SCOUTING THE MEXICAN BORDER APPROACH AND MALL CRAWLING IN THE YUMA PALMS

SUNRISE:))

Love the sweet smell of the desert after a rain.  Don’t love the soft goopy sand and fine gravely mud that is left behind and sticks like glue to shoes and paws though.  The rainbow after the rain formed a perfect arch from end to end with intensely bright colors close to the ground.  At times a faint second rainbow appeared close to the ground at either end.  No structures or obstacles in the way out here in the desert west of Yuma so we could see the whole rainbow from end to end.  It arced so far even my 18mm wide angle lens could not fit it all in.  It was the best rainbow I have ever seen and it lasted a good 20 minutes or more.  My rainbow photos are at the end of this post.

LOOKS LIKE I MAY HAVE CAUGHT A ‘SHOOTING STAR’ IN THIS PHOTO

THE IMPERIAL SAND DUNES ARE VISIBLE TO THE WEST OF US

A SATURDAY MORNING FREIGHT TRAIN RUMBLES THROUGH THE DESERT ON IT’S WAY TO YUMA

I THINK A UFO JUST BEAMED UP STRAIGHT THROUGH THOSE CLOUDS

After Friday afternoons rains the soft sandy wash alongside our Motorhome was a bit sqooshy so we took our morning walk on higher ground along hard packed sandy gravel.  We so love the long wide sweeping views that go for miles and miles here in the southwest.  Unobstructed sunrises and sunsets every day.  We so much miss that in Bayfield where we are surrounded by trees and greenery.  In Congress we could at least see the sunrises and sunsets better but they were always partially obstructed by a Mesquite trees, neighbor’s buildings and all kinds of power lines and poles.  Just can’t tell you enough how much we are enjoying our new freedom.

WE SURE DO LOVE OUR WIDE SWEEPING VISTAS HERE IN THE SOUTHWEST

All 3 of us piled into the Jeep about 7:30 this morning and headed off to Yuma to scout out a few things, hit a grocery store, pick up some gas and pop into my very much most favoritist mall of ever.  The Yuma Palms.

SPOTTED THESE FARM WORKERS ON OUR WAY TO YUMA

Our scouting trip hauled us off I-8 onto Algodones Road at the big Quechan Casino.  No, we’re not Casino people but we wanted to have us a look at their parking lot which is widely used by RV’ers when making day trips into Algodones a short distance away to the south.  We’ve never had an interest in going over to Algadonas over the years so this was our first time in this area.  Only reason for going there is that I have an early Monday morning appointment for new dentures at the Rubio Clinic across the border so we wanted to check things out before heading over there Monday.

THIS IS CALLED THE ‘AMERICAN CANAL’ AND THAT MOUNTAIN IN THE DISTANCE IS CALLED PILOT KNOB

We had thought of moving our Motorhome to the big Casino parking lot Sunday but one drive through there quickly put an end to that idea.  We had not expected it to be so crowded with so many RVs.  No way Jose were we going to come over there and be crammed in slide to slide with lines of other RV’ers.  Nosireeee not a chance!!  Ok plan B.  Drove the short distance down to the border checking out a couple more boon-docking areas along the way.  Had us look at the humungus parking area on the American side of the border and decided we will probably roll out of our current spot on Ogilby Road early Monday morning and drive the Motorhome and Jeep right straight to the big American parking lot and stay there for the night Monday.  Think it’s $22 for an overnighter.

LESS THAN A COUPLE MILES OUT THERE IS THE MEXICAN BORDER

I have 3 appointments for Monday alone and another one for Tuesday.  Our prime concern is for Pheebe and we did not want to leave her alone all day Monday in the rig.  Parked with the coach right at the border Kelly can come back and be with Pheebs while I wait out my second and third appointments in Mexico.  We bought a security ankle monitor at Best Buy today to put on my ankle Monday so Kelly can monitor my whereabouts if I get lost over there all by myself.  From the border area we slipped into the west end of Yuma sliding off I-8 onto 16th street heading south.  This is familiar territory for us as we slipped into a Chevron station for gas then a block or two south to the Smart & Final grocery store for a few things.

Back out onto 16th and headed north overtop I-8 to the Palms Mall.  This mall is my favorite mall of all time for a few simple reasons starting with all it’s trees and greenery.  It’s like a mall in a forest and I like that feeling. I am always comforted by trees.  This is a very large mall but easy to get around in and I love the southwest colors used on all the retail stores and eateries.  Love the landscaping with it’s grass boulevards, and did I mention all the trees.

