New Surroundings, Flea Market Finds, Waiting to Hear from Friends, Lazy Afternoon, Graceland Movie

We were in bed so early last night, 9:15, unheard of in most cases especially for Bill, that I wasn’t surprised he was up at 5:15 am today, Sunday, Dec. 2^nd. I heard him get up but dropped back off until 6:30. It was a night full of dreams for me of which Bill can attest to. I guess I was uttering some noises through the night. Waking up to new surroundings and new views was a nice change. 

And it was special to be waved at first thing in the morning!

We had our coffee and tea, it is even ‘blacker’ here than it was in the park at that time of the morning. A walk was out of the question until after I finished my tea and it was much lighter out. I think it was 7:30 when I trekked down the gravel lane to the valley of hills towards the Hand. Such a beauty of a day on the horizon and I took some chances walking down steep inclines to catch a glimpse of the sunrise.

The sun rises further over the hills

I look back towards camp to see how far I'd come

It is hard to see the dimensions in this picture
but it is steep decline right at the forefront

As I got back to the Suite, I caught a second sunrise over the peak of the mountain behind us. Rob had been over and asked us about our interest in going in to the Sunday Flea Market on Paleos del Sol drive. I texted our friends, Ken and Nancy, who are staying at Havasu Falls RV Resort to see what their plans were today. We had previously chatted about getting together while here. I didn’t hear back so at 10 we went with Rob and Pat into the city.

If it wasn't windy, this would be a neat place to put up a tent
No pegs would be able to penetrate the hard ground though

I was waiting for the sun to pop here
so kept on walking further south

The sun reached 'you know what'

Good things come to those who wait

The flea market was well attended by vendors and participants. We parted ways and wandered through the alleys checking out their wares. We are mostly interested in ‘homemade’ items, not 2^nd hand things, not food and not things made in China and shipped over. The vendors who make their products are very interesting and often display unique items. Some would be great for gifts for family and some for us.

ta-dah!

We fell in love with a Cactus planter, hand made and certified for border crossing. Sold! We’ve both admired these at different venues but today decided we’d get the enjoyment out of it NOW, instead of waiting. We met up with Rob and Pat and before heading back, found a great unique gift for someone back home. One person crossed off the list. √

Now, I'm walking back, down and up, down and up

When Rob went for his walk, I suggested this way as well
We both got a work out before 9 am!

And back at camp, the sun rose 'again' over another mountain

Bill gave Rob directions to Rose and George’s home on Kibbey so we could all figure out how best to bring our rv’s in and park for a few days when we leave here. George and Rose are so accommodating but basically left it up to the boys as to how and where they’d like to be. We’ll give them a heads up before we are ready to move. We had a brief visit and drove back to camp.

Pat and Clemson while we discussed the morning's plans

Back home, we went our separate ways to make lunch since it was 1:20 pm. I had a bowl of my homemade tomato soup left in the fridge, thawed, so warmed that up in a pot plus some rye toast, cheese, apple and summer sausage. Oh my! Bill had a peanut butter and cheese sandwich and finished off the crumbs from a bag of Lay’s chips we’ve had for a few weeks. We did good to have them for so long! 😊

These two got along well today

Comical to watch their antics together

Sunday Flea Market was a change of pace

Busy enough place but not too crowded

Whirly twirly things

Food, if you're interested

He moved to the recliner for a nap, and Clemson did the same thing in the sun on the couch. I wrote some and took my book outside in the sun. The wind is cool keeping the temperature at bay, around 62F so it is hard to know what to wear outdoors. It didn’t take me long to realize that I was fine in bare feet but needed my hoodie and wind breaker. The wind came from the north directly under the Suite so I moved my chair over to the right of the door and our slide out broke the cool air some.

Our gift to each other
there is a Kokopelli on the other side of the bowl

I came inside around 3:30 and made myself a tea and after feeding Clemson, Bill joined me. We sat until 4:30 when we retreated inside. We closed windows and planned on spending the rest of the evening inside. I had pulled a container of chili out of the freezer yesterday morning and we decided to have that tonight. It will be nice and easy and I can warm it up on the stove. Bill had toast with his and then we decided to have ice cream for dessert.

Simple chili supper

 We had recorded the new Christmas movie ‘Christmas at Graceland’ from last night so started watching it tonight around 5. It is pretty good with Kellie Pickler but it is neat to see The Guest House and to see pictures of the Mansion after us being there in person. We finished with the movie and got into our books a bit more, keeping an eye on our batteries.

Good night from Lone Tree BLM

This has been a nice day with some morning shopping and some afternoon relaxing. I've finished my book by Louise Penny so trying to get into a David Baldacci story, The Whole Truth. The first chapter was odd but I see where it is going now that I've moved into Chapter 2. I doubt I'll be disappointed, he is such a good story teller. Our plans to get together never did work out with Ken and Nancy but sometimes that happens. I hope you had a great day!

