Wednesday, December 29, 2010

The North Shore

Sorry for the delay in updating the blog we were away for a few days. On Monday we headed down to Yuma to stock up and yesterday being such a beautiful warm day we headed over to the north shore. Be sure to scroll down I am adding 3 posts today to make up for lost time!

Thankfully we did because today is cloudy and cool and may rain! yikes - not again!

One of the great things we are enjoying here at the Imperial Dam LTVA is the water. There are several places we can access the water - at the two day use areas and at the north shore. We drove to the north shore which was deserted and enjoyed a few hours of walking around, sitting around and generally soaking up the sun. Roofous totally enjoyed the chance to run free and jump in the water.

We think we will go back soon with enough gear and food for the day and sit back and enjoy. Oh to have a canoe....










We brake for date shakes!

On Monday we had to make the trek back to Yuma. 
 
We had needed groceries for days and were getting down to the nitty gritty but since we traveled on Christmas day there was no way to stock up. So we headed down to Yuma and figured we may as well do our Los Algodones trip for cigs while we were at it. 
 
The best part about the trip was that on the way down in the morning we stopped at the Imperial Date Gardens - one of the many date businesses between Yuma and Imperial Dam. We can rarely go by a date place without stopping - 
I have mentioned how much we love date shakes haven’t I
 
So for us this day it was breakfast. Dates must be well stocked in nutritional value since we did not end up eating again until we got home around 5 - which is a big deal for Derek and his low blood sugar situation. On our tight budget we also resisted the urge to stock up on the yummy goodies these places tend to have. 
 
However on the way back we stopped at another farm for a bag of Arizona oranges.




Bold Burros

A rare treat for us the other day. 
While we were driving around looking for a site we noticed that there were a 
group of burros being fed by two ladies. 

At first Derek pulled over and I was about to take some pictures from the 
truck when we decided to take a closer look.

The seemingly wild burros are not so wild which is actually a bit of shame. On the other hand we were able to get close enough to take some good pictures
- but not too close - 
we thought we should still be wary. 
We were particularly struck by the foals or fillies - so cute with thick curly hair.

From one of our area handouts we learn that the burros are here because miners who came to this area in the late 1800s brought burros to carry their gear help with the work. When a miner died, his burro often wandered into the desert and adapted to the harsh conditions by eating many of the same plants as native species. 

One of the volunteers at the contact station here told me that there are wild mustangs in the area as well - a fellow saw a black one the other day. I wonder if we will be lucky enough to also see one sometime...




Friday, December 24, 2010

Thursday, December 23, 2010

Christmas Lights BLM style

Tonight
I took a walk around the 
neighbourhood - in the dark of course -
dodging mud puddles - yikes! after our recent deluge
with an itty bitty flashlight.

Enjoy!

Merry Christmas sign posted at the 'snoopy people' which is what I call them  - they have several snoopy dogs made out of plastic containers around their site.

Hogan's Hilton from an earlier post.




Tuesday, December 21, 2010

Yuma City Halls

When we spent the day in 
Yuma
we stumbled upon the old and new 
City Halls not far from each other
in the Historic downtown
Here is a shot of each
both can be appreciated but are very different.

Old Yuma City Hall

New Yuma City Hall

Monday, December 20, 2010

the West Coast

the 
WEST COAST
thanks to my sister for sending me these beautiful pics
from their west coast trip
taken at Chesterman Beach, Tofino
on  Vancouver Island








Friday, December 17, 2010

it's that time again....

This is the time every year that I design my Christmas e-card. I have sent out e-cards for the last 3 Christmases - I enjoy working out the design and not having to pay for postage of some 50 or so cards. This saves tons of money particularly from where we are now - it would cost 75¢ per card plus the cost of the cards. 

I also understand that many of you are traditionalists and like the sending and receiving of the real thing. My mom truly enjoys writing her cards and starts at the end of October. For her it is the one chance she has each year to write a friend or family member about the previous year - she considers the cost as a gift to herself.

Last year it was Cassia's first Christmas - our first Christmas with our new little daughter. This year is also special since we are south for Christmas amongst the sand and sun of the desert. I would like to do a desert theme this year - thinking of the colours biege and red and white - a nice combo. I tried desperately to get a good card worthy picture of us in Yuma the other day but the rest of my family wasn't all that cooperative. So I will see what I can come up with.



Wednesday, December 15, 2010

Historic Yuma

After Algodones yesterday we headed to Yuma. Since Yuma is 43 miles from our camp we thought that we should put it all into one day - which we did but is was a longgggggggg day. This the first time we have spent a day in Yuma and enjoyed it very much.

