MA to AZ and beyond

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Loki was struggling to chill Tuesday. Not sure why. I worked on writing up our adventures and editing video pretty much all day. It seemed like every time I'd start to work on either, he'd come over, looking like was about to bark at me. I hooked up his leash to see if he wanted to go for a walk, and we'd get like one house down the street, and he'd just stop. So, we tried going the opposite direction and didn't really make any further progress. We returned to the van, and he'd be content for a little bit, and then need attention again. It was a little frustrating, because I wanted to get work done, but I felt like I couldn't.

Mandy sent an email she received from work about a wildfire 10 miles south of Prescott. It was discovered Monday and was about 500 acres. So, I was also monitoring that situation. 500 acres seems close at 10 miles. Especially with 25+mph winds gusting to 50mph. But I'm not really familiar with forest fires. It's not really a thing in New England like it is out here. I mean, they put up Smokey the Bear signs, and that seems to pretty much keep it under control. Only I can prevent forest fires, you know. It's a lot of responsibility for me, sometimes, but I manage. Well, actually, clearly, I do not. I've been slacking, I guess. Sorry about that.



Anyway, the fire grew to about 800 acres over the course of the day. They grow up so fast. Loki and I were finally able to walk a real walk. He was super lazy about it though. We got up to a decently high vantage point in the neighborhood and we had a good view south. There was a pretty large cloud of smoke drifting east over the hills. It's kind of unnerving. But at the same time, it's the least-stressful natural disaster we've ever encountered. Our bug out vehicle is already packed and we're already in it. If it comes down to our safety, Mandy's just not going to show up to work. She only has a week and a half left, anyways. It's not ideal; we aren't typically no-show/no-callers - I don't think either of us has ever done that. But if it's that or dying in a fire, I mean the choice is obvious. So, we're concerned insofar as we're paying attention to the situation, but not worried. Because our worst-case scenario is basically just living how we have been.

After we picked up Mandy, we were both kind of hangry and couldn't make a decision about dinner. We ended up making a beef and broccoli stir fry kind of thing with rice. I don't know what the heck is wrong with us, but we cannot seem to consistently cook rice out here. We did it once perfectly, but every other time before and after it comes out hard and/or watery. It's annoying. This time it was soft, but watery. The rest of it was decent, but it's better if we follow the actual recipe. Oh well, you can't win them all.

After dinner and cleanup, we walked up the hill again with Mandy so she could scope the smoke clouds. It was getting dark-ish, so it was harder to see them, but she got the gist of it. We circled back down to the van and prepped for the next day, and for bed. We plugged in dog for charging:

 

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We woke up and got Mandy to work then circled back to our hosts location. It's not a particularly noteworthy day, for the most part. In between giving Loki attention, I worked on writing and video editing for most of the day. Sometime in the afternoon, Barry came over and we ended up talking about anything and everything until I had to hurry to go pick up Mandy from work. I arrived at the parking lot just as she did.

We went to Best Buy in town to look for a couple things that we want to buy. They had one item but wouldn't even open the box to let me check it out. So that was pointless. It's essentially the same as buying online, so I did that instead. We weren't feeling like cooking, so we went to Lucy D's for some BBQ. I realized that BBQ is technically fast food. But, really, it's slow food. But the point is you can get way better tasting food just as fast. I got a half rack of ribs, and they were perfect.

From there, we went back to Barry and Cathy's to park and take a hike. There's a trail that goes pretty much from their house to Thumb Butte. We made an effort, but anticipated not making it all the way, due to timing. Sure enough, we bailed part way, and it was the tail end of dusk when we got back to the van. There was faint light left, but luckily, we had taken pavement back, because the rocky terrain the trail covered would have been really difficult to navigate in the dark.

We were hanging out inside getting ready for bed, and the water pump was kicking on momentarily, periodically. Is that double adverb acceptable? I was frustrated. I literally JUST dealt with this same symptom like 2 weeks ago. So, I tore apart the sink cabinet again. I figured my repair had failed. Seemed obvious, right? Everything was bone dry. Is that good or bad? It means my repair didn't fail, so that's a win. But I still don't know what the issue is. Where's the leak?

