Our current plans are to work in Des Moines, Iowa this summer at Adventureland, and then to possibly work in the vicinity of Fargo, ND as inspectors for the sugar beet harvest. From there we will be heading south for our appointment October 20 at the Tiffin Motorhome factory in Red Bay, Alabama for warranty work on our Phaeton. This should give us just enough time to get things taken care of and get over to Liberty Hill, Texas (Austin area) for the happy event!
We're very happy for Kevin and Stephanie, and for our grandchildren, Tristam and Kaila. We look forward to being with them for the new arrival.
Meanwhile, here in the Yuma area, this past weekend was the annual Winter Visitor Appreciation day in Algodones, Mexico. Saturday morning Mandy and I, along with our friends Harry and Verena, left early to beat the crowd and to take part in the festivities. Later in the day we were joined by Gord and Cathy, John and Lisa, and Frank and Donna -- all members of our Foothills Bicycle Club.
The Algodones merchants were serving free Corona, several brands of Tequila, and brandy alexanders, along with the food and entertainment, all along a blocked off street in the main shopping area of Algodones. The day was sunny and warm, and, as you can see we all had a good time.
To combat the intense sun, a number of us purchased the latest version of Mexican sun visors, and later in the day Cathy purchased six of them to take back to their friends in Canada. We're expecting that they will be a big hit at upcoming cycling events.
As you can see, spring has arrived in the Yuma area, with daytime temperatures reaching into the low 90s, with night time temperatures in the 50s -- perfect weather for our cycling and for other outdoor activities. We recently had a potluck gathering at an area about 30 miles east of Yuma called Baker Tanks. This area is technically in the Barry Goldwater Firing Range, but close enough to the edge that they generally allow visitors in there without the normally required permit.
The tanks are a series of very small lakes in rock formations, and were called "tanks" by the settlers since they would naturally hold rainwater and runoff for a long time, and were used by cattle and wild animals as a watering hole. See http://www.fishingworks.com/lakes/arizona/yuma/wellton-se/baker-tanks/ -- if you zoom in on the Google Earth view at the bottom of this link, you will see a circular roofed building called a ramada, (and also see it in the pictures below) where we gather for our potlucks. It has a fireplace in the middle, which can be used from 4 different sides, and is made out of concrete, local rock, and several well placed steel beams in the roof. We were surprised at the amount of water in the tanks, as it has not rained significantly here for several months. Apparently, their storage capacity is pretty significant. We timed our visit for the full moon, and it was a spectacular sight when it rose over the desert hills about an hour after sunset (unfortunately my attempt at pictures of the moon failed miserably -- you just can't do it without a tripod).
We also recently had a great bicycle ride in the Wellton-Mohawk valley east of Yuma, completing a 63 mile circuit from Wellton to an agricultural cooling plant, where we had lunch, and then completed the loop back to Wellton. Mandy and I rode our tandem along with 15-20 other members of the Foothills Bicycle Club and completed our second metric century ride of the month. Here are a couple of pictures as we were getting ready to ride.
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