We dropped in on Doug & Gail Sweet, old, old, old friends from long ago, who just happen to live in Lake Havasu City near the Arizona – California border. (California is on the other side of the lake formed by damming the Colorado River at Parker Dam).

 

.

.

Home SWEET home.

.

.

 

Lake Havasu City (LHC) was established in 1963 by Robert McCulloch, the chainsaw guy, as a planned community (whatever that is). Other than Lake Havasu, houses on the desert hills, the heat and an occasional rattlesnake, LHC’s other claim to fame is the London Bridge. Yes, that London, back in merry old England.

.

McCulloch bought the 1830 bridge from the City of London in the 1960’s and had it shipped over and rebuilt.  It and a canal under it from the Colorado were completed in 1971.

.

.

I remember reading about this and thinking how foolish can you be buying a bridge and putting it up in the middle of a desert in Arizona?

.

.

Seems to have worked!

There are nearly 60,000 people soaking up the sun in Lake Havasu City now, not including the spring breakers – sorry – no pictures, too much nudity. Rumor has it that “Jack-the-Ripper” came over with the bridge, too.

I met Doug and Gail way back when I was one of the  ‘ute’s in our church. They were asked to oversee us as youth directors. They were only a couple of years older than most of us (Gail was- Doug robbed the cradle).  Anyway they accepted, fools that they were, and I’ve missed (needed?) their overseeing ever since.

Doug is a retired GM engineer, actually he is an engineer’s engineer’s engineer. That’s him in his computer room where he has roughly 200,000 computers and who knows what else. Its hard to describe Doug. His brother Ken, who also lives in LHC, calls him Monk after the TV character, but I think his “Monkness” is because Doug’s brain is constantly analyzing and “engineering” at warp speed.

Its good to have a Monk around especially when one’s convertable top won’t convert:

 

 

 

 

.

Gail, on the other hand…

.

while trying to keep Doug focused had to put up with us for a long, long time and that can be very try- I mean tiring. She gave up her sewing room for us to sleep in. Made meals for us. Baked bread. Fixed home made granola (which I kept eating). Took Mary to water aerobics. Played Mexican Train and Wii with us.

.

Even took a chance and introduced us to some of her friends. Gail was a great hostess even when we came back the second time.

 

 

 

What can you do/see at Lake Havasu City??

.

.

You can see the Michigan Rock.  The UP fell off during the last snow storm.

.

.

Go to a swap meet:

Go out to eat:

Appraise Doug’s thoughts on head gear. 

.

.

.

Go to church.

.

.

Swim:

 

Look at stuff:

Go to Oatman, Az:

EDIT NOTE: I was going to wait until I was done with this post before publishing, but we have run into a couple of snags with our “wheels” and time has slipped by.

.

.

So there will be a part “deux”.

.

.

Seat belt Doug..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We crossed into Arizona and stopped at the welcome center.

Our first “things to see” in Arizona was the Painted Desert and Petrified Forest. Something I can almost remember from the trip to California my parents took the family on in the summer of ’64 or 65, I can’t remember which for sure. Route 66 was pretty much it back then and we stopped here, I know, as we still have the little vial of Painted Desert sand and piece of petrified tree, all legal back then. Today you are admonished not to touch anything and are checked at the exit for contraband. That’s a good thing though, as it leaves it for the next visitor. Mary bought a National Park pass (senior citizen – don’t tell her I said that) when we were in Hawaii for 10 dollars that lets her and a  guest (me) into any National park for free. Smart woman.

.

Route 66 used to go through right between the Painted Desert and the Petrified Forest.

 

 

 

We met a young family from Michigan while looking at the Indian ruins and hieroglyphics. We told them we were from Clio and she said she taught school in Montrose – small world indeed.

On the way to the Petrified Forest:

The Petrified Forest:

From the Forest we looped back up to 66 and Holbrook, Az.

.

.

This isn’t quite to Holbrook, but it is one lonely, lonely tree.

 

 

 

.

.

