11/20/2013

November 18-19, 2013 Casa Grande, Arizona

Monday, November 18

After our windows were fixed, we made the decision to head to our lot in Casa Grande.  We arrived there around 7 PM and pulled in the lot in the dark.  Let me tell you - it is a challenge to situate a motorhome in the dark.  But we made it!  We hooked up the electric, went to Subway to pick up dinner and then just relaxed!!!

Stats for today:

Miles Traveled: 61 Miles

Routes Traveled:

Arizona - from Mesa: Main Street; Lindsey Street; Queen Creek Street; SR-87/587; I-10; SR-93/387; Cottonwood Road, Thornton Road; Gila Bend Highway; South Montgomery Road

Tuesday, November 19

I just have to say that coming back to our lot is just like coming home.  Today we spent visiting and doing things around the motorhome.  It is great to see everyone - Smile.

We expect to be here until January.  I will be blogging periodically but not daily until we start traveling again.

Until then - Enjoy today and...

“Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever.”

  Mahatma Gandhi

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November 17 - 18, 2013 Our Time in Mesa

Sunday, November 17

We had a slow start this morning and made our way to the Mesa Marketplace and Swap Meet.  We really did not need anything but it was good to walk around to see the “stuff”.   There is some beautiful things out there but, alas, does not fit in a motorhome - Smile.

Our next stop was Staples to look at computers - both Andy and I hope to get new ones soon.  And, lo and behold, we found Utz’s Sourdough Pretzels on sale.  Those pretzels are made in the PA Amish area and they are probably the best pretzels I ever ate.  They are hard if not impossible to find once you leave Pennsylvania but someone did tell us that Staples does stock them.   YEA!!!

The rest of the day, I spent trying to get caught up on my blogs from Death Valley.  Now done through November 7 - 3 more days to go.  I took over 2000 pictures there and we only saw just a little part of the park.

Monday, November 18

We were up early and made our way to Auto Glass Boss on Main Street in Mesa.  We have double pane windows and every one of them has leaked.  Two years ago at the steps near Lake Havasu, we had Joe fix two of our windows (Thanks Jan and Chuck for letting us know about Joe.).  Since this year was our maintenance year, a few weeks ago we called Joe to talk about getting our other windows done.  So today was the day.

We had ALL (20 windows) of our windows fixed and the windows in the living area tinted (12 windows).  He did a great job and I highly recommend him if you have creeping seals on your double paned windows - very reasonable.  A link to his web page and number is on the right side of the blog under “Interesting Links”.  Feel free to tell him we sent you.

They finished up around 5 PM and we could have stayed there (he does have electric and water) but we decided to move on to our lot in Casa Grande - see next blog for details and stats.

Enjoy today.

lady13

November 16, 2013 Travel to Mesa

We woke very early and headed on down the road.

Past Lake Mead:

11-16-13 A US-93 Boulder City to Border (5)

Over Hoover Dam into Arizona:

11-16-13 B US93 Border to Phoenix

Oh-Oh, hope this is not going to be a dust storm:

11-16-13 B US93 Border to Phoenix (3)

11-16-13 B US93 Border to Phoenix (9)

Coming into Kingman - no more clouds but the wind is picking up:

11-16-13 B US93 Border to Phoenix (15)

The route from Kingman to Wickenburg on SR-93 has topography that changes and is incredibly beautiful:

11-16-13 B US93 Border to Phoenix (24)

11-16-13 B US93 Border to Phoenix (26)

Saguaros:

11-16-13 B US93 Border to Phoenix (29)

11-16-13 B US93 Border to Phoenix (34)

Lots of Saguaros:

11-16-13 B US93 Border to Phoenix (43)

And dust in the air:

11-16-13 B US93 Border to Phoenix (38)

This is the rocky area - piles of rocks that look like the giants left:

11-16-13 B US93 Border to Phoenix (45)

What a gnarled one:

11-16-13 B US93 Border to Phoenix (65)

Joshua Trees - we went thru forests of them:

11-16-13 B US93 Border to Phoenix (72)

Oh My:

11-16-13 B US93 Border to Phoenix (76)

The wind continued to blow - my Andy did a great job in getting us there.  What is interesting is that the forecast was for the wind yesterday - not today.  Sad smile

11-16-13 B US93 Border to Phoenix (81)

This is the scenery around Wickenburg:

11-16-13 B US93 Border to Phoenix (87)

And this is the scenery around Phoenix - around 60 miles southeast:

11-16-13 C Phoenix Area

Large Metropolitan areas have lots to offer but, sheesh, too much traffic!!!

We arrived at the Palm Gardens RV Park on Main Street in Mesa mid-afternoon.  After setting up, we did a few errands and had supper at In-and-Out Burger - my favorite burger place - YUM!!

We will be here for a few days so stayed tuned and enjoy today.

Stats for today:

Miles Traveled: 293 Miles

Routes Traveled:

Nevada: US-93

Arizona: US-93; I-40; US-93; SR-101; I-10; SR-202; Gilbert Road; Main Street

melhorfotov20034

November 14 - 15, 2013 Boulder City and Friends

November 14, 2013

We woke to another beautiful day, packed up, and headed south.

