A New Address

This week it is time to move on but we left with sadness as we had a most enjoyable time with friends.  While we were in Yuma we tried to take a daily walk - changing our route frequently.  There is a huge beautiful yard a couple of blocks away which also sports a resident turtle - so unusual.

  We headed west and made a one night stop in El Centro, CA and did a little shopping.  There is a fair bit of construction between Yuma and El Centro and it is also interesting to see the differences in practice in various areas.

Rather than pylons separating the two lanes, they use concrete barriers.  This obviously reduces the risk of someone crossing over into the other lane.  Also, please notice that the speed limit through construction zones are the same as at home.  One exception, here it is in miles per hour rather than kilometers per hour as at home.

This is a motorhome that came to boost a truck.  The truck displayed the same decorations as did the motorhome.






I also finished (hopefully) my test.  I can now tell you that the toughest surface to do a four point landing is definitely a paved street and soft dirt is certainly the easiest.  I have tested both of these as well as some in between.  The soft dirt makes a bigger mess of your clothes and does result in some blood but on the most part makes for a much softer landing!!

We are currently in Borrego Springs attending a 4X4 gathering - making new friends and visiting old friends.  It is amazing at the differences in some of the trails over the years.  Often the changes are minimal but over time, many trails are hugely different.  Below are some before and after photos from eight years ago compared to now.

 These are the same trails.  The one with the water shows the reduction in water levels.  Plus the trail has been changed to cross directly across the stream and all the willows have been cleared.  The rocky road has been filled and as you can see it is similar to a gravel road.  Below are some of the camping units we have seen out on the trails.  The one with the green tent even has solar and a baby stroller so it must have been a young family!

As we go into next week, we will have a few more days on the trails.  The weather has been incredible - a perfect 24-25C every day with clear blue skies and no wind.  They are predicting a cooling off somewhat next week but until then we will enjoy every day just as we have in the days past.

We wish everyone a very Happy New Year!  The weather has been fierce in many parts of the country so I hope you all stay warm.  Until next year....................

Merry Christmas

I first want to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas.  I know I am a bit late but as with all Christmas preparations, time just seems to get away on me.

We are still in Yuma so we took a trip over to Algodones, Mexico.  We walked along the streets, talking to some of the street vendors, and checked out some of their wares.  Then we went to an outdoor café where we had a terrific Mexican meal.  There is also a new hotel in Algodones so we went and checked it out.  It has a courtyard which is quite nice and on the main floor are various businesses although most of them are part of the health industry.  But they are not the usual - pharmacies, optical shops, and dentists.  There is a stem cell centre and a health spa for instance.  On our way out we each picked up a one litre bottle of Kahlua (7.75 US$ each) and some vanilla and headed home.

A Schwinn bicycle with an electric motor

An interesting sight on the street

The courtyard looking towards the new hotel

There is a street that has one block all decorated for the Night Before Christmas.  Many people drive the street but we chose to walk it - what a great way to view the marvelous decorations.  Some of the yards were full of lights but some also were totally bare.  In all, it really is a great display of the Christmas holidays!

Since we were having appetizers for supper on Christmas Eve, we decided to try something different for lunch.  Our friends were we are currently staying, and us decided to try making some noodle bowls.  Since my younger brother, Tom, is very much into oriental food, I  asked him about noodle bowls.  Well, they were delicious, a new experience for our friends, and a great deal of fun to make.  I was quite impressed with our creation.

Several days were spent baking, and baking, and baking.  There were nine of us around the Christmas table earlier today.  What an easy dinner to prepare as everyone brings something.  But there was enough baking for three times as many people but oh well, it will keep (well kind of for a short period of time).

I hope each and every one of you have had a wonderful Christmas.  If you are travelling, may your travels be safe.  Until next time, I hope you have a great week!!

Christmas Time's A-Coming!

It sure is starting to look a lot like Christmas!!  Many homes have a variety of Christmas decorations - some quite elaborate and some fairly basic, and some have none at all.  The Christmas baking has started.  I'm a little afraid to do very much baking as some of the favourites have to be made more than once - and sometimes more than twice.

This past week was the sighting of the Geminid meteor shower.  Fortunately, the skies were nice and clear.  Unfortunately, the best sighting was at 2 a.m.  On Thursday, the 14th, I happened to wake up at 2 a.m. so decided to see if I could see anything.  My first idea was to try and view the meteors from the front window of the motorhome.  Looking out, a number of homes leave their Christmas lights on all night so I decided that unless it was totally dark, there probably wasn't much use in trying to see any of the meteor shower so back to bed I went.  I understand that I could view it on You Tube so that ended up to be my choice.

Last night we attended a potluck wiener roast and then watched the local parade.  It is amazing at the number of vehicles, golf carts, ATV's that took the time to get all decked out for the holidays with the lights and other decorations.  Then today we went to a potluck block party.  These events are always great fun with lots of great food. 

