Today was another nice sunny day with a high of 73F but it was still windy.
This afternoon we decided to go to the market as there were a couple of things we wanted to get – Margie, I finally got your wipes for you. I also picked up some Avon night cream and some foot cream as I don’t have enough to last me until we get home. From there we went to Fry’s and picked up a few groceries (no Wal Mart today, Kel), then back home.
After I got the groceries put away I went outside to read but we ended up visiting with John and Irma instead, so by the time we finished chatting with them it was time to come in – too cool to sit outside.
Tonight is TV and reading – the news on TV and the big payouts to Wall Street executives is too depressing to watch, my book doesn’t p----- me off so much!
It was another great gift of a day in the sunny south and we look forward to another good day tomorrow.
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Today was another nice sunny day, but there was still a cool wind which made it too cool to sit outside and read.
This morning I did some cleaning and just fussed around and this afternoon I read, not a real exciting day but pleasant. There was nothing we needed to go out for so it was a quiet, stay at home day. It was another great gift of a day in the sunny south and we look forward to another good day tomorrow.
This morning I did some cleaning and just fussed around and this afternoon I read, not a real exciting day but pleasant. There was nothing we needed to go out for so it was a quiet, stay at home day. It was another great gift of a day in the sunny south and we look forward to another good day tomorrow.
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Today was a repeat of yesterday weather wise – it was sunny but there was a cool north wind and the high again today was 62F. Oh well, it is still better than at home and a warming trend is starting tomorrow so life is good.
Today we decided to try the Brown Bag Hamburger for lunch, we had heard it was good so decided to give it a try – it was excellent but oh so filling! They have 7, 10, 14 and 20 oz. burgers – can you imagine eating a 20 oz. burger? You can split any of the 10 to 20 oz. burgers so we split a 10 oz. and it was huge, can’t imagine trying to eat one on my own. It came with French fries and a drink and for the 2 of us it cost $13, not bad for what we got.
After hanging up the feedbag we headed for Welton which is a town about 30 miles east of here, we thought we would check out the RV Parks there after talking to our ex neighbours at Wal Mart yesterday. We decided to head over through Castle Dome Valley as we have never been through there. We took Hwy. 95, the road to Quartzsite, north and our first stop was at the McPhaul “Swinging Bridge to Nowhere”.
This is the description from the Yuma Points of Interest Web Page: “Once bridging the great Gila River, this oddity now spans only shifting sands of the desert. An engineering feat, completed in 1929. The Golden Gate Bridge over San Francisco Bay follows this style. Given the name Dome Bridge, it was later renamed honoring an old timer, Harry McPhaul, who came to Arizona in 1897. He was a guard at the Yuma Territorial Prison, later a city police officer, then went into mining. It was because of his mining properties in the vicinity, the bridge bears his name.”
From there we headed north for about 5 miles then picked up the road east through Castle Dome Valley, what an interesting drive - it was miles and miles of veggie crops which we had no idea were out there; we also passed a large feed lot and a flock of grazing sheep and all of this was surrounded by mountains so it was a nice drive.
A picture of Castle Dome Rock from the Valley
The town of Welton is a pretty depressing looking place located on the north side of Interstate 8, we couldn’t find too many redeeming features about the town but there are a lot of RV parks there, most of which are pretty old and crowded looking. The one the people we met yesterday are in is the nicest park in Welton, with large spots, but location it does not have as it is located between the interstate and the railroad tracks, which are very busy! Also, the lots have a cement patio but the rest of the lot is dirt so it would be a very dusty place to stay, especially if it was windy. There was another RV park on the same road and it was totally depressing but beside it was this beautiful area of flowers which helped to brighten up an otherwise totally drab place.
On the south side of the interstate is a fairly new golf course, Coyote Wash, with a large housing development around it, and there is a small shopping mall and a large hotel, much nicer than the Welton side.
We took the interstate back to the Foothills and stopped at Desert Paradise RV Park so John could buy another airplane. This is the third one we have bought, we keep giving them away, so hopefully this one we will keep; they are made from beer cans and this one is a type of beer we have never heard of and the fellow said he had only made a couple of these so it is a bit different.
After a quick stop at Wal Mart, which was a zoo, we came home. I had put chilli in the slow cooker this morning so dinner was easy to get on the table. We are now enjoying a quiet evening of TV.
And so ends another great gift of a day in the sunny south and we look forward to another good day tomorrow.
Today we decided to try the Brown Bag Hamburger for lunch, we had heard it was good so decided to give it a try – it was excellent but oh so filling! They have 7, 10, 14 and 20 oz. burgers – can you imagine eating a 20 oz. burger? You can split any of the 10 to 20 oz. burgers so we split a 10 oz. and it was huge, can’t imagine trying to eat one on my own. It came with French fries and a drink and for the 2 of us it cost $13, not bad for what we got.
After hanging up the feedbag we headed for Welton which is a town about 30 miles east of here, we thought we would check out the RV Parks there after talking to our ex neighbours at Wal Mart yesterday. We decided to head over through Castle Dome Valley as we have never been through there. We took Hwy. 95, the road to Quartzsite, north and our first stop was at the McPhaul “Swinging Bridge to Nowhere”.
This is the description from the Yuma Points of Interest Web Page: “Once bridging the great Gila River, this oddity now spans only shifting sands of the desert. An engineering feat, completed in 1929. The Golden Gate Bridge over San Francisco Bay follows this style. Given the name Dome Bridge, it was later renamed honoring an old timer, Harry McPhaul, who came to Arizona in 1897. He was a guard at the Yuma Territorial Prison, later a city police officer, then went into mining. It was because of his mining properties in the vicinity, the bridge bears his name.”
From there we headed north for about 5 miles then picked up the road east through Castle Dome Valley, what an interesting drive - it was miles and miles of veggie crops which we had no idea were out there; we also passed a large feed lot and a flock of grazing sheep and all of this was surrounded by mountains so it was a nice drive.
