Memorial Day Weekend 2010

Terry Gluckman

In the great southwest Memorial Weekend is either the last desert riding trip of the season or the first river/lake trip. We start watching the weather and decide if it will be to hot for the desert or to cold for the river. Well this year was interesting because the desert temps weren’t to hot and the river temps weren’t to cold. After long deliberations it was decided that some of the Toy Hauler Adventure crew were going to the river.

So off to the Colorado River we went http://www.go-arizona.com/Colorado-River/ . We arrived on the Thursday morning before the weekend trying to beat the crowds. We were pleasantly surprised with the weather; the temps were nice not like the usual summer beat down heat we were used to. There were a lot of boats, toyhaulers and people heading into town. This seemed normal for this time of year. It is always fun watching all the people roll in with all their toys and smiles on the faces. Seems like everyone was ready for the boating season or maybe they just love having an excuse to get away from the normal grind and enjoy family and friends.

When we got down to our favorite beach to check out conditions I was astonished at how many toy haulers were already camped near the water. On some of the Indian lands if you pay a fee you can pull up and camp at almost any spot you can get your rig to. You have to be a true die hard to do this in the middle of summer though; with the temp at 115 degrees or higher it is hard to keep your toyhauler cool in the middle of the day. There are also lots of camp grounds up and down the river with full hook-ups and shade. This is cool because you can sit looking out your ramp door and see all the boats and pretty people cruise by with the A/C on if you want.

Come Friday the place was packed, there was more people on the beach and camping then I have seen for many years. Maybe things economically are getting better because with all the people on the beach and all the boats on the river the local business’s had to be reaping the rewards of ice, beer and fuel sales.

It turned out to be a great weekend, no boat problems, no injuries (except of couple bruises on the kids from tubing) great weather and tons of people watching which can be the funniest thing sometimes.

On a side note let’s not forget what this holiday is all about: Memorial Day, originally called Decoration Day, is a day of remembrance for those who have died in our nation’s service. Please have all current and past members of the Armed forces in your thoughts.