Just returned from our first week of winter fun here in southern Arizona. We left last Wednesday and drove the 300 miles up to Lake Havasu for the Balloon Festival. For $140 you got 5 days of dry camping, admission to the 3-day Festival, and a free shuttle to get you from the dry camp a couple of miles up the road to the festival itself.
Sadly, upper-level winds followed by even stronger surface breezes prevented the Balloon Festival from actually launching any balloons over the weekend. They did manage to get about a dozen or so off on Thursday morning but the weekend was a "no-go". The festival was fun, a lot of work went into it, I salute the many hardworking volunteers but the no-fly situation put a damper on the overall event.
Fortunately, we had other plans in the mix. Thursday morning we set out for a day-long ride on my Harley up to I-40, west to Topock and then north up through Bullhead City and across the river to Laughlin. Visited a few casinos and had a nice lunch before recrossing the Colorado and heading out to Oatman, one of our all-time favorite adventures.
The burros were out in force clogging the streets and sidewalks as they panhandled for anything even resembling food. Some of the baby burros had stickers affixed to their foreheads stating "Do not feed me!". I guess their digestive systems are a tad sensitive compared to their seniors.
Leaving Oatman, we rode old route 66 all the way down to Golden Shores and back to Topock and finally back to Havasu. Friday afternoon saw us out for another bike ride, this time down to and over the Parker Dam and then south along the California side of the river all the way to Parker for lunch. Had so much fun we reversed the route going home.
With the balloons grounded we left Havasu Saturday morning and made the easy ride down to Quartzsite. This was our 6th year in a row and once again we booked 2 nights of dry camping {$7 a night} at Rice Ranch right across 95 from the RV Show. The crowd was way up from the last couple of years and even as large as Rice ranch is they were booked up on the full hook up sites though there was still plenty of room for us dry campers.
I needed a couple of things for the coach and managed to find some bargains {50' Camco water hose for $21}. We desperately need a new awning to replace the original after 6 years in the Arizona sun and found a deal. Shade Pro was booked solid doing installs so they agreed to send a guy down to our house in Tucson on Friday, labor, and materials $379 and yes, they came highly recommended.
The only Arizona State Park we had yet to visit was Alamo Lake, 33 miles north of Wenden off of 60. We decided to cross it off our list and spent Monday night in a pull through, 30 amps and water {$22} with a nice view of the lake and took full advantage of their dump station after 6 days of dry camping.
All in all another great trip, mostly good weather though the last couple of nights saw temps drop into the low 30's but with our 35K BTU furnace it wasn't a problem.
:B