A picture of Castle Dome Rock from the Valley
The town of Welton is a pretty depressing looking place located on the north side of Interstate 8, we couldn’t find too many redeeming features about the town but there are a lot of RV parks there, most of which are pretty old and crowded looking. The one the people we met yesterday are in is the nicest park in Welton, with large spots, but location it does not have as it is located between the interstate and the railroad tracks, which are very busy! Also, the lots have a cement patio but the rest of the lot is dirt so it would be a very dusty place to stay, especially if it was windy. There was another RV park on the same road and it was totally depressing but beside it was this beautiful area of flowers which helped to brighten up an otherwise totally drab place.
On the south side of the interstate is a fairly new golf course, Coyote Wash, with a large housing development around it, and there is a small shopping mall and a large hotel, much nicer than the Welton side.
We took the interstate back to the Foothills and stopped at Desert Paradise RV Park so John could buy another airplane. This is the third one we have bought, we keep giving them away, so hopefully this one we will keep; they are made from beer cans and this one is a type of beer we have never heard of and the fellow said he had only made a couple of these so it is a bit different.
After a quick stop at Wal Mart, which was a zoo, we came home. I had put chilli in the slow cooker this morning so dinner was easy to get on the table. We are now enjoying a quiet evening of TV.
And so ends another great gift of a day in the sunny south and we look forward to another good day tomorrow.
Monday, January 26, 2009
Well, we are getting the cold front coming through here but it sure isn’t anywhere near as bad as at home, the high I saw today was 61F, which is still pleasant but the wind was out of the north and quite cool.
This afternoon we went out looking for new running shoes, John managed to find two pairs and I didn’t get any so I will just have to keep on looking. We made a quick stop at Wal Mart on the way home and that was our excitement for today. At Wal Mart we ran into the couple who were behind us last winter, this winter they are staying in Welton which is about 30 miles east of here and they seem to be enjoying it there but the RV Park is right on the Interstate so I imagine it would be quite noisy.
Tonight we talked to our son Mike and then to our friends Mike & Margie who just got back from 4 weeks in Florida. They had good weather the first two weeks, so so the third week and they said the last week was downright cold – what a shame but at least on the whole it was fairly nice.
We are watching the news, they are doing a piece on the Ottawa transit strike and it looks darn cold, sure am glad we are here and not there!
And so ends another great gift of a day in the sunny south and we look forward to another good day tomorrow.
This afternoon we went out looking for new running shoes, John managed to find two pairs and I didn’t get any so I will just have to keep on looking. We made a quick stop at Wal Mart on the way home and that was our excitement for today. At Wal Mart we ran into the couple who were behind us last winter, this winter they are staying in Welton which is about 30 miles east of here and they seem to be enjoying it there but the RV Park is right on the Interstate so I imagine it would be quite noisy.
Tonight we talked to our son Mike and then to our friends Mike & Margie who just got back from 4 weeks in Florida. They had good weather the first two weeks, so so the third week and they said the last week was downright cold – what a shame but at least on the whole it was fairly nice.
We are watching the news, they are doing a piece on the Ottawa transit strike and it looks darn cold, sure am glad we are here and not there!
And so ends another great gift of a day in the sunny south and we look forward to another good day tomorrow.
Sunday, January 25, 2009
Today was another nice day and for us it was a totally do nothing day!
I was on the computer for a while but spent most of the day sitting out reading and enjoying the nice weather. John actually relaxed and didn’t do a lot today either, not a bad way to spend the day.
And so ends another great gift of a day in the sunny south and we look forward to another good day tomorrow.
I was on the computer for a while but spent most of the day sitting out reading and enjoying the nice weather. John actually relaxed and didn’t do a lot today either, not a bad way to spend the day.
And so ends another great gift of a day in the sunny south and we look forward to another good day tomorrow.
Saturday, January 24, 2009
Today was a beautiful, warm, sunny day – just perfect. I don’t know where the day went but it did go by quickly and we didn’t do a lot.
This morning I wanted to do a good cleaning while John was outside working around, I wanted to wash the floors and need him outside to do that, well, it was 2:00 this afternoon before I got around to the cleaning – we had people drop by to chat, chatted with the neighbours, etc. but I finally did get the cleaning done. Brenda & Steve stopped by and brought John a bottle opener, we were looking for one at Quartzisite but couldn’t find just a plain bottle opener, they were all bottle and can openers or bottle and corkscrews etc. so they brought us one as they have a couple of them. In return we gave them our 2 gallon water jug as with the R. O. system we don’t have to buy water any more.
Around 4:15 I went over to do laundry and picked a good time – it was busy but not a zoo like last week.
With that all done it was time to think about dinner. Tonight is a quiet evening of TV and reading, and so ends another great gift of a day in the sunny south and we look forward to another good day tomorrow.
This morning I wanted to do a good cleaning while John was outside working around, I wanted to wash the floors and need him outside to do that, well, it was 2:00 this afternoon before I got around to the cleaning – we had people drop by to chat, chatted with the neighbours, etc. but I finally did get the cleaning done. Brenda & Steve stopped by and brought John a bottle opener, we were looking for one at Quartzisite but couldn’t find just a plain bottle opener, they were all bottle and can openers or bottle and corkscrews etc. so they brought us one as they have a couple of them. In return we gave them our 2 gallon water jug as with the R. O. system we don’t have to buy water any more.
Around 4:15 I went over to do laundry and picked a good time – it was busy but not a zoo like last week.
With that all done it was time to think about dinner. Tonight is a quiet evening of TV and reading, and so ends another great gift of a day in the sunny south and we look forward to another good day tomorrow.
Friday, January 23, 2009
Wow, I woke up a couple of times during the night and could hear a bit of pitter, patter of rain on the roof, it wasn’t a hard rain and when we got up this morning the roads weren’t wet but nonetheless, we did have a smattering of the wet stuff.
