Yuma - Arizona 2014

3-23-14

I left Oceanside at 6:15 AM and arrived in Yuma, Arizona, at 9:00 AM. The lights on the car did not work. I used the spare cable and it did not make a difference. I took off anyway.

I had stopped in Winterhaven to check on Vicky Daly and her husband Jim. They had just left for Escondido. They will be back tomorrow.

Lola and Bruce had left for home a week ago.

I filled up the motorhome gasoline tank at Love’s and paid $ 3.47 for a gallon of gas. This is forty cents less than in Oceanside. I also emptied the black and gray holding tanks. The black tank came down to cero. This is the first time I have seen this in a long time. I have to wait whether it registers correctly when filling the tank.

When I arrived at the BLM land behind the VFW I was surprised to see Shari, Paul Aakervik, another Paul, and Randy- Randy. At 2:00 PM we went to the dance at the VFW.

There we met Lynn. She stays in Yuma in the winter.

We left at 4:00 PM and drove to Shirley’s place for Happy Hour. She also stays in a RV Park, in Yuma, during the winter. There were Mary Lou, Jack and some other WINs. 

I do not feel like driving to Wilcox to meet the group. I will stay here for a few days and then head for Casa Grande.
 
3-24-14

Yesterday evening two ultra light airplanes came over the motorhomes, while my neighbor was working on the roof of his motorhome.

On my morning walk I hiked up the hill. It is the end of the season for the snow birds. A lot of them have been heading north already. At the end of March most of them will be gone. The camping area has a lot of room. 

When I came back from my walk I drove the car on wooden blocks and checked the wire harness for the signal and brake lights, when the car is hooked up to the motorhome. The test light received electricity almost to the back of the car. Unfortunately the car was still too low for me to get to the wires. I made an appointment for Friday to have it checked out.  

At 2:00 PM I went again to the dance at the VFW Lodge. George and his friend, and Harry were there.

Today the lodge had a going away party for all the snow birds. At 4:00 PM they served a free chicken dinner. Most of us put $ 5.00 in the tip jar. The lodge probably made a little money on their free meal. The last afternoon dance will be on the 31st.

Paul Aakervik lost his kayak in Mexico. He had it placed on the side of the ocean. A strong wind came up during the night and blew it in the water.

Mel and Donna Lee had even a bigger problem. The driveshaft on Mel’s bus fell off while going down the Interstate, and his car got damaged, and two other cars were damaged by the debris. They needed two tow trucks, one for the bus and one for the car. I feel for them. You cannot go to Pep Boys and buy a drive shaft for a bus.

3-25-14

This morning I drove to Winterhaven and visited Vicky and Jim. They are busy getting their fifth wheel trailer ready to move home.

My next stop was the Quechan Indian Casino where John Priest Jr. is staying. The casino has an area where RVers can stay for free.

From the casino I went to the library and did some computer work.

I went dancing again at 2:00 PM. There were only six couples. Dale and Nelida showed up. I have not seen them since Quartzsite.

One couple danced almost every dance. He is 89 years old and she is 87. The lady does most of the dancing, he just moves along. He asked Shari to dance, then I asked his wife. She seems to know all the songs and sings along. They are a beautiful couple. 

3-26-14

It finally cooled off a bit. It came at a price though. The wind came and we had dust storms today.

I went to Home Depot to buy wood filler. It have to take it back because it is white. I need wood colored wood filler. I did not know that it comes in different colors.

My next stop was the Yuma Visitor Center. I also went to the library, and from there I drove to Bard, California. Bard is a small farming town across the Colorado River from Yuma. They have fantastic date shakes, and they are reasonably priced. I also bought a few medjool dates, eleven pounds. I could not resist a bargain. The price of a pound was $ 4.50, a two pound container $ 7.00 and an eleven pound box $ 17.50. I put some in the freezer, some in the refrigerator, and the rest is for immediate consumption.

Not very far from Imperial Date Gardens is the Cloud Museum. 

The museum probably has the largest collection of Model T’s. A lot of them are rusted. 

The cars in the barn are in good condition. 

There are also five Fordson Tractors.

Besides cars and trucks the museum has an assortment of mining equipment, early household items, farming equipment, and all kind of engines. Most of the stuff is rusted. Diana would have a ball at this place. 

In the evening I watched a group of young men play paint ball. They were shooting at each other with guns, which propelled round pellets filled with paint. The little forest, behind the camping area, is marked with different colors from this activity. 

3-27-14

All libraries in Yuma had no Internet access today. I went to the Arizona Market Place to just look around. I came home with a new pair of sneakers, shower shoes, and green bags to store vegetables. I want to try them. I also bought a bag of kettle corn. That did not make it all the way home.

Some more WINs showed up at the afternoon dance.

The Foothills Singles Club was here today for dancing. That made it very interesting.More people are heading north. There is a lot of room for parking behind the VFW.

