Introducing Lucy and Charlie Brown - vessels of adventure- Pine Top AZ and Blue Water Lake, NM

Meet Lucy and Charlie Brown.  We made a trek up to Utah to pick her up, and it was a gorgeous run. Quick up and back, a mini test cruise, so to speak.  The scenery was fantastic, inspiring and scratching the itch to travel and explore more.

Lucy is 15 feet of very spacious room.  The dining table/settee is on a pop-out so it makes the walking area quite user friendly. The queen size bed is perfect, and reminds us of the berth on Eagle - one of us has to climb over to get in..... guess who?

Our first day started out great.  We headed up Highway 60 out of Globe, AZ to Pinetop/Lakeside.  About 12 miles south of Show Low we experienced a major blow out on a 6-month-old tire!  Tom got us off to the side of the road on a well-placed, slightly leaning, wide spot. 

 Our independence, and mentally prepared attitudes from cruising of being self-sufficient, once again paid off.  From blow-out to spare on, supplies repacked and back on the road – 30 minutes!  We did the last few miles into the Discount Tire store in Show Low at a slightly slower speed.  As the tire was basically new, with 80% tread left, the tech who inspected the tire, felt that we’d ‘caught’ something.  Stewing on that while waiting for the new tire to be mounted, we started to inspect the trailer.  We found that one of the screws holding the tire cowling had backed way out.  Others were loose, but this one may have been the culprit in combination with a bump on the road. 

By 6pm, we were in camp, a nice site at the Hon-Dah Casino/RV campground in Pinetop/Lakeside.  Nestled in the tall pine trees it was a pretty location.  A couple of nights here were a good start.  We explored most of the water features in the area for birds, and Tom was very happy with the results.  

 I even got some time in a field with wild irises and a well placed ladybug.

 

 Our next location was Blue Water Lake Campground in Prewitt, NM, about 45 miles east of Gallup.  Another water feature, and a good campsite right on the edge of the canyon.  We spent one morning doing an early kayak on the reservoir/lake.  It’s known for large Tiger Musky, the record being 50 inches!  We experienced these fish as they ‘bumped’ into the kayak, rocking us and the boat.  You can imagine my surprise when one decided to jump INTO the kayak with me!  I’m sure that I said something like, “What the ?”.  At least I didn't get wet other than a little fish slime!

The discussion about these fish the night before was about the large, sharp teeth these fish have and now it’s down between my ankles!  I wasn’t too far from our launch site, so I kept my feet together to keep it sort of contained and paddled quickly back.  It was about 34”, slightly underside to keep, not to mention that I was unlicensed!  It lived to tell the story!