LUNCH WITH PETER & PATTY FROM RAINBOW ACRES

THE OLD YUMA ROAD LOOKING NORTH….Back in the 1800’s this would have been a horse path with probable wagon wheel ruts marking an old dusty trail from Yuma heading north to other dusty little western towns.  We are parked just a few hundred feet from the road & at night we can hear the creaking of old ghostly wagon trains on the trail heading for the gold fields in California & Arizona.   We can hear the galloping of horses & the plodding of mules mixed with the shouts of trail bosses, the grumbling of wagoneers, & the bumpy chatter of children in wagons.

                               

FELLOW BOONDOCKERS WELL SPACED OUT IN THE DESERT

If Max hadn't woke me up at 2 a.m I wouldn't have been up & on the computer until 5 in the morning before going back to bed again & re-getting up at 7:30.  Not exactly my idea of a good night's sleep but at least I was able to get some long overdue things caught up in my Picasa photo editing program.

                            

Sunny morning with a warming breeze as we watched 3 more rigs pull  out around 10.  The desert is really opening up.  Bit of a clean up in the motorhome, read some blogs, soaked up a bit of sun, & just basically loafed around until noon. 

THAT IS RAINBOW ACRES IN THE BACKGROUND ABOUT 3 MILES AWAY BUT THE TELEPHOTO LENS PIC MAKES IT APPEAR CLOSER

Last year while parked here in this same spot a couple fellows rode in out of the desert one morning on their ATV's.  Figured they were going to take issue of the way I was flying our flags, but no, turns out one of the fellas was a blog follower.  From my description of where we were he knew where to find us.  That is how we met Pete & his neighbor Ed.  Tuesday when we returned from downtown Quartzite there was a note stuck in our door from Peter & his wife Patty saying they had dropped by to say hello.  Guess Pete’s still following the Bayfield Bunch.  Peter & Patty live about 3 miles north of our location.

A few emails whizzed back & forth & we agreed to do lunch today so P & P picked us up at noon & we all headed into Quartzite for lunch at the same place we were the day before...Bad Boy.

                            

PETER IN THE RED T-SHIRT SLIPS AROUND THE TABLES WHILE PATTY & KELLY CHECK OUT THE MENU

Like all RV couples we have met, Peter & Patty are a charming couple with a lot of RV miles under their belts over the years & from talking to them I can tell we share a lot of the same interests regarding RVing & people in general.  Peter is the laid back one of the two & Patty shares my impatience with computers. 

                                

KELLY TAKES A DEERPARK LODGE CALL JUST BEFORE THE FOOD ARRIVES  (click on pics to enlarge)

Had a nice lunch on Bad Boy's shaded patio.  P & P  have a winter place located in Rainbow Acres just a few miles southwest of Quartzite.  We can actually see the development where they live across the desert to the north of us.  They have their 38' Safari Class A motorhome parked on a lot for the winter months & travel up into Washington State during the summer volunteering as camp hosts, etc, at various parks.  They will return again this summer to Jarrell Cove State Marine Park in Glacier National Park.

A 700mm TELEPHOTO SHOT OF RAINBOW ACRES.  THE SMALL WHITE RETANGLE LEFT OF CENTER IN THE MOUNTAIN IS AN 18 WHEELER ON I-10 HEADING WEST INTO CALIFORNIA.

Just a few days after Peter & Ed dropped in that morning last year another fellow blogger tracked us down & we got to meet John from JOHN & BRENDA'S INCREDIBLE ADVENTURE.  Another one of those good RV people:))

                                

ED & PETE IN JANUARY 09                                      JOHN IN JANUARY 09

Our last closest neighbor left this afternoon around 3 so the nearest rig to us now is about a quarter to half a mile away.  Nice respectable buffer zone I'd say.  Sure is nice to look out & not see any rigs on 3 of our 4 sides.  Maybe we'll stay here until April now.  Ok, ok, just kidding.  Our next stop will probably be Borrego Springs in California soon.  For sure there will be lots of room over there in the wide open desert as well.

