A Recollection of John Dyck

Early this morning the entire Dyck family headed out on their journey's back to Manitoba.  It was much earlier than I ever get up so we did hugs and everything last night.  Julie and Ryan will be catching an early flight out of Las Vegas to head back to Manitoba after a very short vacation here.  This is the first time we have met Ryan and it was great to spend a little time getting to know him.  For all its worth Julie, he certainly gets our stamp of approval.  We loved sharing a little time with Julie as well.

Pat and Harold will drop the kids off at the airport and then they will continue on to Manitoba to attend Harold's fathers funeral on Thursday April 5.  They are driving home in their pickup truck which they used to pull their 5er before they traded for the motor home.  They will then fly back here and they can then both ride back home at a slower pace in their motor home.  We will pick them up from the airport on Friday.

A New Water Pump

The water pump on the Jeep has been leaking a little bit for quite a while now and I had bought a new one way back in Texas so I figured maybe it was time to change it.  A couple days ago I poured some radiator flush in the system to give it a good cleaning so it has had time to work.  It was supposed to be a hot day today, so I decided to pull the Jeep under the awning and into Green's Garage to be in the shade.  If you remember a while ago, Harold made a couple of "snipes" for us out of Kyra's broken lawn chair.  Well this was the perfect time to get out the snipe and put it to good use on the tension pulley of the serpentine belt.  It worked perfectly.

Hoover Dam and Freemont Street

The boys decided that we should tour Hoover Dam today.  Harold and I have been there before but it was a new experience for Ryan and Ed.  We headed out in the morning because this afternoon the girls have a plan for us.  The first stop on the way was to have a look down on the dam from the new bridge.  It is quite an experience to walk across it so high up in the air.  When Harold and I were here in 2010 the bridge was in the construction stage and the center section had not been built yet.  It was just some concrete sticking out of the east and west walls of the Canyon.

How we saw it in 2010

A New Way to Haul Water

We started out as usual with a morning Happy Hour.  Our neighbours even came to join us this morning.  They told us all about their plan for driving up the Dempster Highway all the way to the Arctic Ocean this summer.  That would be a trip of a lifetime for sure.

Now that Julie is here we have an event planner to help us keep our lives on the straight and narrow.  Today her friend Ryan is going to fly into Vegas and join us for a few days so she spent a few minutes getting us prepared for when they return from picking him up.

Charlie gets the Royal Treatment

We have some things to do in town today and one of them is to get Charlie a bath.  He is getting pretty scruffy looking after a winter in the desert so we decided to splurge and get him a trim and a pedicure.

I loved the name of the grooming place...The Soggy Paw.....

They have a self wash area where for $15 bucks you can wash your own dog, or for $45 bucks you can get the full meal deal.  We think Charlie deserves nothing but the best.

A Lifestyle Review

Although we love hanging out at Lake Mead and visiting Las Vegas very much, the wind here can be very harsh and drive you indoors.  Where we park at Government wash has some awesome views down over the lake but the parking area is mostly up on a ridge which is open to the breeze.  Today was one of those days and we just hunkered down for the entire day.  If we were out in the desert we could show you pictures of dust, but it isn't even dusty here.  So today there are no pictures to show what our day was like.

I didn't know what I was going to blog about today so I thought I would write down a few of my thoughts on why we do this kind of fulltime RV lifestyle.  If nothing else it will justify our actions to me once more.  Just today I told Sue that I have absolutely no regrets for choosing this lifestyle, and hope that we can enjoy many more years enjoying it.  She agreed with me that as long as this is something we can do and enjoy doing, we will continue.

A Trip down the Strip

We had to make a trip into town today for a few supplies.  Not much but some of those important things like milk and bread.  We find we still have to eat even if all we ever do is sit around.  Sue likes to hit up the Albertson's which is a grocery store down here, and Charlie knew that there would be some doggy treats coming when she came out of the store.

Keeping a Low Profile

One of the things about the Ponderosa that I really like is its ability to really get low to the ground when needed.  We have learned that if we have a spot with an incline, we try to park with the front end on the incline.  That way we can let out the air and it will literally sit down on the ground.  This saves a lot of sprained ankles going up and down.

One of the disadvantages of this advantage is that you have to be very aware of whats beside your slides before putting them out.  We watch others who just put out their slides without an outside inspection because they never come close to the ground.  Because ours has compartments that go out with the slide, it is low to begin with, and if we let the front end down, we can actually get into the dirt with it.  In our current spot I actually had to move a couple rocks to let the slide go out.

