Slowly Heading North

Saturday, March 14, 2026

When we left Yuma yesterday afternoon we started a trek that will take us North. We are still working on the exact route and stops but the goal is to see some of the beauty that is northern Arizona and possibly a few National Parks/Monuments in Utah. 

Meanwhile the first picture today is one of several I took of the sun coming up on our day.

The start of a beautiful day in the Sonoran Desert near Quartzsite, Arizona!

Wednesday, March 11, 2026

Today we made our last trip into Los Algodones for this Adventure. 

Walking in we take our time as people race past us. We are pretty sure
the venders will not run out of merchandise before we get there.

We have gone through their entrance where they now sometimes
check passports and then put any bags through a scanner.

A couple of street pictures,

Lunch at Mi Casa Es Su Casa

We had already started eating when we thought about a picture.

We are in the parking lot looking over where we just came through
US Customs back into California. 

Heading back home the fields are such a pretty green with the
mountains in the background.

We always enjoy our time in Los Algodones just walking around up and down the various streets looking at "stuff". Part of the fun is talking with the venders as the try to sell us that "stuff". We hear the phrase, "almost free" and "I remember you" several times as we walk along. Part of the whole experience is the negotiating when we decide to purchase something. They know we know they are still making a profit but in the end we all walk away feeling like we made a good deal. It is all part of the experience. 

Thursday, March 12, 2026

Today I took two pictures and they are below. We went over to the Arizona Market Place in the morning. Tom saw Bill leaving when we were pulling in which was a surprise. We both had a couple of things we were looking for so once there we were in and out pretty quickly. In the years past I have pretty much checked out every vender but the fact is I really do not need any more stuff and we could feel it getting warmer in the tents.

We were behind this trailer on our way to the Marketplace.
It looked like the wheels were smoking. We were not sure 
what this guy was thinking he was pulling it with a pretty 
good size pickup truck.

The rest of our day was spent doing some relaxing and getting the motorhome ready to pull out for an early appointment in the morning.

Friday, March 13, 2026

Today we started our day fairly early. It was time to leave Pilot Knob RV and head back up to Roadrunner BLM for a couple of days. First we were headed over to Jr's Mobile Service to have an air line put in the motorhome for the air force one braking system in the Jeep for when we are towing it. Tom also asked them to take a look at the brakes in the motorhome. He did not like the way they felt or sounded when he was backing up into our site at Pilot Knob. It was determined we needed new brake pads in the front so they were installed, also. We felt very good about the service and the feeling of this shop, besides being a mobile service there is a diesel shop. The owner and the mechanics working for him all seemed to know there "stuff". We would have no problem going back there again for service or recommending them to someone else.

I did not think to take a picture of the shop and area but I did
take this which was on the wall across from where I was sitting
while waiting for the last of the work to get done.

This was another wall in the waiting area. The water feature, bottom
right, was actually in that spot I just did not get the whole thing
in the picture.

While waiting for the work to get done we, mainly me, did a little shopping. Yes, I did end up at Hobby Lobby...lol

Lunch at Black Bear Diner. What is nice about this stop is
they serve breakfast all day. So Tom gets to have one of
his favorite meals and I can have lunch.

I may have posted this picture before but
I just really like that they call this place
"Rain For Rent'.

Later in the day we were headed back to Quartzsite and one
of our favorite places to boondock. Just not our favorite spot.

We have an appointment in the morning at Discount Solar to have an issue that has come up with our Solar System so we are parked closer to the  road then we would normally pick. Our favorite spot is a little ways farther back and the road is rough. 

A Hedgehog Cactus near where we are parked.

Afterglow pictures over the Dome Rock Mountains.
The sky changes quickly.
Top Picture: taken at 6:50PM, Middle Picture taken at 6:58PM
Bottom Picture taken at 7:00PM

The last picture taken of the Ocotillo outside our
door where we are presently parked.
The color has changed to a golden yellow and is fading quickly.

We enjoyed our time in Yuma and now we will enjoy these last few days, for this Adventure,  parked out in the desert near Quartzsite, Arizona.

If you have enjoyed the pictures I have put out there 

or the words I have added that makes me smile. 

If you have time to leave a comment they are always special to read. 

No matter what I am glad you stopped by!

