MORE SNOW

Yesterday morning, we awakened to find that a little more snow had fallen during the night, and even though not much stuck to the ground, it did stay in the trees for a short while. The first photo is the scene in front of our motor home.

About an inch stuck to the jeep

We had a few glimpses of the sun, as we spent a couple of hours on the shuttle buses. We took the Orange Route for the first time, and traveled to the east rim areas like Yaki and Mather Points. One of the nice things about the buses is that they are free, and you never have to wait more than just a few minutes until the next one comes along. We got off several times and once again marveled at the incredible views of the canyon. Pictures really don't do justice to this natural wonder.

Thank goodness there are railings and walls where it is straight down for hundreds of feet. Even with those barriers, I found myself slowly creeping up to the edge, with an ever present tingling in my stomach. My fear of heights isn't severe, but it certainly is noticeable at places like this.
I guess I never have to worry about stumbling over the edge of some cliff, cause in order for that to happen, I'd have to be near the edge, NOT!

I took this picture of Patty at Mather Point, and if you look closely in the background, there are several people standing on a point with no barriers. That tingling in my stomach grew a bunch just looking at those folks. The vista from Mather Point was especially dynamic, partially because the location sticks out into the canyon, and it's almost a 360 degree view.

Near the end of the day, we got off the bus at the Train Depot, and walked up to the El Tovar Hotel, and the Hopi House pictured above. Most of the Hopi House is a gift shop for Native American items, and the structure itself is worth the price of admission. It sits right across the plaza from the El Tovar, and is just a few steps from the Grand Canyon Rim. If Patty had a choice of where to work, this would be the place. She came up to me and said she found a pottery item that she really liked. Not that I needed to say anything, but I said "then get it".
She replied that the price was $3,500 dollars, and that it might have to wait for awhile. Some of the items, particularly the art, is up there, in respect to price.

Patty doesn't have a definite work start date, but I'll be starting orientation on Monday at 5am.
After riding the buses for a couple of days, and watching the different drivers, I think this is a job that I will enjoy, and the hours should go by pretty fast.

OH NO - SNOW

With most of our "Settling In" tasks, and errands out of the way, and despite the weather (cold), we decided to ride the bus around the South Rim. In addition to getting better oriented to our new home, I wanted to start getting familiar with some of the bus routes.

My new office, starting on Mon. 5/23

We boarded the blue route bus a short walk from our motor home, and took one circuit around the village. The driver, Laura, was very friendly and passed on some helpful information about the job. She was glad more drivers like me were starting to arrive, so that we could start picking up some of the shifts. There are only about 15 drivers who stay here all 12 months, as the transit system operates year round.

We transferred from the blue route to the red route which took us approx. 8 miles west along the rim of the canyon. The destination of this route is Hermits Rest. At each of the many stops, it's just a short walk to the edge, with spectacular views into the canyon. I'm sure the magnificence of this place will start to become more normal after time, but right now, the new views are anything but normal. Neither Patty or I had ever been out to Hermits Rest, and like many of the other buildings and structures here at the Grand Canyon, the focus is a resemblance of the natural surroundings. The fireplace inside Hermits Rest was absolutely huge, and on this day, it was a very popular place.

Patty in front of Hermits Rest

Our morning started off with this little white stuff coming out of the sky, and it didn't take long for it to start sticking to objects like the jeep. I must admit that the novelty of snow isn't really a bad thing, as long as it doesn't pile up very much. Most of the day was snow flurries off and on, with temperatures in the low 40's. This wasn't a total surprise, as the weather forecast had predicted some snow for yesterday and today.

Last night, the temperatures dropped to around freezing, but we stayed nice and cozy inside our motor home. We did have one oops yesterday afternoon, when we inadvertently started the toaster oven on the same circuit as our little electric space heater. It overloaded the 20 amp circuit, and I had to reset the circuit breaker. Even with a 50 amp connection, we still have to be careful about how much load we place on the two outlet circuits. Such is the life of living in a little house on wheels.