I turned the valve off that I had installed when I did the repair. If it's leaking in that circuit, at least it will stop until I can deal with it tomorrow. Because I was already in the mindset of making moves towards bed, you know? Of course, the pump stopped kicking on. So, the leak is in the more-difficult-to-access section. Perfect. So, I was venting my frustrations to Mandy, and she was like turn it back on and see if it's fixed. I was like that's not possible. How would that make any sense? She was like I dunno maybe there's air in it or something. The water tanks are kind of low. So, I turned the valve back on and ran the filtered water tap for a few seconds and then turned it off. The water pump stayed quiet all night.

I put the kitchen back together and we went to bed.

 

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We did just a short walk in the morning so we'd have time to stop for groceries on the way to work, so Loki wouldn't be left alone inside the van. Not that it was hot outside at 7:30am, but I really don't want to come back out to find a broken window because someone thought they were being the hero.

After we got Mandy to work, Loki and I went to fill up our freshwater tanks and dump the grey water. Fun stuff. From there, we found a spot to park at a park so I could do some cleaning. Or at least try. It was sunny outside and when that happens, Loki likes about 50% duty cycle. So, he lays in the sun for 10 minutes, then goes under the van for 10. And repeat. Which is normally fine. I don't care. You do you, boo. Except this time his sunny spot had to be just out of reach of the van with his leash attached. So, I had to sit with him 10 feet away every 20 minutes for 10 minutes. So, I cleaned in short bursts. I did most of the glass, inside and out. And I got most of the bug guts off the windshield, hood, front bumper and lights. And that was pretty much all I had time or effort for. It was frustrating, so I didn't give 100%.



We picked up Mandy and found a different park parking spot to cook dinner. We made butter fried chickens and carrots and coconut rice. The rice was still watery, so we cooked it for longer, but didn't really pay attention to how much longer. But when we realized it was still cooking and shut it off, it actually came out perfectly. So that's twice it came out right now, but no real idea how to do it repeatably. Oh well.

We cleaned up and got a couple groceries we forgot, and then we found a spot to park downtown. It was pretty uneventful, which is good. Events are generally bad so we try to prevent them as best we can.

 

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I spent most of Friday looking up. The clouds were neat first thing in the morning:



After we dropped off Mandy at work, I went to Home Depot to pick up a few repair items. Part of the insulation I put on the grey water tank has again started to separate. Even though I used spray adhesive and paid attention to my wrapping technique. So, I got spray foam insulation. When I have a good opportunity, I plan to try this out and somehow control it for as uniform a coating as I can manage. I want to test it first to make sure it's going to bond well and also not ruin the plastic. It's low priority at the moment because it's going to be warm for the foreseeable future. So more on that...someday.

I also got some stainless cleaner/polish wipes. For the shower, sink, and backsplash. They work decently, but probably only marginally better than soap and a scrubby sponge. I don't think I'll get them again.

I got a short, heavy duty extension cord. If any of you recall, we had one in storage to use in case we needed to plug the van into shore power. When I added the heat tape to the drain plumbing, I used that extension cord to plug the heat tape in. So, I finally got a replacement for that to have on hand.

And lastly, one of the screw heads in the shower is exposed because the silicone has worn off. Probably because we use a squeegee to scrape the water down the drain after each shower. So, I got some black rtv to reseal that screw head and fix any subsequent failures of the silicone.

When we went back outside, I made some breakfast in the van. Whilst so doing, I noticed a couple helicopters carrying a dangling payload in the general direction of the forest fire south of town. After I ate, Loki and I drove over towards Watson Lake. I knew it had been closed to the public, and I assumed that was because they'd be using it to grab water. I wanted to see if I could find a safe spot to park where I could watch. No such luck, but it didn't matter anyways. The choppers flew right past the lake.



We drove a bit further on and found a different park so we could get some walking in. As we walked along the trail, we crested a small hill and I noticed there were a few jets with a weird livery heading the same way. I texted a friend who confirmed through a flight tracker app that they were indeed firefighting jets. We watched the air traffic for a bit, but it seemed like things were taking much longer than I expected they would. It appeared the crafts were landing at PRC. I assumed some time to refill them with water, but I never saw them take off again. Perhaps high winds had grounded them again, or they weren't required anymore. I'm no expert.





We drove over to the airport. I was curious to see how they filled the planes. I was able to see them from a parking lot all the way across the airport, but it was not a good vantage point to be able to see much of anything at all. I tried to get closer, but the road was closed, so I gave up. It wasn't meant to be. And I didn't want to end up anywhere I shouldn't be. After all, they're doing a job much more important than me. I just thought it would be neat to see because it's not a common thing where I'm from. Oh well.

