Mexico, Valentine's Day, We Have Moved to Roadrunner BLM, VFW Fish Fry with Friends (catch up post)

We are parked out in the desert near Quartzsite on BLM  land. 


Wednesday, February 13, 2019

Today we are off to Los Algodones, Mexico. We both have appointments to get our teeth cleaned and I am looking for new glasses. Plus it is always fun to stop and look around at all the things for sale.

The courtyard at the dentist's office.
Dr. Eva Urena

Our teeth are clean, my glasses are ordered and it is time for lunch and
a Margarita or two.  We both ordered  Shrimp Tacos which we enjoyed.
The Margaritas what can I say, we did enjoy them.

The food was good, the drinks strong, and we enjoyed
the music while we ate. We even enjoyed the people
who stopped by trying to sell us various things.

After a while it was time to leave, pick up my glasses, and head home. Leaving later we knew there would be a line and a long wait. As we started to walk towards the end of the line I found a place to sit and wait while Tom proceeded to the end. Did I mention the drinks were strong? I did enjoy talking with the others sitting next to me and we also enjoyed talking with the people in line as they went by. I was a little worried about the time thing when the lady next to me said she had been sitting there for 45 minutes and still could not see her husband but he eventually showed up and not long after I could see Tom coming our way. By this time my phone had died and shut itself off so no pictures. 

The ride home did not take long and just as we merged onto I-8 a few rain drops came down.  As we drove towards the Stinger "B" we could see a truck we did not recognize and I was pretty sure it belonged to Shirley's friend and her husband. When we walked around to our patio area we were happy to see I had guessed right. Tom put out the awning to protect us from the light rain coming down, we said we would leave the keys next time...lol. Then we moved our chairs in to sit and meet their friends.Okay...okay Tom also grabbed us each an adult beverage. Shirley introduced us and we were soon all sitting and chatting like old friends. What a nice couple Elva and Jerry are and we are so glad we got back in time to meet them. (Side note: there is just something about this lifestyle that makes meeting new people seem natural and the conversations always seem to flow. A nice side benefit.)

I did not take any pictures so I had to borrow these from Shirley's blog.

From left to right: Jerry's hand, Deb, Elva, Ken, and Tom

Left to right: the back of Elva's head, Shirley's spot, Ken, Tom, Jerry, and Deb

A picture of Jerry, Elva, Shirley, and Ken
I am so glad they were able to connect. I knew Shirley was so
looking forward to it. 

A few more minutes of chatting, after taking the above picture, Elva and Jerry took off to head back to their home on wheels. They are parked in the Pilot Knob LTVA just east of us. Since, it was getting cold Shirley, Ken, Tom and I decided to finish Happy Hour inside where it was warmer.


Thursday, February 14, 2019 (Valentine's Day)

My Valentine Roses!
.

Not long after we finished our coffee Tom said he needed to go in to Yuma to run some errands. After 49 years I was pretty sure where he was going. A little while later he showed up with the beautiful roses pictured above. If I count the year we were engaged, and it does count, in 50 years he has not missed buying me flowers for Valentine's Day. What is hard to believe is that it has been 50 years.
The years between the first bouquet of roses delivered to the door, he was in the Navy and the ship he was on was in Alameda, CA  at the time, and these have flown by all to quickly.

Ken had seen a road that would take us back to the area we have been looking out at sitting at Happy Hour. So after Tom returned, he did put gas in the Jeep, we were off on a ride to explore. We were looking to get closer to the wall we could see in the distance. It was a wonderful ride on a road through the sand dunes behind us. Plus we did eventually see "the wall" just not the part we could see in the distance from our spot at Pilot Knob.

The sand dunes we road through.

As you can see in the pictures it was a cloudy day.
We all said it would be even better to do this ride on a sunny day.
Maybe next year we will have that opportunity.

Even with the clouds the views were great. 

Then after back tracking and turning left instead of right we found 

"the wall".

We could see it and a road on our side of the border across what I believe
is the All American Canal. This canal I read is the principal route for the
Colorado River water to reach the ranches and farms in the Imperial Valley.

Los Algodones in the distance.

The road ended at what looked to be a mining operation at one time.

Another view of Los Algodones in the distance.

We then drove out to I-8 and took the exit for 186 which would bring us to the border crossing. We took a road on the right, just past the casino, that brought us to several areas were people were dry camping. Many of them looked like they were parked for the season.

Could not resist taking a picture of this sign. Tom had just been explaining to
Shirley and Ken at Happy Hour that we are "Yoopers" we live in the Upper
Peninsula of Michigan above the Mackinaw Bridge. The people in the Lower
Peninsula live below the bridge and are "trolls". No trolls were seen..

We did come across this Pet Cemetery tucked a ways back.

We could see the final resting place for many four legged family members

that had been well loved.

It looked like it went back quite a ways.

