Yuma Medjools & on to Mexico

We took in the Yuma Medjool Date Festival Nov. 15. We did two tours, first to Datepac the world's largest date packing plant where we had to "suit up", remove all jewelry & cover all hair. We got to ride an old farm bus, learn how dates are sorted, first by camera & computer, then by hand. This is done by many Mexican women for $9/hr. Of course there were samples! Second tour was to the actual "farm" where they explained how each tree, some up to 50 ft tall, are handled 13-18 times per season. They require pruning, pollinating, thinning, covering with nets, etc till they are picked. Very labour intensive, again for $9/hr. We even got to see the original 6 trees that were sent to the US from the Middle East when their trees were being destroyed by disease.

Also in Yuma we drove about, amazed at the huge fields of lettuce, broccoli, cotton, cilantro, etc - these fields are irrigated mainly by flood irrigation where the entire field is flooded.

We had a good visit with our friends from Quebec that we met 2 years ago on the Baja, ran into another couple we met also on the Baja.

We left Yuma (it got too cold) & went to Gila Bend where we spent 2 nights tucked in amongst the semis in a truck stop (even had free WiFi). The closest we got to a Gila monster was an iron art statue. We spent a long day out rockhounding, put on 180 kms, out to Chimney Beds & Fourth of July Peak. Found some nice agates, quartz crystals & lovely green rocks (will figure out what they are later). We passed several huge dairy operations & massive fields of solar panels, apparently providing power to southern California.

Onward/southward to Ajo, a little town with a lovely town square & beautiful old churches. We camped in BLM land (free) & enjoyed an amazing sunset & sunrise. We did a day trip to Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, drove the 19 mile Ajo Mountain Trail which took 3 1/2 hrs. There was a guidebook with 18 stops, we learned a lot about the cacti & trees, saw quail, a coyote & a young rattlesnake! It was a bit creepy, there were several signs reminding you that the park shares 30 miles of border with Mexico & that illegal smuggling activity of people & drugs is a possibility. None spotted though.

Today we finally crossed into Mexico at Lukeville/Sonoyta. The Mexican agriculture guy actually looked in the fridge but somehow missed the fruits & veggies that we weren't supposed to have! We had to stop in two places, one for our Tourist Immigration visas & again for the Temporary Vehicle Import permits. The first stop was quick for us but there must have been over 50 semis lined up waiting their turn! Mainland Mexico roads have many tolls, we paid our first of 158 pesos, about $13.  We have made it to Santa Ana, tomorrow we should be on the Sea of Cortez at Kino Bay, enjoying the ocean breezes. Definitely loving it!

Arizona Rockhounding, etc.

While still in Bullhead City we searched the casinos for my "lucky" machine (won a few $ last year). The Jumping Jalapeno did not disappoint - this year I won 10400 credits, a penny machine but a good score none the less.

We are big on road trips, Nov. 2 we headed to Kingman, a stop on Route 66. A handsome desert bighorn posed for us along the way, then we picked delicious pecans in a city park.

The return trip took us through Oatman, a cute old gold-mining/western town famous for it's wandering burros. There we were told of a gold mine doing tours so we headed out of town on a gravel road to the Homestake Mine. We had a private tour explaining their process of extracting gold & fluorite from the old mine, which basically keeps them in beer money.

We had a good visit with old friends, Mary & Gary, then headed south to Quartzite. We spent a week free camping in  the desert, our "back yard" visited daily by hummingbirds, white crowned sparrows, finches, Gamble's quail, cactus wrens, little lizards and occasional a bunny. We put out food & water so we become quite popular.

Quartzite is surrounded by great rockhounding locations & of course we visited several. We now own Gem Trails books for 6 states, I guess you could say we enjoy it! We also bought a rock tumbler so we can play some more once we are at home. Our trips take us onto dirt trails in gorgeous countryside, we find agates, jasper, chrysacolla, apache tears (obsidian, small black rocks that you can polish), chalcedony and lots of "pretty or shiny or unusual" rocks. We listened to Mary, our GPS & let her take us a shorter way out of an area - not a particularly good idea, especially nearing dusk. The "road" deteriorated into a sandy dry riverbed which took us to a closed gate, luckily not locked.

Apache tears

We were complaining that we had yet to see a snake or a scorpion until Robin was folding up our mat & found a feisty scorpion ready to attack! The camp host told us of a rattler by her RV & of a fellow being bit by a rattler inside a store in town!

scorpion

We are now settled in a full service RV park in Yuma, complete with pool & hot tub, ahh luxury!
We passed fields of lettuce & cotton, both being harvested. We have checked out a huge "flea market" that has everything, including an Aquamassage machine that I had to try out - pretty good massage!

