The Northward Trek Begins Again

We don't think of ourselves as snowbirds, because we don't have a fixed pattern of returning to the same northern and southern destinations annually, like migrating birds. But we do travel up and down the country with the seasons. So now, after almost four months in Southern California, we are finally on the road again, heading north for a gradual three month trek to our ultimate summer destination in Montana. We are happy to be on the road again.

Our journey began with a one night stand at Cocopah RV and Golf Resort in Yuma, AZ. It's surrounded by the green farmland just east of Yuma, and away from the mass of RV resorts in town.

Cocopah on the right, farm on the left

Cocopah advertises itself as a luxury sort of resort, with golf course, landscaping and many amenities, which it certainly does have.  Our favorite amenity is a very large grassy dog park with some shade - very rare in this part of the country. Although it is not fenced in, leash requirements seem to be relaxed within that space. 

Golf course and landscaping

With all its fancy stuff, however, the sites are gravel, no picnic table, and pretty close together. The hookups are behind the rig, with the sewer drain being especially far away. We had to use three sewer hoses for the first time ever.

Next stop, River Island State Park, in Parker, AZ, right on the Colorado River.  I was very happy with this place.  There are lots of RV parks along the river in Parker, many of them huge and crowded. In contrast to the norm, River Island is small, with about 30 sites, nicely spaced.  We were blessed with a little shade from small trees on both sides. The red tree below is the largest and most beautiful bottle brush tree I have ever seen, in full bloom.

River Island State Park - Site 17

Bottle brush tree blossoms

The park is on a quiet cove in the river, nestled between two sets of cliffs, 

has a great little beach, and a nice boat ramp.

The doggie friendly beach

The people beach in a quiet, calm cove

View from Wedge Mountain Trail, adjacent to park

View the other way from a high point of Wedge Mountain Trail

Area surrounding River Island SP - note the other RV parks along the Colorado

While in Parker we did a little bit of exploring. The Parker Dam Scenic Byway is on the west side of the Colorado, starting from the town of Parker, running north to Parker Dam, and back across the River, where is rejoins 95 and continues up to Lake Havasu City. The high point of that drive was the wild donkeys. There are donkey warning signs lining the roads in this part of the state, but this was the first time we'd actually seen them. There seem to be quite a few donkeys living in some of the RV parks on the west side of the river, enjoying the green grass there, and harvesting what they can from passers-by. We would often hear them from River Island. Kinda cool.

Wild donkeys along Parker Dam Scenic Byway - Mom and baby

Parker Dam

South end of Lake Havasu - at Bill Williams Nature Preserve overlook

Along Rt. 95 near Bill Williams Nature Preserve

We mostly just enjoyed the park. It was a perfect place to help Honey get used the the water. We're still expecting her to turn into a water dog any time now. There was also a fenced in dog park there, which Honey loved because it was all dirt, some of it in big, fun piles. We did not love it for the same reason. : )

Now we are at Lake Pleasant Regional Park, in Maricopa County, north of Phoenix, AZ.  It is a much larger park, on the shores of Lake Pleasant, which is heavily used on the weekend by campers, picnickers and boaters.

Site 58, Roadrunner Campground

On a quieter day, we loaded Honey and the kayaks up in the truck and drove to a place where it was pretty easy to put in without getting in the way of the big boats.

Lake Pleasant is 93% full! Guess this road is for low water years.

While one of us kayaked, the other "swam" with Honey. (More tag-teaming.) If we carry her out into the deep water she has no trouble swimming back to shore, but isn't interested yet in going in on her own.

Got one of the new Advanced Elements inflatable kayaks on the water!

 Besides, she says, "That water is cold!" 

Honey warming up after a big swim.

On our last day here I took some alone time and drove to nearby Wickenburg to visit the Desert Caballeros Western Museum.

