Wednesday was a workday for Kim so I got busy on my blog post which was titled Quartzsite, Bullhead City, and Route 66 and was posted here last week.

On Thursday we decided to drive back to Kingman in the morning.  When we were here earlier we didn’t have much time to look about.  So this time we stopped in the old business area and walked around a bit to get a few pictures of some of the buildings.  It was a coolish day and a little windy but we did do a little walking.  There are still quite a few buildings from the golden years of Route 66.  You can tell by the style of the bulding.  A lot of Art Deco inspiration and originally there would have been lots of neon lights. 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

We stopped at the visitor centre again and toured the small Route 66 Museum they have there.  The cost was small Adults $4 and Seniors $3, and it also included admission to the the Mojave County Museum.  The display at the visitor’s centre was limited but interesting.  We ate lunch at Cracker Barrel and then went to the Mojave Museum after.  This is a must see if you’re into history.  The collection is quite expansive and covers a lot of different aspects of the history of the area.  We headed back to camp at Bullhead City mid afternoon. 

While we were sitting outside a guy stopped by while walking his dog and asked where we were from in Ontario.  He said he was from Grimsby.  They just arrived in the park today and are soon headed to the east coast and Myrtle Beach on their way home.  We chatted for a bit and a little later his wife and him stopped by and we chatted again.  Their names are Bjorn and Els Christensen.  They are travelling in a large 5th wheel and this is their first trip with the rig.  

Friday we drove across the river to visit a couple casinos in Laughlin, Nevada.  I got a players card at the Riverside Hotel to see if I would get any free stuff.  We got a 2 for 1 coupon for the buffet.  While in the Hotel we toured around a bit.  They had a big bowling alley and I think there was some kind of tournament going on.  Also in the hotel is a car display.  It cost $2 each to enter so we paid our money and had a look around (My admission was free with the players card).  It was an impressive display of vintage cars from the early to late 20th century.  I really enjoyed this;  lots of old cars from before my time and also lots of cars from 50’s-60’s-70’s.  There were also some late model cars on display as well.  Photography was allowed so I got lots of pictures.   

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

It was now mid afternoon and too late for the lunch buffet so we went down the street to In-N-Out Burger instead…mmmmm.  We’ll maybe use that buffet coupon tomorrow.

Saturday morning was laundry time so we spent a couple hours doing that and touring around the park while waiting.  We decided to go back to the Riverside for lunch.  The cost was around $9.99 so with the coupon it was $5 ea.  Good price, and the food was good.  It definitely wasn’t as good as Lin’s Buffet in Yuma but it’s hard to beat Lin’s.  After lunch we drove back to the Arizona side of the Colorado River and looked for a place to park by the water.  We found a nice spot and Kim spent some time beachcombing.  The sun was warm and it was a nice day for stroll.  

• 

• 

• 

For a while now Kim has wanted to rearrange our outdoor storage compartments.  So Sunday was the day.  We pulled everything out and began to do a massive reorganization.  If you know Kim very well you know she loves organizing.  The trouble with storing anything in an RV is  you want to maximize your space and still be able to access things when you want them. It’s frustrating when the things you want are at the back and you have to take out everything in front to get to them.  The results after the exercise were good.  We tried to keep like things together and keep things accessible.  We saw Bjorn and Els early in the day and invited them over for happy hour if they had time later. They’re pulling out tomorrow so they had some things to take care of during the day Sunday.

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

Early in the afternoon we set up a video chat with Josh and the boys.  It’s nice to be able to do that and stay connected to them.  It was Ethan’s birthday on Tuesday the 12th so that was one of the reasons to chat with him in particular.  Everyone is doing good and we’re looking forward to seeing them all when get back in a few weeks.

Bjorn and Els stopped by and we visited for quite some time.  Bjorn is a sailing enthusiast.  He owns a C&C 33 sailboat and they sail out of Port Dalhousie Yacht Club.  He and I chatted at length about sailing and racing.  Many years ago I used to sail with a family friend named Gord Clarke.  He had a Viking 33 which is a sister model to the C&C.  Both were made by C&C Yachts in Niagara-on-the-Lake.  We also used to race in Port Dover back in the late 80’s.  We seemed to have many things to talk about between sailing and RVing and things in general.  It was very nice meeting them and hopefully we’ll meet up again.

• 

• 

Monday morning we also packed up and moved on.  This time heading back down to Yuma into the BLM area behind Pilot Knob.  This is a free area and we’re going to stay here until Friday and then start making our way East.  We had a little rain on the way but nothing too significant.

Tuesday we drove into Yuma to go to Walmart for a few groceries and also a couple other stops.  While in town the rain came pouring down.  We haven’t seen rain like that at all in Arizona and it was like a heavy rain storm back in Ontario.  The roads weren’t able to handle all the water and the sides of the roads became big puddles of water.  When we got back to the BLM it appeared as if there had been very little rain all day.

We drove down to Mexico for one last time on Wednesday for a Breakfast/ Lunch at La Tetilla Restaurant and while in Mexico I got a haircut for $4 plus a tip.  Probably not the best haircut I’ve ever had but was pretty good and it was fast and cheap.  It’s much better than it was anyway.  It took us about and hour and 45 minutes to get back through US customs and while in line we chatted with a young couple ahead of us.  He is a Border Patrol agent based out of Yuma.  He shared of his experiences on patrol.  There definitely is a serious problem here on the US/Mexico border.  The numbers of people who are crossing the border from Mexico on a daily basis is staggering.  Most are apprehended but there are many that get through.  It’s a very long border to patrol and not enough border agents to do the job.  Right now there are Marines and National Guard posted to border duties in the area.  So, anyway, we made our way back to camp which is only a few miles away from the border crossing.  We can actually see the border wall to south of our camp, maybe a mile or 2 off in the distance.

• 

• 

So here it is Thursday and this morning we drove in to the Arizona Market Place in Yuma just for fun and picked up some bread at Walmart.  I’m sitting here in the afternoon, catching up my blog.  It’s quite windy here today and when the gusts pick up it’s very strong.  All of a sudden the motorhome starts to shake and the sound is like a huge vacuum cleaner.  Outside the sand is blowing wildly and so I rush to the front window to see what happened and there’s this rather broad Dust Devil travelling away from us.  I think it hit us almost dead on.  It was actually very freaky.  Just like a little tornado.  I grabbed my phone as quick as I could to shoot a video and by the time I got recording, the dust devil was off in the distance a little but I did get some footage of it.  That was a very interesting experience to say the least.  That wind had some power. The wind isn’t letting up at all and we’ve seen 2 more dust devils blow through around us.

Soooooo….. now the car is all hooked up and everything is put away. If we need to, we’re outta here. Other than the wind, it’s been a bright, warm sunny day. Anyway, I hope your day has been good. I’ll post again soon.

Ken