Back Home in the Sonoran Desert Near Quartzsite, Arizona

Tuesday, February 24, 2026

We started today slowly. There are things that need to be done inside and out of our new to us home but we have time. Over the next few days the new water pump will be installed and the basement and some of the cupboard in here will be gone through. We are purging slowly but surely. 

Tom worked in our basement today and I went into Park Place to play Pokeno, someone had to do it they need pennies...lol, with the ladies. Or as I like to say, I drove into town to visit my pennies. I think I may have left about even today...lol When I got back home Happy Hour was in progress so I joined the circle. 

The afterglow was again beautiful.

Monday, February,  23, 2026

The last four weeks flew by.

Monday, we were up and moving early. Our first stop was at Discount Solar to have our new home's solar installed. They installed our solar on the Stinger "B" and we were happy with the results so to our thinking it would be foolish to go somewhere else. This is an all day job so we needed to find a few things to occupy our time. Second stop was at Mountain Quail Cafe, original one, to meet up with Melissa and Lyle for breakfast/lunch. They will be heading north soon and it was time to say so long and see you down the road. We will miss knowing they are nearby but we will stay in contact. Third and final stop of the day was a site out at Roadrunner our "Happy Place" out in the desert. 

The sun had already slipped behind the mountains when Kim
and I got up to take a picture.

The afterglow was beautiful!
A wonderful sky to greet our being back in this place.

As I mentioned above the solar installation is an all day job so we decided to take a ride. We turned off of Plymouth Road where we could see several RV's parked in an area so we decided to check it out. We have come out at this particular spot when we have cut across from Plomosa Road but there were never the rigs parked out there like know in the past. Mostly we would encounter ATV's. 

I read about a Labyrinth in this area so I was glad when we
came across it not far down the road. It is not large but well 
done. People have left a few painted rocks along the edage.

It takes awhile to walk a Labyrinth and Tom would have had to sit and wait for me so not today. I would like to go back though; for me it is a prayerful, relaxing, and peaceful exercise. I like the feeling of letting go while concentrating on my footsteps as my mind wonders where it may. 

We kept going and the scenery with the Plomosa Mountains
as the back drop was beautiful.

The road was rocky and rutted.

Off to the west the air looked a dirty brown.

A few of the Saguaros we passed today.

We eventually made the decision to turn around as it was getting close to the time to pick up our home. They finished up right around 4 o'clock and after some quick instructions we were on our way out to Roadrunner. 

Happy Hour had already begun when we arrived but they got
up to greet us and Ken helped Tom move through to our spot.

As much as we do like staying in an RV Park, and Park Place RV is a wonderful choice, we were ready to be back in the desert. Though to be honest full hookups will be missed...lol

Home!

Sunday, February 22, 2026

This morning we were up and moving early we had some errands to run in Yuma. Tom wanted to pick up a new water pump, since we will be boondocking we will need that. The one presently in here is working but not like it should. Since, we had planned a trip to Mexico this past Friday, that for various reasons did not take place,  I had place an Amazon Order delivered to UPS Store there. No logical reason as to why I just did.  So that also needed to be picked up. Plus, we did some grocery shopping. I would not complain about the shopping in Parker or right here in Quartzsite but they do not always carry everything we are looking for. So it is nice to go down to Yuma once and awhile. For all those reasons we were in the Jeep and on our way by 7:40. Mass at St. John Neumann is at 9 o'clock and that was our first goal.(We were actually out the door earlier then that but the door lock is still not co-operating so that delayed us. We still made it with five minutes to spare.)

The sun was up and just making its way above some cloud cover
as we went by the road to the palms. 
The bottom pictures are the mountains across US-95 to the west.

Part of the Kofa Mountain Range and always my favorite view.
I may have posted this view a few times in the past...lol

The sun lighting up some of the ruggedness of the Kofa Mountains.

I believe these are the Muggins Mountains in the distance.

The Laguna Mountains behind what looks so empty without
the howitzers in place at the entrance to the road leading to
the Yuma Proving Grounds and Imperial Dam

A closer look at the Muggins Mountains

Not long after the above pictures we start seeing fields where
vegetables grow and a citrus orchard.