Gerry is almost finished with the exterior cleaning of the motorhome.  This week he washed and waxed the roof - hopefully the dirt and dust will just slide right off.  Another job off the list!!

The temperatures have been almost perfect although it has been rather windy - some days worse than others.  But it has been warm, even with the wind; but rumour has it that it is all going to come to an end - hopefully for only a couple of days

On the most part the week was spent visiting and relaxing.  What a way to spend the week I have to admit. 


Thanks for stopping by - I hope each and everyone of you have a terrific week!

Couldn't resist the sunset!!!!

Off to Yuma

We started the week in Quartzsite enjoying the sunshine but the nights were a different story - it got downright fresh - like down to 2.2C one night and slightly more the next night.  Fortunately, the sun warmed the days up to 19 or 20 during the day so really quite pleasant.  
Just before we were thinking of heading out, some friends came and joined us.  Although we only had a chance to spend a day visiting, we made plans on visiting them more in Yuma so looking forward to those days.

Mid-week, we headed south to Yuma where we are now parked on our friend's lot until after Christmas.  While we are having a great time visiting, it makes for very difficult writing as each day blends into the next.  And the days of sight seeing and touring have been temporarily left behind.  We go past the Yuma Proving Ground which is a large military base and at the corner of the road to the base, there is a gun display which also makes a great spot to stop for lunch.

It is time for Christmas so I set up the tree and did some decorating.  Fortunately, my tree is only a couple of feet tall and it still took be three days to get it all decorated.  Can you imagine if it was an eight foot tree - I would have had to start in early November.  However, it is all done and I must admit, it looks great. 

Since one can get fresh produce at a very reasonable price (such as cucumbers at 4/$1.00), we made some relish today.  And tomorrow, I am starting an exercise program but be assured that it won't be too strenuous (hopefully😊).

A lovely yard we passed on our walk.  Also one with a zoo???

Perhaps this coming week we will do something exciting to report.  I hope you have a good week and thanks for stopping by.

Quartzsite, AZ

We spent this past week at the  "Gathering Place" - the name for the area around Quartzsite.  It is given this name because in the month of January of each year, groups of all sorts gather and share friendships and information and whatever else they wish to share.

We went into town a couple of times but there are very few vendors set up and ready for business.  We did, however, walk through some areas that had some ready for business.  So far there seems to be mostly tools and rocks for sale - that is besides the "treasures" which we often refer to as junk.

The weather has been great except for a day of wind and a couple of days of clouds.  Even with that,  the temps were pleasant.  With this weather, we are able to go out and enjoy a nice walk every day.  However, every walk isn't necessarily pleasant.  On occasion a large rock pops up in the middle of a path which ends up with someone playing humpty dumpty.  Fortunately, the end result was a few scrapes, a bruised knee, and a more bruised ego.

Out here in the desert, a common occurrence is a sunset that is worthy of snapping a photo or so.  As a result, I like to share one of these sunsets.  And for added effect, I am also sharing a photo of the moon earlier this evening - the supermoon of 2017!

A lonely blossom

  The Saguaro cactus grow mighty tall

 An interesting piece of art

 Not sure if the truck shrunk or the topper stretched

Even during a week that we seem to do nothing, such as this past week, the time whizzes by and there is always something neat or unusual to enjoy.  Thanks for stopping by and I hope you have a great week!

Moving On!!

The motorhome is cleaned - washed and waxed, carpets cleaned, windows washed, and the dust blown out.  With the last few days at Pahrump, we decided to deposit a few coins into the slot machine.  It's a good thing we kept it to a few because Lady Luck certainly was not shining on us.  Now it's time to move one.  This is a snapshot of the campground where we were staying - the palm trees with the cactus with the pine trees.

Instead of going the usual route through Las Vegas we decided to take a scenic tour, which really wasn't much further.  We spent the night at Primm, NV (not really a town other than three casinos).  They have quite a large outlet mall with outlets for Coach, Michael Kors to name a couple.  Coach had some terrific prices - 70% off - too bad I couldn't find something that I just had to have - just think of the money I could have saved!!

A unique disguise of a cell tower

We took a road across to Searchlight which goes through some of the thickest Joshua tree stands I have seen.  I must tell you a story about the Joshua tree.  Back in 1984, when we made a trip south, I remember how amazed I was when I first saw this tree - I exclaimed "oh look, a cactus tree".  I was partly right - it is a tree!!  You have to admit, they certainly are a unique looking plant.

The Joshua trees

We spent a couple of nights at Lake Havasu City.  Thursday morning, we went to visit some friends and ended up staying for a delicious Thanksgiving dinner - not planned but absolutely appreciated.  Since everyone over-indulged, we got pumpkin pie to take home which means we got to enjoy Joe and Kathy's hospitality over a couple of days.

A desert sunset - dusk

  Thank you Joe and Kathy.

Thursday was dinner,  Friday was Black Friday so to the stores we went.  There were definitely some good deals which was obvious by the long lineups at the checkouts.  And I stood in those lines but where else could you get $28 shirts for $9 for example.  It would have been silly to resist!

