BACK TO LAKE HAVASU

We woke up to a glorious sunrise at Dome Mountain; a clear, sunny day. Jim wanted to show me a signature cactus, one of the largest saguaro type cactuses identified in the area. He knew the exact spot, but it was gone. We asked around and from all accounts, it had fallen.  We were told that Huel Howser, who programs for Public Television, recently did a program about the giant cactus with fifty or a hundred arms?  Jim wasn't sure how many, except that it was an exceptional cactus much like these pictured above. One of them has 26 arms.
They do have predators as you can see from the base of this giant.

 

Its been chewed by some animal which will cause it to topple some day. From quartzite we spotted what looked like fog in the distance. I thought it looked like dust, hanging close to the ground, even though there was no wind. When we caught up with it, we found miles and miles of dust hanging in the air from recreation vehicles, those dirt bikes, racing through the desert foothills on the Colorado River Indian Reservation just north of Parker, Arizona. The destruction and air pollution was appalling but cheered on by an audience of aficionados sitting about the hillsides.

Our goal was to stop once more at Lake Havasu on our way back to Las Vegas. The country side is raw, jagged mountains,

 with the appeal of desert next to water in this beautiful lake.

 Some regard it as a vacation paradise.
 Our goal was to hook up with Ted and Judy Price who are camped here in their RV.

They hail from Lacey, Washington, Jim's former neighbors for 16 years. It was from Lacey he sold out and hit the road as a permanent RVer. Jim regards them as the best neighbors a person could hope to have. Judy is a music teacher and still works, but Ted is retired from the Washington State Forest Service and likes to vacation near water. He loves his boat. We had a great visit over a couple of brewskis at the VFW in Lake Havasu. They commiserated with us over my bike. They carry a couple bikes with them as well.

In the shopping center near the VFW, this woman was working painting four windows. It was fascinating to watch and when I told her my talented daughter-in-law does murals and paints windows for free at her kids school and library, she offered a lot of advice on how to make it a business. The types of paint, house paint for the base, oil tempura colors, water washable. The types of brushes, rollers, sponge brushes cut to size, etc.

She told me how she charges and said the advertising is word of mouth. You make cards and if you can point to something you've done, your are off and running.

Everyone who passed by enjoyed watching her work. No office hours, little overhead and talent. Then, she very nicely offered to take our picture as Judy and Ted were leaving.

I met Ted and Judy at their home, in Washington,   the summer of 2009. I'm hoping to get them to come to Murphys and visit us. (I guess you can tell we are no longer on a megabyte restriction.)