January Get-Away

Well winter in Monroe finally got to us a little.  We enjoy the whiteness of the snow and the beauty of the mountains and valleys, but the endless cold made us consider a trip south again.  We did this last year and visited with Ann & Sherwood and Carol & Gordon who winter over along the Colorado River.  So following my first ward conference of the year I had a few days free and we decided to head out.  We spent our first night at the Falcon Ridge Hotel in Mesquite.  We have enjoyed this hotel because there is no gambling in the hotel and it is clean and smells good.  It also is new with nice ameneties. 

Monday morning we headed on to Las Vegas and with the aid of a new "toy" (Tom Tom 550) we drove to a couple of Costco's in Las Vegas to get a few things for the trip.  I really didn't understand how these GPS systems worked, but it took me 5 minutes at the north end of Las Vegas to be convinced it was worth it.  From Las Vegas we drove through Boulder and across the new bridge over the Boulder Dam.  I had hoped to be able to stop and look at the bridge, but they don't allow for that.  In just a minute you are on the other side and into Arizona. 

We arrived in Lake Havasu City that evening and found our hotel, one we stayed in last year, and in the evening we drove to Carol &Gordon and Ann &Sherwoods camping sites and visited with both of them.  They seem to be doing all right and are enjoying the warmer weather.  We were surprised to learn that Ann & Sherwood have put money down on a house in Lake Havasu City and were planning to close on the house the following week.  I guess they like being down there. 

The next day we had lunch with Ann & Sherwood and then played a round of golf at an executive course out on Havasu Island.  It wasn't a great course, but we had fun.  It was the first golf for Pam in over six months and she played quite well. 

The next day was Wednesday and we played golf at the London Bridge Golf Club, which is in Lake Havasu City and now we have played on both the Olde London course and the Nassau Course.  The two 18 hole courses are next to each other up on a hill overlooking the lake and built around housing developments. 

On Thursday we played golf at the Emeral Cove Golf Club and what a spectacular course.  It was build along the river and into the lava fields adjacent to the river and it was stunning in its beauty.  Fortunate for us the carts worked really well for the elevation changes and distances from tee to green would have made walking impossible. 

Friday morning we checked out of our hotel and headed south to Parker and then east to Phoenix.  Our goal was to visit the Mesa Temple (which I have never seen before and Pam was a child where her family came to Mesa for a family reunion).  The drive to Phoenix was about as bleak as you can imagine.  Nothing much but open flat dry land.  Phoenix was huge, covering a large valley and the freeway system was amazing.  Our GPS took us right to the front door of the temple and that was comforting.  We spent an hour at the temple taking pictures and then found our hotel nearby.  We had dinner at a Texas Roadhouse (good as usual) and then returned to our hotel and changed clothes and went back to the temple for a session.  It was a wonderful evening and the ordinance room was packed with young people.  They told us that is the way it is almost every night.  I guess it is not hard to understand why the church has finished the Gila Valley temple (about 40 miles away), and announced both the Gilbert Temple and the Phoenix Temple which will be within 20 miles of the Mesa Temple. 



Saturday we left Phoenix and headed north in the general direction of Utah.  We did some investigation and decided to visit Sedona, Arizona on the way.  The drive north was unusual as we passed literally forests of Sugauro Cactus.  They are so majestic in their appearance.  I had no idea that Sedona was such a tourist town and a long time artist community, but it was beautiful all nestled in red rock canyons.  They also had several world class golf courses and that was attractive to us. 

We attended the Sedona Ward on Sunday and was a pleasant experience being with those saints.  Not a large ward, but good people and enjoyable meetings.  Following church we spent a quiet afternoon driving up and down the valleys looking at the adjacent mountains and the beautiful homes and scenery. 








Monday we played another round of golf at the Sedona Golf Resort and what a beautiful place that was.  It was one of the most challenging rounds of golf I have ever played.  hundreds of sand traps and greens that were quick and very undulating.  Sort of like on television.  We had such a good time and enjoyed it very much. 




Well all good things must come to an end and tuesday morning we checked out of our lodge and head home for real.  Our route followed US 89 through Flagstaff, Page, Kanab and on up the familiar route to Monroe.