Feb 5 Hike to the TUMCO abandoned gold mine

 We hiked a couple of miles up into the hills to fund an abandoned gold mine town. We thought that there was supposed to be a bit of a ghost town, but when we got there it was just the foundations and a couple of covered over mine shafts. All of the equipment and anything of significance has been removed or stolen. Not a very exciting destination but a great journey , as we were just looking for a place to hike.

This is the type of terrain in the area. Interestingly if you took thetime you could actually climd tothe top of those peaks. If we stay around long enough we probably will. 

Feb 4 Travelled from Yuma to Holtville California

We are patiently waiting for the weather to warm a bit in Northern Arizona ,so to ill in a bit of time we took a side trip to the Hot Springs on the BLMland near Holtville. The most interesting part of the journey was through the Imperial Sand Dunes.This compares to the desert pictures we see from the middle east. Miles and miles of it.

The tracks are not very visible in the picture but lots of people travel on these dunes with ATVs and dune buggys

This is a front end loader removing sand that has drifted across the road just like a snow drift

Entrance to the BLM Campsite. Snowbirds can camp here for $180.00 for 7 months or $40.00 for 14 days.

There are no services but hundreds and hundreds , may be thousands spend their winters on these sites.The BLM land is like our crown land and owned by the government

The hot springs were a bit of a disappointment.  Just an 8X8 stoned hot tube , full off people. 

Feb 3 Yuma Territorial Prison Museum

Built in 1876 it was known as the Hell Hole of the West

Mock up of original prison

Cells held 6 prisioners each.  Summer Temperatures would be aound 40 C

6 prisomers to a cell

There were 29 women  held in this prison over the years

I know people who think this should be todays policy

Feb 2 Hiking arounjd Yuma

We enjoyed a nice quiet day, went for a 6 klm hike along the canal that brings the water from the Colorado River to the vegetable farms in the valley.

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a field of lemon trees that has been just been flooded, 2 days ago it was perfectly dry.  The land is so flat the water is the same depth all over

a field og cabbage, 1/3 of all the agricultural products fromArizona is produced in this area.

Robert Hummel from South Carolina and David Holt from Lynhurst On.
Robert travelled all the way to Washington for Trumps inauguration, and bought his hat that I am wearing  at the inauguration. He hadn't noticed before that it was made in China. LOL

Cynthia Holt and Rose 

Feb 1 Finally got the generator working again

We travelled back to Quartzsite to get solenoid replaced on the generator. It has been a pain to us as we had the starter replaced in Mesa. While we were in Quartzsite it stopped again. After 4 hours at $120.00 per hour we determined it was the cellinoid. He had an after market one but it blew right away so we had to order one. We got a call that it was in so off we went. Rose is happy now, she has a hair dryer again.

Jan 31 Los Algodones

Yesterday we took at trip to Mexico. Los Algodones located 7 miles west of Yuma is located right at the border so you park your vehicle and walk across.US or Canadian auto insurance doesn't work there. Fun shopping for all of the tourist trap stuff, but people go there to get their dental work done, buy  eye glasses and buy pharmacy products. Robert a guy from South Carolina who was camping next to us came with us to get a crown, he paid 250 for the same crown that they wanted 950 in Yuma. There is at least 35 or 40 dental offices and as many opticians right at the border. Fun day with an outstanding Margarita and mexican food for lunch. David and Cynthia who came along as we. David was quoted a price of $591.00 to remove all of his bottom teeth and put in a plate. We didn't bring a camera across as a prcaution but it would have been more than ok. It was fun and we were very comfortable. The only inconvenience was the 2 hour line up to come back.

The valley around Yuma produces 1/3 of all of the agricultural crops in Arizona. Fields and fields cabbage, lettuce, kale, etc. They get about 3 crops per year. In the summer when it is very hot, 100 degrees f  they grow wheat and hay.
There are between 30 and 40 thousand workers in the fields daily. Many of the workers cross the border from Mexico daily.

Jan 30 Yuma update

We moved to Yuma last Friday and our generator went on the fritz on Saturday, so we returned to Quartzsite to get it repaired on Monday. Worked on it for 4 hours and then had to order in some parts. They wont be in until the end of the week so we are chilling back in Yuma.

Jan 30 Wow, 10 days with out a post

We have spent the last 10 days between Quartzsite and Yuma. Quartzsite is definitely the mecca of rv communities. Summer population of 3500 balloons to 250,000 plus in the winter. Besides all of the rv parks this area has1000's of square miles of BLM land. Long term campers can stay for up to 7 months for a one time fee of $180.00. This is for dry camping with no facilities. Short term is $40.00 for 14 days , or $10.00 for s single night. There are no designated camping spots, you just pick a spot and set up. Lots of campers camp in groups. We met 3 other couples from Ontario, so after a couple of days we put out campers close together and hung out in the evenings.