This is the welcome sign to Holbrook.

 

.

.

.

I had thought we left Roswell behind but it seems we’re caught in a time warp.

 

 

.

 

One of the cool things to do when traveling Route 66 in the good ‘ole days was to stay at a Wigwam Motel. As dad was hauling a travel trailer on our trip back then we didn’t get to stay in one, but this time…

.

.

.

.

Not easy to see, but then the Jag looked a little out of place anyway.

.

.

.

.

.

Mary wanted a picture of the wigwams at dark and they are cute.

.

.

 

.

It was really kinda cool staying there. The wigwam was concrete and even though we were in unit # 1 right beside 66 we couldn’t hear any traffic sound. The bed was comfortable and was just – fun.

 

 

.

Next stop was Winslow, Arizona and breakfast.

.

.

.

.

.

.

Then we Stood on the Corner for a while.

.

.

.

.

and  then hit the road.

 

 

From Winslow we followed I-40 to Flagstaff.

We were able to pick up 66 again a little way west of Williams, Az and rode it all the way to Kingman. (little pictures are thumbnails, to see better click on them but sit back as I don’t know how big they get….actually you can click on any of the pics for a larger frame.)

Then we ran into one of those blasts from the past that you just slap your head about. “I remember those!”

.

.

.

Burma Shave!!

.

.

 

on to Kingman..

.

Kingman, Az is where we broke off 66 to head down to Lake Havasu City and one Sweet bed and breakfast, but that’s another story.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Its a long way from Rio Hondo, Tx to Lake Havasu City, Az and, yes, you can see California from here. In between is a lot of – well a lot of stuff and we tried to see all of it.

West Texas:

Well actually there were parts of West Texas that didn’t have a lot in it. We decided to try to stay away from expressways, again, and worked our way up thru the small towns and stage coach stops.

Which is not to say that the drive was boring. The scenery, or lack there of, was – well, West Texas.

.

.

In our mind’s eye we were seeing outlaws, Indians and the Lone Ranger out there some place.

 

.

.

.

We spent the night in Del Rio on the Mexican border after having walked the streets of Laredo. There is a theme here someplace but I can’t quite put my finger on it.

 

.

 

The next morning we crossed the Pecos.

 

 

 

.

Now that we were on the other side of the Pecos we had to be on the lookout for …

 

 

The Law West Of The Pecos.

Yup,  Judge Roy Bean in the flesh. Real guy. Real place. All in Langtry Texas, named Langtry by Bean after English actress Lillie Langtry, the Jersey Lily and the Judge’s heartthrob. The picture above is the actual saloon/court room of Judge Roy Bean restored by the State of Texas.

The Judge wrote to Lillie Langtry numerous times describing the town and inviting her to visit. She finally did, unfortunately the Judge had passed away 10 months prior.

.

.

We ran into Charlie Sheen on the way out of town. I wondered where he would end up.

 

 

A little more Texas:

We moised on up the trail and crossed into New Mexico…

.

in search of Aliens and the Kid.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

 

You could tell we were getting closer to Roswell.

 

 

 

.

.

and then we were there.

 

 

 

.

.

Actually I don’t believe we saw anything. Really, it was just swamp gas or a hallucination… Hey! Where are you taking us.

H

E

L

P !!!

 

Sometime later we found ourselves in Lincoln, NM (not sure how we got there) a one street town with no claim to fame ‘cept for the Lincoln County War. The movie “Young Guns” filmed around Lincoln, portrays the events surrounding the Lincoln Country War, Billy the Kid and Sheriff Pat Garrett.

 

Some “Shots” from around Lincoln:

 

.

.

We did catch up to the “Kid”

 

 

 

 

 

.

.

Of course Billy wasn’t the only desperado in town.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

The hanging judge…..

.

.

.

More new friends

.

.

This gentleman, a park volunteer, showed us a picture of his grandfather, one of the Kid’s Regulators.

 

More stuff from Lincoln

 

We rode out of town to our next stop which, surprisingly was just up the road from Billy’s hangout..