Eventually, we picked up Mandy from work. She got behind the wheel and took us all the way to Lake Pleasant. Again. But this time is different. We went to Castle Hot Springs Resort. And kept driving past it. We are NOT that rich, nor even close. We were following our friend Julia to her aunt's place. It's way out there in the middle of nowhere. Like 17 miles from pavement. The house was amazing, though we mostly spent the time outside of it. She cooked us dinner after we got there, and then we had a little fire in the backyard. I imagine grass when I say yard. There was no grass. But the fire was nice, and the company was great. We watched the stars come out and eventually had to call it a night. We slept in the van in the driveway.

 

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We woke up Saturday and took a stroll down the driveway. We didn't even make it close to the end of the driveway. Probably not even a tenth of it. It's super long. But we walked like 10 or 15 minutes. Not a super long walk. We went back to the house and took our showers inside, thank you Julia. She offered to show us around some of the cool spots nearby.



Many years ago, there were natives who lived in the hills there. I'm not sure if they left of their own accord or were forced out. It's not relevant for this post anyways. They left behind a lot of stone tools, petroglyphs, and structures. Julia showed us where the cool spots to check out are on a little hike down into the wash. It was pretty neat, and we enjoyed the tour. Though we would have loved to stay the weekend, that wasn't our plan, and eventually we had to get moving.

We aired the tires down to 25psi all around and set our shocks to soft so we could cruise more comfortably over the washboards back out to the pavement. Once there, our compressor made quick work of filling back up. We can easily monitor pressure in real time as we fill up via the tires screen in the dash and turn off the pump when the pressure turns from red to yellow to white. We continued on to Saguaro National Park just outside of Tucson. Let's just say there are a lot of saguaros there.



It was warm, but not insane. It was low 80s at the peak. But the pavement was pretty toasty. I periodically took off my flops to check. And dogs are only allowed on pavement, and a couple designated trails. We found a sandy trail that was cooler to walk up for a bit. But it was just saguaro as far as we could see in every direction. So, we knew we were basically just baking in the sun for more of the same. We didn't venture terribly far. We did seek some shade in a stone hut for a while before moving on to Tucson proper.

We went to Harbottle Brewing because they are a Harvest Host, but also because we wanted to have a refreshing beer and some relaxation time. Loki was stoked to be allowed inside, and we were all three of us pleased by the air conditioning. That the beers actually met our ridiculously high standards for great, was a massive bonus. Seriously, they were great. Not across the board, mind you; the IPAs I felt like were not my favorites, but the sours and the stout were delicious. Highly recommended. After we drank and relaxed a while, we made lunch? or dinner? in the parking lot. I guess it was dinner, I think it was around 6pm or so.



And then we headed over to UAZ. Specifically, the Flandrau center. Free telescope viewing! We got there a bit early, and the sky was still dusky, so we walked Loki around the campus. I remarked how odd it must be for there to be a dog on campus because when I was in college there was no way I could have a dog. Mandy listed 4 off the top of her head that she had just seen while we were walking around. I'm just oblivious, I guess. We went upstairs to peer through the scope and got an awesome view of the Orion Nebula, which is basically where his belt buckle would be. Afterwards they moved to look at a binary star system, but before we went back up, they had moved it back to Orion, so we missed it. We had fun strolling around campus anyways, and were getting a bit tired, so we decided to head back to the brewery to park for the night.

 

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Sunday, we moseyed through our morning. Once up and dressed, we took a short drive before going outside. We went to a riverside park about 8 minutes away. I guess they use riverside loosely here. Or the rivers are seasonal. This park was just alongside a lower piece of land, with a railing so you don't fall into the water that's not there. We walked "upstream" and eventually did find a trickle of water flowing through. We continued until the sun started getting intense then we circled back to the van.



From there, we drove to Phoenix to a laundromat near the mall. We obviously had to do laundry but why the mall? Well, Mandy wanted to check out some swimsuits. We were initially going to stack these errands but figured it best to just go to the mall afterwards since it would have been a rush. There was a taco shop right next door to the laundromat, so you know we had to get some. They were excellent. El Nopalito is the name of hte place, if you're in the market for good tacos. With the laundry completed and stowed, we went to the mall. Loki and I found a shady bench to chill at while Mandy went inside. The things she wanted weren't on sale, so we left empty handed.



