CALIFORNIA HERE WE COME….AGAIN!

Saturday, January 31 - We delayed as long as possible this morning from pulling out of Yuma, AZ,  because we knew we would be crossing into the Pacific Time Zone minutes after leaving Yuma. We didn't want to arrive at our next campground too early.

We headed West on I-8 to El Centro, CA. We pulled over at the rest area for a short bathroom break and were treated to an air show by the Blue Angels. They winter in the area and were out practicing this morning.

In El Centro, CA, we turned North on the Imperial Highway (CA S2). What a wonderful scenic drive S2 is all the way to Anza Borrego Desert State Park. We enjoyed this drive immensely.

 

We are staying at the Stagecoach Trails RV and Horse Ranch. What a find! We nearly have the park to ourselves. The sites are nice and level with barbecue grills, fire rings, picnic tables, 50amp FHU, gravel sites, and gravel roads. We are in Site 139 but can use 144 right next to us too.

Looking right.

Looking left.

We are surrounded by mountains on all sides. This is the view out our back window. (Please ignore the dirt on the window.)

There is a beautiful log post and beam shelter house, a lodge, a store, basketball courts, and a hiking trail. We are between Julian and Borrego Springs and nearly surrounded by the Anza Borrego Desert State Park.

This is the neatest seat with a checker game attached. It was Bella’s move.

We drove into Borrego Springs (about 20 minutes away over the mountain) to fuel up the truck. We don't want to risk running out of fuel out here in no-man's land. Fuel was $3.29/gallon compared to $2.39 in Yuma.....gotta love California!

On the way home, we kept our eyes peeled for Peninsular bighorn sheep and sure enough, we spotted a couple way up the mountain. What amazing and beautiful creatures. We spent nearly 20 minutes watching them roam the rocky mountainside before heading on down the road. Hopefully, we'll see more of them while hiking in the area.

We thought this was a goat but there is no mention of goats on their website.

To borrow a phrase from Judy…The End!

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see y’all back real soon. Have a great day!

HIKING OUT IN THE DESERT

Thursday, January 29 - We spent the day with friends Pam and John, Oh, The Places They Go,  hiking in the Kofa National Wildlife Refuge.

It was a pretty long drive back toward Quartzsite, AZ, to the area we wanted to hike. Pam and John wanted to check out some boondocking spots. They are headed that way on Saturday.

The road back to where we wanted to hike is very rough. Only high-clearance vehicles can travel this road. There are tons of very rocky washes. John’s Jeep was a rockin’ and a rollin’.

The landscape is beautiful as is most of the desert. In this area, there aren’t any trails that are marked. We just made our own. We had some very steep climbs. There were even a few arches along the way.

Paul and John didn’t always hike. They had some serious topics to discuss along the way.

Sections of the trail were covered with brush.

John doing some rock scrambling.

We saw many caves.

We spent a couple hours looking at some pretty neat water tanks. These natural water areas have been built-up with stone dams to hold the natural waters used by wildlife.

If you can’t pick out the three walls of the tanks in the photo below, just  click on the photo to enlarge it.

There was even a camera on this water tank to watch the animals as they drink.

Unfortunately, while taking a lunch break, we killed our camera. We had it setup on a mini-tripod for some group shots, and we think it got blown over by the wind. The retractable lens closed half way and froze. Won't open or close. Afraid it's toast!

We got the group photo before our camera went plunk!

Pam and Marsha enjoying the view.

We then drove further up the road to the Palm Canyon Trail. Perhaps the only native palm trees in Arizona are tucked away in a narrow rugged canyon on the Kofa National Wildlife Refuge. These Palm trees have become a major visitor attraction to the refuge.

You have to drive a dirt road about seven miles off the paved AZ-95 to get to the trailhead. The road is a little rough but passable in a passenger car. Once you reach the trail head, you hike only about a half mile to the palm viewing area. The trail is easy to follow, but is a rough most of the way due to large rocks and a couple steep sections. Allow about an hour to make the round trip.

Thanks Pam for supplying the next photo. Marsha’s iPhone didn’t take a clear enough photo to actually see the palms.

On the way back we stopped to see a Medicine Wheel someone built in the desert. It looks perfect. Pretty neat!

After returning to AZ Highway 95, we stopped at a roadside stand for a couple Date Shakes. Dates grow on palm trees, and Paul describes them as a huge, sweet raisin. Add some vanilla ice cream and some milk and you end up with a pretty tasty treat. Yummy!

Thanks for a great day, Pam and John. We enjoyed our hike - hope we didn't hold you back too much. We'll see you in about a month in Phoenix.

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see y’all back real soon. Have a great day!

DENTIST IN LOS ALGODONES

Wednesday, January 28  - We headed out of the country today. We went to Los Algodones, Mexico. We made this trip five years ago during our last visit to Yuma.

Now that is one big bottle of Tequila!

We watched three guys hand-paint vases, pictures, stones, etc. They do beautiful work. So beautiful, Marsha had to make a purchase of a vase she can’t live without….geesh!

Wires everywhere!

Lots of little alleyways full of shops.

As a matter of fact, we've become quite the Mexico border town visitors the last five or six years visiting dentists. We couldn't get an appointment with our past dentist in Los Algodones, so we tried a new dentist at Oasis Dentistry, Dr. Edwardo, and were very pleased.