Turning off 16th into the mall on Castle Dome Avenue our first stop was to our immediate left.  Kneaders is a bakery cafe, we have eaten here before, and it’s one of Kelly’s favorite places.  Usually we get take-out because this popular place is generally stacked to the rafters with patrons.  However early this morning there were only a few people about so we slipped inside for some eats.  Yummy stuff and reasonably priced.

MY HALF TURKEY SANDWICH AND BOWL OF CHICKEN NOODLER SOUP

IN THE BACKGROUND CAN BE SEEN THE MOVIE THEATER KELLY AND I LIKE

Our next stop was Pet Smart for some doggy food and Pheebs really liked this store because she came in with us.  She loved all the new smells and especially in the dog food aisles.  People stopped to talk to her, kids came up and petted her and the cashier loved her.  Pheebs makes friends wherever she goes…….unlike her grumpy old Dad.

CRUISNG PET SMART’S DOGGY FOOD AISLES

 

I THINK THESE GUYS WERE EYEING OUR SLIGHLY OPEN WINDOW AS AN OPENING TO OUR GROCERIES INSIDE

A few stores down from Pet Smart was Best Buy and we had a few things to look at and pick up there.  A pair of Sony headphones for me to listen to my Sirius Satellite radio while Kelly watches her night time TV shows.  (although we set up our TV satellite dish Friday we only turned on the TV for about 5 minutes so far)  I also replaced both SD cards in my Nikon cameras.  Had some problems with them and I think I just wore the old cards out with my thousands upon thousands of photos over the years.

My old trusty and exceptionally reliable Toshiba Satellite laptop computer is neary 6 years old and has exhibited some worrisome signs of it’s age recently.  The hard drive is nearly at it’s capacity and a sudden computer crash would totally sink me.  That worry has been on my mind for quite awhile.  I have to plug it in all the time too since the battery is shot.  Did we want to spend money on a new battery for an aging computer or spend money to add extra memory??  Not really so with everything considered it was decided a new computer was the right way to go and probably cheaper in the long run.  Kelly has an Asus Zenbook which she has been really pleased with so we decided to add a second Asus to the family.

AWWWW NUTS!!  TIME TO PAY UP:((

My new Asus specs:  Q524UQ-BBI7T14 2-in-1 15.6" Touch-Screen Laptop - 6th gen Intel Core i7-6500U - 12GB Memory - 2TB Hard Drive……With my aging eyes the backlit keyboard is a biggy for me.  Great sound system and it even comes with it’s own separate sub-woofer which makes the already great sound even a whole lot greater.  Sound quality is another biggy for me.  As I type this tonight Kelly is working on setting it all up for me.

THAT’S MY ASUS ON HER LAP

By the time we got out of Best Buy we were both needing some R&R so we hightailed it out of Yuma fast as we could and headed back to our quiet little people and traffic free sanctuary in the desert.  Despite some clouding in the morning the day finally got a grip on itself and ended up pouring an abundance of sunshine down upon us.

OUR DESTINATION HOME IS JUST ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THOSE CARGO MUCHACHO MOUNTAINS ON THE HORIZON

So here we are at the end of another year and what can I say about it.  Well, sitting here for the longest while trying to think of something to say tonight I kind of came up blank.  Not that it was a blank year of course but my mind stumbles a bit trying to think of everything.  The sale of our Congress house which ramped up in the Spring and finally sold in late Fall is the biggy of course.  My many morning Jeep drives with Pheebs in the summer probably comes through as my best times for that period and our being back on the road traveling in our RV is definitely the highlight to end the year.  And of course a big thanks to all my readers for allowing me to embarrass and make light of myself for yet another whole year.  Happy New Year folks and I wish nothing but the best for all of you…….:))

FRIDAY AFTERNOON’S RAINBOW

NEEDLESS TO SAY BOTH MY CAMERA AND I WERE A BIT ON THE SOGGY SIDE BY THE TIME WE RETREATED BACK INTO THE RIG

I was just about to hit the ‘Publish’ button when I amazingly enough remembered some asked for questions regarding our recent coach battery swap.  Four wet cell Interstate GC2-XHD-UTL. 6 Volt 232 AMP/HR Deep Cell batteries.  $119.99 each.  Go Power 25 amp Regulator $129.00.  Total labor $60.00 and it was on the labor charge where I feel Mike cut us the break.  Their time spent on installing the batteries, trouble shooting the old regulator problem and installing a new regulator which took a bit of cutting to fit in was well over an hour…………

GROANER’S CORNER:(( My wife still hasn't told me what my New Year's resolutions are.

- An optimist stays up until midnight to see the new year in. A pessimist stays up to make sure the old year leaves.

