Mission San Xavier

Posted on January 14, 2015 by Marsha Brecht

The last few days have been quiet. It’s been cloudy and rained on and off. So we just did some shopping instead of sightseeing. The Tucson Mall is a big mall and we went there to get our daily walk in.

Bernie couldn’t resist taking a ride on the elephant!

We’ve been parked in the parking lot of Casino del Sol near Tucson for the last few days. There must be 40 other RVs parked here with us.  While walking through the parking lot to the casino one day we saw several of these little yellow VW bugs. I think there was a pest control convention in the event center here.

Today we went to visit Mission San Xavier. This National Historic Landmark has been here since about 1783. The 45 minute tour is free, but donations are welcome. Our guide said this is a working Roman Catholic church and a K-8 school so the tour was limited, but still very interesting.

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Mission San Xavier

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Mission San Xavier

Mission San Xavier

Mission San Xavier

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Mission San Xavier

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Mission San Xavier

Native People food vendors were making and selling fry bread and tacos under shelters on the grounds in front of the mission. Behind them is a memorial hill with a white cross at the top and we walked up there to see what we could see.

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The path did not take us up to the top where the cross is. The only way to get up there would be to climb up on the rocks, and we did not do that. But there was a prayer fence, and a cement bench where people have placed candles and prayer requests.

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As we walked around the hill we enjoyed some great panoramic views.  And we could see that on the ground around the hill people have written their names with the rocks and in one area words of love and joy were written in rock.

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  • Gasoline:  none
  • Lodging:   free
  • Admission:  free
Posted in Arizona, Daily Post, January | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

The Sonoran Desert

Posted on January 11, 2015 by Marsha Brecht

The Arizona Sonora Desert Museum was our adventure for today. This is a combination zoo, botanical garden, art gallery, natural history museum, and aquarium all in one. The temperature warmed up to around 70 degrees so it was no problem walking the approximate two miles of trail. We spent about three hours there.

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Our first stop was at the Reptile House where we saw different kinds of rattlesnakes, scorpions, desert spiders, and other crawly things.

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There is also a hummingbird aviary and another bird aviary, and exhibits on bats, birds, and bees. There are large cats and coyotes and wolves and javelinas. The bighorn sheep was the largest animal we saw. Unfortunately the only black bear they had died about two weeks ago.

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Bighorn Sheep

Since the Saguaro National Park was just a few miles up the road we went to see that too. First stop is the visitor center.

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Saguaro National Park Visitor Center

The Saguaro Cactus has been called the supreme symbol of the American Southwest and they are protected here.

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We were losing sunlight as the clouds began rolling in. Looks like it might rain tonight.

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On our way back home we noticed the traffic signs on I-19 were metric. km not miles, and the “mile markers” were in km as well. I Goggled it when I got home and learned that this roughly 60 mile stretch of highway, or rather 100 kilometers, is the only continuous highway in the US with metric signs. This is a relic of a failed Carter administration pilot program to try to get Americans to switch to the metric system like the rest of the world.

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  • Gasoline:  none
  • Lodging:   free
  • Admission to the Museum:  $35
  • Admission to Saguaro NP:  Free with Bernie’s National Park Senior Pass
Posted in Arizona, Daily Post, January | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Old Tucson Studios

Posted on January 10, 2015 by Marsha Brecht

Warning, this is a photo intensive blog. Old Tucson Studios is an Arizona movie set wild west town. Over 300 movies, commercials, and TV shows have been shot here since it was built in 1939.  I’m sure you have seen a lot of them. We had such a good time and spent most of the day here, there is so much to see.

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Our first stop inside the gate was the Movie Museum. Here’s where the list of all the movies made here is as well as lots of props and things from some of the movies.

Judge Roy Bean
Geronimo
Great Sioux Massacre
Young Guns II
Bonanza
Little House..Prairie

Horses are saddled up and ready for anyone who wants to go on a trail ride. For the little ones there is a pony ride as well as a carousel.

