Yuma, AZ

We arrived into Yuma on January 1 and immediately were welcomed back into the group from last year for Happy Hour every day at around 4:00.  The group is great and we had anywhere from 8 - 20 people there.  We spend more time in Yuma just doing normal RV living within the park and spending time with friends than we do going out sight seeing.  We always enjoy the sunsets and sunrises in AZ.

Our Leased site while we are in Yuma - not
missing the WA weather.

We saw a couple of people from outside of the park such as a couple of State Farm friends and two cousins and their families.  We were so surprised running into one of the cousins at one of the grocery stores.

We had lunch at Martinez Lake.  On our way back we were going to go through the Proving Grounds, but WA residents needed their passports and or an enhanced drivers license, rather than just their regular drivers license as the website outlined.  We were planning on going back to visit, with our passports, but we never made it.  We took a couple of pictures
 of their equipment outside of the Visitor Center.

We also made it out to Castle Dome Mines. There are over 50 weather-beaten buildings in the city that give you the impression that you just discovered a lost city/ghost town.  Castle Dome sits on the second patented mine in 1871 and it is the longest worked mining district in the state.  There are over 300 mines in the district.  The last legitimate miners left Castle Dome in 1979.

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We attended the Valentines Dinner and Dance on Feb. 14 in the main event center at the park.  Two free drinks (wine or beer), Prime Rib Dinner with dessert and a live band for $15 each.  Everything was great and the group of 8 of us that went that night had a great time.

Man Dance

Five couples from our Happy Hour group decided to go to Mexico and have lunch at one of the outside cantinas in Los Algodones.

Our good friends Mike and Angie

Our good friends Mike and Angie, and Craig smoked 9 racks of ribs and I made a large batch of my Chuck Wagon Beans for a big barbecue party for our Happy Hour group on Feb. 23.  This was a going away for one couple not coming back to the park next year as well as for ourselves since we would be both be gone the first of March.  We had such a feast and everyone really enjoyed the ribs and all the fixings.

We had a couple birds that built their nest in the small palm tree just outside the door of our motorhome, unfortunately it was just two days before a big windstorm came in.  Loved watching the pair build the nest, but after the windstorm the nest was gone and we found a broken egg on the ground.  Hopefully the birds will be a little smarter building their next "home".

So many people in the park have outside lights, so we wanted to fit in and I wanted to do different things for the various holidays.  So I used an old Shepherd's hook from my mother, wrapped it with lights and added various decorations to it.  Not much, but a little decorative.

On March 2, we headed north to Cottonwood, AZ to spend 3 weeks as we slowly start heading north.

December in Sun City

We attended a show called "Celebration of Christmas" at Dream City Church in Phoenix.  This was a a great production, including "angels" flying from the ceiling, and live camels and a horse pulling a sleigh. The church was huge and put on a fantastic show and even pre show entertainment.  

We took a drive to Lake Pleasant to see what the facility was like to take our kayaks.  We went to both of the entrances for the regional park to include taking the tram to the water, boat dock and restaurant.  

We had also heard about the show that The Duttons put on in Mesa.  They were finalists from the 2007 America's Got Talent TV Show.  They have also been awarded the Top Show in Branson, and one daughter is an award winning fiddler and a son is the top instrumentalist in Branson.  Very talented family - young and old.

We went through multiple Christmas light displays around the area to include a private gated area in Sun City West that our friends took us through.  

After touring Lake Pleasant we got back to the lake two different days with the kayaks. Once we were totally by ourselves at the ramp and the next time we went, we were surprised to see the entire ramp full of Police, Firemen, and Border Control doing a dive exercise.

This is how we now haul our kayaks - so much
easier than putting them on top of the Explorer.  

Second day of kayaking:

One of my TMs who worked in DuPont, but is now in Phoenix area had us over for dinner and then offered to give Craig and I a tour of the new Marina Heights office complex.  Beautiful office space and I was glad to see a few of the CAPS I knew and claims people who use to work in DuPont.

We spent three nights in Las Vegas with my niece's family for Christmas.  We left the motorhome in Sun City and then drove the 4 1/2 hours to their home.  They all wanted to see the Star Wars movie: Rogue One so we did that Christmas Eve morning before Mike went to work.  Then we went to the Las Vegas Motor Speedway to see the Christmas light display on Christmas Eve.



Christmas pictures:

The afternoon of Christmas we decided to go to the strip so we could see the Christmas Display at the Bellagio Conservatory - what a mistake.  After about an hour in traffic, Tif, the kids and I got out of the car, went and saw the conservatory and then caught back up with Craig who had maybe gone about 1 block.  Got some great pictures, but came back to someone who was quite frustrated with the traffic.

Niece Tiffany and her three kids; Kailey, Nick and Hunter

Our last week was quite busy catching up with additional friends for dinners, a movie, hair cuts, Happy Hours and a New Years Eve Party before heading out of town to arrive in Yuma on Sunday, New Years Day.  Next year we want to make time to Liberty Wildlife Preserve.  We will be in Yuma for two months.