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!