Lake Pleasant is
More than Pleasant

We had just moved from our spot in Mesa, Arizona, at Coon Bluff and had bought a new blow-up kayak and was ready to take it on the water when Gidget (our Jeep) broke down. We had to have Gidget towed to a local shop and we picked up a rental car from Enterprise and were on our way to Lake Pleasant. Neither of us had been there, but we had been told by a fellow camper at Coon Bluff that we could dry camp there for $12/night. We weren’t sure what to expect but we had also heard great things about the lake from our friend, Kevin, who lives in Phoenix and basically moved from Southern California to that area just to enjoy the lake. We had figured that it had to be cool and it was…

View of Lake Pleasant

We picked out the best camping spot at Pleasant Harbor. Jimmy was a little hesitant about our spot, as it was on a very narrow tip of an overlook that allowed for you to see the whole lake. He had visions of the camper sliding off the edge or something horrible like that. I, on the other hand, suggested we stay there at least for one night and see if he could handle it. This was the best spot in the whole camp after all. If we didn’t take it, it would be snatched up right away. I was right about this, as a ton of people commented on our spot on the bluff and were jealous. (See that camper in the middles of the shot… that was our spot)

Our Spot at Lake Pleasant

We had arrived early enough in the day to go fishing that evening and enjoy the sunset along the shore of the lake. We weren’t sitting there for too long when Jimmy got a bite! It was a Stripper Bass. It wasn’t very big and we had a hard time finding out what the catch rules were, so we tossed him back in. None-the-less, it felt good to find such a great spot, catch a fish and enjoy a gorgeous sunset.

We were exhausted after such a long day and were happy to be settled for the evening. We watched a couple of episodes of Game of Thrones and we drifted off to sleep.  We had only been sleeping a short while when we were awaken by the wind. You could hear the wind howl and the whole RV rocked like a ship at sea. Rolling over in bed, Jimmy grumbled that we would be moving off the very windy bluff first thing tomorrow. Boo! At this point I was feeling kind of bad for insisting that we park there and I myself was having visions of us being pushed off the cliff by the gale force winds we had that night. Needless to say, we didn’t have a very good nights sleep, but we managed.

We got up early the next morning to drive into town. We decided we would keep Scotty (our RV) parked where it was for the time being and enjoy one last sunset at our special spot and then move. We found that on our way to town there was the Ben Avery Shooting Range and there were a ton of hot air balloons that you could see from the road. This place was cool indeed. A huge lake so close to the city and so much to do and see. We ended up spending more time than we had expected in Phoenix. There was a lot of work in town and we had a great spot.

Working in a Starbucks

We ended up staying at our spot on the bluff for the entire stay (9 nights). It just happened to be windy that first night and the rest of the nights were tolerable. During the day we would drive into town and at night, we would go fishing and/or enjoy the spa. The spa was hot and so relaxing. We were dry camping, so we would go in the spa at night and then hit the nearby showers and then drive up to our spot on the hill. When we are dry camping we try to not use a lot of water so we don’t have to move from our spot and fill our tanks. We try to make it through a full week, but sometimes we don’t quite make it through the seven days and fill/dump around day four or five.

While fishing one of the nights we caught a ton of fish!  We caught six between the two of us.  This also happened to be the very first time that I had caught a fish on my own. I was very happy in this moment because up until this point I had been fishing several times and hadn’t caught anything, which isn’t very much fun. But this night I not only caught my first fish but several that evening. There is a first for everything, right?!?! What made the evening even better, our friend, Kevin, met up with us on the lake and actually got video of my first catch. What an amazingly fun night!

Well, we had all this fish and now we were going to use our bounty for fish tacos. So I also made it my first for gutting a fish. It wasn’t the most pleasant thing but it wasn’t so bad. A bit slimy, slightly fishy smelling, and somewhat bloody. I felt sorry for the poor guy, but I also wasn’t going to catch this fish and then just let him die for no reason. He had a purpose. He was dinner. A very delicious panko crusted white flaky fish taco. Dinner had never tasted so well deserved.

While fishing we met a new friend, Anthony.  He was camped out in his Winnebago Brave by the lakes shore in the second most epic spot in the campground. He showed us how to properly filet our fish. Little did we know he was also a very talented guitar player/singer.  Some other campers joined us, Forest and Joy.  and together we enjoyed a bonfire and listened to Anthony play some tunes. It was one of those surreal moments where we were thinking, “Is this really our life right now?”.  Life is good. We hope to meet up with the friends we’ve met on our travels. They are part of what makes life on the road so fun.

Jimmy, Suzie & Anthony

One of the evenings on our way home from the city to our campground we stopped by the Ben Avery Shooting Range.  We have made it our goal to go shooting in the different areas we go. I have a trap gun that was given to me to use but the stock was too long for me. We needed to have a gun smith properly fit the gun for me. We found the man for the job. His name is Doug.  He travels from place to place with his mobile shop and is kept busy with making repairs and adjustments to guns of all types. He was very knowledgable in the trade, made the adjusts in a timely manner and was reasonably priced. We’ve found that finding a good gun smith is rather hard to find.  This guy is the real deal! Here is his contact info if you are in need of one: Doug Hubbart (573) 286-9905.

Suzie & Doug

We had been at the lake for nearly a week and Gidget was ready to be picked up from the repair shop. Arizona Differential Specialists did a great job with getting her fixed up. We were glad to have her back. We had her back for nearly a day when we noticed that the water pump had went out. No joke. We decided it was best to get it fixed ASAP so that we didn’t risk possibly overheating the engine and doing further damage. Yup – she’s definitely a Jeep (Just Empty Every Pocket).

The weekend was finally here and we finally got to take out our new blow-up kayak.  It was a perfect day on the water. We loved using it and cannot wait to use it in the waters in Montana and Colorado. So much fun to be had on the water!

We went on other small adventures while staying at Lake Pleasant. One day we took a little drive to Payson, Arizona. It was mid February and there was still snow on the ground in this little mountain town. We were hungry and found this authentic BBQ place called, Susie’s Q Barbecue. We had the pleasure of meeting Susie herself. She’s been selling her BBQed meats for 10+ years on the roadside and finally had the opportunity to buy a store. Thank God we got there in time, because once she sells out of meat she is closed for the remainder of the day. The meat was flavorful, smoky and tender. We highly recommend this joint if you’re in the area. Be sure to tell my fellow Susie we said, “Hi!”.

Susie & Suzie

After lunch we drove to the Tonto Natural Bridge. It’s in a State Park in Arizona. We did a short hike and got to see the natural wonder. It was an amazing site to see and totally worth the hike down.

After our stay in Phoenix we were headed to Lake Mead/Las Vegas area where our adventures continued. Until then…