- A new years resolution is something that goes in one year and out the other.

- If you make a New Year’s resolution to eat a healthy diet, and you keep it, you won’t actually live longer, but it will seem longer.

- Youth is when you're allowed to stay up late on New Year's Eve. Middle age is when you're forced to.

- Who has time to party on New Year's Eve? It takes me all evening to set my clocks ahead a year.

- Deer readers, my gnu years resolution is to tell you a gazelleon times how much I caribou you! Sorry. Bad puns. Alpaca bag and leave.

- And last but not least may all your troubles last as long as your New Year's resolutions.

LAUNDRY AT THE GOLD ROCK RANCH, FAILING MEMORY WOES, AND THE MOST BEAUTIFUL RAINBOW

LATE THIS AFTERNOON WE SAW THE MOST BEAUTIFUL RAINBOW I HAVE EVER SEEN AND I WILL HAVE MORE PHOTOS OF THIS RAINBOW IN MY NEXT POST OR TWO

As Jackie Gleason aka Ralph Kramden often said, “Oh how sweet it is” and that is exactly how I felt when we finally reached an area Thursday afternoon with a strong and speedy Verizon internet connection.  The past week in Borrego Springs with an internet connection slow enough for a sail to race away from was a real pain in the patooty.  It took me many long frustrating hours to do each of my posts then more agonizing hours waiting and waiting and waiting for it to publish.  Very much most frustrating blogging week I have ever encountered.

SUNRISE AT OUR HOUSE THIS MORNING

YUMA IS JUST THE OTHER SIDE OF THAT MOUNTAIN

It was our first night with new batteries and we noticed a big difference right off the bat.  Instead of constantly de-charging and causing us to run our generator on a lot we have remained at full battery power .  Glad we made the decision we did.  I’m still not happy with our T-Mobile phone coverage though.  Called Aunt Jean in Florida Thursday night and twice the call was dropped but we found out this morning after an ‘advisory’ text from T-Mobile that our cell phone signal was locked onto a Mexican phone tower and a $1.79 a minute rate was in effect.  Kelly quickly got onto that problem this afternoon finding out some info on-line then changing some settings on our cell phone.  Normal phone rates once again apply.  I don’t ever recall having these kinds of problems with my trusty old rotary phone when I once had one last Millennium. 

SUNRISE ON THE MUCHACHOS

DESERT DRIFTWOOD

A FEW OF OUR DISTANT NEIGHBORS TAKEN WITH MY TELEPHOTO LENS

OUR CLOSEST NEIGHBORS

IF WE WERE STAYING HERE FOR ANY LENGTH OF TIME WE WOULD MOVE FURTHER BACK CLOSER TO THE MUCHACHOS WITH NOT SO MANY VISIBLE NEIGHBORS

Had us a great walk this morning and it’s the wide open spaces with it’s unlimited walking opportunities in all directions that is one of the many pluses of this area west of Yuma.  No people or traffic interruptions or congestion, just Mother Nature’s relaxing wonders.  In previous years we scouted out all the areas on Yuma Northeast side but none of them appealed to us simply because there are just waaaaaay too many people over there for us.  Can’t remember how many times over the years we’ve been here to this Ogilbe Road boon-docking location but I’m guessing easily half a dozen or more.  Have never stayed in the same spot twice though. 

A COOL MORNING BREEZE HAS KELLY SWINGING HER JACKET BACK ON

GOOD TO GO:))

    

KELLY FOUND THIS OLD RUSTY SPOON ON OUR MORNING WALK

First order of business this morning was laundry and luckily we knew exactly where to go.  No not to a busy crowded laundromat in Yuma but a quiet almost deserted little place called Gold Star Ranch just a few miles from where we are camped.  A long dusty road leads off Ogilby Road west into the desert just across from the old ghost town of Tumco in the Cargo Muchacho mountains.  Here’s my link to the day we hiked in and explored around the old mining site back on December 20th 2008.  The Old Tumco Mining Townsite.

Had been a long time since we had been into the Gold Star Ranch and RV Park to do laundry and everything looked pretty much the same this morning as it had years ago.  Maybe a little more dustier and tired looking.  As expected there was nobody doing laundry and as a matter of fact we didn’t really see anyone doing much of anything anywhere.  Of course we smiled knowing that’s exactly why we always like this quaint little still operating RV Park that has seen better days.  There are folks living here year round who are true desert dwellers.

The washing machines are only a dollar each and the 40 minute dryer is $1.75.  While clothes were being laundered we walked around and had us a look at things we had wandered around and had us a look at before.  I have taken photos of a few old trucks here several times before and this morning I took a few more pictures of those same old trucks all over again.

