Winter in Yuma - 2009

Well, better late than never with an update --- with lots of friends through here, and lots of January activities and good weather, we've just been procrastinating on sitting down and getting an update out. 
Up until the last couple of days, the weather here in Yuma has been pretty good -- days up into the 70's and evenings down into the low 50's.  The wind has been a bit more constant, however, and has kept us from using our BBQ and patio very much -- all in all, though, much better than any other place in the continental US.
The bicycling has been great and we've been getting in some miles and getting stronger -- we got down here later this season than usual, and everyone else in the Foothills Bicycling Club got a bit of a head start on us in getting their legs and butts hardened up.  We're making good progress, and having fun, and will be ready to do our "century" before we leave in April.

Our good friends, Jim and Yvette got to Yuma in early January, to work at Westwind RV Park and Golf Resort, just across the freeway from our location.  We both decided that we'd just go up to the Quartzsite RV show for a day, rather than taking our motorhomes up for a week or so -- and we coordinated our day in "Q" with our friends Al and Claire, who were here for a week to take advantage of the Yuma ambience.


We jumped at the opportunity to be tour guides and organizers for Al and Claire during their week here, showing them the interesting places all around the Yuma area . . . . . .
Yuma Territorial Prison





Algodones, Mexico






The Flea Market



Seeing the Golden Knights Army Parachute Team





Just having fun
 
                        


Later in the month, we went with Jim and Yvette for a hike up to Palm Canyon in the KOFA Wildlife Refuge between Yuma and Quartzsite.  We took advantage of being in their 4 wheel drive pickup and took an additional side trip deep into the refuge, all the way back to the remains of the KOFA Queen Mine.  There was some fantastic desert mountain scenery along the way, but we paid for it by getting several "Arizona pinstripes" on their pickup.

 




We also had an enjoyable hike with the bike club in the Imperial Wildlife Refuge along the Colorado River north of Yuma.  We were familiar with the Painted Desert hike there, but our hike leader Carl took the group to another area very near the boundary with the Yuma Proving Grounds that was very interesting to see -- lots of wildlife (or at least signs of it), neat desert colors, and remains of old mining operations.  Mandy's sister Penny and her husband Rex are going to be volunteers at the refuge next winter, so we'll be able to take the opportunity to see even more of this interesting area.


As I noted at the beginning, the weather over the past several days has taken a turn for the worse -- we had some pretty decent rain over the weekend, and this week looks to be colder and windier than usual.  However, that will probably mean that the desert will be blooming in a couple of weeks as spring sets in for good, and that will be very enjoyable to see -- we're already getting our annual display of our wildflowers in our lot, and we anticipate seeing more in the desert in the coming months.