Today was mainly cloudy, with a few sunny breaks, but warm. John went out this morning and got some chicken fixings for the R. O. water system while I stayed home and did a bit of this and a bit of that. This afternoon we went to Lowe’s and Home Depot looking for a timer for the R. O. system, no luck, and we also went to Target and got a Rubbermaid box to put it in to try to keep it cleaner than just having the system sitting out on the ground. Then it was a stop at Fry’s for a few groceries then to Wal Mart for the rest of our groceries and voila, John found his timer there, so he is happy.
When we came out of Wal Mart the parking lot was soaking wet so it must have rained pretty hard when we were in there, but a block from there everything was dry so it was a pretty localized down pour! We didn’t get any rain here at the park but I had bought a barbecued chicken at Wal Mart for dinner so John didn’t have to worry about going out and barbecuing in case it did rain.
Tonight is the usual quiet evening of TV or reading. And so ends another great gift of a day in the sunny south and we look forward to another good day tomorrow.
Today was mainly cloudy, with a few sunny breaks, but warm. John went out this morning and got some chicken fixings for the R. O. water system while I stayed home and did a bit of this and a bit of that. This afternoon we went to Lowe’s and Home Depot looking for a timer for the R. O. system, no luck, and we also went to Target and got a Rubbermaid box to put it in to try to keep it cleaner than just having the system sitting out on the ground. Then it was a stop at Fry’s for a few groceries then to Wal Mart for the rest of our groceries and voila, John found his timer there, so he is happy.
When we came out of Wal Mart the parking lot was soaking wet so it must have rained pretty hard when we were in there, but a block from there everything was dry so it was a pretty localized down pour! We didn’t get any rain here at the park but I had bought a barbecued chicken at Wal Mart for dinner so John didn’t have to worry about going out and barbecuing in case it did rain.
Tonight is the usual quiet evening of TV or reading. And so ends another great gift of a day in the sunny south and we look forward to another good day tomorrow.
Thursday, January 22, 2009
We woke up to sunshine this morning which was a surprise as they had been forecasting an overcast day with a chance of rain, thankfully they were wrong.
Steve & Brenda picked us up this morning for a trip to Quartzsite, they have never been there before so we asked them if they would like to go with us. That was fine but Steve said he would drive so we picked up lunch in exchange for the free ride! We were surprised that there was no line up to get into town, other years we have hit stop and go traffic for about the last mile into town but today we drove right in, finding a parking spot was another issue but we finally did find one.
We split up, guys one way gals the other, then met up after about an hour to head for the big tent and find something for lunch. After getting our tummies filled up we headed into the big tent to check it out, I bought a couple of little things but nothing too exciting, Steve ended up finding himself a job for the summer – he and Brenda will be camp hosts at a state park in Oregon for July & August, we are real happy for them as it sounds like it is exactly the kind of job they were looking for.
While Steve was doing the job thing in the big tent John checked out the place where we bought our dash cover last year and got one for Mike & Margie, I am sure they will be happy that we were able to find one for them as they really liked ours and hoped we could get one for them this year. While all this was happening Brenda and I enjoyed a dish of homemade ice cream and then I just sat and people watched while she went back to stay with Steve and hear about what they will be doing during the summer.
By the time Steve got done it was after 4:30 and time to hit the road for home, we got back to Yuma about 6:30 after a fun day in Quartzsite. We had a couple of rain drops on the way home, sure hope that is all the rain we will see. We were surprised at how green the dessert was today, I guess it is from the big rain they had in November but it is greener than we have ever seen. I had asked John to grab my camera but that didn’t happen so unfortunately I have no pictures from today.
John and I had a chicken burger for dinner and now it is time for TV or reading – it depends if there is anything worth watching on TV. And so ends another great gift of a day in the sunny south and we look forward to another good day tomorrow
Steve & Brenda picked us up this morning for a trip to Quartzsite, they have never been there before so we asked them if they would like to go with us. That was fine but Steve said he would drive so we picked up lunch in exchange for the free ride! We were surprised that there was no line up to get into town, other years we have hit stop and go traffic for about the last mile into town but today we drove right in, finding a parking spot was another issue but we finally did find one.
We split up, guys one way gals the other, then met up after about an hour to head for the big tent and find something for lunch. After getting our tummies filled up we headed into the big tent to check it out, I bought a couple of little things but nothing too exciting, Steve ended up finding himself a job for the summer – he and Brenda will be camp hosts at a state park in Oregon for July & August, we are real happy for them as it sounds like it is exactly the kind of job they were looking for.
While Steve was doing the job thing in the big tent John checked out the place where we bought our dash cover last year and got one for Mike & Margie, I am sure they will be happy that we were able to find one for them as they really liked ours and hoped we could get one for them this year. While all this was happening Brenda and I enjoyed a dish of homemade ice cream and then I just sat and people watched while she went back to stay with Steve and hear about what they will be doing during the summer.
By the time Steve got done it was after 4:30 and time to hit the road for home, we got back to Yuma about 6:30 after a fun day in Quartzsite. We had a couple of rain drops on the way home, sure hope that is all the rain we will see. We were surprised at how green the dessert was today, I guess it is from the big rain they had in November but it is greener than we have ever seen. I had asked John to grab my camera but that didn’t happen so unfortunately I have no pictures from today.
John and I had a chicken burger for dinner and now it is time for TV or reading – it depends if there is anything worth watching on TV. And so ends another great gift of a day in the sunny south and we look forward to another good day tomorrow
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Today was nice but the sun was playing hide and seek most of the day, no big deal as it was still nice and warm. They are forecasting a chance of showers for tomorrow, hope they are wrong!
John spent most of the day setting up the R. O. system, he had to clean out the hot water tank as it was full of crud (no surprise) so at least it is nice and clean again; with the water here it gums everything up real fast!! We were without water most of the day but by late afternoon we were using the R. O. water, now we will see what kind of difference it makes. Later this afternoon John made a run to get fuel and propane, I passed and stayed at home reading.