We drove back to Prescott and did a few more errands on the way, like dumping grey water, picking up a few groceries and getting diesel. We parked near the Barrel and made some dinner, which was just leftover bean dip and chips. We weren't super hungry, anyways. We made a fresh batch of granola and cleaned everything up. Then we got into bed and finished watching Only the Brave. I was pretty impressed by the regional accuracy of the film. I don't know anything about firefighters or hotshots, so I can't speak to that. But I thought it was a really good movie.

 

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It's the final countdown!



Mandy's last Monday of working full time. Then we're free! By that I mean everything will seem more expensive. We still haven't nailed down a plan for next week. Anyways, we dropped her off at work (enjoy this bit because there's only a few left) and went to a park in town. We walked over to the mailbox to check on a package that was due. UPS was just leaving as we arrived, so we decided to return later after they'd had time to sort everything.

We walked back to the van and prepped a pork shoulder. Well, we actually prepped it about 18 hours earlier by coating it in brown sugar and salt. But it was time to begin baking it, so I tossed it in the oven on the roasting tray. 325F for 4 hours. I was a little uncomfortable leaving the van unattended with the oven on. So, we just hung out in and around it for the 4 hours. Mostly reading and writing. At the end of cooking, our batteries were sitting at 12.2V, which is definitely lower than typical, but not dangerously low, so that's sweet. When the pork is done, it has to sit for an hour. So, we used that time to walk back to the mailbox, grab the package, and then drive to pick up Mandy from work.



Mandy drove us to Yavapai Campground, where we had booked a site for a few nights. Sometime over the course of the afternoon, the entire town became engulfed in smoke from the wildfire. It's now partially contained but sitting around 6,500 acres I believe. I think the main driver, though, was a change in the winds. But anyways, lucky for us, Yavapai Campground is on the opposite side of the town from the fires and a bit higher up, so it's smoke free!

We set to work resewing the seat cover for Loki's seat because my sewing failed. We also made the rest of dinner. We had new potatoes and broccoli, both seasoned and baked. As the sides were coming along, Barry, our host last week, drove by and stopped to say hi. Total coincidence, he and his wife were visiting friends at a nearby site. Once everything was done cooking, we ate outside. After we cleaned up, we took a walk over to say hi to our hosts and meet their friends.



Loki wasn't a big fan of being near their fire, unfortunately, so we didn't stick around very long. We completed the loop of the campground and ended up back at our van, where we started. Mandy finished sewing Loki's seat cover and we did the rest of the nightly chores. Then, we went to sleep.

 

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Tuesday was mostly a choresy day. While Mandy was at work, I did some writing and some cleaning. Nothing super exciting. We received a gimbal that can carry a cell phone, so I started trying to learn that device. How it works and all that. I installed the new extension cord for the heat tape; I like it better for that job, and then reclaimed the original one for shore-power duty (we rarely use shore power). Loki chilled outside all day. I tried to walk him midday, but he refused. If we don't go first thing in the morning, he's not interested until Mandy is back with us again. As soon as she's out of work, he's ready to go. Hopefully next week that will change, and we can do a midday hike. We'll see!

After work, we drove across town to get some fresh water, and some groceries. We needed a few miscellaneous things. We grabbed those, then headed back to our campsite. Once there, we walked Loki around the trails out of the campground. The views are pretty great from this campground. I'm not sure if it's Granite Mountain, or an adjacent peak, but whatever it's called, it's very dramatic. I've definitely seen bigger peaks, but something about it just makes it feel large. I dunno, it's hard to describe. But it's cool.



When we got back from our hike, we reheated leftovers of pork shoulder, potatoes, and broccoli. It was just as good leftover. The pork feels like cheating. The easiness:goodness ratio is superb. Super easy - just crosscut the fat cap, slather it in salt and sugar, and let it set overnight. Then cook for 4-6 hours (weight dependent!, let it go until it's 190 degrees inside) with a little water in the roasting pan, at 325F. Let it sit for an hour. That's it. It's a lot of cook time, but hardly any work. Anyways. That was the other day, so enough of that. After we ate, we watched an episode of Better Call Saul. Then we slept.

 

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The air at the campground was clear, but as we descended into Prescott on our morning commute, it became thick with smoke. Visibility was extremely limited. You couldn't even see the P. Which, by the way, why is that such a thing in Arizona? Where we're from, no one puts the town's first initial on a hillside. Anyways, after dropping off Mandy, we returned to Yavapai Campground. I was on the fence about hiking with Loki. After I made breakfast and whatnot, he decided for me; we would not be going. He was content to sleep outside for the entire day, so I worked on some more cleaning and whatnot.

