Laughlin Nevada

On Wednesday we pulled up stakes in Quartzisite and headed for the Laughlin Nevada area. Since Cecile was picking Pat up at the Las Vegas airport Wed. night, we decided to get a little closer so that she didn't have as long a drive late at night. Since Pat was not there to drive her rig, that duty fell to Cecile. She had not driven a 'larger vehicle' since we had our motorhome but she performed like a champ. I was a little nervous hooking her little car up to the back of the motorhome. It wasn't the physical hook up that bothered me but the process required to prepare her little car to be towed. Can you imagine placing, and towing, a vehicle with the transmission lever in PARK?!! Anyway, all went well and the car towed behind the motorhome with ease.

We decided to go for a hookup parking spot this time. After two weeks of boondocking, we deserved it. We chose the campground connected with the Avi Casino because of the rates and all of the amenities that the casino has to offer...it even has an multi-screen movie theater! The three of us saw 'No Country For Old Men' yesterday. Cecile and I liked it, Pat hated it. If we golfed, there is a beautiful golf course right next door. We are parked a little close to our neighbors, as the picture shows, but it's only for a short time.

We plan to leave here on Sunday and stay overnight in Bakersfield. Monday morning I plan on going in to visit with Douglass Truck Bodies in Bakersfield to get an idea of the cost of putting a simple bed on the back of the Hino. After all of our hemming and hawing, we decided that choice would be much preferable to buying another truck...for now. I hope to be back in Park Sierra by Monday night.

Ain't life grand!

Leaving Quartzsite

Our plans are to leave Quartzsite early tomorrow morning and head up to Laughlin where we will stay for a few days. Pat flies back in to Las Vegas tomorrow night so we need a place that is a little bit closer to there so the late night drive is not too daunting.

We have been doing a lot of work on pegs and jokers games while here. We hope to have the remaining sets we have ready to go within a week or so. We'll see! Anyway, we have been enjoying our little sojourn down in the desert. For the most part, the weather has been cooperating with temps in the mid 70's and lots of sun. What is also nice is that the Quartzsite crowds have thinned out a great deal.

After Laughlin, we will be heading back to Park Sierra where we will probably stay until we leave for Mendocino in late April. Ain't life grand!!!

Quartzsite

After the bluegrass festival was over, we decided to head on down to Quartzsite for the week. When we got here we found that Pat had a dead battery on her jeep...and she and Cecile were supposed to go up to Las Vegas this morning. She called up the road service to get a jump and quickly got a call back from the towing company letting her know that they were unable (maybe spell that unwilling?!!) to come off the pavement to help her. Pat started getting frantic, and Gary had gone out to the main road to direct the tow company. Cecile came to the rescue and suggested that she hook the car back up to the motorhome and try and take it to a repair shop to get it fixed. So, after picking Gary up along the way, we all headed in to town to try and find a repair shop...at 4:30 in the afternoon! Our first attempt was closed but someone closeby gave us the recommendation of Best Auto, north of town on 95. Gary directed Pat there and we pulled into the repair shop yard, hoping that they could help her. These people were great! They found out that the battery was deader than a doornail. After spending an hour working the problem and trying to find a replacement, they finally replaced the battery and had us heading back to our boondock location...all for $15 plus $70 for a new Interstate battery. I would highly recommend these folks!!

So today the ladies headed out for Las Vegas so that Pat could catch a plane for Florida. She is off to a get together with her sisters in Leesburg, Florida. Cecile will be back with Pat's jeep sometime tomorrow. We will be making a couple of trips to Algodones so that Cecile can get some dental work done at our favorite dentist there.

In the meantime, Gary is just hanging out in the desert working on pegs & jokers boards and doing a little relaxing.

London Bridge

On Sunday, since we had seen all of the bands already and Dry Branch Fire Squad had left, the three of us decided to take the ferry over to Lake Havasu City. The ferry runs about every hour and it would seem that this is the only way the casino has of getting customers to come in and gamble. The weather had calmed down by this point and the crossing was very pleasant. To our surprise, the ferry dock in Lake Havasu City was right at the base of the London Bridge.

There was a small shopping area close to the bridge so we spent a little time browsing in the shops. For the more adventurous you can walk across the bridge to some more shopping areas. The ladies decided that the seventy or so steps up from the rivers edge to the top of the bridge were quite enough. You can see Cecile in mid-climb. We spent a couple of hours around the bridge and then headed back to the California side to relax and enjoy the day.

Lakeshore Blugrass Festival

Our newest adventure found us traveling two days south of Coarsegold to Havasu Lake, CA for the 2nd annual Lakeshore Bluegrass Festival. We caravaned together with Pat Bennett who was taking her longest solo trip to date in her new rig.

