January 27 - 29, 2024 Back to Yuma

Saturday, 27th, we said our "see you laters" and headed south to Yuma.

We arrived, set up and have been hanging out every since. Andy has been busy cleaning the dust out of the shed. I have been doing a few things in the motorhome and resting. Hope to be back to normal soon with pictures of our lot and plans to do more traveling.

So stay tuned and enjoy today.

Stats for Saturday, 27th

Miles Traveled: 99 Miles

Arizona: Plomosa Road - MM3; US-95; AZ-195 (Araby Road); East 32nd Street Avenue 3E; East County 17th Street

January 19 - 26, 2024 Our Time in Quartzsite

On Friday, 19th, we finished shutting down and away we went.

We met Sue at the VFW on US-95 - nice tank and anchor:

Past the little church:

Past the guns at the Yuma Proving Grounds entrance:

Thru border patrol checkpoint:

Thru the desert mountains:

Coming into Quartzsite - past the Big Tent:

Up and over the freeway:

We are staying with Chapters 6 and 21 of the Escapees RV Club.  Great group of folks.

After setting up and getting caught up, we headed to the American Legion in Bouse for their fish fry!  Yummy!

We finished the evening with a great campfire.

Tonight's sunset:

Love the contrails with the full moon:

Today's Stats:

Miles Traveled:  99 Miles

Arizona: East County 17th Street; Avenue 4E; East County 14th Street; AZ-195; US-95; Plomosa Road - MM3

--

Saturday, 20th, Sue and I went to the QIA (Quartzsite Improvement Association) POW WOW.  It has been many years since I have been to the show and always enjoyed it.  They did not have as many craft items and equipment that I remember but there were lots of gems and minerals.  OH MY! The colors that our earth produces.  (There should be a line in the Bible where God says: "Let there be color.")  Sadly, I did not get any pictures.

We had lunch at the QIA cafeteria and headed back to camp for a great Happy Hour and ended the evening with a campfire.

--

Sunday, 21st, Andy, Sue and I went to the Big Tent RV Show.  There were a lot more vendors than last year so that was great!  But I did miss the state and national park information centers.  We were really looking for information on Alaska since we are considering heading that way this summer.

The entrance to the Big Tent:

Check this out:

Years ago, we use to leave the guys here while the girls went shopping.  Good memories.

We had lunch at the famous Quartzsite Yacht Club - Yummy.  Sadly, this is their last year unless they can sell.

There was a Happy Hour and Campfire tonight but I was not feeling well. (Still can't shake whatever I caught.)  Andy had a great time though.

There was rain off and on today and they are calling for heavy rains for the next few days - Bummer!

---

Monday, 22nd,  Andy and I were up early heading to Yuma (with the truck only).  It was lot transfer day.  So in between the rain drops, we moved our stuff from our shed on Lot 77 to our shed on Lot 30.  Our meeting was at 2 PM and since we finished the moving early, we were able to do some wash and go to lunch at In-n-Out Burger.  At 2 PM, we signed all the papers and we were off, with a short stop at Walmart.

The rain was heavy and about 15 miles south of Quartzsite, the washes were flowing over the roads.  Very scary but we made it thru and back to the RV.  All is good.

---

Tuesday, 23rd was a hang out day.  We did have some rain off and on but then it cleared in time for a campfire.

Sue's dog, Annie:

Our area:

Tonight's sunset and moonrise:

What a beautiful day!

---

Wednesday, 24th, was Party on Plomosa Day!  The Escapee RV Club has many chapters and groups and many of them have their rallies around Quartzsite during this time of year.   So one day during this week, the club sponsors a gathering so all Escapees can get together and socialize.  There was bands, food, announcements about the club as well as a row of information on different activities of the club.

It was good to see some folks I have not seen in a while and so many I did not know.  The club is changing and growing.

Our friends, John and Geri, did not camp here this year but came in for the day to visit.  It was so great seeing them and getting caught up. Hopefully we will see them later this season.

We finished the evening with a great Happy Hour and Campfire.

---

Thursday, 25th - Big Day Today.

Andy and I joined both Chapters 21 (Arizona) and 6 (Michigan and Northeast).  This morning was the Chapter 21 breakfast followed by their meeting.  Breakfast was outstanding.  I made Hash Brown Casserole and found out that it is called funeral potatoes in the west - Interesting.  All the food was yummy.

This afternoon started with a Polar/Grizzly Bear Party - Alcoholic and Non-Alcoholic.  (Polar was vanilla ice cream and Grizzly was chocolate ice cream.)

Andy and Mike volunteered to do the creating:

The day continued with a taco party late afternoon.  What a great day.