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Cowboys

Cowboys

Every 30 minutes one of the many stage areas has a performance of some sort.

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No Honor Among Thieves

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The Reno

Grand Palace Musical Review was the next performance we watched. This was in the Grand Palace Saloon and was very entertaining.

Grand Palace Saloon
The Can-Can
High Chapparal Ranch

High Chaparral Ranch

High Chapparal Crew

High Chaparral Celebrities

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Olsen’s Mercantile, Little House on the Prairie

Another performance was a Hollywood Stunt Demonstration. These guys were good, and very funny. They put on a good show for us.

Hollywood Stunt Demonstration

Hollywood Stunt Demonstration

And then a reproduction of the first adobe schoolhouse built in Tucson, 1868.

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No Wild West town would be complete without a Sheriff’s Office and the Gallows.

Sherrif's office and the Gallows.

Sheriff’s office and the Gallows.

Here are a few more pictures from our day:

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There’s also train rides, stagecoach rides, a haunted mine, and more performances, as well as some cool restaurants. A great way to spend a day.

Gunsmoke, Little House on the Prairie, The Lone Ranger, Have Gun Will Travel, Bonanza, High Chaparral, The Big Valley, The Man Who Loved Cat Dancing, How the West was Won, Geronimo, Gunfight at the OK Corral, The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean, and 3:10 to Yuma and so many more were shot here.

  • Gasoline:  none
  • Lodging:  free
  • Admission:  $36
Posted in Arizona, Daily Post, July | Tagged , | 6 Comments

Biosphere 2

Posted on January 8, 2015 by Marsha Brecht

First thing this morning Bernie got out the tin snips and clipped off that flap that was hanging off the muffler on the Jeep. It’ll probably rust out faster now, but we’ll deal with that when the time comes.

No sooner had he finished that then it began to rain, and rained for a few hours. Just a light rain, enough to be annoying. So we decided to go do something indoors. The Biosphere 2 is not too far from here. We had seen it before, but thought it was worth another visit.

Had to gas up first. We were happy to see the price continues to drop!

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$1.89

In the late 1980’s Biosphere 2 was built to research and develop self-sustaining space-colonization technology. There were two closure experiments in the 1990’s where the structure was sealed with researchers living inside. The first experiment ran for two years, the second for six months. Since that time ownership of Biosphere 2 has changed a few times and is currently owned by the University of Arizona.  Oh, in case you are wondering, Biosphere 1 is the planet Earth.

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Finding wildlife has been a challenge so we spotted this deer in the parking lot we tried to get a picture. She didn’t let us get very close before she ran off.

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Biosphere 2

After watching a 12 minute video about the history of Biosphere 2 a guide led us through the different zones within the facility. Included was a rainforest, ocean, desert. During the time researchers were sealed in here they also had some animals and some crop areas for the food to sustain them.

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Rainforest

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Ocean

Experiments continue to be made here.

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Experiment Station

Since the Biosphere is a sealed facility they had to accommodate for the air pressure changes as the temperature changed. They have two large rooms they call “lungs”, with a large black flexible membrane that went up as the pressure increased with the warm air and lowered itself down when the pressure decreased as the air cooled. If they didn’t do this the air pressure could have blown out the glass.

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  • Gasoline:  $28 @ $1.89
  • Lodging:   $30
  • Tour Fee:  $36
Posted in Arizona, Daily Post, January | Tagged | 2 Comments

On The Road Again

Posted on January 7, 2015 by Marsha Brecht

We’ve spent the last three weeks in three different Retirement Communities in Mesa, Arizona. While they were all great resorts with lots of amenities and activities and loads of friendly people we have decided we just are not ready for long-term resort living yet. So off we go….

We have moved 90 miles southeast to Catalina State Park just north of Tucson. We have paid for two nights only, for now.

