Steven & Fran's Travelog for 2009
The Reunion Tour -
Part 3
Travelog
Reunion Tour 2009 Part Three
Day 14 - Travel Day - but not very far. We headed south on Parker Dam Road with a last look at the beautiful Colorado River.
Colorado River on the Parker Strip in Arizona
Looking across the Colorado River from California to Arizona. California is shown in the mirrors of our truck.
We traveled from Parker to Hope, Arizona, where highway 72 junctions highway 60. Ramblin' Roads RV park is at that intersection. A couple years ago we spent time at Ramblin' Roads in the winter. This time we registered for a week ... six days plus you get the seventh day free. We particularly wanted to visit Shirley and Bill Randolph, friends from Yuba City, California, who have settled permanently in Arizona, but we also renewed acquaintances with many others we remembered from past year
We were lucky. The day we arrived was the last jam session of the year. We love the jam sessions there and this one had grown over the years.
Musicians from surrounding RV parks come to jam with the Ramblin' Roads group in Hope.
Days 15 through 20 - Winds and allergies were a problem 'most all week again. Steve stayed in most of the time trying to catch up on computer work. Fran visited and caught up on news from former neighbors. We made a couple short trips to find a spot where our cell phones would work and to pick up a few groceries in nearby Salome.
It was a bit disappointing as far as desert flowers go. We thought we would be there at a good time to see things in bloom. There were some beautiful cactus in bloom, but not like we have seen before. Ocotillo plants were especially beautiful here as we had seen some plants other places that weren't even beginning to produce their cone shaped red blooms. There was a small cactus with one bloom at our site and each day another bud opened. Everyone said it was dry over the winter but it seemed to me that I had read about the weather in Arizona being way wetter than a normal season. I am no doubt mistaken since they were there and I was not.
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The desert around Hope, Arizona, was just beginning to bloom.
Still, it was interesting to see how a lot of the vegetation had grown in the area surrounding the RV park. Desert trees are spindly and never grow really tall but with the extra growth on them some of our favorite sites in the park did not have the view of the mountains and the valley any longer. However, I'm sure the extra bushiness provided some shade and was appreciated by the golfers on the desert golf course.
Oh, Deloris, a friend from our other years here, talked me into playing bingo one night. I had my usual luck at the game... zip... but it was fun and everyone had a great time. Most of them would be leaving the next weekend for their hometowns in the north part of the country, or Canada.
Before we knew it our week was up and it was time to tell everyone goodbye and decide where we would head next.
Jerry, Buck, Shirley, Jean and Helen ... some of the treasures we found on our Reunion Trip.