Instead of a black Jeep, it's now a black and white Jeep

NEW NEIGHBORS

The South Rim is within the confines of the Grand Canyon National Park, so, you would expect to see wildlife present. While driving around yesterday, we frequently passed by small groups of deer, but when we went to the library, we spotted these huge Elk laying under the trees. The difference in size, between the deer and the Elk, is like night and day. Even laying down, these animals appear to be very large.

By mid afternoon, we had taken care of many things on our checklist. We both checked in with our employers, and I picked up my uniforms. We stopped at the library, and signed up for a library card. We payed a $140 deposit on our RV space, in case we break anything. Huh? I can see the need for a deposit if you're staying in housing, but an RV space? I checked with the Post Office to see if we could receive our mail this summer in care of General Delivery. It's a good thing I did because I was told that General Delivery is only good for 30 days, and after that, all mail is returned. Since we will be here for approx. 4 months, that wasn't going to work, so plan B was to get a P.O. Box, which I did. Our new mailing address is.............

Dan & Patty Chance
P.O. Box 342
Grand Canyon, AZ 86023-0342

Mail sent to our Lake Havasu City address will be forwarded to us every couple of weeks, by our super efficient mail service friends, Bill, Linda, and Nancy.

We located the laundry room, only a one minute walk behind the motor home, and lo and behold, the key we were given actually worked to open the door. The washers and dryers are free to all
of the workers who are either staying at Xanterra housing, or like us, parked in an RV space.

With all of our must do things taken care of, we stopped at the Visitors Center, and browsed through the book store. The Visitors Center is also the transfer point for 3 of the 4 shuttle bus routes. After dinner, Patty wanted to check the distance from the motor home to her workplace, so she set off on foot, and found that it took her 14 minutes to make the trek to Market Place Plaza. On the other hand, I re-checked the distance to my work location, and found it's a little further than I had previously estimated. I will have a 2.1 mile walk, bicycle, or drive to work.

WE'RE AT THE GRAND CANYON

Entering Tusayan, just outside the Park Entrance Station

We secured the house, and hit the road around 9:30 am yesterday morning, destination - The Grand Canyon. Our normal routine is that I drive the motor home, and Patty drives the Jeep down to the High School parking lot where I hook the two up. It was there that I remembered that I didn't remember to put the dog food into the motor home. So, back to the house for that most important commodity, nourishment for our 13 1/2 year, totally spoiled Beagle.

The drive east on I40 was pretty routine, and the drive north on Hwy 64 from Williams was also nothing to write home about. The wind picked up a little as we approached the Grand Canyon, but again, nothing to get excited about. Having already secured our RV spot when we were here a week ago, I pulled in and began the process of getting everything set up.

Having checked out the RV site last week, I knew I would be facing a challenge when it was time to get the motor home level. The landscape slopes downhill, and off to the right. To better equalize this problem, I brought some 2x12 lumber with us, and with those strategically placed under the tires, our air leveling system did the rest. I really like the automatic air leveling, but it doesn't quite have the ability to raise the motor home as high as a hydraulic jack system does. This is one of those few times that old fashioned technology worked in combination with the new fangled stuff.

After a delicious ham and potato casserole for dinner, we drove to Yavapai Point and marveled at the view of the Grand Canyon. I must admit, my acrophobia kicked in a little bit, as I looked over the edge to what seemed like a bottomless pit. This is one huge hole in the ground, and I can see why it's one of the natural wonders of the world.

At approx. 7,000 feet above sea level, we're starting to adjust to the cooler weather, with a forecast of possible snow flurries, day after tomorrow. I'm ready for the cooler temperatures, but I don't think I'm quite ready for the white stuff.

It was a good day, topped off with the discovery that our Sprint wireless card seems to be working quite well. It took about 3 minutes to download a photo, compared to just a few seconds at home. We can live with that, as long as the connection stays consistent and isn't interrupted.

Today, we both will be checking in at our respective work locations, and will be doing a few other things, as we prepare for what looks like a fun summer.

