Tag: National Parks

I think we finally found the perfect weather, here outside of Kingman. It is 5-6 degrees cooler here than in town and we’ve been enjoying mid 70’s during the day and low 40’s at night. A little warmer at night would be good but we’re staying comfy, and the daytime temps are much more important to both Deb and I. Thank goodness we both agree that Heat is Horrible!

Mmmm, it’s Pancake Day! We had cherry cheesecake pancakes, and I had hibiscus syrup on mine. I know, sounds really strange, doesn’t it? I’ve never heard of making syrup from hibiscus flowers!  Back when I was staying at Buckeye Hills the first time, my neighbor gave me all his condiments because he was leaving the next day for 6 weeks in New Zealand. He had made this syrup himself! And it’s wonderful….tastes like some kind of berry.

I’ve been studying up on our future travels to several National Parks with my “Your Guide To The National Parks” book.

    I purchased this book after seeing friend Linda’s copy in Yuma. It’s fantastic! Chock-full of really great photos, maps, “don’t miss” attractions and sights, and really helpful information. This is better than anything I found on the internet!!  (Whoa, I can’t believe I said that out loud!) I would strongly encourage you to get the actual book, not the Kindle edition. There’s no way you could possibly enjoy the fabulous photos on a little Kindle.  I don’t have space for books but I do carry two….this one, and “Gem Trails of Arizona”. (And 3 Kindles) This one takes up a good bit of space but it’s worth it!  Here’s a link: http://amzn.to/1R7pwxA

There are remains of a calf here at camp! I think that’s what it is anyway; the bones are fairly large in circumference but quite short. Just two forelegs….where’s the rest of him??  Now we are wary of large predators like bear or mountain lions. We try not to go outside much after dark!

Yesterday we went to Hualapai Mountain Park, about 5 miles from here. Deb paid the $7 entrance fee and we had lunch at the Hualapai Mountain Resort – http://www.hmresort.net/   They have a small herd of resident elk that you can watch from the big windows while you eat! Finally we see some wildlife, though it doesn’t appear to be very “wild”.

Then we drove around the park roads. The elevation there is around 6500′ and there are some really nice views! The roads are really narrow though and we wondered what would happen if two people in campers met going in opposite directions! It would have been VERY difficult to get past each other. We were not terribly impressed with the Davis campground; The sites were small and looked like they’d be really difficult to get a trailer into. (Maybe they were supposed to be only for tents, but we did see some trailers there). $17 for dry camping or $30 for RV parking in a big flat parking lot across the road from the park! Ours is so much nicer, for FREE!  They also rent teepees for $30 a night, and they were pretty cool….they are real indian-style teepees, with four cots with inflatable mattresses inside. I’ll bet kids would love that! They also rent cute cottages and Kamper Kabins.

The scenery was gorgeous! There was one overlook that was pretty cool:

And lots of mountain vistas, some with a bit of snow!

Here’s Deb and Annie. No, it’s not a Mickey Mouse ear growing out of Deb’s head, it’s the rear view mirror on her bicycle! I’ll have to be more careful. I wish I knew how to work Photoshop; I could get rid of stuff like that.

I’m also very excited that there’s a Do It Yourself Dog Wash in Kingman for only $10! Princess Roxie and I will be there on Monday, and I’ll be sure to use some cream rinse to try and control her flyaway hairs.