Graffitti Hill

On Tuesday, 11 of went out to the California desert to go 4 Wheeling. This was not a difficult trip but you see the cars did some rockin' and rollin' along the way. Our destination was Graffitti Hill. Local lore tells us that before WWII, the U.S. Army sent out a couple soldiers to be on the alert for invaders from Mexico. Hum...WWII...soldiers sitting out in the lonely, deserted, California desert. What to do? I know, let's leave messages in the sand using...rocks!!! Well, they did, and so did hundreds of visitors since then. The area is two miles long and covers the undulating hills on both sides of the sand track.
If you use Ctrl + you can enlarge the pictures and get more detail. Ctrl - shrinks the pictures back to normal size.

Loves of all ages leave their own statements.
Donut Dunker and Toots?

Sidewinder Red?

I would like to know a man named Fiddle Red. There has to be a story there.

...and Payton is a very proud Texan!

So, this is how we spend many days. There are always new places to see...and wonderful friends to share the experience. Life is good!

Foothills Lighted Parade

Every year, fun loving residents of the Foothills decorate their vehicles with all the 12V lights and blowups they can manage. Imagination flourishes!!!!!!!!! For three nights they parade through the streets and RV parks in the Foothills, drawing the residents out to cheer and wish "MERRY CHRISTMAS!" The picture quality is not the best, but moving vehicles are hard to capture. I think I only have one good shot. But if I censured for quality, you wouldn't get to see all these lights!

My favorite!!!!!

Famous Dave's

It was a normal Thursday afternoon at Famous Dave's, or so they thought. A party of 5 arrived around 4:30, and ordered. A few minutes later, another party of 5 arrived and the hostess started asking, "How many more in your party?" The answer? "We don't know. Whoever shows up!" Little did Famous Dave's know that when the WINs are in town, the word is spread and singles gather from all corners of town. Thirty-four showed up last night and a quiet Thursday evening in a local bar/restaurant turned into a major reunion as friends enthusiastically greeted friends even if they had just seen them the day before. There is NOTHING like a WIN social gathering. I borrowed Ted's camera, and had a crash course in operating it. Here are the results. The quality may be poor, but you get the idea!

We have a busy social life, although much of it is impromptu! Everyone enjoys a party!

Living Christmas Tree

Over the years I have been motorhoming, being away from home (Michigan) during the Christmas holidays has been the hardest. I have a very small family, and we have always gathered on Christmas Eve. So, in 2000, when I was to be away from home for the first time, Ted and I searched Yuma for activities that would fill the gap, or at least try to. We found the Living Christmas Tree and have returned each year. A local church, Community Christian, performs a holiday concert in their parking lot several evenings each December. The "tree" is a 35 foot series of platforms, stairs, music stands and flat panels, covered in 22,500 mini lights. While the choir is singing, the lights are dancing, horizontally, vertically, up the tiers like a birthday cake, in panels, virtually in any configuration the computer program can handle. It is amazing and I've often wondered what local drivers think as they drive by this fascinating array.

This is a picture of the tree before the choir arrived.
Now you can see the outlines of the choir members standing in front of some of the mini-lights. Each of the 65-80 choir members wore a knitted red hat and white surplice. The TV screen on the left allows everyone to see the narrators and soloists, a nice touch.

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Everyone was dressed for "winter!" Even though we are in Arizona, it gets cold after dark. I had two layers of silk shirts, two layers of fleece, my jacket, hat and gloves...and a lap robe!!! Yes, MI friends and family, I still wear all my winter duds...though not as often. It began to feel like Christmas was coming and we are both anticipating being in Show Low next winter where I will decorate our home with Christmas cheer and the snow outside will really feel welcome!

Algodones...again!

Today was our second trip to Algodones since Thanksgiving. Remember, We went 3 times before Thanksgiving to take care of my dental issues. Then, Ted decided to have a crown replaced and I decided to get reading glasses. (I can't get the cheap kind because my eyes are so different.) So, today Ted was to get his crown and I picked up the glasses I ordered last week. It only takes 1-2 hours for the glasses to be made but we didn't want to wait. So, today was the day. Well, the dentist decided that more porcelain needed to be added to Ted's crown so it was sent back to the lab. We were told to return in an hour. Try to get that kind of service in the U.S.

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We decided to go to lunch and had an excellent meal for $8.00. We have eaten in several of the restaurants, and Ted swears the push cart vendor's shrimp tacos are the best anywhere. No one I know has ever gotten sick from food in this town.

