On the Road Again!
We arrived in Yuma on Monday afternoon.  The landscape was mostly dusty flattish desert with a lot of creosote bushes.  There was also a lot of volcanic rock and as we got closer to Yuma some beautiful purple flowers brightened up the desert floor!

As we got closer to Yuma we passed through these mountains and as usual I loved them!

Before I forget I want to add a picture of Ralph and Linda.  We had a lot of fun with them and it was unfortunate that we didn't get to see them much in the last few weeks we were there.  They are from Alberta and they lived halfway down the street from us.

Check out the great "for the road" treats made for us by Suz and Florence.  How nice of these ladies, of course I had scarfed down one piece of the rice krispie cake before we even were technically on the road.

I just love this beautiful church up on the hill, too bad the water tower is in the background, kind of ruins the ambiance.  We went to see the jail that was built in 1876 and used until around 1910.  It was partially destroyed and then the people of Yuma rallied around to make it a historic sight.

The Colorado river is close by and we discovered they have a bike path for about 6 miles or so around the river - that's the plan for Thursday!

They had pictures of a lot of the inmates on the wall and it told about their crimes and what not, there were even women in this jail.  They did have a few break outs and repeat offenders. The jail was actually built by the inmates and they got credit for doing work while incarcerated which they could use to get out early.  Some of the people were even locked up for adultery.

This is the most beautiful dainty lace.  The man that knitted it was a lifer at the jail (he committed murder).  He also tried to escape twice and was in solitary twice for not following the rules. Go figure!

OMG did I really see this bird?  I think it is a curlew.
Today we went to Mexico.  On the way you actually go back into California.  The ride from Yuma to where we parked was only about a half an hour.

You park your car in the US and then you walk over the border into Mexico.

The few blocks that you can walk in the town of Los Algodones is jam packed with vendors trying to get your money before you move on. I found it really interesting just to watch the Mexican people.  Some were eating their lunch which was mostly corn tortillas stuffed with interesting looking little morsels.  Children and adults alike tried to sell you a product or a service.

This lady walked up and down the streets calling "paragoose".  It looked awesome and freshly picked!

The previous 3 pictures were taken inside the grocery store.  Most of the store fronts were just shacks and lean too's.  I was thinking it would be fun to buy some of these things but its just too weird to buy stuff you can't read.  Plus the price was in peso's so it looks super expensive.

Hee Hee, couldn't resist.

 There were numerous dentists and optical and drug stores.  You can apparently buy prescription drugs without a prescription very cheaply.  I did find some glasses that I really liked with the sunglass clip and everything for about 220.00 (compared to 800.00 at home)  however they need to send them away to get the anti-glare coating and it takes a week .  BOO!

Pretty sure we saw this veggie deal go down  right behind that truck there.
Then you line up and go through the American side of the border, show your passport and walk back to your car.  Don did not enjoy his trip to Mexico as they are very pushy trying to sell you stuff.  It did get to be a bit much after a while especially when you realize how poor these people are and this is how they "eat" as one lady said.  I did try to make a contribution by buying a nice light jacket, a trinket for Kylie and some silver earrings.  Don got Kahlua chocolates - pretty smart on his part as I am allergic to Kahlua.  It was fun and interesting but we're ok with not doing it again.

This is a small portion of the miles and miles  fence that line the U.S. border.

 They grow dates here - cant wait to check out the date farm

They bring in Mexican workers in these huge buses to pick the crops.   They grow a lot of lettuce and that is what they were picking.

 Yuma area is a huge producer of vegetables and fruits. The fields are everywhere.  We have seen many types of lettuce, broccoli, cauliflower and rice as well as animal feed crops.  Some fields are harvested, some are just planted and many different stages of growth.  We have also seen huge citrus orchards.

Looks like hard work, but I would like to try it anyway.  Apparently there is a lettuce festival coming up, which sounds super funny but intriguing.  Can't wait to find out more about the agriculture here.
I am writing this blog from the main office where there is a library, barbershop and beauty salon.  We cannot hook up to the internet in our RV for whatever reason.  Not bad to do it this way but I miss my "google" and of course my skyping! 

