Places We Have Called Home In 2020

Places We Have Called Home In 2019

Home Is Where We Park It:   Rancho Rialto RV Resort, Yuma

January 22, 2020

Temperature 70 Degrees

Around Our Community

Little Graybeard

Graybeard Has Been Sold – Technically We Are Homeless! 

Choices For A New LV

Look!  To the East!  It’s the sun back out in full splendor.  Ah, how nice to see it again.  We also have a beautiful deep blue sky.  Just another day in paradise.

Let’s take a walk around our community.

A parched and thirsty horse.

Anyone up for a bike ride?  I found this so fascinating, the fact that someone could actually bend and shape the wire into the form of a bike.

Cute and simple.

Dig those ears and those eyes.

I find these little metal sculptures so fascinating.  Someone has a real talent, far more than I do.

Today it was time to do some maintenance

on Little Graybeard.  It was time for an oil and filter change, tire rotation and the air conditioner needed some attention.  A few hours later and my wallet was a bit lighter but now we know that the little guy is in good health.

As for the big guy

Graybeard is going to a new home.  My son Paul has decided to buy Graybeard and will be coming out within the next month to take him back home with him to Ohio.  Technically, that means we are homeless!  I don’t believe, however, that he’ll kick us out before have a new rig.  Which we’re working on.

We have narrowed it down to three choices.

A 2005 Newmar Mountain Aire  4023 which we have inspected already and fell in love with immediately.  Indeed, we love everything about it except the price.  Time will tell if we can negotiate something more in our favorite.

Next in line is a Newmar 2005 Dutch Star 3815 whose outward appearance we really like.  In addition it has a number of upgrades that we really like.  It has all LED lighting, new day/night shades, etc.  We’re going to inspect this one this weekend.  The pictures we have supplied by the current owner make it a real contender.  But, as they say seeing is believing.

This is our third contender, a 2005 Newmar Kountry Star 3910.  This coach has just been completely remodeled – porcelain tile floors throughout, new carpet in the bedroom and the slides, one piece washer/dryer, new faucets, etc.   However, all we have are pictures so far therefore we’ll be taking a look at this one this weekend as well.

So, after we’ve inspected the last two, we’ll sit and fill out our spreadsheet listing pro and con’s for each and see where the chips fall.

Our day on The Road of Retirement has come to an end.  I’ve been to the dentist.  We had the car serviced.  We found out today that Graybeard has been sold.  We are now definitely on the hunt for a new  LV.  Wish us well.

Thanks again for joining us today.  We always appreciate your company and your comments.  Catch you again tomorrow.

These are the voyages of  Graybeard and it’s two intrepid travelers.  Our continuing mission: to explore as many new states as possible, to seek out new acquaintances and make new friends, to boldly go where we have never been before

See you on down the road!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Places We Have Called Home In 2020

Places We Have Called Home In 2019

Home Is Where We Park It:   Rancho Rialto RV Resort, Yuma

January 21, 2020

Temperature 61 Degrees

Raindrops Keep Falling On – Our Roof

Quartzsite RV Show

What’s that I’m hearing on the roof?  Not a bird.  Why, its rain.  Now how about that.  This is the first time it has rained since we have been here.  Not hard.  Just a light drizzle.  It also didn’t last all that long.  Probably an hour, maybe two.  Then that was that.

Today was a day to cross one more item off our bucket list.  We were up and out early, well, early for us.  A quick stop for breakfast and we were on the road.  We were heading toward

the town of Quartzsite.

On the way we passed Castle Dome Rock.  Its that big mass of mountain jutting up in the middle of the picture.  Believe it or not there is a hiking trail that leads to the top of it.  Supposedly, it is a rather easy hike.  But don’t expect me to prove that one way or the other.  I’ll just accept it as fact and leave it at that.

Since Route 95, which is what we are on, starts at the Mexico border I guess it is only natural that a stop along the way would be natural.  But this far north?  Maybe I’m missing something.

See that nice dog?  I put my window down to say good morning to his handler and that nice dog went nuts.  I was certain that we were going to be pulled over based on the dog’s behavior but we were waved on.

The Kofa National Wildlife Refuge.  Within the refuge there are four dispersed campgrounds that allow you to boondock for up to 14 days:  Palm Canyon, Castle Dome, King Road and Crystal Hill.