Catalina State Park

Catalina State Park, B-58

The sun was getting low but we decided to take a little hike before it got dark. The Romero Ruin Trail was close to the campground so that’s where we went. This was an easy desert hike through an area that includes almost 1,500 years of history. With several interpretive signs explaining about the ancient Hohokum village that used to be here, and the more recent house Mexican rancher Francisco Romero built in the mid 1800’s. Romero’s ranch and his cattle were often the target of Apache raids.

Romero Ruin Trail

Romero Ruin Interpretive Trail

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Granddaddy Saguaro Cactus

Granddaddy Saguaro Cactus

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This park includes an equestrian center and riding trails. If only we had a horse.

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Now we don’t know how long this has been like this, we did not hear any unusual sounds, but something we need to get fixed. Looks like this will be our project for tomorrow.

Muffler BooBoo

Muffler BooBoo

  • Gasoline:  $75 @ $1.99
  • Lodging:   $30 + $5 Reservation Fee
Posted in Arizona, Daily Post, January | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Happy New Year

Posted on January 1, 2015 by Marsha Brecht

The nights have been freezing cold lately, and we’ve had a few days and nights of light rain. But we are thankful we’re in a mild spot. The areas not too far to the north and the west have had some very unusual winter weather, with several inches of snow, closing of some roads, and causing all kinds of problems. Most unusual for the Desert Southwest. Another hard freeze warning for tonight.

We heard there is snow on Superstition Mountain so we went to see. Hundreds of other people had the same idea. The roadsides were busy with sightseers and photographers.

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The roads out around Superstition Mountain are not paved, and with the rain we’ve had the last few days they got a little sloppy.

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Most of the park models in the RV resorts have some kind of decoration in front of their homes. We got a particular kick out of this one, just had to stop for a picture. When we saw this yesterday everything was upright. Looks like they partied too hard last night.

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Happy 2015 everyone.

  • Gasoline:  none
  • Lodging:  $23
Posted in Arizona, Daily Post, January | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Mike and a Move

Posted on December 30, 2014 by Marsha Brecht

This past week has been very mellow for us (thus, no blog posts). It’s been very quiet at Mesa Regal RV Resort. Most people have gone home for the holidays and there have not been much for activities. After the 1st of the year I expect the snowbirds will arrive in droves (flocks?) and things will liven up quite a bit.

My brother, Mike, and his wife, Bonnie, from Minnesota, are in the area vacationing and stopped to see us. We went out for dinner, had a nice visit, and then they were on their way. It was great seeing family again. Mike wanted to see his picture in the blog so this is for you, Mike:

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And now our week is up at Mesa Regal and it’s time to find a new home. Just a few miles east of here, still in Mesa, is another resort that will accept us for one week at the Passport America 50% rate. We will be at Valle Del Oro for the next week.

Valle Del Oro

Valle Del Oro, #896

All of these resorts are fabulous. We are enjoying visiting the different ones around here and thinking how nice it would be to winter over in one of these when we tire of driving all over the country. It’s something to think about.

Once we got set up in our new spot we went for a walk around to explore our new home. There is a garden club here that maintains a lovely rose garden and we enjoyed that.

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And then we spotted what looks like a radio control vehicle track. I hope we get to see it in use during our time here.

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And then…we see this model railroad, a big one! And the big boys were having fun playing with their toys.

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I like knowing there other activities here besides the usual tennis and shuffleboard.

Our last stop was to the resort Post Office to get the address so we can have our mail forwarded here.

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE

  • Gasoline:  $26 @ $1.99
  • Lodging:   $23
Posted in Arizona, Daily Post, December | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Christmas Eve in Mesa

Posted on December 24, 2014 by Marsha Brecht

We have moved over two resorts down to Mesa Regal RV Resort. We’ll be here for a week. This is another park that allows us to use our Passport America 50% discount for a limit of one week. It’s very nice, and everyone here is so friendly.

