Yuma

In Yuma we settled into the driveway of our friends of nearly 40 years, Dan and Cindy. Dan and I worked for the same Sheriff's Department in Washington State nearly 40 years ago. We both took a test at a Sheriff's Department in the Olympic Peninsula, Dan was hired and later became Undersheriff then County Administrator. I stayed where we started, became Undersheriff and eventually moved on into other Public Safety fields. Dan and Cindy have had a "winter" home in Yuma for many years. We found this out about six years ago on our first adventure to Arizona. We ran into them in, of all places, the historic Yuma Territorial Prison. Trying to keep Debbie and Cindy quiet at that meeting was impossible.  We had visited Dan and Cindy about two years ago, and at that time tried to squeeze our motor home through a 10 foot wide gate, off a 20 foot wide road. Did not quite fit. This time I maneuvered through Dan's 18 foot gate and 30 foot wide road with ease.

Snuggled into the driveway

With electric and water, we were set for adventure.

While we were in Yuma we did lots of miscellaneous things, besides spending time visiting. A trip to Algodones, Mexico was one of the sites. 

One of the busy streets in Algodones

Dan and Cindy have been going here for years and know many of the shop owners. It is an interesting experience. But, with temptations like hammered silver earrings, and hand crafted Tequila, it can be an expensive outing. When we were here two years ago, a Driver's License was all that was required to cross the border back into the US. Now a Passport or enhanced Driver's License is required. This is the second time that Deb and I have been to Algodones. Both times with Dan and Cindy. Not much appeared to have changed. I felt more comfortable on this trip than in past trips. Probably because of the comfort level that Dan and Cindy have with visiting there. Algodones survives on the snowbirds. The number of Americans and Canadians that frequent the town is amazing. 

Restaurant Yuma in Algodones

For this reason there is a visible presence of Police and Military. Dental work, glasses, prescription (non-narcotic) medicine, along with the liquor and jewelry keep the town alive. One of the things that you have to get used to is the number of people trying to get you to buy their wares. You have to learn to just keep walking, and accept that they might follow you a block or so to try and convince you that you need what they have. And if you are sitting down eating at a restaurant, be prepared to have vendors come up to your table and try and sell you things. Negotiation is another skill that is helpful. Don't settle for the price stated the first time. And treat them with respect. Like anyone, they have goods or services you want so treat them the same as you would treat people north of the border. When you cross back into the US, there can be long lines waiting to get through. Like everything, the wait time can hinge on the number of Border Patrol/Customs Agents that are on duty and how long it takes for you to show your passport and display what you have purchased

Part of a day was spent exploring a couple of flea markets in Yuma. One had vendors of new merchandise of every shape and size. From kitchen utensils to just about any RV accessory you wanted. The other was termed the "Mexican" flea market. This had a combination of new and used items for sale. Some sections looked like a giant garage sale with used clothing, tools, electronics and what not. This was where I had my first Churros. Churros, also known as Mexican Crullers or Spanish Fritters are a mixture of flour, oil and water. The dough is extruded through a star shaped tip into hot oil and fried golden brown. It is then rolled in cinnamon & sugar mixture. Each "stick" is about 10 - 12 inches long, it is a wonderful treat. I would have sworn that it was made with cornmeal, but every recipe I found calls for regular white flour or Bisquick.

The one thing that did initially strike us as interesting was the amount of RV equipment and accessories that we saw. Then we realized that this was snowbird heaven and a large number of these snowbirds have an RV.

Exploring the country side was also on the list. Dan and his friend Bill took me to their playroom out in the middle of the desert, about 18 miles east of Yuma. 

Here, they, some friends and the property owner store their desert driving machines. A place that they helped the owner build. It even has restroom facilities and above all a refrigerator stocked with the essentials, beer and water. The owner has put a couple of RV electrical pedestals on the property should one of his friends want to stay there in an RV. From here, looking around you see - desert.

Desert, East of Yuma, around Wellton

I did get a chance to play some golf. Dan and Bill are members of a nice little course not far from their home. This is one of many golf courses in the Yuma area. On a golf course you can usually see any number of birds and wildlife like these long beaked birds.

Dan even told me what they are, but memories can be like golf balls - you might lose a few.

I know it is here somewhere

 But, this was a nice course, though I can't remember the name of the birds I did not lose any golf balls.

