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

Another Sunny Day

Yesterday was a lovely day, around 74 degrees. I was in need of a pedicure and saw two places in the town of Benson so off I went. I sure missed my pedicure buddies (Deb and Tina), we usually chat through the whole thing but I managed just fine.

We also went to a Mexican restaurant for lunch, the place was real crowded so we thought it must be good. We had a short wait but it was worth it.

We played a cribbage match and I won 3 out of 5 and I guess I should mention that Richard won the last 2 matches.

Last night a guitarist was playing at the club house but we decided not to go. Tonight from 8-11 they are having a New Year's Eve party with kareoke (sp?) and several people have asked if we are attending. Richard asked if they had a bar since it would take a lot of libations to get him to sing kareoke, can't you just picture it? Maybe I could even get him to "wiggle dance".

I am going up to the water aerobics class and we are going to wash the motor home today. We hope everyone has a happy and safe New Years Eve.




Until next time,
Gloria

Living in the Desert

I could get used to living in the desert during the winter months, but not in the heat of the summer.  Yesterday morning it was 27 at 7:00AM, at 10:00AM it was 41 and Gorgie was in the pool doing water aerobics (at that time of the day it was the warmest place in the park).  By noon it was short sleeves weather and in the 60’s, there hasn’t been a cloud in the sky since we got here.  This morning it’s 25 as I type this but it’s supposed to be in the 70’s today.

We took a drive into town and looked around,not much there.  Then we drove down to St. David (7 miles), to our next stop in our travels to check out that park. We are going to like it there as well.

Valley Vista where we are now is a typical desert RV park, gravel, a few trees, and full hookups including cable TV.  But the staff and guests are very nice, and eager to visit.  The park is not crowded and there are lots of empty spaces, they say that by now it is normally full, but not this year.

 

 

Our site is very comfortable.

 

 

 

 

There are lots of empty spaces.

 

 

The night sky is something else, there are more stars visible here than I have seen in many years.  The headlights of the cars and trucks along I-10 as it snakes out of the Dragoon mountains about 15 miles away, into the San Pedro Valley where we are is something to see (I’ll have get a picture of that).

More Later, Rich

The Theme of Our Trip

Everywhere we have traveled the weather has set new local records, and not the way we would like to see.  I suppose the fog in the Central Valley of CA. wasn’t any record to them but it sure was the foggiest I ever drove through.  In Desert Hot Springs they set a record for the most rain for the dates we were there.  And the most snow in the hills since the 40’s.  So when we got to Tucson I thought we were through with all that, nope, they have more rain than is usual for this time of year; now record setting cold temperatures.  The last two nights it went down to 27/28 degrees.  In Benson where we are going today the temp this morning was 15.  The good news is that it is sunny and the daytime highs are supposed to be in the upper 60’s and the 70’s later in the week.  We’ll see if it’s us that’s bringing this weather down here. 

Last night Dad took us to an excellent Italian restaurant, “Michelangelo’s”.  It was without a doubt one of the best Italian dinners I have had in a long time.

 

 

A good time was had by all.

 

 

Dad and Marge were wonderful hosts and we want to thank them for all they did for us.

Thanks Dad and Marge

Today we move on to new adventures and new unexplored places.

More Later, Rich

Twas the Day After Christmas

We had a wonderful Christmas with Dad, Marge, Annie and Bob.  They took us to a fancy resort (Westward Look Resort) for dinner, and it was a wonderful time.  They had a special holiday meal that was perfect.  The view out the windows took in almost all of Tucson, (I bet the lights at night are spectacular).

Today the girls are planning on taking in a movie.  And the guys will just sit around and tell lies.  Tomorrow will be our last day here, and we need to do some shopping. On Sunday we travel to Valley Vista RV Resort in Benson, AZ for a one week stay.  It’s hard to believe but we have been on the road for a month already, time flies when you are having tooo much fun.

More Later, Rich

Merry Christmas

We are having a wonderful Christmas here in Tucson at my Dad and Marge’s house.  Bob and Annie arrived on time and we have had a couple of great days visiting and catching up.  Today they have made reservations for us to have Christmas Dinner at a local country club.

Yesterday we went to dinner at the local Stuart Anderson’s Black Angus Restaurant.  A very good time was had by all.

 

 

Bob, Annie,Gorgie,Dad, Marge, and Me

 

 

 

 

They have a nice Arizona style back yard.

 

 

 

It was 62 and sunny in their back yard, not that I’m trying to make anyone feel bad that we are enjoying such nice weather, well maybe a little jealous.

The weather is changing here today, it’s supposed to rain for the next two days, this morning it’s cloudy so we’ll see what happens.

We do want to wish everyone a very

Merry Christmas

Gloria & Rich

Tucson

We arrived in Tucson yesterday afternoon.  We had a very nice visit with Dad and Marge, we went out to dinner and returned to their house and played 10,000. They are fun to play games with.

Bob and Annie are driving to Seattle to catch their flight to Tucson because the flight out of Portland was cancelled.  He said the freeway was a mess but that traffic was moving along.  They get into town at about 4:15 this afternoon if all goes well.

The storm that dropped all the snow in the northwest is here now and it is raining and it will likely rain for the next few days.

 

 

South Forty RV Ranch

Tucson,AZ

 

 

More Later, Rich

We Travel to Tucson Today

Well I did it, we were supposed to be in Tucson on Sunday not Monday.  Dad called yesterday afternoon to see if we were in town, heck I was sitting in the sun reading.  I called and told South Forty RV we would be a day late, I hope Dad didn’t have something planned, I feel bad.

This has been a comfortable place, a nice place to spend a night or two but not a destination.

 

Some of our more permanent neighbors have gotten into the holiday spirit.

 

 

More Later, Rich

Frost in the Valley of the Sun

I’m sitting in the MH enjoying a cup of tea and a cookie or two, the sun is coming up, and I can see that the roads and picnic tables are frosted over.  That won’t last long, I’ll wait it out.  The weather is supposed to change, last night on the news they said the storm from the pacific northwest is headed our way so there is a chance it may rain, gee we came all this way to escape that.

Speaking of watching TV I bought a digital converter box with the coupons that Kevin got for me (they won’t ship them to PO boxes).  I hooked it up while on the road and boy does it work good.  Here in the Phoenix area it picked up 29 stations, and the quality of all of them is outstanding.  As good as cable.

Yesterday we decided to stock up on meat and some other supplies so a trip to the local Costco store was made.  I programmed the GPS to take us there using all local roads and no freeways.  What a treat we drove through some newly developed areas with brand new (and mostly empty) shopping centers, and lots of new homes.  But the best parts were the agricultural fields with lots of cotton.  We stopped at one of those new malls and found a very good restaurant, “The Native New Yorker”, and we both had the Philly Cheese steak sandwich, very good too.  The rest of the day was spent reading, and looking around at the scenery.

The trip to see Gloria’s cousin had to be canceled, because he wasn’t feeling up to company.  We’ll try to come up in January some time.

 

 

 

Another day in the sun

 

 

 

More Later, Rich