ADIOS LAKE HAVASU

The last few days have been a whirlwind, as we prepare to leave tomorrow morning for our summer home, the Grand Canyon. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that after transferring almost everything in the big house, into the little house, that the little house on wheels will actually have enough power to make it up the hill to the Grand Canyon! The motor home is stuffed to the gills! This will be the first time we will park the motor home for an entire summer season since 2008. The summer of 2009 we did a loop around the U.S. and Canada. Last summer we spent most of the time traveling in Oregon and Washington.

When folks talk about winterizing their RV's or homes, we do just the opposite. We have to summerize our house in preparation for the hot months of June-September. Today, the motor home came out from under the shade cover, with the boat and trailers going into the shade. Tomorrow morning we're having the pest control company spray the house inside and out, and then it will be time to secure everything, and hit the road.

I would be willing to bet that anyone in the security business would say to be discrete about leaving your home for several months. In other words, don't put a recording on your telephone answering machine, that you'll be gone for the summer, and don't tell the world on your blog that you'll be vacating your house. In this high tech world we live in, who would be surprised if the locale cat burglar picked his next victim based on a blog announcement like mine.

Well, those experts would be right, you shouldn't do what I just did. There's just a few little differences with our situation. First of all, we have a security system that will detect an intruder, and alert everyone from the local police to Seal Team Six. We all know the capabilities of the Navy Seals don't we? Second, if the alarm isn't properly disabled, there are infra red detection devices, integrated to activate no less than 6 strategically aimed weapons within the confines of the house. Do you feel lucky punk? Thirdly, any unauthorized encroachment will automatically set off the loudest internal and external audible alarms known to man. The internal alarm is actually a modified L.R.A.D. (Long Range Audible Device), designed specifically to burst the eardrums of local cat burglars. And last, but not least, right before we shut the door, we leave just enough food for our 2 matched pair of King Cobra Snakes, and release them to roam freely inside the house.

Seriously, only part of the above is accurate, and yes, we do have an alarm system, and wonderful neighbors who keep an eye on things for us. Another difference this year, is that we will only be a few hours away, and for the first summer since we moved here, will be able to return home a few times.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed that our Sprint wireless card will have a strong enough signal at the Grand Canyon, and I won't have to go to plan B. If there are no posts in the next few days, you'll know why.

IT'S TIME TO GO

When we're home, I usually write posts for the blog about 4-5 times a week. When we travel, I normally update the blog every day. Yesterday, was not one of those days of having nothing to write about. Google was having some sort of problem, and all of the bloggers out there who tried to log on to their respective blogs yesterday morning, were denied access. In fact, my last blog entry entitled The Gypsy Journal, disappeared for awhile. I see that it's back this morning. I gave up around 7am, and went on to other things.

I recorded the ambient temperature yesterday afternoon, and when it reached triple digits, it was a reminder that it's time to get the heck out of Dodge! That magic number of 100 degrees is usually reached about this time of year here in Lake Havasu, with numbers much higher to come. This is the beginning of about 4-5 months of almost constant +100 degree days. Yea, I know, it's a dry heat, but when it gets over 100, it's still darn hot!

I'll be moving the motor home out of it's house tomorrow, and putting the boat, trailers and some other stuff in the shade for the summer. On Monday morning, we'll make the 230 mile drive to the Grand Canyon, and we'll have about a week to get settled before reporting to work. I go through a week of orientation and training starting on the 23rd, and then will settle into a 40 hour week of driving one of the free shuttle buses at the South Rim. I think Patty starts her job at the village gift shop/grocery store at about the same time.

Back to the frequency of blog posts. I doubt if there will be an opportunity to write about something new every day, once we start working. The bigger question is how will our Sprint wireless computer card work? When we were there on the 2nd, our cell phone was on roaming, and the signal wasn't that strong. The roaming part isn't necessarily a computer access problem, it just usually means that the connection is much slower. We'll have to wait for the answer to this question. I do know that my dependence on Internet access is almost in the addictive category, and if our Sprint card does not work, I'll most certainly come up with another way to log on.