The North Migration continues

Our official migration to the Great White North is underway.  Today we plan to put another hundred miles or so behind us.  We don't want to get in a big hurry because we don't want to catch up to any cold weather.  So today we will head for Las Vegas.  This will be the 7th trip to Las Vegas for Sue and I and we hardly ever gamble.  The lights of the strip tend to draw you in just like the mountains do, or a bonfire does.  We love to visit there.

Another Day in Paradise

Because we are in such a great spot, we have no urge to go anywhere.  I know it makes for a boring story, but we always look at each other and say, "what do you want to do today?"  And the answer seems to be to sit on the shore and enjoy the sun and nature.  I can't apologize for that, because it is just not wrong.   For example, this morning as I was preparing my coffee, this is what floated by.
Six Canadian Geese!!!They were quite content to just hang around the shore and look for handouts.

Dave and Cheryl came to Visit

When I woke up this morning I was surprised to see Sue dressed and ready to head out the door for a kayak ride.  I am usually the first one up so this was a change of tradition.  It was a beautiful morning for a nice paddle around the lake.  She was gone for about an hour.

After Sues voyage, Lessie decided to take the kayak for a little spin.  Lessie had never been in a kayak before but she caught on real quick.  She was soon whizzing up and down along the beach.

Another Project and Some Fun

Another successful Happy Hour this morning.  We talked for a long time and never came to one conclusion.  That is sort of how it goes when you are retired with nothing to do.   It wasn't long and it was time for lunch.

A Quiet Stroll in the Desert

Although it has been quite breezy and cool here, this is sure a beautiful area to spend some time.  This spot is a 7 day camping spot, but because there are not a lot of people here, we are going to stay until Friday which will be 10 days.  If people start to move in and need spots we will move on.

Charlie and I went for a nice walk this morning up into the hills.  The weather is great for walks in that it in neither too hot nor too cold.  I should be doing way more walking than I do.  This nice wash goes straight up toward the hills from our campsite.  That's us under tree #2.

Boats in the Bay

It was a beautiful day at Telephone Cove today.  We enjoyed our morning Happy Hour and then did some kayaking.  There were some sail boats out on the lake just cruising around enjoying the breeze. 

Not long after, a nice little boat came putting up near us and set anchor.  They had a dingy on the back and lowered it and came ashore.  They had never been in this cove so were interested in what it was all about.  We think it would be neat to spend some time living on a boat and just anchoring in a different cove each night.

A Trip to Oatman

Today we decided at morning happy hour to head up to Oatman AZ to see the donkeys and poke around.  Ed and Lessie have never been there before so we all decided to go.  We headed out just after lunch and headed there.  Oatman is only about 13 miles from Fort Mohave and is a paved road all the way up.  Today seemed like it might be biker day, because everywhere you looked there were motorbikes.   It seemed like there were an overwhelming amount of trike styles.  Later in the day we found out that there was a trike show on the main casino drag in Laughlin.

A Lazy Day

This morning’s happy hour was very relaxing.  I guess the talk was pretty boring.  

A Short Jeep Trip

This morning was a little breezy so rather than sit on the beach, Sue and I headed up the hill a couple miles where we knew we could get good Wifi to publish my blogs.  If you are a constant reader, you would have noticed that I posted a few at a time.  That it why.  From our spot we could look down on Laughlin and could see the airport.  Quite a view from up here.

A Day at the Lake

When we got up this morning we headed out for our morning coffee.  It is so nice to sit right of the edge of the lake with the Mallard ducks all wandering around looking for treats.

Telephone Cove

For 3 years now we have heard of a place near Laughlin NV called Telephone Cove.  This will be the year that we find it and see what its all about. 

We had our morning happy hour before disbanding and heading out to dump and fuel before heading north.  We will be leaving P & H behind to finish up with their solar install, and Chuck and Angela are still planning their route into California.  If the stars line up right, they may follow us in a few days.

Bonfire Night

Today was an odd job day.  Pat and Harold had Brian Boone drop by to talk to them about getting their solar up and running.  He will be fixing it for them later this week so we will be leaving them with Chuck and Angela on Plomosa Road while we are heading north a few miles.  We have quite a little circle here in the desert and are enjoying some good times with our friends.

A Bike Ride

Sunday was as Sunday should be.  A day of rest.  We did lots of chatting around happy hour this morning and decided there was no reason to be in a big hurry to do anything.  Pat and Susan decided to head out for a little bike ride.  This is the first ride Susan has had on her Christmas bike since she rode it on Boxing Day.  

Desert Bar road trip

This morning was cloudy and overcast so there was much chat at happy hour about whether to go to the Desert Bar today.  The Desert Bar is something that everyone needs to see for themselves apparently, so we decided we should do it.  If you want the history and more information, check the link.   It is about a 40 mile drive from here and the last 5 miles is really rough road.

