March (3)

March 22, 2007




It was very warm in Wikieup last Friday and Saturday. Our thermometer hit 100 degrees both days.













One day we were sitting in the livingroom trying to keep cool and we saw this big lizard come up onto the front step. This is the largest lizard we had seen. Of course, he didn’t hold still long enough for a good picture. His body was about ten inches long and then his tail was as long as his body. He looked like a small Gila Monster. Instead of scurrying off, he stood on his legs and ran off!


On Sunday we went to Church for the last time at the Wikieup Branch. That day there were only fourteen people there. Terry and I gave the prayers in Sacrament Meeting. Terry then blessed the Sacrament and also passed it. We will miss them until we get back in December.

Monday morning we met up with Terry’s sister and husband, Lolita and Bob Wright, and went to Bullhead City. We have enjoyed being with them. We walked along the Water Walk across the River at Laughlin, had steak and shrimp dinner, and listened to a free Karaoke program. Some of the singers were really good, but some were really bad! We went on a boat ride and learned all about the history of Bullhead City, the Colorado River, and the building of the casinos in Laughlin. We have sat in the hot tub, shopped, ate a lot of food, and played a lot of pinochle.

One day we went to Oatman where the burros roam the streets and they have a gun shootout at least once a day. Afterwards they asked for donations—at gunpoint! It was a lot of fun.










Jill and Dan and the kids will be here tomorrow for part of the day before they head to Travis’ in Payson. We will meet up with them on Monday in Wikieup. Grandma and Grandpa are pretty anxious to see those grandkids, and of course Jill and Dan also!

March (2)

March 14

On Friday, March 9, we hung the gate! After two years of “discussion” with BLM and ADOT, we are finally able to use the old road again. The State even let us borrow a drill for the holes. Unless you have driven the two mile road through Sycamore Wash, you wouldn’t know how nice it is.


We are having a war with the bees. In the past, they have built their hives in the old washhouse and in the little trailer and camper that was by it, but have not bothered much at the house. Now they are invading us. We are working at getting rid of them before our grandkids get her in a week and a half. They are big yellow bees and they look like they could take a hunk out of you if they bit you.

On Monday we drove to Alamo Lake. It is about 80 miles from Wikieup, all dirt road. We ended up on the backside of the lake, across from the State Park and the developed area. The road ended there and didn’t go around the lake. Terry fished for the first time with his new pole from the Bus Garage gang and his Arizona fishing license. He got a couple of good bites, but no fish. I went for a walk and met up with some wild burros. It is a good thing I scared them more than they scared me. Terry was sitting there fishing and watching it happen. Of course, I didn’t have my camera with me.

In this picture, I am just holding Terry’s pole while he went to get our picnic lunch (I don’t have a fishing license.)

I have been busy working on my Levi quilt. I hope to finish sewing it together today and then, with Jill’s help the end of the month, maybe I can get it tied and finished.

We are planning on going to Bullhead City and meet up with Terry’s sister and brother-in-law, Bob and Lolita, at one of our campgrounds for a week. Terry had to get the Condo all washed up. I told him that we were going to have to change a little when we get around people again. I am going to have to comb my hair more often, Terry will have to shave more often and quit running outside to the outhouse in his underwear, and we will not be able to wear the same pair of jeans for four days in a row.

March (1)

March 8, 2007

We left Payson on March 2 with mixed feelings. We enjoyed being with our grandsons and will miss them for a while, but we were anxious to get back to Wikieup, especially because ADOT had our road access permit ready. We stopped in Kingman and picked it up. Finally, after two years, they finally gave us permission to open up the old road with a swinging gate. The gate had to be put in to ADOT specs, which was more than we wanted to do. It is only a year permit, to be extended if the new road is not ready to use. They let us unwire the fence on Saturday to get the Condo in and then not use it until the gate is done. Hurrah!!!





My mom’s brother (and my uncle, although we are close to the same age) and his wife, Terry and Nancy Imlay, came to visit us. They got here on Monday, just in time to give us some expertise advice and good help in getting our gate started. We spent all day Tuesday in Kingman getting parts and pieces and then worked them hard on Wednesday morning.

Wednesday afternoon, we cleaned up and headed to Laughlin, Nevada. Both Terry and Nancy had a bit of luck at the slot machines and at the roulette table. At least they didn’t loose anything. I think we gave them good luck looking over their shoulders. We enjoyed some free music and dancing (at least watching the dancing), enjoyed walking along the waterway, and had a good dinner.





It was fun having Terry and Nancy here. They were our first official visitors. They were good sports about using the outhouse, playing games in the evening with a dim light to save electricity, and putting up with some of my cooking. We made plans with them to come back next year.








The desert is beginning to turn a little green with the bit of rain we have had. Some of Mom’s cacti are beginning to bloom. The Joshua trees have beautiful blooms on them. The peas are doing well. I hope they have real peas on them before we leave in three weeks. I have to keep a screen on them because the little ground squirrels love to eat the tender green plants.