Winterhaven,CA / Yuma, AZ

We have had a lovely week here at Pilot Knob campground in Winterhaven CA. Most of the people in the RV park are here to go over to Mexico and get dental work done.

Running along the mountains just across the street is the train track which is moving goods all day and all night.  We haven't seen this active a railroad in a long time.

Driving here we passed several very large solar fields. Found out that Arizona has more solar fields than any other state in US.

The other thing that is so beautiful is the mountains surrounded by fields of lettuce. It's just such a pretty sight.

This is one of the views from the campground.

I am standing out in the desert looking out over the campground.

This camper is parked on BLM (Bureau of Land Management) land. You can pull in there and park for 6 months for $180. Of course, there is no electric, water or sewer. You need a generator and would have to dump from time to time.

We went into Yuma and visited the Yuma Territorial Prison. Very interesting nice day trip.

Three of our days were spent in Mexico having dental done and glasses made.  Lee had 3 crowns and 1 filling and a cleaning. I had 1 crown and a filling and our total bill was $1,130. dollars.We both also had a pair of glasses made. Mine were half what I paid at Costco.

We packed a picnic lunch and our bikes and went to two lovely parks in Yuma along the Colorado River.

The weather was about 78 and a gorgeous sunny day.

As you can see, when we stopped for lunch Nicky found a spot of shade and thanked this gentleman for providing it.

A pretty sight along the river.

The mountains are ever changing as the light on them changes throughout the day.

The sunsets are beautiful and it's a treat for me because I don't get to see the sunsets when I am home since I live in the mountains.

Another week has gone by. It is hard to believe. Hope all of you are well and happy and that you enjoy the upcoming holidays with your families.

More soon, Judy

Just added this picture. We spent yesterday running around the foothills in our jeep. The mountains are awesome.

Apache Junction,AZ

 Hello friends and family

The mountains in Arizona are much like New Mexico. You fall in love with them. As the light strikes them at different angles throughout the day they change so much. You get en entirely different perspective throughout the day.

While in Arizona we did a lot of hiking and driving around in the mountains. The scenery was incredible. The weather was great in the mid 70's and cool at night.

Are these not gorgeous?

While driving around in the mountains we cam across this old mining town, Goldfield, established in 1893. Some of the original buildings and the ones that aren't original were reproduced through photos of the town.

We packed a picnic lunch one day and drove to Canyon Lake in the near by mountains.

What a beautiful drive we had.

You begin to get an idea of how the Grand Canyon came to be. Also look at the variety of colors beginning to show in the rock.

On our way back down the mountain we came across another mining town.

This is just so typical of the Arizona terrain.

We hiked to the top of this mountain. The dark spot you see just to the right of the straight cactus in the foreground is the cave we hiked to.

This is pretty typical of the desert floor where we were hiking. It definitely has it's own beauty.

You can see here how high up we were and you are looking at the good part of the trail.  At times we were climbing over boulders. When we got back down I asked Lee,"Did you ever look at the difficulty of the hike?" Well no. I looked down at the trails guide and yes it was listed as the most difficult. Nicky is 10 now and had no difficulty getting up but slipped on a boulder coming down and hit his hip. Lee ended up carrying him over some of the boulders going down.

And we came up here why???????
Just kidding it was worth it.

You are in this arid country but look at all the colors.

This was our campground.  countryside and Encore park. The view of the mountains from here was gorgeous.
I will next to talking to you from Winterhaven,CA which is just past Yuma, AZ. While there we will be crossing the border at Los Algodonos into Mexico and having some dental work done. We have worked with this same dentist before. Dr. Ramous, our dentist says he does excellent work.

Look forward to sharing with you all again soon. Love to all.

Las Cruces, New Mexico (Nov. 2014)

I fell in love with this area in 2009 when we visited here.  The mountains that surround Las Cruces are just breath taking. We stayed in an Enjoy America park here, Siesta RV. We were within walking distance of the historic village of Mesilla. A charming village built around a open square.  All the original houses built around this square are still there but today they are shops and restaurants. Those homes now  sell for at least a million a piece and the rent is high. 

There was a lovely coffee shop just down the road that we either biked or walked to. the scones were great and the owner did share her recipe with me.

Most of our time there was spent hiking and biking and just hanging around the village.

We were there for Thanksgiving and for our anniversary. For Thanksgiving we packed a picnic lunch and took off hiking. After a hike that took all morning we went to visit White Sands National Park.

On our anniversary we ate in one of the lovely restaurants in the village.

The weather was great. Blue skies and sunshine everyday and in the mid 70's during the day. It got cool at night but popped right up in the morning.

This was the view from the camper.

Church located in the square of Mesilla

 

This is Josefina's a lovely restaurant we had lunch at one day. There are beautiful courtyards to eat in. Dogs are permitted to dine with you in the front courtyards. 

 This was a very upscale consignment shop and of course I found a few things. A Mexican blazer which will be fun and a Liz Claiborne jacket.

This is where we had our anniversary dinner.

This picture was taken by a trucker who was stopped at the same park side rest as us.

 Don't they take your breath away???

 Nick and Lee taking a break.

 Everywhere you look a spectacular view.

That is mountains not water peeking out between the sand dunes. This a very weird experience. Sand dunes surrounded by mountains and no water in sight.

Kids playing in the sand with snow disks.

That's not a snow angel but a sand angel.

Isn't that strange looking?

Nicky loved the sand. A lot easier on the paws than the hiking trails we had him on.

  Another beautiful day of hiking.

Do you see the elephant's head in the rock?There are so many more things I could show you but I have to limit my Internet time so that's all for now.

Next stop Apache Junction, Arizona.