NASCAR, Phoenix, AZ

We left Yuma on Wednesday, April 18, and headed to Phoenix to the NASCAR race. The boys got in on Thursday and the next day I went to Payson to spend a couple of days with Travis' family so the guys could "bond." They really said I could stay with them because they could use a cook and cleaning lady. I just knew that would be too much fun, so I opted to go play with the grandsons!



The guys had a good time. I understand that they played about sixteen games of pinochle and that Terry was the "grand poo-pa looser." I was there only one night with all of them there. They stayed up until 2:00 a.m. playing cards. Then they started blowing up air matresses. I apologized to the neighbors the next morning if we kept them awake all night. They assured me that they didn't hear a thing. The RV's are all 20 feet apart. I was surprised that the snoring of four Howards didn't keep them awake!













They all had their favorite drivers. There was lots and lots of souveniers to buy for each driver. Terry had a couple of favorite drivers and so did Shay. Ryan and Travis kind of chose one when they got there. One of Terry's drivers came in second and Shay's came in third.







Ryan and Shay had a chance to try out their sportscaster skills. They were on a big TV screen out in the thoroughfare so everyone could see and hear them. They gave everyone a good laugh.













The afternoon before the boys got there, a man came by and gave Terry two tickets to a race on Thursday night. The guys hadn't bought tickets to that race so Terry and I used them. (Travis and Shay ended up getting there in time for the race so they bought tickets and came, also.) It was fun. What an adrenalin rush to have about 40 race cars start off all together. It was really exciting.








It was wall-to-wall RVs for almost as far as you could see. In this picture, our Condo is right at the top of the big tree. We had a really good spot. It was close to the entrance, close to the grocery store, and close to the portapotties.

I think the guys lived on donuts for breakfast and hot dogs for dinner. I had stocked the trailer with lots of good food, but most of it was still there when I got back.

Like I said, our condo was close to the portapotties. In fact, they were right outside the back of the Condo. It wasn't too bad, but they came pretty early in the morning to empty and clean them. This is a typical "Howard shot."

I think everyone had a really good time. They all left saying that they need have a "father/son " outing again next year. Thanks to all of the wifes for letting the boys come!

Yuma Lakes RV Park, Yuma, AZ

It seems that every time we move, something breaks. On the way to Yuma a week ago, another tire on the pick-up separated. We pulled into a tire shop (not a Les Schwab) and had them cut the bolt holding our spare (the kee to the lock got lost sometime over the last ten years) and they changed our tire for us. As soon as we find a Les Schwab we will have to buy two new front tires to match the two new back tires.

On our way from Cactus Gardens to Yuma Lakes RV Park, just as we pulled into the Park, both of the back spring shackles on the Condo broke. By the time we got to our spot, both tires were slammed together and not rolling too well. There just happened to be an experienced welder in the Park who just happened to have his welder with him. Four hours and $250 later, we were able to finish parking and get on with our "fun" time.

I have only seen Terry read two books since we have been married.
This is the third one. I keep telling him he needs to find more to do and reading would be a good option. He has already finished that book and started another one!

Well, we made another visit back to Mexico. Mama turtle was very lonely and so we decided to adopt a baby for her. Now some of the kids are making lists for when we go back next year. They would be great Christmas gifts if we had room to store all of them. The only thing is, the Mexican man who sold them to us said that they come alive at night so to be careful that they don't run away! They do seem to be in different positions come morning time once in a while.

Yuma Lake is pretty. It is only abut two acres in size. They stock it with fish. Terry caught quite a few bass, but none of them big enough to eat.

The park has people coming and going all of the time. There was a big Freightliner RV hauler that pulled in with a 40 foot 5th wheel behind it. Of course, it wasn't long that we had to go for a walk. Terry was admiring the truck and the owner came out and introduced himself. He suggested that Terry sit in the driver's seat and see how it felt. Come to find out, these people are headed for Emmett in August. Their son races at Firebird Raceway. They stayed in Eagle last year, but someone told them there was a nice little RV park behind a hotel. (We almost bought the hotel years ago, but they wouldn't let us have the RV park with it, so we didn't go through with it.) We gave them one of our cards so they can call us if they need anything while they are in Emmett.

It is really a small world. Last Sunday at Church I met a gal whose Mom and Father-In-Law both graduated from Emmett High school and another gal who was raised in McCall.

