Long Trip North - Day 1 and 2! April 9th and 10th

I delayed my departure from Kingman Arizona by one day due to Mother Nature, the weather report called for a severe wind warning and I decided that a one or two day delay was worthwhile. I am glad I did, the wind blew 60 mph in Kingman and even worse in sections of Nevada and Utah with some dust storms and generally bad weather.

So, I screwed up and decided to stay with my same route even though I had lost a day. So I left Kingman, past Las Vegas to RT 93 and made a left and headed North through Eastern Nevada....MISTAKE!! It was still very windy, and a head wind for the most part so gas mileage went to shit. Plus when I got to my proposed destination, Great Basin National Park, it was freezing cold wind blowing at about 40 mph and driving snow! Only to find out the only campground in the park that was open was the lower campground and quite frankly after a drive through it did not seem appealing. Not to be deterred, I headed to the little town outside of the park gate - Baker! Campground and bar and restaurant there was closed as well as everything else. So a little disappointed, I continued East to Delta Utah for a quick dinner then decided that I may as well just head to I-15, which I should have stayed on 7 hours before. So I drove another 23 miles to Scipio and a real nice Flying J truck stop, pulled around back with a few other RV's and went to sleep.

Woke up Wednesday morning realizing I had driven 732 miles on Tuesday and also realized it was extremely cold out, but the wind had died down and it was clear and sunny! Easy 110 mile drive from Scipio to my friends house in Salt Lake, no wind, beautiful drive...

Tuesdays drive through Eastern Nevada was just about the most bring drive I had ever been on, Kansas had more scenery!

There was a very interesting Railroad station in Caliente NV worth a couple shots.





Then as I approached Great Basin - I came across this miserable sight!



I am currently in Salt Lake City until tomorrow and take a couple day drive to Kalispell, will be there until next Friday the 19th then on towards Alaska!

Capt. Jim - "The Gypsy"

Traveling and photographing the Southwest

The "Hangy Thing" - Oatman Trip 2 - March 30,2013

I received orders from the boss that she had her heart set on a "Hangy Thing" which later turned into a wind chime from Oatman, the old Mining town near Kingman. We had planned to visit there when she came out, but life got in the way of her trip, but the "Hangy Thing" was still a requirement. So after cleaning the trailer on Saturday Morning, I planned a short 24 mile road trip from Kingman to Oatman on a quest to discover a "Hangy Thing" of my choosing that would satisfy Ms. Patricia.

If you are ever in the area around Kingman a trip to Oatman should be on your MUST DO list. It was and in some respects still is an old mining town that has refused to die. There is still a mine operating in the area, but the town now lives for the tourists and the wild burros! There are a ton of gift shops and ice cream parlor a couple small restaurants and bars and a bunch of wild burros roaming the streets. A worthwhile adventure for sure.

While on my "Hangy Thing" Quest I snapped a few pictures!











Plus the wildflowers are starting to bloom along the road to and from!







An old "Cafe" along Old Route 66 on the way to Oatman!



Browsing the "Hangy Things"



My Choice!





One other quest for me was to replace my pint glass - the one from the Cowboy Bar in Meeteetse WY broke!

The WORTHY Replacement



If you go to Oatman buy a bag of carrots at the grocery store before you head there for the Burros they will love you!

Capt. Jim - "The Gypsy"

Traveling and photographing the Southwest

March 29th - Kingman Sand Drags

Something different today, took a drive out to a brand new motorsports park in Kingman where they were holding their first event of the summer season. It was a beautiful day with warm sunny weather and a nice breeze. I went on Friday the opening day figuring most people and the crowds would be there Saturday. I was right.

Not a great selection of big sand rails but some really nice and fast cars, lots of noise and good old boys having fun with their various vehicles. But it was a time for kids as well, there were a bunch of kids racing on 4 wheelers and a few bikes and some interesting custom built sand rails powered by motorcycle motors, some were pretty darned fast with speeds up to 75 MPH or so and real quick.

I managed a few interesting pictures.

This was the youngest racer of the day and it was pretty funny - she was 3 years old and determined!



















All in all a fun day doing something different - today is clean the trailer day and maybe an afternoon drive to find some wildflowers and a hangy thing (not sure what??) for Pat in Oatman!



Capt. Jim - "The Gypsy"

Traveling and photographing the Southwest

Road Trip with stop at Valley of Fire State Park March 23rd

It was time to make my annual visit to the Dr. in Salt Lake City the vascular surgeon for a check of my carotid artery following my stroke of a couple years ago. So the plan was to leave the camper in Kingman and make the 500 mile drive up to Salt Lake, so I decided since I pretty much had to drive right by Valley of Fire to break the trip up into 2 segments and stop at Valley of Fire and check out a new trail to a section I have been wanting to see. They call it the "Fire Wave" and it resembles the rock coloring in the "Wave" in Arizona another place I want to visit. So my plan was up early and drive to Valley of Fire and spend a couple mid-day hours hiking and taking some pics, then move on towards Salt Lake and spend the night at about the half way point in St. George, Utah.