The main thing I wanted to accomplish, and did, was moving the table. As you guys may or may not have noticed - I don't know what you look at - the leg of the table was secured to the front end of the driver's side bench. This location worked great for us. We were able to move the table forward and increase our countertop area significantly. Something we literally never did. The main drawback to that mounting location is that you have to go all the way to the back doors to get around the table, to get into the driver's bench. So, we really only ever used the passenger's side bench. Because it was easier. We always do the laziest option. So now with the table relocated, we can use both benches equally easy.



I swept some, kinda half-assedly. Oh well. I also made some frozen dog treats for Loki to use up some yogurt we used for a recipe a while back and had some leftover. It's just plain yogurt and peanut butter with some water, mixed together, and then frozen in the ice cube tray. He loves them, especially when it's hot outside. I hung out with him for a while in the sun, just chilling. Eventually it was time to pack up and head out. We got Mandy, then returned. We were going to go for a hike, but by this time, I was starving, bordering on hangry. So, we cooked dinner first. We reheated the leftover pork, which wasn't much, and Mandy made us some jalapeno poppers wrapped in bacon. I probably ate more than I should have, but I was so hungry.

After we ate, we just walked around the campground a bit. We were feeling kind of lazy, so it was an early night. We watched two episodes of Better Call Saul. I watched two. Mandy saw like one and a little bit. Classic.

 

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We're liking the new table location. It feels more open in the kitchen. It's pretty sweet. I should have done that from the start.

We took a little hikeski before work. One of the last ones! Granite mountain is pretty freakin' impressive from the trails near the campground. Did I mention that already? After we dropped off Mandy, Loki and I came back to hike some more. We decided to just head out from the campsite. I wanted to find Surprise Spring, which I think is on trail 350? I'm curious if it's a spring that forms a pond, or what. But trail 350 just disappeared. There was a sign at a junction, but it was laying in the shrubbery. Taking a nap, I s'pose. Tough job standing around all day. So, I just kinda winged it. Wung it? Wanged, I think is the proper past tense. We hiked for an hour and change and ended up at Granite Basin Lake. From there, we took pavement back to the campground. It was a little under 3 hours, all in, I think. A decent walk. Loki was tired after, which was great.



We moved the van to a different site because we had to do a mixed reservation, due to which sites were available on each day. Then, I did some cleaning around the van, got all the bug guts off the front end, again. Made some breakfast. Or lunch, I guess. Sat in the sun a while. General relaxing things, you know? There's a bike race in Prescott this weekend, so the campground, and most of the roads, are full of bikers. The non-motorized denomination. I kept my head on a swivel on the ride back into town to pick up Mandy.

We got some groceries to make dinner. It's like a pasta stew almost? I don't know how to describe it other than tell you what's in it. There's Cajun chicken, chorizo, peppers, onion, garlic, noodles, broth, cream, and parmesan cheese. It's like a spicy, creamy, cheesy, meaty pasta dish. It's wicked good. We got back to the site and set to work making it. Except there were hardly any groceries. We left with only one of the three bags purchased. So, we immediately turned around to go back and get the rest. Then we went back to the site again, and this time we actually made the dinner. Minor setback. It still tasted just as good. But then it was fairly late, so we didn't do much. Luckily dog had already walked to his content. We called it another early night and did some reading in bed.

 

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We - Loki and I - set off to do the water thing after we wished Mandy a great last day of work. The water station at Affinity RV was taped off, so we went to the valley. They have another location there. Loki got a little antsy while we were waiting for someone else to finish up at the watering hole, but he cooperated. We took our turn to fill and dump, and then we were on our way. I figured it was a good time to refuel, too, and while Loki didn't necessarily agree - he was ready to be chilling on terra firma - he didn't speak up so...

The cheap fuel station said "pay attendant inside" on the pump. "Inside" is a little shack with bars on the window. You know the type. And I've never seen a person present in our time around Prescott. There was definitely a closed sign in the window, though. So, we went across town to pay full price. $4.999 per gallon. This station was a complete cluster. First, a line of cars waiting on a traffic signal to leave the station was barring my entry. I waited. Then there was a pickup at one pump, not even on its refueling side, with the hood open. So just blocking a pump with no intent to use it. There was also someone periodically moving an ATV pulling a trailer. Parking it in various locations that blocked traffic through the station, but without actually pumping any gas. Whatever, I got mine without issue. It was just a bit of craziness going on around me.