Mesa Regal RV Resort, #1967

Mesa Regal RV Resort, #1967

The big news of the day is that gas prices have finally dropped below $2.00/gallon.

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$1.99

We’re spending most of our time in the resort but today we did go out exploring. We found this nice little park, Park of the Canals, here in Mesa. There is a small botanical garden there, and we enjoyed that.

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And a desert hiking trail.

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The park is named for the hand-dug irrigation canals dug by Prehistoric Indians in this area and is listed as a National Historic site.

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Prehistoric Irrigation Canal

IMG_0278Tonight is Christmas Eve and Mesa Regal has organized their 3rd Annual Resident Christmas Golf Cart Parade. There were over 50 decorated golf carts, a few bicycles, and one smart car. They were sure having fun, lots of horn “beeps” and laughing and Christmas music playing. A few even tossed candy.

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Now we’re at home watching “It’s a Wonderful Life” on TV.

  • Gasoline:  none
  • Lodging:  $22
Posted in Arizona, Daily Post, December | Tagged , , | 4 Comments

A Few Days in Mesa

Posted on December 19, 2014 by Marsha Brecht

We’re not exploring as much this week, nor will we next week, so the blogs won’t be daily for a while. We’re just relaxing, enjoying the weather, and getting to know the resort community.

Yesterday, we did go out for a drive. We could see Superstition Mountain and stopped to take a picture of it. Perhaps we’ll go hike there one of these days. Maybe if we’re lucky we can find the Lost Dutchman’s Mine.  🙂

Superstition Mountain

Superstition Mountain

On Thursday we stopped to visit the old ghost town of Goldfield, which is close to Superstition Mountain. It really was pretty dead. Not all the shops were open, and there were not very many people around. The weekend is the time when all the activity is, perhaps we will go back on the weekend.

Goldfield, AZ

Goldfield, AZ

IMG_0225It was dark when we got home. A couple of the streets in the resort were all lit up for Christmas, so we stopped to take a picture.

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This morning we went for a walk. There is a large drainage ditch between Sun Life Resort on the right and Towerpoint Resort on the left. A paved path lines the Sun Life side.

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We weren’t sure how we were going to get over to the Towerpoint side, but then we found a shortcut through the drainage ditch and took that.

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When we got across to the Towerpoint side….oops…there is an irrigation canal we had forgotten about, so we had to continue our walk out to the sidewalk on Main Street.

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Another resort is across the street, that is Venture Out RV Resort over there and just a few businesses on our side before we get to the entrance to Towerpoint.  I always get a kick out of how the city tries to camouflage the cell phone towers to look like palm trees.

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We did not enter Towerpoint, our mission today was to get to Mesa Regal, the next resort down.  At Mesa Regal almost every site has a fruit tree on it, usually an orange tree or a grapefruit tree.  Most other resorts have a palm tree on each site.

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These resorts are all so well groomed. We found these roses at the entrance to Mesa Regal.

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On our way to the office we see that today is this resort’s Country Store. Several vendors filled the ballroom and overflowed to the outside.

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We can only stay 7 days at Sun Life with the Passport America 50% price, but we can stay 7 days at Mesa Regal for the same deal, so we went to the office and made our reservation for the following week. Then we walked home.

Other Flea Markets may claim to be Arizona’s largest, but in my opinion Mesa Market Place Swap Meet is the largest. It covers a mile and a quarter of shopping lanes with 1600 shops. There were no empty stalls such as we saw at the markets in Yuma.

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  • Gasoline:  none
  • Lodging:  $26
Posted in Arizona, Daily Post, December | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Sun Life RV Resort

Posted on December 16, 2014 by Marsha Brecht

Driving to Mesa only about 10 miles from where we were at Wild Horse Pass Casino in Chandler was a piece of cake. Traffic was not bad and roads were nice and straight.

