Los Algodones, Baja-California

Lots of people staying here and around this area go to Algodones for medical reasons. You can buy prescription drugs over the counter very cheap, most times for less than the copayments at home.  Also available are dental clinics and eye clinics. Bridges are done in two days for $500 and progressive lens glasses for $99 in two hours.  Some of our Canadian friends say the same glasses would cost them $1000 at home.  Well we didn’t need any of those things but we just had to visit and see what all the buzz was about.

Algodones is a very small town with only one purpose, to cater to the American senior in need of affordable care.  There are several reportedly good restaurants there, and we chose El Pariso,  It is an outdoor courtyard with entertainment. The food was very good and Gorgie reports that the Cadillac margarita was possibly the best she has ever had , aside from Patrick and Arlene's.  The place is overrun with street vendors and we waited in line for an hour to go through customs, but we would go again, maybe even before we leave on Tuesday. We didn’t take the camera with us so there are not any pictures to share, actually we haven’t taken any pictures lately.

It has been windy and cool here (mid 60’s) the last couple of days but today it’s supposed to be in the 80’s. We have been mostly hanging out reading and playing cards (Gorgie has been beating my pants off)he-he.

We are getting to know our way around town so it is time to move on. Our next stop is in Big River, CA (across the Colorado River from Parker,AZ), for a week.

More Later, Rich

RV Show in Quartzsite

The drive up to Q was a pleasant and scenic trip.  You hear about the number of rigs that are boondocking in the desert around Q, but we were not prepared for what we saw.  They are everywhere as far as you can see.  We were told that when you get further out there are even more.  Quartzsite is a small town of about 2000 year round residents that grows to over 100,000 during the winter.  I don’t know if that is for us, maybe a night or three.

 

 

 

Have You Ever Seen So Many RV’s?

 

 

 

They were eager to make deals on new and used RV’s.  Marking new, (07/08) Monaco’s down $100,000.  A great buy if you have the $money$.  We just drooled .  We are off to have more of that toooo much fun stuff.

More Later,Rich

Yuma = Warm Rain, Great Sunsets

Rainbows are not that common around here, but the warm rain shower we had late in the afternoon sure made for a spectacular sight.

 

 

Yuma Rainbow

 

 

The picture doesn’t really show it but It was one of the brightest I have ever seen.  After the rainbow we watched the sun go down and that was also a sight to behold.

 

 

 

                           Majestic Sunset

 

 

 

 

 

 

Majestic Sunset II

 

 

 

If you don’t already know this, if you click on the picture you will see a larger image of the picture.

There hasn’t been much to report the last couple of days because we have pretty much stayed home, except for a trip to the grocery store and out to eat dinner once.  Gorgie is on her fifth book since we left home and it is good to see her so relaxed.  We also play some cribbage and I let her win at every opportunity.

 

 

Gorgie Deep Into Her Book

Today we are going to drive up to Quartzsite to the RV show, it is the largest and most attended show in the US, so we are going to see what’s what.

More Later,Rich

Winterhaven, California

We have arrived in Winterhaven for a two week stay.

But first back to Ajo, we went for a scenic drive on a loop around the Ajo area.  First we went to lunch at a new restaurant, I believe it was called 100 Estrella it was so new they didn’t have a sign up yet.  We both had the Southwest Panini and boy was it yummy.  I hope they succeed.

The drive was on a well maintained dirt/gravel road and the attraction was the organ pipe cactus.

 

 

Organ Pipe Cactus

 

 

 

These are rather rare and only grow in this area.  The Organ Pipe National Monument is just south of here but will have to wait until we can spend more time in the area.

 

 

Boondockers in the desert

 

 

 

Lots of folks come down here and just camp in the desert with no hookups, adventurous people that they are, they must have wonderful view of the night sky.

 

 

Desert Scenery

 

 

 

We find the desert to be a beautiful place with lots of contrasts, and very peaceful.