Fun and Games!
Wow the last few days have been jam packed and super fun!  On Wednesday we went to the Organ Stop Pizza place with about 200 people from our park.  I got a lot better picture of this amazing organ.

It was nice to go as a group as the organist explained the organ and how it works as well as played for us for about an hour.
Later that day we went to a "happy hour"

 Checking out Larry's hat from Mexico.

 Oh ya, us retired folks are having a second childhood.  This is right after 2 of the men had this giant bra on their heads.

 A little line dancing in the middle of the road.  Luckily the speed limit in the park is 14.5 mph.  I think I might try to learn some of these line dancing steps next year.  They do a lot of line dancing.
On Thursday we went on another hike.  We are loving the hiking and will be doing a lot of it in the next month or so.

It wasn't a very long hike but it was pretty steep and rocky.  Don thinks we are some kind of mountain goats as he always picks the uphill trails.

I have a huge fascination with the volcanic rock.

|As well as the pretty little flowers.  These are lupins.

 When we got to the top of this hill there were a number of beautiful black butterflies with blue "trim" around the edge of their wings.  Absolutely beautiful, but I could not get a picture.

Later that night we went over to the courtyard and met up with Suz and Larry and a bunch of people, some of whom we had met before and some new friends as well.  There was a fire and heaters going, so it was toasty warm and there was a group singing and playing music.


The next morning we went over to Terry and Glenda's for a little craft lesson. They showed us how to make "buddy Burners"

Suz and Larry putting strips of corrugated cardboard tightly spiralled into an 8 inch cookie tin.  |Cardboard strips are cut about a half inch smaller than the height of the tin.

Terry and Glenda (on the left) melting the wax.  They have done this many times.  These are nice to have as they are basically a large candle that can be burned anywhere and add some light and warmth.  Glenda even made us some amazing biscuits.  Best craft class ever!  They have been full time RVers for 6 years and we learned a lot of tips from them.  Also great camera and blog ideas!! Thanks guys.

Melted wax poured over the cardboard.  Then you put in some wicks (about 5 or 6) This candle will last forever as the cardboard becomes the wick and all you have to do is add wax as it runs low.

On Friday I went to my bird class.

This is Don and Barb.  Don has been the best teacher! He told me he has seen about 450 birds and I believe there are about 600 in North America.  He knows a lot about birds and bird watching and I sure appreciated him showing me how to find the birds and what to look for to be able to identify them.
This day we went to Veterans Park in Mesa.

This little island had a snowy, a great and a cattle egret along with some cormorants and ducks.  Was really great to see all the egrets at once to be able to see how different they all look.

 Mockingbird

To the right at the bottom you will see 2 little burrowing owls. They were a long way away but I was very excited to see them.  Don has a scope he lets us look through so we got a good view of these tiny little owls.
That night we went over to Suz and Larry's for a wonderful home cooked meal.  Suz also gave me her recipe for winky tea.  MMMM, it is a wonderful spiced hot tea drink.

Saturday was an amazing hot day and I spent some time lounging there.  We went to a dance in the evening.  We almost made it the whole time without getting talked into going to one.  We are not ones to do much dancing but the visiting was awesome!

These are our neighbors right across the street.  Florence and Ray - they are from North Dakota.
We have enjoyed visiting and having happy hours with them as well as eating some  of their wonderful grapefruits.

This is Mona and Gerry from Manitoba -they live beside Florence and Ray.  We enjoyed many hours with them - a lot of it was spent helping or watching them fix up this new (to them) trailer.  They worked very hard and did a great job!  They invited us over for a wonderful meal tonite.

 I love  the shadow of this huge palm in the moonlight.

Good bye to site 404 at Val Vista Village on March 4/13    We have enjoyed this park, Mesa and the many people we have met since we got here and we will miss it all!   Off to Yuma tomorrow morning.