Thursday, March 27, 2014

A Little Nudge Here and a Little Nudge There




It's been a couple of weeks since our last post and we've had a little adventure.....some fun....some not so fun. Nothing serious mind you....just one of life's little nudges.

Before...





A couple of weeks ago we were given an additional task to perform while we were out and about our normal Road Monitoring jobs....graffiti removal. It seems as though someone just happened to carry a can of brown spray paint in their 4-wheel drive while they were exploring some of the back country roads in Lake Mead. This is the result.



...After



Our supplies on this day included some scrub brushes, water and environmentally friendly paint remover. After a good soaking, scrubbing and rinsing, the signs were almost as good as new. Just remember...we are trained professionals so don't try this at home!


I may have mentioned that I started playing softball on a Sunday Night Over 40 league. After a couple of weeks of playing I was introduced to some guys who manage a couple of 60's tournament teams. I was invited to 'stop by and try out' one Saturday morning, which I did....and what do you know....I was asked if I'd like to play in a Senior Softball Spring National tournament. After many micro-seconds of consideration I said YES! So last week Joan and I loaded up the RV and headed to St. George, Utah for the weekend.



We decided to go early and spend some time in Zion NP before the tournament started. We traveled on Wednesday and set up at Sand Hollow State Park. Early Thursday morning we left Sand Hollow taking a back road to Hurricane and Zion. We rounded a corner and were surprised by what we saw.......icicles.


It was only 46 degrees by our car thermometer, but it must have gotten much colder during the night for this to have happened.

We drove into Zion and went in search of a nice hiking spot only to find every trail head parking spot taken and dozens of cars parked along the roadway at almost every pull off. Oh yeah...it's spring break. Not interested in hiking in a conga line we regrouped and returned to one of our favorite drives near Zion, Kolob Terrace Rd just outside of Virgin. Much less traffic and the scenery is just as pretty. We pulled off at a lookout and had a picnic lunch before taking a short 3 mile hike.....beautiful scenery and beautiful company.

Friday morning we headed to the Canyons Softball Complex in St George, a short 20 minute drive from our campground. Our team, LVSSA Raiders went 2-0 in the seeding games of our AAA 12-team bracket and finished #1 Seed. Good start.

Unfortunately Saturday didn't follow suit and we went 0-3. Oh well, still had lots of fun, got to meet some new softball buddies and I even managed to hit my 1st dinger of the year...a 3-run shot to center field. Man did that feel good! And I've been invited back to play with them in the fall when we return from Crazy Horse. What a deal.



Spring is definitely here in Lake Mead and everything is blooming. This week is Joan's last work week this spring as she is flying to Alabama to spend some time with her brother and his family before we leave Lake Mead. We got to drive a couple of our favorite roads, a new road we hadn't been on before and even got in a short hike.







Can you tell from this pic she needs some time off ?

L-R Chris, Leslie, Joan, Steve











Joan discovered that Leslie and Chris from RVNomads2too were staying in Boulder City and arranged for us to meet them for lunch. Chris is from Melbourne, FL and Leslie is from Boring, Oregon, the same little community where I played softball when Joan and I were working at Mt Hood. A lot of similarities between us as far as experiences and future plans, so I expect we'll be seeing more of them in the future.

Wax on, Wax off
It looked a lot easier in the movies Daniel-san
This scratch isn't coming out!
As for our not-so-fun adventure.....well on the way to Utah I managed to 'kiss' a concrete divider in a construction site on I-15. Just a little gust of wind...and when you're 8' wide in a 10' lane with concrete barriers on both sides...well I suppose you know what happens. A nice 4" wide, 30' long scratch down the side of the MH. No major damage, a new door skin, a new hinge and lots of paint and she'll be good as new.

That's it for now. Stay Tuned. More to Come.

8 comments:

  1. Enjoyed your post. What fun...Zion & softball...what could be better???

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  2. Glad you're back into playing softball. Good job.

    Sorry to hear about your scraaaatttcch.

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  3. We haven't been to Zion yet.....it's on our list though! I'm with you on the crowds...hiking isn't as much fun when the trails are packed with folks!
    I sure cringe every time we go thru narrow lanes, but Joe doesn't know it! So far so good! Glad it was only minor and you two are ok.

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  4. Love Zion can't wait to go back. If you like zip lining one of the best we've been on so far is the one in Boulder City. Sorry to hear about your scratch, hate it when we hit the construction areas and the lane narrows down.

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  5. So good to hear from you:) Glad to read you are well and keeping busy. I can just imagine your excitement, Steve, with getting back into the softball. You do look very comfortable all settled in the rocks, Joan:)

    We were in Zion last year for the month of March. We had spring breakers the last two weeks. Kolob Terrace Rd is a good place to get away, as is the east side. Glad you found a place to get in a little hike and lunch with a view:)

    It is hard to understand what gets into people's minds when they destroy things. The sign looks great after a lot of elbow grease.

    Sorry to see your home with a new stripe! But a little paint does wonders.

    We head west at the beginning of June. I am hoping we can make a stop at Crazy Horse for a visit!

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  6. It's always fun to meet up with fellow RVers.

    Sorry about the boo boo on your motorhome.

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  7. Such a treat to meet you two too, and thanks for the 'shout out' on your last post. Quite ironic our many similarities. We sure look forward to seeing you again next Winter in beautiful Lake Mead, but until then, enjoy an awesome summer in Crazy Horse, SD.
    Safe travels and Cheers! :)

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  8. Don't think that's gonna buff out old buddy! Sorry to hear about your little boo boo but in the big scheme of things this is just a little speed bump that will make a good campfire story someday. :-)

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