Wednesday, October 13, 2021 - We left Mesquite, Nevada at 8:00 am for a seven hour drive to the Yuma Proving Grounds (Army) near Yuma, Arizona. We had planned to stop and stay the night at Quartzite, Arizona (12 miles east of Blythe, CA), but that would be dry camping. By driving for another 50 minutes, we could have full services. The weather was great and the setup at Yuma went flawlessly. We did see quite a few RVs parked in the Quartzite area as we passed through town. They were starting to set up on both sides of Highway 95 on the north side of town and also in greater numbers to the south of Interstate 10 on Highway 95. By the time the RV festival starts in mid-January, there will be nearly a million people camping in the desert near Quartzite. We made a reservation here at Yuma for one week and we can stay for longer if we wish. They are no where near full here. The cost for a week is $155 which equals $22 per day for full hook ups. This is a great price for us.
We received a text from Mark and Darcy Mosier who live in Kerrville, Texas (near Fredericksburg). They have organized a trip to Europe to cruise on the Danube River for a week. The price was great and airfare was free. We looked into it and then booked our reservations for the trip. We leave on April 2, of 2022. We have also included an extra week of time to explore Europe after our Viking River Cruises trip. The only issue I have is that I can't figure out how to get the RV over there (lol). We are also not sure where we will travel on the second week. We have never been to Europe before and are not sure of where to go. Viking has several add-on tours that we can take and they recommended we go to Prague. Mark and Darcy are heading for the Check Republic, so we may see if they are willing to take a "tag-along" couple. We will see.
Thursday, October 14, 2021 - Today is our first "chores" day here in the Yuma area. I have already ordered a new trailer tire for one of our tires that is just about worn out. We should get that tire next week and have it installed immediately. We also went on a bike ride. We are determined to keep our fitness program going by riding bikes here often. From the RV park at the Proving Grounds, we can ride over to the Imperial Dam area. This is where the last remaining water in the Colorado River is apportioned out to growers in the Yuma area, sent by canal to the growers in the Coachella Valley, and what is left is allowed to trickle on to Mexico. We then continued our ride over to the BLM camping site at Swan Lake. It is a great site with water and dump stations available. You can get a camping permit good for six months for about $175. With this permit, you can move between six sites where you can dry camp in the desert. You can go dump your tanks and get more water any time that you like. Wow, talk about a way to save money. There are campers all over the desert doing this and the season is just starting where "snowbirds" return to the area and head for the desert. When we arrived back at the YPG, Lisa went back to the RV with 22 total miles and I continued out to Highway 95 to get a total of 36 miles of riding.
Friday, October 15, 2021 - I went for a 35 mile bike ride in the morning and Lisa decided to give her "behind" the day off, so she went for a walk. It was a pretty windy day, so the bike ride was a bit of a chore; good training though. I am trying to keep my weight down at a reasonable level. Right now, I am holding pretty steady at 190 pounds. This is pretty good, but another 10 pounds off would be much better. After the walk and bike ride, we did a few chores around the RV, but then decided to take a nap. Sure is nice to be able to take a nap whenever you like to without feeling guilty. In the evening, I watched the last game between the Dodgers and the San Francisco Giants. The Dodgers won in the 9th inning and advanced to the playoffs against The Atlanta Braves. This was pretty much of a down-day for both of us with Lisa and I both lounging around the RV after my bike ride.
Saturday, October 16, 2021 - I put the kayaks on the truck with the intention to go kayaking at the nearby Senator Wash Reservoir, but the winds came up so we left the kayaks on the truck and punted to plan B. This plan was to drive into Yuma to look at Honda side-by-sides and also go to a place that could possibly work on our two broken recliners. On the way to Yuma, we decided to take a side track to check out Lake Mittry which is a pretty good sized lake relatively close to where we are staying. In fact, Lake Mittry is about six miles from our camper on a good dirt road. We also knew that you can get to Mittry Lake from the Yuma side on Highway 95. So, we drove for about 25 miles to get to a place that we could have gotten to in about six miles if we had come in from the north; oh well, sometimes you learn on the road. While we were at Mittry Lake, we got a call from the people who we thought might be able to work on our recliners; they could not get parts so they would not work on them. We then decided to drive the radio-control flying field that is located just east of Yuma. We both kind of forgot about the Honda shop. The RC field is quite nice with a paved runway that is about 800 feet long and 100 feet wide. They have pits on both sides of the runway, so they can moved the west side of the field in the afternoon and still have the Sun at their backs. Pretty cool. This would be an excellent field for IMAC and 3D flying. In fact, there appears to be a rather large IMAC contingent in the Yuma area. After visiting at the field, we drove back to the RV where we, as Lisa likes to say, "Sat around like two bumps on a pickle." We did not get too much done in the afternoon, but we did decide to go for a tandem ride in the morning. Since Lisa has gotten her new EBike, we have not taken the tandem out for about five months.