THE GYPSY JOURNAL

May/June issue of the Gypsy Journal

A few days ago, Nick Russell, the editor of the Gypsy Journal, listed 15 must read blogs on his daily blog. When I read that my blog was among those 15, I must say I was not only surprised, but also a bit humbled.

When I started this blog a little over 2 years ago, we were preparing to leave our winter home here in Lake Havasu, and travel towards the east coast in our motor home. At the time, I thought that an online journal would be a good way to let our family and friends keep up with our travels. What I didn't know, is that a lot more people follow daily blogs than I realized. Prior to Nick listing my blog, I was getting about 25 hits a day. The day after his May 9th listing of the top 15 blogs, my blog received 295 views! I know a lot of folks read Nick's blog, but I had no idea that a simple listing of my blog would increase the readers that dramatically. I guess the power of the press comes in a variety of formats.

When Nick and Terry Russell left the 9-5 world about 10 years ago, they started the only RV related newspaper, published exclusively by full time RV'ers. It wasn't long after the first issue came out, that we discovered The Gypsy Journal somewhere in our travels. I can't even remember where we picked up our first issue, but as soon as we read it, we both knew that we wanted to be subscribers. Like more and more folks these days, I get an increasingly amount of news and information from the Internet. However, I'm an old newspaper junkie, that in years past, had to start my day with not only a cup of coffee, but also with the local newspaper. The Internet & TV will never take away the feel of newsprint. The Gypsy Journal is published 6 times a year, and a subscription is $20 per year, or $35 for 2 years. A subscription can be mailed to:

Gypsy Journal
1400 Colorado Street #C-16
Boulder City, NV 89005-2448

In our travels over the years, we have run into (not literally) Nick & Terry several times, and have been participants at many of their western RV rallies. When I read that they were going to be traveling this summer in the Pacific Northwest, I thought that perhaps we would bump into them, as our original plans were to do the same. When our jobs at the Grand Canyon were confirmed a few weeks ago, our summer itinerary changed for about the 3rd time.

We're busy taking care of many last minute things, before we depart this Monday for the Grand Canyon. We're both excited not only to the idea of living at the south rim, but to the new challenges of learning our jobs, and all that goes along with transitioning from being retired, to re-entering the work force for a few months.

CHP MEMORIES

Since starting this "memories" of my CHP career, I've tried, and will try, to keep the postings as chronological as I can. Having said that, I'm sure that something will jog my memory, and I'll go back to a point in time that my stories have already passed.

All of the things I have written about thus far, occurred where I was first assigned out of the Academy, the Baldwin Park Office in Southern California. I touched on the fact that most all assignments are based strictly on seniority, even within an Academy Class. One of the questions I used to frequently get asked was how are CHP Officers able to transfer around the state?
The quick answer is again - based on seniority, but here's the nuts and bolts.

After working the L.A. area for almost 4 years, I had gained a little bit of seniority, and it was time to think about moving the family out of smogville. Back in the early 1970's, there were many days where the air was so thick with pollutants, that the eyes would burn, and the pollution control district would issue warnings to stay inside. I had moved the family from Anaheim, to El Monte after about a year on the job, but that was like going from the smoke into the fire regarding air quality. The San Gabriel Valley was famous for having the worst smog in Southern California.

Almost always, the transfer of Officers around the state was in conjunction with the graduation of an Academy Class. A month or so before the Cadets were to graduate, a cutoff for transfer requests was established, and after the cutoff date, no transfers for that list would be honored. However, it was possible to put in a transfer request, and just sit on it, (sometimes for years), until it came through. Before the cadets graduated, a transfer list would come out, and whatever openings were left, that's where the brand new Officers were assigned. That's why most Cadets, myself included, went to the L.A. area, because it was the least desirable place. Near the cutoff date, an Officer could call Sacramento, and check to see where they would be in terms of seniority for any given office, and if that office had any openings, it was possible to get a better idea of your chances. For example, it didn't do any good to find out that you were #1 for the Fresno Office, if that office didn't have any openings.