After several twists and turns we ended up at the parking lot we have parked in when we have made the visit into Los Algodones. At this point we turned and headed home.

Arriving back it seemed warm enough to sit out and enjoy our last Happy
Hour together this year. I do not even think Ken was even here yet when
we decided inside was a much better choice.
We all agreed it had been a good day and a good couple of weeks and
I know Tom and I are so glad we got the chance to spend this time together.

The clouds as I looked out from out spot parked in the Pilot Knob BLM
on our last night here.

Friday, February 15, 2019


This morning we were all up and moving early as it was time to pack up and move on. The sky is a beautiful blue this morning but the wind is definitely with us. Shirley was busy and brought over these muffins she had baked for Tom and I to try. They were delicious. Tom and I both agreed it was hard to believe they did not have any flour in them. Thank you again Shirley and for the muffins, the cookies, and the recipes. These will make for a nice breakfast when we are on the move.

I had to borrow another picture from Shirley.
Tom and I were to busy eating them to take a picture.

While we were getting ready to leave George stopped by for a moment to say Hi and so long. It was nice to cross paths one more time this year even for a brief visit.

Again, Shirley took this great picture of George waving
goodbye. She already posted it on her blog,
Seeing America with Ken and Shirley
so I felt safe borrowing it.

One last picture of this special couple we happily call friends.
They are hooked up and ready to leave.

I could see several Ocotillos across from us and after we hooked up the
Jeep I walked across to take its picture. Love the red that
is mixed in with the green.

Walking back I took this picture. We are all hooked up and ready to leave.
With a couple more hugs and see you "later's"  

we watched Shirley and Ken pull out and with one look back we followed
them down the road and out to I-8  heading east.
They are headed home and we are headed to Roadrunner BLM
for a few nights.

As we  passed by the back of the Pilot Knob RV Park Tom honked our air
horn and he was pretty sure he could see George waving. Kim and Ken
are also parked in the here and sent a messenger wave.
See you down the road Suzie, George, Kim, and Ken.

Through the screen on my window.
Elva and Jerry are parked out here at the Pilot Knob LTVA.
Hope to cross paths with you both again in the future.

We are on AZ-95 and this and the next picture are of our views out the front
window. We followed the Airstream  for quite awhile.

The bushes,the Ocotillo, the mountains, the wildflowers are all so beautiful.
I always enjoy this ride. Middle picture is the Stone Cabin and the bottom
right the Border Patrol Checkpoint which we were waved right through.

Once we got into Roadrunner we found a fairly level spot and got ourselves ready to meet Kathy and Rick, It's about time, for a Fish Fry at the VFW in Quartzsite. This is our third straight year doing this with them so I believe we have a tradition going. After dinner with some wonderful conversation they invited us back to their home where we continued our conversation. Rick and Tom stayed outside for a few minutes so Rick could show him the wind generator he is working on setting up to supplement their solar. Kathy and I went inside where is was much warmer and with less wind. The guys soon joined us and then they shared some pictures of the cakes they have made together. They called it a hobby. We could tell from what they were saying it was a hobby they both really loved. Though, also, from the pictures there is no doubt a lot of work went into what they did. Very creative and beautiful cakes.

On the way from the VFW to Kathy and Ricks

I caught a couple of pictures of tonight's sunset.

Time flew as it always does when you are enjoying good conversation with friends; before we knew it, it was after 8 o'clock and time to head home.With hugs all around we said our good nights.
I am sure we will see them at least one more time before we all leave this area. In fact we will make a point of doing so.

It was a somewhat sad day as we said goodbye to Shirley and Ken this morning but we take lots of good memories with us. We look forward to the next time.


Saturday, February 16, 2019

The sun is shining and the sky is a beautiful blue this morning; I just wish the temperature would match so I could sit out and enjoy the sunrise. After enjoying our coffee we pulled the bedroom slide in and took the Jeep for a ride to find a place to park for the next couple of days. Last night we just pulled in and parked and now we could see a place across the wash that looked way more level and we can position ourselves to face the wash and have the sun out the door most of the day. After a quick ride we both agreed just across the wash was our best choice. We are moving.

Now this is a Happy Hour flag.
Tom said, Ken needs to see this. What do you thing Shirley?

Some views from our place

out here in this quiet spot.

Looking out to where we were parked.

Walking around our site and taking

pictures later in the afternoon

no matter what the direction our views are pretty darn good.

The sun has slipped behind the mountains

sharing a last bit of light with the mountains behind us.

One last picture and the light was gone.

What can I say except we have had some really good days. A fun trip into Mexico, a ride through some small sand dunes with friends, fun Happy Hours, a nice dinner out with friends. Life is good and we are trying to enjoy each and every day. I am not saying they are all perfect every minute of every day we do have some moments but in the end we are living our dream and know how lucky we are to be doing so.

Tom and I are glad you stopped by for a visit.

If you would like to leave a comment we would enjoy hearing from you.