Viewpoint RV & Golf Resort, Mesa - visiting friends from Red Deer Harold & Melynne

Great afternoon with Harold and Melynne, good friends from Red Deer days. They come south and rent an RV in Viewpoint RV & Golf Resort in Mesa. We have been coming back to Usery Mountain Regional Park for many years, and it's just too bizarre the RV park Harold and Melynne choose is a 10 minute drive from us! In this big city of greater Phoenix, they could have ended up hours away from us.  

Chris, Sheila and Melynne

Every Tuesday afternoon is live music on the chipping green so we hop in their golf cart and head over to their other Canadian friends from Manitoba whos deck is right on the green. Beautiful sunny afternoon. 

Live band on the green. 

After the music we head back to H&M's for dinner and an Oiler game. We loose to Washington 3-2 :(

Biking Usery Mountain trails

 Monday is a catch up day for RMGI work. After lunch we head out for a beautiful bike ride up Talon trail. It's a slight grind up but the down run is nice and flowy. Great ride. 

View from the top of Talon trail

Eventually we are back to our campground entrance.

We continue on to the Lost Sheep and Moon Struck trails. 

It's a very cool and blustery night so we decide to make pizza and stay warm. 

Usery Mountain Regional Park - overlooking Phoenix, Arizona

 We have been coming to this campground for years and it still remains our absolute favorite when we come south. The campsites are large and most very private. The only catch is you have to reserve at least 6 months in advance to get in. Unfortunately our plans were a bit up in the air so I didn't reserve until September 2024, so we only have 4 nights in the park this year. We'll make the most of them. 

Many USA cities/towns write their names in the hills some where. 

D11 - our campsite. 

Views of Superstition Mountains from our hike.

Some sort of hawk and nest atop a Saguaro

Wickenburg to Lake Pleasant, Arizona

 We leave Doug and Karen's after a morning tea and head to Lake Pleasant Regional Park for the day. 

Dave Bunny from Ponoka, AB in Doug and Karen's yard.

We pass right through Wickenburg on our way. The Hassayampa River clearly hasn't seen rain in a long time. We think these river beds are largely dry year round except when a monsoon hits and apparently it has been awhile since that has happened. 

Dry river bed...they need rain badly. 

Doug tells us Wickenburg is the 'roping capital' of the world. It is very apparent that anyone with a horse who loves to rope comes here. 

Downtown Wickenburg. 

Driving on the way to Lake Pleasant, these big boys all of a sudden start to appear. 

Saguaros start to appear.

We are told Fireman's Cove will be the best for kayaks. The water is at an all time low as seems to be the case everywhere around here. It's a nice paddle out and about through the coves. Fairly uneventful with the sighting of only one Great Blue Heron. 

Fireman's Cove

 Great Blue Heron

Sunset from east end of Lake Pleasant

Karen and Doug Shipton - acreage near Wickenburg, Az

Every 2 or 3 years in our travels south we look up Karen and Doug Shipton. Doug was in a local country and western band in Lindale, Alberta area when Sheila was growing up. He met Karen in the USA at a roping event many years ago and they have been together ever since. They have their acreage divided out into RV lots and many Albertans haul their horses south for the winter and stay on their land. We connected about 6 years ago when they learned of our sailing adventure. At the time they were wanting to buy a boat and get their feet wet. They have indeed made that dream come true and own a catamaran in the Dream Yacht fleet. They have invited us to come on their boat with them and one year we will make it happen. Today, we enjoy a dinner together and then Doug and his right hand man play tunes for the evening crowd. Lots of Albertans!

Highway to Wickenburg is backed up for miles and miles.

Sheila enjoying the music.

Doug and Dwayne? perform for the evening. 

Dome Rock Bike Ride

 
After lunch we do a great bike ride along the many roads and trails the Dome Rock area just west of Quartzsite has to offer. The scenery in this area is so beautiful. 

We leave our bikes and hike up a short trail.

At the top of the hike is a memorial for loved ones of all sorts. 

