Arizona to Mission, Texas

Yuma to Casa Grande, AZ

On the road again, and as usual, the terrain is changing drastically.  The desert foliage is still amazing me with the quantity and diversity, this area now has the Saguaro cactus, which are the ones we normally think of in Arizona and desert country (the guys with the arms – picture of course) as well as flowering barrel cactus and nopal cactus or referred to as prickly pear cactus.  Along this route we are in a valley and as we went through the country side, they now have water in some of the areas and they are growing so, we passed a field of desert, then a cotton field, then a green field (don’t know what but some type of veg) and then sand again.  The scenery never gets boring as far as I am concerned.



Road Yuma to Arizona City



Suagaro cactus

Field of cactus by mountain

Cotton field

Green vegetation

Desert wash

Sand dune

We are going to stay at Quail Run RV right and meet up with friends of our Don and Donna for a week.  As she was away on vacation, we staid an extra day to get to see her and catch up before heading out.

Biosphere2

We went on a side trip today to Oracle, AZ to see the Biosphere2.  This was an experimental project started back 1986 and the Human missions lasted from 1991 to 1994 where they built an enclosed eco center to see if possible to grow and live in a controlled environment.  It was a twofold experiment, one to see if possible to live on Mars as well as to see what could be controlled on earth in a controlled environment.  It is currently run in conjunction with the University of Arizona as an experimental proving ground, the same stringent controls are not in place, but they can still control some of the climate aspects.  We went through three bio domes which had tropical rain forest, savannah and desert all with plants indigent to the areas.  They even had an ocean level, as well as a water and life experiment. When this was inhabited, they had two “lungs” for the Biosphere2 which kept their air and there fresh water reservoirs.  This part was really neat to see as the whole room had an insulated lining and at the top was a large disc with a membrane on that when the door locks were opened, the room would be full of air and the disc would rise to the ceiling as the air filled the room.  When the air was leaving, it would slowly descend to the ground – air displacement that could be seen.  I had heard of this and the Biospherians before so was really interesting to go and look at where they were and some of the area that they also had to live in.  For any of you other Science geek types (like me) their web site is B2science.org .  There is also a book out “The Human Experiment” by Jayne Poynter who was one of them that I am currently starting to read.  I am interested in the interpersonal relationships as well as the other experiments.

The domes

Snow on Mount Lemon

Their view - always through lines and glass

The lung

The lung coming down

Power plants

Rain forest

Inside rainforest

Inside Savannah

Ocean

On this trip through the desert, came across another cactus variety, they obviously all have different areas that they grow in as I don’t seen the same ones all the time.  I probably won’t remember any names by the time I go back, but will at least remember what they look like!

almost flowering barrel cactus

We spent several days with friends in Arizona City and as the weather was getting cooler, we decided to move south and east where it looked warmer.  Since it was close to Christmas, we decided to “drop in” to Mission TX to surprise Ken’s Brother Jim and sister in law Mary.

We left Arizona City AZ and on our first day went as far as Las Cruses, NM,  again different terrain across here, we stayed overnight and in the morning, there was frost on the ground , see picture Ken.

6:00 AM New Mexico - frost

Still in shorts, frost does not even deter him

Scrub in Texas

Texas flats

Oil Rig

BIG TEXAS

From there we went as far as Junction TX, just outside of San Antonio.  On the third day, we arrived at Mission, TX.  We had the park fellow take us around to a couple of sites to check out and found on behind a Titanium ( Brother Jim’s)  we tried to sneak in and were doing pretty good until Mary looked out her back window.  We had both of them running across the parking lot towards us – it was a total surprise and unexpected Christmas gift for both of us!  We were greeted with a Labatt’s Blue (Ken had not had one since we left Canada) and a glass of wine for me – it sure helps when people know a little bit about you!!!!

Another friend of ours through the Titanium group, Dru and Linda were having a Dinner get together before Christmas, so Jim called Linda to see if they could bring us,  which was another total surprise to Dru so that was fun as well.   Met some new people and re met people we had met at Kingston and Letchford – Richard and Kathy.  When we were in Casa Grandes, Don said it was a one Titanium resort, well Don, here there are at least, four so far and counting!!!

