Big Utah Canyon in California

Posted on December 11, 2016 by gizmogoeswest
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Taking time to enjoy the colors in this canyon

Today we decided to take a break from Pickleball and get a hike in.  It is a bit more of a challenge to find a “dog friendly” hike here in Palm Springs than it was in Las Vegas or Cottonwood.  We chose a canyon hike in the Mecca hills for our first adventure.  The canyon hikes here are very different than the mountain hikes we are accustomed to back home.  The hike today had no “official trail” meaning there were no official cairns or markers.  You need to follow directions found in a guidebook or online that use landmarks (like trees) to take you through the canyons.  It took us a while last year to get used to this type of hiking.  We prefer to hike in canyons vs up exposed hills/mountains when it is warm and sunny.  Gizmo cannot tolerate the sun beating down on him for miles, and the canyon walls provide at least intermittent shade. Continue reading →

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Vulture Peak

Posted on December 5, 2016 by gizmogoeswest

On Sunday we were ready for an adventure.  We had been cooped up in the RV for a little over a day because of strong winds in the area.  We did some searching on the internet and decided on Vulture Peak near Wickenburg, AZ.

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View of Vulture Peak from near Rte 60 in Wickenburg

The trip would serve two purposes, an adventure and an opportunity to get some groceries in a bigger town.  Our current town has a very small store with limited supplies.   Continue reading →

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London Bridge, Parker Dam and Lighthouses

Posted on December 2, 2016 by gizmogoeswest

The fun thing about a last minute change in plans is we get to see some sights we had not planned on.  A quick look at the map and we could see that Lake Havasu City was an easy day trip from our current location.  We had thought about making the trip here when we were in Las Vegas but the distance was a little too much.

The drive up to Lake Havasu City from Salome, AZ took us about 2 hours. The first photo op came early in the trip as we left the town Hope that is right next to Salome.  We had to stop to get a picture of the hilarious sign leaving town.

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Sign as you leave Hope, AZ

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Last Man Out

Posted on December 1, 2016 by gizmogoeswest

We absolutely loved our time in Verde Valley RV Park.  We had a great site, we played pickleball daily and we were only 30 minutes from Sedona.  We had one problem… the weather decided to not cooperate and we were facing temps well below normal.  In addition to that the campground was struggling with a well and we had been without water for 3 days.  The breaking point for us was the overnight low on Tuesday 11/29/2017 of 17 degrees!  We left Maine to get out of cold winter temperatures, and I’m pretty sure that the overnight low there doubled the one we had just experienced. Continue reading →

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More Hiking, More Pickleball and a Great Thanksgiving

Posted on November 27, 2016 by gizmogoeswest

We are continuing to have a great time in Cottonwood.  We have had more pickle ball players arrive at the campground and now we have 12+ people playing each morning.  Playing pickle ball has allowed us to meet so many more really great people than we did last year.  We were invited to share Thanksgiving with the people we have been playing pickle ball with.  Wow, what a spread they put on.img_3408  It was one of the best Thanksgivings we have had.  It was really nice to have it outside on picnic tables, that would never have happened in Maine.  Our host even made cookies shaped like pickle ball rackets with our names on it as place settings!

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Pickleball Cookie Place Settings

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Pickle ball and Hiking- Week 1 Cottonwood

Posted on November 22, 2016 by gizmogoeswest

We were so ready to leave Las Vegas last week.

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Leavin’ Las Vegas- YAY!

We had a great time exploring the area and hiking but the noise and commotion in the city was really starting to get to us.  In order to go anywhere we needed to drive out of Las Vegas and fight the horrible traffic.  A 5 mile drive to a store takes about 30 minutes with the lights and traffic.  The resort has no amenities.  There is a pool, but it was damaged last spring and has not been repaired yet. There is no wifi (free or for purchase) in the park.  We literally had to leave the campground each day for any entertainment, so we were very thankful that there was tons of adventure nearby.  We would return to this park, but would probably not stay for a full 3-weeks again.

 

Our move last week was about 300 miles away to a small town in Arizona called Cottonwood.  It is in an area called the Verde Valley and is situated at around 3000 feet.  The weather here is cooler but we are enjoying the crispness to the air.  This park is almost the exact opposite of the one we were at in Las Vegas.

Cottonwood / AZ / United States - 11/13/16

Free range cows at the front entrance to our campground

The park is huge and situated way off the road so it is extremely quiet.  There is a full schedule of events here as well as Pickleball courts Continue reading →

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More Hikes Near Las Vegas

Posted on November 19, 2016 by gizmogoeswest

We did tons of hiking while in Las Vegas since there was literally nothing to do at our campground.  The following is a summary of 3 additional hikes in Las Vegas that we enjoyed.

The first is the Historic Railroad Trail at Lake Mead.  We started in the parking lot near the Lake Mead visitors area.  We got there at 0900 and the parking lot was already full, but we were able to get a spot after waiting for a few minutes.  Unfortunately for us the bike path and this trail were under construction Monday through Thursday so we had to make the trip on a weekend.  Judging by the amount of people on this trail, it is very popular with the locals.  We saw several boy scout troops hiking here.  We decided to bring Gizmo’s “doggy ride” since we planned on hiking the full 7.6 miles.

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Gizmo’s “Doggy Ride”.  It can be towed behind a bicycle or with the conversion kit it can be pushed.  The wheels pop off  and it quickly becomes a portable kennel

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More Mojave Fun

Posted on November 15, 2016 by gizmogoeswest

Last week we made a second trip down to the Mojave National Preserve since we had not taken in all the sights we wanted to see the first time.  We had a list of 3 things we wanted to see on this trip.  We wanted to hike Teutonia Peak and see Cima
Dome and the Mojave Cross while we did this.  The second thing  on the list was the Rings Loop trail at Hole in the Wall and lastly we wanted to see the Lava Tubes.  The first stop along the way was Teutonia Peak on the Cima Road.  The trailhead for this hike is on the left just after you pass the Mojave Cross on your right (if you are driving north).  The hike to Teutonia Peak is about 3.5 miles round trip with 700 feet of vertical gain.  The first part of the hike leads through a very thick Joshua Tree Forest with a scattering of assorted cactuses throughout.

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The hike through a Joshua Tree Forest on the way to Teutonia Peak

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Area 51

Posted on November 8, 2016 by gizmogoeswest

Today we decided to do a long road trip since we were all pretty tired from our long hike yesterday.  A camping neighbor had recommended driving up to Area 51.  The total mileage for this trip is about 325 miles from Las Vegas, but 95% of it is pretty easy driving.  We took the 15 out of Las Vegas to the 93 to the 375.  I would say this trip is one of those that is really more about the journey than the destination.  Once you are off the I-15 you are on two lane roads that are straight for miles on end.  John said at one point he hadn’t moved the steering wheel in over 35 miles.

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No need to turn the steering wheel!

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Spring Mountains-Escaping the heat

Posted on November 4, 2016 by gizmogoeswest

This past weekend we were anxious to get out of the city and get to some cool mountain climbing.  The ability to drive from the desert up to the mountains in less than an hour is one of the things we like most about the west.  We decided to drive up to the Spring Mountains National Recreation area, about 30 minutes from downtown Las Vegas.  The Spring mountains are inside the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest and encompass more than 316,000 acres.  This area is also knows as Mount Charleston.  Mount Charleston is 11,916 feet tall and was already snow capped during our visit.

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Top of Cathedral Rock with snow capped Mt. Charleston behind us

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