Winter Trip Update and an Unexpected Challenge

This photo is taken a couple of days after my last post at the end of January (2018).  We are at a private campground, Arizona Oasis, on the Colorado River just a few miles west of Dome Rock BLM. We're there for the Superbowl weekend party and game.  David and I enjoy the party dancing to a few oldies.
The next night, at half-time, he starts complaining of pain in his left forearm where he had knocked it up against the bathroom door latch.
The next morning he is running a fever.  We relocate to the fiberglass rally at Dome Rock and find a walk-in clinic in Quartzsite where he gets antibiotics.   Over the next two days his arm swells (from his wrist to his shoulder) and I become frightened.  
We need to get back to a more populated area where there are great medical resources. 

By Thursday afternoon we are in an emergency room in Scottsdale, AZ where David is admitted to the hospital.  (We picked Scottsdale, a three hour drive, so we can be close to his family that lives there.)

It takes a few days but his arm eventually responds to the excellent medical treatment.  He has an extremely bad case of cellulitis!  The nurses teach me how to care for his wound, cleaning it, applying layers of medicine and gauze and securing it with a sleeve.

After four nights David is released and we decide to stay at his daughter's until he recovers more fully.  I am not a "happy camper" as I am not the RN in my family and have been known to faint, years ago, at the sight of blood!  But, somehow, we manage to get the dressing changed each day.

The weather has turned cold and rainy and we are glad to be warm in the back yard.  Ten days after his hospital discharge we resume traveling and head to the Escapees' North Ranch in Congress, AZ.

We picked North Ranch for two reasons.....I was just so ready to get out of the city and we were able to get full hookups for a long weekend.  We did not do much....the weather was not typical Arizona winter weather...but I did manage to get in a mountain bike ride in the BLM behind the ranch.

Sleet on the Tundra!

One of the colder days!

One of our friends, Jean, is at Gilbert Ray campground next to Tucson and we are ready for warmer weather!  We say bye to central Arizona and go south to join her.

BLM South Entrance of Joshua Tree

Canyon Lake

Gilbert Ray campground is beautiful!  The following day, Oliver trailer friends pull into the site next to us! We are having a mini rally!

It's time to leave Arizona and there's another state park on the way home that we want to see...City of Rocks in New Mexico! Our friends, Jerry and Wanda, posted fun photos of this place prompting us to put it on the must see list.

Very unusual place....this City of Rocks. A volcanic eruption millions of years ago created the city in the middle of a plain.  A full moon rises above the rocks creating a keeper photo!

Sylvester gets a little crazy while walking in the rocks.  He runs from rock to rock exploring every crevice.

New Mexico sunset

Plus there's Faywood Hot Springs just up the road from the state park.  This soaking experience is addicting....can't wait until it's time to return next year!

We spend three nights at City of Rocks leaving on a Sunday morning.  I am having mixed feelings...sad that we are saying goodbye to the West but hopeful for future trips.

That night finds us at Wal Mart in Fort Stockton, Texas and we are not alone!  These are our views from bed the next morning.

 side

 back

side

We hear that all the local rv parks are full....guessing 30 to 40 rigs are Wallydocking.

We have a little time to spare before our reservations start in Alabama for the Green Eggs and Ham rally.  We decide to visit the Canyon Lake in Texas.  Great idea! We stay a couple of nights doing a little walking and a lot of resting.

Using Google Maps, paper maps and the Garmin we find a way around Houston staying on 290 and 105.  It is a long day..much out of our way but no white knuckles.  Most of the route is very rural.  Another night at Wal Mart at Beaumont and we are on our way again and almost through Texas!

Another stop in Mississippi at the Welcome Center gives us information on local beaches fifteen miles away! We have not seen the gulf from Mississippi and the beach is calling my name.  We find a site at Buccaneer State Park near Waveland and Bay St Louis. The campground is big and the ocean is nearby!

(Full disclosure....I enhanced the beach photos using the app Snapseed.  The sand was not very white.)

It's getting late and this post must come to an end soon.  I'm going to close with photos from the Green Eggs and Ham Rally.  An event we have attended for many years...one we really enjoy!

We are now home in Chattanooga and gradually adjusting to living in a house.  We have a short trip coming up in a couple of weeks...over to our beloved Smoky Mountains.  After that, no real plans other than be gone in the summer.  XXX

Dome Rock Rally, Lake Mead, Lake Havasu BLM

 

This is the 10th year for the fiberglass rally at Quartzsite and our 5th year to attend.  The official attendance is down but I suspect some did not make the long trek to the registration table.  Photos do not portray the immense space full of little white eggs.

This is the popular Saturday morning yard sale.  There’s a free table…..just love free!

We camp up at “Casita Heights”, also know as snob hill!

And we are surrounded by old friends from the Southeast….folks from GA, AL, NC, KY and MS are all here!  We will see most of these folks at the rally in Alabama next month.

 

Sunday after the rally finds us unsure of our next destination.  We thought about heading to the Jojoba Escapees park in California but so many friends are heading to Death Valley and we’ve never been there. Decided to join our friend, Linda, at a PA park in Needles.  It’s a good place to wash clothes and rest.  Linda and I go exploring at Lake Havasu City.  She sees the London Bridge and eats at In and Out Burger for the first time.

We find a great BLM boondocking site just north of Lake Havasu…..what a view!

The weather forecast for CA looks bad, looks worst than bad, with a massive amount of rain heading toward our destinations.  We have never been to Lake Mead in Nevada and we change directions.

I learn that I have been saying Nevada wrong for the past 67 years!  It’s Nevada, put “add” in the middle syllable.  Always happy to learn something new!

Government Wash is a boondock place bookmarked on my Google Maps. We head toward the Henderson, NV Walmart and Lake Mead.

We find a site with a lovely lake view; unfortunately we lose something in the process!

Our spare tire post (and spare tire) is missing from the back bumper! Shock, then fear run through my body.  Where did we lose it??

Husband is more practical and just looks around our spot.  “There’s a tire lying just up the hill from the trailer.” And there it is!

No real harm is done but I feel terrible as my rocky boondocking site may have contributed to the break.  We throw the tire and post into the back of the truck. The next morning we relocate to a real campground, Boulder Beach.

The views are magnificent from our new site.

We watch a video about the building of Hoover Dam; then visit the dam.  The video portrays the incredible feat of building this fortress on the mighty Colorado River!

After a week in Nevada we are ready to return to AZ.  Unsure, again, of our destination, we just head south. We have great memories of camping at Buckskin Mountain State Park and thoughts of trying Lake Havasu State Park but those plans are put aside after we found our new boondock just north of Lake Havasu.  It is the view that captivates us!

We stay three nights before making a dash to Q to pick up mail.  Then on to another new site in Buckeye, AZ where the desert is blooming.

We believe that’s Robbins Butte in the background.

Unbelievable that we have only one more week in Arizona!  We head back to our favorite place, Lost Dutchman State Park and manage to get a three night reservation with electricity!

It rains for two days.  One day it even hails! No problem, we are happy to be warm and dry.

After a visit with the family we will be heading east, hoping mother nature will keep fair skies above. 

It is almost time for the Green Eggs and Ham rally in Montgomery, Alabama!