I didn’t do a lot today, did a bit of this and a bit of that this morning then I went for a nice long walk. After that I came back and got out my chair and settled in and read for a few hours – tough life!!
Tonight is another quiet night of TV and reading. And so ends another great gift of a day in the sunny south and we look forward to another good day tomorrow.
John spent most of the day setting up the R. O. system, he had to clean out the hot water tank as it was full of crud (no surprise) so at least it is nice and clean again; with the water here it gums everything up real fast!! We were without water most of the day but by late afternoon we were using the R. O. water, now we will see what kind of difference it makes. Later this afternoon John made a run to get fuel and propane, I passed and stayed at home reading.
I didn’t do a lot today, did a bit of this and a bit of that this morning then I went for a nice long walk. After that I came back and got out my chair and settled in and read for a few hours – tough life!!
Tonight is another quiet night of TV and reading. And so ends another great gift of a day in the sunny south and we look forward to another good day tomorrow.
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Today was another gorgeous day but I think we are supposed to have a couple of cloudy days coming up with even a possibility of rain – we will see what happens.
This morning we watched the inaugural of Barak Obama, I certainly don’t envy him the road ahead but hopefully he can make changes that will help the economy etc. Because of the time difference it was about 10:15, after his speech, that I headed out to meet Brenda and go to the craft show here at the park. There was lots of stuff but nothing that I needed to part with my money for, the vendors were saying that they weren’t having a good day so I don’t know if it is because of the economy or what but I didn’t see a lot of people buying. There was a fellow out front selling fresh fruit and vegetables so I got a couple of nice looking peppers for John and a cantelope for myself.
John felt that we definitely needed to do something about the water here, it is so salinated that you can’t drink it and it is very hard on the plumbing, so we went out this afternoon and bought a reverse osmosis water system. The couple next door have one on their trailer and love it and I talked to a man while we were looking at them today and he said they put one on last year and it is the best thing they ever did so hopefully it will do the trick. We have been thinking about this for quite a while but hated to spend the money, on the other hand we can use it anywhere we go as long as we are going to be there for more than a couple of days. We also considered a water softener but you have to buy the salt for it (salt is cheap so that’s not expensive, just a pain), but the real downside of the softener is that you still have to buy your drinking water so we decided to go with the r o system. So John has his job lined up for tomorrow getting it intalled!!
There were a couple of small adjustments that needed to be made to the system to suit what we wanted so while they were doing that we went to Wal Mart and picked up a few groceries. When we went back to pick up the r o system I talked to a fellow who works there that knows Andy Thomson at Can-Am RV in London, (where we have bought all our Airstreams), small world! Mentioning Can-Am, there are 2 other trailers in this park that were bought there, neither is an Airstream, although the one couple did have one for many years but now have a Sunnybrook. The other trailer in here is a Sunset Trail but we knew as soon as we saw the set up on it and the Ontario licence plate that it was from Can-Am as they are pulling it with a fairly small truck and a Hensley hitch.
We had a nice steak dinner with cesar salad and are now just going to have a relaxing evening. And so ends another great gift of a day in the sunny south and we look forward to another good day tomorrow.
This morning we watched the inaugural of Barak Obama, I certainly don’t envy him the road ahead but hopefully he can make changes that will help the economy etc. Because of the time difference it was about 10:15, after his speech, that I headed out to meet Brenda and go to the craft show here at the park. There was lots of stuff but nothing that I needed to part with my money for, the vendors were saying that they weren’t having a good day so I don’t know if it is because of the economy or what but I didn’t see a lot of people buying. There was a fellow out front selling fresh fruit and vegetables so I got a couple of nice looking peppers for John and a cantelope for myself.
John felt that we definitely needed to do something about the water here, it is so salinated that you can’t drink it and it is very hard on the plumbing, so we went out this afternoon and bought a reverse osmosis water system. The couple next door have one on their trailer and love it and I talked to a man while we were looking at them today and he said they put one on last year and it is the best thing they ever did so hopefully it will do the trick. We have been thinking about this for quite a while but hated to spend the money, on the other hand we can use it anywhere we go as long as we are going to be there for more than a couple of days. We also considered a water softener but you have to buy the salt for it (salt is cheap so that’s not expensive, just a pain), but the real downside of the softener is that you still have to buy your drinking water so we decided to go with the r o system. So John has his job lined up for tomorrow getting it intalled!!
There were a couple of small adjustments that needed to be made to the system to suit what we wanted so while they were doing that we went to Wal Mart and picked up a few groceries. When we went back to pick up the r o system I talked to a fellow who works there that knows Andy Thomson at Can-Am RV in London, (where we have bought all our Airstreams), small world! Mentioning Can-Am, there are 2 other trailers in this park that were bought there, neither is an Airstream, although the one couple did have one for many years but now have a Sunnybrook. The other trailer in here is a Sunset Trail but we knew as soon as we saw the set up on it and the Ontario licence plate that it was from Can-Am as they are pulling it with a fairly small truck and a Hensley hitch.
We had a nice steak dinner with cesar salad and are now just going to have a relaxing evening. And so ends another great gift of a day in the sunny south and we look forward to another good day tomorrow.
Monday, January 19, 2009
Today was another beautiful sunny warm day so we decided to do a bit of a road trip. We headed into California and took a highway up the east side of the Imperial Sand Dunes then picked up a highway that would have eventually taken us right across California to the ocean north of San Diego (we didn’t go that far west). We crossed the sand dunes and even though it was a week day there were a lot of people out on their dirt bikes, ATV’s etc. racing around the dunes. There were a lot of trailers camped out there, sorry but I just can’t imagine camping in all that sand and having it tracked all through the trailer – it has to be really hard on a RV. We passed more huge motor homes towing trailers with their toys and RV Toy Haulers in a couple of hours today than we have seen all winter – recession – where!!!