I even took a bike ride to one of the many snowbird villages in the Yuma area.

Dan coming back to check on my progress

The setting is very nice. Then there was this one

Park Model Homes in a community in Ligurta

located in Ligurta, about 10 miles east of Yuma. We also got to see a few sunsets like this one.

Sunset from Dan & Cindy's Driveway

After five nights in our friends driveway it was time to leave and head toward home. Until next time -

Arizona Trip 2013 - Part two

Day two found us leaving the Lordsburg, NM Travel Information Center, traveling West on I-10. We had seen news reports of a massive multi-vehicle dust storm related accident on I-10 in the Phoenix area. Though we would be south of there, signs along the road provided a constant warning of things that may occur. In a dust storm they advise you to pull to the side of the road and turn off your lights. I can understand pulling to the side of the road, but I guess the lights of your vehicle would cause a glare and cause another driver to thing you were in the traffic lane. About 70 miles into Arizona we stopped at the Texas Canyon Rest Area. 

Even if you don't need to use the facilities this is a great place to stop and just admire the scenery. The giant rocks sticking up, "like a giant put them there" according a friend of ours. This also gives you the first warning signs about life in the desert. You know the one "everything out there will stick you, bite you or sting you."  This is advice I follow.  On this trip we did find something new at the Rest Area - a monument to Officer Noah Merrill of the Arizona Department of Public Safety who died just a short distance from this Rest Area on December 11, 1978. A fitting tribute. 

Monument honoring Officer Noah Merrill

 After going through Tucson

Downtown Tucson

 and past Picacho Peak(which has to be shown in about every western movie made)

Picacho Peak

we continued on to Eloy, AZ where we stopped for fuel and to get the motor home washed. We normally frequent Blue Beacon Truck Washes as they are reasonably priced and they do a good job. Especially since 10 miles down the road, you will probably never know it was washed. I paid extra to have the windows dried and the little gal that did the work pushed that rolling ladder up and down the coach and dried the whole thing by hand. That hard work yielded her a good tip. No, it was cash money, not "buy low, sell high."  Our goal was to arrive in Yuma by 4:00 P.M.. But, with good road, good traffic flow and a time change, we arrived about 2:30 P.M. local time. Another seven hours and 380 miles under our belt. Much closer to the "rule of thumb" that we try to travel by.

Arizona Trip 2013 - a multi-part post

Our first day on the road to Yuma was long, buffeted by winds and colorful, courtesy of the highway department painting lines on the road. We left Lubbock a little after 7:00 A.M. CDT, and headed west to the town of Brownfield on US 62/82. 

From there we continued to Plains, passing through towns named Gomez and Tokio. Then it was US 380 through the towns of Bronco, Gladiola, Tatum and Caprock before arriving in Roswell, NM. 

The highway from Brownfield to Roswell is predominantly two-lane roads through flat west Texas. From Roswell on to Ruidoso (where we picked up the paint), highways are predominately four-lane. US 380 passes through towns such as Riverside, Picacho, Tinnie and Hondo before arriving in Ruidoso. At Hondo the road changes to US 70 and cuts through the Lincoln National Forest the home of Smokey the Bear and Billy the Kid.  US 70 also cuts through the Mescalero Apache Indian Reservation and through the towns of Mescalero and Bent. At Tularose we picked up US 54 for a short distance to Alamogordo, then back on US 70 and down the mountain and across the White Sands National Monument and White Sands Missile Range. 

This was not the first time we had been by White Sands National Monument. Many years ago when we still owned a Miata, we went with the Miata Club to the Monument. It was a good thing that white Miata had a tan top or we might have lost it. 

After stopping for fuel in Las Cruces we got on I-10 for another 120 mile drive to the Lordsburg, NM Travel Information Center, which was our stopping point for the day. About a 9.5 hour driving day covering about 480 miles. This was a little longer than our rule of thumb (which is about to change) of 400 miles or eight hours driving per day. This was our first trip headed to Arizona across US 62/82, US 380, US 54 and US 70. We decided that we like this route much better than going to Midland, TX then taking I-20/I-10 west. El Paso traffic, even if you take the "by-pass" has never appealed to me on the previous two trips to Arizona. The Lordsburg Travel Information Center has a pretty good size parking area. When we went to bed, we were the only ones there. At 7:00 A.M (MDT) when we got ready to leave, the place was packed with 18-wheelers.