I tried to take some pictures but they don’t really show the breath and depth of the rigs that were scattered across the desert.   There were hundreds of all kinds in every nook and cranny, behind every bush, on every scrap of land big enough to park a rig.  There were rigs that looked like they were ready to be junked right up to and including the big rigs that usually cost upwards of a million dollars.  They were all out there.

Then we were there.  The Holy Grail for all RV’ers, the meca of the Southwest.

This was why we had come up here.  Every year here in Quartzsite there is a large RV show with all kinds of vendors.

Time to find a parking space.  I’m so glad Barbara was driving.  She went up and down, round and round the parking lot until

she snagged a parking space right at the entrance to the

 

white tent that held it all.  Google the RV show at Quartzsite and you’ll get an idea of the size of this monster of the midway.  It is probably about four football fields in length.

Time to go in.

The promoters of this show stated they were expecting over 150,000 in attendance.  I believe they all showed up today!

I gathered another lead on LED lights.  Several of the coaches we are looking at have not had the interior lights updated.  If we buy one of these coaches an upgrade will be one of the first things on my list of must do’s.

At this display I discovered the Ready Brake.  It’s a supplemental surge braking system for a toad.  I’ve been traveling without one but after seeing this and checking out the price it is also on my list of must do’s within the next month or two.

This gentleman from Davis Cabinets was extremely helpful and answered a lot of questions both Barbara and myself had regarding new cabinets we will possibly need in the future.

When I go to a diesel pusher this will be one of the first things that I do.  I’m going to have a fire suppression system installed in the engine compartment.

Then I had an in depth conversation with this gentleman who has been in business for years and years.  He sells only Country Coach Motorhomes prior to 2008.  The net of it is he believes anything later than that year is really not worth buying.

Of course there were any number of vendors that had nothing to with RV’ing.

Then just before we were ready to leave Barbara discovered a full set of induction pots that she has been searching for over the course of the last year.  They were reasonably priced so home they came with us.

Can you say piece of junk.  We had always wanted to check out a Holiday Rambler.  At first glance this looked promising.  It had a great floor plan.  Then we took a closer look.

Why would a dealer bring a used coach to sell without first detailing it?  Without fixing things that were obviously in need of repair?  Then we asked about the price and I almost fell over laughing.  The price was so far above what they are worth that you have to believe they really don’t want to sell it.  So be it.

We’re back home now and another day on The Road of Retirement has come to a close.  We can now cross another item off our bucket list.  We came, we saw and we see no need to go back.  It was fun, it was informative but unless we have a specific need in the future we’ll shop online.

Thanks for hanging with us today.  We always appreciate your company and your comments.  Catch you tomorrow.

These are the voyages of  Graybeard and it’s two intrepid travelers.  Our continuing mission: to explore as many new states as possible, to seek out new acquaintances and make new friends, to boldly go where we have never been before

See you on down the road!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Places We Have Called Home In 2020

Places We Have Called Home In 2019

Home Is Where We Park It:   Rancho Rialto RV Resort, Yuma

January 20, 2020

Temperature 65 Degrees

Around Our Community

We Eliminate Another Possible Dutch Star

Mexican Train

This morning was a rather unusual one in terms of the weather.  Chilly, that’s a given.  But the cloud cover was thick and heavy.  Not a ray of sunshine could get through.  This is the second day it has been like this.  Quite unusual for this area.

Time to get out and around the community and see what we can see.

First up is this gorgeous guy claiming the rock as his own.

A fat cat just soaking up the sun shine.

Meow!  Don’t let the black cat cross your path.

Who says’s that big foot isn’t real.

Question?  Why do they put bath tubs in RV’s?  With faucets down at floor level?  We had found another Dutch Star we were going to look at but something didn’t seem right with the shower.  We called and asked for some better pictures.  Yup, it was a tub/shower with an initial lip to get over of above 12 to 15 inches just to get in.

Then there was the issue with the faucet, it was down around knee level.  Sorry, I don’t want to spend the next however many years always bending over to turn my shower on.  Now we only have two more to look at.

We were supposed to go to Quartzsite for the RV show but Barbara had a rough night last night so we decided to stay home.  Since we were home we decide to play a bit of

 

Mexican Train.  Well, for whatever reason as we began to play both of us at the same time began to think of the last time we played this game with my mom at her kitchen table before she passed away.