Up the “hill”:

11-14-13 A Travel Pahrump to Boulder City (3)

Down the “hill”:

11-14-13 A Travel Pahrump to Boulder City (20)

I kept looking but didn’t see any:

11-14-13 A Travel Pahrump to Boulder City (12)

Las Vegas in the distance:

11-14-13 A Travel Pahrump to Boulder City (24)

We passed thru south Las Vegas - sheesh - so much traffic!

We arrived at the Boulder City Elks and were greeted by our friends Ann and Roy (who we last saw in June in West Yellowstone).  A few minutes later, Geri and John pulled in next to us.

After setting up and having lunch, we spent the afternoon getting caught up.  Late afternoon, we moved to the Elks lounge where we had a great time.  This is really nice lodge!

Stats for today:

Miles Traveled: 76 Miles

Routes Traveled:

Nevada: Oakridge Avenue; Manse Road; SR-160; Windmill Lane; I-215; I-515; US-93

November 15, 2013

This morning we said our “see ya later” to Geri and John - Sad smile.. we will see them again soon.

Ann, Roy, Andy, and I decided to take a walk into downtown Boulder City.

Boulder City was originally built in 1931 as housing for workers who were building Hoover Dam.  It has an interesting history - see the links below:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boulder_City,_Nevada

http://www.pbs.org/bouldercity/

Another tidbit:  It is only one of two cities in Nevada that prohibit gambling.

Sculptures around the town:

11-15-13 Boulder City 

11-15-13 Boulder City (4)a

11-15-13 Boulder City (3)

11-15-13 Boulder City (5)a

11-15-13 Boulder City (6)

Ann and Roy invited us over to dinner - YUM.  A delicious meal and a great time.  Thank you Ann and Roy.  We will see you in January.

I am still working on getting caught up with the blog and I promise not to do this again.

Tomorrow we are heading to Mesa so stay tuned.

 

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November 11 - 13, 2013 Back to Pahrump

November 11, 2013 - Veterans Day

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A HUGE THANK YOU from Andy and I.  The more I travel the more I am grateful for this freedom to travel and for those who keep us free.

After saying our “see you later” and making a stop at the dump station, off we went to Pahrump.

Up the hill:

11-11-13 A DV to Pahrump (2)

11-11-13 A DV to Pahrump (5)

Into the valley:

11-11-13 A DV to Pahrump (12)

Back to Nevada:

11-11-13 B DV to Pahrump (2)

Up another hill and down to the Pahrump Valley:

11-11-13 B DV to Pahrump (4)

We arrived at the Escape Co-Op late morning.  After setting up, I headed to Wal-Mart to stock up on groceries - our cupboards were getting bare - Smile

This evening we met Geri and John at the local casino - Pot Roast Special - $4.00 per person.  YUM!

Stats for today:

Miles Traveled: 66 Miles

Routes Traveled:

California: SR-190; SR-127; Ash Meadows Road

Nevada: Ash Meadows Road; Bell Vista Avenue; SR-160; Homestead Road; Manse Road; Oakridge Avenue

Tuesday, November 12, 2013

Wash day - lots of laundry!  Here at the park, you can only use 3 washers at a time and if it is busy, sometimes you only get to use one at a time.  So it was a long laundry day and some cleaning in between.

I am slowing trying to get caught up with emails, blog, pictures, etc.  So tonight I did the emails and pictures.

Wednesday, November 13, 2013

A few odds and ends this morning and I spent most of the day working on my blogs.  I really don’t like to let it go this long since it takes so much to catch up but I don’t want to quit doing it.  I love having this travel journal.  So today I finished all of October plus this blog so only 10 more days to go.

This evening, Geri and John treated us to dinner at the Winery RV Park - YUM!  We sat with another couple, Judy and Ron (I think??) and had a great time.  Thank you Geri and John.

Tomorrow we are heading to the Boulder Elks so stay tuned and enjoy today.

ATT00002

11/19/2013

November 10, 2013 Echo Canyon

Today’s road trip took us through Echo Canyon to the Inyo Mine - a 10 mile gravel road.  The scenery continues to amaze us.

On our way to the mine - some areas of the canyon were narrow:

11-10-13 A DV 4x4 Echo Canyon to Inyo Mine (2)a

11-10-13 A DV 4x4 Echo Canyon to Inyo Mine (14)

11-10-13 A DV 4x4 Echo Canyon to Inyo Mine (15)

11-10-13 A DV 4x4 Echo Canyon to Inyo Mine (19)

The Cotton Cacti were all over - their red coloring sticks out in the grayish rocks:

11-10-13 A DV 4x4 Echo Canyon to Inyo Mine (25)

This picture was taken thru a tinted window - interesting color that the camera picked up:

11-10-13 A DV 4x4 Echo Canyon to Inyo Mine (28)

11-10-13 A DV 4x4 Echo Canyon to Inyo Mine (38)a

The Eye of the Needle:

11-10-13 A DV 4x4 Echo Canyon to Inyo Mine (45)

11-10-13 A DV 4x4 Echo Canyon to Inyo Mine (51)

According to the literature, the Eye of the Needle is over 10 feet tall.

