Superbowl Day

Sunday, February 7, 2016

Today was superbowl day and my oldest son, Ben’s birthday.  We relaxed for the day and prepared snacks for the game.   The game was an exciting game all the way to the end.  Peyton Manning won his 200th game and second superbowl. Fitting end for a great quarterback.

My wife, Dolly won the family football pool and my son, Jim took second.  The Broncos won the game 24-10.  Congratulations, Dolly!

The family back in Blo-No had a superbowl party without us.

Getting ready for the game, watching a whole day of football build-up to the superbowl.

Dolly and I celebrated eating our snacks.

The doggies had their share, too.

Have a Happy Birthday, Ben, and a great year!

See you later.

Saturday Night Date Shake

Saturday,  February 6, 2016

The weather is warming up fast.  Today, we hit 72 degrees.  It will be in the mid-eighties all next week.  We didn’t do much all morning.  Our new neighbors left us around 10 A.M..

I decided to try one last time to patch the rear tire on my bicycle.  Third time was a charm.  I had tried twice before and both times the tire was flat the next morning.  Now I can use my bike for the first time this trip.  The tire was flat when we left Bloomington, and I planned to fix it while on our trip.  That plan is now complete.

Late this afternoon, I took the whole clan to the Imperial Date Garden in Bard, California.  We ordered Date shakes; my first and Dolly’s second.  I enjoyed the shake, but it may be my last.  There are too many other shakes, I like better and I don’t drink shakes very often.

After our date shake date, we drove a few more miles down the road to the Cloud Museum. The museum has lots of old relics from years gone by.   It was closed, but they had a lot of relics outside the fence.

For all you tractor buffs, here is a McCormick-Deering tractor by International Harvester.

See you later.

Walk Among Old Palo Verde Trees

Friday, February 5, 2016
After breakfast I decided to take Yuma and drive toward Picacho State Recreation Area.  Wasn’t planning on going all the way there; but, only to the area where all the names are written with rocks.  Here is a link from last year.
As I headed west on hwy 24, I ran into a detour.  Unfortunately, the bridge was out going north toward the recreation area, so I just went into Yuma and bought gas for the jeep and headed back to camp.
On the way back, I turned off Laguna Dam Road on a county road heading east.  Yesterday, coming back from Walmart, I saw a 5th wheel going in that direction and there was a sign saying a pond was in that direction.
About a mile and half I came to a pond and behind it was a large RV Park.  No nice boondocking spot, like I had hoped.  Turned around and went on home.


A little later in the day, Yuma, Fergie and I took a walk at the bottom of the berm outside our MH.  I headed for an area of Palo Verde trees to the north of us.
Surprisingly, the area was cordoned off with an old wire fence.  It was old, so we were able to walk through it.  As I walked around the area, it looked like there had been an RV camp here at one time.
I could see the remains of electric wiring coming out of the ground in places and dump spouts too.  Saw a large manhole cover mostly hidden by growth.  It was so large, I didn’t try to move it.

Must have been many years ago, because the place is overgrown with a very old growth of Palo Verde trees.  Most were old and dying.


Looks like someone left their old car behind.  Maybe it was new when the RV park was active.  I’m sure someone knows the make based on the grille.


We had a small RV move into the space we are in earlier this evening.  They are about 50 feet from us.  I’m sure the lake is getting full now that the weekend is here.  Hopefully, they are just here for the night and will move on in the morning.
Just finished watching “Gold Rush”.  Our evening is nearly done.
See you later.

Revisited Humane Society of Yuma

Thursday, February 4, 2016

Today was a slow day.  There is still a brisk cool wind coming out of the northwest.  It wasn’t till around 2 P.M. that it warmed up.  Did get to around 66 degrees and in town out of the wind it was nice.

Poor Fergie, looking so disgusted with Yuma.  He just won’t give her any room to lie down.

