Havasu Falls; Molly Butler Lodge; Nov-Dec 2012

November 2012:



Havasu Falls Trailhead w/ Lorraine  and Dee Dee

Havasu Falls

Horseback Ride Out

One of the first activities back in Mesa, was to get ready for another hike into the Grand Canyon.  This one to Havasu Falls on the Hualapai Indian Reservation.  It was an 8 mile hike to the Indian Village of Supai  where we stayed in the “lodge”.  The next day Molly  hiked another two miles to Havasu Falls and I went on to Mooney Falls another two miles.  These hikes were the result of Dee Dee and Lorraine (ladies I met on the Grand Canyon crossing last spring) encouraging us to do the hike with them.  I encouraged Molly by saying if she could hike down, she could take the helicopter out.  But realized too late, the helicopter didn’t run the days we were there, so we rode horses out instead.  The falls were beautiful; the azure color due to the minerals that the water flows through on it’s way down the canyon.  Molly enjoyed the horseback ride out since she could look around at the great scenery and didn’t have to keep an eye on the rocky trail.

December 2012:

During December, friends Pat and Susan stopped for a few days on their way back from Texas.  And of course, Pat and I did a little letterboxing.  There was a Christmas lighting contest this month in the park.  We bought a bunch of lights and thought we looked pretty good, especially being the only ones with luminaries, but didn’t even get an honorable mention. 

Molly at Molly Butler Lodge

For Christmas, Molly and I went for on a trip to the White Nountains.  We stayed at the Molly Butler Lodge in Greer, AZ.  It is the oldest lodge in Arizona, dating back to 1910.  Notables that have stayed there include John Wayne,  novelists Zane Grey and James Willard Schultz, and PresidentsTeddy Roosevelt and Herbert Hoover.   In fact, during his stay, President Hoover gifted Molly with the White House Cook Book from which she derived her now famous Prime Rib recipe which we had to try!  Other than we were both getting colds, it was a great relaxing stay in the snow at 8700 ft.

The Sheriff and his girl

The social activities in the park picked up this month with block parties, potlucks, and happy hours.  We even went on a birding trip to one of the wetland preserves in Gilbert.  I started a new activity; shuffleboard.  I’ve got a long way to go to do well, but it’s fun socializing with the other players.   During the Western Dance this month, Molly and I got all outfitted at Cal-Am's costume store.

   I was asked to do the annual park residential directory this year, so started collecting the slips handed in and putting them in a formatted database.  This was, of course, in addition to putting out our weekly park newsletter.

Fall Cruise to Quebec City; Sept-Oct 2012

September/October 2012:

When we returned to Port Angeles in September, we spent another night and then drove to Vancouver, WA.  We were invited to stay in Tom & Sue’s driveway (full hook-up) for a couple weeks to help out after Sue’s reconstructive surgery after her breast cancer.  While we were at Tom & Sue’s (Pat & Susan were also there to help) almost everybody caught some kind of 24 hour bug.  We weren’t much help when we were spending most of the time in bed trying not to infect the healthy one’s among us.

One reason we were invited to Tom & Sue’s was to store our RV while Molly & I flew to New York for our 10-day Fall Cruise to Quebec City and return.

10-Day Fall Cruise to Quebec City from New York

Central Park

We left on that trip September 28 by flying from Seattle to New York.  We spent a few days in down town Manhatten where we walked to a Broadway play “Good Work If You Can Get It” with Matthew Broaderick.  We also took a bus to Central Park where we walked around and found several letterboxes.

Good Bye New York

Peggy's Cove Lighthouse
Nova Scotia

Chateau Frontenac, Quebec City

We boarded the Norwegian Gem on Sept. 30 and headed down the Hudson River past the New York skyline, Ellis Island, and the Statue of Liberty.  Rather than bore you with the details of the trip, let us just include the destinations along the way.  Our first stop was Halifax, Nova Scotia where we visited Peggy’s Cove, then on up the St. Lawrence Seaway, marveling at the fall colors, to Quebec City.  We took two shore excursions during the two days there.  One was to St. Ann’s Canyon to see waterfalls and over to an adjacent island to a winery, and the other excursion was a city tour of Quebec City which included a horse-drawn carriage ride.  The city was magnificent! 