More interesting rocks:

11-10-13 A DV 4x4 Echo Canyon to Inyo Mine (66)

11-10-13 A DV 4x4 Echo Canyon to Inyo Mine (75)

11-10-13 A DV 4x4 Echo Canyon to Inyo Mine (80)

11-10-13 A DV 4x4 Echo Canyon to Inyo Mine (99)

We made it to the Inyo Mining area:

11-10-13 B DV 4x4 Echo Canyon Inyo Mine (12)

“In January of 1905 Maroni Hicks and Chet Leavitt discovered gold here. In the next two years dozen of claims were established in Echo Canyon. Inyo was the largest in what became the Echo-Lee mining district.

Production began in the winter of 1906, most of the ore assayed at $300 per ton with some running as high as $650 per ton. By the fall of 1907 the Inyo had three vertical shafts and 755 feet of tunnels hosting equipment, blacksmith shop, boarding house, and a store. Most of the work was done in the winter months when the temperatures were cooler.

In the fall of 1907 attempts were made to raise money through a public stock sale but 1907 was also a year of financial panic throughout the west. In 1912 the owners tried and failed again. From 1907 through 1927 very little work was done and in 1928 the mine was sold. The new owners found themselves victims of the mines earlier difficulties, gold was in the ground, but was costly to extract and water wasn't available for milling. Little was done until 1937 when the mine was leased to the Inyo Consolidated Mining Company. The company then installed a ball crushing mill with a 25 ton a day capacity and began hauling water from Furnace Creek, 8 miles away, and had plans for a pipeline. This would all be short lived, by the spring of 1938 the mine closed due to the lack of water.

The mine was leased again in 1939 and produced gold at $230 per ton, but the deposit ran out. The last shot was in 1940 with the same results and then closed for good.”

Here is the mining area:

11-10-13 B DV 4x4 Echo Canyon Inyo Mine

The mine on the hill above the little town:

11-10-13 B DV 4x4 Echo Canyon Inyo Mine (6)

The round tub in front looks like a crusher/separator:

11-10-13 B DV 4x4 Echo Canyon Inyo Mine (7)

11-10-13 B DV 4x4 Echo Canyon Inyo Mine (29)

Generator power:

11-10-13 B DV 4x4 Echo Canyon Inyo Mine (32)

Buildings on the site:

11-10-13 B DV 4x4 Echo Canyon Inyo Mine (26)

11-10-13 B DV 4x4 Echo Canyon Inyo Mine (20)

11-10-13 B DV 4x4 Echo Canyon Inyo Mine (25)

Maybe a church or school:

11-10-13 B DV 4x4 Echo Canyon Inyo Mine (37)

11-10-13 B DV 4x4 Echo Canyon Inyo Mine (42)

It looks like the house was painted at one time:

11-10-13 B DV 4x4 Echo Canyon Inyo Mine (55)

The bunkhouse:

11-10-13 B DV 4x4 Echo Canyon Inyo Mine (57)

11-10-13 B DV 4x4 Echo Canyon Inyo Mine (66)

11-10-13 B DV 4x4 Echo Canyon Inyo Mine (69)

11-10-13 B DV 4x4 Echo Canyon Inyo Mine (71)

11-10-13 B DV 4x4 Echo Canyon Inyo Mine (75)

11-10-13 B DV 4x4 Echo Canyon Inyo Mine (92)

The view from one of the bunkhouse windows:

11-10-13 B DV 4x4 Echo Canyon Inyo Mine (90)

One of the mine shafts:

11-10-13 B DV 4x4 Echo Canyon Inyo Mine (77)

We walked all around the area, had lunch and made our way back:

11-10-13 C DV 4x4 Echo Canyon Inyo Mine Back (2)

11-10-13 C DV 4x4 Echo Canyon Inyo Mine Back (10)

11-10-13 C DV 4x4 Echo Canyon Inyo Mine Back (15)

11-10-13 C DV 4x4 Echo Canyon Inyo Mine Back (27)

11-10-13 C DV 4x4 Echo Canyon Inyo Mine Back (32)

11-10-13 C DV 4x4 Echo Canyon Inyo Mine Back (47)

11-10-13 C DV 4x4 Echo Canyon Inyo Mine Back (61)

We saw a few of these as we headed towards the valley - water pipes maybe?????

11-10-13 C DV 4x4 Echo Canyon Inyo Mine Back (66)

This was our last day in Death Valley National Park and we only touched the surface of things to see and do here. Did you know it is the largest national park in the lower 48?  Yes, even larger than Yellowstone.  We will be back.

We did our final Happy Hour tonight.  Ron and Pat made beans and wraps and we had the leftovers from yesterday.  Another great time.

Tomorrow we are heading to Pahrump to do laundry, cleaning, etc.  so stayed tuned.

Enjoy today.