Waiting for clothes to dry Kelly and I sat on a green bench outside the door.  Sun was trying it’s best to make it’s way through a growing cloud cover as a slightly cool breeze raised up a little dust in the parking area.  Sitting quietly on that bench I said to Kelly, ‘you know I am happier sitting here right on this bench right now than I would be sitting in our Congress house’.  Kelly agreed and we both talked about how much better we both feel mentally and physically now that the house has been sold and we are free to travel again.

ON THE GREEN BENCH OUTSIDE THE GOLD ROCK RANCH LAUNDRY ROOM

We were back to our rig before noon and set up the satellite dish.  I pointed the dish 163 degrees into the southwest sky and nailed the bird right on.  We might not have set the dish up at all but with our weather sites predicting rain over the next few days we knew it would give us another entertainment option.  Within half an hour of setting up our dish the rains came and that was the end of our ourside afternoon being.  I was actually happy to see the rain because Libby was really needing to get some of that Borrego Badlands muddy sand washed off her.

THIS AFTERNOON’S STEADY BUT BRIEF RAINS BROUGHT US MORE THAN A MUDDY DESERT….IT BROUGHT US BEAUTIFUL RAINBOWS

IT WAS A COMPLETE RAINBOW FROM END TO END BUT EVEN MY WIDE 18mm LENS WAS NOT ABLE TO CAPTURE IT IN IT’S ENTIRETY

I WILL HAVE MORE PHOTOS OF IT IN MY NEXT COUPLE POSTS

I have an absolutely terrible time at remembering to answer reader’s questions when they come in either by comments on the blog, the Shout Box, or even emails.  It seems if I don’t answer a question immediately chances are it will slip away on me.  I keep thinking I will remember to do things later such as answering emails or questions, making a phone call, check the oil, close cupboard doors, leave comments on blogs, remember my clothes in either the washer or dryer, remember to turn things off at night, and the list goes endlessly on.  I have an impossible time remembering pin numbers, people’s names, and sometimes even if I have met someone before or not.  Meeting bobM in Borrego a week ago I couldn’t remember if I had met him before.  Bloggerfest 2016 maybe??  Ten seconds into somebody explaining something to me and I’ve already forgot what the first 5 seconds was about and that’s the reason Kelly has to pay such close attention to things like our solar installation for example.  Her mind for the most part is able to absorb the technical information where my mind seems to block it.  How many amps is our solar system??  Don’t know.  How many tires you got on your Motorhome??  Beats me.  Tell me what color your socks are??  What are socks:((  Yet my long term memory is generally very keen.  In our family here it is Kelly with the sharp short term memory and me with the better access to the cobwebs of the past.  What sparked this paragraph is when in Gmail this morning I noticed a 3 week old overlooked email (again) from a fella regarding crested Saguaros that I had totally forgot to answer.  He was waiting for me to respond to a few questions he needed answered about photo and name publication.   Some emails I have remembered to answer right away while others I can’t remember if I answered or not and some regrettably slip right through the cracks on me totally.  Each time I think to myself I have to try harder to remember things and each time I seem to forget and fall flat on my face.  It’s something I get down on myself about.  Can I blame this problem on aging?  Can I blame it on too much peanut butter and not enough broccoli?  Can I blame it on the bad old drinking days destroying brain cells or can I just blame it on my own inattention to things??  Now where in the hell did I leave my glasses again!!

AT THE GOLD ROCK RANCH THIS MORNING

GROANER’S CORNER:(( It seems a farm boy accidentally overturned his wagon-load of corn. The farmer who lived nearby heard the noise. "Hey Wilmer!" the farmer yelled. "Forget your troubles. Come in and have a bite with us. Then I'll help you get the wagon up."  "That's mighty nice of you," Wilmer answered. "But I don't think Pa would like me to."  "Aw, come on." the farmer insisted.  "Well okay," the boy finally agreed, and added, "But Pa won't like it."  After a hearty dinner, Wilmer thanked his host. "I feel a lot better now, but I know Pa is going to be real upset."  "Don't be foolish!" the neighbor said with a smile. "By the way, where is your Pa?" Wilmer replied, "Under the wagon."

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Shut Up and Trouble were walking down a path. Trouble got lost. So, Shut Up went to the police officer. The police officer asked, "What's your name?" He answered, "Shut Up."
He asked again "What's your name?"
"Shut Up." The police officer asked, "Are you looking for trouble?!"  "Yeah, I lost him down a path about two miles ago."