We were able to walk into Quartzsite from our site, about 2 klms. With all of those campers hanging out looking for things to do there are always shows, RV , gem and rocks, and flea markets.

Weather is perfect. It only rains 5 days a year, daytime is low to mid 20's and mid teens at night.

Time for a break at the RV show

Every kind of art and craft is on sale here

There must be 100 booths selling rocks and gems

This is the second booth we saw like this. Not sure who is sponsoring it or if it is some one trying to make a living.
You almost never see anyone showing Trump paraphernalia or t shirts. People are even reluctant to discuss the topic.

Our campsite frends, Cynthia and David from Lynhurst, Paul and Cathy from Kitchener, and Dean and Nancy from Mount Forest

Jan 19 Quartzite

Yesterday we travelled to Mesa to get the generator starter replaced and then on to Buckeye.
To day are in Quartzite to attend the largest RV show in USA. There is also a 25 acre Sell-a- rama (gems, rocks, crafts, and flea market,on for the next week so it should be fun.
We are camped in the BLM (Bureau of Land management) land just out side of town . We walk the1.25 klm to go into town. Weather is outstanding, low 20s during the day and low teens at night.

BLM land is like our crown land . Due to the Government shut down there is no one to collect the money, but on a normal bases  you pay $10.00 for a maximum stay of 14 days.  You just drive around until you find a spot you like. There are 100's of  campers here.

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Jan17 Tombstone AZ

Tombstone AZ is where the movie OK Corral was based on. After the movie the town became a tourist attraction. After the silver mines closed it had become pretty much a ghost town. Today it is really a tourist trap, but a fun place the spend the day. They stage gun fights every day where Wyatt Earp and his buddies  had their famous gun fight. The entire town has been restored to look like the 1880's

They offer stage coach rides around town

A view of the main street

Getting ready for the staging of the gun fight

The tombstone museum. The only remaining building from the fire that destroyed the whole main street.
It was a gambling hall, bar, theater and brothel. It is in its original 1880's state and never been restored or upgraded.

Big Nose Kate was Wyatt Earps, wife for 46 years

Stopped in for a quick beer and stayed awhile. This guy was a great singer, he could do all of the old classics

Jan 16 Hiking in Kartchner State Park

Went Hiking at Kartchner State Park. We hiked about 5 klm into the mountains.

Jan 15 The Mexican Wall in Nogales AZ

This city is built on the border and is on both sides . The down town has a major car crossing and a pedestrian crossing. We walked trough the gate to go over and the customs to come back. I asked the US customs officer when the wall was built and with a smirk and a smile he said "not a wall a fence". The original wall was built in 1915-1918 and has always been there ever since.
Steady steam of people going back and forth. I imagine people work on both sides

the wall is made of steel slates , positioned so you can see between them

I am on the Mexican side , with the fence behind me.
Looked for a "make Mexico great again" hat but couldn't find one

Notice the fence cutting right through the city

Jan 15 Titan Nuclear Missle base

The USA built 3 Nuclear missile bases during the cold war in the 1960's. Each base had 18 missiles and were programed to launch in under 30 minutes.  Only the President could give the order!

The idea was that they would never shoot first. If you had more power than your enemy, and they launched a missile at you, you shot back and totally destroyed them. Each missile would destroy an area of 27 sq miles.

Rose was super excited to see these signs that were every where.

1960 technology

picture of the missle , war head removed taken from the top of the silo

This sign was on the counter when you paid for your tickets.
Free gun storage while on site
Last year while in Texas they had no guns allowed signs on most of the stores and public businesses, we don't see any this year in Arizona

check out this website for better pictures and details

Titan Missile Museum

Jan 14 Kitt Peak National Observatory

We travelled to Tuscon and on to the Kitt Peak National Observatory. 

Not a very good picture, but lots of cotton grown around Tuscon

Bales of cotton in the field waiting to be picked up

This is an interesting place to visit as they have numerous telescopes to study the sun and the stars. The largest being 41/2 feet in diameter. Unfortunately the tours were closed due to the gov't shut

down. 

To complicated to describe but visit the link below and get all of the details

Kitt Peak National Observatory

The climb is 4000 feet over 10 miles as you circle around the mountain to get to the top. The top is at 7600 feet