January 19 – 29, 2023 Quartzsite Arizona

On January 19th, we were up early, finished packing up and securing our lot, and off we went.

Andy drove to US-95, pulled over and I took over driving.  I drove to the Stone Cabin where we met Tami and Merle and then continued up US-95 to Plomosa Road.  We stopped at the camp host spot, disconnected and then I drove the car.   YEA!!  That part of 95 is nice and straight and surprisingly there was not a lot of traffic.

We pulled in at MM3 and found our way to Escapees Chapter 6/21.  After setting up and a run for gas for our generator, we spent the rest of the day gathered around the fire.  It was so good to see folks I have not seen in over 7 years and to meet a bunch of new folks.  Let the fun begin.

When we went for gas, we drove around Quartzsite and there are lots more flea markets and sell-a-rama for me to explore.  Plus lots more folks to reconnect with in our little area.  Can’t wait.  It is going to be good week.

Our place in the desert:

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From January 19th thru the 20th, we were busy…

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Shopping and Exploring

We spent a few days exploring the Big Tent RV show and Tyson Wells.  It has been 7 years since I have been here and I was really shocked at how things have changed.  In the Big Tent, about a quarter of the vendors were RV related.  The rest were the usual vendors that you would see at Fairs – Pots, Pans, Cleaning Products, Jewelry, etc.  They have three rows and the center row always had folks from all over the country advertising State Parks, Touristy Places, etc.  Not any more.

Tyson Wells was usually packed with all different kinds of vendors.  In other words, if you didn’t find it here, it didn’t exist – LOL!  There is usually about 30-40 rows of vendors.  There were about 20 rows of vendors.  Still some good buys and interesting items – LOL! 

There used to be three major craft and bead stores in Quartzsite proper.  There is only one now – Desert Camel Beads and Crafts.  Great store and the new owners are doing a great job!

I didn’t to the other areas – just ran out of time – LOL!  Next year, I hope to stay longer to check them all out and I truly hope there are many more vendors or the old ones come back.

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Old Friends and New Friends

I realized that I never knew how much I missed some of the folks that we met along the way until we reconnected. It did my heart so good to see so many of these folks.

There were others that I missed and hopefully our paths will cross again.

We camped with Chapter 21/6.  In 2009, Bruce and Bunny from those chapters took us under their wing since we were so new to the desert.  Sadly Bunny has passed and we met Bruce’s new friend Maxine – wonderful person.  It was so good to see them.  We also reconnected with Mike and Mary – great to see them as well as others from those chapters.

We spent some time with Pam and Steve, Gerry and John M; and Judy getting caught up.  We hope to see them later this season.

It was also great to see Gerry and John B; Ellen and Lou; Gretchen, Jackie and Kaz but sad that we didn’t get a lot of time to spend with each other.

And it was nice getting to know Jill, Tami and Merle and others who names I forgot.  (One of the downsides of getting older – Bummer!)

Mary and I getting caught up (Sue, we missed you!)

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Chapter Activities

We had so much fun camping with these folks.  We had Soup Day, Spaghetti Day, and Brunch and Polar Bear Drink day – What fun and what good food.

Most mornings were coffee hour and afternoon/evenings were happy hour and campfires (while watching the beautiful sunsets.)

I love how the mountains light up as the sun is getting ready to set:

 

And there she goes:

Beautiful, isn’t it!

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Quartzsite

Quartzsite is this funky place and someday I am going to spend a season here.  Check this out:

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Road Trip:

One of the days, Andy and I took a road trip to Bouse, Parker, Parker Dam Byway, and had lunch at Emerald Cove.

Road to Bouse:

Saguaros and Chollas all over:

The residents of the Parker Dam Byway – aren’t they cute:

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Weather

The weather this year was so different.  We had a few VERY WINDY Days where everything shut down.  It was also much cooler than normal – very strange.

One of the windy days:

Kitties:

They love watching the activity in the desert:

 

What a great time we had here and hope to spend more time next year.  Lots of things to do on my Bucket List!

Tomorrow (1/30) we are heading to Emerald Cove so stay tuned and enjoy today!

 

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Miles Traveled (01/19): 100 Miles

Routes Traveled:

Arizona: S Avenue 4 E; E. County 14th; AZ-195; US-95; Plomosa Road; MM3 – BLM Land

December 1–16, 2022 Yuma and the Moon

On December 1, we left our spot behind the VFW and traveled 11 miles (US-95; Laguna Dam Road; E. County 6th; S Avenue 8 1/2 E) to Yuma Lakes RV Resort where we will be for the next 21 days.  The Resort is part of our Colorado River Adventures Membership and this past summer we upgraded our membership to include longer stays, more options, plus no more dues since Andy is over 80. 

So today, 12/1, they opened the Redondo part of the resort.  We really like this area of the park and for the first week there were only three of us here.  As of today, there are eight of us.  Redondo has around 150 sites so right now it is very roomy.

Our site:

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So what have we been up to for the last 2 weeks.  Here goes:

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Health-wise we are both doing much better.  I am over my cold but my allergies are a little crazy.  Right now I am doing the local honey and it seems to be helping. (But the looks I get when I am coughing and sneezing, oh my!)  Andy is over his pneumonia and is back to his regular self, thank God.

