Windy in Yuma

Yuma can be windy. Especially outside the city limits. As Ron puts it "There is a lot of real estate changing hands today."

We drove south along the Mexican border towns of Somerton, Gadsden & San Luis. Miles & miles of produce fields. With the bus loads of Mexican workers. They all carry their own rakes & hoes and the bus pulls a trailer with their porta-potties. Not such nice working conditions today in the heat and the blowing dirt.. But I suspect it's tough working most days.

There was a Walmart at San Luis so we stopped to buy new tubes for my bike. Ron has repaired many flat tires this past week. Cactus needles are hard on bike tires. Anyway, when you shop in a predominately Mexican community and you are dark skinned like me, everyone speaks to you in Spanish. I had to smile. Ron got the English version :)

So Monday we will start our trek north. I'm sad. We will likely visit Jim & Jan for a couple days and it will take us a week or so driving home. We will blow out our waterlines in Great Falls as we did last year.

Yuma Days

It's Wed. and it looks like we will hang out at Yuma for a few more days. Even though we aren't really loving it here. Except the hot weather. We love that!

There is a nice bike path through the parks and along the canal. We always enjoy a good / easy bike ride.

We have found the people in this park really aren't that friendly. Americans. We haven't seen a Canadian license plate yet. There are many empty sites right now but it's booked solid for the winter. The old boys across & beside us won't even look at us. It's like we don't exist. The 'foreigners' invading their little world I guess. Ron was at the office to pick up some Yuma literature and one of the old gals did invite him to Bingo on Thurs night however :) This RV Park is one of the older ones in Yuma & I suspect the Canadians are mainly staying at the newer parks on the city outskirts. We drove by quite a number of those parks yesterday.

Ron is toying with the idea of heading across the border to Los Algodones although I am not crazy about doing that. I guess 'thousands' of people head to that Mexican town for their eyeglasses & dental work. The violence that has plagued other border towns supposedly has not been a problem there... Still, it makes me nervous!

We have noticed that there is a whole lot of air traffic over this city with the Yuma International Airport, Marine Corps Air Base plus north of the City there is the Army "Proving Ground" for equipment testing.

Evenings we enjoy sitting around our propane firepit. Have I said how much we love this weather?
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Later Wed: We decided to stay. The office wasn't open when Ron first went by this morning. A resident told him the owner would be back shortly. When Ron said we planned to extend our stay, he asked what site we were in. Ron says "Number 10" and he says "Oh, the Canadians". So yes, we have been noticed with our foreign plates! Also, it is quite windy here today. It would not be good for RV travels.

We had an interesting morning at the Territorial Prison State Pk. In 1876 the first 7 inmates were locked in to the new cells that they had built themselves. The last prisoner left in 1909. The buildings were used by the Yuma High School 1910-14 and then provided shelter for homeless during the 1920's & 30's. It was very interesting to tour the cells & read about the prisoners who spent time there -- including 29 women.

Also, we will remain in Yuma until Monday morning - Nov 1. Hoping Jim & Jan will be ready for 'Surprise' company by then??

in Yuma

Riverfront RV
Site #?, p/w/s, no Internet (coming) Temp 29C

Well it was tough to give up our lake front spot at Lake Havasu. It was getting pretty comfortable there. However, our sewage tanks were full and so it was time to move out. There were people clamoring to get the spot when we pulled out. We had given the 'heads up' to one of our neighbors last night & he brought his lawn chair over to stake his claim. He had a boat pulled up on shore, so we knew he'd appreciate the lake front spot.

We are at Yuma. We chose the Riverfront RV Resort because it was on the Colorado. Haven't seen the River yet though.. :) I don't believe one can see it from the RV Park. No internet in the park either, so that was disappointing. I am using a connection from the local library.

Anyway, we paid for 2 nights and we will check this place out. I'm not sure it's a place we would want to stay at long term though. We likely won't come back.  We have been spoiled with our last place on the lake! We did enjoy the drive here. The acres of gardens & the bus loads of planters hand-planting in the fields. Also, we did not know they grew cotton here. Interesting...

Havasu...and 'where has the week gone' ??

This place just got a whole lot busier & a whole lot noisier on the weekend! Not so much in the campground itself, although there were a few more units coming in. But the boat launch here. Wow. Very busy! All the young people with their big fast noisy boats. And they can't seem to launch them without turning the boat radio up full blast!? (yes we are that old grumpy couple sitting there in our lawn chairs.) Anyway, at least they are heading to town with their noise and they aren't hanging around this area of the lake after they've launched their fancy equipment! We now realize there are big advantages to be camped on the outskirts of Havasu City!

On Friday I drove to town for a haircut and did a bit of shopping on my own. I have to admit that it was rather nice not to have Ron tailing me about the store & asking what I'm looking for. Every 2 minutes! When you shop with him you don't 'look'. At anything! You go in, grab what you need & get out. In a hurry! grrr!

So tomorrow we will be moving on. I admit that I will really miss this place. I love our lake view. The hot lazy days & those warm nights. Swimming in a lake at the end of October, the road runners, the quail & the bunnies that share our campsite! So awesome!

