2/12 - 2/18/05 On the Banks of the Colorado

2/12 - As Yogi once famously said, "It's déjà vu all over again". My sentiments exactly as we drove north & west from the Phoenix area toward Kingman. Churning brown rivers out of their banks, washes awash (washes are basically dry creek beds that only run in heavy weather)... Very familiar scenes, reminiscent of our trip south more than a month ago. It rained all day yesterday & all night, very heavy at times. Lake Pleasant was nearly brimming as we pulled away, with just a tinge of regret after our 2 weeks there. We were stuck in Wickenburg for 45 minutes because authorities had the main bridge over the Hassayampa River (shown as dry on my map) narrowed to one lane in each direction as they monitored its status. And that river was rockin' & rollin'.

Speaking of déjà vu, this experience of seemingly finding the worst weather wherever we go brings to mind a crazy year I endured long ago, 1967. I had a weather curse that year also. I was still in college, senior year & living on Chicago's north side near Evanston. With my impending graduation, I decided in January to trade my old '55 Chevy in on a new MGB roadster (British Racing Green of course). The day before I was to pick up my sports car, we had a blizzard that shut down the city of Chicago, 4' of snow; it made all the magazines. It was a week before I could get my car. In May that year I went to the Indy 500 & it was rained out for the first time ever. I moved to St Louis that summer & it was the wettest summer on record. For Christmas I drove my car to Ft Lauderdale, chasing a cold front all the way with temperatures dropping 30° in front of us. It was cold, wet & miserable in Florida. The curse actually lasted 15 months, ending with snowfall in New Orleans when I was at 1968 Mardi Gras. Enough!

Back to Arizona... North of Wickenburg I noticed we were again in Joshua Tree country. Joshuas some places they were quite thick & with heavier foliage than I had seen at the national park. And they were blooming, with large clusters of creamy white florets. Fortunately there was a pullout where I could stop and get a shot. A few miles farther on, suddenly we were back in Saguaros, then farther Joshuas, and again Saguaros once more. I never did make out what was the reason for one habitat giving way to the other. But what really struck me was that there was no transition zone where both occurred. Only zones separating them where neither was present.

A ways north of Wickenburg, keep an eye out for Nothing, Arizona. It's a little hole in the wall kind of place, but there is a big sign in front of the little store proclaiming the "All Mart". Good for a laugh.

We arrived in Bullhead City before 4 PM, immediately saw the sign to Davis Camp, a local park just below Davis Dam, right on the banks of the Colorado River where we're dry camped. There's a nice gravel beach all along this side of the river; we can walk almost all the way to the dam. A mile or so down river on the Nevada side is the Laughlin casino, lighting up the night sky. On the other side of the dam is Lake Mohave (yes, that's how they spell it). The river is surprisingly clear given all the recent rain, but I guess the dams are capturing most of the silt.

2/13 - A nice day, shirt sleeve weather. Yesterday evening on our walk up the river past a lot other beach campers, I thought I had met the ghost of Alvin Straight. If that name doesn't mean anything to you, you'll have to rent the movie, "The Straight Story". Alvin Straight drove a riding mower across 2 states pulling a trailer that looked exactly like the one here at Davis Camp. It was very out of place in among the big motor homes and 5th wheels. The 2x4 flagpole was perfect.

After doing laundry in the afternoon, I tried my hand at fishing the Colorado. At the park ranger station they said that the river has been stocked with trout, so why not. I had no clue what to throw at them, so just picked a flashy nymph thing. No luck, but at least I got a feel for the river here. In some areas I could wade quite far out & still be only hip deep, but there were soft bottomed deeper areas that I found it best to avoid. I didn't use my leg insulation & the water was surprisingly cold, so I didn't stay out too long. It was getting on toward dusk anyway.

Timmy has a new friend. The folks parked next to us have a Jack Russell terrier named Abby; she & Timmy had great fun together this afternoon. It's one of the few times Timmy has been off the leash on this trip & he really relished the opportunity to run with her. But Timmy, I'm sorry to say, is a bit of a chauvanist...he'll mount almost anything, but would not tolerate Abby trying to mount him.

2/16 - We're into the family part of this adventure, so there won't be a whole lot fit for print. Just having a good time visiting with my sister Judy who is down here with her husband Randy visiting his sister Melody and her husband Steve. Got that? And Timmy gets to visit with their dogs Frankie & Heide, which is nice since Abby left town a couple of days ago. So did Alvin Straight, although the guy actually resembled Carl (aka Billy Bob Thornton) in "Slingblade". No other news or fun stuff to mention. After 2 days of mostly cloudy weather & evening showers yesterday, the sun is warm & strong today. Batteries are holding up well. eBoy is in the shop today getting his slow starting bug fixed & brake pads replaced... don't want no diesel starting or trailer stopping problems down the road.

2/18 - Judy & Randy headed back to Boise this morning, retuning home with about 6 pounds of futtiman, a rich Norwegian fried cookie/pastry that includes a lot of cardamom. Very addictive. Melody learned to make them from her grandmother & caries on the tradition. I'm moving on tomorrow, carrying my own stock of futtiman. Everyone helped with the preparation, Randy & I crushing cardamom, Steve & Judy cooking & Melody cranking out loaves of futtiman dough, then rolling, cutting & shaping it like there was no tomorrow. We all had a grand time. Melody also kept us well fed on pies & we had some mean steaks Wednesday from Steve's grill.

Well, the weather in Arizona is going to Hell. Now the forecast is rainy & cloudy all next week. So after 3 weeks of off the grid camping (except for the 2 nights at Lake Pleasant when we recharged the batteries), we are not going to fight it. I've decided to head for Prescott & stay there for a week on hookups, then hopefully (please sun!) move on to Sedona for free dry camping. I sure hope my 2005 weather curse wears off soon.

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