Also, most of the historic downtown area is blocked off. There's a bicycle race this weekend and there are bikers everywhere. I can't even tell where the event is, because I've seen them riding in all parts of the town. It's a bit of mayhem. So, I reached out to our previous Boondockers Welcome host and asked if it was alright we returned for the day. No problem. So, to escape the madness, Loki and I went to Barry's again. He's a volunteer helping the bike race. I helped him load a water tank into a truck he'd be using to supply drinking water to bikers at the finish line. Then I moved the van to where the tank had been, and I made some breakfast. Loki soaked up some sun. I cleaned the windows and counter and washed some spots on the tweed walls (laundry detergent and water on a rag works great!), then did some writing and reading until it was time to go.



Mandy got out a bit early, and on my way, the road was closed. Okay, no big deal, I'll follow the detour. Except there was none. It was just closed, and you figure it out on your own. So, that was a little frustrating, but not a huge deal. I managed. We got Mandy and parked downtown because I didn't feel like driving anymore with the roadblocks and bikers everywhere. Plus, we wanted to check out the event. We had basically no idea what was going on, but we deduced there were a few blocks of city street that formed a short loop and people were racing this loop. For qualifying. Besides that, no idea. There seemed to be a finish line away from the circuit being used, as well there were cyclists all over the place, riding every which direction. It was fun to try to figure out, until Loki wanted dinner and so started yelling at us to feed him.



We went back to the van and fed him. In the process, one of the cabinet door hinges separated from the cabinet. We went to Home Depot to swap out the wood screws for small bolts and nuts. I bolted the hinge THROUGH the cabinet wall, rather than TO it, while Mandy reheated leftovers for us for dinner. While we were in the store, we also got butcher block conditioner, which is beeswax and mineral oil mixed. So, once we cleaned up, I applied that to the counter since it was getting pretty dry in that Arizona air. We let it soak in while we drove to Barry's and got ready for sleeping. I wiped off the excess just before we pulled the bed down and Loki walked across it to lay down. Then we joined him and went to bed.

 

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Happy birthday! Now I'm 34. Once we were up and stuff, we decided to leave the van behind and walk down to Whiskey Row. We knew the bike race would be going on all day, so we didn't want to have to deal with trying to navigate around cyclists and finding parking. It's only a couple miles. It seemed there were far fewer people in town compared to the previous day, but then we remembered they're spread out over 50 miles of racetrack.



We checked out the scene around the finish line. There was a bike being raffled that normally sold for $15,000. FIFTEEN THOUSAND! For a bicycle. You could buy carS (plural!) for that much money. Ones you don't have to pedal. While we were there, the first rider rode through the finish line. 3 hours 15 minutes, the announcer said. And with a lead of several minutes. It's lonely at the top, I guess. He gave an interview immediately and wasn't even out of breath. I guess he could have gone faster. I know I couldn't.



We didn't really obsess over the race because while we do enjoy biking recreationally, occasionally, we're not hardcore at all. We didn't even bring our bikes with us in the van. But it is pretty neat to marvel at the athleticism on display. Loki wasn't at all interested in sitting still anywhere downtown. We wanted to chill in a shady, grassy spot but he wasn't inclined to allow it. He kept barking at us whenever we'd stop. So, we walked to a little shop owned by someone who reached out to us on Instagram as a fellow New Englander a while back. We met Beth at Collective Alchemies and ended up talking to her for quite a while. Loki was very appreciative of the cold tile floor and a chance to catch a few Zs. Beth was super friendly, and we were fast friends. After probably more than an hour of hanging out, we finally left the shop.



We walked back up to Barry and Cathy's and passed a ton more bikers along the way. There was no crowd along this stretch of the route, so I gave them a golf clap as they flew by to boost the morale for the final stretch. Back at the van, we sat in the sun for a while, chillaxin. We worked on a bottle of $5 wine. Dog slept under the van. Barry came by when he was finished volunteering and invited us out with them for dinner. This dinner was ultimately an adventure. Any idea what this sign is?