Driving West Towards the Imperial Sand Dunes
The Sand Dunes
We stopped at a lookout part way through the dunes and there were a few trailers pulled in there and this little guy was running around on his ATV. The sand was so soft in there we were worried we would get stuck!
After the sand dunes we were in the Imperial Valley where a lot of Canada’s winter vegetables come from, we also came across a huge feed lot, I could smell it long before we got to it!
Just a Small Part of the Feed Lot
We drove through Brawley and stopped there at a Carl Jr.’s as I just had a sudden craving for one of their milk shakes - they are the best. John had a chilli burger then it was on our way again.
We drove up the west side of the Salton Sea, which is a huge inland saline sea but it is totally grungy, looks beautiful from a distance but up close it is dirty and smelly!
Here is how the Salton Sea was created according to Wikipedia:
“The creation of the Salton Sea of today started in 1905, when heavy rainfall and snowmelt caused the Colorado River to swell and breach an Imperial Valley dike. It took nearly two years to control the Colorado River’s flow into the formerly dry Salton Sink and stop the flooding. As the basin filled, the town of Salton, a Southern Pacific Railroad siding and Torres-Martinez Indian land were submerged. The sudden influx of water and the lack of any drainage from the basin resulted in the formation of the Salton Sea.”
We turned west again and drove about 30 miles through scrub country with pretty mountains around and again lots of people camping on the BLM lands. For the life of me I can’t see what is so nice about camping out in the desert dirt with no amenities, but to each his own!!
We then headed north again and went through the pretty town of Borrego Springs at which point we headed back to the Salton Sea. We also passed a lot of vineyards and date plantations on our tour.
Christmas Circle - Borrego Springs
Driving out of Borrego Springs
Looking East to the Salton Sea
Some Rock Formations
We drove through the city of Salton, a pretty pathetic place where there isn’t much happening but we did see this fellow flying around.
This is typical of the landscape outside the Imperial Valley.
At the top of the Salton Sea we turned east and picked up a road down the east side of the sea. We had heard of a RV park called Fountain of Youth and knew it was around the Salton Sea somewhere so when we saw the sign for it we decided to drive through and we weren’t impressed. The lots were crammed together, certainly no privacy to be had there, it was an old park, and the closest town to do any shopping, dining out or find a doctor or hospital is 50 miles away; but with all these drawbacks it was full.
From the Salton Sea we drove down to Holtville where we picked up the Interstate back to Yuma. Going to Holtville we drove through a lot of farm land and saw about 10 different flocks of sheep grazing in the fields.
We decided to go Daz Boys and have a pizza for dinner as it was 6:30 by the time we got back to Yuma.
And so ends another great gift of a day in the sunny south and we look forward to another good day tomorrow.
Driving West Towards the Imperial Sand Dunes
The Sand Dunes
We stopped at a lookout part way through the dunes and there were a few trailers pulled in there and this little guy was running around on his ATV. The sand was so soft in there we were worried we would get stuck!
After the sand dunes we were in the Imperial Valley where a lot of Canada’s winter vegetables come from, we also came across a huge feed lot, I could smell it long before we got to it!
Just a Small Part of the Feed Lot
We drove through Brawley and stopped there at a Carl Jr.’s as I just had a sudden craving for one of their milk shakes - they are the best. John had a chilli burger then it was on our way again.
We drove up the west side of the Salton Sea, which is a huge inland saline sea but it is totally grungy, looks beautiful from a distance but up close it is dirty and smelly!
Here is how the Salton Sea was created according to Wikipedia:
“The creation of the Salton Sea of today started in 1905, when heavy rainfall and snowmelt caused the Colorado River to swell and breach an Imperial Valley dike. It took nearly two years to control the Colorado River’s flow into the formerly dry Salton Sink and stop the flooding. As the basin filled, the town of Salton, a Southern Pacific Railroad siding and Torres-Martinez Indian land were submerged. The sudden influx of water and the lack of any drainage from the basin resulted in the formation of the Salton Sea.”
We turned west again and drove about 30 miles through scrub country with pretty mountains around and again lots of people camping on the BLM lands. For the life of me I can’t see what is so nice about camping out in the desert dirt with no amenities, but to each his own!!
We then headed north again and went through the pretty town of Borrego Springs at which point we headed back to the Salton Sea. We also passed a lot of vineyards and date plantations on our tour.
Christmas Circle - Borrego Springs
Driving out of Borrego Springs
Looking East to the Salton Sea
Some Rock Formations
We drove through the city of Salton, a pretty pathetic place where there isn’t much happening but we did see this fellow flying around.
This is typical of the landscape outside the Imperial Valley.
At the top of the Salton Sea we turned east and picked up a road down the east side of the sea. We had heard of a RV park called Fountain of Youth and knew it was around the Salton Sea somewhere so when we saw the sign for it we decided to drive through and we weren’t impressed. The lots were crammed together, certainly no privacy to be had there, it was an old park, and the closest town to do any shopping, dining out or find a doctor or hospital is 50 miles away; but with all these drawbacks it was full.
From the Salton Sea we drove down to Holtville where we picked up the Interstate back to Yuma. Going to Holtville we drove through a lot of farm land and saw about 10 different flocks of sheep grazing in the fields.
We decided to go Daz Boys and have a pizza for dinner as it was 6:30 by the time we got back to Yuma.
And so ends another great gift of a day in the sunny south and we look forward to another good day tomorrow.
Sunday, January 18, 2009
Well today was nice but there were clouds in the sky, oh dear, we haven’t seen those in a long time, still it was a nice warm day with a bit of a wind, at least this time it was a warm wind!
I forgot to mention yesterday that I had a real grrrr moment. Before we left Ontario in November I had picked up two new sleeves for my lymphedema as you are supposed to change them every 4 to 6 months, so on Thursday I started one of the new sleeves (as it turns out it was the one I tried on when I picked them up) and then yesterday I opened the second one and lo and behold it was a glove, not a sleeve – NOT GOOD!! I sent an e-mail to the gal at Shoppers where I got them and have asked her to get me another sleeve and have it mailed to me here as I have paid for it and really need it, hopefully she can do that and I am hoping to get a reply from her tomorrow as I know she doesn’t work weekends.
