Finding Water in the Desert

April. Desert temperatures are too warm even for us Snowbirds. Finding water in the desert (a reservoir, of course) makes it tolerable. It seems ironic that, while we're sitting waterside, enjoying this rare commodity, Randy is re-reading a book we both read a few years ago. Cadillac Desert by Marc Reisner describes the whole crazy business of how so many dams were built despite the obvious and ongoing shortage of water in the American west. It's pretty scary what the future may hold and, thinking about it, actually makes us feel rather guilty about being here at all. These cities and the dams and reservoirs that sustain them should not be here either.

Quartzsite

The steady parade of RVs on the highways this week signals the end of the season. They're all heading one direction: north. At the La Posa LTVA and the five surrounding 14-day limit boondocking areas near Quartzsite, we had our choice of sites. Only a few scattered campers remained in each area. In town, most of the seasonal vendors had closed up shop.

Camped at the Plamosa Rd location

Poor Randy had to dig out two of his many different hats once again. First the fridge stopped working and, the next day, the laptop keyboard quit.

Randy as RV refrigerator repairman (obviously, the hat is not actually required)

Randy's computer repairman hat

He is not afraid to take almost anything apart and, in both these cases, successfully fixed the problems. He does say that he knows way more about Dometic refrigerators than he ever wanted to. Thank goodness he has all those different hats and knows how to use them. (If I ever start musing about traveling without that man, please remind me of this!)

Parker

With Temperatures reaching the high 90s in the shade, it was definitely time to either head north with the rest of the snowbirds or find some water in the desert. We met up with friends from Ontario at La Paz, a county park in Parker, AZ. It's a lovely park, especially at their campsite along the river. That's where all the action is.

La Paz County Park Campground

Lake Havasu

And speaking of "action", it was the weekend so we moved from Parker to Lake Havasu to be watch the constant entertainment that particular lake provides.

We set up our chairs beside the other "older people" (in the shade).

And watched the typical weekend action: fancy boats cruising up and down the lake.

Other typical Lake Havasu scenery. Where are these kids' parents?

Minutes from the action, at our free campsite

In the morning, on the rocks above our campsite...

We counted fifteen big-horn sheep.

They hung around for more than an hour before they moved on.

Prescott

So we moved on, too, this time as far north as Prescott, where a higher elevation delivered a change of scenery and some cooler temperatures. Surrounded by forests, the Prescott area has many lovely hiking trails in the forests but we had our hearts set on a different area. On our last visit, in 2008, we had discovered Watson Lake, one of two lakes in an area called the Granite Dells. If ever we wished we carried some kind of water craft, it was here. No more kayak envy for us - since we purchased our Sea Eagle inflatable.

Watson Lake and the Granite Dells on the outskirts of Prescott

Day one was a bit breezy so we hiked the trail around the lake. The next day was perfect for paddling.

Cottonwood

Another move brought us a little farther north again - to Cottonwood. On Saturday night, overdue for a night out, we looked for and found a dance - at the Thousand Trails Campground. An excellent country band, The Hired Hands, free admission, and a "bring your own beverage of choice" policy. Can you beat that for a frugal night out?

The Hired Hands

And finally, at our current boondocking location, we have a great distant view but the photo I want to draw your attention to is the second one below.

Great distant view

Same location, another view

As is often the case in boondocking locations, our Lynx Levelers, provide the "lift" we need. They're pretty cool (and so "orange" that we're not likely to drive away without them). Do you want a set of these levelers of your own for free??? Of course you do! Read on...

Boondockers Welcome, my other web site, is one-year old this week. Yep, we're all a year older too - but this is a big deal (at least it is for us)! The guys at Lynx think so too. They're big fans of both my web sites and have generously offered to help us celebrate by giving away a whole bunch of levelers (plus some chocks and caps) - exclusively to you - my followers. It's all happening through the Boondockers Welcome facebook page, (which doesn't have very many fans just yet so your chances of winning are excellent!) What are you waiting for? Go on over, "like" our page, and get the details!

Do you REALLY want to win? After going to our page, hop over to the Lynxlevelrs page, click "like" and enter the secret phrase, "Boondockers love LynxLevelers" for an additional chance to win.

Days on the road on this trip: 88

Total camping costs to date: $123.00