Note: Yuma is a tremendous agricultural area. As we drove to Yuma, the entire area turns into farmland with crops that seem to be grown all year round. Absolutely gorgeous to see all of the farmland that is so well maintained and irrigated. We are fortunate to be able grow winter crops in this area. That is why we have lettuce and other vegetables available in stores all year round.
Sunday, October 17, 2021 - The day was beautiful with clear skies and no wind to speak of. The temperature was about 72 degrees with an expected high of 81 for the day. We hopped on the tandem and rode off to the west to do our standard route from the RV park. We ended up riding 30 miles and it felt great to get back on the tandem again. It operated without a flaw and was great on the smooth roads that we were traveling. Since the winds were low, we decided that we would take the kayaks over to Martinez Lake on the north side of the Proving Grounds for a kayak ride. To our amazement, the road to the Martinez Lake area had been completely rebuilt since we were last here, and it was wide with wide shoulders. I immediately planned to ride this ride before we left the area. It is about 45 miles to Lake Martinez and back to the RV. At Martinez Lake, we went to the Marine Corp RV Park that is located there. They have an office with some food items and they also rent boats, paddleboards, kayaks, and more for military members. We just wanted to the use their beach to launch the kayaks; which we did. We kayaked all around the Martinez Lake area and even into the Colorado River for a short distance. There was current against us in the river, but it was not that challenging and we could paddle up-stream if we wanted to. It was a very nice kayak trip with lots of waterfowl in the lake to be herded to the shores as we paddled by.
After the kayak trip, we drove over to the Martinez Lake housing area where we stopped in at small bar and grill to get a sandwich. We opted for a big hamburger that we shared in addition to French fries and a large soda. As it turned out, they also had a country-western band playing that was surprisingly good. The band's name was "Cautcheatin." We had a very nice lunch and listened to the band play and sing some great country songs. After we left the bar and grill, we returned to RV to do some chores that needed to be done. Starting with our laundry.
We went to a laundromat on base to wash our clothes and while the washing is going on, I am typing out this blog to get caught up. After the laundry is done, it is back to the RV to watch the second baseball game between the Dodgers and the Braves. The Dodgers lost the first game, so they have some "catch-up" to do.
Monday, October 18, 2021 - We went into Yuma for haircuts and to fuel up the truck. We also drove into Old Town Yuma and walked up and down the streets. We also went to Walmart to do some shopping.
NOTE: On this day, Lisa felt a little "twinge" in her left knee and by evening, she was not able to walk on it at all. We did not know what hade caused the pain, but we did know that Lisa was not able to get around on it. We thought that it might have been the recent tandem ride since this was an activity that we had not done for a while. We also thought that it might have been the little bit of Salsa dancing that we had done at the FamCamp Activity Center. But, neither of these activities had been very tough on her knee. For two days, the knee pain was significant. Then, overnight, Lisa's knee improved significantly. In two more days, she was back to normal. Seems like we dodged a bullet here and Lisa was back to her normal self. This was good news.
Tuesday, October 19, 2021 - On this day, we had made arrangements for a guy named Freddy with Advance RV Cleaning to come to the post to work on the back door of our trailer. We have gotten quite a bit of oxidation on the back door and I wanted to see if he could make it shine again. He was scheduled to arrive at 9:00 am, but called us at 7:45 am to say that he was at the Visitor Center waiting to get signed into the post. I drove the the Visitor Center to sign them in. He brought another worked name Hector. The two of them worked on the rear door until close to noon. It did look better, but you "cannot make a silk purse out of a sows ear." It did not shine and it needed more work or materials to bring out the original shine (if that is possible). Freddy said that he was receiving a new chemical for this purpose and that he would return the following week to try to do a better job on the rear door. I hope he makes it. After Freddy left, we walked over to the office to get our mail.
Wednesday, October 20, 2021 -
Thursday, October 21, 2021 - We took the truck into Yuma to Richardson Ford to have the air bag light malfunction repaired. They kept the truck for about one hour while we sat in the waiting room reading (Lisa) and working on the blog (me). We had had the problem analyzed previously and had Richardson order the part as soon as we arrived in Yuma. It took them about a week to get the part. They put it in and said that the problem was fixed; the light was out. They charged us about $450 to install the part. We took the truck and began to run some errands in Yuma when the light came back on. We happened to be driving by the dealership when it came on, so back to the shop we went. They agreed to work on it tomorrow at 8:30 in the morning.