So, they were going to Raven at 6pm. We left a bit before then, since it was a short drive. We found parking right in front of the entrance, which was perfect. The temps were cooling off outside, so we weren't concerned about leaving Loki inside, especially since we could watch the van from inside. We took him for a walk around the block, gave him dinner, pulled the bed down and opened the windows. He was chilling. We meet Barry and Cathy inside and were introduced to some friends of theirs. After a few minutes, Mandy hopped in line to order food. When she finally reached the counter, she was told the cook had just walked out and they weren't taking any food orders, but she could get a drink. Some of the people at the table had ordered already, but she informed those of us that hadn't. Mandy and I decided we'd rather get a pizza down the street and eat it in the park. We said our plan, and one of the people we'd just met asked if we needed money up front or not. It took me a moment to realize they'd assumed we were going to get pizza for them and bring it back to them. Which is fine, it was just not our plan. Mandy asked if that was allowable first and was declined. But fear not! They would resume taking food orders in 15 minutes. Someone spilled their wine and Mandy tried to save it but was too late. The wine-spiller was confused as to why she knocked over his glass. At first, we thought he was joking, but nobody laughed. A w k w a r d. So, 15 minutes later she hopped back in line. "Sorry, we're still behind." Okay, fine, we said our goodbyes and left.

We grabbed dog from the van, but first had to give a van tour to some strangers. They loved it. So did the people seated outside eating dinner, who we chatted with a while after completing the tour of the van. They were also interested in it but didn't get up to go inside. Thankfully. Is that rude? We were just hungry. We walked to Bill's Pizza a block over. They have a register at each end of the counter which is strange but whatever. There was an obvious line to the left register, so I got in at the end. As it moved left, some people filled in behind me and said they'd got relocated from the left register to the right one because they wanted to order to go. Which is what I wanted. I was like score, I thought I was at the back, but now I'm right at the front. So, I just waited at the right register and for a while no one came. When someone finally did, we were informed we had to go to the left register to order to go. Okay, weird but whatever. So, I slid on over and overheard the customers ahead of me. 40 minutes lead time on a pizza. I wasn't trying to wait that long at this point, and as I stood there, someone brought out a fresh pepperoni pizza for single slices, you know? I was like F it, I'll just take 2 of those please. "Sure, that will be 4 minutes." What I SAID was, "Okay no problem". What I THOUGHT was, "What the heck??" They're right there, ready to go. I dunno what the 4 minutes was supposed to be for, but it turned out to be accurate.

Fully two hours after we met at the restaurant, we finally got to eat. We ate the slices on a bench on the sidewalk. They were fine. Certainly not worth the wait. We hopped back into the van, knowing Loki wouldn't want to hang out downtown for the concert at all. We went back to Barry's and went to bed.

 

[rob cote]

Sunday, we drove downtown in the morning, and we went to Wild Iris for coffees. They have a lavender cream cold brew that's outstanding. No, it doesn't taste like lavender. Nor smell like it. It just adds the teensiest bit of sweetness. So good. We took the coffees to a small trail hike across town that we were recommended to try out, called Constellation Trail. The trail was pretty easy. Well, there's actually a whole cluster of trails. We walked most of the perimeter, but towards the end, Loki was dragging so we took one of the inner trails that appeared to be the shortest route home. It provides a pretty cool view of the town, because it has a decent bit of elevation. But it's not very difficult. About an hour, round trip.



After the hike, we had worked up a small appetite, so we sought lunch. We went to Park Plaza Liquor & Deli on another recommendation. It's a spot we'd been eyeing for a while, anyways, mainly because liquor and deli is a unique combo. Plus, they have a Cuban sandwich on the menu, and I love a good Cuban. My expectations were low, because they list mayo for whatever reason. I obviously requested it without mayo. They obliged. It was pretty decent. Not the best I've had, but far from the worst. The onion rings are beer battered, and really good. Except I always feel like trash after eating fried foods nowadays. I still do it to myself sometimes. This was no exception. Like I said, they're good, I just have to deal with it afterwards.

From lunch, we went back to Yavapai Campground. One more night. Our last in Prescott. We had a couple last-minute packages due at our mailbox that we want to retrieve before finally leaving Prescott for the last time. Unfortunately, it was a super windy night, so we mostly hung out inside. It was too intense to safely have a fire, and a bit too chilly to really be comfortable out there. Loki hung out outside, by himself. Although, we had the door open. We just had a quiet night in instead of going out with a bang. It was the first Sunday night that Mandy didn't have to set an alarm, though, so that was exciting.

 

[rob cote]

Monday, we left the campground and headed to the laundromat. A day late, if we were trying to stick the Sunday schedule. Good thing we aren't! Loki and I tried to walk while Mandy was inside, but he changed his mind. Put the brakes on as we call it. So, we ditched that plan. After the laundry was done, we went to get water one more time. Then, we grabbed the mail, and set out.