We went out for breakfast/brunch again and today tried Brownie’s Café, it was good and we would go there again for breakfast or lunch but not dinner – no ambience!
After Brownie”s we were driving down 4th Ave. when I saw a Goodwill store so asked John to pull in as I had a few things to drop off, then John wanted to go in and wander around – nothing caught my attention but he bought a modem for $2, don’t know what we are going to do with it but now we have it! From there we went to Home Depot to get a couple of bolts to hold down the phone antenna better then stopped at Circuit City - they have filed for bankruptcy so we decided to see if there were any deals to be had – wishful thinking!!I
When we got back I talked to Kel and Cara (I had talked to Nan this morning) then I went outside to sit and read. Leslie & Garry came over so we ended having a drink and visit with them, nice. They are leaving tomorrow for a couple of days, going to stop at Quartzsite then on to Laughlin for a couple of nights. Garry said his friend had been looking at our old satellite stand so John said $15 and it could be his so Garry called his friend and the stand is now his, an easy way to get rid of it!!
Tonight was not much for dinner – soup but that was enough after a large breakfast at midday. And so ends another great gift of a day in the sunny south and we look forward to another good day tomorrow.
I forgot to mention yesterday that I had a real grrrr moment. Before we left Ontario in November I had picked up two new sleeves for my lymphedema as you are supposed to change them every 4 to 6 months, so on Thursday I started one of the new sleeves (as it turns out it was the one I tried on when I picked them up) and then yesterday I opened the second one and lo and behold it was a glove, not a sleeve – NOT GOOD!! I sent an e-mail to the gal at Shoppers where I got them and have asked her to get me another sleeve and have it mailed to me here as I have paid for it and really need it, hopefully she can do that and I am hoping to get a reply from her tomorrow as I know she doesn’t work weekends.
We went out for breakfast/brunch again and today tried Brownie’s Café, it was good and we would go there again for breakfast or lunch but not dinner – no ambience!
After Brownie”s we were driving down 4th Ave. when I saw a Goodwill store so asked John to pull in as I had a few things to drop off, then John wanted to go in and wander around – nothing caught my attention but he bought a modem for $2, don’t know what we are going to do with it but now we have it! From there we went to Home Depot to get a couple of bolts to hold down the phone antenna better then stopped at Circuit City - they have filed for bankruptcy so we decided to see if there were any deals to be had – wishful thinking!!I
When we got back I talked to Kel and Cara (I had talked to Nan this morning) then I went outside to sit and read. Leslie & Garry came over so we ended having a drink and visit with them, nice. They are leaving tomorrow for a couple of days, going to stop at Quartzsite then on to Laughlin for a couple of nights. Garry said his friend had been looking at our old satellite stand so John said $15 and it could be his so Garry called his friend and the stand is now his, an easy way to get rid of it!!
Tonight was not much for dinner – soup but that was enough after a large breakfast at midday. And so ends another great gift of a day in the sunny south and we look forward to another good day tomorrow.
Saturday, January 17, 2009
Like a broken record, today was another gorgeous day in the south. I went out this morning and picked up a couple of groceries then enjoyed the nice weather sitting out and reading, while John did more washing and polishing, we sure are shiny!
We went to Brenda & Steve’s for dinner and had a wonderful meal of Mazillan tortillas (I think that is how to spell it – I am waiting for the recipe to find out for sure). They were really good and we had a lovely evening with great food and conversation.
We are now watching some TV before going to bed. And so ends another great gift of a day in the sunny south and we look forward to another good day tomorrow.
We went to Brenda & Steve’s for dinner and had a wonderful meal of Mazillan tortillas (I think that is how to spell it – I am waiting for the recipe to find out for sure). They were really good and we had a lovely evening with great food and conversation.
We are now watching some TV before going to bed. And so ends another great gift of a day in the sunny south and we look forward to another good day tomorrow.
Friday, January 16, 2009
Today was a quiet, stay at home day. I sat outside for a long time reading while John washed the trailer – not really fair for me to sit and relax while he is doing that but he loves cleaning the trailer and doesn’t consider it work and doesn’t want any help.
I went over about 4 to do laundry and what a zoo, I managed to get two washers then had to wait a bit for dryers, that is the busiest I have seen it and all the machines were still being used when I left. Guess that’s what happens when the park is pretty well full!
Linda from across the road came in while I was folding my laundry and said John was polishing the trailer, I thought he was just going to wash but he is also going to do the winter polishing. When I came back he had polish all over the kitchen backsplash so it is nice and clean and shiny again. Too bad it can’t stay that way!!
We are now watching a movie on TV and just having a quiet evening. And so ends another great gift of a day in the sunny south and we look forward to another good day tomorrow.
I went over about 4 to do laundry and what a zoo, I managed to get two washers then had to wait a bit for dryers, that is the busiest I have seen it and all the machines were still being used when I left. Guess that’s what happens when the park is pretty well full!
Linda from across the road came in while I was folding my laundry and said John was polishing the trailer, I thought he was just going to wash but he is also going to do the winter polishing. When I came back he had polish all over the kitchen backsplash so it is nice and clean and shiny again. Too bad it can’t stay that way!!
We are now watching a movie on TV and just having a quiet evening. And so ends another great gift of a day in the sunny south and we look forward to another good day tomorrow.
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Today was another beautiful day, this January sure is a lot nice than the other two January’s we have spent here – much warmer this year so we are not complaining.
This afternoon we went to the market to see if we could get our satellite dish painted as it is plastic and the fellow said the plastic wasn’t a problem and he has pictures you can pick from or you can bring in a picture and he will do that so we are going to go through our pictures and see if we can find one we would like painted on the dish.