We made our trip into Los Algodones, Mexico to see our dentist, Dr. Roberto Arce at the Smiles Shoppe.  We have been with him since 2009 and he has worked wonders with Andy.  My dentist at home retired during Covid.  What a bummer.  Over the summer, Andy and I both had some issues and had some work done but it did not work out.  (I am trying to be nice here…sorry.)  Anyway, we were so glad to be back with Dr. Roberto.  Each of us had a consultation and were given our options.  We both choose to have implants done and he started the work right away. (Yes, he does it all!)  Our final step will be done in late March.  The cost..well about 25% of what I was quoted at home.  Heck, at home,I was sent to three doctors until I was finally told the tooth could not be saved (the first one sent me to one specialist who sent me to another specialist…sheesh!).  I spent well over $1000 just for the consultations and still no work on the tooth.  I spent $0 here for the consultation! 

We are also stocking up on our medicines at the Purple Store in Los Algodones.  They did not have everything we needed but at least we are ahead on some of them.  (Yes, cost is much better too.)

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Over the past two weeks, we checked out the local Moose Lodge, Elks Lodge, Legion, Amvets, and VFW.  Great food and a great time.

We went to a number of RV Supply stores, the Yuma Marketplace, Swap Meets, Flea Markets, Craft Shows, and Thrift Stores.  When I was home for the past few years, I started collecting Pfaltzcraft (Yorktowne Pattern) Pottery.  One of the Thrift Stores had a whole collection with some of the special pieces that she was going to give me at a good price.  But I have no place to store them – Bummer.  So I did buy a few of the smaller pieces that I do not have.  I also started collecting “yard art” and, wow, do they have some great pieces here.  (To my neighbors.. no, I did not buy anything – LOL!)

We went to the Welcome Back Snowbirds at the Civic Center in Yuma and picked up a lot of information on the area.

We also went to  “Howling at the Moon”.  It is an event held in the desert twice a month.  There is music, food and merchandise vendors.  Folks gather in mid afternoon to hear the music and when the moon comes over the mountain, everyone howls.  WHAT A HOOT!

The stage is up front with the merchandise vendors – Food Vendors were in the back:

Telegraph Hill in the distance:

The local wolf:

I do not know the story of this wolf but her party came in the same time as us and sat in the same area.  She is an older woman and dresses up and goes around the crowd.

  

Love the flag:

As the sun starts to set, the hills change into this beautiful color:

Playing with the panoramic on my camera.. not too bad.

There is a flag on the top of that hill:

The sun was setting as the moon was coming up:

And the howling started:

Folks are starting to pack up and leave.. too funny! (this was 5:30 pm):

One last shot of the moon:

What a great time!  We noticed that folks camp here for a few nights.  Also there are groups that come early with grills, coolers etc.  It is like one big party.  We will be here next month!

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And the motorhome repairs and upgrades continue…..

One of our MCD shades broke and we finally found someone to fix it - Carl at A to Z Window Fashions in the Foothills. He was wonderful!

Our toilet is finally fixed.  We contacted Dometic and they helped us with the one part but did not carry the second part.  We finally found it at Lowes.  So now it is solid and sealed – YEA!!!

Our theater seating broke and it could not be fixed – we tried and tried.  So we have been looking for a while and trying to decide what to do.  We finally found a loveseat recliner at Newberry Furniture here in Yuma and it fits perfectly plus it was on a really good sale.  Here is the funny part. When they went to put us in their system, we were already there.  Many years ago we purchased theater seating for our Bounder and we purchased it from their store (although it was under a different name.).  Small world.

Our mattress was also bad. Since Newberry’s was having a sale, we purchased a new mattress too.   Now we are getting wonderful sleeps and are very comfortable watching TV in our new furniture.

A few blogs ago I talked about our plumbing repairs and all is still working good.

The day after the furniture was delivered, the power went out in part of our RV.  Andy did the troubleshooting and we had to call a mobile repairman. He helped get the power back on temporary but he did not know if it was our invertor or something else.  Well two days later after me doing research, we called him and asked him to do a reset on the invertor.  Magnum had detailed instructions on their website.  After a hard reset we were all good again.  YEA!

So we are hoping that the gremlins have stopped chasing us!

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The weather here has been wonderful most days – I just love it!  The sunsets are magnificent!

Hope to get more pictures in the coming months!

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So what are our current plans?

We will be here at Yuma Lakes until 12/22 when we move over to our lot at KOFA KO-OP. We hope to do more touristy stuff here and reconnect with folks that we have not seen in a while. So stay tuned for that!

  

If all goes well, we hope to head to Quartzsite mid-January for the shows and rallies and reconnect with folks we have not seen in a while.  After that we have a couple options and we are not sure what we are going to do.  The only commitment we have is to be back in Yuma late March for our final dental appointments.

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I truly admire folks that update their blog every day and open their life to the world. I am not quite sure I can do that.  However I am going to try to update daily when we play tourist.

So stay tuned and enjoy today.