Back to Winterhaven, we are just 7 miles west of Yuma, AZ, so for all intents and purposes that is where we are.  The weather here is perfect, yesterday it was 85 degrees and as I sit here at 10:00AM and it’s already 73.  Last night we went to a restaurant here called Yuma Landing (LINK), and it was pretty good.

Gorgie has already gone off to an exercise class and made new friends.  I think today calls for some exploration to see what we can see. 

More Later, Rich

Ajo, Arizona

We wanted to stay somewhere about halfway between St. David and Winterhaven, CA. So while making our travel plans and looking at the map I spotted what appeared to be a small town out in the middle of the desert. So I found an RV park that looked interesting and since it was only going to be two days I said why not. We left St. David yesterday morning and met Dad and Marge for brunch at an airport (Ryan Field) Todd's Place is the name Link to Todd's Place. It turned out to be a real nice restaurant and we all had a good meal. It was good to see them one last time on this trip down.

The highway we followed was AZ-86 (Ajo-Tucson Hwy.), It is the old route before the interstate. It was 120 miles of cactus, and brush and not much else, very flat and straight, but beautiful in it’s own way. Most of the drive was through the Tohono-O’Odham Indian Reservation. Most of the traffic (and there wasn’t much) were border patrol vehicles and helicopters, the border is not far.

When we pulled into Ajo (pronounced ah-ho) we were right, it’s a small mining town but the jewel is the campground, we are at (Ajo Heights RV Park) Link to Park. Most of the people are here for the season and know each other well. We got here right at happy hour and the locals wasted no time coming over to meet us and introduce themselves. What nice people!

New friend with his MURSE (his word for mans purse) he won at bingo. Notice the white wine in the foam cup.

Today we will explore the area, take some pictures, Meet new people, and have tooo much fun.

More Later, Rich

Wrapping Up-St. David

This week we made another trip to Tombstone and had lunch at a place called “Big Nose Kate’s Saloon”. She wasn’t called Big Nose Kate because she had a big nose, it is because she always had her nose in other people’s business. The waitress’ were all dressed up like Miss Kitty on Gunsmoke, I’m sure you all remember that show.

Richie in Big Nose Kate’s

 

 

Richie had to take this picture.

Tomorrow we leave St. David and travel to Ajo, AZ which is approximately 180 from here. We are meeting Richard’s folks for lunch in Tucson on our way. We have enjoyed it here and I’m sure the birds will miss us since they have eaten a lot of thistle and hummingbird food.

Lesser Finches on the thistle sock.

When we were in Bisbee I couldn’t resist buying a metal sculpture of a Roadrunner.

This bird we didn’t have to feed.

Yesterday, we visited a cousin of mine in Tucson who lives in Bend and winters at the same RV park every year. It is a very nice RV park and they meet friends there every year from all over the country. We have decided we aren’t ready to stay in one place all winter, we enjoy traveling around.

Until next time,

Gloria

Catch-up

The last couple of days we have been laying low.  Doing laundry, playing cards, reading, taking walks, get the picture?  Not too exciting but sure is relaxing.

The camp site we are in looks narrow in the picture I posted but it is pie shaped and widens out in the back.  We saw some finches hanging around so we bought some thistle and a couple of sock feeders and now we have so many finches, just like at home.  The finches here are different than up north, they are named “Lesser Gold Finches” they have black on their heads and backs.  We found a hummingbird feeder that attaches to the window and it only took about 30 min for them to find it.  We have also seen a beautiful red Cardinal so we bought a regular bird feeder and bird seed hoping to attract them as well.  So here we are surrounded by birds.

 

 

Anna’s hummingbird in window.

 

 

We went for a walk to see the full moon rise but went a little late but it was still awesome.

 

 

 

                  Moonrise in the desert

 

 

 

The sun was also setting so I took this shot.

 

 

Sunset in the desert

 

 

 

Well this is what we have been doing the last few days, Life is good!

More Later,Rich

Bisbee, Arizona

We had a wonderful trip to Bisbee yesterday.  Bisbee is an old mining town that was settled in the 1880’s.  Copper and silver were the main ores that were taken out of the mine, (mostly copper).  The mine closed in the 70’s so tourism is now the ore they mine.

