A tin cup or a gilded goblet, a hut or a castle, wobbly bicycles or a Bentley -- to wherever and by whatever means, my love, our journey is splendid, our cup is full.
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.
We're finally settled into the normal winter events here in Yuma -- for those of you who haven't been counting, this is our sixth winter here in the sun of the desert southwest, and we're still enjoying it as much as when we first arrived.
The main thing for us is getting back in shape cycling with our friends in the Foothills Bicycle Club (link). The club has "organized" rides four days a week -- with two days being relatively easy (20-25 miles, 13-14 mph pace) and two days of a more adventuresome type (30-60 miles, several pace groups depending on ability and inclination). Each month we schedule a century ride (100 miles -- or 100km), and we have several traditional once-a-year rides. We also "organize" several ad-hoc hikes into the surrounding desert areas, just to break things up. We don't forget about the fat-tire side of cycling either -- each week there is at least one mountain bike ride exploring the area. Its all pretty loosely organized, with the only rule mandating the wearing of helmets on the bike rides. The club has no officers, no published route maps, no sag wagons -- just folks who love to ride. We do have a website with basic information, and a ride calendar, but that's about it as far as organization -- and about all we've found we need.
Mandy and I usually don't remember to take our camera when we go out on a ride, but fortunately we grabbed it today for our Sunday short-and-easy ride around the foothills. Here is a couple of shots of the 40+ riders who were out having fun today.
Of course, there are a number of other things to keep us busy and occupied during the mild winter here -- Algodones, Mexico is only a couple of miles away, and we go there a number of times during the season for drugs (prescriptions!!), dental work, and just to enjoy the fish tacos and margaritas. All the merchants there get together and usually have a yearly party for all the "winter visitors" who keep their economy going.
The Quartzsite RV show and the associated gem and mineral show bring over 200,000 people to the surrounding desert in late January each year. We sometimes take the motorhome up and boondock in the desert for 3-4 days, and other years we've just driven up for a day of adventure -- its only 65 miles north of us here in Yuma, and if you're in the area, don't miss it -- its truly a unique experience.
Our good friends, Jim and Yvette have arrived here for the season, and we'll be joined this week by Claire and Al from Texas, and we all are getting together to spend a day in Quartzsite and -- bet you could guess -- a day in Algodones. We're also looking forward to doing some additional playing around -- probably some geocaching, and some local tourist stuff, as well as just having a good time with great friends. We will be bringing our camera on our events over the next week or two, and the blogging of that will be the "phase II" of our January in Yuma post -- stay tuned!!
As you can see, its Christmas in the desert Southwest -- the temperature today is just above 60 F, but with a bit of an east wind blowing. Its supposed to get up a few more degrees later in the day, and cloud up a bit, and the wind is supposed to gust up to 25-30 -- but its a lot better than most areas of the country, and we're thankful for that.
Mandy's sister Penny and her husband Rex, who introduced us to the Yuma area years ago, will be coming over this afternoon to have small Christmas dinner -- Mandy's fixing a really great soup that we were introduced to earlier this fall by our friends in Bastrop, TX, Claire and Al.
Our friends from our Safari days, Pat and Ron, called yesterday to let us know they'd arrived in town, and it will be great to see them next week. Our good friends from our days at Sunset Point in Marble Falls, TX, Jim and Yvette, will be arriving just before New Years for a couple of month's stay, and Claire and Al will be coming to Yuma for a couple of weeks later in January. We're really fortunate to have such good friends, and such a great RVing community.
We also got a call yesterday from our son Brian and his wife Christi informing us that their new arrival (May 09) will be a new granddaughter! No names have been selected yet. We plan to leave Yuma in time to be in Texas for the birth. No firm plans for what we'll be doing this summer, but we're exploring a couple of promising opportunities.
We're getting back into our bicycling here with the Foothills Bike Club -- neither of us is working this winter (well, Mandy is still doing her Friday morning volunteering at the Salvation Army) so we've got plenty of time to get and to stay in shape. In addition to our road riding on our singles and our tandem, we're trying to get in a bit of mountain bicycling just to round things out.
We had a bit of a repair adventure the other day -- our 8 foot powered roller shades which cover the windshield had a bit of a problem -- the shade material for both the sunshade and the blackout shade was coming loose from the roller (the manufacturer did not anchor it properly) and the shade material was rolling unevenly and was self-destructing. After talking to MCD (the manufacturer), who had done work on them just over a year ago, we decided the only option was to take them down and repair them ourselves. Mandy and I managed to get the rollers down, unroll them out all over the floor, re-attach the fabric to the rollers (with special tape supplied by MCD), and remount them. After 5 hours of tedious work, they were back in and working flawlessly -- but we were pretty nervous during the whole operation. I guess it just goes to show that with the right mental attitude and a deliberate approach, you can accomplish some pretty amazing stuff!
Guess that's about it for now -- we're planning on having a New Year's Eve dinner with relatives and friends (better get here quick, Jim and Yvette!) -- but we'll miss our traditional hike up to the Telegraph Pass towers with Harry and Verena (Mandy really sprained her ankle last year, so we decided against this year). January will be filled with cycling, visits from friends, and some time to go up to Quartzsite for the RV show. The really good weather returns in February thru April (which we'll enjoy to the max), and then we're on the road again to see our new granddaughter, and look for more adventures.
I guess when we stop and reflect on things, life is pretty good -- we've both got our health, it looks like we'll make it through the recession, we're doing what we enjoy, we've got a great home which we can move wherever and whenever we want, and we've got a great bunch of family and friends to help us through it all. Couldn't ask for much more, could you? Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you all !!
