Lake Mead Trip #2 and One Year on the Road

My favorite photo of this post (so it shows nicely on Facebook).

After spending some time in my favorite boondocking location (so far) in Flagstaff, AZ, we headed back to Lake Mead for water-ski trip #2 of this year.

US Forest Service Land near

Sunset Crater Volcanic National Park

We met Bill and Maureen again in Boulder City, Nevada at the Fox Barbecue restaurant before driving to the Temple Bar Marina at Lake Mead for trip #2.

We skied on Tuesday and then on Wednesday, the weather was looking bad and we saw lightening off in the distance so we stayed off the water and went on a road trip instead.

Our Arizona water-skiing friends bought a house in Meadview, Arizona (near Lake Mead) about a year ago.  It's closer to a different launch ramp than we use at Temple Bar.  Meadview is closer to the South Cove launch ramp.  We decided to take a drive over and see if we could find their house and we did.  Meadview is not that big and we did have the address.

Here's us pretending to break in to their house

A thumbs up all around to their house and location.  

The house is empty most of the time and only used when they are at the lake.  Luckily they have an observant neighbor who came over to see what we were up to.  We had a nice conversation with her once she realized we were friends with the owners.

Next we went down to the South Cove launch ramp to check it out and have lunch.

Lunch at South Cove Launch Ramp

A big bay we often ski on when the water is nice and flat.

Al, Maureen, and Bill

Maureen, Bill, Nancy, and Al

View of the lake from Pearce Ferry Rd/Rt 25

After the storm passed, we had a couple of more great days on the water.

Bill, Al, and I still camp in tents up in the campground and Maureen has been renting a cabin (with AC) so we've been using the amenities of her cabin (fridge/freezer and stove) for dinners.  It's nice to get out of the heat and enjoy some AC while we drink Mudslides and Al cooks us dinner on the tiny stove.

At night we have a tradition of walking down to the launch ramp after dinner and checking out the sunset and then we lay on the dock and look at the stars.

Temple Bar (Rock Formation) and the Marina

Sunset at Temple Bar

Al on the dock

Spectacular sunset reflected on the water near the launch ramp

Bill and Maureen getting in to position for the star gazing

Al looking for the first visible star/planet of the night

Maureen

Bill

On our last day of the ski trip, Al and I celebrated our 1 year Nomad Anniversary.  I can't believe we've been on the road a year already.  We've had some great adventures and saw amazing things but the best by far has been the awesome people we've met.

Another exciting thing that happened while at the lake was our friend, Bill, finally sold his condo in Tustin, CA.  He has a 30 day escrow so we'll wait and see if he needs any help with his move to Arizona.

Visiting Colorado - Four Corners and Monument Valley

My favorite photo for this post.....


After leaving our Harvest Host free camp site at the Conquistador Golf Course in Cortez, New Mexico, we drove to Four Corners where the states of New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado, and Utah all meet.  It's possible to be in all four states at the same time!

The site is on Navajo Nation Indian land.

Al and I were there in the past and it was interesting to see how the area has improved over the years.  The structures surrounding the site were previously old shacks and now have been replaced with much more secure buildings.  It was nice to see the various jewelry items hand made by the Indian ladies.

Here is the line of people waiting to take a photo on the site where the four states meet. It was fun to see the creativity of others and their poses. 

Another reason to visit Four Corners was to get some Indian Fry Bread.

Fry Bread with Cinnamon and the other with Powdered Sugar

Unfortunately the fry bread we had this time was not as good as I remembered from our last trip.

After Four Corners we headed onward and passed through Mexican Hat, Utah.  The scenery was beautiful.

The Mexican Hat which the town was named after.

And then it was time for my favorite drive, the route in to Monument Valley, which is on the Utah and Arizona border also on Navajo Indian land.  I absolutely love this view!  It may look familiar to those who saw the Forrest Gump movie when he went out for a run.

In the past we stayed at a hotel in Kayenta, Arizona but this time we spent a couple of nights at a two year old KOA campground very close to the entrance to Monument Valley.  There are now three RV parks in the area with this new KOA being the newest. 

We had some great views from our site and amazing sunsets over the giant rock formations.

Okay, we'll stay out of the grasses and bushes to avoid the critters.

Sunset through the KOA office

On our full day in Monument Valley, we paid the $20 to the Navajo Tribe and entered the park.  In the past we've hired a Navajo native to take us on a tour and it's been worth the money.  This time we did the 17 mile road on our own with our 4x4 truck.  The road is not paved and many areas are pretty rough.  Of course we left the RV in the campground!

West Mitten and East Mitten

 

There are many places to pull off the road to get out of the truck and look around and of course take photos.

Check out that beautiful truck!

This is John Ford's Point.  John Ford was an American film director who filmed many western movies in this area including those staring John Wayne.

 

View from Artist Point

Across from the park is Gouldings Lodge and Trading Post which was established in the 1920's.  They have a hotel, restaurant, RV park, gas station, small grocery store, museum, and gift shop.

Monument Valley is not a national or state park but instead owned by the Navajo Nation Indian Tribe also had a Junior Ranger program so I completed that one too.

After leaving Monument Valley, we drove southwest on Rt 160 to Rt 89 to just north of Flagstaff where we spent three nights on Forest Service Land for free.  The temperature was perfect with warm days in the mid 80's and nights in the 60's.  It was so nice to be able to open all the windows of the RV and enjoy the fresh mountain air.

Next it was back to Boulder City to get ready for another week on Lake Mead.