Los Algodones, Long Day for All of Us! Happy Hallowe’en!

Pilot Knob RV Resort

This morning, Tuesday, Oct. 31^st, we were up shortly after 6. It was a good, quiet but  warm night’s sleep. I should have left my window open as I had to kick the covers off a few times. It was a very mild 57F/14C overnight. This park has certainly changed, there are only about 27 rv’s in here right now. They have made numberous improvements as Gibbs and I noticed on our walk arount the perimeter. Things can change with the upcoming November and beyond guests but I wonder how much it will?

Caught the sunrise just as I came out of the shower.

And just a few minutes later, we were walking
into Los Algodones, Mexico. I had to stop taking
pictures for a while, not allowed at the border.

We had our morning drinks together plus some breakfast before having our showers. It wasn't long after that we were giving Gibbs his ‘look after the house’ treat. It was 10 when we left for Mexico. Our appointments weren’t until 1 pm at the dentist but Bill thought we’d get there early enough to get our/his eyes checked and new glasses ordered. We didn’t want to have to go back. 😊

Waiting for Bill at OK Vision. Each time now, it seems
we go to a new place. As long as they're friendly, we're good.
Bill's progressive, transition lenses were $180. Pretty good price
and ready in 2 hours.

A trip in to Los Algodones doesn’t need to include a meal and a drink for us when we’re on our own, so we like to try and get things done in one visit – if possible. There were changes upon entry into the parking area, still $6 though, and it was getting busy already. It was a beautiful, windy morning so we wore shorts and light tops. Bill got his eyes tested, he thought there was a change and he was right. He ordered new lenses for his frames and we left to do some shopping.

You'll have to wait and see the stained glass
but this is the metal frame work we both agreed on.
It should look good at the Ridge!

We found a stained glass window for the Suite’s door plus we found some metal art work for the Ridge gate. Andy, our favourite greeter,  helped us find the right vendor for the latter. It wa s wrapped up tightly and since it was still early, we went to the yellow food court for a sit down. I needed a cold drink so we each had a lemonade. No margaritas before a dental appointment, not for us. 😊

We had a sit down and bathroom break
at this yellow cafe/eatery. Never can remember
the name of it.

We turn our sign (forefront) to say NO salesmen
and we don't get bothered while we have our drink.

Just lemonade today for these
tea-totalers
It was refreshing, cold and wet!

The dentist was almost 2 hours delayed so it was 3:15 when we walked out with a clean checkup. While waiting, Bill nipped back to collect his ‘new’ glasses. Two hours, done and done! ♥ Lastly, a stop at the Purple Pharmacy and Liquor store for my pills ($8/50 compared to $10 last spring), a bottle of Appleton’s rum and 2 bottles of pure vanilla. We were tired and we had a pooch waiting back at the park for us.

Then we waited in Dr. Eva's cheery courtyard

Our medicinal purchases
I have enough of my shingles meds now
to last me over a year. It works like a charm as
I haven't had a breakout since January 2023.
For .16¢ a pill, I'm a happy camper!

He was good and very happy to see us. It was quite comfortable with windows open in the Suite, which is good. It reached a high 81F/27C today. For supper, we’ll have leftover chicken and salad with little pies for dessert. Yum, they were so cheap at Fry’s, I had to buy 4. I noticed last night that some of my programs I was getting back home and in Indiana have disappeared. Put on hold? I’ll have to find others to watch. Hmmm.

Entree
with some chicken left for sandwiches
The carcass is cleaned off.

A sweet little cherry pie for each of us.

What a great day, we’re happy with our purchases and we’re heading out in the morning. Look out Park Place RV Park, here come the Richards! 😊

After tonight, I'll have to walk further to get
the sunset on camera.

But the trade off is that we'll be at our new HOME
for 5 months. ♥ Yay!

Happy Hallowe'en
and
Good night!

Thank you for the visit today.

So Long, Podner! Last Longish Drive, We’re Baacck!

Pilot Knob RV Resort

It was a chilly start on Monday when we all pushed ourselves to get up at 6:30. We could hear the wind from the bedroom, whistling around the slides. It was 46F/8C but the sun was making its ascent so we knew it would be another nice day. We highly recommend this out of the way campground if you are coming this way with a rig. They are talking about full hookup sites so I don’t know what changes that could entail

Our morning start up looked like this
and just improved as the day went on.

Just at the edge of our site we saw this fenced in area.
I ventured over for a picture. It's just a really deep hole
that they've filled in as best they could, with boulders.
Saves a few broken ankles, I'll bet!