We headed off in the direction of Lake Mohave. But about halfway there or so, Mandy rerouted us to Lake Mead instead. On a whim, I guess. It was a bit less off-pavement driving to get to a campsite at Lake Mead rather than Mohave. We turned onto Kingman Wash Access Rd. and deflated the tires and turned down the shocks. The road was fairly mild but had a decent washboard texture. 25psi in the tires, and 2.1 shocks setting was pretty comfortable cruising about 15mph the whole way. There was one or two short stretches that we crawled through, about 20 feet long each, where it got a little gnarly. At the end, the road opened up into a beach nestled in a small cove of Lake Mead. It was gorgeous. And, of course, it was insanely windy. Because why wouldn't it be? We parked near the water and listened to the wind sandblast the side of the van for less than a minute. We drove back upwind just a bit, to where it was gravel rather than sand. At least here there was only wind to deal with.





Between gusts, we walked back down to the water. You know I had to jump in it. Frigid as it was. The wind picked up on our walk back up to the van, and we turned to face downwind so as not to get faces full of sand. Back at the van, the wind was tolerable, because it wasn't strong enough to pick up the gravel on the ground. We did the trying-to-get-level dance, moving the van back and forth and stacking rocks. We eventually got it good enough, and I took a shower to get all the sand off and out of me. We would have loved to meet the other people hanging out camping on the beach, but it was too difficult to hear well enough over the wind to even have a conversation. There was a brief lull in the wind right around sunset, which was sweet, because we got to sit outside together for a bit and enjoy it. Then, a coyote walked past pretty close to the van, and Loki of course saw it and got worked up about it. So, we moved everything inside, and ended up calling it a night somewhat early. Which was good, because later on a donkey walked by very close to the van, and I don't think Loki went back to sleep after that. He was BIG mad.

 

[rob cote]

I've got to make sure I put the day of the week at the beginning of each post otherwise I'm gonna lose my marbles here and I've got a pretty sizeable collection of marbles.

So, TUESDAY, we woke up to some gorgeous weather on the lakeside. It was a little bittersweet, because we couldn't stick around to enjoy it. Well, we could, but that wasn't our plan. We cruised back out Kingman Wash to pavement. We stopped just before the highway to air up the tires and adjust the shocks. We hopped on the highway, then, and made our way to Henderson, NV (new state!!) for some dog food. WALMART RUN! Big excitement. I ended up hanging in the parking lot with Loki and chatted with a nice lady who walked by. We talked almost the entire time Mandy was inside; she and her husband are thinking about getting a van, and so she wanted all the gory details. Then we talked local sites, and general travel stuff. It was nice. Once we got on our way again, we debated two optional routes: through Vegas for free, or the scenic route with tolls.



We opted to take the scenic route and were so glad we did. We didn't even have to pay the entry fee because we have an America the Beautiful pass. The fee is $25 to enter Lake Mead National Recreation Area. Which we'd never heard of. But holy cow, it's HUGE! The land area, AND the mountains. Both monstrous. And the landscape is pretty diverse, too. Around each bend and over each hill, we found completely new and different views. The colors and textures varied wildly. It was crazy. Eventually, we made it all the way through the recreation area to Valley of Fire State Park. Here, we stopped at Elephant Rock, which is probably not worth the stop. But Mandy loves all things elephants, and we'd been driving for a while so the walking was a good reprieve. We hopped back in the van after a short walk and made a short drive just up the road to Atlatl Campground. We found a site and parked for the night.





I took a free, hot shower in the campground facilities! And then we took a little walk down the road. Perhaps a mile from the campground, there's a site of ancient petroglyphs high on a rock wall. We went to go check that out, and actually give Loki a proper walk for the day. There's a staircase to the petroglyphs, but the treads are aluminum grate and Loki hates walking on it. I stayed on the ground with him, where we could clearly see the carvings. Mandy went upstairs to get a closer look. Afterwards, we went back to camp and made dinner. It would have been a lovely night for a little fire, but we didn't have any wood, and there was none around in any of the vacant sites, so we didn't have one. Not a big deal. We hung out outside to watch the sun set and the stars come out, and then we moved inside to go to bed. Having the slider and the rear doors open with the screens down helps the van to cool off pretty quickly as night sets in. We closed up everything before we went to bed, though, and just left the windows open.