A VERY RELAXING DAY:))

Tomorrow we may head south down the highway a bit with the car then head east on Palm Canyon Road to see what we can see.  We hear it's a nice scenic drive back up there in the Kofa mountains.  Saturday we might have a look around the Bouse area & Sunday we just might boogie west for Borrego:))  Of course all those things hinge on the word...........'might:))'  No rules, no regulations, no problem!!

OLD YUMA ROAD LOOKING SOUTH TOWARDS YUMA MANY MILES AWAY

GROANER'S CORNER:((  While making rounds, a doctor points out an X-ray to a group of medical students.'As you can see,' she says, 'the patient limps because his left fibula and tibia are radically arched. Morris, what would you do in a case like this?''Well,' ponders the student, 'I suppose I'd limp too.'

BLOGGER WEBSITE http://thebayfieldbunch.com/

OUR PHOTO ALBUMS  http://picasaweb.google.com/stargeezerguy/

The only thing better than right now will someday be the memories of right now....AL.

YUMA.....WE'RE KINDA GETTING TO LIKE THIS PLACE

THIS WAS ONCE A PERSON'S HOME

We are only a half mile from a busy mainline double tracked railroad, but the heavy freight train whistles have never bothered us. Something about their mournful sound far off in the night seems re-assuring. Something about trains in a lot of us I guess.

Our morning walk brought us across a scene that was familiar to us. Scattered clothes, boots, suitcases, toothbrush, books, old cans, a rumpled sleeping bag, collapsed tent, etc. The remnants of a once living & breathing human being, scattered about on the desert floor. I find it always sad to think that what I'm looking at is the end of a person's way of life........ or perhaps their very life itself. Who the person was or where they have gone we'll never know, but what they left behind will remain in my mind for a long time. And the photos I took as well. THE SCATTERED REMAINS OF SOMEBODY'S LIFE

Decided to do the old mining town hike on Saturday morning instead of to-day. We were out of bananas, low on milk, & getting low on dog food so it was off to Yuma this morning. Seems odd to be way out here in the dusty wind swept desert & then a short 20 minutes later we're in the Yuma Palms Mega shopping Mall with huge palm trees, pansies & snap dragons in manicured flowerbeds. It's a crazy world I tell ya. I refused to go back to that IGA grocery store with the horribly loud Mexican music so we managed to find us a Wal-Mart Super Center not far from the Yuma Palms Mall.

The State Line between Arizona & California runs right through the west end of Yuma along the Colorado River. On the Arizona side the time might be 10 a.m. & a few inches away on the California side, the same time is 11 a.m. By the same token, we got gas in Arizona to-day for $1.59 a gallon & if we had crossed the state line into California, that same amount gas would have cost us $2.19 a gallon. Also, upon entering California, every vehicle is required to stop at an Agricultural check point & could be searched for citrus, fruits or vegetables because of potential bugs or something coming into the State. At least that's what we think it's for. And they wonder where all the Government money goes!! Yep, crazy world alright!!

We were back to the rig by 2 & unloaded the 650 bags of groceries. Ok, well at least it seemed like that many. Had an unexpected little visitor this afternoon. We always leave our door wide open & sure enough, a tiny hummingbird flew into the motorhome this afternoon. Poor little fellow couldn't figure out why he couldn't just keep on going through the big windshield, so I quietly explained things to him & not to worry. He placed his trust in me, sat in my hand while I carefully cupped him with my other hand & then gently moved him to the open window, wished him well & he was free once again. He was a happy little guy because I could here him humming contentedly to himself as he winged his way off in the direction of the distant mountains.

OUR LITTLE VISITOR

Stretched out later on the lounge chair & soaked up some sun shine. Watched 3 border patrol vehicles whiz by & head off into the desert. Yep, life goes on...........ME & MY LITTLE SUPER PAL, MOTORMOUSE......... CATCHING SOME RAYS

I've uploaded a few photos to an album to-night.

OUR PHOTO ALBUMS http://picasaweb.google.com/stargeezerguy/