We arrived this afternoon at Quartzsite, which I think is the flea market capital of the world especially in January.  We will go into town in the next day or so and see if the vendors have set up shop yet.

The Colorado River

The weather this past week has been incredible - daily highs of 29C with the lows going down to 15C - you just can't beat that.  They are predicting those temps coming to an end in the latter part of the week - it is going to drop to daytime highs of 24C.  You have to love this weather.

I hope each and everyone of you have a great week.

No Play in Pahrump

We arrived in Pahrump, NV after a great week off-roading.  At the same time we were without cell or internet service so it is nice to be back online.  We are currently staying at a campground which certainly has all the amenities - we even went to the hot tub last night.  It is also one of contrasts - pine trees throughout the campground with palm trees along the roadways.  I always think pine trees are associated with colder areas such as further north or on mountains; however, palm trees are the opposite.

One of the first things to be done is to stock up on groceries.  One of the great things about this campground is that most places are within walking distance so grab the backpack and off to Smiths we go.  There was some sort of promotion going on when we arrived so we each received a ticket.  Guess what - my ticket was the first one drawn, and Gerry's was next.  Lucky day - I won a roasted chicken while Gerry won a fruit pie - now we knew what we were having for supper.

With a couple of casinos close by, that could have been a sign of good luck.  Yup, it was a sign of good luck, but it stopped when we went out the door.

The week was mainly spent with generally cleaning which was badly needed.  Gerry washed and waxed the motorhome while I shampooed the carpets, washed windows, and all those regular cleaning kind of jobs.

We ended this week by attending a pow-wow.  While there were few dances, much drumming, and various speeches, some of the costumes are definitely something to see.   Below are some photos to show some of the incredible outfits.

And that brings the week to a close.  The weather at the beginning of the week was absolutely perfect.  Then we had a couple of days of wind and some cloud.  The sun came back but the cold front went through - a bit chilly in the shade but the sun is warm.  Once the cold temps pass tonight, they are promising warmer weather again which we will be looking forward to.

I hope everyone had a great week and may the next week be the same.  Until then.............

Ballarat and Panamint Valley, CA

This week we went over to Ballarat which is actually a ghost town in the Panamint Valley in California.  The Panamint Valley is just west of Death Valley.  As we go over the last mountain range from Stovepipe Wells to Panamint Springs, we cross Towne Pass which is 4900 feet in altitude.  This is not really very high; however when you start at an altitude of 200 feet and go down to 1100 feet over a distance of about 25 miles, you have a long tough climb with a real quick descent.  The last 10 miles had a slope of 9% which is pretty steep.  We made it safe and sound but we had to be very careful so we didn't overheat the brakes.

A number of us gathered at Ballarat to spend the week off-roading.  We went up canyons to mountain tops.  We saw views of Death Valley from various directions.  There were quite a number of wild burros in the area - sometimes you would see one or two or three, and sometimes a whole herd.  Most nights they would come into our campground - while we couldn't see them, we could hear them braying - sometimes near by and sometimes in the distance.  I wonder when they sleep as they seem to be around at all hours of the day and/or the night.

There are roads everywhere - up mountains, in the valleys - some rocky, some narrow, some winding, some rough, and some relatively smooth.  And I think we hit them all.  It is amazing what one finds on these roads .

Some of these trails were narrow although none we went on were particularly rocky.  The area was predominantly a mining area.  Imagine finding a vein such as in this rock although it was silver!!

The views were incredible.

As we got to the tops of the mountains, we came across some pinion pine trees.  There don't seem to be many animals  so many of the cones had very tasty nuts.

Cabins of different sizes and in different states of disrepair were found on many of the trails.

The wild burros are found in the valleys and in the canyons especially if there is a water source.

Darwin Falls - There is a spring that creates these falls.  It was a two mile hike.  The hiking trail was mostly easy but there was some clambering over large rocks.  You had to kind of guess on the trail at these points.  We even did this hike twice - very pretty.

China Garden Spring - near an old mining site where someone has put some koi in the spring.  They have been there for a number of years and certainly look healthy.

Father Crowley Vista - A landscape of dark lava flows and volcanic cinders abruptly gives way to the gash of Rainbow Canyon below this viewpoint.  The canyon is used by fighter pilots for low canyon flight training. Unfortunately, we didn't get to see any but we did see a photo that a fellow had taken about an hour before we got there.  There were a number of people with their huge cameras and a couple of them even had radios where they could hear the pilot's conversations.

A beautiful flower very similar to an Angel's Trumpet although it grows rather close to the ground.  Also, a gecko, or a reptile of some sort, when he stopped before he sped across the ground.

Our final stop for the week was Darwin which is an almost ghost town.  Apparently most of the residents are part of the art community and supposedly many are a bit eccentric.

It's been a great week.  The weather was fantastic although we did have a couple of days of wind.  We were able to renew old friendships and make some new friends.  I hope everyone has a wonderful week and we'll be back next week.