We were packed up and pulling out of Tombstone on US-80 at 7:35. Turning onto AZ-82 first, we eventually caught AZ-90. It is always an enjoyable trip into this old western town. The costumes alone worn by town folk and staff, not to mention visitors like us, are worth a gander indeed. Lawmen should all dress like that! ♥ 

Goodbye Tombstone! 

It was a pleasant drive as we next got onto I-10 through Tucson and then headed west on I-8. Enough lanes that it was no trouble although they were working on improving the interstate.

We began to see lots of Teddybear Cholla cacti
and this lovely Saguaro.
It doesn't count though, in Tucson, could
have been planted there.

Before long, we were passing by where our friends, Nancy and Ken, stay for the winter months. Picacho Peak is a recognizable mountain here in the southwest and their park is a lovely one. We waved but are on a schedule and didn’t stop on this trip. It’s hard with a 40’ rv behind you to pop in for a visit. 😊 Then, we started to see desert Saguaros. I saw 3 in Tuscon but not sure if they were planted as décor.

Picacho Peak Mountain

It truly spells Arizona to us when we see all of the native cacti. ♥ I love seeing the arms and legs sticking out in all directions on the Saguaro, often I laugh as my imagination runs wild. It makes us sad to hear that the extensive heat of the past summer caused the demise of many but good to see so many healthy ones have survived. They are hundreds of years old!

Some are the worse for wear and trying to zoom in to capture
sure distorted the one on the left even more.
They still amaze me, how they remain standing.

These definitely count for me!
Naturally grown out here.

We drove through a bit of a dust storm and although it means clean up inside, it isn’t snow and the roads are bare. 😊 A large tumbleweed which I missed on camera, was no match for the likes of Black Beauty and got demolished when it crossed our lane. Then it cleared and all we saw was southwest beauty again.  We stopped for fuel in Eloy, the skydiving town, and Bill got .08¢ off in the Pilot using his card. 

I've mentioned in past posts how down here in the southwest
you can park to boondock almost anywhere.
Here is a prime example. State owned property, if you
can get in to it with your rig, you can stay. 

At 11:30, we see the sign Rest Area – 26 miles. Good, that will be a break for Bill plus lunch. We get to it and it’s closed. LOL, so we ate our sandwiches while driving. That works for a while but soon we had to stop for those nature breaks. 😊 Luckily, there was another one not too far down the highway, near Roll, called the Mohawk Rest Area. We are 53 miles from Yuma.

This was a cool drive. I took a video and posted it on
my Facebook page. Can't seem to get them to download on here.
Love hearing the comments from back home. ♥

We saw these unique solar panels coming into the
foothills of Yuma.
We've never seen anything like them.

Temperatures have risen to an Arizona-like 81F/27C. We’re smiling as we’ve heard they have snow in some areas back home. If you love that stuff, then enjoy it. We don’t! We said we wouldn’t come back because the price increased so much, that’s what we said. However, never say never as we pulled into Pilot Knob RV Resort at 2 pm. We’ve decided to come into a park with full hookups rather than boondock behind the park, for a few reasons.

Yes, we are definitely entering the agricultural industry of Yuma.
Three stages here. The preparing of the fields, seedlings are
sprouting in the top right field, lower right, whatever is growing here
is soon ready to be harvested. It is a stark change from the desert.

We’ll just bite the bullet and pay the daily price for 2 nights. Reason 1: the hookups, water, electric, dump. Reason 2: tomorrow we are going to Los Algodones and leaving Gibbs at home. Reason 3: because it will be hot, the a/c can be on for the little guy. Reason 4: this one didn’t pan out as their laundromat (& pool) are under ‘construction’. That’s okay, they weren’t deal breaker reasons anyway.

Arrival in Yuma and arrival at a very
familiar park. However, it has changed a lot with
the new ownership.

The price turned out better than we thought with our Good Sam membership so we’re happy and settled into Site #51. We were early enough, that was planned, so we left Gibbs in charge and drove in to Yuma for groceries and fuel at Fry’s, CVS for cash for Mexico and a quick nip into Harbor Freight (of course!) and the .99¢ store. I was craving chocolate so had to see what I could find. 😊

Coming back from Yuma, into the sun
The sand looks nice but it isn't what we talk about down
here as being the desert we camp on. We'd never get our rigs
in and out of it. We park on a hard packed rocky dirt surface.
This sand is in the dunes for those who love taking quads out. 

We did well on the groceries, mostly meat and managed to get enough for at least 15 meals for under 90$! I also bought potatoes and Caesar salad (we need to eat more of the latter and less of the former) plus a pre-roasted chicken! We unloaded, I made a tea and we did the banking stuff.

Supper was gooood and easy after a day of travelling.

