Still at Lake Havasu …

It’s been a very peaceful, warm sunny week at Lake Havasu.  No snow or rain or hail to report, just one nice warm day after another.  Shorts and sandals are the order of the day around here.

Today it was a short hike up a nearby mountain with a good view of the lake and runway 14 at the Lake Havasu airport. 

This little guy was lounging on the rocks and agreed to pose for a couple of photos.

 

Yesterday while hiking along the channel under London Bridge, I came across this group who were flying a fancy twin-engined R/C plane out of a parking lot just back of the beach.  It was equipped with moveable cameras, and all kind of high tech communications.  They had a virtual ‘mission control’ set up with more electronics, directional antennas, and computers to monitor the flight.

On the channel, the local outrigger canoe club was out touring, and I got this shot of both the Sherrif’s boat and the Havasu police boat on the water together.  I imagine there are fights for this assignment!

In one of the parking lots, I came across this dog and it’s owner out for a ride.

 

They like their lighthouses around here.  I haven’t counted them, but there must be 10 or 15 at least.

Hailey gets to come along most days if it is not too hot for her in the truck.  Here, she’s exhausted from watching me do laundry.

Back at home, she tests the reinforced window coverings mentioned in the last post.

 

A couple of views of the neighborhood at Craggy Wash.  There is a large lizard that lives up here, but so far has been too shy to photograph.

 

There is also a group of small bats that come out every evening to do aerobatics while they feed on the flying insects, and of course the hummingbirds are always evident here, seeming more attracted to the yellow flowers on the area bushes than the many feeders hanging from area RV’s.

And of course the ‘tabby tiger’ gets out whenever she can to climb the cliff in search of prey.

Lots of RV rigs on the road today – most headed northward.  I guess the great migration has begun.

I imagine we will be following suit fairly shortly, but we do not want to risk the foul weather that the Bayfield Bunch have been encountering on their final push north.  I suspect that not many miles will pass before we find another location that needs further exploration.  I would like to have a look at the new bridge by Hoover Dam for example, but not sure if there are any good boondocking spots in that area?  I know there are further north on Lake Mead, but not sure if I want to commit to getting on the north side of the canyon just yet.

Seen on the back of a ‘Toad’ recently!

That’s it for this time.

Lake Havasu

Well, our ‘undetermined location’ turned out to be Lake Havasu, and Craggy Wash turned out to be our camp spot again.  Temp was 84F as we rolled through town – as you may be able to see on this sign?

But really, there has not been anything going on at all that rates getting a blog post.  Mostly, we’ve just been hanging out, watching more hummingbirds, picking up broken glass, and trying to capture bugs and lizards (Hailey).

Of course, Spring Break is underway here, but it seems the only action is at the ‘channel’ by the London Bridge.

When I drove into town, I was not sure that spring break was actually underway – till I saw the planes towing huge banners across the sky in front of the beach areas.  That’s a sure-fire sign, if you will pardon the pun.

Then the weather took a bit of a turn and actually rained one night, which made it a bit cooler since. 

This provided a good opportunity to do some maintenance work, and a chance to slag the maker of my rig – Forest River.  They apparently designed and built the drawers in the rig to withstand the rigors of being empty - while parked!  The rear of this set of drawers is hanging from a couple of inadequate connectors – no screws, no glue, and no support from below!  And all the drawers in the rig (16 of them at last count) are put together with staples and not one drop of GLUE!  I know they want to keep the weight down, but glue is not heavy, and would have increased the strength by 10 times.  Come on Forest River – how about a little quality construction? I have been adding glue to all the drawers – even the ones that have not fallen apart yet.  Don’t get me wrong.  Overall, I have been very pleased with the rig, and it is called an ‘ultralight’, but there is no excuse for some of the shortcuts that reduce the quality without increasing the weight.

 

Anyway, I had scored some very light plywood at Bouse, so I cut up some little pieces and used them to reinforce the drawer supports, and added a critical support from below.  In another reno done at the same time, I reinforced the supports for the window ‘coverings’ in the bedroom.  Since these were never designed to have an 8 pound cat jumping on and off them, I won’t fault Forest River in this case.  But they are now strong enough to stand up to regular cat traffic.  I’l try to get some pics later to show how they are used!

Weather reports for moving on have not been that encouraging.  I saw on the news that all roads into Yosemite have been closed – after they received another 3 feet of snow in some locations.  I checked the weather forecast for Kanab Utah and see that they are still hitting the sub-freezing temperatures every night.  Cross those two places off my list for a while.

The web cam shot from home in Lake Louise does not look that appealing yet, either!

I am really glad to be right where I am after reading about the ‘worst winds ever’ the Bayfield Bunch encountered while camped near Canyon de Chelly NP.

Then, I read about another area of bad weather in California on The MoHo and Other Traveling Tales, where they hit snow on the mountain passes and a break-in at their storage unit and motorhome.

Even Wandering Willy hit some snow on the last leg of his journey, as he completes his blog posting for this trip.

Makes me glad to be right here.  I think I will take advantage of the cooler temperatures here today, and go for a hike somewhere !

Firsts!

We’ve had quite a number of ‘firsts’ on this expedition.

First time to the Texas coast, first wild alligator, first armadillo, first large groups of Javelinas, and likely a bunch of firsts I have already forgotten.

Today, however we did a couple more.  Today is Hailey’s first birthday.  This is a bit of a guess – as she was born in a barn as a ‘wild’ farm cat, but it’s as close as we can get. 

This was not really her birthday present, but she was pretending it was!

Also, today I found my first hummingbird nest, complete with hummingbird and egg!  It was in a Palo Verde tree and only about 5’ from the ground.  I had seen a hummingbird hanging around the area and suspected there might be a nest in a really bushy tree close by, but found it quite exposed actually.  I took a photo or two of her sitting on the nest, but then waited until I saw her head out on a long flight before approaching the nest for other photos.  

If only I had Al’s camera and skills from the Bayfield Bunch, and we could have had some really good photos!

It’s been a bit warm for hikes in the middle of the day, but I’ve been out a few times fairly early to look around some of the small peaks just behind where we are camped.

I could see this hole in a rock from the campsite, and sure enough, I was able to climb right up to check it out!

There was a small memorial on a nearby peak.

And a couple of nearby neighbors.

A lone tree on the ridge top, and a cactus that looked like it should not have survived!

And a cave, that was getting frequent use from something …

And lots of these little guys.  Hailey caught one, but I, um, ‘facilitated’ his escape!

Just up the hill from where I am camped – Bouse, Az in the distance.

(Same ending as last time!)

Our plan is to stay here for an undetermined length of time, then head to an undetermined location.  But that plan could change.