Lazy Blogger checking in...

Organ Pipe Cactus Nat'l Monument

I am afraid I got very lazy about this blog a few weeks ago. 

We came to visit Dan’s mom in Lake Havasu Arizona in mid November. We left for a week and returned with a friend who is a college student in Tucson who joined us for Thanksgiving. 

New Leveler

Old leveling tools

During our first visit to Lake Havasu we used our time to make a few upgrades to our home on wheels. At an RV supply store we bought some handy levelers to drive onto when a camp sight is not perfectly level. For the first nine years we have used a combination of plywood, 2 x  6’s and 4 x 6’s to drive onto to get the camper level. While back on the road we used them several times, they work great.

Old faucet

New faucet

Our next upgrade was to replace the faucet in the kitchen. The original faucet was very low profile so it was difficult to fill any tall container, even the tea kettle. The new one came with a spray nozzle which was not necessarily something we wanted but there were not too many viable (inexpensive) options at Lowe’s in Lake Havasu. We had to drill a couple new holes in the countertop. We found the right tools at grandma’s house and the project was done in no time. One morning we were getting ready to empty tanks and refill water and as there was plenty of extra hot water I indulged in shampooing my hair under the new faucet. It also worked great.

Cozy new sheets.

We have never been fans of flannel sheets but as the nights were getting cooler and cooler on the trip we decided to make that change in Havasu also. On a shopping trip to JC Pennys with Mom she treated us to some pretty new sheets. 

We also purchased a new portable vacuum. With a dog in the camper with the two of us the hair needs cleaning up often. The old Dirt Devil we had was not getting the job done. A dollar’s worth of vacuuming at a car wash in Moab worked great, but those are not always there when you need them.

New power cord from truck to back.

The last new gizmo was a power adapter that will charge two USB cords at once plus a cord that will reach through the back window of the truck and into the camper. Useful for charging the phone without going back & forth to the truck cab. 

Back Patio at Mom's...Looks rough, huh?

It was so perfectly pleasant and warm in Lake Havasu I was not sure I would like being back on the road. I got quite a bit of hand quilting done while we were there. We also played many games of three handed pinochle. Of the games we kept track of Dan won 3 and Mom & I each won two. She does pretty good for an 87 year old! 

After leaving Lake Havasu we spent a free night on BLM land south of Quartzite and had a night near some petroglyphs west of Gila Bend, at a BLM campground. While there I attempted to find a geocache but failed, oh well. I did see some petroglyphs not in the park sight. We visited with a couple there who are from Jacksonville Oregon. They travel in a truck & camper just a bit larger than ours and have even been campground hosts. On their recommendation we decided to go to Organ Pipe Cactus Nat’l Monument. It is a beautiful park! The staff were super friendly. They have a “Desert Ranger” program for the not so junior ranger wannabes. I had a booklet of activities to do and I earned a colorful badge after taking the Desert Ranger Pledge. 

Christate on and Organ Pipe Cactus.It is an unusual growth happens in 1 in 200,000 Cactus. 

We were unable to communicate with the outside world while we were in the Organ Pipe Cactus Monument because even though we had cell signal apparently AT&T thought we were in Mexico! We both received text messages warning us that international charges would apply to all phone use. We were actually about 5 miles inside Arizona. Go figure!!

We spent two nights at Catalina State Park on the north side of Tuscan. We made brief visits to both the east and west sections of the Saguaro Nat’l Park. We also did a little more of that rocky bike riding. It was quite disconcerting going down rocky trails with huge cactus close on both sides of the trail! 

Biking in Tucson

We came back to Lake Havasu the day before Thanksgiving. I will write more about that time later. We spent some good times with family and had some trauma time with Millie.

Bye for now   jean