For those who really give a shit - the Ultrasound results were fantastic - no change since last year, increased blood flow and no sign of any further restrictions. So Doc says I am doing well, letter off to the USCG and they will be happy to know I shouldn't have any problems and be good until next years check again!

So up early and awoke to a wonderful sunrise!



Then on to the trail to the "Fire Wave"!



Creative trail marker - although this is how I felt on the way back!



Finally at the "Fire Wave"

















The rock coloration is amazing and worth the .6 mile hike one way to see it. Although I would like to meet the park Ranger that measures these trails, seems further to me!! The color is almost identical to pictures I have seen of the "Wave" in Arizona although that is a bigger formation and you need a special permit to get in they only allow 12 people a day. I have applied like 6 times for a permit, maybe next year!

I returned back to Kingman from Salt Lake on Thursday and now will be busy finishing up some work for the Lodge and making final travel plans for the long drive to Alaska, plan on leaving Kingman on April 8th and starting North! Hope the weather breaks soon up that way!

Stay Tuned for the adventurous trip to Alaska!



Capt. Jim - "The Gypsy"

Traveling and photographing the Southwest

Grand Canyon - Wednesday March 13th

Finally took the drive from Kingman over to Grand Canyon National Park the South Rim. It was about a 166 mile drive! I guess it would have been worth it, if I had never been there before, but I have been there before and so quite frankly it was a disappointment. It really is just a huge hole in the ground and since it was past March 1st you have to ride the shuttle buses to several of the better viewpoints...and I am not much of a ride the bus type person. So rather than stand in line with all the tourists, I saw what I could see and left.

It is very difficult to get a decent picture that really shows the expanse of the canyon anyway. Besides, once you have rafted it and seen it from the bottom, you pretty much have been spoiled. Years ago did a raft trip and rode a mule back up from Phantom Ranch and that was a true experience, so looking over a railing at the deep hole, just didn't cut it!

I did manage a couple pictures so here we go!

















When I left, I decided to stop in Williams at the drive through animal park again to see if I could get some better pictures of the Canadian Lynx and I did, but that is for tomorrow!

If you have never seen the Grand Canyon and have no desire to raft it or hike or mule ride to the bottom, then I guess the view is worth the trip. However, you can go to Deadhorse Point State Park in Utah and see pretty much the same thing and much less crowded. Or raft through Cataract Canyon or even Labyrinth Canyon and experience the feeling of the depth of the canyons and see just as good of scenery! Of course that is just my biased opinion, but it is my blog, so tough!

Stay tuned, more tomorrow!



Capt. Jim - "The Gypsy"

Traveling and photographing the Southwest

Season's In the Mist - Finally ready to Publish!

I will start out with some info on a road trip I took yesterday! My best friend from Florida was scheduled to be on a little vacation with his mother in Las Vegas, so we had made plans to meet up for lunch to catch up and give me the opportunity to see his mother, which I hadn't seen since Thanksgiving almost two years ago just before I left Florida for good. Tommy was up to the Lodge last year for his annual fishing trip, so I had seen him since leaving, but just over a 100 miles away and it was time for a road trip. So yesterday I hit the ATM, filled up the truck and drove a little over a hundred miles for a lunch date! We met had a wonderful lunch and great conversation. Then I headed back to Kingman although I took a more circuitous return route and decided to gamble a little in Laughlin NV. Well I had $200.00 to gamble and time to kill, so why not, well a few hours in the casino went through $180 bucks pretty quick, but then the tide turned and the fish started biting so to speak and suddenly I had the machine up over $200.00, so played it down to $200.00 and cashed out. Not one to quit too early, I realized I still had $20.00 of my original stash, so dropped another $20.00 in the same machine and lo and behold, ran it up another $200.00 plus and decided to absolutely quit at $100.00 plus. Which I am proud to say I did. So left with $200.00 to gamble and came home with $300.00 not bad for a days work and got to spend some great time with my good friend Tom Halinski and his mother, great family friends!

On my return to the campground, I stopped by the office since I was expecting a proof of my latest publishing project - "Season's in the Mist".

One of my larger winter projects is finally complete and ready to publish! It is a fun publishing project highlighting some of my experiences as a Alaska Fishing Guide at Yes Bay Lodge - recap of my 6 years, although there is no way I could relive all my experiences I wanted to document a few of the times fishing in Alaska!

Here is a preview of the book and if you click on it you will be taken to a place where you can order your own personal copy!

Season's in the Mist!

Seasons in The Mist Magazine by Captain Jim Lucas | Make Your Own Book

Feel free to order a copy for yourself! It is a great memory for past guests and guides with plenty of pictures around the Lodge and some fun reading about fishing at Yes Bay Lodge!

Road Trip to the Grand Canyon tomorrow! Stay Tuned!



Capt. Jim - "The Gypsy"

Traveling and photographing the Southwest