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We had extra time after lunch so we wandered into a liquor/convenience store on the main street. They were having a tequila tasting in one of the aisles! I don't drink tequila unless it is in a Margarita, but we could have tried all 4 kinds. I was so shocked to see this display! We knew we weren't in the U.S. anymore!! Amazingly, no one was lined up at the table. There were multiple tiny cups already poured and everyone passing by noticed, and kept going! I really expected someone to imbibe!

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Anyway, we did some price checking on Brandy Alexander and Baileys, and didn't buy anything. We headed back to the dentist. The crown was back from the lab and we only had to wait a few minutes for the dentist to be available. I asked Leticia, the receptionist, how many patients the dentists saw during one year. She looked puzzled then said, "During October, November, December, January, February and March they see around 50 patients a day! During the other 6 months, maybe 10 a day. Do the math. Six months times 24 work days a month, (They work M-Sat.) equals 144, times 50 patients a day equals 7200 patient visits during Oct-March!! During the summer they work 5 days a week, or 120 days times 10 patients a day equals 1200 patients. Total--8400 patient visits a year!!!! And they remember my name!! SCARY!!!! They do so many crowns, bridges, partials and dentures that they are experts in what they do. The lab in town does the same work for the 100 or so dentists in town, and they also, are very good at what they do. No wonder that people fly down here from WA and OR to visit relatives during the holidays and have their dental work done here before they return home. This is the destination of 1000s of winter visitors as well. Cost for Ted's crown??? $170.

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The pharmacies are the other main reason for the tourist traffic. If you are interested what your U.S. prescriptions would cost at the Purple Pharmacy in Algodones, e-mail them and ask. info@grupo-liquis.com

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While I waited for Ted, I worked on a small cross stitch project. My new glasses are great! I can see up close at 20/20 which I have never had before. My exam, frames and lenses??? $100. Works for me!

Thanksgiving!!

Today is Thanksgiving, and probably our last in Yuma. Yesterday we had the mother of all rain storms, totalling over 2.5 inches over an 8 hour period. This is shocking!! Yuma gets very little rain and most days are predictably warm ... and dry! The first storm came through in the morning and Ted and I left for Algodones during the worst of the storm. I had a dental appointment in MX and I had to keep it. I was getting my bridge and I would be done with the dental work. I AM thankful for that. By the time we got across the border the rain had stopped. But we saw evidence of flooded streets and leaking roofs in many of the stores. Clerks were still sweeping water out the doors and one pharmacy still had buckets catching the leaks.

The second storm came through in the evening and I saw horizontal lightning for the first time.

Our friend, Taylor, called this morning from Show Low. It was SNOWING up there and she said it was beautiful! Well, I guess our storms went NE from here and the elevation turned the rain into fluffy snow. Next year, that is how we'll be spending our Thanksgiving Day. I am actually looking forward to it. If I'm inside and warm, the weather can do anything it wants!!! I don't have to shovel, and the view will be beautiful. Beats the desert and all the traffic we have here.

But, back to Thanksgiving. We joined Bev, Don, Joyce, Ted T, Ted M, Rose, June and Clyde for a very relaxed delicious dinner with good friends.

Bev took time out to pose for this picture. I can't have the gravy, but it looks delicious!
Ted T, Rose and Ted M are ready to eat!

This is the line for "seconds." I missed the picture for "firsts" as I was filling my own plate. Those are my yams in front, the recipe will be at the end of the blog. They are ALWAYS a hit! I also brought Peas and Peanuts, another hit.


Still looks good to me, hours later.

Ted and Joyce are old friends, and we are always delighted to see her. Did you notice that there were 3 "Teds?" A 4th Ted arrived just as we were leaving. Sure causes some confusion!

We left this gathering after dessert and traveled a few blocks to another friend's home. We had been invited there for dinner as well, but could only manage dessert. She had at least 20 guests, all people we knew and enjoyed seeing again. We talked a lot about selling our property here. Hopefully, someone will know someone...and the lot will sell. We also spent a lot of time talking about the MX dentists, and I gave a hearty recomendation to the one I trust so much. Then, stuffed to the gills, we returned home to feed the dogs, and loosen the waistlines.

