NOV 12 - AL & APRIL ARRIVE!

We had a phone call last night from Al that he and April had arrived in Yuma and were at another RV Park. They came over for a visit today and it was great to see them. Mike had golfed 18 holes with Ted at Coyote Wash Golf Course which is 25 miles away, going through the mountains. They had a great time and Ted and Giggs also came over to welcome Al and April to Yuma.

How fun to have friends from home all together for a drink and good time.

We had to have a picture of the "Facilities" group, or as Lana and I have called us "Old FARTS" (Facilities Association of Retired Trades & Secretaries).

NOV 11 - YUMA, ARIZONA

We went for another bike ride along the irrigation canal of the Colorado River. Lana took this photo of the long-beaked birds at the golf course when we passed by and I found out these birds are "curlews".

Mike and I golfed at Desert Hills and did the "Back 9 and breakfast". Really enjoyed walking the course and it was a perfect temperature to play. These cute ducks were preening themselves while we shot golf balls over their heads and the water. We also saw a jack rabbit run across the course, but he was too fast for my camera.

We enjoyed dining outside, complete with wine and flowers - life is good and we are definitely blessed to be able to have this trip.

NOV 7 - YUMA, ARIZONA

I think we have learned to relax and take it easy here. Sun rises around 7 am and we love to enjoy coffee outside for a couple of hours, often with Lana and Barry. We are quite happy to read or enjoy the pool or sometimes a hot tub at night. We can take a short walk to the shopping centre or Lana and I enjoy riding our bicycles around the different RV complexes next to ours. There are many different set ups and choices for snowbirds who want to come here. Lana and I played crib on Tuesday night with a group and Mike has given us some pointers. It must have helped, as I won first place last night at the tournament.

Although this is a poor photo, we get to enjoy watching all the different military aircraft flying in and out of the US Marine base.

We played 9 holes of golf on Wednesday and saw another Roadrunner. We walked it and it was very pleasant early in the morning so we will be booking some more tee times.

Mike and I went to the Yuma Palms Shopping Plaza which is only a 10 minute drive (everything is so close here). This is one of the main squares and has water features and outside music speakers - very pleasant to shop here.

The centre is a massive village of shops and you walk outside between each store. Some great shopping here and it is not very busy yet. Once the snowbirds arrive, the size of Yuma almost doubles from 125,000 but the economy of the US is definitely depressed.

There are many grapefruit trees at the RV Resort. One resident has told us to help ourselves as he is not fond of them so we are waiting for them to ripen.

Another gorgeous sunset.

Today (Nov 7) we all went to "Yuma's biggest flea market". It was certainly large and 90% of the items were new. I managed to find a few Christmas stocking stuffers but I thought this was a cute photo of jeans for sale. The mannequins definitely showcase the Latino assets and we enjoyed the Mexican-style flea market.

Back to the RV Park for afternoon siesta.

NOV 2 - GOLFING IN YUMA

Mike and I had a 7:45 am tee off at the Desert Hills Golf Course which is only a mile from our RV park. The temperature here was going to hit 90F so we took a golf cart and the cost was only $38 per person for 18 holes. We really liked the course and have booked to walk 9 holes on Wednesday at same time as the temperature in the morning is perfect for golfing until 11:00 then it is too hot for me.

This bird with its long curved beak and his friends also like the golf course. I really enjoy all of the different birds here in Yuma.

Thought the Yuma watertower in the background would be a good snapshot with Mike getting ready to tee off on one of the holes.

The course is beautiful with palm trees and the mountains in the distance. It is pretty wide open but the oleander bushes devour balls and are so dense it is impossible to find them.

This Roadrunner crossed one of the fairways and I was able to get a decent photo of him.

He ran off the edge of the course but I was pleased to see another one of these cute birds.

Mike had a great game (5 pars on the back 9) and I played pretty well. We are looking forward to coming back Wednesday morning and walking the course - at a cost of 9 holes for $15 each, it is very reasonable.

In the afternoon, Lana and hit the pool in the heat of the day and, although the pool is tepid, it was very refreshing and we will definitely spend some afternoons loafing in it. The weather will continue to be 90ish until Saturday when it will go back to the low 80's.

Last night Lana, Barry, Mike and I tried shuffleboard and it was a lot of fun, although the boys beat us. Lana and I will have to get some practise in and see if we can kick their butts.

Another great sunset tonight and I will start sitting at the pool area to enjoy it as we do not get these great views at home.

