Anza Borrego to Yuma by way of Quartzsite

Our final days in Anza Borrego were highlighted by the arrival of Canadian friends, Dan and Heather.  Not only did they come for a visit, but brought dinner with them.  Now that's some super-special friends.

In Quartzsite we spent a few days boondocking at Hi Jolly BLM just north of town.  The big tent RV show opened on January 21 and Howard went down the next day to look for a few products we use on a regular basis.  The only vendor he could find was the Orange Oil wood products. He was hoping to find the Dri Wash'N Guard cleaner we use on the motorhome's exterior, plus a water filter, and a few tools.  These we can find in Yuma.

We spent a great afternoon visiting with Nan and John Talley who are parked at La Posa South.  Like many of our friends, we first met the Talleys in Anza Borrego two years ago.  The following day we all met for pizza at Silly Al's; the Tallys brought Sandie and Jim Dixon, and we invited friend Al, who was parked with the Escapees SOLO group. It was great to meet Sandie and Jim and see Nan and John again.

On to Yuma!  We have a list of projects and repairs needing to be done and Yuma is the perfect locale
with access to all or most of our needs.  We decided to stay at an RV park with full hookups for a change and decided on Caravan Oasis in the Foothills area east of town.  It is an old park but we thought the monthly price of $535 was reasonable.

First was to find someone to reupholster our living room couch.  Our friend Beth, who lives in Yuma, provided a great rcomendation.  Ricardo and Arlene came over with samples and prices.  We picked a vinyl beige (Sand) color.  Ricardo measured and Arlene soon provided us with a price which we thought was very reasonable.  Our 16 year old couch was soon dismantled and hauled away.  If we are satisfied with their work we will have our remaining 3 chairs done next year.

I also found Ron's Mobile Screen Door repair and he came out right away and replaced the old screen that had been damaged by one of the granddogs running through it.  We have an appointment with a mobile RV service and repair place.  We are hoping they can fix a water leak we have around our slide by replacing the rubber seal.  We also need to get our Hurricane heater functioning which has been the source of some not so nice language over the years after dealing with one problem after another.

By now we are needing some fun.  Friends Beth and Chris invited us over for dinner at their new home in the Foothills.  We had a wonderful time catching up and enjoyed a great dinner.

Once we have most of the repair work done, we can concentrate on getting to Algodones for a check-up with our dentist, Dr. Jorge Cortez.  We both have issues we need to attend to.

So no beautiful pictures to share. And not very exciting commentary.  We all have these times when things need to be done and not much time for sightseeing.  We did drive over to Ogilby Road to check out the boondocking sites.  We will definitely go there on our next boondocking outing.  Also keeping an eye on Anza Borrego as the wildflowers will soon be blooming.  Hoping for a good season after all the rain we have had.  And speaking of weather, the winds have died down and we  have been enjoying sunny days with highs in the mid 70s here in Yuma.

Until next time~~~

On to Tucson for a month of "fixings"....

We have committed to staying a month here at the Bar J RV Park, one of our favorite "proper" MH parks at a monthly rate of $425. We have full hookups, a patio with a builtin BBQ stand, and our own Saguaro.  Directly behind our site is one of the several washing machine rooms that provide free washes with lots of clotheslines with which to dry.  With a steady, warm breeze blowing you can't beat it.

Our motorhome is entering its 16th year so we expect systems to fail, need repair, or replacement. Such was the case with our old Sharp Micro/convection combo. We were lucky to find one in the catalog at Home Depot, a Sharp Carousel, with the exact same dimensions as the old one.  Our friends provided the name of a very reliable handyman.  Keith showed up right on time, dismantled the old one, and quickly had the new one installed.  Price for labor - $50, which we thought was very reasonable.

The new Sharp Carousel Convection/Microwave oven.

Lucky for us our interior cleaning service, Kyle of Benson Carpet Cleaners comes to Tucson. He shampooed and Scotch Guarded carpet, upholstery, and ceiling plus a couple of area rugs. I'm sure we off-loaded gallons of Borrego dust and sand.  Our little home is now back to her beautiful old self.

Next on our fix-it agenda was the mechanic from RV MD who came by to install a new heat sensor for our Magnum Inverter.  The inverter tech not only installed the heat sensor but also replaced all the battery cable connections for our 6 battery house bank which were so corroded, even though Howard periodically cleans them. Now we should be in good shape power-wise, unless of course, the batteries have lived their life!

Otherwise, life goes on as usual,  We visit local friends and go for short walks in Tucson Mountain Park.  I say short because, like the motorhome entering advanced age, my back is steadily getting worse and walking and standing are very painful.  But still we need to keep pushing.

That's all for now, folks!

Anza Borrego Desert...Adjustment phase!

We arrived a week ago, moved 3 times before finding our happy place, and are beginning to settle in.  I often refer to this Adjustment Phase as our decompression from holidays, but this year we have the added need to recuperate from a very full year of travel in 2013; body, mind, motorhome, bank account!

Our home..we even added solar lights after our neighbor got lost!

Our front yard view looking toward Clark Dry Lake & into Rockhouse Canyon, at dusk

We have a geocache!

And a turtle...

A previous occupant left us this colorful gourd!

So if you're in the neighborhood, stop by and say hello!

We have much to do and nothing to do, and lots of time to do them in.  Files and photos from 2013 need to be sent to an external disk, closets and storage bins cleaned out and sent to the thrift store in town, and jeep drives, hikes, and much practice and learning with new Nikon D7100.

We did our first hike up Coyote Mountain's lower hills, working up to more peak experiences. Howard has had several good 4-5 mile jogs and I've managed a few short hikes.  On our drive down to Orange Grove RV Park I had the mother of all back spasm attacks and bounced along in bed, lulled by the vibration of a big Cummins engine, and trying not to move.  I get these once or twice a year, and take it as a sign that more exercise needs to be added to the regime. Driving, or riding in my case, thousands of miles does not count!

First hike up the mountain!

Howard follows the rock cairns

And there's the snake!

And a little bit higher

Yep...way over down there!

In this drought-ridden, brown environment, we found signs of life on this Ocotillo

And going down!

We cleaned and polished the outside of the motorhome, except for that nasty front plexiglass bug snatcher, using one of our favorite products, Dri Wash 'N Guard.  We met the vendor years ago at the Quartzsite RV Show and now order online.  The name speaks for itself, no water needed; perfect for parking in the boonies and even RV parks where washing would be prohibited.  Now the old gal is looking spiffy indeed!

She hides her age well!

Friends Kathie and Bob drove down from La Quinta yesterday where they're staying at Lake Cahuilla. We enjoyed a good lunch in town at Carlee's Place, and returned for a camera lesson. Kathie is a great photographer and shared many helpful tips as she has used a Nikon for years.  And many thanks go out to Emily of Roads Less Traveled, for virtually sending me a ton of advice, both before and after purchasing the camera.  There are a lot of nice folks out there in blogland!

I know it looks like we're having fun, but this is really hard work!

Tomorrow is the Friday Farmer's Market at Christmas Circle.  We are so looking forward to it, and in need of fresh fruit and veggies.  It's always nice to meet up with our favorite vendors.  I hope the "meat guy" is there!  And goodies from Dudley's!

Here are some parting shots, until next time:

Shades of brown & blue

Our kind of roads

We have neighbors!

Sunrise....hanging out the window!

And sunset