On the way home, we stopped at a small mini-mall that we just happened to pass by. We purchased a couple of small items and then talked to one of the vendor owners who is also a singer on the side. He mentioned that he would be singing at a food truck venue in the east part of the Yuma area called Foothills. We decided to go listen to him sing that evening. Lisa ordered a hamburger and I had a pulled-pork sandwich while we listened to Brian sing. It was a lot of fun and the food was pretty good. It was a beautiful evening.
I returned to the Ford dealership to have the air bag problem fixed. They took about an hour to fix it and charged us another $450 dollars. The light appears to be out now, and we are into the fix to the tune of about $1,000. This is the first problem we have had with the truck in a long time, so I guess we should be thankful that we have not had to pay too much in expenses.
Friday, October 22, 2021 - We stayed around the RV and did chores.
Saturday, October 23, 2021 - Lisa and I decided to go to Squaw Lake to ride the kayaks. Squaw Lake is a side-pond on the Colorado River. You can access the river from the Squaw Lake launch area and you are then about three miles from the Imperial Dam on the Colorado River. You have to be careful there because the Imperial Dam is actually about three dams and all the water goes through these dams into diversion canals. You don't want to get too close to the dams. As we began our kayak trip, we left the lake and proceeded towards the river. We went down the river for about a quarter miles and then took a smaller diversion loop to the west of the main channel. The current was not too fast and we could easily go up-stream, if we needed too. As we went south on along the channel, we met several groups of people on very nice bass fishing boats. We discovered a small, narrow channel that led to an open pond with a large metal abandoned boat house on it. We floated over to the boat house and went inside. The water was very clear and relatively shallow so that we could see what was on the bottom. It was fun to explore the inside of the boat house. We did see several fish in the area and a couple were large black bass; one in the five pound range. We then continued down the channel and, to our surprise, came out right in front of the Imperial Dam. We did an immediate 180 degree turn and headed back up the channel that we had just come down. On the way back, we found another channel that was a short-cut from Squaw Lake into the Colorado River. It was quite narrow and fun for kayaks to navigate. While in this channel, we met one bass-boat team and two people on jet-skis. It was a fun, three-hour, kayak trip.
Sunday, October 24, 2021 - We departed early to drive to Martinez Lake to ride our bikes on the brand new road that runs from Highway 95 to the Martinez Lake area. It is an eleven miles long ride, one-way, so a total of 22 miles round-trip. It was a beautiful, Sunday morning with great temperatures, and little wind. When we had finished the ride, we returned to the RV to have lunch before taking the kayaks to Mittry Lake for a kayak ride. The drive is only about five miles from the RV area, and we were able to launch at a very nice boat ramp. We kayaked for about two hours on Mittry Lake. The lake is lined with large reeds, so there is virtually no place to put into the shore to walk around. We say lots of Coots and other small birds, but not much at all in the way of fish. The water is also not as clear as the water in the Colorado River. It was fun and great exercise, but not as much to see along the way. After the kayaking trip, we returned to the base and went to the post bowling alley for food. Lisa had a grilled cheese sandwich while I ordered a pizza.
Note; We have not been able to find much in the way of social activity in the Yuma area. We are still looking, but can't find any salsa dancing, biking, or other activities that we enjoy. The bike trails there are somewhat limited and short.
Monday, October 25, 2021 - I worked on the blog videos for about nine hours while Lisa took a four mile walk. So, I guess you could say that this was a "down-day" for us. We stayed on post around the RV. We also called Beale AFB to see if they had any space for us. Much to our surprise, they had room for us from November 14, 2021 until January 6, 2022. They also said that we could stay in their "overflow parking" area from November 1st until the 14th. This was great for us since we did not have any other good options for a place to stay in the Sacto area. We decided to leave Yuma on Saturday, October 30th for the two-day drive to the Sacramento area. We should arrive there on November 1st.
Tuesday, October 26, 2021 - We decided to work around the RV today. We had some heavy winds yesterday evening and the RV is covered with dust. I also want to wax the RV, but we cannot find the proper material to bring out the original shine that we had when we started our journey. We are getting oxidation and it is very hard to get rid of. We sort of bailed out on the waxing for now and just decided to wash the RV. We have half done now and plan to wash the rest this afternoon.