We settled in and the next day was Christmas eve so we managed to sign up for Christmas dinner in the park for the Sunday – dinner was at 1:30 PM,  earlier than we are used to but by the time everyone served themselves and was finished, it was around 4:00 PM.  We took a few leftovers, for either dinner that night or the next day.  Ended up back at our trailer for a drink or two and a few rounds of euchre.

Many activities here, so since we got here, I have tried line dancing and shuffle board and Texas hold’ em – I had never played before.  There were a few pool games going on, so now Ken is involved in that as well while we are here.  The weather has been up and down here as well, but most days are in the 70’s (20’s for the young Canadians) but still quite cool at night.

                HAPPY NEW YEAR 2012!!!!!

We had a quiet New Year’s eve, dinner with Bro and Sis, and friend.  Staid up long enough to watch fireworks and midnight, then to sleep.  Missed the gang for New Year’s as we normally spent it with together and since they have fire ants here, no sand or snow angels were made!!!

Since the holiday season is now over, it is time for us to start doing some more site seeing instead of sitting around – so will be on some side trips again soon and will be posting again.

MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR

We have been having an amazing time travelling, exploring, and trying to relax.  We have gone coast to coast across Canada which was truly amazing – you should all take a look at our own country.  So far we have been everywhere except Newfoundland and the Northwest territories which will be our next journey.  The people, the sights were fantastic!!!  We made a point of doing this before we headed anywhere into the USA.  

Down the west coast from BC/Washington and across to Arizona, was a great adventure.  We have seen ocean, desert, mountains and plains.  We have met people from all walks of life and times of life and have not met a bad one; RV people are the same as boaters, they enjoy the same lifestyle and it does not matter who or what you are.

We are not finished our journey, we are going into 2012 with some new travel plans and destinations. 

We have missed family and friends, but have tried to keep in touch as much as we could.   Friends we have made through our journeys have a large part in our hearts and future plans. We have missed some things that we would have gone to had we been home, but you have understood.

Today we spoke to my daughter Samantha, her husband Jeff and our grandchildren Brandon and Brittany to wish them a Merry Christmas, that is the hard part, but they understand, even Rosie does..  (I am now on the hook for Christmas and turkey dinner in the spring when we go back –she does not know it will be at her house….)

So to you all, a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year and will continue the blog after Christmas

Love and kisses

Ken and Sandra

Lake Havasu to Yuma

December 4, 2011

bikers

more bikers

and still coming

Left Lake Havasu City, AZ today heading for Yuma, AZ.  Just north of Parker Dam we saw a police car and a few motorbikes behind, by the time we go to the dam, we must have passed over 200!  They were doing a drive for Toys we found out.  Some had Santa hats and different decorations on their bikes, and some looked like just regular Harley bikers.  I started to take pictures, but they just kept on coming around the corner, pretty amazing and the area they were riding would have been a great ride for them.

road to Yuma

different foliage again

Yuma proving grounds

Road to Yuma

 

Road to Yuma down 95 was very straight.  This stretch of road, approx. 40 miles, also goes through the Yuma Proving grounds, which is where they conducts tests on medium and long range artillery, aircraft target acquisition equipment and armament, armored and wheeled vehicles as well as providing training for personnel for desert conditions.  There were signs everywhere that there was danger and no trespassing.  We were travelling on Sunday so did not see anything. The terrain had a bit different foliage again through this area. 

Before we left Lake Havasu, we had a call from Ken’s brother John who is driving truck and he was going to be in Yuma on so plan to meet up with him.

Arrived at RV Park, midafternoon set up and went to pick up John for dinner.  Had not seen each other before left Canada so it was a nice visit and nice to see a familiar face.

December 7, 2011

Cleveland Forest

Harbour by Motel

Motel ad

Yep, this is it

Harbour

 

Left today for San Diego for a couple of day trip, that was one of the reasons for stopping in Yuma.