Thank you for checking in to see what we’re doing today. All comments are welcome.

Great Short Travel Day, Looking for the Hand, Lighted Boat Parade

On Saturday, Dec. 1^st (hey!  New month!) I woke up with a bit of sadness that we were moving on (this feels comfortable) and a bit of excitement to get closer to Lake Havasu City (another place we love). Each last day, brings us another first day and we all look forward to new places, views and adventures, don’t we? I don’t know what the temperature was as Bill had the outside components of our weather station put away last night.

A nice peaceful drive

Familiar sights along Mohave Valley Highway where it connects with Rte 66
and then catches I-40

 I believe it got down to 7C/45F last night so it was a tad cooler than it has been in the early dawn. We were up around 6:45 but I decided not to take a walk this morning. Instead, I made our tea and coffees and read blog posts. We wanted to each have a shower while we had full pressure water since we were going to be boondocking for a few days. Bill took the satellite dish down while I had mine and we each had some breakfast before he had his shower.

When we crossed under this bridge before catching Route 66,
one of Dad's trains was chugging along over top

The sun is glorious out there and even without a wind-meter connected, I can see that there isn’t a titch of a breeze. It is a beautiful day to travel and we don’t have far to go at all to our next destination. Fingers crossed that they have room for us at Lone Tree BLM. Our friend, Deb D., said ‘don’t forget to wave to the Hand!’ but we plan to do better than that. We plan on camping on the hill at the Hand BLM.

And we turn the corner and we see The Hand just past Lone Tree BLM camping

It had warmed up to 53F by the time we pulled out at 9:20 and after a few turns; Mohave Valley Hwy which is a favourite drive with the dips and turns. Through the wee burb of Golden Shores onto Route 66, onto I-40E and one last right turn onto I-95S we only had about 9 miles to go before making a left into Lone Tree BLM where we can camp for up to 14 days free. As sound as we rounded the last curve, there it was. The Hand, my marker.

On my walk this afternoon, exploring the area

We arrived at 10:50 and were parked where we wanted to within 90 minutes. By 11:45 our Shaw dishes, patio mat, chairs, barbecue were in place and I had opened the appropriate cupboards to be sure everything was in place. Our clothes closet did not appreciate the Mohave Valley Hwy as about 75% of our hangers were on the floor. Luckily, the clothes remained on the hangers so it was easy to lift them back into place. The shortest drive we’ve taken and that is the most jumbled they’ve ever been!

We have some great sites

Bill and I had a coffee and sat outside with our books. The wind has found us up here on the hill but the sun is warm. I actually needed my jacket on to sit on the ‘patio’. We chatted with Rob and Pat about the rest of the day and what to do about supper. We’d been invited by Rose to join them along the channel for the lighted Boat Parade and to share in a potluck.

A nice spot along the channel to sit

Because our breakfast was early and low in good fats and the fact that we missed lunch somehow in the set up here, we had a grilled cheese and meat sandwich at 3:00. That being said and done we wouldn’t be needing much at 5 so decided to skip the meal at the pavilion. We’ll take our chairs, blankets, cameras and bottled water. It should be neat to see the boats all lit up going down the channel.

The first boat scooting down to get in line and wait for dark

 Bill stretched out in his recliner and I took my camera for a walk down the trails along the mountains. I’m glad I still had my running shoes on as it is not a smooth walk. Easy for 4 wheelers and sport bikes, I guess, but I had to watch where I was placing each foot so I didn’t twist an ankle. That wasn’t going to stop me though, I love this kind of walk in the daytime. I found 4 more stones for painting and took a few pictures.

We left at 4 and Bill drove through Lake Havasu City, over the famous London Bridge into the parking area down by the Channel. We found a great spot to sit with our chairs and a great view. Soon after the 4 of us sat down, Rose and George arrived and had their meal with the Gems and Minerals group. They joined us to watch the boats. As it got dark, our toes and fingers began to get chilly so we were anxious to have them start moving through.

At 6:30 more than 40 various decorated boats came across in front of us, some playing Christmas tunes, others with passengers calling ‘Merry Christmas’. I counted at least 11 sailboats. What a great show. At 7:30 we packed up, said our goodbyes and came back home by way of London Bridge Road. I felt whipped and chilled to the bone. We started up our Blue Flame heater and settled down with a hot chocolate and our books.

This lady rowed her kayak over to toss lighted bracelets to the kids
I was too far away to get one. :)

We saw this strange coloured duck
I nicknamed him Calico

This was a great moving day and we are in another great spot. Things will be different getting used to being careful with our water and power. I can hear the winds out there tonight and the weather station is saying 17 mph and 59F. I hope you’ve had a great day too.

And then Pat saw Santa

So, we got a family picture

Thanks for stopping by!