3-28-14

In the morning I took the car in to have the electrical problem fixed. I am getting old. I should have been able to fix it myself. When I traveled with Doreen I turned on both turn signals and pushed the brake pedal. She would stand behind the car and let me know whether everything was working. Now I turned on the right turn signal, got out of the motorhome and walked behind the car. This time the right turn signal did not flash. I should have gone back in the motorhome and turned on the left one and checked it. It is too late now. All what was wrong was a burned out bulb. This is the reason I could not find anything wrong with the wiring.

From the car repair place I went to the library. Since I was early I walked into Old Town. There was not much going on that early.

I went dancing from 2:00 PM to 3:00 PM and then went with Shari to Ernie and Wanda’s house for a WIN gathering. Ernie had the WIN flag on the flag pole. 

A lot of the WINs who live in Yuma in the winter were there. 

Ernie and Wanda have a lovely, big house with three garages and room for two big motorhomes. When it gets hot in Yuma they will be traveling with us.

3-30-14

More campers are leaving the town and the VFW.

Instead of dancing at the VFW we went to Mickey B’s today. There one can dance from 3:00 PM to 7:00 PM.

Everybody brought a small side dish. The bar provided the hamburgers, hot dogs and pulled pork. They do this every Sunday. 

We had our own little table.

There was also Ron, a former WIN.

After a while the place got filled up. 

Bob and Shari had a good time dancing. 

3-31-14

This morning I drove to Gateway Park and walked to the Yuma East Wetlands. The trail follows the Colorado River. The river is pretty small and tame in Yuma. The dams upstream changed the mighty river.

I walked under the Ocean to Ocean Bridge and the railroad bridge. 

Since the park is not very far from the railroad hobos lived here during the depression. One of them helped plant thousands of trees when the wetlands was recreated. 

It was a very nice walk.

In the afternoon I danced again at the VFW. Today is the last day of the dancing season. The bands and snowbirds will be back in November.

4-2-14

There is not much going on around here. Since I have been in Yuma several times I have seen almost everything. I might go the Yuma County Fair tomorrow.

Jack England arrived Friday at the VFW. Now we are three WINs. Shari has to leave in a few days. Her 14 days are up. I have to leave next Sunday. This morning I went with Shari to Home Depot to help her buy a blind and hardware to make an awning over the refrigerator vent. She wants to make one like I made.

4-3-14

I went to the fair today. 

The bird show was very interesting. Some of the birds are actually actors and have appeared in movies. 

The petting zoo was a lot of fun for the children. The parents had to buy cups with food for the animals.

The fair is very important for the young farmers and ranchers. The teenagers displayed their pigs, sheep, goats and cattle. They win prices and can sell the animals for a lot of money. 

The Marine Corps Airbase is next to the fairgrounds and the jets came in for landings and takeoffs. It was very noisy. Ospreys came also over the fairgrounds. 

4-4-14

A big monster motorhome came today to our camping area. I would like to see the inside. 

Another, smaller motorhome also showed up. The owner is Roy. Roy is a character. He is a philosopher, psychiatrist, and helper of people. In other words he is a good talker and a very interesting person. He stays at Walmart parking lots most of the time. He paid 69 cents for a cup of coffee at McDonalds a long time ago and now he goes for free refills. He has it all figured out. He told me that he was a salesman, and has no relatives anymore. 

  

I am getting ready to leave. My fourteen day free parking is over tomorrow. Sunday I will be heading east.
Outside the Yuma library the beautiful bushes are so colorful.

 
4-6-14

I was ready to leave when I noticed that the kitchen faucet got worse. I had checked out faucets at Home Depot but did not buy one. The pots and pans under the sink are getting wet.  Since Yuma is the biggest town I will be staying in the next few weeks, I figured that I should buy the faucet here. So I drove to town and looked at faucets again. This time I looked at the connection and how the faucet is mounted. The existing faucet has a threaded stud in the center for attaching the faucet to the sink. The ones in the store had two studs. I left without a purchase. When I came back to the motorhome I took another look under the sink and noticed that the faucet had besides the center stud also the other two. I did not feel like driving again twelve miles to Home Depot and left for Wellton.

Wellton is located 30 miles east of Yuma. The BLM area seems to have no stay limit. There are two people which seem to live here all year, judging by the junk they have around their trailers.

The two fancy Foretravel motorhomes from Michigan and Illinois are here too. I had talked to the two couples when they stayed at the VFW in Yuma. Sharie is also here. She does not know yet where she will spend the next seven days before we meet the WIN group in Sedona. I will leave for Casa Grande on Tuesday.

We have a lot of room here in the desert, and it is very quiet.

The Palo Verde are in full bloom now. 

Kurt Glassell, his sister, and her husband visited me. They were riding their ATVs nearby when I called Kurt. He told me they would be at my motorhome in ten minutes. Sharie came over too and we had a lively conversation going. I forgot to take a picture.