Right now they are having their annual "Cowgirl Up: Art from the Other Half of the West" exhibit. It was a truly outstanding exhibit, with amazing talent - all contemporary women artists. I was so glad to find it. I really needed a little aesthetic holiday. 

A few works from the Desert Caballeros Western Museum's "Cowgirl Up" exhibit.

The theme boot for "Cowgirl Up."

Wickenburg and the museum really got me in the mood to "Cowgirl Up" for the rest of our Western USA adventure. I'm getting my cowgirl hat out right now. Montana, here we come!

More Honey Photos

Another post for puppy lovers. Honey has made herself right at home in our RV, and considers us her family now. She has various extended family members, as friends and neighbors vie for roles as aunts, uncles, godparents and occasional dog sitters. 

Here Rick tries to turn her on to some of life's greater pleasures. You can see what she's really interested in.

Rancho California, where we are for a couple of months, has a dog park that we have yet to visit -- too many big dogs for a little girl just yet. We may visit before we leave. Although it's a huge RV park, sometimes the residents here get a little nervous about their "private property" (ownership RV sites) and the golf course, leaving us basically a strip of grass along the edge of our site, and the street for walks.  There are a few open spaces that are not near RV sites or the golf course and we haven't been reprimanded for walking there yet.  We try to hit those daily for training. She's great at sit, stay, and "Here Honey!" She's beginning to learn lie down and the "touch" command. She really likes that one.

Honey with leash and her new big girl collar.

The Woolworth's portrait. : )

No, we didn't pose her for this with dog food on her nose.

As noted in a previous post, she really loves to climb and tunnel. (I think maybe she got a few Jack Russell genes along the way somewhere.) We're thinking she's going to be well suited for agility training pretty soon.

With her favorite toy. Love the look.

Thanks for your patience while we indulge in puppy love. I promise when we get back on the road there'll be a little more variety. Then we'll see how Honey likes to travel.

Meet Honey!

Well, we did it. We got a puppy. We did some searching around in Southern California and found a litter with three females that were born in November. We met the only female left, and her sire, dam and owner at their home on a rainy Sunday. (The whole transaction happened out in the yard in the rain.) We brought her home that same day and named her Honey. Here she is napping in her crate on the way home.

It took us a day to figure out her sleep (about 45 minutes), wake and potty (immediately!) and play (about 15 minutes) pattern.  Once we got that, there've been no accidents in the house. She's learning so quickly! She took to her crate easily and even slept through the whole night on her third night in the RV. She seems happy in  our little home.

Honey's new home

Check out those bright white little toe nails!

Honey's quite a cuddly little girl, and has already made friends in typical golden style, with her "godparents" - our friends Glenn and Lynn.

 Honey with her godfather Glenn.

Kisses for godmother Lynn!

You can bet you'll be seeing a lot more of Honey in future posts. We're looking forward to plenty of adventures together. 

Goodnight Honey!

2014 - A Year of Dancing on the Edge

No big deal, I'll just pick a few highlights of the year and post a review. Oh boy, what was I thinking? It was not a year to review lightly. Although we traveled through only eight states, some were the biggest and arguably the most spectacular in the country. So how am I going to do this? Systematically or randomly? Thematically or chronologically? Logically or emotionally? Geez, so many choices. Well, let's see what develops if I just jump in.

We started full-timing in 2011, and we've covered much of the country, except for those pesky tornado-ridden flat states smack in the middle. Somehow we just can't seem to get to them. No offense to the Heartland, but it just isn't as compelling as those states around the edges. We covered a lot of completely new territory for us this year, in some pretty exciting and "edgy" places, many of them the least populated areas of the western USA.

We brought in 2014 on the southern edge of the country at a New Year's bash in Vermillionville, Lafayette, Louisiana, dancing to Geno Delafose's Cajun/Zydeco music. 

Then we two-stepped along the Gulf Coast of Texas to spend a peaceful month beach combing on Mustang Island. 

We salsaed down to the southernmost tip of Texas during that time to do some exotic bird watching on the border of Mexico.

