The last time we visited Las Vegas we gambled on some property, buying a piece of dirt sight-unseen in a Podunk little subdivision in Arizona.
See, we like to spend money on dirt. I’ll bet you’re sensing a theme here.
Okay, it’s not THAT bad, we’d driven through Mohave County quite a few times over the years. We liked the feel of the place; mostly retirees, some “interesting” desert rats, and a few younger families. An added plus was the proximity to the Colorado River, so this dusty little spot in the desert felt significantly less dusty than many other desert locales. We felt it would be a good place to snowbird.
5 years ago we had some money saved up and decided to see what was available. We spent three days looking, and found this weird little subdivision called Golden Shores (doesn’t that name just scream “geezer village” to you?). It not only had paved streets and power to all the lots, but also had its own water system with a natural aquifer, which is unusual in this area. The place is a mix of very nice homes, manufactured homes, and places that probably were condemned years ago but the people forgot to move out. Fortunately the percentage of the former way outnumbered the latter.
We stopped at the Real Estate office in town and met Rose, who was just exactly what you’d expect from a realtor working a desert retirement community. 70-ish years old, hair bleached blonde and perfectly coifed, a little heavy-handed with the makeup brush, gravelly voice from years of smoking, and of course she drove a white Lincoln Towncar. We drove around town with her, and she showed us what was available. Nothing exactly suited our needs, but she said she’d call if something came up.
Back home two weeks later, we get a call from Rose, she’s got the perfect property. We look on Google Maps, check out all the other pertinent data we can find, and pull the trigger.
So today we get to see this place we’ve owned for five years for the very first time.
We stop in at Rose’s office and settle in for a nice long chat. The rhythm of life here is significantly slower than we’re used to. Mike’s about jumping out of his skin, he just wants to get over to the property, but he’s the one that wanted to stop in and see Rose first, so I’m enjoying his discomfiture immensely.
We finally head over to the property, and breathe a huge sigh of relieve when we see that it’s exactly as it looked on Google (thank you Street View!).
It’s going to need some work, although most of the lot is leveled, the back section where we’ll put the house needs quite a bit of fill. See, we get to spend more money on dirt! Mike is thrilled.
Walking the back side of the property, this is the area we get to fill up with money and dirt.
The view from our “front yard”, that’s BLM land across the street, which means easy access for our ATV/dirt bike riding.
After kicking rocks and dirt and getting a few business cards for local excavators, we head down the road towards Lake Havasu, where the London Bridge and geezer rich reside. It’s a pretty city, made prettier by the hot air balloon festival that happens to be going on while we’re there.
The place scores big points with Mike when we find a Golden Corral for dinner (I know, not exactly haute cuisine, but they’re pretty awesome for vegetarians).
After dark we head back to Laughlin and spend a few hours at the nickel slots in the smoke free casino. I came out a winner, cashing out .40 cents to the good!
Tomorrow, Oatman and its donkeys.
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