Arizona Hwy 60

Arizona Hwy 60 East

There are hundreds of resorts in and around Mesa. The resort we were looking for was easy enough to find. It is next to Towerpoint Resort where we have been before, which is next to Mesa Regal Resort where we have been before. All three are owned by Cal-Am Resorts. We can stay here for the Passport America 50% price of $179.59 for the week, which comes to about $25.66 per night after taxes. This is great, we have everything we want here.

Sun Life RV Resort, #D35

Sun Life RV Resort, #D35

True to our lifestyle we did not have a reservation. But we did call ahead this morning and they said they would have no problem fitting us in. The guard at the front gate directed us to the office to register.

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Entrance road, heading towards the office.

Upon registering we were given a nice goodie bag as a welcome gift.

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Welcome to Cal-Am Resorts

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And here we are, home sweet home, for the week.

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Sun Life Resort, D35

  • Gasoline:  none
  • Lodging:   $26

 

Posted in Arizona, Daily Post, December | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Casino Hopping

Posted on December 15, 2014 by Marsha Brecht

Since we are going east now and the days are so short and the winter sun is so low in the sky we wait until almost noon before we start driving so the sun won’t be in our eyes. That’s ok because we are in no hurry be anywhere. And we only drove 60 miles today anyway.

We are entering the Phoenix suburbs now, so the scenery is changing, becoming more metropolitan, and increasing traffic. We’re looking for a place to stay the night. We first stopped at Harrah’s Ak-Chin Casino in Maricopa, Arizona. We went inside and signed up for their Player’s Club card. For this we get free buffet and $20 in slot play. The buffet was good and the $20 slot play went “poof” in about two minutes.

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Sculpture in front of Harrah’s

We decided we were not ready to stop yet, and there is another casino a little ways up, so off we go to Wild Horse Pass Hotel & Casino in Chandler, Arizona. We were still full from the buffet so we did not eat here. But we did go inside and walked around the outside.

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The chefs had created a nice candy Who-Ville scene in the lobby of the hotel.

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I loved the Wild Horse sculpture in the hotel lobby.

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The RV parking is with the big truck parking. There are more trucks here than there are RVs. The RVs are clustered at one end of the lot and the trucks took over the rest. As the sun set the lot filled up to capacity.

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  • Gasoline:  none
  • Lodging:  free
Posted in Arizona, Daily Post, December | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

Gila Bend, AZ

Posted on December 14, 2014 by Marsha Brecht

It was noon before we got our act together and got ready to leave the resort. Just as we were about to start the motor we noticed Don & Vi, whom we met in Parker, were here and looking for their assigned spot. Small world. So we stopped and caught up with them for a while before we headed east.

Just a few miles east of Yuma we come across an inspection station. The sign warns that dogs were working, but we didn’t see them. And we were not asked to stop, they just waved us through.

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Along the drive we saw several miles of solar panel arrays. Arizona has some of the most sunshine on the planet, and says it’s the second-most solar power in the U.S.

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Today’s drive was only 120 miles, but that was all we felt like doing this afternoon. Checking the Passport America directory, we located a small RV park in Gila Bend. Holt’s Shell RV Park is a small RV park behind the Shell station. We weren’t sure at first, I mean, a little RV park behind a gas station/truck stop in a small town and at a price of $12. Didn’t sound real promising. Turns out it is pretty darn nice. It is separated from the gas station and where the big noisy trucks park by a rock wall and trees. Oh, and that price is the half-off price for PA members as well as for members of the Escapees RV Club.

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It’s a very clean park, well groomed, includes laundry and free wi-fi that works! Plus we’re so close to a cell tower, we have all the internet signal strength we can handle. Pretty good for being out here in the middle of the desert. We pulled in to the very last of the 24 total sites and made ourselves at home.

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Holt’s Shell RV Park, #11

There are some very nice metal sculptures around the RV park and on the gas station property. We spotted this little fella holding up a sign for us.

