slides need to come in again or not. Sheesh!
The wind did die down somewhat in the afternoon allowing us to go for a bit of a walk around the rocks in the campground. I did my chores … dishes and started a batch of buns for Ray. I managed to sit outside out of the wind for an hour while Ray dusted the coach and solar panels. By 4pm it's time to go in as it was getting cooler.
Friday morning we woke to cool temps and a beautiful sunny morning. It is supposed to go up to around 70F so we sat outside in the afternoon enjoying the sun. I made Jaeger Snitzel with mushroom gravy … yummm. Ray got some sunrise pictures of the area.
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| That's our flags poking over the rocks |
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| Full moon |
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| Staghorn Cactus in bloom |
Saturday night at 6:30 …. I turned quickly with a kettle in my hand in the kitchen and my slipper got caught in my opposite pant leg and the next thing I knew I was on the floor hitting my head. I ended up with a 2 inch split in my head. Ray needed to cut my hair away from the wound, clean it and stick it back together with bandage tape.
Poor Ray, his back killed him after having to bend over me for so long, but he did a great job. Even the ER doctor I went to Sunday morning at the Barstow Community Hospital, complimented him on the great job. He took pictures with his phone, show me and then I gave him directions on what to do. I ended up with 3 staples at the hospital, which need to be removed in 1 week. It's a good thing we didn't go to the hospital last night, as it was a full moon and they were slammed.
In and out in an hour. Pacific Blue Cross was wonderful getting me a claim number and the Barstow Hospital took the info, phoned Blue Cross for confirmation for payment and so I did not have to pay anything. Very professional, friendly and new hospital.
Now I need a kerchief on to hide the missing hair for a few weeks.
An arch Ray found in the campsite boulders.
Owl Canyon February 22-28
On the road from Sawtooth Canyon by 9:15 am. Ray did most of the straightening up inside this time so I could rest my head. Thanks a bunch hun! We then drove out to the highway, hooked up the car and went straight to the Flying J Travel Center in Barstow where they have a specific area for RV’s to dump, fill with water and fuel up all at the same time. Still took an hour though, but at we weren't driving all over the parking lot for the different things. Diesel is $2.15 per gallon less the 3cents. The dump was $7.50 with the Pilot rewards card.
We arrived just before noon and as I drove ahead and picked out a site, it's pretty easy to get set up. The 5 mile dirt road in is pretty washboard though for Ray. Worth it though, as the campsite features amazing views. Dinner's a snap, as I made extra on Sunday in the crock pot when I got home from the hospital to make an easy dinner with great leftovers today, moving day.
We spent the afternoon, after minimal set-up, in the recliners outside enjoying the view and the sun. A quiet evening watching the tube with Ray in bed on ice and me watching The Bachelor in the front. Bedtime is early at 8:45, as I was pretty tired recovering from my injury. Ray's tired with being in more pain for the past 2 days due to picking up the slack from me and having to stand for 1/2 an hour patching me up. Good time to sit awhile again in one spot.
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| View behind the campsite |
Tuesday morning after coffee and breakfast we took the one way scenic drive into the Rainbow Basin National Natural Area. Wow! Absolutely gorgeous. It is probably only a 1/2 hour drive but with all the stops for pictures it took an hour. There sure are some pretty tight turns crawling around through the channels in the rocks. No way a large truck could make it through.
Here we go! The colours are amazing.
Ray went out early Wednesday morning to take some sunrise pictures in the Rainbow Basin but the colours did not show up as much as the ones we took yesterday. A couple did turn out though.
We enjoyed a lovely afternoon campfire in the afternoon while we sat outside with my special barbecued ribs going on the BBQ as there was minimal wind . Yumm.
Thursday we woke early (5:15am) to a beautiful morning. Morning temp 48.8F. We seem to run out of steam by 8:30/9pm every night and usually manage to sleep until 6am. Not this morning. Oh well. Up and atem’…. Ray got some of his chores done as did I. Changing the bed, floors and organizing our dirty laundry as it has been 18 days since I last did it.
At 9:30 we decided to walk the canyon trail in the campground as far as we felt comfortable and then turn around. What a lovely walk. Freya certainly enjoyed herself sniffing every crack and crevasse.
The colours again were amazing. A great 45 minute walk through the wash. Ray's pretty done by the time we got back and spent an hour on ice in bed. I, however, am doing much better walking and was fine. Yeah!
Finished baking the bread and hamburger buns that were on the go before I left for the walk. Another great day.
Friday it was restock the larder day. I was on the road by 8:45 into Barstow, about a 25 minute drive. Trying to locate good N/A beer for Ray is a challenge. Having my Rand McNally sure works good for me although Ray hates the “bitch in the box”. I at least do not get lost and find my way even if it takes me some other ways. Four stores later it was back to camp at 12:30 pm. On the road to the campground I noticed the colours on the hills were magnificent. The sun was just right. Told Ray to go take a few pictures so off he went after a bite of lunch.
He was very fortunate to come upon a desert tortoise crossing the road. 3 vans of Barstow College students were stopped ahead of him and moved the turtle to the other side of the wash for it’s safety.
Are those kids gone yet?
Okay they are gone! Run!!!
Ray came and got me so I could see the Tortoise. Pretty cool as they are not seen very often. Apparently they nest somewhere around here according to some locals.
One more picture of the great colours in the hills.
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| Blue and yellow mosses |
Saturday morning Ray went into town to see the Barstow Railway Museum.
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| Got yelled at for being on the tracks for this one! |
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| Yard Loci |
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| Old Baggage Car |
Went into Barstow Community Hospital on Sunday morning early and got the staples removed. I barely felt it. Yeah. I asked the RN to remove them if possible as the Doctors were on rounds and I did not want to wait. The Doctor okayed it and I was in and out in 1/2 hour. Back to camp to start packing up as we are back on the road tomorrow.
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| Barstow is on Route 66 |
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