Green Jay

My son Mark joined us in Texas for a chunk of the winter, and we took in some old and new sights while cooling our heals along the southern edge of Texas and New Mexico. 

Mark - Enchanted Rock, TX

Guadalupe Mountains National Park

Early spring found us tangoing inland, making our way diagonally northwest through Arizona. While in Pheonix we hit my now all-time-favorite museum: the Musical Instrument Museum.

We crossed over into Utah to spend a glorious month at Zion National Park, one of our 

all-time-favorite places. We were joined by Steve and Wendy, two of our all-time-favorite people, with whom we waltzed in the Park.

Continuing our diagonal trek, eastern Nevada was a big surprise - much more textured and scenic than we expected. We eased on up the Great Basin Highway and the Loneliest Road, making stops at Great Basin National Park and the Bonneville Salt Flats. 

Great Basin National Park

Bonneville Salt Flats, Utah

Crystal Crane Hot Springs, OR

We tight-roped much of our Spring on the edge between the Oregon Cascades and the Oregon desert, in Bend. This started our season of dodging the wildfires in the western states. 

Painted Hills, OR

Two Bulls Fire, Bend, OR

We gently dropped our RV in Springfield, Oregon for some repairs, while we boogied on toward the northwest corner of the country. After a brief and lovely visit with our good friends Nick and Cindy in Gig Harbor, we burst into our greatest adventure yet - the Great Edge that is Alaska. For this first venture into Alaska we decided on two of the most popular places - the Inside Passage and Denali National Park. Anchorage served as a base for other smaller cakewalks into the surrounding areas.

Glacier Bay National Park, AK

Seward, AK

Three bull moose, Denali National Park, AK

North Sawyer Glacier, Tracy Arm Fjord, AK

Our flight back to the lower 48 brought us to Seattle, another visit with Nick and Cindy in Gig Harbor, and a reunion celebration with our rig. 

Gig Harbor and Mt Rainier, WA

We spent the rest of our Summer and Fall in California, swinging our way south along the eastern edge the Sierra Nevadas. It was our first time in the Sierras and after hearing so much about how uniquely beautiful that area is, we have to concur. From Lake Tahoe, to Mono Lake, to Yosemite, to Death Valley, eastern California is a real wonderland. 

Lake Tahoe, CA

Mono Lake, CA

Yosemite National Park, CA

Death Valley National Park CA

And here we are, finishing up 2014 in Southern California, krumping around the edges of Los Angeles, the largest metropolis in the country. (Well, to be truthful, we are actually on the edges of San Diego right now.) In any case, it's a pretty major change after spending so much time hiding in the hinterlands of the California mountains and deserts. 

San Dimas, CA

Guess where, CA

It was a year of extremes, ranging north to Alaska and south to the Mexican border; 

Glacier National Park, AK and El Paso, TX

...from the pale salt of Bonneville Flats to the textured rainbow of the Valley of Fire. 

...from the lows of Death Valley to the heights of Mount Whitney; 

...from the peopled buzz of southern California to the pristine remotes of Alaska; 

Santa Monica Pier, CA and Denali National Park, AK

...and from smoke filled skies to crystal clear altitudes.

Yosemite National Park, CA and Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest, CA

It was a year for wonderful dances with good friends (Nick and Cindy,  Lynn and Glenn, Wendy and Steve, so many Chicago buddies and DMT friends) and family (The Hoyles, The Herveys and dearest Mark).

It was also a year of changes. We hugged and kissed goodbye to our foldable kayaks and Ms. Subaru, who took us 85,000 miles into our journey. We welcomed two new inflatable kayaks into our family and hope to be introduced to a new car any day now. 

We're deeply grateful for all our new and old partners, and for our natural world that reminds us daily of the wonder and goodness all around us, and we wish the same for all of you. 

Remember, keep your dance card open
and have a Happy New Year.