It was very interesting walking around, they have lots of alleys and steps that go to the upper sections of town.

 

 

 

The main street of Bisbee.

 

 

 

 

 

The Copper Queen Hotel

 

 

 

We had a nice lunch and a couple of  local brews at the Bisbee Grill.

 

 

We had a Dave’s Electric Beer and an Industrial Pale Ale.

 

 

A visit to the local museum was made and we met the nicest lady.  Her name is LaVerne and she has lived here for 83 years.  Boy did she have some stories to tell.  It is always wonderful to meet people in small towns who know so much about the local history and have actually lived it.

There is much more to do and see in this town that we plan to come back while we are in the area.

 

More Later, Rich

Kartchner Caverns State Park

We went to the Kartchner Caverns Link on Tuesday, this is truly an awesome place to see.  They don’t allow cameras or anything else into the cave.  So the parking lot is full of cars with purses, cameras, cell phones.  We had already read this so we didn’t bring anything with us.  The picture above is a photo of one of the postcards we bought.

They limit the tours to no more than 20 people and don’t allow kids under 7 in at all.  The reason is that you can’t touch anything because the oils from your hand will stop the growth of the features.  Just to get in you pass through several air locks to keep the outside air out and a misting area so that the lint from your clothes will stick to yourself and not contaminate the cave environment.  This is the only cave in the world taking such aggressive conservation measures. 

Not that we have a lot of cave experience, but this was what I think has to be, the best cave experiences that we could possibly have.  We learned about the cave and how it was formed and what they are doing to preserve it.

The things we saw will stay in our minds for a long time.  Too bad we couldn’t take any pictures, some of the formations were wonderful to see.

  Today we are off to visit Bisbee, an old mining town about 40 miles south of here.  The camera is planning on taking this trip with us.

More Later, Rich

Are we becoming Arizona-ized???

We went to Tombstone Monday and it was a cool day.  We walked around, took a trolley tour of the town, and had lunch at the Longhorn Saloon. It was a bit breezy and the temperature cold so we decided that we would come back when it was warmer (the same temperature at home probably would seem warm).  The streets were either dirt/mud and the sidewalks were made of boards and everyone that worked there was dressed in era clothing which really added to the old West feel.  This is a tourist trap but some of that is needed to see things.

 

 

Stagecoach ride through town anyone?

 

 

Until next time,

Gloria

St. David, AZ

We are at the Western Horizon’s St. David RV Resort for the next two weeks.  It was a long and tiring drive yesterday, (7 miles).  This looks like a place we will enjoy.  Gorgie went down and did the water aerobics and exercise class this morning.  She makes new friends everywhere we go.

 

 

We are nestled into a comfortable site

 

 

 

We found one of those hummingbird feeders that attach to the window with a suction cup the other day.  It wasn’t up 30 min. and we had a guest.  Now as I sit here he is feeding not more that a foot from my head.

 

 

The Clubhouse

 

 

 

Today we are going to Tombstone to look around and have some lunch.  I’ll have to make sure the camera comes along.

More Later, Rich

Partly Cloudy

The local weather forecast was for partly cloudy skies today, I thought maybe you would like to see what that looks like.

 

 

Partly Cloudy Today

 

 

 

To be fair it’s not as warm and it is breezy today.  The weatherman says that there is a 30% chance of rain Sunday and Monday.

Tomorrow we move to St. David for two weeks.  We checked it out the other day and it should be another great place.  Some of the folks we have met here move back and forth every two weeks for the whole season.  I don’t think we are ready for that, we like new places too much.

We went for a walk and took this picture of a roadrunner, just for you Jedd.

 

 

                      Beep~Beep

They run along with their tails down, then they stop, raise their tails, and look around.  Gorgie wants to find out why they do that.

 

 

Jedd’s Roadrunner

 

 

 

We really like the desert plants, birds, and animals.  They are so different from what we are used to.

 

 

                 Barrel Cactus

More Later,Rich