In late 1972, I put my transfer in for the Santa Cruz Office, and it came through in early 1973. I was returning to the area where I went to High School, and to say that I was happy to be leaving L.A. was an understatement. While working in Southern California., I had gained an enormous amount of experience, in a relatively short period of time, but the idea of seeing blue sky everyday, suddenly became more of a priority.

I spent the least amount of time (approx. 2 years) in the Santa Cruz Office, of any of the 4 offices I worked. By the time I was able to transfer to the Sonora Office where I retired, the time on the job (seniority) required to get into that office was about 20 years. One of my original attractions to the CHP as a career, was the ability over time, to transfer to a more desirable place to live. The next few installments will be from the mid 70's, when I worked in Santa Cruz County.

BACK TO LAKE HAVASU

The scene above was at the Lake Mead RV Park, where our rig, and 11 others from our Family Motor Coach Ass'n (FMCA) Golden Spike Chapter were parked for the last 4 days. It was an ideal location for all of the activities associated with our mini rally, and the views of Lake Mead were spectacular.

After coffee, and a light breakfast with our friends, we said our goodbyes, pulling out of the park at mid morning. We left under overcast skies, and it rained just enough to get the road wet, and make a mess of my recent wax job on the motor home. My nickname should be the "rainmaker", because all I have to do is wash the jeep or motor home, and sure as heck, it's going to rain! By the time we crossed over the new bridge, on our way south toward Kingman, the drizzle had stopped, and we had a dry road the rest of the way.

The only stop was to top off the motor home with diesel at the Pilot Truck Stop, exit 9 off I40. ($3.85 with the Pilot/Flying J discount) We're home for a week, before we leave for the Grand Canyon and our summer jobs.

One closing thought about the last 5 days with our friends at Boulder City and Lake Mead. We joined this FMCA Chapter about a year ago, primarily due to its' focus on railroads, and my passion for trains. This was our third get together with this group, and from the moment we arrived for our first rally last summer in Oregon, we have been made to instantly feel like part of the family. I'm quite sure that many of our new friendships will last a lifetime.

Organizing all of the activities for this rally is no small feat. A big thanks to our President - Tom Westerfield, and his wife Barbara for doing all of the leg work necessary for a successful adventure. We had a great time, and look forward to the next rally with our railroad enthusiast friends.

RAFTING THE COLORADO

The idea of rafting down the Colorado River 100 years ago, would have been quite a daunting challenge. Particularly, about this time of year, when the snow is melting in the Rockies, the lower Colorado was prone to very high water and flooding.

Hoover Dam changed all of that, and with the addition of several other large dams, the mighty Colorado is no longer the beast it once was. That's a good thing, as our group of Golden Spikers boarded large motorized rafts at the base of the Hoover Dam yesterday morning.

The view of the dam and new bridge from river level was quite different than it was when we toured the dam day before yesterday. The bus ride from the Hacienda Casino, down a very steep and narrow service road was probably more exciting than the calm ride on the river.

Once on board the rafts, we started downriver for the 12 mile run to Willow Beach. The good news regarding the weather was that we had some cloud cover, and it was cooler. The bad news was the wind was blowing pretty good, and just happened to be coming from the direction we were headed. The combination of wind and waves created a little bit of water spray back into the raft, which prompted some folks to use the free ponchos provided by the raft company.

Barbara Westerfield and her husband Tom, our Golden Spike President

Our Captain, and guide - Jerry

About an hour into the trip, we stopped for lunch, and as you can see, Patty had decided that the flimsy poncho was better than nothing.

The highlight of the trip for me, was the several sightings of Desert Big Horn Sheep. There were about 3 different locations where we saw groups of females with youngsters, very near the water. In fact, one of the females walked right down to the waters edge, and took a drink, not more than 100 feet from our raft. All together, we probably saw about two dozen sheep.

This Desert Big Horn wasn't intimidated by our raft

The raft company bus picked us up at Willow Beach, and we were back at the motor home by 4pm. It was an enjoyable experience, and one that neither Patty or I had ever done before.