Pineapple Sweet Potato Bake

5-6 pounds cooked sweet potatoes
1 (20 ounce) can pineapple chunks

1 cup sugar

2 TBS cornstarch

1/2 cup butter or margarine

dried fruit (I like Wal Mart's berry mixture)

ground cinnamon

Cut cooked yams into lengthwise wedges and arrange in a 9x13 pan. Drain the pineapple chunks, saving the juice. Spread the pineapple chunks over the yams. Spread dried fruit over the yams and pineapple. Combine sugar and cornstarch. Add pineapple juice until well blended. Add butter. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 min or until thickened. Pour over yams and pineapple. Sprinkle ground cinnamon over all. Bake, uncovered, at 350 degrees for 30-35 min or until heated through. ENJOY!

Peas and Peanuts

(This is a very common item on salad bars throughout the Midwest, but unheard of out west.)

Combine equal parts frozen peas and redskin peanuts. Mix 1/2 cup mayonnaise with 1/4 cup sour cream. Mix all together and serve!!!

This is wonderful to take to pot luck dinners because the frozen peas keep the mayo/sour cream fresh until serving. The peas thaw in the time before eating and the mixture stays cold. Plus, everyone is always surprised at the taste of peas and peanuts in the same dish.

I hope your Thanksgiving was blessed in every way.

Visiting Algodones

On Thursday, we spent the morning in Los Algodones Mexico. (Los Algodones means cotton.) Algodones is about 20 miles from our lot in the Foothills, but we need to cross into California first to get there. I know, it is confusing! We park on the US side of the border and then walk across. This sign is one of the first you see, and marks the entrance to my dentist's office. As you can see, there are a lot of dentists in Algodones, most catering to the winter visitors. I had a shock when I went to make an appointment for next week. The receptionist knew my name!!! Thousands of winter visitors flow through their offices every winter, but I must be a memorable patient. I admit I've had a lot of quality work done there, but I didn't expect Leticia to remember my name! Dr. Ramos is the only health care professional who has ever offered to refund my money if he could not save a tooth. He not only saved it, he earned my total respect. So, he saves me a lot of money, and we have a mutually beneficial relationship.

When we left the dentist we headed for the pharmacies. They rival the dentists in popularity. US prescriptions can be filled at consifderable savings and we all stock up on penicillin, Retin A , and antibiotics. Ted is consulting with Vicky at the Purple Store Pharmacy. If they have a qestion about one of our needs, they check the US PDR (Physician's Desk Reference). Thousands and thousands of winter visitors take advantage of the $$$ savings, making this border town unique. The other border towns provide the same, if limited, services, but Algodones has gone out of its way to be "gringo" friendly. All transactions in the whole town are in US currency.

The vendors are very funny, calling out, "Hey, pretty lady" and "Honeymooners!" to get your attention. I told them I was taking picture of "handsome young men" to get the following pictures of the wares available on the streets. Of course, you bargain for everythng, and walking away is a good strategy to get them to lower their prices even more.

Then, it was time to leave. This is the border from the Mexico side. We try to finish our errands by lunchtime, because the line to cross back into the US can be very long. In the past we've waited as much as 2 hours! in line. You get to know the people in front and behind you very well! It is now necessary to have a passport or one of the new cards. The border patrol officers check to see how much liquor, cigarettes and prescriptions each person is bringing back, so all is legal. We'll be back there next week for my dental appointment so we'll have another opportunity to get anything we forgot this time!

Lot for Sale

We've been back in Yuma for just a week, and have placed the following ad in the Yuma Sun, Super Shopper and the White Sheet. The first ads were listed today, and we hope to see a lot of drive bys. We have a basket with brochures hanging from the lot sign and are watching to see we don't run out. We are trying to be very aggressive about our advertising, as we really don't want to miss any opportunity. Right now, ours is the only RV Lot for Sale in any of the papers. The first big wave of winter visitors arrives after Thanksgiving with the second wave arriving after Christmas. Seems to depend on how many grandchildren are being left behind!!!

Ted has also put crepe paper streamers on this For Sale sign. (If you hit Ctrl and + at the same time, you can enlarge any picture. The reverse happens if you hit Ctrl and -)

Wish us luck! As soon as we sell this lot we can finalize our plans for our home in Show Low.

Leaving Show Low

Most of my blogging friends take pictures of the fabulous scenery from their travels. It seems my speciality is FOOD! On our last evening in Show Low, the Gang of 7 went to our local eatery for dinner. The Sugar Shack is "only" 15 miles from home and offers a variety of selections. As you'll see in the next few pictures, it is typical "Concho."

Norm and Olga place their order while the rest of wait for dinner to arrive.

Note the Concho "class!" Styrofoam containers and plastic ware. But, those ribs are good! I get exra slaw because I don't like cowboy beans and Ted gives me his portion as well.