Havasu Lake, CA is directly across Lake Havasu from it's much larger sister city, Lake Havasu City, Arizona. This place was relatively remote for an Indian casino (Havasu Landing Casino). It was almost 20 miles east of Highway 95 (the only way in or out)...however, they did run a ferry across the lake to Lake Havasu City...docking almost right under the London Bridge.

Anyway, the reason that we found this festival was that our favorite bluegrass band, Dry Branch Fire Squad, was going to be the headline band. We found the information on the band's website. The first day of the festival was very windy, as you can tell from one of the lake view pictures attached here. Dry Branch Fire Squad played four sets...two on Friday and two on Saturday and they did not disappoint. Because of the wind, they did seem a bit worried that the stage was going to come down on them but luckily it didn't. Overall, the music was very good. Besides Dry Branch Fire Squad, two of our other favorites were the Bost Family Traditions and Fiddlemania.

Our campsite was up on a bluff, about 150 yards from the lake shore. This gave us a great view of the fireworks that were shot off every night on the other side of the lake.

Cruise continues

After our tourist duties in Acapulco were done, it was time for dinner. Meals and wait service on board cruise ships are generally very good. Ours was hit and miss. Our waiter seemed to be technically competent but not on the overly friendly side. His assistant was another story. She was probably brand new and still learning 'the ropes', but she definitely needed some extra training. We managed to get through our dinner meals without too much ado...at least until the last evening. One of our members had a bit too much to drink and decided that she had had enough of our Asst. waiter. She was so rude and made such an unnecessary spectacle of herself that I ended up getting up from the table and leaving before dinner was over.

We did have one absolutely fantastic dinner. Usually cruise ships will have a special 'premium' supper club on each ship where you have to pay a bit extra for the meal. John & Lynn 'took us out' for this evening of culinary delights. That sounds corny but it was probably the best meal that I have ever had...seven or eight courses of outstanding food. There were not very big portions but I definitely walked away satisfied...not stuffed!

Attached are a couple of pictures of our dining group and a picture of a towel animal that the cruise lines are well known for.

Acapulco Evening

Cecile's snorkeling adventure wasn't as good as she was hoping for. The guide, who was hoping to stay on the boat the whole time, ended up having to dive down and scare up some fish for the snorkelers.

Later that evening, John & Lynne and Cecile & Gary went out to see the famous Acapulco cliff divers. It is put on as a show, twice a day, and they get quite a crowd for every show. The divers (there were about ten of them) walk through the waiting crowd, climb over a rock wall, climb down a forty (or so) foot cliff and then dive another twenty feet down into the channel. They they reach the other side of the channel (about fifty feet of swimming) and then climb up the opposing cliff to their various stations. Two of the divers end up climbing all the way to the top, about 140 above the water. The divers then dive into the water one at a time from various places on the cliff. I assume it is based on the skill/experience level of the individual divers...who were all young kids. Since it was dark only one of the pictures came out but it was fun to watch.

Acapulco - Walking tour continues

One of the highlights of my walking tour was a visit to a mask museum. I'm not usually impressed by masks but this place was an exception. Almost all of the masks on display here were made by Native Mexican artists. I am including pictures of five of my favorites.

Acapulco

Cecile, Lynn & John decided to go on a snorkeling shore excursion. Since my claim to fame is that I can sink, even in salt water, I chose to go on a walking tour of the old town. We started our tour at the old Spanish fort, right across the street from our pier. The fort dates back to the 1500's when Spain was first establishing a foothold in the new world. When Spain started establishing a trade route to the Orient, Acapulco was a very important link in that trade. The fort now houses a museum that highlights the Mexico to China trade link. The attached pictures show the Carnival Spirit at dock, the beginning of our tour and our tour guide Malu, Chinese warrior statues at the fort entrance, fort views of the bay and the fort with our ship in the background.

Arriving Acapulco

After almost three days at sea, we arrived in Acapulco on Sunday at noon. The temperature when we arrived was approaching 90 degrees and was supposed to get up to 92 before the day was done. Acapulco is supposed to be the third or fourth most populous city in Mexico. The attached pictures are of the ship coming into the bay and arriving in port.

Cruise to Mexico

We set sail from San Diego on our fourth cruise on Jan 17th. It was an 8-day cruise aboard the Carnival Spirit with stops in Acapulco, Zihuatenejo/Ixtapa and Manzanillo. We were joined by John & Lynn (who own the Christmas tree business that we work for every year), Don & Fran (who manage the San Carlos Christmas tree lot), and Dale & Sally (longtime friends of Don & Fran). Overall the cruise was a lot of fun but, in our opinion, Carnival doesn't quite measure up to Princess or Royal Caribbean.

We were at sea for a little over two days before arriving in Acapulco, our southern most port. The temps were in the 60's when we left San Diego but slowly got warmer as we worked our way south. Attached are pictures of us leaving San Diego.