.

.

to Capitan, New Mexico which would be another of those sleepy villages you burn through at 75 mph….

.

except for…

 

.

this guy.  A badly burned bear cub rescued from a large forest fire in the Capitan Mountains. He was named Smokey and the rest, they say is history.

 

 

.

.

After 26 years of faithful service reminding us that “Only you can prevent forest fires” Smokey passed on and is buried here in his park in “downtown” Capitan.

 

 

 

Moving on to Albuquerque and Route 66 but first a side trip toward Santa Fa and the world renown town of Madrid, New Mexico. That’s pronounced MAD-rid for all you non Wild Hogs.

.

.

Maggie’s Dinner from Wild Hogs.

.

.

And Again

Unfortunately the Dinner isn’t and was closed anyway so we went in search of a place to eat. Not easy as MAD-rid is tough to get to. Have to go almost to Santa Fe from Albuquerque turn right and wind your way thru the hills and valleys, washes and passes until you find it.

There was, fortunately, another eating establishment in town called Holler:

Started by a Paris trained chef who got lost in the hills and never made it out again.

.

.

.

.

The place was dripping with ambiance:

Yes, the guy in the hoodie is puffing on a doobie, a large one. Notice the dog?

.

.

The food however, was outstanding. Chocolate cake anyone?

 

 

More hits of MAD-rid:

 

MAD-rid was a mining town gone to seed before being discovered by artists, old hippies and other disreputables and of course Hollywood.

.

Time to follow the dog out of town…

 

and get our Kicks on Route 66 and points West.

P/s I wanted to say something about the scenery we have been traveling through. Its is spectacular, but perhaps like Hawaii there is so much of it every way one turns that it be comes familiar. Sensory overload. Too bad really. But still much better than snow. Unless of course, it is a cap for the mountains.

We followed I-40 which for the most part is built over old 66 from Albuquerque to Gallup, NM

.

.

We galloped into Gallup..

.

.

.

and found the El Rancho Hotel:

 

The El Rancho has an impressive list of Hollywood Western stars and others. Not to surprising as the Hotel was built by  “R.E. Griffith’s as a haven for Hollywood’s famous. His well-known brother, D.W. Griffith (director of such classics as “Birth of a Nation”), encouraged using El Rancho as a base for crews and stars on location because of its access to western landscapes and the rustic elegance of the hotel.

We had lunch there and didn’t see hardly any of them. Gallop is almost to Arizona so let’s head on over.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Things are always bigger in Texas.

HEY WAIT!!  What happened to Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana????

 There you go!

A word or three about Texas, First of all its big. Ya, I know Alaska is bigger -yada-yada-yada. But when you hit the X-Way at the state line and it’s mile marker 899 or some thing like that, that’s a whole lot of miles. Another thing Texicans are just different. Its hard to put your finger on it, ask our oldest son Alan, he’s a Texan, born on Sheppard AFB in Wichita Falls, Tx. has a certificate and everything. We were talking to the person at the Texas info center and mentioned we had a Texan for a son, her smile got a little bit brighter and a little friendlier. That’s not to say that Texans aren’t friendly because they are. The snowbirds that come down here are called “winter” Texans and there are even highway billboard signs welcoming them back. I didn’t see anything like that when we were in Florida. Even the food establishments seem to cater to the winter Texans, offering specials to “older” patrons and are genuinely glad to see ya.

Then there’s the Alamo thing. Rumor has it that Ozzie Osborne relieved himself against the Alamo wall and came close to being hung on the spot. One DOES NOT disrespect the Alamo. When we were last there large men in big Stenson’s were watchfully watching all us visitors making sure there would be no repeats.

.

.

Texas has these, too.

.

I like Texas, lived here, sort of, a hundred years ago in the Air Force.

.

   We were met in Rio Hondo, Tx,

.

.

by an enthusiastic Hal & Gay Heckel. Hal is Mary’s oldest brother. Gay was especially thrilled for us to visit.