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Of course no town named Gila Bend should be without a Gila Monster sculpture!

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The only thing missing is TV reception.

New thing:  Check out the MAPS tab at the top of this page under the header picture, it will take you to an interactive map I’ve been working on. Everything is clickable, it even has links to the blog posts at the locations they were written. You can make the map bigger and move it around. Now you can see where  we are and where we have been. I will TRY to stay on top of it!

  • Gasoline:  none
  • Lodging:  $13
Posted in Arizona, Daily Post, December | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

More Shopping and a Parade

Posted on December 13, 2014 by Marsha Brecht

Yuma has some awesome historic places such as the Yuma Territorial Prison, The Ocean to Ocean Bridge, the Quartermaster’s Depot, and more. But since this is our third visit to Yuma and we’ve seen them all a few times before we chose not to see them again this time.

Instead we’ve just been wandering around town, catching up on shopping, received our mail via General Delivery, got our flu shots, and went to all the Farmer’s Markets and Flea Markets and Swap Meets. We did a few more yesterday and today.

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Yuma Palms Farmer’s Market

Tonight was Yuma’s Electric Light Parade so we joined in the usual traffic and the crowds that go along with it. The Historic Downtown area was packed with people. It was only 65F, a nice temperature for parade watching. It was a good time.

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Electric Light Parade

  • Gasoline:  $37 @ $2.59
  • Lodging:   $20

 

 

Posted in Arizona, Daily Post, December | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

Yuma Markets

Posted on December 11, 2014 by Marsha Brecht

Yuma has lots of Farmer’s Markets and Flea Markets. Tuesday we were at the Farmer’s Market in the Historic Downtown. Yesterday, we found the Farmer’s Market at Gila Mountain United Methodist Church.

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Gila Mtn. United Methodist Church Flea Market

And today we were at the Arizona Market Place. This is a big market, 32 acres, and hundreds of selling spaces.

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Arizona Market PLace

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Wally’s World

As if that wasn’t enough shopping we went for a drive in the country and found one of the many date farms and bought some dates.

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Imperial Date Gardens

When we returned home we decided to head for an actual RV park again. Rain is in the forecast and we don’t want to be in a muddy lot. We checked our Passport America directory and found one on the east side of town that would accommodate us.

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Fortuna De Oro RV Resort

The Fortuna De Oro RV Resort is a 55+ community, owned by Cal-Am, who also owns several other resorts in Arizona like this one. They placed us in a paved lot that was striped for RVs and included full hook-ups. This is a temporary lot for transients like us. That’s ok, we only plan to be here 3 or 4 days.

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Nice Sunset

The resort here is in the festive spirit. The house on the corner is all lit up for Christmas as are several other homes. We went out to explore the resort and enjoy the lights.

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  • Gasoline:  $125 @ $3.57
  • Lodging:  $20
Posted in Arizona, Daily Post, December | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Yuma, AZ

Posted on December 9, 2014 by Marsha Brecht

We’re in Yuma now. It was about an 85 mile drive south from where we were in Quartzsite. We have sent for our mail to be delivered General Delivery so we will stick around here until it arrives. This is our third visit, or maybe our 4th, to Yuma since we retired.  It’s warmer here, the high to at least 80 today.

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According to Guinness World Records, Yuma is the sunniest place on earth, with bright skies about 91 percent of all daytime hours. This is also the driest city in the U.S., but not the hottest. This is also where 90 percent of our nation’s leafy vegetables are grown from November to March. We can see this as we arrive to the area, there are miles and miles of neatly groomed fields of leafy produce in all stages of growth. There are roadside produce stands everywhere you look.

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A truck load of boxes labeled FOXY.IMG_9494 IMG_9502

Historic Downtown Yuma was holding its weekly Farmers Market. We got there just before closing and bought cabbage, cucumbers, squash, and some dates.

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We are parked in a large RV parking lot at the back of Quechan Paradise Casino.