Not long after these first fields we are turning left onto Fortuna Road which took us to E 40th Street and another left turn and then the church on the right. This is a large parish with lots of young families and it is nice to sit among the different generations versus when we go to Mass here in Quartzsite where it is mostly people around our age, not that going to Mass here is not enjoyable it is just different. Every congregation we join has it own atmosphere or vibe. There is a difference in the noise level when there are young families with children but it is a good sound. It is the sound of children being taught our faith, being taught it is important to take time out of our lives to spend time with God, by example and that is a good thing. (I want to stop here and say something about what Tom and I believe. We are Catholic and we do believe going to Mass on Sunday is an important part of our week. That does not mean it is the only time we pray and it does not mean we do not respect what other's believe. At the same time understand this is who we are, therefore, there will be times, as in the past, and going forward our Catholic Faith will creep into this blog.)

After Mass we made a stop at the RV Store for the water pump
then we headed over the Yuma Landing for brunch.

After lunch we stopped at Sprouts, Walmart, Fry's, and to pick up that Amazon Order before turning back north and headed home. It ended up being a longer day then planned but we can say we accomplished what we set out to do.

If you have been on US-95 by the Yuma Proving Grounds you
have seen this Tethered Aerostat Radar System in the sky. 
Today it was on the ground. The corner right picture was in the 
morning the larger one on our way home.

It has been several busy but good days in a row but again we are glad to again be parked out in a place we feel at peace.

If you have enjoyed the pictures I have put out there 

or the words I have added that makes me smile. 

If you have time to leave a comment they are always special to read. 

No matter what I am glad you stopped by!

There are Puddles in the Desert

 Friday, November 21, 2025

I had heard the rain on the roof late last night and when we got up this morning it was still raining. We knew it was going to be raining in Yuma today because we were watching the weather for there since we needed to make a trip that way and the plan was to go today. The weather, for whatever reason, we were not watching was here because if we had been Tom would have picked up our outdoor stuff yesterday while it was dry. We have reservations starting tomorrow at Park Place RV in Quartzsite for the next four weeks so the now the questions is how to pick up and move the wet stuff because right now it looks like it will be raining throughout the night. I guess we will see what tomorrow brings. 

I opened the door to this scene this morning you can not tell
looking at the picture but it is raining in the desert.

This one I took between the raindrops on the front
window. It is all about that cloud.

More pictures out the windows and the door. 
There are puddles in the desert.

The plan for today was to drive into Yuma. We had hoped to visit the Arizona Market Place, I had a hair appointment, and a prescription to pick up. Since we were already going to be there I did place a pick up order at Walmart and we planned a stop at Fry's. With the rain the Arizona Market Place was removed from our plans. We will do that another time. We picked up our Walmart order. I had not done that in awhile and I had forgotten how nice it was not to have to go in and shop. Then we headed over for my hair appointment. When we got there the door was locked. I will not be mentioning the salon because she did end up apologizing about the mix up. The thing is she had confirmed the appointment and time on Thursday so not remembering it on Friday well lets just say the message I left was I will not be back. Enough said. We did take care of everything else we wanted to before heading back home. 

Driving out of Roadrunner BLM there are definitely
puddles in the desert.

Even though it is a grey day the green all this rain is 
helping thrive in the desert is evident.

All theses pictures were taken through the windshield as it was raining. With the right timing, most of the time, I was able to snap the picture just as the windshield wiper did its job of  clearing the window. Though there are few raindrops visible here and there not to mention all the ones I deleted with a wiper in the middle of them...lol

Rain or shine going south on US-95 this is my favorite view.

More of that green.

More puddles.

The empty space at the road to the Yuma Proving Grounds.

Later heading east on I-8 the cloud were covering the tops
of what I believe are the Gila Mountains.

We are home.
The Jeeps headlights shining on the Saguaro
and the Palo Verde next to were we are parked.

I am trying to be positive about all the rain we are experiencing right now. It has been a couple of years since there were a lot of wild flowers in the desert. I remember walking along the small washes out here and there would be tiny flowers along the edges. I remember a year were we would look out over the desert and it was covered in what can only be described as a green carpet. I remember riding into the Kofa Mountains and the roadside was filled with wildflowers. Maybe this year we will see all that again. 

If you have enjoyed the pictures I have put out there 

or the words I have added that makes me smile. 

If you have time to leave a comment they are always special to read. 

No matter what I am glad you stopped by!