We had a good run yesterday; left Welcome Station RV Park and headed south. A couple of points to note for those who are interested in our ‘flatter’ route… On advice received from Larry at the Park, we headed south to Ely on Hwy 93 and once there, we stopped to shop for groceries and fill up on gas. Continuing wit his instructions we left Ely and took a little detour in order to not only miss two mountain passes but to also shave over 25 miles off the route. The instructions are: when leaving Ely, turn right at McDonalds on to Hwy 6 and then turn left onto Hwy 318. Having stopped at McD’s for Wifi we exited, turned right then left, as instructed, and carried on south on Hwy 318. We were planning on going only as far as Lund but, when we arrived, we found it rather … well…. nothing appealed enough to want to stop… and we were feeling pretty good, so we just kept going. We arrived at Alamo about 1730 and although we had passed a nice, new RV’s welcome kind of a restaurant place… we decided to make a run to our ultimate destination. We topped up the fuel tank and bought a couple jugs of good water at the Sinclair Station… and headed 4 miles down the road to the Pahranagat National Wildlife Refuge.
Our friends were right, Pahranagat Lake campsite is just beautiful (and it’s free) !! It’s just off the highway so you do hear a bit of traffic, but the scenery right in front of your door is so beautiful… the noise is not a bother. By the time we selected our site (#3) and set up it was getting kind of late… so after a rum & coke for dinner we hit the sack and had a good sleep; although, we were awakened in the middle of the night by the sound of something snuffling in our gear stacked beside the trailer (a necessity because this is the gear/bins we’re carrying inside the trailer while we travel). Anyway, I made some kind of noise and the ‘snuffler’ clattered off. I say ‘clattered’ because it was definitely a beast with hooves, and a good sized one by the sound of the ‘clattering’ :-) Soooo, we believe it was a Mule Deer and tonight we’re going to set up a little ‘bait’ for him… right outside our big window.. and, when I hear him snuffling… I will try to snap a photo before he clatters off… will let you know how that goes…. Oh yes, and our fearless guardian angel (PS) didn’t even wake up…. oh well, she’s cute. This wildlife refuge is quite famous as a stopping-off spot for migrating birds of all kinds. Just in our few hours here, we’ve spotted Kingfishers, Snowy Egrets, a Sandhill Crane, American Couts, a couple other birds we haven’t identified yet, two lizards (possibly baby Spiny Desert Lizards) and our overnight guest, the Mule deer.
We’re here at Pahranagat for tonight (Thursday, Sept. 25th) and then we will be leaving this paradise and heading on down the road to Lake Havasu City. We’re going to spoil ourselves and have booked into Havasu Falls RV Resort for two nights (first night = $22 Passport America and second night = $44 regular price = $33 / night.. not bad for spoiling). We hope to have the trailer cleaned up before leaving there as the next stop will be Yuma.
Friday, Sept. 26th…
Well, haven’t we had just the day. Yesterday, we had a very hot afternoon and over-night, made all the hotter because of sufficient wind as to render the awnings in danger if they stayed up… which means they were furled about mid-afternoon. After a restless night (with no visit from senor Mule Deer :-( we packed up and headed out, bound for coffee and some much-needed wifi at the Sinclair Gas Station on the highway. Shock upon shock!! No wifi !! Yikes! Contact with the world would have to wait… and we headed on down the road.
Our route took us south on Hwy 318 from Alamo, through Las Vegas, Henderson and Boulder City. Then on Hwy 93 to Kingman where we stopped for gas. This is where the day got a little more interesting. While filling up with gas we became aware that Chuck’s back end was a little lower than even we thought it should be and, after conferring with “Johnny” the owner/manager of a neighbouring tire shop, we slipped Chuck into one of his bays. Turned out that both shocks were shot (literally without any oil left… and, we think, the originals… all worn out). As well, while they were inspecting the shock situation, Larry and Kevin discovered the Chuck’s spare tire was flat (again). This is the second time that the spare, after being checked by a professional, has lost its air over a longer drive; not good. Well, without too many choices to consider.. we think we did the right thing. Within one hour, Chuck was sporting two shiny white, new, heavy duty gas shocks and a new spare tire. The trucks back end is now riding much higher and, overall, feels like a better drive. We are not disappointed.. actually feeling good about it as we’d both been worried about Chucks health with all the weight he is carrying.
So thumbs up for Johnny and Kevin, and the AAAA Best Tire shop in Kingman, Arizona.
Once finished in Kingman we headed out. The winds were up and blowing fairly well, but Chuck and Lucy handled them well. Besides, we weren’t exactly racing down the highway. We made it to our destination, Lake Havasu City and Havasu Falls RV Park by late afternoon. We’re a little disappointed in the RV Park. There isn’t a blade of grass or a tree to be seen. We’re parked, in line, on a cement pad (the pads are separated by strips of gravel) and it’s hot as blazes. But, Kathy has finally figured out how to get us ‘connected’. Their system is horrible and without her skills we’d be ‘in the dark’ again with no contact with our world. So we’ll send out a flurry of emails and blog news tonight… then do our research stuff tomorrow… Need to figure out where to stay in Yuma and just before the border at Nogales… (Rio Rico, Tubac, etc.). The resort also has a pool and laundry facilities.. and we’ve a bit of shopping to do… so tomorrow will be fine.
For now, know we’re well albeit hot. Sophie’s not minding her ‘bucket showers’ and we’re doing our best to acclimatize. Yuma’s going to be hotter still.
Sending you all good wishes as we watch an “inside the cloud” lightening show that may (or may not) be headed our way… yikes. What a day.
Adios for now.. CJ