It rained one day that we were here. That is the first rainy day that we have had. It seemed kind of nice. The weather has been kind of erratic, cool for a couple of days and then hot for a couple of days. We have had a couple of really windy days. There is so much sand around here that when the wind blows, it turns into a sand storm. It has been warm enough to play in the pool several times. We even got sunburned (and that will be a picture that will not get published!).

We couldn't believe it when we came into Yuma. After driving though nothing but desert, you come into this valley with miles of green fields. They have three growing seasons here. They just finished harvesting lettuce, tomatoes, cantaloupe, an watermelon and have planted corn and grains. After that harvest, they plant cotton. All of their irrigation comes from the Colorado River in big canals and they flood irrigate. The fields look like big lakes when they are being irrigated. Back home we have "Cherry Festival Days." In Yuma they have "Lettuce Days."

No one drinks the water here. It has a lot of sulfa, or salt in it. There are drive-in water vending places. They look like gasoline stations, only you get water there instead of gas. They have had vending machines at both parks. You can get five gallons of water for $1.
You can't be an official RV'er unless you have your US map posted somewhere on your RV. You can tell we are newbee's because we only have four states filled in (we kind of cheated on Nevada because we only drove through Las Vegas and in Montana we only camped in the WalMart parking lot).

We will be leaving tomorrow, Wednesday, to go to Phoenix. The boys are taking Terry to the NASCAR race there this weekend. They are kicking me out to stay with Travis's family. I think I may be getting the better end of the deal. I think I would choose playing with four grandsons over watching cars go around and around in circles for three hours! I'm sure there will be pictures for next week's BLOG.

Yuma, Arizona, Cactus Gardens

Cactus Gardens RV Park in Yuma was a really different park. Most of the people in it had park models that stayed in the park all year, with the owners coming only in the winter, or they rented a lot for all year and just brought their RV and stayed for six months or so during the winter. Some of the places were fixed up really nice. It was also a 55+ park, so no one could stay (unless they were just visiting) if they were not old enough (whew! we were barely old enough!).

Everyone had little golf carts they ran around on. They looked like so much fun, I told Terry I wanted one, but he said I wasn't old enough! We were parked on the corner by the office and every morning we would get woken up by all these old people zipping around in their golf carts to come and check the mail! I just knew they were going to run into one another sometime!


They still had a few activities going on. Most of the organized activities end the first of April, but the residents do some on their own. They were all so nice and invited us to play volleyball in the pool and to play card bingo. Card bingo is really close to gambling, but we rationalized it deciding that $1.60 each was just entertainment (although we did win and came out $.50 ahead).









They are really having a big illegal
alien issues here in Yuma, since the border is only about ten miles away. While we were here, President Bush came in Air Force One. Our RV park was quite close to the airport, so I am sure that one of the planes we heard come in was his.









We went to Mexico to a town called Algodones. It pretty much caters to Americans. There must be a hundred dentists and optometrists there, also a lot of pharmacies. We got some really cheap drugs, some for us and some for our kids. Our daughter's inhalers for her asthma was 3/$6.38. She pays over $30 for one at home.











I decided to visit one of the dental offices. One of the ladies in the trailer park gave us a name of one that she has gone to for several years. She said she really liked her and that she did a good job. It was kind of scary, but now I have a new and improved smile!













We ate in a really nice restaurant in Algodones. I was trying to set the camera on the timer mode and get a picture of us and a nice man volunteered to take this picture. Two Mexican men played the keyboard and sang to us during the meal.












You can see by this picture that Terry enjoyed shopping in Mexico. He wore his white straw hat and everyone knew he was a sucker for the ceramics. I think he must be related to my Mom. He has decided that the turtle is a little lonely, though, and needs some family. We may be making another trip back to Mexico before we leave Yuma! The only bad thing is that if you don't get there early and leave early, you have to wait in line from 1-2 hours to get through customs. It took us over an hour but we visited with everyone around us so it didn't seem so long.

Lake Havasu, AZ

Jill, Dan & kids only stayed one night with us at Lake Havasu. It was a nice RV Park. The members stayed across the street with the really nice swimming pool and nicer spots.

The Coast-to-Coast people (that is us) stayed on the other side with the smaller pool and RV sites, but we could swim where we wanted to and we all co-mingled for the activities.

We ate breakfast one morning at the club house and one evening we played bingo (we didn't win anything). Everyone was really friendly.