This was the most modern, high tech dentist office we've ever visited, including our previous dentists back in Ohio. All the latest equipment and all very new. Paul was especially impressed with the camera the dentist used to show Paul the inside of his mouth. It was about the size of a pencil with a lighted tip. No need to try to see a reflection in that over-head light....ha ha!

Several nice waiting rooms with a free coffee machine.

We both got cleanings and Paul had x-rays and a thorough exam. Only $35.00/each. The dentist did suggest additional work for Paul, but he's going to wait until we visit our dentist in Nuevo Progresso, MX, to get a second opinion.

After our dentist visits we met Karla and Eric and Sandie and Jim for lunch. Those clean polished teeth didn't last too long. We enjoyed our lunch and a couple Margaritas with friends.

L-R Paul, Eric, Jim, Sandie, Karla, Marsha

Jim and Sandie were heading home so we did a little shopping with Karla and Eric. Karla had ordered new glasses so we shopped awhile and then visited the Mercado and listened to the music while the glasses were made. We even did some dancing. What a fun time!

That’s how they make Margaritas in Mexico….delicious!

Not sure Eric knew what he was getting into shopping with us. We ended up buying a clay bird bath - can you believe that!

Well, guess who had to help Paul carry the pieces back across the border? The sales guy carried it to the border, but we still had a ways to go to get to the truck. The worst part was there was a long line of people heading north so we had to wait in line for about an hour. Luckily, we bumped into Ruth and Kevin in line saving us a spot and saving us about a 30 minute longer wait. Now, where the heck will be store that bird bath for the trip to Ohio?

Thanks for stopping by.Hope to see y’all back real soon. Have a great day!

OUT OF THE DUST

Tuesday, January 27 -  We wrapped up our Quartzsite adventure this morning and headed to Yuma. We are staying in Villa Alameda RV Resort (Don't let the name fool you!), but after living in the desert any park with full-hookups is a resort!

We saw lots of migrate workers along the route to Yuma.

We almost got stuck without a place to land. After our previous stop in Quartzsite, five years ago, we moved to Yuma and stayed at Fortuna del Oro. We reserved a site there this year only to find at the very last minute, that they no longer honor Passport America. That drove the price above $40/night, which is way out of our price range. So we had to hold off leaving Q until we found a place to stay. We still got on the road by 9:00 a.m.

This is a nice enough park with paved streets, gravel sites, concrete patios, FHU/50amp sites, an activity center, laundry facilities, a pool, and a whole list of activities for the winter residents that spend several months here. We're just happy to find a place to stay for the next four nights.

Site #188
 

We are on the corner so only one street view.

We're here to go to Los Algodones, Mexico, to visit the dentist for cleaning. Los Algodones is a destination for many in the area for inexpensive dentistry, optical, or prescription medicines. We are meeting several friends on Wednesday for our trip South of the Border.

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see y’all back real soon. Have a great day!

FIVE DAYS IN THE DESERT

Monday, January 26 – We have been in Quartzsite, AZ, along with over 100,000 other RVers since last Thursday.

The RV Big Tent Show lasted until Sunday, January 25, but the swap meet tents will be up for many weeks.

The big tent is huge.

We are boondocking with the Escapee Class of 08-09/Classless Class group. This is the group we were with on our previous visit to Q back in 2010. The group has increased in size since they've opened the circle of RVers to anyone looking for fun!

Here is an aerial view of our group. We had 25 RVs with us.

We arrived on Thursday and immediately jumped into to swing of things by heading to the RV Big Tent Show. It was packed! That surprised us because we assumed things would be winding down since this is the last weekend for the show. We actually found something we wanted, rechargeable phone power banks, and Paul purchased some 5th wheel stabilizing bars. He'll let you know more about them once he begins the installation process.

Who has room for this in their rig?

Marsha can’t wait for Paul to install these.

After a couple hours walking around the show we headed back to the boondocking group for a campfire and Mexican Night. We have a bulletin board that keeps everyone informed of what is going on with the group.

Three of the couples volunteered to serve Margaritas and quesadillas. They did a terrific job and everyone had a blast. It was fun getting to know more of the group and share RVing war stories with each other.

Margarita committee. Thanks for a great dinner and drinks.

Marsha with some of her Margarita friends…Jeri, Nan and Sharon. That is John (Heyduke) photo bombing the gals.

Friday, we headed back into town to stroll among the swap meet tents known as Tyson Wells.

Every RVer needs a mask or two…geesh!

We again found a couple things we couldn't live without. We've been looking for a birdhouse made from an old cowboy boot and sure enough a guy was selling them in the swap meet area. We also joined fellow full-timers, Jan and Dave, for lunch. We met Jan and Dave several times over the years in various spots around the country. Another fun couple enjoying the full-timing lifestyle.

This is the cutest table…according to Marsha.

We had a wiener roast and Italian night. Both were excellent and thanks to the many who played host and hostess. We took time for the big "group picture” also.

Each night we had a fabulous fire. It was so relaxing just sitting around talking about life and enjoying each other’s company.

Campfires aren’t just for the night time. Jeri hosted the morning mimosa hour which started at 8:15. Looks like Jeri and Marsha were the only two that could brave the morning cold.

No visit to Quartzsite would be complete without climbing Q mountain. It was a lovely day, perfect for a hike. It is a bit steep in some places. We climbed this same mountain 5 years ago…it’s grown higher since then! LOL

We made it to the top!

Marsha’s way of handling the steep downhill grade.

Sunsets are gorgeous here in the desert.

Tomorrow we head to Yuma.

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see y’all back real soon. Have a great day!