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  • Gasoline:  none
  • Lodging:   free
Posted in Arizona, Daily Post, December | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

A Stop at Quartzsite

Posted on December 8, 2014 by Marsha Brecht

There’s not much going on in Quartzsite right now. January is the time for the big Sports, Vacation, and RV Show with the big tent and all the flea markets and shows. It has been billed as the “Largest Gathering of RVers in the World” as it draws in thousands of people, mostly in RVs.

We have been here a few times before and we headed to “our” spot at Scadden Wash, a free 14-day limited stay area on public lands managed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) parallel to I-10 Southeast of Quartzsite. The town is surrounded by public lands on all sides, and next month there will be thousands of RVs parked there. There are also several RV parks in town and right now they appear to be about half filled.

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The flea market areas are showing signs of preparations for the big event.

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Some vendors are here already and open for business.

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And of course the lounge.

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Beautiful desert sunset tonight!

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We don’t plan on staying here more than just one night. We will move on to Yuma in the morning.

  • Gasoline:  none
  • Lodging:   free
Posted in Arizona, Daily Post, December | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

The Desert Bar

Posted on December 7, 2014 by Marsha Brecht

After our free breakfast at BlueWater Casino our RV neighbors, Don & Vi from Canada, joined us for a ride in the country.  Our first stop was to see Parker Dam, the dam that holds back the water that creates Lake Havasu, provides power for Arizona and California, and water for irrigation. Unlike the Hoover Dam and the Davis Dam we are allowed to drive across this one. There are security guards, but they did not stop us.

The Parker Dam

The Parker Dam

About 10 miles from Parker, out in the desert hills of Buckskin Mountains, on land that was an old mining camp is the Nellie E Saloon, also known as The Desert Bar. The last 5 miles is a rough gravel road. It was slow going and took us about 30 minutes to drive the distance.

The Road to The Desert Bar

The Road to The Desert Bar

The mining camp is gone now. They opened for business around 1983 in a tiny shack. Five years later the new bar was constructed. It’s not a town, just the bar.

The Desert Bar

The Desert Bar

The Original Desert Bar

The Original Desert Bar

There are several old vehicles and equipment around the area.

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The entrance to the bar is through a narrow covered pedestrian bridge. The saloon is powered by solar, stored in batteries and run through inverters.

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We got there early so there were not a lot of people, but more arrived as the afternoon progressed.

The Desert Bar

The Desert Bar

There are several interesting characteristics to the bar, one of my favorites was this suspended fireplace. I’ve never seen anything like it.

The Desert Bar

The Desert Bar

Live music is on Saturday and Sunday from 1 to 5 o’clock. The bar is only open on Saturdays and Sundays and only from noon to 6 o’clock p.m. And is closed from May through September. They are open one night only, New Years Eve, and only if it falls on the weekend.

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A couple of people arrived by horseback.

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Some arrived by off-road vehicles and Jeeps as well as heavy-duty pickup trucks.

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There is a church structure here too, built in 1996. It’s made of solid steel and the walls and ceiling are made of the same stamped tin used inside the saloon. It’s only about ten feet from the front door to the back door. It’s a unique place for weddings, and just a good photo spot. There are no services held here and all religions are welcome. Inside is a plaque with the names inscribed of the people who donated money to help build it.

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Here we are with Vi & Don. We spent some time sitting and enjoying the music. They serve what looks like wonderful food here, and generous portions. We did not eat as we were all still full from the free breakfast buffet we had at the casino this morning.

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The tall structures are cooling towers. They work similar to an evaporative (swamp) cooler, except they don’t have a fan. When you wet the pads on top, cool air falls and you get a nice airflow.

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1927 Olds

1927 Olds

That was a good time.

