April 14th~~~20th, Page Springs, AZ

Not so good news for us, our AT&T coverage all last week and now here too is non-existent. Plus, no internet service, even with our mobile MiFi. :-( Amazing how cut off from everyone we feel. We certainly have grown dependent upon these wonderful modern technological devices!! Have had to drive into town everyday to check our mail or make calls. Bummer!

Sunrise RV Park, provided us a babbling brook, right outside our coach.

Attended two little churches, one in Cornville and one in Cottonville. Enjoyed fellowship with them during their Wed night meal and also prayed along side of them for the needs of their congregations. Good to feel a part of so many brothers & sisters in our Christ!

Right around the corner from us was a Fish Hatchery, we did the self-guided tour, pretty neat!

On to JEROME, AZ, an old mining town, which claims to be a Ghost Town. Never saw any ghost, but the quaintness was worth the trip! There was an old crusty miner still hanging around, who owns a 1942 Harley, and it still runs! He cranked it up and gave us a demonstration. :-)

April 7th~~~~14th, Camp Verde, AZ

Arrived at Camp Verde, on Saturday, and after setting up, sought out a church to worship with on Easter Sunday.  It is our commitment to never travel on a Sunday, but to be in a camp, fully set-up by Saturday so we will always honor our King by being with HIS people...wherever we happen to be!  Our worship on Resurrection Sunday was great and we returned that evening for their PM Bible study.  Thankful for the sacrifice Jesus made for us!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ELLEN!!

We visited several local attractions while we were here.  Just a few blocks away from our campground was a historic military fort, Fort Verde.  Enjoyed going back in time to get a glimpse of how life on a military fort would have been.

The next day we visited Montezuma's Castle, an Indian dwelling, built in a mountainside. An amazing house, to be sure!!  From there we ventured to Montezuma's Well, which is a natural artesian well, very picturesque.

VEGAS LIGHTS

VEGAS STRIP

BEAUTIFUL DAY!

Tuesday, April 3rd

What a gorgeous day we woke to! Sunshine and no winds! Felt like God was giving us a respite from the wind storms, so took advantage and headed into Vegas on our bike. It was a bit chilly on the ride in (one hour away), but we layered-up and leathered-up and off we went!

One sad thing we have discovered about Nevada, their economy seems to revolve around and strive on gambling. There are Casinos on every block, literally every block. And they don't call it gambling, they call it "Gaming". The money that is poured into these machines is mind boggling.

A funny "small-world" thing happened once we arrived on the strip. Mama had remembered that my best friend from elementary school, Janet, currently lives in Vegas and she happened to have her phone number. So, I called her and she met us to catch-up...really catch-up, since we had not seen each other for over 40 years!!! Fun stuff!

WINDS, WINDS, WINDS!!!!

Saturday, March 31st

Arrived at our next destination, Preferred RV Resort (www.preferredrv.com) in Pahrump, Nevada. Nice park, with over 300 lots, and great facilities. Looks like a good spot to call home for a week, however, the winds are still relentless! They are so strong, that the full time residents are saying they have never seen anything like this. They say that March winds are very normal in the dessert, but these gale forces are not! Everyone is ready for a calm day!

After checking the internet, we ventured out on the Harley to locate a Baptist church to attend the next day, we were buffeted around a bit, but located one a couple miles away. Worshipped with them Sunday AM. Another very small congregation, maybe 20 there. Greeted warmly and enjoyed participating in their fellowship. It is good to start our week here in God's house with HIS people!

Monday was yet another day of really strong winds...too strong to enjoy being on the bike, so we spent the day doing some organizing inside the RV. Finding a permanent home for some of the items we still had in boxes. Just like moving into a new home, takes a while to figure out where you want the things to reside. Not many spaces to choose from...but there is certainly a space for all of our earthly treasures! Steven even checked off a few chores off his Honey-Do list!

Not sure what blessing God is gonna bring out of this storm. But we will be patient and wait on HIM. We were hoping to see the Vegas strip, since we are so close. We obviously don't gamble, but mainly just curious. Have seen the lights in pictures and have been told by friends who have been here, that you have to see it to believe it. So, if the winds stop...we will. If the winds continue to reek havoc...we will know we should stay put in Pahrump!

HOOVER DAM

An Incredible Engineering Masterpiece!

NEVADA BOUND!!!

Left Davis-Mothan to head toward Nevada. Our drive was challenging to say the least, because Arizona/Nevada are having severe wind storms. The weather is headline news here, with wind gusts up to 50 mph! One newscast even reported 70mph! The winds are so strong that our 33,000 pound RV rocked and shook the whole journey from Tucson to our next stopping point.

Again Steven's driving skills were tested as he had to really fight to keep the rig rolling. These winds are predicted to last several days, so that will prove to be interesting!!

Saturday 31st... HOOVER DAM!!!

We hiked the trails that lead to the Dam...6 miles, to be exact. It was hot and very windy, but well worth the view when we made it!!

GALLERY OF MEMORIES

Good Sam RV Rally, Phoenix, Az

BONEYARD, Davis-Mothan AFB, Tucson, Az

DAVIS-MOTHAN AFB, TUCSON, AZ

March 26-30th

Arrived in Tucson, Arizona at Davis-Mothan Air Force Base to stay at their "FAM-CAMP" on post for a week. The scenery on the drive here continued to be breath-taking as we were surrounded by majestic mountains on every side. The dessert is desolate, only holding cactus and tumbleweeds. It has been amazing to see so many miles of empty land.

The military campground was the most impressive one I have ever seen. It was pristine! Very well manicured and every single building, including the base housing appeared to have been freshly painted. There was not one area in the entire base that was not "outstanding". There were over 190 camping sites, so plenty of lots to call "home" for a week! The Arizona days were very hot and dry and the nights were cool. The sunsets were incredible with so many beautiful hues of color, and mighty mountains as a backdrop, a hand-painted canvas by God!

The warning signs for rattlesnakes were prevalent most everywhere. The camp manager warned us it was rattlesnake season and to be careful walking around, especially at night. Forgot to mention, that while we were in Phoenix, the mountain that sat next to the raceway was called "Rattlesnake Mountain"!

Steven's friend Larry (met him Kyrgyzstan) picked us up on Thursday morning and took us to a section on the base known as the "Boneyard". It is the graveyard for all the old aircrafts that no longer fly. Miles and miles of aircrafts!! Currently we were told there were 3,954 planes there and next month they were expecting 1500 more!! Will try to upload a few pictures soon, but I can promise you that the pictures don't even come close to the "WOW" factor of seeing that many planes lined-up wing to wing. What a sight! Larry then took us to a local Mexican restaurant that is the hit of Tucson. In fact, they boast about President Clinton eating there when he was in Tucson. Not a fact that was terribly impressive to us...however, if it is the place where they take the President of the United States, we figured it must be pretty good! And it was definitely authentic Mexican! It was a great day and we are appreciative to Larry for being such a great host!

So many neat experiences and good people as we RV out West. We have been able to worship at a different church every Sunday since we left on our adventure. We made a promise that we will not travel on Sundays, but will make sure that we are in a campground somewhere on Sunday mornings so we can always find a place to worship. We are planning on keep a log of every church we attend. Will be neat to compile them as we make our way from state to state! We are reminded that there are so many of God's children serving HIM and sharing HIS message and that the fellowship we encounter is the extended hand of our Lord. We may be a stranger in their town, but we are always made to feel like family! It is so good to be a part of HIS forever family!