Sheila places a rock in honor of Rolo - RIP little buddy. 

Barrel Cactus.

After our bike ride and dinner, we head into the Yacht Club in Quartzsite. It's a fun bar we have been to many times over the years where we have enjoyed dancing, reasonable food and good beer.

Kilt Lifter - great beer

The Glenmore Sailing club burgee is one of many burgees from around the world on the walls. 

Beer Bellies, Quartzsite

They call it Beer Bellies - Adult Daycare and that is what it is. People from all over Canada and the USA come and spend their winter is the desert. There are all sorts of free camping (boon-docking) options as long as you are self-contained. We use the local RV pit stops to dump and fill with fresh water on an as need basis. There are lots of pay options too but we like the wide open spaces boon-docking allows. Apparently the population of Quartzsite in the summer when it is sweltering hot is around 4000 residents. Over the winter the surrounding area can swell to well over 150,000 residents as all the snowbirds arrive. Snowbirds are not just from Canada, all the northern states with climates like ours have tons of snowbirds too. 

Welcome to Beer Bellies

Chris joins the band with percussion for a song. 

Businesses like Beer Bellies literally open for the snowbird season and totally close down over the summer. They all head north for cooler weather just like we head south in the winter for warmer weather. 

We spend the afternoon listening to live music and nursing a couple of beers. The sun feels wonderful and it's such a treat to be out of the wind. 

Quartzsite, Arizona

 We leave Buckskin Mountain State park and stop in Parker for groceries. Late afternoon arrival to Quartzsite so we immediately head out to Dome Rock, which is just west of town, and score a fantastic place to set up for the next 3 nights. 

Late sunset over our truck and trailer. 

Nellie E Saloon -Desert Bar - Cienega Springs Road

 We decide to brave the 5 miles of rough, dirt road into the Desert Bar. We were in here once before years ago and said we'd never do that road again...lol. Well, it seemed a bit better this year! 

Dirt road into Desert Bar - 5 miles of it. 

Nice old church on site

The weather is cooler, not exactly cold beer weather. We play some cards, listen to music, have a dance and call it a day.  

Live music every weekend. 

A few people here today. 

Buckskin Mountain State Park

We finally decide to stop at Buckskin Mountain State Park after years of driving past. It's right along the Colorado River and there are lots of hiking trails. Three days here will be nice.

Buckskin Mountain trails map

View from the initial climb up from the campsite.

Our trailer is sitting in Arizona on the south side of the Colorado River. We are most upper left white trailer in the above photo. North across the river is an RV park in California. 

Overpass from the campsite across highway #95 to the hiking trails.

Great trails through the Buckskin Mountains

We find an old mine along the way. 

Mine shaft entrance.

Chris runs up the stairs along the hike. 

Buckhorn Cholla cactus above Colorado River

Lake Havasu Hot Air Balloon Festival - Glowin' On The River

The Lake Havasu Balloon Festival is a 3 day festival where balloon pilots hope to have morning and afternoon rises plus tethered balloon rides along with a full midway and live music. We come for the day hoping to see the evening  balloon glow.  It is all totally weather dependent as they need winds less than 8 mph. 

Mural near the festival.

The winds are too high for the afternoon launch so we head for a walk along the sunset trail of Lake Havasu.

Mural along the walk. 

When we return to the festival, it is close to dusk and we are happy to see the evening moon glow will be going ahead. Thankfully it's a calm evening. 

Balloons begin to appear in the distance. 

This year there are said to be 75 balloons and when they burst the fire from below to inflate them, it lights up all the beautiful colors they are made from!

Close up of a balloon basket as it lights up the balloon.. 

They come in all sorts of shapes and themes. 

We mull about all the blasting and excitement. It certainly is nice and warm within the balloon area. It lasts about an hour....a lot of propane is burned up and everyone is happy the wind subsided to allow this to happen. 

The American Mile Band

 We head over and watch the live music for an hour or so before heading home. They were really good.