From there we went to Wal Mart to pick up groceries then to Fry’s to get our fresh veggies and meat – those are the things I don’t like to buy at Wal Mart. Actually most of the stuff at Fry’s, except for their specials, is a lot more expensive than Wal Mart (i.e. Jack Daniel barbecue sauce is $1 a bottle more at Fry’s).
Steve wouldn’t take any money for the satellite stand so we bought him a case of Amber Bock beer and dropped it off on the way home, we ended up having a drink and visit with them.
By the time we got home it was dinner time – where does the day go! And so ends another great gift of a day in the sunny south and we look forward to another good day tomorrow.
This afternoon we went to the market to see if we could get our satellite dish painted as it is plastic and the fellow said the plastic wasn’t a problem and he has pictures you can pick from or you can bring in a picture and he will do that so we are going to go through our pictures and see if we can find one we would like painted on the dish.
From there we went to Wal Mart to pick up groceries then to Fry’s to get our fresh veggies and meat – those are the things I don’t like to buy at Wal Mart. Actually most of the stuff at Fry’s, except for their specials, is a lot more expensive than Wal Mart (i.e. Jack Daniel barbecue sauce is $1 a bottle more at Fry’s).
Steve wouldn’t take any money for the satellite stand so we bought him a case of Amber Bock beer and dropped it off on the way home, we ended up having a drink and visit with them.
By the time we got home it was dinner time – where does the day go! And so ends another great gift of a day in the sunny south and we look forward to another good day tomorrow.
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
I sound like a broken record but today was another gorgeous, sunny, warm day here in Yuma, we are really enjoying the weather and are truly thankful we are able to be here and not at home in the bitter cold.
Steve & Brenda got a new satellite dish and tripod so Steve gave us his old tripod which is larger than the one we had so John’s project for today was getting the dish set up on the new tripod – why does something that sounds so simple take all day but it did!!
Yesterday our neighbours took 2 satellite dishes and 2 mail boxes over to Mexico to have them painted so we went over today see how they turned out and they look really nice. One of the mailboxes has a scene with a lighthouse and huge waves crashing in on the shore – that is really pretty. Our dish is plastic whereas theirs is metal so we are going to ask the guy at the Arizona market if the plastic ones can be painted.
I did a light cleaning then spent most of the day outside enjoying the nice weather reading, crocheting and going for a nice long walk. Tough life!!
And so ends another great gift of a day in the sunny south and we look forward to another good day tomorrow.
Steve & Brenda got a new satellite dish and tripod so Steve gave us his old tripod which is larger than the one we had so John’s project for today was getting the dish set up on the new tripod – why does something that sounds so simple take all day but it did!!
Yesterday our neighbours took 2 satellite dishes and 2 mail boxes over to Mexico to have them painted so we went over today see how they turned out and they look really nice. One of the mailboxes has a scene with a lighthouse and huge waves crashing in on the shore – that is really pretty. Our dish is plastic whereas theirs is metal so we are going to ask the guy at the Arizona market if the plastic ones can be painted.
I did a light cleaning then spent most of the day outside enjoying the nice weather reading, crocheting and going for a nice long walk. Tough life!!
And so ends another great gift of a day in the sunny south and we look forward to another good day tomorrow.
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Okay, this weather is absolutely wonderful, keep it coming please – my apologies to all of you back home as I know you are enduring another cold snap!
Today we decided to check out the downtown market, every Tuesday they close off a block of the main street in downtown Yuma and have a market, lots of vendors selling jewelry, t-shirts, fruits, veggies etc. We wandered around the market then went down one of the side streets and wandered around a couple of stores, including an antique, collectibles place but in the end bought some veggies and that was it – the last of the big time spenders!
When we got back we stopped at Steve & Brenda’s so I could meet their new dog, Peppy. He is a Papillon and is a year old, his name was Pappy and they didn’t want to stray too far from that name hence Peppy, he is real cute and now they are trying to train him not to bark when other dogs go by etc. I felt bad about not being able to pet him but I didn’t want to take a chance on an allergic reaction so just enjoyed seeing him without touching.
When we got home I went down and did the treadmill for a half hour and then the bike, I will work my time up slowly as I don’t want to overdo it. It was interesting as when I was walking down to the gym my hip was kind of sore but it didn’t bother me at all on the treadmill so that was good. On the way home I stopped and talked to a couple from Windsor who just arrived a couple of days ago, they were saying they went to Mexico today and it was a 2 hour wait to come back so guess the lineups are back. John & Irma went today and had their satellite dish painted there, it looks nice but will go over tomorrow and check it out better. While I was doing the treadmill John went for his bike ride, and suddenly the day is done!
And so ends another great gift of a day in the sunny south and we look forward to another good day tomorrow.
Today we decided to check out the downtown market, every Tuesday they close off a block of the main street in downtown Yuma and have a market, lots of vendors selling jewelry, t-shirts, fruits, veggies etc. We wandered around the market then went down one of the side streets and wandered around a couple of stores, including an antique, collectibles place but in the end bought some veggies and that was it – the last of the big time spenders!
When we got back we stopped at Steve & Brenda’s so I could meet their new dog, Peppy. He is a Papillon and is a year old, his name was Pappy and they didn’t want to stray too far from that name hence Peppy, he is real cute and now they are trying to train him not to bark when other dogs go by etc. I felt bad about not being able to pet him but I didn’t want to take a chance on an allergic reaction so just enjoyed seeing him without touching.
When we got home I went down and did the treadmill for a half hour and then the bike, I will work my time up slowly as I don’t want to overdo it. It was interesting as when I was walking down to the gym my hip was kind of sore but it didn’t bother me at all on the treadmill so that was good. On the way home I stopped and talked to a couple from Windsor who just arrived a couple of days ago, they were saying they went to Mexico today and it was a 2 hour wait to come back so guess the lineups are back. John & Irma went today and had their satellite dish painted there, it looks nice but will go over tomorrow and check it out better. While I was doing the treadmill John went for his bike ride, and suddenly the day is done!