Our first stop was the Quartermaster Depot State Historic Park in Yuma http://www.azstateparks.com/Parks/YUQU/index.html We went there to the visit the Christmas Village we had read about. However, while Cassia slept I went into the Tourist Info and picked up some books on Yuma and Arizona. The Village didn't look like much so we didn't go in.

Instead we learned about the Historic Downtown of Yuma in the book and since it was near by we headed there. We stopped in a the Garden Cafe looking for coffee but we were too late - so instead headed a street over for a date shake (if you've never sampled a Date shack we HIGHLY recommend them!).

We walked around looking at the buildings. Talking about how sad it is that these areas don't seem to be visited much by the local residents. Many cities try to resurrect their historic downtown - some have been more successful then others. It's a shame because the old buildings have so much more to give then the new box store areas. Derek and I always visit these types of areas. Actually we may have visited and know more about American history then some Americans because we love the history and geography stops. 

After the downtown we went over the Yuma Territorial Prison State Historic Park http://www.azstateparks.com/parks/YUTE/index.html. We arrived 15 mins before closing so we didn't pay to go in - instead we walked around the area that we could. In January they are having the meeting of the gunfighters there and so we made need to go back for that.

While in Algodones we purchased 2 dresses for Cassia (for $10 each - probably a bit much). Not being able to resist we put one on her right away. A bit Christmassy with the red and green flowers. While Derek was speaking to someone at the Garden Cafe I happily took some pics of Cassia - the lighting was just right.



Monday, December 13, 2010

Holtville Hotsprings LTVA

Here are some pictures of the long term area at the Holtville Hotsprings. The BLM here has three parts to it - the long term visitor area (LTVA) on the north side of the hotspring, the LTVA on the south side of the spring and I8 and the free 14 day parking area south of the south LTVA. To park in the either LTVA one must purchase a long term pass ($180 for 6 months) or short term ($40 for 2 weeks). Obviously the former is much better than the latter. We camped first in the 14 day area. The nice thing about that is that it is free - but that is about it - after 14 days you have to move at least 25 miles away for 28 days. We were also parked 2 miles from the hotspring which is much to far to walk where as the hotspring is walkable from either LTVA area. When we came in 2008 we paid the $40 for two weeks and stayed on the north side.
 

What is most striking about this area when you walk through is first - almost all the rigs are HUGE - motor homes and 5th wheels - seriously well off snowbirds. The next is that they are pretty set up -most look like they are there for the whole season - they have planters, carpets, lights, firewood, bird feeders - you name it. The third is that they all have 4+ solar panels on their roofs. Our little trailer could fit about 3 times into these rigs. The fourth item is that you see almost all BC license plates!

Here are some pictures of Hogans Hilton. I saw this bus the second day we arrived when Cassia and I took a walk around. I didn’t have the camera with us and decided to come back. When we did the Owners were just heading to the hotspring so I asked to take pictures of their rig. They were also kind enough to let us borrow their air pump to add air to Cassia’s wheels. I was also given a guided tour of the inside which was impressive but I didn’t have an pics because of their privacy. Quite the bus 40 feet long - I can’t imagine driving that all the way from Oregon! They are ready for Christmas obviously - we should try to get back to see it lite up at night.


Sunday, December 12, 2010

the written word

For those of you who don’t know - I read A LOT - I always have a book on the go. Back at home I was a regular at the library and try to continue this trend on the road. As mentioned I already have 2 library cards, one from Quartzsite and the other from Holtville. I am thrilled that they are happy to provide library cards (free of charge) to travelers from out of country. The added bonus is that they all seem to have large dvd collections as well. What I also like is finding books that I may not have seen before. I borrowed and just finished Karen Kingsbury Sunrise. It is the first of a 4 series set I was wanting to read. I figured that at least it had the first one and in the future I hope to come across the rest. Unfortunately, neither library has had books by Robin Lee Hatcher who is another Christian fiction writer that I love. I highly recommend both her and Karen.

Another way to get free books is through book exchanges. I happily found out about this on our last trip in 2008. Every state park we went to and many BLM areas have a book exchange somewhere. Once we park I am out scoping out the place and looking for the exchange. Here is a picture of the one here at Holtville close up and at a distance. In the distance one Derek is talking to Rose who is from Nelson, B.C. It is unique in that someone took the time to build one. Generally at the State Parks they are in rooms but out here in the desert a free standing unit is needed.

When we got here it didn’t take me long to get to the exchange - I had 2 books I had brought with me and had already finished and one last one almost completed. One of the books I picked up was Dove. Have you heard of it? I hadn’t but it is also a movie. Derek knew of it - it is about a boy of 16 who sailed around the world in 5 years - from 1965-70. I am now about 1/2 through - when I finish I will do a bit of a write up on it - I love it so far. I am quite enjoying fellow traveling stories right now between Into the Wild (on Derek’s blog) and Dove.


Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...