.

.

Patty, the Twin Palms park manager was happy to see us again, too

.

.

.

.

Hal & Gay Thought long and hard about where they could put us up and finally they said we could stay with them.

.

.

Out back.

.

.

We have visited Hal & Gay several times at their winter compound in Rio Hondo. Actually it’s really nice. The other people in the park are mostly winter Texans and they get along with each other quite well.

.

Downtown Rio Hondo

.

.

.

.

Hal had a plan for us which involved the finer dinning establishments in the area. But first Mary decided I was no longer fit to be seen in public and decided to give me a hair cut.

.

                                         Before:

I didn’t think I looked so bad. But not my call apparently.

.

                           After:

I’m told it looks OK. I don’t know. I avoid mirrors.

.

.

Back to Hal’s plan. Below are pictures from some of the dives – er restaurants Hal & Gay took us to:

 

.

.

This place is a secret  location that only sells hamburgers, giant things the size of dinner plates, at least half a cow. I wasn’t allowed to get to close with the camera.

More:

In all fairness to Hal the places he took us to were, yes – off the wall and yes, dives of a sort, but the food was real good and the patrons and staff real friendly. Hal made it up to us when we went to the Scoop for some malts, and soda’s and sundae’s and….

 

The more we visit Hal & Gay at Twin Palms RV Park (5 times) the more we like the place and the people there. Mary is looking into see what we need to do to come and stay for maybe a month next year. More than likely we won’t be camping out back. One of the things Mary finds attractive is the facility across the street:

She likes the idea of a place she can drop me when she wants to go shopping with the girls.

.

I, on the other hand, was especially drawn to the new Jaguar mec-anic in town. As an added bonus he also does taxes.

.

.

.

.

One of the things that we had to do was be interviewed by the Parks applicant review committee. Not really.  I made that up. This is a gathering of the local brain-trust and world’s ill solvers.

.

Did I mention the Park?

Thought I would throw in these shots and you can draw your own conclusions.

Mary went shopping but I thought the dress would be a little over the top!

Gay wants her own transportation for the park and thought this would look nice parked next to the trailer.

 

Finally we have Mary and Gay discussing the placement of the new flower tower thing-a -ma-gig. I’m not sure what they are saying as I don’t read sign language.

Once again it became time to continue our journey so we said good bye to Hal & Gay (after unloading some of our unneeded winter duds on them) and Waltzing across Texas toward Arizona and more adventure.

Oops!! How can we leave Hal & Gay without talking about the BIG storm?

So there we were safe and sound in our 20 year old K-Mart tent. The weatherman said something about rain and maybe a little breezy wind coming. I had gone with Hal and got some waterproofing spray and went over the tent so we should be good to go. Besides we were in the lee of Hal’s 5-wheel and it should give us some protection. Night fell, this kind of stuff can only happen at night (I think Congress passed a law on it), and the rain started, not too bad, the weatherproofing was weatherproofing and the tent hadn’t blown over or anything. The the rain started to come down harder and harder and the wind blew stronger and stronger but we were still good, protected by the 5-wheel. Mary was asleep and I was drifting in and out. Then the SECOND storm hit from the opposite direction. Now we were the protection for the 5-wheel.  The tent shook and the sky exploded like giant flashbulbs going off right above the tent. The wind would suck the air out of the tent one moment and blow it up like a balloon the next. The tent would lean away from the wind and I would think “sure hope those tent stakes hold” but then I remembered I was on the windward side and as I haven’t as yet lost all the weight I would like, the tent would likely stay put. Mary woke up and asked “are we still in Texas, Toto?” The storm raged around us for about 3 years and finally slacked off and we had survived. Only a little damp, but not bad and drifted off to sleep. The next morning we learned that the storm had generated a few tornadoes not far to the west, but the Twin Palms RV Park was not on a tornado’s list that night. Hal & Gay said that if it would have gotten real bad we could have come inside. At least I think they said that.

Now as Horace Greeley said “head that Jag west” or something like that.