Again, the terrain between here and San Diego changes so much, we travelled along Hwy 8, road for a while was very flat and straight.  Passed through Algodones Dunes which is west of the Chocolate Mountains along Hwy 8.  This is managed by the Bureau of Land management.  It is between the borders of Arizona, California and Mexico.  On the way to California, we went through a check point first of all to see if we had any fruit with us (same as when we went into state when we first came down).  Then along the way we went through 2 border control check points. These are mobile so they can set them up whenever and wherever they want to.  This stretch of highway is very close to border, you can see Mexico on the other side as well as the border fence some points along the highway.  Closer to California, we started heading back into mountains again so we climbed from Sea Level just outside El Centro and up to 4180’ at the peak of the mountain in California through to the Cleveland National Forest.  This is where we started seeing green again!  They had trees, and grass and water………

The mountain range through here has huge boulders and shows as falling rock; these are not from being blasted but are part of the Chocolate mountains, again amazing scenery and rocks.

We booked into a little flee bag hotel called the Dolphin that I found on line and it was exactly what it said it would be, whitewashed walls, floors, everything, doors had keys, yes real keys, neon lights outside and it was right off Mission bay by point Loma.  I had read that it could be noisy, but since we had the heater on at a decibel level of 115, did not hear anything else!!  (they were very friendly and helpful, had  continental breakfast, when we were leaving, one of the owners said we should have gotten a space heater for the room as they had them, guess they don’t leave in room in case they get stolen)even found a barber for Ken for the next day.

We went downtown to take a trolley tour through town, we have found these to be one of the best types to take, a hop on and hop off, shows you quite a bit of the city that you would not be seeing necessarily on your own and the drivers are talking all the time.  Since we arrived early afternoon, we just stayed on the tour for the whole time and there was just one other couple, from Atlanta with us most of the time.  Tomi, was the driver and she was good, had sound effects for different areas, music so went well.  Toured the Old Town district which was the birth place of San Diego, went to Balboa park where the Zoo is, no did not go, not crazy about seeing animals behind bars, but the park itself, is larger than Central Park in New York and houses several different museums. When we finished this, we went for a drive along the bay and it was rather cool out. Went down to one of the beaches. Picture taking is rather difficult as we were constantly moving and the window had an obstruction, but we did get to see a lot.  We decided to look for Cabrillo point that we wanted to see the next day and ended up at the Naval Base sentry station, nice young man with a large rifle turned us around and pointed to the way out.  We keep doing this, when in Atlanta, we went to the Airforce base by mistake.  All we need now is somewhere to bet lost near Army based and would have been in all of the forces downs here!!!!  After some touring the manager at motel recommended a seafood restaurant on the bay that was quite good.  Unfortunately, it was cold here as well so we sat inside but could see the bay from the window.

Aircraft carrier going out to see

Bridge to Coronado Island

Cabrillo monument

Mexico border

Mountains of rock

New lighthouse, squint and you can see on top of palm trees

Old light house

Pacific ocean tide pool

Rosencrans Cemetery

Sand dunes

USS MIDWAY

On deck air craft carrier

View San Diego from Point Loma

 

The next day, we went to Point Loma and Cabrillo monument.  If you look closely at a map of San Diego, this is the tip of the point and where the rest of the base is, which this is actually around.  The view was amazing, we went to the monument and then to the old lighthouse.  While we were there, an aircraft carrier was coming out from the bay going to sea, these are huge.  This area is also where they can sometimes see the whales come in, that is usually mid-December to January, but we have not seen any signs of them. This is also the largest military cemetery, bigger than Arlington, VA and Punchbowl of the Pacific in Hawaii combined.   

From there, we went to the USS MIDWAY museum, which is actually on the aircraft carrier. The ship is 1001’ long by 258’ wide and was the 20^th century’s longest serving carrier, to see this go to www.midway.org. The pictures and specs they have on are amazing.  Another couple of hours spent touring this as well.  It was warm on top of the flight deck in the open, but once again, cooled down really quickly.

We are going to be leaving here on Monday the 12^th and heading across to Arizona City, AZ to spend some time with friends of ours that have been full timing for a while and from there?????  We have lots of sun here but no warmth so now our focus is twofold, follow the sun AND the heat…..