All contributions to the food and drinks are for the benefit of Escapees Care.  How wonderful.

The campfire was ongoing all day and continued into the evening as the full moon rose and we had our own howling at the moon.  (We could hear howling all around us so there were quite a few moon parties going on!)

---

Friday, 26th, Andy, Sue, and I decided to roam Tyson Wells Sell-A-Rama.  It was great to see all the vendors.  Last year, there was many empty rows, this year all of the rows were full.  Tyson Wells has a little bit of everything and then some - LOL!

Love the yard art.. now if only I can find a way to bring a few of these creatures home.

We had lunch at Silly Al's Pizza and then headed back.  A beautiful evening around the campfire with the full moon - life doesn't get any better than this.

-----

This ends our stay in Quartzsite.  There was so much more I wanted to see and do plus visit a few of the groups but I am still not feeling the best.  Because of that we decided to head back to Yuma to check out our new lot and for me to try to get back to normal. So stay tuned for our next adventures and enjoy today.

-----

January 30–February 20, 2023 Emerald Cove Part 1

On January 30th, we packed up and headed north towards Parker – with me driving. We crossed the bridge from Parker (AZ) to Earp (CA) and made our way to Emerald Cove where we were for three weeks.  We really like this park and this area.

So what were we up to..  Well…

-----------

Maintenance and Cleaning

It seems like every time we leave Quartzsite, we have to clean the dust/sand from the inside and the outside plus do lots of laundry.  And we did the same again.

We also had a flat tire that turned out to be the tire stem.  Our roadside service fixed us up quickly and no problems since.

-----------

Emerald Cove

This park has a very nice bar and grill and a nice Happy Hour daily.  Yep, we did go most days and had a lot of fun plus met folks who stay here seasonally.  They also have daily meals and daily specials that are reasonable.  Yes, it was great to take some days off from cooking.

Every night we would hear the donkeys and some nights even the coyotes.  And some days we even saw the donkeys on their way to the river:

The Colorado River – yes, the resort is right on the river:

There are cool metal sculptures near the entrance:

There are also donkey sculptures but for some reason I did not get pictures.

-----------

Road Trips

We took a few road trips around the area.  Lots of pictures in the next blog.

A few pictures from our trips]

Parker Dam:

Bill Williams Refuge:

More residents – LOL!

Beautiful!

 

 

-----------

Family Visit

Our Daughter Sandy and Grandson Rick came to visit us on Super Bowl Weekend.  What a wonderful treat spending time with them and getting caught up. Hopefully next season, they can come for a week and we can rent one of the cabins here. (Mike, we missed you!)

Andy, Sandy, Rick:

  

 

Diane, Sandy, Rick:

 

Of course, we watched the Super Bowl.  First at the Club and then we went back to the MH where we could hear – .  Great game!

----------

Trips to Quartzsite

While in the craft store in Quartzsite I signed up for two wire wrapping classes.  So two Wednesday’s I made the trip south.

Here is one of my works:

    

 

It is not the best but it finally clicked in my brain. (I have taken other classes and I just didn’t get it – LOL).  So I am excited to try a few more pieces.

We also took another day trip to Tyson Wells.  They have their Craft and Gem Fair after the Sell-A-Rama.  Sadly there were not many vendors there.  I truly hope it picks up in the next few years.

----------

Dusty

Over the last few weeks I noticed that my kitty Dusty was starting to lose weight.  I switched him over to the higher calorie food and it seemed to stop the weight loss.  When we first got here, I picked him up and he cried in pain so we went on the hunt for a vet that would take him.  The closest we could find was in Kingman – 90 miles away.  So off we went.  His kidney numbers were poor and they kept him in the hospital for 4 days on fluids to flush the kidneys.  The numbers did come down but not to the normal range so we had to change his diet to a prescription food.   We went back 10 days later for another test and the numbers were going back up so we started him on subcutaneous fluids.  We go back next week to see if that helps.

For those who do not know what that is, here is a link: https://vcahospitals.com/know-your-pet/subcutaneous-fluid-administration-in-cats.  I will tell you that it is heartbreaking for me to do this.  A few years ago we had to do this with Bella and it broke my heart.  But it worked.  We are hoping it works with Dusty.

____________

My next blog will be on our road trip. 

  

Miles Traveled (01/30): 46 Miles

Routes Traveled:

Arizona: Plomosa Road; US-95; CA-62; Parker Dam Road

 

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:

-------

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

---

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.

-------

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!)

-------

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!

-------

Quartzsite

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

-------

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:

-------

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!

 

-------

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