Lake Havasu is a really pretty lake. We went fishing one morning. They say they catch a lot of fish out of it, but we didn't have any luck. I keep forgetting to take the camera with me. I will try to do better.

We rode a ferry boat across to the California side to a casino on an Indian reservation (the lake is made by the Colorado River, which is the boarder between Arizona and California). It took about 20 minutes. We walked around, waded in the water a little, and then took the ferry back.

London Bridge was brought from England by the Mr. McCullough of chainsaw fame, and rebuilt at Lake Havasu City. It crosses a channel of the Colorado River. We crossed it over to an Island where there was a bike path. As we were riding our bike, one of the tires split most of the bands holding it together. Thank goodness we were able to finish our ride and get back to the pickup before it went flat. We ended up putting two new tires on the bike. We left Lake Havasu and headed to Yuma.

March (4)

March 31, 2007

Jill and Dan & kids, Boe & Kamber, and Wesley, Ryan’s son, got at our campground at 4:00 a.m. We threw the kids and Jill on the floor and Dan on the couch and everyone slept in until 8:30. It was really good to see them. They just stayed until the afternoon. Dan slept because he had driven all night. The kids played and we took them swimming in the pool, although it was not very warm and the wind was blowing. They went on to Travis’s and we met them on Monday in Wikieup.









We went with Bob and Lolita to the casinos to eat a couple of times during the week and we took a boat ride where we learned all about the history of the Colorado River and about the casinos in Laughlin, which is on the Nevada side of the river from Bull Head City. Terry and Bob both lost their three quarters in the slot machines and that satisfied their gambling urges. We listened to the free entertainment in one of the casinos a couple of nights.


















Some other campers told us about some Indian petroglyphs just outside of Laughlin. It was a little bit of a walk to see them, but they were really good. There was a very knowledgeable lady there taking pictures and she told us all about them. She told us about some really good ones on the way to our campground in Flaming Gorge in Utah that we are planning on going to in May.

































We had a good time in Bullhead City. After going to Church on Sunday, we left the next morning to go back to Wikieup to spend the rest of the week there with Jill and Dan and the kids.

The boys spent a lot of time lizard hunting. They got to be pretty good at catching them. Jill decided that all lizards would be much happier staying in the desert rather than being in a cage in Idaho.

We spent time going for walks. One of the favorite pastimes on these walks was throwing rocks at the teddy bear cholla cactus. The balls on them fall off and in a year or two there is a forest of chollas. There is evidence from this concept proven by the Howard kids over the years all along the roads.

I was so excited to have Jill and Kamber there to help me finish my project of the Levi quilt. In fact, everyone got involved in the tying of the quilt before it was finished.

We spent some time riding Grandpa’s little red motorcycle. Everyone got a ride.

We had fun playing in the Big Sandy River. We found a place just down from where we turn onto our road. It wasn’t very deep, but it was a totally sandy bottom. There isn’t always water running in the Big Sandy, but we were luck that there was some this year. We had to wait until Friday, the last day the kids were there, for it to be warm enough to play in the water.

We did a lot of lying around and had a restful time with the kids. Dan did help Terry fix a broken wire on the fence around the house. It made a big enough space that a wild burro or a calf could have gotten in and maybe caused some damage. It was good to leave with it fixed.





















The kids learned about taking their shoes off before coming into the house. I really hurt to step on a cactus sticker in your bare feet. We had quite a collection of shoes on the doorstep. Everyone had a pair of walking shoes and a pair of “outhouse” shoes we wore if we were just visiting the outhouse and then coming back into the house.












Friends from home, Russ and Louise Manwaring surprised us and stopped and stayed a night with us. They were traveling during Spring Break (Louise teaches school). It was so good to see someone from home. Russ is a birder and it is always interesting to go on walks with him in the desert because he teaches us so much.



The kids helped us close up “The Little House in the Desert” and we left on Friday to go to a campground at Lake Havasu. We hope everything is okay until be get back after Thanksgiving this fall.

Lake Havasu is a beautiful lake. We got to go swimming with the kids a couple of times before they left Saturday night to go home.











They did help me celebrate my birthday that day. We had birthday cake with candles that I needed help from everyone to blow out!











Jill and I got our hair cut that day













and then Terry gave me a birthday gift of coloring my hair. He helped me pick out a nice light brown color on the hair swatch, but I turned out to be a red-head! Oh well, I guess it will grow out and I can cut it and try again.


Now comes the two months of harassment until Terry catches up with me in age!

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.