Today, it's back to Lake Havasu for about a week, where we'll be busy packing everything into the motor home for our summer of living and working at the Grand Canyon.

SOUTHERN NEVADA RAILROAD

The primary focus of this get together with our fellow Golden Spikers, was the Southern Nevada Railroad excursion train in Boulder City, NV. We boarded the train yesterday morning, and promptly pulled out of the station at 10am. The train, pulled by a diesel engine, heads west toward Railroad Pass for a little over 3 miles. A little beyond the Railroad Pass Casino is where the tracks are covered up with asphalt, as they cross Hwy 95. From that point, the engine pushed us back to Boulder City.

The volunteers who make this train ride possible, have done a super job in the restoration of the rolling stock, and all of the other things necessary to keep this operation going. The ride itself took about 45 minutes.

After the ride, Patty and I drove the short distance into Henderson, where we picked up a few things from Camping World, and the K-Mart next door. From there, we stopped at the Railroad Pass Casino, where the group enjoyed the buffet lunch. When we were finished with the meal, Tony (campground volunteer historian) took us into a back room of the casino, where the old Union Pacific Railroad Payroll safe is located. When Union Pacific established the casino as the payroll location, the room where the safe is located, was built around the safe. The room is much like a bank vault, with 1 foot reinforced concrete walls, and when payroll operations ceased after the Hoover dam was built, the safe was abandoned. It was too big to be removed from the room, and it now rests as a shrine to the glory days of railroading in Southern Nevada, when the Hoover Dam was under construction.

The old Union Pacific Railroad Payroll Safe inside a vault at the Railroad Pass Casino

After way too much lunch at the buffet, I decided that a little exercise might just be a good thing to do. Not too far from where our motor home is parked, there is a "rail trail" that was once the railroad spur to the top of the Hoover Dam. Despite the fact that it was exactly 100 degrees, Patty and I took a couple bottles of water, and set out to walk toward the dam on this old railroad grade.

About a mile or so into the walk, I started to think "maybe this wasn't one of my better ideas". It was hot, but the views of the lake and marina were spectacular. We walked for about an hour, and went through all 5 tunnels, ending up near the dam. Based on our many walks around the Lake Havasu Island trail, I think we walked approx. 3 miles out, and 3 miles back.

By the time we got back to the RV park, it was time for social hour, and the pot luck dinner. Tony, the volunteer/historian, presented a program after dinner, with specific attention to the role of the railroad in building the dam. After the program was over, our President, Tom Westerfield presented Tony with a gift certificate to one of the local restaurants, and thanked he and his wife for all of their help with our rally.

Another great day with our railroad enthusiast friends, with one more to go, before heading back to Lake Havasu.

A DAM DAY

We're in the middle day of a 3 day whirlwind of activities. Yesterday morning, we car pooled from the Lake Mead RV Park, to the Hoover Dam. Our first order of business was a tour of the dam itself. But, before that could even start, everyone had to go through an airport style security checkpoint, with scanners, metal detectors, etc. Not even a small pocketknife could make it's way into the heart of the dam, as Bill Hall found out. I certainly understand the need for security in this day and age, but come on, how in the world does a pocket knife threaten the security, or integrity of Hoover Dam!

Patty and I had taken the tour many years ago, but we had forgotten about most of what we saw and heard. It was an informative and interesting time spent within the dam, and Nevada power plant.

From the dam, we drove into Boulder City, and had lunch at the Boulder Dam Hotel. After lunch, we toured the museum upstairs, then headed back to the motor homes, parked by the lake. Later, it was back to Boulder City where we all had dinner at the Brew PUB restaurant. The last order of business for the day, was a chapter meeting back at the RV park. We discussed upcoming train rides, including the Carson City Rally on Sep 29,30 & Oct 1st, that Patty and I are putting together.

Patty on the observation deck, with the new bridge in the background

That's a long drop from the bridge to the river below

In order to read the schedule of events, you'll probably have to click the picture and enlarge it. Even then, it's a little small, but may give everyone an idea of all the activities planned for these 3 days.

