AFTERNOON:
We fueled our tummy’s at the China Garden, an enjoyable new restaurant
in downtown Needles. We had soup, egg rolls, sweet and sour chicken,
Mongolian beef, and pepper steak. We also drank a lot of water
and soda. Then we were on our way to Lake Havasu’s bike shop.
FUELING
UP THE MOTORHOME: We stopped at the $1.59 per gallon Pilot truck
stop. When we re-started, the alternator was reading full discharge.
Its belt had broken. As soon as we saw the gauge in the red we
shut it down, but in hindsight, we should have kept it going.
When we re-started the battery was dead. Floyd ran the generator
for about an hour in hopes of recharging the other batteries
- it has six.
While
this was going on in the heat of the day, Lydia went into Wendy’s
and surprised us with Frosty’s. Danny enjoyed his fair share
of the treat as we baked. Floyd was patient, and at the hour
mark he tried the starter and it cranked. We then drove the remaining
15 miles to Lake Havasu’s bike shop. Danny got a "friend" to
take his bike to the MRB shop where the kind folks switched
out his right handle, adjusted his front and rear derailers,
and
set him up. So all is wonderful.
Sean and Roman braved the cold water of Lake Havesu to take
a leisurely swim. They were quite refreshed and charged up. Danny
and Charles were at the bike shop. Floyd baby-sat the motor home
and gave the mechanics lots of advice, while Lydia went shopping
for fresh fruit and needed treats.
PHONES: In Lake Havesu,
we found that our phones would dial out but not accept calls.
So we all had a chance, finally, to
check in with family. It was nice to hear about the wonderful
support and air time Channel 5, WCSC (www.wcsc.com) is providing
us so our family, friends and community can follow the efforts
of Danny’s Ride.
SUNSET:
On the way back we saw quite a sunset. We wish you could have
enjoyed it with us.
HUMOR:
While the motor coach was in the shop, they fixed the ‘ghost’,
our large air horn. It would go off at the worst times. Once
it went off when a young women was walking down a peaceful sidewalk
pushing her baby stroller. We were at a stop light and could
not get it to stop. By the time we got moving the lady was furious.
Her baby had awoken, and her peaceful stroll was over. Last night,
during the drive back from Lax, the horn was going off at 1:00,
2:00, and 3:00 A.M. Floyd could not hear it, but folks in eighteen
wheelers were checking out the side of the motor home.
The pool at our hotel is wonderful, but is has no water! A
crew is painting the sides and bottom. They were still at it
at 10:00 P.M., so it might be ready tomorrow.
SATURDAY: We plan
to leave Needles at 7:00 A.M. We marked our last stopping point
with six empty water bottles filled with
sand and rocks. We’ll head for the town of Golf, about 18 miles,
and then to Ludlow, which is on the Arizona River. We estimated
the climb to be 2,000 feet. We should be out of California by
Sunday, heading for Kingman, AZ.
