An Old Favourite

 Each year we are in the Yuma area, we go to an old favourite to spend some time at Mittry Lake - a place that holds many fond memories.  Not only is it a nice quiet spot which often provides some shelter from any wind, the scenery is beautiful. 

View across the lake

Out our door - along the canal

This year, as I was out scouting for a spot (this place has become incredibly popular this year), I came up to some of the wildlife.

  I have heard that there were sheep in the area but this is the first time I have ever seen any here.

Parked across from us was a camping unit which was huge, self built, and rather interesting.  This was an old car hauler that was converted by a couple from British Columbia.

  In order to gain some extra height so he could build a two story unit, he cut off the roof and fastened it to pneumatic jacks so he could raise and lower the roof.  The windows are a plastic material held in place by velcro for easy removal.  On the second floor, the wall panels were a naugahyde type material, held in place by velcro, which made for easy access to anything in the walls.  Below are several photos I was able to take during a little tour. 

The staircase to the 2nd floor

The kitchen and eating area

Library at the top of the stairs

My comment - interesting!!!!

Mid week a dust storm blew in - and I mean blew..............  Fortunately we were somewhat sheltered up at the lake plus the wind that blew, came across the water rather than fields of sand and/or farmland.

Finally, the weather cleared and we went off on a bit of a road trip with some friends, Dave and Bonnie, (camped with us) and Chris and Rick who came down from Quartzsite.  The day started a bit cloudy, windy and cool but the  scenery made up for it.  We first visited the horse tanks in the KOFA Wildlife Refuge.  These tanks are large holes in the rock which retain water for the wildlife. 

Then it was onto MacPherson Pass which is a 26 km trail across the mountains - not real difficult but definitely scenic.

We are always in search of a bargain - today we found one.  I am attaching a photo of a grocery bill  where we were able to maximize our savings.  Sure wish we could do the same on a regular basis.

That brought our week to an end with the weather today cool (high of 21C, cloudy, and some rain).  The weather has been unco-operative for many folks - the temps down here have been way below normal since Christmas, but nothing like other folks from around here and at home have been been experiencing.  I hope you all have a great week and perhaps the weather will improve.

Back in Yuma

Just running a little late this week - will post shortly!!

As the saying goes - "a day late and a dollar short" - well I ended up both this week.  The day late is obvious but a dollar short?  Actually it was more like $10.00 short.  I went shopping with my friend Marleen for a few groceries and I knew all I needed was my  credit card; or at least that's what I thought.  However, roadside stands tend not to take credit cards - ended up owing Marleen my dollar(s) short.

The week started with a pizza party.  Marleen is the owner of many intriguing gadgets so this week we got to experiment with the pizza making equipment.  Of course we also got to enjoy different crusts and different pizzas!

This is the dough squisher so no trying to roll it our round

Here is the oven

The final product

We had some rain over a couple of days and cool weather.  In fact it was cool enough to create a layer of frost early in the morning - brrrr! 

Marleen and Gary's son, Travis, is also visiting from Minneapolis and he is likely the king of  new and interesting "toys" here he is playing with his latest.

Is it a bird, is it a plane, no it's.....

Travis' drone!!

We ended the week with a 60th Anniversary celebration.  Gary and Marleen's next door neighbours , Gene and Janice, celebrated their 60th anniversary (plus they were also our gracious hosts this past week).  Their son, Doug, and grandson, Kyle, flew from New York to celebrate this special day!

While the weather was  less than we wanted, the friendship and visiting more than made up for it.  Now on to another week.  I hope everyone had a great week and I'll be back in 6 days (hopefully - or maybe 7!).