ROLLIN' DOWN THE RIVER (COLORADO THAT IS)

Still having water pump problems. Bought a bottle of bleach and dumped some into the tank to disinfect and clear out anything that might cause excessive wear on the throne due to over use. After arriving at the park we drained off the tank and refilled. Marty had to crawl under the vehicle again, to clean the filter and be drowned in the bleach water pouring from the pipes. He is a clean machine now too.

The visitor’s centre had a very well done and interesting display including a live snake, spider and scorpion. Went to Mouse’s Tank and saw the petroglyphs. Mouse was an Indian renegade in the 1890s who hid out in a bad land area called the tank until a posse came and flushed him out. (Seem to be on a tank cleaning theme here, first Marty’s then Mouse’s.) On the way back to camp, we stopped at some additional petroglyphs which we had to view from a platform at the top of a large metal staircase.

Now you know how I am always being teased about my left handed navigation. Well, we disagreed about which way to leave the campground and I was right. It was a really good feeling as Marty was quite adamant about turning left. I almost let him go left just to find out for himself, however, a ranger came along and Marty did the unmanly thing and asked which way to go.

Then he was wrong again about the petroglyphs being exposed. He thought they would be in caves away from weathering (actually I did too) but they were right out in the open. (Editor’s defensive note: Donna seems to think that being right twice in 6 weeks deserves mention in the blog. Would anyone like to guess at how many other decisions she has made in this time period that she thinks don’t deserve a mention here? The defence rests!)

Elephant Rock was a little disappointing, we had to do a quarter mile hike to get to it and when we got there, it was right beside the road we came in on. It probably looks better at dawn or dusk but we weren’t waiting around to see.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Leaving the Valley of Fire, we headed into Lake Mead National Recreational Area by a back road. What a surprise, this bay on the lake is practically dried up. The huge boat ramp goes nowhere near the water. The camp ground has closed down and the entire recreation area is abandoned. But the route down to where there was water was a good choice…saw a golden eagle and a herd of Big Horn Sheep.

Vegas was a horror show. I had thought it was Thanksgiving, but a week away still and traffic and construction was a nightmare. We drove the strip until we were held up by the construction and waited through four red lights travelling only about 3 car lengths on each light change. Jumped on the freeway as fast as we could and got out of town.

We stopped at a library to try to update the blog, however, there were some restrictions and could not upload any pictures. Left after a very frustrating day with the sun setting about 3:45. Did I mention how early the sun sets here in eastern section of the Pacific Time Zone? So now we are driving in the dark. Something we try to never do. Stopped at a truck stop in a small trailer town called Searchlight, had dinner at a road side casino. Survived another wind storm by nestling in between semi-trailers, a dumpster and rotted out school bus. Oh, the high life again.

From the Searchlight truck stop we went 14 miles into Lake Mohave at Cottonwood Cove. There is actually water in Lake Mohave as opposed to Lake Mead with no water at the north end. We had the entire lower campground to ourselves until we were joined by a begging roadrunner. When we didn’t pay him enough attention, he jumped up onto the bikes and peered in the windshield at us with a glaring stare worst than Marty’s when he is proven to be wrong. Finally got the water system working properly and a good thing too. There was a sign saying the water here is not potable because the arsenic content is slightly above the recommended limit.

Saw a few wild burro on the way into Katherine Mine.  There are tons and tons of houseboats on Lake Mohave. Both at Cottonwood Cove and further down at Katherine Mine, the Marina’s are full of houseboats to rent for $500 per day. We are having cooler temps again and with winds of 20 mph. Did a short one mile hike through a lava field and sand dunes to a beach. We had ridden our bikes and the trip back was uphill and against the wind, a tough chug.





Thanksgiving Day we headed into Laughlin and stopped at the Tropicana Express Casino. Did the Thanksgiving buffet thing and walked the (Colorado River) water front through the row of casinos. Warmer today in the 70’s, but still very windy. Stayed in the casino parking lot for the night to get up early for Black Friday, the supposedly busiest shopping day of the year. We got to the outlet mall for about 8:30 a.m. and bought two jackets. Couldn’t resist—50% off, then 20% off, then another 20% off. (Editor’s clarification. Donna 1 jacket, Ruby 1 jacket, Marty 0 jacket.)

Decided not to stay another night at the casino and went into a really nice County Campground just below Davis Dam on the river. Campsite full of rabbits and saw a date palm full of dates and several Eucalyptus trees. Found some great tennis courts and a library that let me upload pics into the blog. Trying to catch up. We are about 2 weeks behind.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
We went further down the Colorado River to the Avi Casino and Resort to watch a blues group at a Bike Rodeo and chilli cook off. We have been back and forth across the river from Arizona to Nevada also crossing a time zone as the river is the demarcation. Neither one of us knows the correct time anymore or even what state we are in. Passed on the chilli and went into the buffet where prime rib was one of the numerous selections. This is a much better buffet than in Laughlin and the Resort is really nice with a pool, beach on the river, WiFi in the parking lot and a golf course.

Happy Birthday Marty!!! I bought him dinner last night which happened to be a 2 for 1 special. Turned out to be the best meal out we have had on the road so far. Lots and lots of desserts as well so the celebration was a day early. (Editorial note. Donna wore her new jacket to my half price birthday dinner celebration.)

Nov. 30 we drove into Lake Havasu and rode our bikes to the London Bridge after getting settled away. There is a quaint English Village under the London Bridge with good looking restaurants but not much in the way of good shopping. We rode across the bridge and circled the island, only a 4 mile loop. Had a fabulous sunset and a really nice camp spot overlooking the lake. Happy Anniversary Mom and Dad. (Editor’s note. Ruby got a Jacket.)


Found tennis courts close to camp and played a couple of days there as well. Again we had lots of rabbits in the camp ground. Beautiful sunsets here and a full moon rising also.