A Stop at Mittry Lake

 

The past couple winters we spent quite a bit of time at Mittry Lake, about 15 miles north of Yuma, since both of us had dental issues to take care of in Algodones, Mexico. This year there were no dental appointments but we had a couple other things to attend to in Yuma, and wanted to show Mark and Bobbie one of our winter haunts. I don’t think they’re very impressed, but we still like it here. 

A fire caused by carelessness and fireworks back in August has changed our view. Where we park used to be blocked from the road by vegetation, but now it’s an eerie, burned landscape between us and the lake. On previous visits we could not see the RVs parked down by the water.

It’s still pretty, though. Scenes from a sunset walk on our first day.

We took Mark and Bobbie, along with Suzanne, on our favorite hikes up into the hills right surrounding the camping area.

We call this area “Graffitti Rocks”. Don’t ask me how to get there. Even after several times I’m not sure if I could find it again.

Our favorite is the “Ridgeline Hike”, where last year we saw bighorn sheep a couple different times. No such luck this time around.

This is some stark, rocky terrain.

Jim and I took a short trip to Algodones to get a few things from the pharmacy and do a little window shopping. The markets in Mexico are so colorful but we didn’t find anything to buy.

We had a fun happy hour one night with Suzanne’s friends John W. and Mary, who are staying up the road at Imperial Dam, and John S. (Just Finding Our Way), who is also here at Mittry Lake.

From left, John S, Suzanne, Mark (practicing for his nursing home days), Bobbie, Jim, John and Mary.

One day we biked over Laguna Dam into California and rode along the All-American Canal, an 80 mile aqueduct and the largest irrigation canal in the world.

Continued on to the Imperial Dam BLM LTVA camping area. It was a good ride, and mostly flat.

We had planned to leave yesterday and head to Anza Borrego, but after looking at the weather forecast decided to hang out here a few more days as it looks like the wind and rain won’t be quite as bad. We’ll see. So today we hiked the Telegraph Pass hill, 5.5 miles round trip, with about 1,200’ of elevation gain. A good workout with nice views.

After the hike we went downtown to check out the Yuma Date Festival. Mark, Bobbie and Suzanne had a date shake, followed by lunch at DaBoyz, a great pizza place that we’ve eaten at a few times before.

The festival wasn’t too exciting but we did buy a pound of Honey Dates, which are very small, soft and sweet. Had never tried them before but they are really good.

So that brings us up-to-date, no pun intended. Hope to be out of here in a couple days, if we don’t get blown away.

More Quartzsite

 

It’s been a pleasant week in Quartzsite, but we’re ready to move on. We were joined by Box Canyon Mark and Bobbie on Thursday, a nice surprise since they are not big fans of Q, but they wanted to meet some people at the Blogger Fest Saturday.

I think there were over 50 people who showed up, so like last year I missed talking to some, but it was fun to put faces to blogs and visit with some people we met last year. I only took a few photos while everyone was going around the circle introducing themselves. After that we all stood around talking and I completely forgot to take any more.

Bayfield Bunch Al, Kelly and Pheebes were there again. Pheebes moved too fast to get her picture, but she had a great time running around greeting everyone. What a sweet dog! Thanks again to George and Suzie (Our Awesome Travels) and the others who helped put this together again.

One of our hikes around the hills near Q mountain. From left, Jim, Mark, Bobbie and Chris.

Old stone cabin we happened upon.

We decided to dump and get water late yesterday afternoon hoping everyone else was at happy hour or watching football. Since there were only three people in line I think we picked a good time, as that can be a busy place with the thousands of RVs here. So today all we have to do is hook up the car and make our way to Yuma.

Quartzsite Once Again

 

We first came to Quartzsite in January of 2010 and swore we would never return. For some reason we decided to give it another try in 2011. This year, 2016, is now the fifth time we’ve come during the big RV show in January, joining the Lazy Daze Homeless Camp once again, a really nice group of people.

It’s been a very busy week, socializing with old friends, making new friends, and shopping at the Big Tent and flea markets in town. We don’t need any major purchases this year but have picked up a few odds and ends. It’s always fun just looking around at all the junk. Suzanne treated us to pizza at Silly Al’s on my birthday. It’s loud and crowded at this time of year, but they make a surprisingly good pizza, and is one of those iconic Quartzsite “must go at least once” kind of places.

It’s always fun to see the variety of RVs parked around the desert.

Most of our “hiking” this week has been the walk to the shopping areas from our campsite, about a mile one way. We’ve walked many more miles up and down all the rows of the Tyson Wells flea market. And took a hike up Q Mountain, if you can call 200’ a mountain.

Some of our group at the top.

Nice views of Quartzsite from the mountain.

The weather’s been great and the sunsets spectacular.

We have company coming today, but I’ll save that for the next post. Hope to see some of you this Saturday at the Blogger Fest!

Get-together Details

Location Just to the left of the Restroom 1/2 Mile in La Posa South,

Look for Balloons and Signs

2^nd Annual

Bloggerfest

2016

Quartzsite AZ.

When: Sat. Jan. 23^rd 2016

Time:   1 pm till 4 pm

Where: La Posa South LTVA

What : Bring your chairs, beverage,

snack to share and your contact cards.

Inviting all Bloggers, Blog Readers

and friends, anyone wishing to meet the

RVing Bloggers themselves !

Everyone welcome !

Last Week at McDowell Mountain

 

Our final week at McDowell Mountain Park has been a good one, with some sunny and a bit warmer days so we were able to get in several more bike rides, and a couple of nice hikes. Also spent a day doing laundry, shopping, and picking up Suzanne from Sky Harbor airport in Phoenix. On the way back from the airport we met Debbie at SanTan Brewery in Chandler for a fun dinner and to return her sewing machine. I also trained my replacement at Fearless Kitty and filled in for someone yesterday so I got an extra day of cat time. I will miss that place and will definitely be back to volunteer there again.

These are for Debbie and Suzanne’s mothers

Gayle, Debbie and Suzanne, for those of you who don’t know us. Instead of “say cheese”, Jim says “say penis”, which gets us laughing rather than smiling.

View from Lousley Hill trail as the clouds rolled in.

I just had to add a rock to this huge cairn at the high point of the trail.

The Scenic Trail.

And finally the North trail, which is also very scenic.

                  

Handsome male phainopepla along the trail.

And finally, a striking last sunset, a great end to our three months here.

Today we make our way to Quartzsite.