  • Gasoline:  $41 @ $2.84
  • Lodging:   free
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Bluewater Casino at Parker, AZ

Posted on December 6, 2014 by Marsha Brecht

We have moved south only 24 miles to the parking lot at Bluewater Casino at Parker, Arizona. When we went to see if we needed to register or pay anything they said no, that they “got rid of all that.”  The parking lot is quite sloped but there is a gravel area just beyond the blacktop that is the most level so we joined the other rigs that were already there.

Blackwater Casino

Bluewater Casino

We did go inside the casino and signed up for their Players Club card, something we frequently do as often times we get free stuff when we do that. They gave us each $10 in free slot play plus a voucher for free breakfast buffet in the morning. Of course we had to use the free slot play and we made enough money to pay for lunch in their restaurant!

Behind the casino hotel there is a marina on the Colorado River, but it’s quite empty this time of year. Next to that is a long picnic area with lots of sheltered picnic tables. Nobody around.

Bluewater Casino

Bluewater Casino

More motor homes arrived later in the afternoon. It was a comfortable sunny 70F degrees, no wind. Most of the rest of the day was spent visiting with our new neighbors from Missouri, Washington State, and Canada until the sun went down and it got cold.

  • Gasoline:  none
  • Lodging:    free
Posted in Arizona, Daily Post, December | Tagged , , , , , | 5 Comments

Whytes Retreat Trail

Posted on December 5, 2014 by Marsha Brecht

This is what’s great about our lifestyle, we can change our minds whenever we want. Our plan was to leave this morning and move south, but we decided we wanted to walk the trail called the Whytes Retreat Trail. It begins at Cattail Cove State Park and follows the shoreline of Lake Havasu on the lower portion of the Colorado River.

The trail begins down by the boat landing and heads south along the coast. It was about 65 degrees with a light breeze. The humidity was high and some morning fog lingered.

Whytes Retreat Trail

Whytes Retreat Trail

Lake Havasu

Lake Havasu

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Not petroglyphs, but years of carvings by hikers.

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The trail leads to Whytes Retreat, one of the boat-in campsites provided by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). Nobody there today. There are several other trails going off in different directions. We decided to return the way we came.

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Whytes Retreat

After lunch we sat outside for a while and enjoyed the weather. Some ducks came over to say hello.

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At the same time a bevy of Gambel’s quail came running in our direction. They are so comical.

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We spent the evening watching Back to the Future DVD’s. You know when they go into the future they go to October 21, 2015. That’s very close. Where’s my flying car???

  • Gasoline:  none
  • Lodging:   $28
Posted in Arizona, Daily Post, December | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Desert Rain

Posted on December 4, 2014 by Marsha Brecht

Yup, it’s been raining in the desert. Not a hard rain but a gentle steady rain all through the night the last two nights. Enough that we could wipe down the Jeep removing all that desert dust that has accumulated over the last few weeks and it looks clean again.

We had planned to take the Lighthouse Tour Boat on Lake Havasu yesterday, but it was cancelled. This was disappointing as it only runs on Wednesdays and we don’t plan to stay here that long.

IMG_9212Bernie is getting restless so we are moving south again. But we didn’t go far, only about 20 miles south of Lake Havasu City to Cattail Cove State Park which is also on Lake Havasu. We had been boondocking at Craggy Wash for 5 days so it’s nice to have electricity again. We do have good internet but are unable to pick up any TV stations with our antenna. We will only stay here one night, moving south again in the morning.

A pretty lemon tree lives near us.

Cattail Cove State Park, AZ, #25

Cattail Cove State Park, AZ, #25

There are some hiking trails in the hills around this campground. We could see our RV in the campground below. That’s ours in the center.

Cattail Cove State Park, AZ

Cattail Cove State Park, AZ

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Sunset over Lake Havasu

Our clocks are back on California time even though we are in Arizona. They keep switching back and forth, we never really know what time it is.

  • Gasoline:  none
  • Lodging:   $28

 

 

Posted in Arizona, Daily Post, December | Tagged , , | Leave a comment