5/11/22 No Electric, High Temperature, No Air Conditioning, Visitors arriving in 5 minutes

We lost a phase.  “L2” of our 220V, 50 A incoming service burnt up.  Luckily my Progressive Industries Surge Arrestor that I paid $300, four years ago tripped out saving my coach from Single Phasing.  We had the Washer, Dryer, and three Air Conditioner running at the time.  The 220V, 50A receptacle on the Campground Pedestal burnt out.  The Pedestals Circuit Breaker never tripped.

The bigger issue was that my youngest daughter Andrea boyfriend Michael was arriving in 5 minutes.  We had no Air Conditioning.  It was in the middle of a sand storm.  I wasn’t sure how big of a problem I had.  Was it as simple as a bad receptacle or did I loose a phase internal to the COW.  After about 10 minutes, I diagnoses the problem (Thank Goodness it was a quick diagnosis and that it wasn’t my expense) that it was the receptacle.  I was able to quickly rearrange my connection on the pedestal to plug into the available 120V, 30 A receptacle.  This allow us to run one Air Conditioner until I had more time to correct the problem.

Meeting Michael and catching up with Andrea was a joy.  I am glad it all came together

But I can do without these problems popping up like this one did.

PS.  The campground was very apologetic after I showed them my burnt Surge Arrestor and explained that it was there issue not mine.  They even credited us $200 in camping fees which should help me to replace or repair my surge Arrestor.

5/6/2022. Lake Havasu beautiful but not for us

This is a motor-heads paradise. Almost everyone here has a Motorhome, big pickup truck, boat, two or four person ATV, stacker trailer, and a golf cart. There is hardly a motorized toy that isn’t represented here in town. 

When we were here in November we were mesmerized by the area. It quickly jumped to our top 5 locations in the country. Now that we have circled back here in May to take another look with fresh eyes it has fallen a number of spots down the list. This time driving in from the south it reminded me of a great week vacation destination, but not a permanent home location. Its more of a tourist type town

It has been 99 degrees here for the last couple of days. Its exactly like they say, it is a dry heat since low humidity and is like stepping into an oven. Lake Havasu is also known for its wind. On any given day it can be 10 to 40 mph winds. Then the next day no wind. Most snowbirds have already left town and now I know why

We still enjoyed the scenery, did some walking in the parks, and a little shopping while here. 

4/15/2022. Moving On, Moving On. Time to hit the road again

My trusty Travel Planner Sandy has put together our next 6 months or so itinerary for the two of us and the COW.  Actually as I am typing this blog she is working on the next full year of plans.  As you can tell from the attached pictures she is very organized and does a great job at planning our travels.  

We have enjoyed beating the 2022 Snow Season as snow birds in Mesa Arizona 2022.  Next year (Snow Season 2023) our plans will take us to sunny Florida to dodge the snow back home in Cleveland, Ohio.

Attached our copies of our next 6 months of planned travel.    

4/15/2022. Prescott/Mesa Arizona

We have been snow birding in Mesa Arizona for the last 5 months.  Soon we will be on our journey to our next adventure starting May 1.  In the mean time we have enjoyed our stay at Valle Del Oro RV resort which has many amenities such as. Baseball field, Wood-shop, Tool room (to borrow tools, Car and Plane RC racing, Lapidary, pottery, leather, whittling, wood burning, basket making, jewelry, computer lab, billiard room, and other facilities.  I have enjoyed playing hours Pickle Ball with the many competitive players in the park. There are approximately 1700 sites and 4000 people in the park.  While here we have also done some desert hiking, house shopping, and city exploring as well as visited new locations such as Prescott Arizona

Prescott Arizona is located North of Phoenix at about 5200’ elevation.  The day we chose to visit Prescott the temperature in Prescott was in the 70’s while in Mesa Arizona where the RV is located it was in the 90’s. Prescott is an old Western Cowboy town where the likes of Doc Holiday,  Wyatt, and Virgil Earp hung out at a Saloon called “The Palace” which is on Whiskey Row.  Whiskey Row was made up of numerous Saloons back in the 1800s until a fire burned many of them.  Whiskey row is similar to the “Main Street” in many other towns as the county court house is located directly across the street from the old saloons. We also did some hiking around one of the two Lakes in Prescott. While hiking a

Bald Eagle flew directly over us. I tried snapping a picture of it in flight with my trusty

iPhone, but of course it came out as a flying blur. :-)  

Here are some pictures of Prescott Arizona:

12/2/2022 Lake Havasu, Arizona

We left Lake Havasu  and have moved to Valle Del Oro Resort in Mesa Arizona. 

I will say that the Lake Havasu area made a good impression on Sandy and I. It is now one of our top 5 locations. The city is located on Lake Havasu which is actually created by the Colorado River. The river is damned approximately 15 miles to the south by Parker Damn and 60 miles to the north by Davis Damn. You can boat between the two damns. It is a Urban planned/designed city. The design was put together by the same planner that designed Disneyland in California. The sponsor/developer of the city was the man that owned McCullach chain saw.  He financed the design, and the development of the city. He also purchased the “London Bridge” from England, had it disassembled, shipped to California, then trucked to Lake Havasu, and reassembled as a center piece for the city. He also flew people from the midwest for free back in the 60’s to see the city and then personally entertained them to convince them to move to Lake Havasu.  He built a 1 bedroom mansion for himself in the hills where he entertained his guests. The reason for having only 1 bedroom was so that guests would not expect to stay overnight at the mansion. The mansion still exists and is the only property still owned by the McCullach family. 

The city design:

• Takes full advantage of the shoreline with multiple parks
• Bike trails
• ATV trails
• Numerous boat ramps
• State Park for camping with beach access
• Paved walk ways along the water line
• Fishing
• Waterskiing
• World jet ski competition
• World ATV competition
• Asphalt track for car racing
• Hiking trails
• Skateboard and trick bicycle park
• Restaurants along the water
• Car shows downtown Thursday nights
• Ferry that travels across the lake from Arizona to an Indian casino on the California side of the lake 
• Planned events throughout the year

I am sure I am missing some highlights but we liked the area so much that we are going to stop there for another week this coming May

Enough on Lake Havasu. We are now in Mesa Arizona at Valle Del Oro Resort. We have been here previously for 2 months. This time we will be here from December 1st through May 1st. This place is very active. If you are bored it is because you want to be. There is so much going on here.  To name a few:

• Daily bands at the pools
• Two large pools 
• Exercise facility
• 8 pickle ball courts that are busy beginning at 8:00 AM 
• 8 Tennis Courts
• Headliner Musical acts monthly
• In house restaurants
• Softball leagues and in house baseball field
• Large wood shop with the latest equipment
• Jewelry, rock polishing, pottery, clay modeling, leather working shops
• Computer room, support, and classes
• Organized board and card games
• Organized competitive shuffle board, putt putt, horse shoes, and much more

Here are some pictures of Lake Havasu: