Still in Arizona

Apr 18 Wed

Ken and Annette come by to pick us up about 12:30 and we head off to lunch.  After about a 40 min drive we begin to wonder where we are headed, but he finds the place.  Fry Bread House in Phoenix. What a great place!  I had a vegetarian Taco with hatch chilies and it was Linner, especially after Ken and Annette got Chocolate Fry bread for dessert. Yummy.  We just talked and talked and got to know our cousins.  They told us about some of the scenic drives in the area and we made plans to get together again tomorrow and go for a ride up Apache Trail

Apr 19 Thur

We got picked up about 1:30 and headed off on our drive.  What absolutely beautiful scenery!  Tortilla Flat for lunch.  Funky restaurant and really good sandwiches.  We wandered around the Tortilla Flats area for a bit and then proceeded to the end of the paved road at which point we turned back for home.  All in all a gorgeous place to go for a drive.  The superstition Mountains :

When we got back in town we went back to Ken and Annettes place so we could go over a little of Dannys family genealogy.  Great fun, its looking like he is descended from a couple who crossed on the Mayflower.  What a hoot, and my family history looks pretty tame.

Apr 20 Fri

Moving day and we are heading off at a reasonable hour to make the drive to Kingman.  Once we clear the Phoenix area traffic, which takes about an hour.  We were on the far East side and are heading off on the Northwest side.  But as we head up the Joshua Forest Scenic Rd, we are amazed at the views.  This is spectacular I forgot to get out my camera and take a picture!  I love Arizona!  It was a great drive into Kingman and after we get checked in we talked about what we would like to do here and decided to extend our stay for 2 more days.

Apr 21 Sat

Keepers of the Wild Nature Park.  This is an interesting place.  They provide a home for exotic animals that are either rescued from bad situations or whose owners come to the realization that "having this animal as a pet wasn't a very good idea".  The first priority is a no breeding policy.  Many of their animals came from show business, young tigers acquired as photo opportunity animals that grew too big too fast.  The animals have large enclosures, nothing that is even close to their native habitat but they are cared for and they all look in good shape.  We took a tour and then fed ourselves.  Then we walked back around to see some of the animals being fed.  All in all a nice day

 

Apr 22 Sun

After the Keepers of the Wild yesterday we drove by the Route 66 Museum and decided we were just too tired to check it out so we went back today.  We could have checked it out yesterday in about 10 mins....really just a tourist stop, and it had quite a few tourists, mostly Europeans.  

Apr 23 Mon
We found THE Route 66 Museum, and the Mohave Museum of History and Art and the Powerhouse Museum.  Now this kept us busy all day!  We walked across the street and had lunch at the Mr D's Route 66 Diner and then headed back for more museuming.  Great history of the area.

I love miniatures

and these are terrific miniatures

Peeking in the door

DDD future home of a eatery outside the tasting room.

This will be a fun place to have a snack.

As we headed home I mentioned that we should check out the Desert Diamond Distillery and we did. WE had piked up a groupon for a tasting and tour and got there just in time to catch the last tour.  Then we sat in the tasting room and sampled all the products of the distillery and talked with the owners, before we knew it 2 hours had passed and we were promising to stop by again when we are in the area.  They offer RV parking in the lot.  Boondocking only, but if we need a place to spend a night enroute to or from California it would be a great little stop over.  We did manage to leave with half a case of Rum and other assorted spirits.

Apr 24 Tue.
We had been talking to our neighbors and they were out almost every day riding their Razor off road vehicle and they recommended we take a drive up to Hualapai Mountain Resort.  There are great views and a pretty good restaurant for Lunch.  The ride up the hill was nice and the views are spectacular.  I believe they would be even better from an off road vehicle.

Apr 25 Wed  We spent a quiet day at home getting things ready to move on tomorrow

Apr 26 Thu  On to Bakersfield, this really is a pretty easy drive, heading west on I-40,a few traffic slowdowns for some unknown reason, then off on 58 at Barstow.  We are really glad to have a good audio book to listen to on this drive and then its up and over Tehachapi pass and down into Bakersfield.  We stayed at the Orange Grove park 2 years ago and it is much nicer in April then it is in June. 

Apr 27 Fri
We had our reservations to head out to Earnst Quarries for the Megaladon hunt.  Now 2 years ago we were here at 100 degree weather and so today we were prepared.  Sun screen, umbrella, water, more water, gloves, more water.  We were ready!  Well today was 70 and windy and cloudy.  Who knew!  but we had a great day and did find some nice fossils, but the Megaladon is ever illusive.

The best of this years finds

Apr 28 Sat

I have a cousin in Bakersfield and we managed to get hold of her and invite her and her daughter out to the park for a nice Trip-tip dinner.  It was nice to catch-up after about 30 years.  And getting to meet the next generation.

Cousin Chelsea and Aryona

A grand time had by all.

Apr 29 Sun
We called our friends in Atascadero and they said we could come on it today, so we did.  Drove over to Atascadero and pulled the 'Lake House into their yard, around behind the house and over to the side.  Hooked up a water hose and a power cord and started to catchup on a lot of stories.