Norwegian Gem in Corner Brook Newfoundland
from Capt Cook Memorial

Scottish Highland Village
Nova Scotia

Then is was off to Corner Brook in Newfoundland where we took another city tour that included Captain Cook’s Memorial over-looking the city.  Another day at sea brought us back to Nova Scotia at Sydney.  There we took a bus tour to the old Scottish Highland Village.  After another day at sea, we arrived back in New York and flew home to Seattle and drove back to Vancouver.

The next day we drove the RV to Salem, where Molly and sister JoAnn headed off for a three-day quilting retreat in the Cascades….I rested!!!  When she got back, we packed up the RV and headed back to Mesa, Arizona to warmer weather.

Olympic Peninsula RV Trip-Aug. 2012

August: 2012:

This was the month for my Captain license renewal and all the medical documentation to go along with it.  I was a bit concerned when after double checking all the documents that I needed and calling to check with the Coast Guard, I got there and they informed me I had used a medical form that was two years old and that I would have to go back to the doctor and have the information transferred to the “new” form.  They were nice about it, but I just couldn’t see the reasoning to transfer the same information to a newer form.  I didn’t need any more medical information from the doctor, just the newer form.  I guess that’s why “the government” gets a bad name!
 

Rafting the Deschutes River

Molly and sister JoAnn went to an all class reunion in Hood River this month and I joined later for a family reunion.  Then Molly & I were off to Maupin the next day to go whitewater rafting on the Deschutes River.  It was a Groupon thing and we didn’t expect much but was pleasantly surprised with the length of the trip, the whitewater we experienced, and the helpful “no problem” guide.  It turned out to be a wet trip with class 4 rapids.  Molly lost her hat on one dunking, but found it later in the raft.  We also found a snake in the raft when we stopped for a lunch break.  Who knows when it got in the raft, but we were glad we didn’t find it when we were going through some of the rapids.

The month ended with the annual Cruisers Rendezvous in Cathlamet, WA.  Just another party of cruisers reminiscing about past and present cruises around the world.  And, of course, a little drinking and a lot of food.

Lake Quinalt Lodge

This weekend was the kick-off for our next mini-vacation of circumnavigating the Olympic Peninsula with Pat & Susan and Tom & Sue in our RV’s.  We started with our first stop in Ocean Shores for two days exploring the coast.  Then we moved up to La Push, a small Indian village at the mouth of the Quiliute River with a stop at Lake Quinalt for lunch and a few more letterboxes.

As we approached La Push, our over-heating alarm went off.  I didn’t think too much about it until we left two days later when it occurred again and we weren’t adding any AMPs.  Long story short, we had to go back into Forks and get a new fan belt.  The place that worked on an RV, “didn’t work on RV’s”, but they were just great.  They ordered a new belt, it arrived at 8:00 am the next day, and we caught up with our group in Clallum Bay almost before they got up.  The situation did not stop or create a bump in our trip at all.

Boardwalk trail to Cape Alava

During our three days in Clallum Bay, we made a day trip to Neah Bay to go through one of the best, in our opinion, Indian museums in the Northwest, and took a hike out to Cape Fattery to view Tatoosh Island, the furthest Northwest point in the U.S.  The next day Tom & Sue had to return to Vancouver.  Pat & Susan took a drive to the Hoh Rain Forest, and Molly & I went on a 6.5 mile hike on the boardwalk path from Lake Ozette out to Cape Alava.  

 

The McGaffney's

The Malcomson's

We then headed off to Port Angeles for three days.  After exploring the area, Pat and Susan left for the Wooken Boat Festival in Port Townsend, and Molly & I stored the RV, took the car over to Vancouver Island, and visited some Apache Wells friends.  We drove to Port Alberi to spend a few days with Al and Linda Malcomson and then took another ferry over to the neighboring island, Denman Island, to visit Frank and Marion McGaffney for several days.  Needless to say, we had a great time with our friends showing us the exciting areas that they see every day.