We headed across the border into Algodones, Mexico, looking for cheap glasses. They advertise $49 for progressives, but of course that is plastic lenses with only centre progression & blurry edges. To replace just the lens we have would be $200-$300, I guess we wait till we are home.Too bad we didn't need a dentist, the photo shows ads for 5 dentists! We did get our tacos & cervesas though. While there we also ran into a nursing colleague from Two Hills, small world!

Tomorrow is Yuma's Date Festival, we have tickets for a date farm tour, should be interesting.
It is definitely cheaper to live here, gas is $2.59/gallon, milk is less than $3/gallon. And it's warm - 28-30C. So we are happy & still living the dream!
Yes, we still intend to get to Mexico, just moving slowly.

Bears, canyons & casinos

 October 30/2014
We discovered Yellowstone Bear World quite by accident, but enjoyed it immensely. It is a drive thru nature park, not associated with Yellowstone, where you can get up close & personal with deer, white elk, bison,mountain goats, a moose, wolves, strange chickens & over 45 bears! Of course you are supposed to always keep your windows up as these are wild animals, we were reminded of this fact only twice! There was an low electric fence between the grizzlies & our car, but otherwise the animals were able to come right up to us - one bear tried to bite my bike tire a couple times!(bikes are on the bike rack, we aren't that crazy to do this on bikes) There was a petting zoo with a young deer with a taste for people's clothing which he happily tried to chew, my shirt included. You could bottle feed the bear cubs or just watch their antics. A pleasant morning out.

We stopped for a soak in Lava Hot Springs, a bit warm - 104-112F. We couldn't get over the speed limit in Idaho - 80MPH! We stopped for flu shots at Costco in Salt Lake City, which Robin grudgingly agreed to, then he proceeded to have quite an unpleasant reaction. Won't be getting one next year! He's fine, by the way.

The US is actually behind us in a few ways - they don't take Mastercard yet at Costco, they don't know what a "chip reader" is, but the gas is only $2.81/gallon  here in Arizona.

We found a great RV park with full hook-ups & WiFi for $15/night near Bryce Canyon, quite the improvement over Walmart parking lots. We spent 2 days hiking & touring in Bryce Canyon & Red Canyon, amazing scenery. I filled my 16G camera card there, obviously taking a lot of pictures! We woke to a frozen water hose the day we left & by afternoon when we arrived in Mesquite, Nevada it was 30C!

We stopped at Moqui Cave along the way, a huge natural cave turned museum.It was used as a bar & dance hall, then a teen party place & now "cleaned up" for tourists. Everything from old movie memorabilia (westerns filmed nearby) to dinosaur tracks to fluorescent rocks to Mormon history.

We spent 3 nights in Mesquite at the Casa Blanca Casino - great RV area under shade trees, we had a pomegranate hedge beside us! I blew $25 in the slots but it was a nice escape from the 30C temperature, we still aren't used to it.

We drove thru the Virgin River gorge, downhill for 11 miles with steep canyon walls, glad we won't be heading north that way. Some good hiking along the river & in the desert, saw signs to watch out for tortoises but none spotted. Bought myself a pair of good hiking boots, all set now!

Onward to Las Vegas - we got around on the local buses (yes we are still cheap), went up & down the Strip & to Freemont Street. Still the "strange sights" - everything from a contortionist to Michael Jackson to people zip-lining above the crowd to the balloon guy. Even stranger are the people who dress up (or forget to get dressed) to entice you to tip them for the "honor" of taking a photo with them - the KISS guy in the G-string & 6 inch heels, a woman with the "world's largest breasts", typical showgirls with the feathers, girls in short skirts with band-aids over their nipples (honestly all they had on) & girls with G-strings & body paint everywhere else. All this & it's not even Halloween!

We had to check out Ethel M's Chocolate Factory ( of course the free samples drew us in) but we were surprised at how much is done by hand. They had a huge table of nut brittle & they were hand packing Valentine chocolates. They also make M&M's, every color imaginable, even a birthday cake flavor. Overhead were planes headed for Vegas, an average of one every 2 minutes!

We haven't stuck it rich yet, not really trying, too "cost conscious". Our luck is with us, though. we noticed a screw in the car tire, not even low yet so we headed straight to Costco where they had us on our way in just over an hour & no cost!

We are now settled in an RV resort in Bullhead City, Arizona for a week - complete with pool, hot tub & gym. We are parked on the hill overlooking the Colorado River & the lights of Laughlin - casinos & buffets await! The weather is hot, 27-30C with not much cooling at night, but we are very happy to have no snow. We had a lovely visit with some friends from Penticton yesterday, hope to catch up with folks from Vegreville as well.

Still Lovin it!