Canadian Military invades Nevada and Arizona?

We were getting near our 7 day limit at Nevada Telephone Cove on Lake Mohave in Lake Mead National Recreation Area.  Friends Don & Donna were fighting their way south through Montana and Utah cold temps, icy roads and snowy conditions.  We decided to meet up at our usual spot at Stewarts Point on Lake Mead.  I made it there a day ahead of time, and accused them of bringing cold winds and bad weather with them!  It was a bit cool and breezy, but weather reports showed that there was no nearby locations with any better weather, so we toughed it out.

In the past we have observed a lot of military training exercises being conducted in this area of Lake Mead, including paratroops parachuting into the lake day and night, and also low level helicopter operations.  This time, only the helicopters were observed hovering for long periods just over the water, while ropes and (frogmen?) are lowered and raised into the ship.

Don & Donna arrived, and we spent some time touring around the area like usual, with side trips into Vegas, and other camping areas off North Shore road.

Around this time, I was pleased to see a nice $100. cheque from Google(!) deposited in my bank account!  It’s taken about 3 years of blogging with google ads to reach this lofty goal.  At that rate, I’ll be rich in another 500 years or so.  I don’t want to calculate my pay, but it could be as much as 10-15 cents per blog post, or perhaps 10 cents/hr!  Still have a ways to go to meet minimum wage.

We all decided to move back down south and give Nevada Telephone Cove another visit.  In Henderson, there was a car wash with enough clearance to get some of the dust and dirt washed off the rig, and topped off the water and propane supplies.  Lots of road construction in the area between Henderson and Boulder, and a distinct lack of adequate signage during the transition period.  Heading south west, there is an exit marked for both Hwy 93(business) and Boulder, neither of which were on my route.  With NO mention of Hwy 95 south through Searchlight, I opted to avoid the exit only to find myself in a dead-end in the nearby casino parking lot.  After turning around and heading back to the highway, there is a ramp clearly marked as ‘closed’, which you must take to get back to the main road!  What’s with that?  After being forced to return to Henderson and try again, we took the exit with no mention of Hwy 95, then guessed correctly at another exit with no signs.  Looking forward to the end of the construction and restoration of proper signage.

We all got set up along the beach in the new location, and started to enjoy the mostly sunny but often breezy weather.  Little to no ATT signal on the beach, contrary to their coverage maps, so out came the old satellite dish standby to provide some internet and television.

On trips into nearby Laughlin and Bullhead City we were treated to a military airshow of a pair of Hercules (?) aircraft flying circuits in and out of the Bullhead/Laughlin airport.  I managed to get into position at the end of the runway for the final approach and got a few photos.

It was not until I looked at the photos on my computer, that I realized to was a Canadian invasion force!  I have previously seen Canadian military craft on training missions over at Borrego Springs, California, and the Bayfield Bunch saw them this year as well.  Not sure if it might be the same planes or not, as I think the Royal Canadian Air Force has at least a half dozen of these! 

I think the ‘invasion force’, like we snowbirds is just trying to avoid training in the brutal conditions back at home!

At any rate, these US helicopters were in full retreat!

Taking care of an increasing vibration in the big GMC had us visiting the local GM garage, and after a couple of false starts we ended up with some shiny new U-joints.  While there, I met a couple of fairly tame roadrunners that make regular visits to the service department, for their daily Cheetos ration.

Heading back to the ‘cove’ one day, I spotted a large 5th wheel toy hauler parked just off the highway that looked kind of familiar!  A check that showed it had an Alberta licence plate confirmed my suspicions that John & Brenda were checking out the area!  But as I headed down the road after them, there was a loud bang, followed by a loud hiss, and a brand new tire was destroyed by something on the road.  Unfortunately, J&B decided their rig the length of a football field more or less, would not fit around some of the corners on the road down to the beach .  At least we got to have a short chat as they helped me change the tire.  Found some likely suspects as the cause of the blown tire …

Once again, it seems like we are reaching the end of a 7 day stay on Lake Mohave.  In spite of the occasional to constant winds, it has been very nice to camp right on the beach, hearing the waves lap on the shore all night not 20 feet away and watch the reflection of the moon rise each evening, reflecting off the waters of the lake.  And, as always, the price is right!

Checking maps and Google Earth has not yet identified our next destination.  It is way to soon to start heading northward, especially with the bitter cold and deep snowpacks around home, and even huge dumps of snow in the eastern Sierras.  The decision won’t likely be made until reaching the pavement, and even then I suspect it might be up to a coin toss or whim.  I think the Mojave National Preserve and area might be on our radar, the the Grand Canyon is always a draw as well.  I guess we’ll all have to wait to see where Hailey and I turn up next!