This morning, we're headed for the Nevada State Railroad Museum in Boulder City, where there is still a few miles of the Boulder Dam Railroad track still in operation. It won 't be a long train ride, but for this group, it's a train ride, and that's all that's important.

LIFT OFF TO BOULDER CITY

Our friends, Bob & Diana were out the door at 8am yesterday, with Denise, the Realtor. They were on their way to more closely inspect the house that they might be purchasing. We weren't too far behind, pulling the motor home out of the yard about an hour later.

Part of our routine when we leave, is Patty secures the gate, as I pull the motor home out of the yard, then follows me down to the very large High School Parking Lot. That's where I hook up the Jeep, and then we're off. Yesterday, when I pulled into the Football Field Parking Lot, there were a lot more cars than usual, and I noticed Police Cars & Fire Trucks all over the place. About the same time I was parking, waiting for Patty, the local Medi-Flight Helicopter was landing in front of the bleachers. At first I thought there was some sort of disaster that was being responded to by all of the local emergency services. When I noticed that the stadium was full of students, and there was an overturned car on the football field, it didn't take long to figure out that this was a disaster drill being staged by the school, and local authorities. A small sigh of relief, as I first thought that I might have driven into some sort of disaster zone.

We made one stop in Kingman, as I had an appointment at the commercial section of the D.M.V. for the purpose of transferring my drivers license from Alaska to Arizona. From there, it was smooth sailing up Hwy 93 to the new bridge above Hoover Dam, and down to the RV Park between the dam and Boulder City.

We're here for the next 3 days, with our RV group of "Golden Spikers". We had a social hour yesterday evening, and it was good to see many of our friends who we last saw at the Indio Rally in January.

Part of the agenda last night was an introduction of Tony, the local Interpretive Ranger, who will be giving us more information about the building of Hoover Dam, and in particular, more history about the railroad that was instrumental in the actual construction of the Dam. He told us a fascinating story about the American Flag pictured on the downstream side of the Dam. When it was displayed in 1996, as part of the Olympic Torch's travels to Atlanta, it was the largest flag in the world, covering a huge section of the dam face. The story of the individual responsible for the creation of this flag, was especially intriguing. We have lots of activities on the schedule, starting this morning with a tour of the dam. Should be a fun 3 days!

NEW HAVASUIANS

Yesterday, we got a call from our favorite Real Estate lady, Denise Strong. She has been working with our friends, Bob & Diana, in an attempt to help them find a home to purchase. No, they're not moving here permanently from Enterprise, OR, but rather, have decided like thousands of other snowbirds, there is a better option for the harsh, cold winters of the north.

The news from Denise was that she had submitted an offer for Bob & Diana, and it was accepted by the seller. The real good news was that based on Denise's advice, the offer was lower than what Bob had considered, and so they will be getting the place for thousands less than expected.

Patty and I had met Denise at the house a couple of days ago, and when we checked it out for Bob & Diana, we were impressed at how much work had been done to the property. Everything was new, from the roof to the new tile & carpet floors. New cabinets, appliances, dual paned windows, paint, stucco, and a bunch of other stuff. It's a really nice house that just needs some furniture.

Bob and Diana are on their way here as I write this, with an arrival some time later today. Unfortunately, we're leaving tomorrow morning, so won't have much time to spend with our buddies. Tomorrow, they'll be looking at the house, and making the final decision. If it's a go, the winter population of Lake Havasu will be increased by a total of 2.

A GRAND CHANCE

We left the house yesterday morning at 6am, and drove to the south rim of the Grand Canyon, arriving a little after 10am. We both had appointments to formally interview for jobs this summer. When the interviews were over, we both were offered jobs, me driving one of the transit buses, and Patty working in the main gift shop.

Our next task was to check out the RV space they had found for us, and to make sure our motor home would fit. This was probably the most important thing that we had to do, because everything depended on us being able to live in our RV for the summer. The RV site is in an area called Trailer Village, which is separated into two areas. One portion of the village offers full hookup spaces to the public for about $35 a night, and the other section is for folks like us who are working in the park. After I had determined that we our motor home would fit, I signed a lease for $90 a month, plus whatever the metered electric charge is.