Wednesday, October 27, 2021 - Not sure what we did on this day. I'm sure that we did something important, but I can't seem to remember what it was. Likely a nap, a good lunch, and some TV viewing??
Thursday, October 28, 2021 - Today we loaded up the bicycles and, again, drove to Fishers Landing near Martinez Lake. Lisa and I rode the bicycles for the 22 mile ride from Fishers Landing to Highway 95. Today, we had a pretty healthy wind of about 10-15 knots out of the north. This made the ride out to Highway 95 a "piece of cake," but the ride back was a little more challenging (directly into the wind). Overall, it was a fun ride on a beautiful day. Temps were in the mid-80s and the skies were clear. After we returned to the landing, we bought a Diet Pepsi and a pastry at the small store at the landing. After enjoying the great day, we decided that Lisa would drive the truck back to the RV and I would ride the 18 miles back to the Family Camp. It was a great ride with the wind behind me for a large portion of the ride. I ended up with 40 miles for the ride.
After the ride, decided to go to the Family Camp Community Center to practice our dancing. At the same time, we would be using their Internet to upload the videos that we have created to YouTube so that I can add them to the blog. Unfortunately, the WiFi was terrible and we could not upload anything. It is a shame that our computer does not have an ethernet capability so that we could plug a wired Internet cable into the machine. The ethernet line is available at the Community Center.
As far as the Salsa goes, it is clear that I have forgotten most of what I knew and that I have a long way to go to get back my skills. Trying to remember "Dedo," "Montana," and more.
Friday, October 29, 2021 - We got up early, had breakfast, and then decided to drive to Yuma to do some errands. Since we are leaving tomorrow morning for California, there are some things that we can get done here before we, "exit stage left." First of all, fuel up. Diesel here has gone up about twenty cents over the last week to $3.52 per gallon. This is still a lot less then the cost in California, so we filled up for the trip to CA. We then went to GNC so that Lisa could by some pumpkin seed oil. Apparently, this will help her with sleeping at night. We will see. We then went to Starbucks where I got on the WiFi to upload some videos to YouTube. It is a very slow process, but the WiFi at Starbucks is about a million times faster than at the Army post. While waiting for the videos to upload, I created two more videos that are now ready for voice narration. Once the voice narration is complete, I can them render them into MP4s which can then be uploaded to YouTube. It is a time-consuming process, but I hope that someone gets a chance to look at them to see what we have been up to. I am uploading five videos right now and need about another two hours to complete the upload. Next is a trip to the barbershop to "get my ears lowered." Hopefully, we will be able to find and open shop nearby. Then it will be back to the Proving Ground to prepare the RV for travel.
I just received a call from Discount Tire stating that the tire that I ordered will be in on Monday. Unfortunately, we will not be able to get the tire mounted since we will be in Sacramento on Monday. Ordering this tire has be a fiasco. We ordered the tire, and waited a week for its arrival date. When we called, Discount Tires said that it had not been ordered. Okay?? So we ordered it again. It was supposed to be in two days ago. It did not show up. We called again and Discount Tires said that they would try to track it down. They said that Fed Ex could not find any tracking info on the tire. We asked the "tire specialist" to check the tracking again. We just received a call saying that it would be in on Monday. I think that they had just failed to order the tire again and had reordered it after our second call. Sometimes, incompetence just catches up with a business. We cancelled the tire order and will try to get one in Sacramento.
Saturday, October 30, 2021 - We get up early to head for Barstow, California where we will spend the night. We plan to stay overnight in a parking lot behind Peggy Sue's Diner on Interstate 15. This is a place that Brian and Lorrayne Graham have recommended for an overnight stop. There is no charge to dry camp and the food is very good. We will give it a try and then head for Sacramento on Sunday.
We drove to Barstow, California and then decided that it was such a nice day, we could drive farther. We then set our goal as the city of Tehachapi west of Mojave. As we were nearing Tehachapi, we decided to continue on to Bakersfield and stay at the Bear Mountain RV Park where we have stayed in the past. We drove to Bakersfield and arrived at the Bear Mountain RV Park at about 4:15 in the afternoon. We ended up driving for eight hours today. The drive was nearly entirely on highways or freeways and there was not much traffic at all. The route that we followed allowed us to complete avoid the Los Angeles area and all the busy freeways near San Bernardino. We try to avoid the LA basin whenever we can. Tomorrow it is off to Roseville and for a short stay at the Thunder Valley Casino and then off to Beale AFB.