GOODBYE YUMA LAKES

Time to say goodbye to one of my favorite parks in Arizona, Yuma Lakes.  It's very pretty and peaceful.  We'll be heading over to Quartzsite tomorrow.

We're hoping to take the ham radio test while we're there but we haven't been studying enough.  Today while Denis was helping Tony get his TV receiver working (all day without success).   I sat outside enjoying the sunshine and studying the ham radio study guide.  The test is 35 multiple choice questions picked out of 365.  

We plan on meeting up with friends while we're there, which will be fun.

Late in the afternoon, I walked 8,300 steps around the park snapping photos along the way.

Hope you all had a nice day and thank you for stopping in to say hi.  Maybe we'll see some of you at the Blogger Fest in Quartzsite.

IMPERIAL NATIONAL WILDLIFE RUFUGE

Drove a half hour to the Imperial National Wildlife Refuge and glad we did.  The refuge protects wildlife habitat along 30 miles of the lower Colorado River in Arizona and California.

We drove through the Sonora desert to the 1.3 mile self-guided trail.  The trail took us through a rainbow of colors left by 20-30 million year-old volcanic activity.  The panoramic view of the Colorado River valley was beautiful.

One of the many overlooks

I'm still amazed finding water in the desert

The weather was perfect for a hike through the desert.  Sun was warm but not too hot.

This natural column of
rock is called a hoodoo and
was created by water
eroding from several directions

We were hungry and thirsty after our hike so the next stop was the Rio Loco Bar & Grill at Fisher's Landing.  I craved a beer and asked the bartender if he had a gluten-free brand.  He thought he did and spent a few minutes looking for it.  The curly fries, beer and beautiful view of the Colorado River was great.

Our view from the patio bar

Found a tasty gluten-free beer

Another view from the patio

The drive out to the refuge took us past the United States Yuma Proving Ground.  Plenty of wide open desert to do whatever they need to do.

Got back home around 5:00 and invited Tony & Mieke over for dinner and after dinner we watched War Room.  

What a wonderful day we had and I hope you did too.  Thank you for stopping in to say hi.

YUMA, ARIZONA FUN FACTS

Where are we? Yuma, Arizona

Did you know Yuma is recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records as the sunniest place on earth with 339 bright days a year and less than 3 inches of rain annually.  (I think we just got our 3 inches).

Yuma is the country's highest producer of winter vegetables, especially lettuce. We are surrounded by crops and see the workers out there all day.

One of the many crops we pass by

Yuma is the site of the first railroad (1877) and highway bridge (1915) across the Colorado.  For your movie lovers, over 65 movies have been filmed in or around Yuma since 1913 including Star Wars, Jarhead and Resident Evil: Extinction.

With the help of the All Trails app, I found a moderate hiking trail called Telegraph Pass Trail.  The sun was warm with very little wind it was a good afternoon for taking a hike.  We were on the trail at 2:00 and back at the car around 4:30.  The trail was out and back with 836 feet elevation.  Easily got our 10,000 steps.  My Garmin clocked 5.6 miles for today. It felt good to put on our hiking boots and start hiking again, it's been a while.

The telecommunications towers
were  at the top and we had
great phone reception

It was a nice day and I hope you had a nice day too.  Thanks for stopping in to say hi.

YUMA LAKES RV RESORT - ARIZONA

Woke up at 6:30 this morning because we wanted to get to LaMesa RV for service by 8:00.  When we left the sun was just started to pop up over the mountain range and it was pretty.

They told us they would try to get the work done by noon.  We were having routine maintenance done, like lube, oil and filters plus they inspect to make sure everything looks good.  While we were waiting we checked in at Yuma Lakes RV Resort.  We found a nice site next to Tony & Mieke.  We did some Tai Chi, went for a walk around the park and bumped into Jim & Sharon.  Then we went to WalMart to pick up a prescription and I found some pretty towels that have an Arizona theme with matching rug and liquid soap dispenser.  They look pretty in the guest bathroom.

We didn't hear from LaMesa by noon and with hunger setting in we found a Chinese restaurant.  We haven't been out to a restaurant since we've been gluten and dairy free.  Ordering wasn't easy and we ended up with steamed broccoli, white rice and steamed chicken.  The chef was in shock that we didn't want seasoning but at least it was a safe choice.  The waiter kept bringing over sauces hoping that maybe we could find something we could use to make the dish tastier.  It was a little bland but it filled us up and we were satisfied.

We went back to LaMesa after lunch and they were just finishing up.  They found that our generator panel was loose because of a missing screw and the front Winnebago emblem panel needed to be secured with apoxicon glue.  They replaced the water pump and now we have much better water pressure.  Denis was pleasantly surprised with the cost because they were having a special on oil changes and some of it was covered by the warranty. We ran into some glitches with our extended warranty and it took much longer to get the paperwork done and we didn't get out of there to almost 4:30.  Long day.

We're used to spending time in RV service bays

See how patient & relaxed Denis is

By 5:30 we were all settled in to our site, made a big green salad with the left over turkey and a glass of wine.  That ends our day and we're tired.  Just enough time for a move before heading off to bed.

Thanks for stopping in to say hi.