Something I forgot to mention and will NOT miss... There are little desert mice here. They scamper around our feet when we sit at the fire during the evening. They freak me out! 

Also they bring out the rattle snakes. People have said that they see them laying about on the campground roads at night. Eek... you won't find me using those campground toilets! I will not miss them... or the flies! The flies are so annoying during the day! Anyway... we are saying goodbye to Havasu on Monday.  Our next email will be from Yuma.

Lake Havasu Week

The last time we drove in to town it ended up being an expensive trip! The bracket on the truck muffler was broken and rattling, so we stopped at a muffler shop to see about getting it welded. It ended up being a replacement job for $350. Yuk.

Also, that thunderstorm that has been showing in the forecast all week? We got it on Tues. night. It REALLY came down. Yes, it can rain here. There were big puddles all around our campsite. It started with big winds in the evening. We weren't able to sit out & have our campfire. Last night it sprinkled again. At least it remains warm! (27-29C during the day and about 17C nights) No complaints!

Yesterday, Ron blew up my floating lounge & we enjoyed the some time in the lake. It's been pretty quiet in the campground. Us, the hosts & a couple other units. There were a few more units that came in last night & I expect it will be busier over the weekend. We did end up paying for 3 more nights. If you pay 5 you get 2 free, so I expect we will be here for the week.

We drove south to Parker for a couple of supplies (& for internet) today. The State Park is between Havasu City & Parker, a bit closer to Havasu, but it's nice to see some different country side. I ended up buying 3 tank tops for $3. each... Need them here!

well I found my internet... must hustle. Ron isn't very patient!

PS: You know those red peppers that the border people stole from me. Yeah. I know why he took them. They are SO expensive here. The majority of them are imported from Canada. One store was selling them for $2. each.

Lake Havasu

Cattail Cove State Park

Site #4 - p/w $26. no internet, TV

Ahhhh....... Heat. At last!!
Actually, IT'S VERY HOT HERE!!! 30C

Love. Love. Love it!! On this trip, we've probably run our heater every single night that we've been on the road. But not last night. Windows & vents were all wide open. Fans on.

We have one of the best spots at this State Park. Front row on the lake. The road runners, the quail, the rabbits.... (oh yeah, and the ducks, grackles & flies that we could do without!) It is so beautiful. 

We stayed in this State Park last year. When we arrived at Havasu yesterday, we checked a couple of other RV places, but the price & the view drew us back here.

The lake is very warm. Ron went for a swim when we arrived. I had a margarita... cheers to that hot sunshine! We ate dinner outside by candlelight and we sat around our propane fire until late at night. In our shorts & tank tops. Awesome! Our neighbors (gay men) joined us. Interesting conversation. We enjoyed their company & were sorry to see them leave this morning.

Just made a potato salad to have with ham. It's too hot to cook. We'll slip in to town for some celery & hopefully find some internet. We booked two nights, but I'm pretty sure we'll be staying longer (a week?) if the weather stays like this. You likely won't be hearing from me for a few days.

Sunday in Williams, AZ

Site #12 - $33, p/w/s, TV, Internet, Temps 23C

As mentioned in the last post, we arrived after dark and just picked an empty site not really sure what it looked like. Ron retrieved the Internet password from booklets left for late arrivals.

It's been great to have this 'catch up' time. Picture uploads, reading literature, cleaning, grocery shopping & a load of laundry.

Williams (pop 3,000) is an interesting little town. It holds the distinction of being the last town located on Route 66 to be bypassed by the I-40 freeway. It is a popular destination for Route 66 enthusiasts.

This is where you would climb aboard for the Grand Canyon Rail Tours. The historic downtown still has the original old brick sidewalks. It has some pretty cool shops & restaurants. We laughed when we saw Hop Sings Chinese Restaurant Saloon.

Our plan had been to spend some time in Lake Havasu and then go to Yuma for a few days. Unfortunately an ugly weather front is rolling in to AZ including rain, cooler weather plus today we had some wind. We will see what tomorrow brings!? Plans may change.

And no, we aren't going to do the Canyon Skywalk on the westside. We saw it 'virtually' on the Internet.

Grand Canyon South Rim

Saturday AM (from North Rim): Last night wasn't too bad. We had an extra blanket on the bed & the furnace set to 14C, so if anything we were too warm! It was -3C when we got up at 7:45 am. We were on the road by 9 am. The colder temps get one moving a little quicker in the morning!

Excitement! We saw a Kaibab Squirrel ("silver ghost") that lives only on the North Rim & NOWHERE else in the world! It was blackish with a big white fluffy tail & long ears. Awesome!

The distance across the canyon from the North to South Rim is only 16 km. However it is about a 300 km / 4 hr drive. A pretty drive across the plateau with rock cliffs on either side.
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Sunday AM (from South Rim): I just looked out the window to see where we were camped! When we pulled in, it was dark & I had no idea what the campground was like :) Also it turns out we lost an hour somewhere. I switched to MT time back in Idaho, but on the Grand Canyon shuttle bus yesterday, we realized it was an hour earlier! That worked to our advantage. It meant that we were on the road by 8 am yesterday & we got an extra hour to tour the South Rim of the Canyon. It was a long tiring day though.