Sue is checking out Ted's technique. Dinner conversation revolved around the previous night's low temperature. 11.1 degrees F. Yep...11.1! We compared frozen water pumps, water lines, and hot water lines. Little did we know that Thursday night's low temperature would be 6.4!!! That's an all time low temperature for me while living in a motor home. Time to bail out of town!

Friday morning Ted and I left Show Low, heading for our property in Yuma. The first day we traveled only 185 miles, but it took us 5 hours. We chose to drive through the Salt River Canyon, a beautiful, challenging drive. Since we started out at an elevation over 6000 feet, we needed to descend to approx. 600 feet. This entailed a lot of downshifting and exhaust brake usage. In fact, I was in 3rd gear using the exhaust brake most of the way. Since our top speed during the most challenging parts was about 30 mph, it was a grueling drive. I haven't driven the motor home in over 8 months and had lost the "edge" I usually have. I just wanted the drive to be OVER! I was glad to arrive in Florence, AZ, and find flat, straight highway in front of me! From Florence to Casa Grande was just a short hop, and we spent the night at the Pinal County Fairgrounds. For $12 we hooked up to electricity for the first time since March 1.

Today, we finished the drive to Yuma by noon, and spent the next hour fueling up, $100, and filling the propane tanks $2.29/gal. It was a relief to arrive at the lot, not because I was glad to be in Yuma, but because I just wanted to arrive at my destination!

Barbara, do you see your truck????

Our plan is to sell this property, and everyone tells us we shouldn't have a problem. Ted is ready to finish the water lines and put a couple finishing touches on the lot. Then our dream of buying a mobile home for our Show Low property can become a reality and we will again have a real home.

This is just a view of the corner of our lot. It really is in a beautiful area. Living in Yuma has been an interesting RV experience. Yuma has a lot to offer, including warm winter weather. But, we plan to live year-round in Show Low actually enjoying snow and winter weather again.

Missing Picture from Previous Post

I have no idea what happened to this picture in my previous post. So, your job is to keep this picture in your mind, when you read about the canasta games! Sorry!!!!!

This and That........

I'm still learning how to do these entries, so don't expect wonderful content each time! The next 3 pictures were taken at "Iggy's Country Cooking," a new restaurant in St. Johns, 31 miles from home. As I have said, we travel significant distances to avoid cooking! Each booth has a collection of memorabilia, with a different theme in each booth. The time spent waiting for food passed quickly since there was so much to look at.

(Steep Learning curve WARNING!) A picture disappeared from here, showing Donna, Sue and Buck! I have no idea what happened, but I'll add it to the next post! The following paragraph goes with the missing picture!)

Donna, Sue and Buck are motorhomers who live two streets away. They are here from April to mid-November. The 5 of us have started playing canasta together and we all remember the fun we had with this game years ago. We talk of how we used to play it and are comparing different versions of the rules. We'll get our game standardized and hope to get a weekly canasta club started next year.

Ted is my partner. Olga and Norm live about 3 miles away and live here full time. The 7 of us are best friends and we spend a lot of time together! We'll take off for dinner at a moment's notice. Well. Norm does have to feed the chickens and we have to let the dogs out, so maybe, we can take off wth a 1/2 hours notice!! We're all game for any new adventure...or a meal we didn't cook!

Here's the rest of our family. Rebel is a 6 1/2 year old apricot poodle who belongs to Ted. Barney is a maltipoo who will be 6 on Christmas Day. He is mine. Rebel weighs about 19 pounds; Barney weighs 5 1/2 pounds. However, Barney is the alpha dog because he has more "presence." He is convinced he is big and powerful and has convinced Rebel as well! Because of Barney's small size, he is "prey" for hawks, owls and passing coyotes. So, he is always on a leash.

Small dogs and cats are vulnerable here when they are out on their own. One neighbor has lost her cat. She was working outside during the day and her cat was always nearby. All of sudden, no cat. There was no noise, no commotion, no warning. The cat was just gone. So, we are very careful.

Ted and I getting ready to move our motorhomes to Yuma for the winter months. Ted has projects to do getting the lot ready for sale. We're sad to be leaving Show Low, as our friends are still here and the weather is gorgeous. I talked to our neighbors in Yuma, and found out that it was 95 degrees on Halloween night! They sat on their porch giving out candy and had to have a fan on! It is in the high 60s here, and we're going THERE?????? Next year we'll have our mobile home set up here and we won't have to leave again. Knowing that is the only thing that makes leaving now bearable.