day by day

I have nothing exciting to report on, that's a very good thing lately.    Days are passing one at a time.    Our routine isn't much different than normal, except that we don't run to the grocery store as often.

We've gone out for a couple Jeep rides to look for wildflowers and just generally blow out the cobwebs that develop when we sit in one spot too long.

One day we (I) decided to take the back way into Willow Beach on the Colorado River.   I was needing to "get to the water" as I often am.     The Lake Mead National Recreation Area is officially closed (at least in Nevada), the entry gates are turning vehicles away.    We can't get to Lake Mead or even drive around it so Willow Beach (in Arizona) sounded like the next best option.

Lots of flowers along the way.   

Enough flowers?    Here's what happened part way through our drive.....   We came to a section of road that is usually washed out.   It's always that way, but this time it seemed worse.     We got out and filled one section of the wash out with rocks so we'd be able to get through the area.

The other option to avoid the broken area was by going up the side of the hill and around it.   I hate getting tippy......hate it.    So, Dave decided to go the "filling the hole with rocks" option.

UH OH

The rocks slid out from under the tire and as they did, so did Rocky!     I immediately began looking for something to hook our winch on to pull us out, but Dave calmly got back in, put the transmission in 4 wheel low and slowly backed the Jeep out of the hole.    I'm so glad I bring him along!

enough excitement for one day, we headed back the way we came

So....a nice, flower filled ride, a bit of excitement and a nice, flower filled ride back home with no wading in the River.    Ah well, we have plenty of time for that.

so far

Beluga had an appointment at Cashman Caterpillar in Henderson, NV last week.   Dave has been watching a oil leak that only presented itself  when the engine was running and an unusually loose V belt that drives the water pump.    Given Beluga's age and our dependence on her, he feels strongly about being proactive so an appointment was made to check it out.    Cashman wasn't sure how long she would need to be there and we were not able to stay inside while she was in the shop so Pam and John graciously offered us the use of their lovely home while we were temporarily houseless.

We enjoyed the back yard often.    The cloud formations that drift by are hypnotic and Dave can't keep his eyes off all the planes that fly over on their way to and from Las Vegas.    We have an app on my phone that identifies each plane and their route.....can't keep it away from him.

he's always looking up

chilly happy hour

Lewis took full advantage of  their deep leather couches and huge pillows when he tired of playing "find the fish" outside with Pam.    He may or may not think their stone fountain is his personal drinking vessel.

We shared some good meals, either cooked in her large kitchen or taken out from the wonderful China Bistro.    Dave and John learned new life skills when we asked them to preheat the oven and then bake a frozen Julian pie while Pam and I braved the grocery store.     This accomplishment provided us all with serious belly laughs later that evening, but I will freely admit that the pie was perfectly baked.

what will we do if it overflows????

To assess the progress of Dave's leg pain we took a couple of Jeep rides, one to "the strip" and one out into the dessert to check out the wildflower situation.    Things are getting better.

no one around

Erotic Heritage Museum entrance.....

Pam discovered this Gehry designed building

the Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health

large Hoover Dam mosaic inlay at an overlook on the new I-11

We must all take time to stop and smell the flowers in this difficult time
(and, if  you're interested, cactus flowers do not smell!)

The end of the story is that Beluga came back from the shop after a couple of days all fixed and raring to go.  Dave had been right to have them look into the leak he found.   They discovered that it was coming from a corroded and cracked housing on the oil pump, so a new one was installed.   In the process of trying to tighten the V belt they saw that the belt tensioner was corroded and seized so it was also replaced along with a couple fuel lines.     Caution to us all - don't drive your motorhome on the salty northeast roads in winter! 

Here's hoping the stimulus check reaches us soon.

Happy Spring!

We're hunkered down in Boulder City, Nevada for the foreseeable future.    We're doing everything to stay healthy and keep others safe as we watch this virus situation play out.      Enough said.

So, today is the first day of Spring, tra lee, tra la.      Here in the desert it is cloudy, windy, 55 degrees and trying to rain.    sigh    We're trying to keep from being bored "spitless" as an Arizona friend puts it.     There are ways.

We were in Wickenburg, AZ for three weeks before coming here, most of that time spent driving between Physical Therapy, Dr,'s appointments and grocery shopping.      Dave has made some progress with the leg pain that has been plaguing him.   A combination of PT, meds. and exercises will help his forward progression.

 The weather there was on and off....when it was nice, it was really nice.    We were able to sit outside for second cup and happy hour on those days.    We had avian entertainment while we sat and drank and chatted.   The mornings brought us finches, roadrunners, boat tailed grackles (very vocal and entertaining guys), various flycatchers and a few yellow-rumped warblers.       In the afternoon, however, we had a virtual cloud of vultures overhead.

I couldn't manage to get a good picture of them but believe me when I say there were at least 75 circling overhead while we enjoyed our gins.   Sometimes soaring high above, sometimes dipping alarmingly close,  we began to wonder if it was a sign....were they trying to tell us something?     After a few days we  realized they were heading to their evening roosting trees across the street  (What can I say, we're easily amused).  

On one of  the nicer afternoons we drove a bit north to Congress and the wonderful little hole in the wall restaurant, Nichols West.   You can't judge a book by it's cover.....we'd been told by many people that this is a fabulous place to eat, so we found a seat on the quiet back patio (the beginning of social distancing).     Man, were they right!

We enjoyed a couple of generous pours of wine along with Tacos al Pastor and the absolute best Shrimp and Lobster Tacos.   We left with big smiles on our faces.   Can't wait to be back in Wickenburg to eat there again, and again....

Since I don't really have much more to say, here are some pictures of our time in Wickenburg.

Only in a cowboy town like  Wickenburg is there an equine parking section at McDonalds!

One day we took a drive to see if the Hassayampa River was running.   It wasn't, we drove a fair way along it's dry sandy course before climbing up and out of the river bed and continued along through the desert.

The sky was gray and it was obviously raining somewhere relatively close so we decided to head back to Beluga before we got into trouble climbing in and out of washes.    We did enjoy plenty of wildflowers along the way.

And we got ourselves good and dirty.    That made us happy.

The next day was a Dr.'s appointment day in Phoenix.   On the way home, the sky grew dark and flashed with lightning.

By the time we got home it was raining buckets and hail began to pelt us.   Lewis was not a happy camper and met us at the door when we arrived.   He was shaking, someone was banging on Beluga's roof,  he said, he didn't know what to do.

A couple days after the storms left us we tried to retrace our tracks down to the River.    We didn't get far....

Rincon Rd.

We drove through a couple of flooded spots in the road, we knew how deep they were, but didn't get close to the edge of the River this time.  The banks of these rivers/washes can be very unstable and dangerous.    It was riled and muddy, the current was raging and filled with debris.

So, that does it for our time in Wickenburg.    Lewis continues to work with Dave on his exercises to make sure they are being done properly.   We're lucky to have a trained PT pooch on staff.

Stay well, stay away and stay tuned.