Into Zion

It's Monday the 9th as we start this post in Zion - our home until Friday morning. Arrived, as scheduled, last Friday afternoon. Prior to Zion we had a three night stay at Big Bend of the Colorado in Laughlin, NV, and a two night stay in Valley of Fire State Park 50 miles north of Las Vegas.

Big Bend is a very clean state park located on the banks of the Colorado River. It's relatively new and has full RV hookups (water, electric, and sewer).The river level is down dramatically from what we experienced our last time here and very sad to see. The drought in the West, the population growth, and the increase in agricultural irrigation are really taking it's toll on the Colorado.

We did not visit any of the casino's in Laughlin, but were tempted to do so. What we did do is make a big scenic loop drive around the area. Drove from Laughlin to Golden Valley and on to Kingman AZ where we got on Historic Route 66 and drove it up over the mountains to the old mining town of Oatman. From there we continued to Hwy 95 and back north to Bullhead City where we crossed back over the Colorado to Laughlin.

Valley of Fire SP has been a stop for us about four times now over the years of Western travel. It's full of bright red sandstone formations, very remote, but still only an hour drive to Lake Mead to let Breezie swim in the lake. There are several marina's on the north shore of Lake Mead between Vegas and the State Park. All are no longer in operation due to the drastic low water levels, but the boat launches are still available to use and make a good place for dogs to get into the water. They are concrete and therefore also make a great drying off area to keep Breezie free of sand and dirt before getting back into the car.

Here are the pictures we selected for you -

Big Bend of the Colorado State Park Campground

Looking up the Colorado from Big Bend towards Laughlin

Restored 1953 Bel-Air police car in front of the Kingman police station. We got on Rt 66 in Kingman

Many sections of Route 66 can be found across the US.
This is the longest section that is still maintained

Old gas station still open but more of a junk store.  No gas!

Rt 66 winding it's way through the Arizona mountains

More of Route 66. It is quite scenic

Downtown Oatman, AZ on RT 66
An old mining town now just a tourist trap noted for the wild burrows that wonder through town looking for people to feed them

Blue Boy at home in Valley of Fire

Campfire and cocktails

Everywhere you look is visually gorgeous

Arch Rock...an example of wind and water over millions of years

Ancient petroglyphs 

Jim reaching for my wine that I stashed in a cubbyhole at camp. He thinks he's being sneaky!

Boat launch on Lake Mead where we took Breezie to get wet in the Colorado.
If you look at the far shoreline the "normal" water level is at the top of the white colored rocks.
It has to be over 100' lower then it should be.

Breezie swimming

Canyon Hike

Road trippin' through Valley of Fire

Full Moon.....view from camp

Happy Hour and I'm happy. Climbed up onto this alcove that was at camp behind the rig. 

Today, as I start this new blog page, it is Saturday, February 28th and our last day in Borrego Springs.

Obviously, having been here for a month and only one post, we have not been good bloggers. Sorry!

The first week went fast with Patty P visiting. A big Super Bowl Sunday dinner our second day here, "Settling in" on Monday. And then a day trip to Palm Springs on Wednesday to take Patty to the airport for her return flight home and to do some serious shopping at Costco.

Before we knew it week one was over.

We had an option to stay in our "site" for a second month (March) and had to decide soon if we wanted it. Our original plan was to stay through March then head home. However, early into week two we questioned our ability to stay in one place for so long. Being good "campers" we notified the management that we did not plan to stay beyond the end of February. The RV Resort had just added 20 new sites and were not full so we knew if we wanted to stay longer we would have no problem.

By the end of week two it seemed we had been here "forever". The decision was made at that time to move on March 1st.

Got through week three by concentrating on the positive - sunshine & blue sky, 80 degrees without humidity, hot tub & pool, exercise room, and good neighbors with a young Golden Retriever named Murdock for Breezie to play with. And, Sue Cox (Few) drove in from Malibu to spend the night and get her "fix" of Flytrap's 4-Peppercorn sauce. She brought two great bottles of wine to go with the filet mignons so it was another "all good" weekend.

Heading into week four, we wanted out but had already paid. We loved the sunshine but the desert "sun"is very intense and are now ready to head North tomorrow in search of cooler temperatures.

When we leave here tomorrow our destination will be Zion National Park. We were able to reserve a one week stay in their campground with hookups starting Friday the 6th. Stops along the way include Big Bend of the Colorado State Recreation Area just south of Laughlin Nevada, and Valley of Fire State Park just north of Las Vegas.

Although the current West Coast cool down has brought snow to Zion today, it looks like the cold will move out by the time we get there and we should have sunny days in the 60's during our stay. Actually looking forward to it.

From there, we don't know for sure, but we will begin to work our way East. Currently considering stops in Page, AZ, Lee's Ferry, AZ, back to the Phoenix or Tucson area, Las Cruces, Hill Country of Texas, then Galveston Island State Park for a little "beach time" before turning North for home.