We decided to take a drive to the Humane Society of Yuma and visit the place I adopted Yuma or “Cheerful” as he was known when he was incarcerated last year.  Here is a link to that time.

I don’t think he remembered the place, but he was curious of all the dog smells.  Dolly, Yuma, Fergie and I went inside to the front desk, hoping the young lady that first introduced us was there.  Didn’t see her and couldn’t remember her name, so couldn’t ask.

Dolly went back to visit the dogs up for adoption, but the majority of them were Pit Bulls.  Glad there wasn’t one she couldn’t resist.  All we need are three dogs to feed.

After our visit, we stopped by the Walmart to pick up a few things and then it was back to camp for the rest of the day.

Took a photo of a field of red and green lettuce on Laguna Dam Road, on the way to camp.. 

See you later.

Mittry Lake

Wednesday, February, 3, 2016

Mittry Lake is a beautiful 600 acre lake managed by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM).  It is free to camp at the lake in designated areas for a period of 10 days per calendar year.  It is located about 7 miles north of Yuma, Arizona.

Palm Tree Pennsula

 

Fire on August 15, 2015 burned about 60 acres across the road from the Palm Tree Peninsula.

See you later.

Storm is Over

Tuesday, February 2, 2016 - Groundhog Day

The winds blowing through the cracks and crannies Sunday night were all Yuma could handle.  He covered his nose and went to sleep while we watched TV. 

The winds did howl and we woke up Monday morning to a windy and vey cool day.  Didn’t write a blog because all we did was hunker down and watch TV all day long, just like we would have done at home in Illinois on a cold and windy day.

Today, the winds were gone but the cool weather has persisted.  It wasn’t till mid-afternoon before it was warm enough to venture out, but I just couldn’t get up enough energy to go anyhwere.

Yuma, Dolly, Fergie and I took walks around the area of our MH and just relaxed for the day.  Not good blog stuff, but it felt good.

We walked as far as we could towards the lake, but unfortunately, the lake is not accessible from this area.  The bushes and tall reeds are so thick, it would take a machete to get through it, so we turned back.

Rarely, have I wished I had a kayak or inflatable canoe, but I would love to explore this lake for a day or two.  It is large, but most of it is hidden by the tall reeds that grow all over and around the lake.  I noticed there were a lot of fisherman on the lake this past weekend.

See you later.

Waiting for the Storm

Sunday, January 31, 2016

Today started out pretty slow.  The weather was warm and sunny without any hint of wind.  I couldn’t believe they forecast strong winds starting around 3:30 P.M. today.  But, I was pretty sure it would happen.

Stayed close to home.  Took a short drive to Bard, California, about 15 miles to the west.  As we drove north on the Mittry Lake Road, the fisherman were already out on the lake enjoying the beautiful morning.

We dead-ended into Imperial Dam Road and took a left.  This road takes me around the north and west side of Mittry Lake.  However, you can’t see the lake from all the tall grass and swamp land hiding the lake from view.  There are no entrances to the lake along this side of the lake.

This tavern along Imperial Dam Road looks deserted, but I have a feeling it is hopping on Friday and Saturday nights.

This deserted homestead looks like it has been here forever. 

Stopped by the Imperial Date Gardens to make sure they had Date Shakes.  Didn’t buy anything.  I want to wait and bring Dolly with me.  She will love the shakes and candies they have.

I felt guilty driving my very dusty jeep into the parking lot after seeing that very shiny city-slicker’s Cadillac.

At about 3:30, the clouds started to come in from the west and the winds picked up, throwing the dust and sand high into the air.

Soon, the sun and mountains were hidden from view and the winds brought me indoors.

As I write now, the MH is rocking from winds blowing at about 25 mph with gusts up to 40.  The only things outside now are our generator and Dish Tailgater.  Earlier, I placed the Tailgater near the MH front tire to protect it from the wind and so far we have TV reception.  Means it has not blown away so far.

They are calling for a little rain this evening and the winds will remain through all of tomorrow.

See you later.