So we drove with the RV along the southeast portion of the rim and stopped at a couple of the lookouts.

At the Visitor Centre we took the shuttle to see the southwest route. Saturday was not a good time to be doing this. There were some long waits in the lineups & standing room only between some of the stops. 

The buses weren't as frequent as they were at Zion Canyon. Anyway.. we can say we've been there now! Awesome, but once again I have to say Zion & Bryce awed me more! After the tour (5:30 pm), we drove the hour to Williams. And we set up in the dark. And had supper.

We've covered a lot of territory this past week & have had so many 'one nighters'. It's tiring! Even though this isn't the 'prettiest' of campgrounds, it has all the hookups and we are going to take an extra day to catch our breaths, do some grocery shopping, cleaning etc.

Arizona: The Grand Canyon - North Rim

Grand Canyon Forestry Campground (private)
Site #? - $17, n/s, Temp 15C, Elevation 8860'

Friday: We drove the 90 km to Jacob's Lake only to find that both the private RV site & the National Forest Campgrounds were closed for the season. Closed today.

We started the drive to the Grand Canyon, not sure what to expect at the Park entrance. Maybe no RV's would be allowed in? Anyway, 50km down the road & just before the park entrance, there was a private no service campground that was still open. Relief. Maybe? I'm not sure how exited I was to be there. Elv 8860' Temp 15C. No power & pretty much assured of freezing temps overnight. Eeek.

We unhooked, made lunch and while we were eating it began to rain, with some of that frozen stuff mixed in. (I refuse to use that ugly 4 letter S-word!!) It was kind of weird as the temp was still 15C. I guess it must be a high elevation thing.

As we were leaving the campsite, we drove by a tent. The fly had been removed & was laying over the picnic table to dry. No one was around. We did the 'good neighbor thing' & proceeded to put the fly back on the tent for them. In the pouring rain. It was a bit late for covering. Puddles had already pooled on sleeping bags inside! Six soaking wet lawn chairs circled the fire. We used the wet chairs to protect their firewood pile from further wetness! Sucks to be tenting. In freezing temps when everything is wet!

Anyway.. On to the Canyon. It was actually warmer there. The wet stuff passed over & the sun came out. The drive through the forested area was enjoyable. All the autumn colours. Very beautiful. So different form the south end of the Grand Canyon which is desert. 

The Canyon itself was awesome for it's vast expanse. I'm not sure I would rate it over the previous two canyons we visited. However, it was great to see it.

Back home we found the 'wet tenters' a father & 4 young girls hovered around the fire. The tent was down & their wet sleeping bags were all rolled up and sitting on the picnic table. Mom had gone to the nearby lodge to see if there was room at the inn. I hope for their sake that there was!

Later: I didn't envy any of the tenters that were in our campground. It was 0C already when we went to bed. Hope they had lots of firewood & warm sleeping bags!

Zion Canyon, Utah

Best Western Thunderbird
Sites un-numbered - $17, p/w/s, Internet, Temp 22C

We left our Panguitch campsite at 9:30 a.m. & drove the 70 km stretch to Mt. Carmel Junction. (Yes, family that's 45 minutes.. go ahead & laugh.) This campspot was just a few sites across the road from the Hotel but allows you the use of facilities (pool etc. if wanted) and was perfect for us just looking for a parking spot while we toured the Park.

We unhooked. Packed a lunch & headed to the Zion National Park.

Two totally different canyon drives in two days. Both so awesome. If these two canyons, Bryce & Zion aren't listed in the "1000 Places to See Before You Die", they should be! Beauty at it's best. A hiker's paradise. Also for rock climbers. (see above 2 photos) I hope you all get an opportunity to visit sometime. 

The 37 km drive to the Zion Visitor Centre ranks up there as #1 in our travels along with the Needles Highway drive (Black Hills). The 1 1/2 mile tunnel cut through one of the sandstone 'rock' was the longest tunnel we have been in. Quite amazing. It was built 1927 to 1930. You'll get a better idea of this tunnel in the rock from the posted pics.

At the Visitor Centre we boarded the free shuttle for the 80 minute round trip ride. It makes 7 stops along the way, coming & going. You can get off at any or all the stops, hike, bike, take your pictures & board another of the shuttles that come & go every 5 - 10 minutes. This 80 minute drive stretched in to 4 hrs for us. Again, the serious hikers would spend the entire day. Easily. A quote from the Visitor Guide "Zion National Park exhibits some of the most spectacular scenery on earth. Deep sandstone canyons, striking rock towers, high mesas and plateaus characterise this magnificent landscape." 

The weather was perfect. The temps are getting warmer (lower altitude). Today's high was 26C. We shouldn't wake to a frozen waterline as we did this morning!

Tomorrow we will head to Jacob Lake. And our next "Canyon tour" -- The Grand Canyon North Rim.

P.S. I have to tell you. You know that lady from Osoyoos that I told you about. The one who joined us at the fire without her husband. She had been drinking. And she talked. A lot.... Yeah, that one.... It was actually her who said we needed to visit these canyons. And now, I am so glad she joined us at our fire that night! :)