Below are some pictures from our stay in Borrego.

Weird dude at the pool.... an "every day" occurance along with the hot tub

Another Golf course view

And another.....

View from our back yard

Very interesting clouds around here. This is what is called a "Hole Punch Cloud".
 I guess they are rare to see so we are lucky

Breezie and her buddy Murdock at the dog park. They are at the park every day at least twice
a day. Not too long before we got here, Murdock had swallowed a whole tennis ball and had to have surgery to remove it!!! Also inside his stomach were 2 large rocks. He is a naughty 8 month old boy; but so darn cute  

We now have 3 Goldens at the dog park every day. The little boy wearing the vest is Nalu and he is 4 months old. He didn't back down a bit! What a cutie

Breeze getting her chops in on the action

Our neighbors; Murdock and Suzette. Murdock is staring at Breezie and he wants to play

Indian Head.... another cool metal sculpture in the Borrego Desert

T Rex! Love the mountains in the background. ARRRRRRR!

Jim with his 2 "Babes"
 Sue from Malibu & Ellen Jo from Elkhart

Hanging with the Old Boys

Jurassic Park?

Lunch at Rams Hill Golf Resort. Great Views

A true oasis in the desert

One of the many Beautiful sunsets

Adios Borrego Springs.....See you next year

It's now Tuesday, March 2nd and we made it to Big Bend of the Colorado yesterday afternoon.  It rained the entire trip and continued to rain until mid-morning today. The temperature is a little cooler now than we have experienced so far on this Southwest "swing", but the forecast is for clearing and warming weather the next 10 days. Ellen is excited about finally being able to wear a pair of her cowboy boots. She brought a "stash" of 7 pairs (yes 7 pairs) thinking she was going to be the belle of Borrego, but boots were not the fashion of the park.

The State Park we are in is, obviously given it's name, on the Colorado River. We are on the Nevada side in Laughlin. The other side is Arizona and Bullhead City. Laughlin is full of casinos. Not near Las Vegas style, but still pretty big for being out in the middle of nowhere. The bigger town is Bullhead City having grown over the years due to the legal gambling just across the bridge.

That's it for now!

First week in Borrego Springs

As mentioned previously, we arrived at The Springs at Borrego RV Resort in the dark.  Set up "camp" and had several well earned cold beverages. When we awoke in the morning and looked outside we saw our first blue sky in days.

Our front yard

So, now it's Super Bowl Sunday and time to party. Everyone parties on Super Bowl Sunday but to watch it outside in 75 degree temperatures was special.

We whipped up a "Super" dinner of lobster, filet, and creamed spinach. YUM!  Look at the size of these suckers.....

We all had a glass of wine (or 6) as well.Disappointed in the results of the game but at least it was a good fight.

Now we are into Monday and Patty only has today and tomorrow to see a little of Borrego Springs. The two ladies got in the car and came back 6 hours later. They drove around to look at the metal sculptures of free standing creatures that roamed the valley millions of years ago. They are all around in the desert and are life sized. Dennis Avery (of the Avery paper company and  the "post it" notes fame) fell in Love with Borrego Springs and he purchased mega parcels of land so that people could enjoy for free and never to be built upon. He commissioned a famous Spanish metal sculptor and below are just a few of his works of art. It is truly Awesome! Ate lunch in town and did a little shopping. Jim got caught up on some book work, took a long walk with Breezie; enjoyed us being gone and used the fitness center.

Patty is showing off her new cowboy boots

Our very favorite....The Serpent. It is so large that you are only seeing part of him. The rest of him is across the road 

It got to be cocktail hour about 4 pm so we loaded up our glasses and headed for the hot tub and pool.

It's now Tuesday and Patty's last night.  The three of us started off with a late lunch / early dinner at a restaurant in town called the Red Ocotillo that had moved to a new location and is now pet friendly, so Breezie was with us.

There is a special place here in the desert called "Font's Point" which offers magical views of the valley "badlands" from it's 1000' elevation. It's very special on any night, but tonight there is a full moon. When lucky, visitors to the top can witness the sun going down on the Western side of the mountain lined valley at the same time the full moon is rising on the Eastern side. Ellen and I got to see the event several years ago.  The hope was we could all see it together tonight.

It's accessible only by 4-wheel drive vehicle and while Ellen and I have been up there before in the CRV I vowed to not do it again because I was scraping bottom and almost got stuck several times not to mention getting lost up there in the dark. So I was not going to try it.  However, Patty being the super travel agent she is, booked us a private Jeep tour with a local outfitter to take us out to the turnoff to the point and up the wash 6 miles to the top. The view was magical as expected. We did see the sun set and the moon rise but simultaneously did not happen tonight.

It's All Good!