We are staying in Araby Acres RV Resort for the entire month of December. We are parked about in the middle of the park right across from the second swimming pool and mostly park model unites around us. We know some people from Colfax area and friends we met at the Family Motor Coach rally a couple of years ago are here in Yuma so we go visit them. Ed and Karen Mitzimberg from Garfield are in a house in a residential area and Laura and Wilbur Bradbury from Kelso WA are in a RV park. Ed and Karen invite us to go with them and their friends to Los Algodones, Baja California on Tuesday. They have a 15 passenger van and we all ride together.
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| Pond in RV resort |
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| Two black swans in the resort |
Mon, Dec. 5
We drive to Quartzsite and then about 25 miles west to a campground on the Colorado River and visit Ron and Elaine from BC Canada who we met last year in Florida. We had lunch with them and caught up on all of our adventures and travels since last seeing them almost a year ago. It was so nice seeing them again and our paths might cross again this winter.
Tues, Dec. 6
Today we go with Ed and Karen and 3 more couples to Algodones Mexico. What a fun place that was. We sit at an open air bar and enjoy live music and dancing. Had a chance to do some shopping in the little shops and was able to bargain a good price for what I bought. It was dinner time when we got back to Yuma so went and had pizza.
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| The gang we went to Algodones with |
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| Pottery for sale |
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| things for sale in Mexico |
Wed. Dec. 7
On Wednesdays the Jeep club does a trip out into the desert. Today we go into the Kofa National Wildlife Refuge and see the beautiful desert and the rugged Castle Dome Mountains. One of the largest populations in the southwest of bighorn sheep are located in this refuge but we didn't see any wildlife on this trip. We end the trip at Castle Dome Mines Museum and Ghost Town. There are 35 restored buildings full of artifacts in the old town.
Sat. Dec. 10
Today we go back to Mexico to the Paraiso Restaurant Bar for their welcome back party. Only 2 other couples go but the 6 of us had a good time. We got into Mexico at 10:30 in the morning and try to buy some Tequila at a store and found they can't sell it until 11:00 A.M. We go to the Paraiso and get a table and at 11 all the free beer and margaritas are served. Our cups were never empty and at lunch time a taco lunch was served. There was live music and dancing and towards the end of the afternoon there were door prizes. We had a great time!
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| Party at Paraiso Restaurant and Bar |
Sat. Dec. 17
Today we go with Laura and Wilbur to the Somerton Tamale Festival. There a was music and 40 booths to try the different tamales. Tickets were $1.50 and that got you 1 tamale or for $4.50 you could get 2 tamales, beans and salad. We each tried different booths and the tamales were really good. We bought 6 to take home with us. We ran into Donna and Jerry Kincaid from Colfax at the festival.
Mon. Dec. 19
Today we go to the Yuma Territorial Prison State Historic Park which is just on the edge of downtown Yuma. It was constructed in 1876 and a total of 3,069 prisoners, including 29 women, lived there during the prison's 33 years of operation. It closed in 1909 because of severe overcrowding.
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| Yuma Territorial Prison |
Wed. Dec. 21
Today is Jeep club ride and we invite Laura and Wilbur to go with us. We visit a couple of old pit mines and end the ride at the casino for lunch. Another great day out in the desert.
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| Rugged mountains |
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| Old pit mine |
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| Another old pit mine |
Thurs. Dec. 22
Went into Mexico with 2 other couples today. We went to a different restaurant/bar and enjoyed the live music.
Fri. Dec. 23
Dick and I go to the Imperial National Wildlife Refuge which is north of Yuma. From the visitors center we took the trail to Meers Point which had markers of points of interest along the way. We learned about desert varnish which is formed over thousands of years and is a thin coating of manganese, iron, clay minerals, and microscopic bacteria residing on the rock surface which have darkened the rock surface and sun-baked to a glossy coating.
Sat. Dec. 24
The park puts hundreds of luminaries along all the roads in the park and at 5 P.M. they are lighted. With the lights and decorations on the individual campsites and now the luminaries it is quite a sight.
We go over to a campsite on the next street and enjoy live music and singing. I was able to buy fresh crab for our Christmas Eve dinner.
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| lighting luminaries |
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| Christmas lights in RV resort |
Sun. Dec. 25
Dick and I are going to the rec hall for Christmas Dinner. I took some decorations over for our table early in the afternoon. We met some new people at our table and had a delicious Christmas dinner. When it got dark, Dick and I drove to some residential areas to see the Christmas lights on the homes.
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| Christmas lights in Yuma |
Mon. Dec. 26
We are invited to dinner at our next door neighbor's house to celebrate Boxer Day. They are from Canada and it is tradition to celebrate Boxer Day with friends or extended family. We had a delicious dinner and met some new friends.
Wed. Dec. 28
Went with the Jeep Club again today. Spent the day going across open desert and through washes. Good thing the people we were with know their way around because we found our way back to a road and out of the desert.
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| Jeep ride |
Sat. Dec. 31
New Years Eve we were invited to Jim and Jeanne Tribbett's house for a fun party. They are part of the going to Mexico gang and we had a very entertaining evening with all the new people we met while in Yuma.
Sun. Jan 1
Today we leave Yuma and head towards Quartzsite and to a campground about 30 miles east to the little town of Salome. We are surrounded by rugged mountains on all sides and there are noumerous trails out into the desert for 4 wheelers to go on. Our Jeep is too wide for most of the trails but there are a few roads we can take. Almost everyone in this campground has a 4 wheeler to ride. We are staying 7 nights here and then moving on to Mesa. Today we did a ride to a couple of mines and an old cemetery. The desert is beautiful here with lots of saguaro cactus.
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| Piles of sand on both sides of the road |
Tue. Jan 3
Went to Parker to shop and on the way we went through the town of Bouse. During WWII General Patton established Camp Bouse in 1943 to train troops on tanks.
Fri, Jan. 6
Today we drive into the desert and tried to get to Indian Springs which was a rock quarry. The road got too bad for us to continue so had to turn around.
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| Some rock formations |
Sun. Jan 8
Today we move to Mesa AZ and are in a large RV resort called Monte Vista Village Resort. We will be here for 2 months. Our site is triple wide and has a large patio. Most of the homes are park models or double wide homes. There are lots of activities in the resort such as ceramics, wood shop, lapidary, silversmith, art room, 2 pools, fitness center, billiards, tennis, croquet and suffle broad. Don't think we will run out of things to do. Happy travels, Barb