The boys had a snooze while I got things ready to eat. The chicken was a bonus and will last us two nights at least. It was very good, cooked perfectly, too bad I can’t take credit for that. We loaded the dishwasher and then relaxed for the evening.

We don't have to leave our site to get sunset pictures. ♥

Here we are for at least 2 nights.
The dental visit tomorrow will determine if that is true. 👌

It was early, only 6:15 when we finished so Bill read while I finished my blog post. He isn’t writing one tonight, in case you’re looking, so I hope my gives you the idea. He set up the StarLink so there will be tv to watch later too. This was a great day, getting us closer to where we’re going and what we’ve got to do. 😊

yesterday afternoon we listened to shoot outs.
Today, we listened to a sound we love: military aircraft
and like at an air show, we had a great view too!
Good night y'all!

Thank you for stopping in!

 

Enjoying the Peace and Restfulness, A Little Excitement

Tombstone, Arizona

On Sunday, Oct. 29^th we were all messed up with the time. Gibbs had Bill up at 4, our clock in the bedroom said 5. They came back to bed and we woke again at 5:30, and our clock was reading 6:30, so we remained where we were until 7….you get the picture. Anyway, I got up then and encouraged Bill to go back to sleep as I was going to be working on my blog.

A beautiful morning
Ignore the reflections

The entrance sign and pay depot

My morning walk with Gibbs
This is an interesting camper, a/c and all!

Finally, I got yesterday’s post done and then took Gibbs for a walk around the camping area. It was cool first thing, 46F/8C but with clear skies, the sun had us warming up really quickly. We look forward to the sun heating our panels to charge the batteries but by the time that happens, I’m overdue for my cuppa tea. Bill came to my rescue and started the generator.

A desert flower that I know not.

The campground has cleared out almost
Only 5 of us left.

A selfie with my little snug-a-bug

When I finished my tea, Bill got my ‘bear hug’ chair out for me and I sat in the morning sun. Gibbs joined me for a while until he got too warm. 😊 We cleaned up and went up the hill into town around 10:30, leaving Gibbs in charge of the Suite. Bill was not successful in his hunt for the wall hanging he saw last spring. From what he remembers, it would have possibly been perfect for our gate back home. We’ll keep looking.

I saw these lawmen lined up
offering free (magic word) pictures
with them.

If you know me at all, you know
there would be no convincing me at all.
Who wouldn't?

Want a stage coach ride?

Meanwhile, we toured the town, since last night the shops were closed, and although we didn’t eat, we popped into a few stores before heading back down the hill. I parted ways with Bill at the Courthouse, thinking I might go into the museum but with a quick look inside, I wondered if it would interest me after all. Nah, I didn’t think so, and headed back to the Suite.

Longhorn Restaurant

Yay! Cactus!

A very healthy Ocotillo
and a Staghorn cactus

We had lunch and I went back outside to my chair. It was hot, I knew it would be, but I also knew it might be the most private place for me to sit and enjoy some sunbathing. I turned my chair to the southwest and soaked it up for a couple of hours. Gibbs was out with me for a while but it was too hot for him and for him sitting on me, that he returned indoors.

It's a beautiful old structure

This is a mine elevator
tucked in the back corner of the yard

We were thrilled to have five 4-legged visitors walk through the park. They weren’t in a hurry, which allowed us many photo opportunities. At 2:30, it was time for a cold drink so a glass of my beer margarita quenched my thirst! ♥ At 4:30, I put my chair away and came in to write my blog. Supper tonight was chili and then we relaxed for the evening with our books.

If you thought this might be a good motel to stay at
think again...........the proprieter doesn't speak.
He seems to have expired! 😂
It fooled both Bill and I at first glance.

That's the roof of the Suite behind the bushes

I was truly enjoying the sunshine

These 3 were first and they headed off across the front
of our site and ran up the hill to town.

Beautiful Couse deer.

This one has pretty soft antlers

Posing for us.
Bill was inside with the camera and I was outside
with my phone. That was exciting!

Temperatures today reached a lovely high of 72F/23C with a breeze from the northeast. That was cool for some of our friends in Quartzsite, but after the heat they’ve had all summer, I’m not surprised they’d feel a chill. 😊 We’ll be there soon but have one more stop to do first. 

Sometimes you just find the perfect bone

it just feels good to hold it in your mouth.

What a wonderful day this was! I say it was peaceful and that was including all the shooting going on up on Main Street. I don't know many cowboys survived or how many circumbed to their injuries. The sounds and cheers just made us chuckle. 

The sun sets without fanfare tonight.

Two different angles, two different cameras
Good night y'all!

Thank you for the visit!