 

Grandson's Wedding-July 2012

 
June 2012:This month was a laid back, rest month.  We did, however, do some letterboxing and went to a casino near Centrailia, WA with sister Jodene to see Randy Travis in concert. We also went to our Sauvie Island Yacht Club picnic at Blue Lake Park.  It was a month of see friends, and family.  Molly wanted to be close to daughter Jeanette this summer because grandson Travis was getting married and she wanted to help if needed.

July 2012:

BBQ with Hanson's & Berry's

Tom and Sue Stose brought their RV over to our park for the Fourth of July and we had a great BBQ on our lawn.  Sister Jodene then arranged a visit with our Uncle Harold (we always call him Uncle Book…long story) in Coquille.  It was really great seeing him as he is in his late 90’s, and cousins Roy and Ruby.  We had another surprise BBQ with a fellow letterboxers (Howard and Linda) that we met in Mesa but lives in Hillsboro.  He is a good friend with Rich and Kathy Berry, who I used to work with and hadn’t seen for many years.  Howard arranged the BBQ without informing telling Rich and Kathy who the surprise guests were.  We had a great time reminiscing.



Meghan,  Travis, and Tika

The big event this month, however, was our grandson’s wedding.  It was a beautiful sunny day in the mountains around Sandy where they live, with Mt. Hood in the background.  Meaghan and Travis were just a perfect couple and made the rounds of all the guests.  The only thing that was of concern was that WE AREN’T OLD ENOUGH TO HAVE A 25 YEAR OLD GRANDSON GETTING MARRIED!!!

Letterboxers, South Jetty

We ended the month by taking a little mini-vacation to the Long Beach peninsula to visit friends Pat and Susan Caniff and Nancy and Herman Ford who were also visiting and Tom and Sue Stose also came down for a night.  With all these letterboxers present, most of the weekend was spent finding letterboxes.  One group of 8 letterboxes was on a 1.5-mile hike and was carved by one of our favorite carvers, Stormrider.  The whole theme was of pirates and the carved stamps were in such detail they should be considered a work of art.  While letterboxing on the South Jetty of the Columbia River, we surprised a group of four lady letterboxers that we had corresponded with several times.  It was nice putting a face to the correspondents, and we had a good time comparing notes.

Grand Canyon Crossing Hike

May 2012

Dee Dee & Lorraine

After several months hiking every hill or mountain I could find in the Phoenix/Mesa area, it was time to leave Apache Wells and head for the Grand Canyon on our way home.  At the last minute I was able to get a bunk at Phantom Ranch, after a year of trying, so now I could just make two day-hikes down and out the next day.  Molly drove us around to the North Rim the night before and after dropping me off at the trailhead, she returned to the RV at the South Rim.  Right after starting the hike I met two great ladies, Lorraine and Dee Dee, who were doing the same trip.  Although it wasn’t planned, we hike the entire trip together.  Come to find out, they were neighbors at another Cal-Am park only a couple miles from Apache Wells.

Coconino Overlook; North Kaibab Trail

The hike was long, but the major factor was the heat.  It was 102 degrees when we reached Phantom Ranch and they said it was over 130 in the sun that day.  We started out at an elevation of 8292’ at 8:45 am and were at Phantom ranch at 4:30 pm at an elevation of 2419’.  We all ate a great steak dinner and retired after a ranger talk that night. 

Crossing the Colorado River

Last tunnel, South Rim

Early the next morning, after breakfast, we hit the trail at 5:15 am.  We crossed the Colorado River on the Silver Bridge, walked along the river trail for several miles and then started climbing.  At 8:00 we stopped for lunch at Indian Garden.  At Three-Mile House, I called Molly who was at the trail over-look and could see me at the shelter waving.  After two hours I was at One-and-a-Half-Mile House, and I called Molly again to update her on my progress.  The ladies fell back at this point and at 1:50 pm I reached the last tunnel.  Molly had walked down and greeted me with a cool drink and took my picture.  It was then just a short hike to the trailhead at 6809’.  We waited for Lorraine and Dee Dee and had a cold drink waiting for them at the top too. 

Overview of North Kaibab and Bright Angel Trails

Molly and I stayed at the South Rim RV Park for another day and then headed back to Oregon via Las Vegas, Reno, Susanville to I-5 and then back to Troutdale.  We stayed the next several months at the Sandy Riverfront RV Park to be near family and friends.