Back to Quartzsite

We are on the last leg of our little Safari that we set out on a week or so ago.  Today's move will take us back to Quartzsite and because we still have our LTVA sticker from Holtville we can go and dump and take on water at South La Posa for no extra charge.  We don't plan on staying there because Kyra has moved up to Plomosa Road, so we will join her there.

We were second in line today when Pat and Harold took the lead.  It was an uneventful 150 kilometer drive and we just cruised along enjoying the scenery.

Heading out of Joshua Tree National Park

The temperatures promise to be very pleasing with a little bit of cloud tomorrow.

Charlie was the co pilot as always and seems to have to check out where we are going.  I think he sensed that we were going to join up with Kyra again because the last few miles he was doing lots of looking out the window.  We will use his view as the view out our window today:

We arrived safely and here is where will spend a couple days before moving on.  More wagons so a bigger circle!!

Our Location Today: Plomosa Road just north of Quartzsite AZ. 33.7555 -114.1895

Exploring Joshua Tree National Park

None of us had ever been to Joshua Tree National Park so we thought we would tour it today with the car and the Jeep. We are going to head up to Twenty Nine Palms and then over to the town of Joshua Tree and then back through the park.  It will be about 120 miles round trip.

It was promising to be a gorgeous day so off we went around noon.

News from Cuba!!!

First thing this morning we received a Facebook post from our daughter and son in law Kaitlyn and Greg who are vacationing in Cuba.  I know they are having a lot of fun down there on the white sand beach, but I had to scratch my head over the picture they posted.  See if you can figure it out???

Is this what I think it is?

Slab City California

One of my bucket list items has been to visit Slab City.  I have read lots about it and everything I read said go visit and maybe stay awhile.  Today we will head there and find out what its like.  I generally can tell whether it is safe in a place as soon as I get there.  If I get that bad feeling I will encourage everyone to move on, but if not, lets hang around and check the place out.  Lets see what happens today!

Nothing

Have you ever had one of those days that you look back on and you honestly didn't do a single thing to better the world.  Then the time comes to write the daily blog and there is just nothing there.  Today is one of those days.  I admit I have absolutely nothing to tell you that would interest you about how we passed our day.  I will share a couple nice pictures we took the other day in Yuma, but other than that, nothing.

Carrot Harvesting

Just a few chores to do today, and a couple of dips in the hot pools.  Harold and Ed and I headed into town to pick up some gas, water, and to mail some postcards.

On our way home we stopped by a field of carrot to watch them harvesting them.  Last year when we were here, the harvester we saw had about 20 people on it sorting and cutting tops off the carrots. This year it is being done with a big expensive piece of John Deere equipment.  I hope this is not doing anyone out of work.

A Shave and a Haircut --- Ten Bucks!!

The girls have been planning a girls shopping trip for a while now.   Today was the day, and they were heading to El Centro to get every bargain that might be available.   At one point in the day I received a text that said "I just saved $288.00!"  Well I knew in an instant we were going to be rich!!!  Us guys were left to our own devices and opted to head into Holtville for lunch and haircuts.  We stopped at the favourite Mexican food restaurant, D' Lapita's.

Go West young man!!

Time to enjoy some hot springs.  About 50 miles west of Yuma near Holtville CA is a pretty little oasis in the desert.  As you travel along the highway you will see a clump of palm trees just growing out of what seems to be no where.  That is where we are going.  Holtville Hot Springs are in that clump of trees.  Ed and Lessie and Pat and Harold are coming with us.

A Fork in the Road

Sometimes in life there are forks in the road you travel on that give you the option of two directions.  Quite often you know that the one fork will take you back to your comfort zone and nothing will happen out of the ordinary so that is the one most often chosen.  The other fork sometimes leads to the unknown, and lots of people will miss some neat things in life for not taking this road and that is the fork I take more often than not.  You may have to work at getting where you are going, but when you get there, you may have a memory and some stories that you can tell for years.  Today was one of those fork in the road days for Harold, Ed and myself  when we went for a Jeep ride to find the Valley of the Names.

The Valley of the Names is north of Yuma out in the desert and I think there is a good road to it from Yuma, but of course I decided to take the back roads around the mountain and across the washes to get there.  There was lots of bumping and banging and jostling going on but the other guys just nodded and said they were enjoying the drive. What good sports they are.  Harold once said, "Lorne I would follow you to the end of the world!!" but I don't think he knew just how close he would come today!!  Although the road was bumpy and long, the trip out was uneventful with a lot of nice scenery.