Tonight was really pretty because of the cloud cover. As Yuma gets less than 3" of rain per year, we are not worried that these are rain clouds.

It's hard to believe that we are leaving this paradise in December to head north, but we miss the kids and are looking forward to seeing everyone. We are definitely thinking that coming back here for Jan-April is in our future.

Beautiful full moon tonight and Lana and I walked for an hour and another lady, who has been coming here for 24 years, joined us and was very chatty about all the things she had gotten involved in here. You can definitely do as much or a little as you please.

OCT 31 - HALLOWE'EN IN YUMA

Missing being with the kids on Hallowe'en as we usually carve pumpkins but was able to reach Kathleen, Aaron and Veronica by skype and saw them doing the pumpkins. Also got to speak to Steve and he and Cheryl had taken the kids trick or treating. Glad everyone is fine.

Hallowe'en in 85F weather is pretty nice. The RV resort had a luncheon at noon where we enjoyed a pasta lunch. We then attended a party at 7 pm (you know us old folk, we like to go to bed early!). It was a lot of fun and everyone dressed up for it.

Mike throwing horseshoes at one of the 6 games we had to play in order to earn tickets to "buy" desserts that everyone had brought to enjoy.

Our neighbours, Tom and Shelley, won best costume as the priest and nun. Shelley had a cabbage patch doll in a backpack on her back and one in the oven. They were very funny together.

Marshall Mike and me as a Rhinestone Cowgirl.
Barry as a biker (not sure he was really in costume or his true self) and Lana as "the old crow" (her words, not mine).

More costumes and a lot of fun.

Barry enjoying a jello shooter. It was a great time and we are definitely thinking we would enjoy staying here for a month .

OCT 29 - LOS ALGODONES, MEXICO

Mike and I went to check out the Mexican border town of Los Algodones. It is only 12 miles from here but we crossed into California and then parked our truck by the border and walked across into Mexico (2 states and 2 countries in 1 day!).

It is a typical mexican border town except that it also has a multitude of optical, dental and pharmacy stores which are in huge demand by the tourists. People come here to get dental work done at a fraction of the cost and the work is excellent. I was skeptical but we have spoken to too many people who are using these services and happy to save substantial amounts.

As you can see from the signs, these services are everywhere. When we walked over the border with another couple who were heading to get glasses, we joined them and Mike got an eye exam and a new pair of glasses with all the bells and whistles for a third of the cost back home, and they were ready for pick up in 3 hours!

While we waited for the glasses (they said it was a slow day for the lab as usually they would be ready in 1-2 hours), we checked out the shops. I got some jewlery at very reasonable prices, then stopped for some delicious shrimp tacos. Mike was skeptical to eat them, but I had spoken to some other tourists who came there often and had never had a problem.

We stopped for coffee at this square and I noticed a beauty/spa salon at the end. A pedicure for $13 was a great treat to sit back and enjoy. I was told by another customer that the place was usually packed once the snowbirds arrive in November and all the services were excellent.

We picked up the glasses and Mike is thrilled with them. We are very impressed and were lucky that we were able to walk right through the customs as sometimes there is a 2 hour wait. It was a perfect day to visit the town as it was a Thursday and a bit cooler today. The weather will warm up to 85F by Hallowe'en.

OCT 27/28 - YUMA, ARIZONA

Just a couple of pictures of the Desert Holiday RV Park we are staying at. It is a very friendly place and most of the people are Canadian snowbirds who stay here 6 months. A very friendly couple next to us, Tom and Shelley Brazier from Ontario, were heading to Florida for the winter but decided that they would stay here instead and have even been looking to buy a house. Prices are very low ($120,000 to $150,000).

The first two days we had very high winds which was part of a big storm hitting the central states. We were thankful we did not experience this while driving across the desert as we had seen many wind-warning signs and our vehicles would have been sand-blown down to the metal. We have enjoyed the hot tub at night and have had it all to ourselves. During the day, we can see planes overhead from the Yuma Marine Corps Airforce base. This training facility sends their pilots and aircraft to Iraq and Afghanistan and are continually practising and we saw two planes doing a fuel transfer.

We finally got to see a Roadrunner, they are such cute little birds, although they are flightless and will take a flying leap but mostly just run around. Kind of the size of a skinny chicken.

We have decided to stay here for at least a week and possibly will stay for a month as it is so friendly and has many activities, even a room with several pool tables for Mike.