Bluegrass-Hiking-Plays; Mar-Apr 2012

March 2012:

Lake Havasu Bluegrass Festival

This month started out with a trip to the Lake Havasu Bluegrass festival.  We stayed in a motel, but visited with Bud & Lisa while there and at the event.

Hiking the McDowell Sonoran Preserve

I followed up the Cruising Mexico slideshow this month with one of our Route 66 trip in the RV’s.  One reason I asked to do this was to encourage participation in a World Span Tour trip planned for a portion of Route 66.  And there was more hiking in the hills around the Mesa/Phoenix area to get in shape for the Grand Canyon crossing.

Ever since we returned to Apache Wells we’ve had afternoon parties by the pool almost every week.  This month was no exception with wine, beer, and a healthy dose of snacks.  These get-togethers really helped get to know the other residents and new comers to the park.  The weather was always great, and the entertainment provided encouraged us all to get up and dance.

April 2012:



Patsy Cline tribute at Broadway Palms

April was more of the same!  Party-party-party!  Entertainment this month included the play “Harvey” at the Hale Theater, “Doc Holiday” by Wyatt Earp at the Palace Saloon in Prescott, “Patsy Cline” at the Broadway Palm Theater, and the closing show at the Arizona Opry with guests Pat and Susan that were visiting in their RV and staying at Apache Wells.  While in Prescott, we also went to the renovated Elk’s Theater on the spur of the moment to watch a live tribute of the Rat Pack.  The rendition of Mr. Bojangles was one of the best tributes I’ve ever seen and brought tears to the eyes of the audience.

Hiking-Talent Show; Feb 2012

February 2012:

Molly started out the month by flying to Thousand Oaks to see Lynda and the grandkids.  She was gone for a week, which left me to myself to do some hiking and get letterboxes at the same time.  My hiking is in preparation for a Rim-to-Rim hike across the Grand Canyon in May…..one of those “Bucket List” things.

Camelback Mountain, Phoenix, AZ

We did manage to see a couple more plays and concerts this month by going to see Kenny G and the play “Me and My Gal”.  While Molly was away, I also went to see a National Geographic presentation at the Mesa Art Center called “Solo Around the World”.

Blue Moon by the Doo Wops

The biggest entertainment this month was the Apache Wells Talent Show!  That’s because I was in it doing a lip-sync with 5 other guys as the “Doo Wops”.  We did two songs, “Young Blood” and “Blue Moon”, and brought the house down with our antics, especially at the end of “Blue Moon” when we bent over and exposed our blue under-shorts (that's me on the far right!)

Bluegrass-Tuskegee Airmen; Dec2011-Jan2012

Not too much happened in December, so I will combine it with January 2012.

December 2011:



London Bridge, Lake Havasu

Not much happening this month except we went to Quartzsite to get update on our car GPS, but since the vender wasn’t there, we went to see Bud and Lisa in Lake Havasu.  We went back to Quartzsite later in the month to get the update.

This was the first Christmas at Apache Wells with the new managers Gregg and Valarie.  They made it a special event with champagne toasts and commemorative glasses for us all. 


January 2012:


Tuskegee Airmen



Blythe Bluegrass Festival

This was the month for the theater and entertainment.  We went to see “Brigadoon” at the Broadway Palm Dinner Theater, Christina and Alie (America’s Got Talent) in concert at a Cal-Am park, a tribute to the Tuskegee Airman at the Arizona Wing Aviation Museum, the Blythe Bluegrass Festival (where we dry camped in the desert in Quartzsite), the play “See How They Run” in the round at the Hale Theater which was new to us, a tribute to John Denver by Brad Fitch at the Arizona Opry, The Duttons at the Broadway Palm, and My Fair Lade at the Mesa Arts Center.  It was quite a month of entertainment.

Besides that we went to Tucson to visit some friends Cathy in her new place and Will and Joann.  We also had a few days to spare to go to Laughlin for two days on a World Span Tour bus with a group from Apache Wells.

I had been asked to make a presentation at an entertainment night at the Apache Wells Club House, so I put a slideshow together about our sailboat cruising in Mexico.  It seemed to be a hit.  Many that did not get to see it had heard about it and wanted another showing.