Awesome River Weather....

Well it's good to be back on the Colorado River, following our two day trip to Las Vegas.

We finally have some really awesome weather! It was in the mid-70's today.  Gotta like that!

Golden Shores, AZ - Photo taken from our California side of the Colorado River.

The difference between our walk today and those of the past couple of days was the tranquility of this place v. the crazy business of walking Las Vegas Boulevard.  Jeanette and I remarked on how peaceful our morning walk was.

Caught this train coming out of the mountains near our walking trail.

Hector and Diane were prepping to close up their Class 'A' motorhome so we left them to continue with their routine.  They are headed to Quartzite for the biggest RV desert show...likely in the entire world.  We have no interest in moving our rig over to Quartzite but we might motorcycle out there for a day of browsing.  We don't have any specific purchases in mind but it might be fun to ride in - spend a few hours in the chaos - then ride back to our spot here before sunset.

This American Flag sits on top of this mountain.  I used maximum zoom to capture it from below.

With little to no wind by late mid-morning, it appeared this would be a perfect day to launch the Sea Eagle kayak.

I spent some time with Chico - the Portuguese Water Dog - while our neighbours were busy with folding camp.

Jeanette and I are going to miss Chico but we'll get to see him again in three weeks when we once again reconnect in Yuma, AZ.

The sand dunes by our fiver are perfect for practicing sand shots with my wedge.

I hit several balls from the sand to an intended target.  Chico would then chase the balls...and, true to form, he would bring them back.  Although he would get distracted if I hit too many balls quickly, he still responded well.  Hmmm...I could use Chico on the golf course whenever I hit an errant shot.

With the toad hitched, Hector, Diane and Chico headed further south to Quartzite.

Our plan is to hang out here for the next 8-9 days, or so, before heading further east to Gold Canyon, AZ.  It is situated at the foot of the Superstition Mountain, about 10-15 minutes east from Mesa, AZ, on Highway 60. We have reservations @ Canyon Vista RV Resort beginning on February 1, 2013. 

All pumped and ready to paddle.

 I have been waiting for the really nice weather to finally paddle the Colorado.  I had that opportunity today.  I'm sure my arms will respond with pain tomorrow though.  I felt that I was using muscles I haven't worked with for some time....and pushing the kayak against the flow was really hard work.  It felt nice to be on the water.

Working my way north....against the flow.

 I brought a few bottles of water along. Good thing too.  The refreshment was required with all that hard work being expended.  Finding the right rhythm was key and that was best done on the Arizona side (east side) of the river.  Once I moved over to that side of the river, the work required was a bit less demanding.

Working my way over to the Arizona side.

Jeanette is not nearly the water sport person that I am.  She does enjoy kayaking on lakes but finds streams and rivers are not her thing.  Unlike me, she did not grow up doing water sports.  There is an element of fright on a taxing river such as this one.  Although she has joined me on the river before...and likely will again....it's not her bailiwick.

Unknown to me though, Jeanette was very busy with the camera.

Making my way back - after a one hour, up river, paddle.

Phew!  The reward for the hard work up stream was the easy ride downstream.

I did notice the relatively few RVers who were parked on the jutting pods, when compared to last year.  What's with that?  Well, the San Bernardino County gave the operating contract out to Pirate Cove Management and the new group immediately raised the cost by almost double.  That clearly annoyed former patrons - us too, I might add.  For the higher costs, nothing has changed and no new services have been added.  I don't get their thinking - or lack thereof.  We booked in for the month and accepted the terms but we are likely to revisit this for next year.  The occupancy rate is easily down by 60 to 70 percent.  No a good business model, say I. There are rumblings that the price will drop for next winter.  That would make sense when the business is down substantially.  Their ploy to profit by double and to offer nothing new failed!

Following the rigorous river exercise, it was time for a rest.  I am not a 'napper' so don't get the wrong impression here.

Following a bit of lunch - outdoors - while sitting on a lounge chair - and watching the river go by - is a pretty nice thing to do on such a nice day.  It's what we find attractive about this place.

OK....enough laying about.

While I was plying the river, Jeanette made busy with some laundry and tidying up.  She did not take any photos of her activities....and she had the camera.

We called our daughter and arranged for a Skype session with her and Easton for later this afternoon. It was a treat to share some face time with Easton.  To watch him react to our voices and faces was quite something.  He was desperately trying to grab Ginette's computer screen.  Great fun time we had doing the Skype thing.  Gotta love the technology!

Ginette, Easton and Trevor will be flying in to Phoenix and joining us for one week. this early February, while we hang out in Gold Canyon, AZ.  We do look forward to that....and they are really, really looking forward to the holiday.

As the sun sets here, we're readying to light the fire we prepared this late afternoon.  Roasted hot dogs (long on our dinner menu plans) will finally happen tonight on the river bank.  Photos of that in the days ahead.

OK...that sums things up from here for now.