And so ends another great gift of a day in the sunny south and we look forward to another good day tomorrow.
Monday, January 12, 2009
Today was an absolutely gorgeous day with temperatures in the high 70’s and just a slight breeze, sure do like days like this!
Today was cleaning day, bummer on a nice day, but now that the wind has stopped blowing it was time to clean out the dust and dirt that blew in.
This afternoon John wanted to go out and look for a new hard drive for backups as we have been sharing one and it is full so time to look for another one and then we will each have our own. We went to Best Buy then Circuit City and then I suggested Wal Mart as we had a gift certificate from Kel & Tim that we hadn’t used yet, and yes Wal Mart did have what we wanted at about $10 cheaper than Best Buy so got that and a case for it – thanks for the Christmas present Kel & Tim. We also picked up a couple of groceries while we were there then headed home.
Not a real exciting day but a nice one. And so ends another great gift of a day in the sunny south and we look forward to another good day tomorrow.
Today was cleaning day, bummer on a nice day, but now that the wind has stopped blowing it was time to clean out the dust and dirt that blew in.
This afternoon John wanted to go out and look for a new hard drive for backups as we have been sharing one and it is full so time to look for another one and then we will each have our own. We went to Best Buy then Circuit City and then I suggested Wal Mart as we had a gift certificate from Kel & Tim that we hadn’t used yet, and yes Wal Mart did have what we wanted at about $10 cheaper than Best Buy so got that and a case for it – thanks for the Christmas present Kel & Tim. We also picked up a couple of groceries while we were there then headed home.
Not a real exciting day but a nice one. And so ends another great gift of a day in the sunny south and we look forward to another good day tomorrow.
Sunday, January 11, 2009
Today was an absolutely gorgeous day, sunny with a bit of a wind.
This morning I started out for my walk and when I got to the clubhouse I decided to check out the gym, amazingly there was no one there so I decided to do the treadmill for a bit. When we were in the condo I often used the treadmill and when I was going to the gym while having radiation I did the treadmill and bicycle, among other things, so I think I will start doing them here again.
About noon we went out for brunch, we went to John & Margie’s which is a new restaurant near the market, we had heard it was good so decided to try it and enjoyed our meal. We came straight home after as there was no place else we really wanted to go. When we got back John went for a bike ride and I sat outside and crocheted, also talked to Nan, Kel and my sister. Not a real exciting day but and enjoyable one.
And so ends another great gift of a day in the sunny south and we look forward to another good day tomorrow.
This morning I started out for my walk and when I got to the clubhouse I decided to check out the gym, amazingly there was no one there so I decided to do the treadmill for a bit. When we were in the condo I often used the treadmill and when I was going to the gym while having radiation I did the treadmill and bicycle, among other things, so I think I will start doing them here again.
About noon we went out for brunch, we went to John & Margie’s which is a new restaurant near the market, we had heard it was good so decided to try it and enjoyed our meal. We came straight home after as there was no place else we really wanted to go. When we got back John went for a bike ride and I sat outside and crocheted, also talked to Nan, Kel and my sister. Not a real exciting day but and enjoyable one.
And so ends another great gift of a day in the sunny south and we look forward to another good day tomorrow.
Saturday, January 10, 2009
Today was another nice sunny day, still a bit windy but not as bad as yesterday. John wanted to buy a wand to clean out the hot water tank so we went out to get that and a few groceries. He found the wand at the Mom & Pop store, they used to be in the Arizona market but when the rent increased this year they decided to rent a spot in the open lot next door to the market. Anyways their prices are good and they had what John wanted.
Next was Wal Mart to pick up a few groceries and John also got a pair of pants and a few t-shirts so my short shopping list cost almost $100 – lol! John doesn’t buy a lot of clothes so I never complain when he decides to buy some, now he needs to find a couple of shirts. From there we stopped at Love’s truck spot and he picked up a thingamjiggy for the radio antenna (can you tell I don’t have a clue about how these things are mounted?).
Our friends Mike & Margie called us tonight and they are enjoying their Florida holiday and the weather has been good. Mike has to be back to work on the 26th so they still have a couple of weeks left so hopefully the good weather will continue.
While at Wal Mart John bough the old James Bond movie From Russia With Love so we decided to watch it – oh, oh, when he went to put the DVD in the player there was the DVD the Long, Long Trailer which Steve & Brenda had lent us, we had given them back an empty case! Will have to return it tomorrow with apologies.
We have always enjoyed the English comedy Keeping Up Appearances (it was one of my mothers favourites also) and it is on the PBS channel at 8 p.m. Saturdays so we try to catch that if we can as it is always good for a few laughs. We have even seen a couple that we hadn’t seen before.
And so ends another great gift of a day in the sunny south and we look forward to another good day tomorrow.
Next was Wal Mart to pick up a few groceries and John also got a pair of pants and a few t-shirts so my short shopping list cost almost $100 – lol! John doesn’t buy a lot of clothes so I never complain when he decides to buy some, now he needs to find a couple of shirts. From there we stopped at Love’s truck spot and he picked up a thingamjiggy for the radio antenna (can you tell I don’t have a clue about how these things are mounted?).
Our friends Mike & Margie called us tonight and they are enjoying their Florida holiday and the weather has been good. Mike has to be back to work on the 26th so they still have a couple of weeks left so hopefully the good weather will continue.
While at Wal Mart John bough the old James Bond movie From Russia With Love so we decided to watch it – oh, oh, when he went to put the DVD in the player there was the DVD the Long, Long Trailer which Steve & Brenda had lent us, we had given them back an empty case! Will have to return it tomorrow with apologies.
We have always enjoyed the English comedy Keeping Up Appearances (it was one of my mothers favourites also) and it is on the PBS channel at 8 p.m. Saturdays so we try to catch that if we can as it is always good for a few laughs. We have even seen a couple that we hadn’t seen before.
And so ends another great gift of a day in the sunny south and we look forward to another good day tomorrow.
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