Our next stop was at the medical clinic, where we both went through the drug test procedure, Patty for the first time in her life. Since I've driven commercially before, this wasn't my first time to be tested. By the time we had finished with everything, it was about 3pm, and we were both hungry. We made a quick stop at Wendy's just outside the park in Tusayan, then drove home, arriving back in Lake Havasu a little before dark.

I guess you might say that it's official, we're both back in the workforce for the coming summer. I start work on May 23rd, and Patty starts about the same date. Our motor home will be parked very close to where Patty's workplace is, about a 5-10 minute walk, and I will have to commute the huge distance of about a mile!

The next 2 weeks will be a bit hectic, as we're taking the motor home to Boulder City this Thursday, where our Golden Spike Group is putting on an RV Rally. From there, it will be back home for about a week, and then we're tentatively set to leave for the Grand Canyon on May 16th. We're both excited about the new challenges, and the opportunity to live & work at a place that is truly one of the wonders of the world.

WIND & WEATHER

I took this picture yesterday morning, as we were looking south from London Bridge Beach, across the south channel entrance towards Rotary Park Beach. It was 9am, and there was supposed to be a flyover by 2 or 3 FA-18 Super Hornets from Lemore Naval Air Station. We waited until about 9:15, and no jets, and not much activity on the water. The culprit was high winds, gusting up to as high as 50 mph!.

Unfortunately, the winds caused the opening ceremonies and the high speed shootout to be canceled. The picture doesn't show it very well, but out in the middle of the lake, the whitecaps were very visible & very high. Other than the wind, the weather was ideal, and all of these super fast boats from all over the country were just sitting on their respective trailers. I guess mother nature does indeed, often have the final word.

Speaking of weather, I just checked the temperature at the south rim of the Grand Canyon, and this morning, it's only 19 degrees! What's up with below freezing temperatures? There's someone in this family that doesn't do cold weather. In fact, this entire family doesn't do cold weather, at least not if we don't have to. So, why in the heck are we considering living and working at the Grand Canyon this summer? There's no easy, just one answer. For me, it's been 2 years since I last worked as a supervisor for the transit system in Glacier National Park. For Patty, it's been 3 years since she last worked during the summer in Skagway, Alaska. After 4 summers in Alaska, and one summer in western Montana, we learned that we loved living, and working in these most beautiful places. Even though we have enjoyed our last 2 summers of travel in the motor home, we both were looking for a scenic place that provided us relief from the hot summer weather, and a new place that we would have a few months to explore a little more in depth. The Grand Canyon fits the bill, and the added plus is that it's only about 230 miles from Lake Havasu City. With diesel at over $4 a gallon, fuel expense is always a consideration.

We're leaving here tomorrow morning at 6am, in order to make the approx. 4 hr. drive to the south rim, as we both have interview appointments at 11am. By the end of the day tomorrow, we should know for sure whether we're going to be working at the Grand Canyon, or if plan B, or is it plan C, no, I think it might be plan F, that will be kicking in. Hopefully, everything will go OK, and the RV space they found is big enough for our motor home with the 4 slideouts extended. I think that's the big question at the moment, and we'll have the answer to that question tomorrow.

As I mentioned in the last blog post, if everything goes according to plan, we will be parking the motor home at the south rim in about 2-3 weeks. In the mean time, our friends Bob & Diana will be making a quick trip to Lake Havasu from Oregon, to continue their search for a winter home. They will be arriving the day before we leave for an RV rally in Boulder City, NV. We weren't going to attend this rally if we got jobs at the Grand Canyon, due to the conflict with the rally dates, and potential start work dates. When it looked like we weren't going to be working this summer, we made the arrangements to meet our friends in Boulder City, and attend the rally. Now, it looks like we will be working, and we'll have to hustle after the rally, in order to get everything done before leaving Lake Havasu for the summer.