  We began to laugh and cry at the same time.  The memories came flooding back, good ones for sure but it took a few minutes for us to compose ourselves.  Mom we miss you and think of you often.

That was the sum of our day on The Road of Retirement.  It was another wonderful day of doing next to nothing.  It was a day full of memories of a wonderful mother who always could light up a room with her smile.  Yes, it’s that smile of hers that I will never forget.  Thank you Lord for the gift of her life that you allowed her to share with us.

Thanks again for joining us today.  We always appreciate your company and your comments.  Catch you tomorrow.

These are the voyages of  Graybeard and it’s two intrepid travelers.  Our continuing mission: to explore as many new states as possible, to seek out new acquaintances and make new friends, to boldly go where we have never been before

See you on down the road!

 

 

Places We Have Called Home In 2020

Places We Have Called Home In 2019

Home Is Where We Park It:   Rancho Rialto RV Resort, Yuma

January 19, 2020

Temperature 73 Degrees

Around Our Community

Yuma Territorial Prison State Historical Park – Part Two

Ah, it was so nice sitting around the fire place last night.  Honestly, that little heater puts out a whale of a lot of heat.  Normally, we put a small heater in the back by our bed and open the bathroom door – which separates the front from the back – so the heat stays back there.  Then, when we get up we close the door and kick the heat pump on to warm up our entire house.  Last night we turned the new heater on in the living room, kept the bathroom door closed, and lo and behold when we woke up this morning our whole house was warm.  Awesome.

Let’s take a quick trip around our community.

A shy turtle, trying to hide under a bush.

A tastefully done front yard.  They even have two turtles.

Its obvious that the ten year rule is not enforced here.  This is a 1995 Newmar London Aire diesel pusher.  Really nice looking.

Another tastefully done front yard.

So our hunt for a new LV continues.  We’ve narrowed the field down to only Newmar products.  We feel the Mountain Aire we looked at would be just the ticket for us.  Yet, before we pull the trigger we want to check out four more rigs, three Dutch Stars and a Kountry Star.  Inspection visits are scheduled for the first weekend in February.   Once they’re finished we’ll sit down and see where we go.

We’re going right now back to

The Yuma Territorial State Prison.

So we had those who refused to behave and those who kept trying to escape.

This is where they ended up.

Through that vent hole in the ceiling it was rumored that the guards often dropped snakes and scorpions onto the caged prisoners below.

A model of the Dark Cell.  There was an outer and an inner door.  Then there was the cage.  It was supposed to hold only at the max 6 inmates.  But at times upwards of 14 would be put in the cage and others would be chained to rings in the floor around the cage.

A picture of what it was like.

I’m inside looking toward the entrance door.  Can you say dark?  Really dark?

Inside, using a flash.  The grate is the floor of the original cage.  Think about its size.  Then try to visualize 14 inmates confined inside, no place to lay down but who would want to since there were also no toilet facilities.  Not even a chamber pot.

Who watched over the inmates?

They were really the wardens.  A position here as Superintendent was very desirable since the pay was twice what it was anywhere else.

There were the guards.

 

In addition to the Superintendent and the guards

Each inmate received excellent medical and dental care, better care in fact than the citizens of Yuma received.

Also, for the benefit of the inmates

There was a complete library of books.  Inmates who could not read or write were given the choice of learning to do so in either English, Spanish, or German.  The first two I could understand but the third?  It was then that our tour guide explained that at this point in Yuma’s history there was a large German population in the area.

Despite the excellent medical care not everyone made it out alive.

Outside and adjacent to the prison.

You’ll not find a tombstone here.  Over the years before it became a park they were all stolen.

In 1909 the prison was overcrowded and there was no room for expansion.  Therefore, the decision was made to close the prison and transfer all inmates to another larger prison.  But soon another use was found for the facilities.

 

When the High School moved out and into its new building and after several other Yuma organizations made use of its facilities, it was finally left vacant with the subsequent consequences.

The other half of the prison used to extend westward from this wall toward the city of Yuma.  Note the tracks in the picture before this one? The black bridge in the background of this picture?  Read below.

 

But then the community rallied around the restoration of the prison.

The story is not done yet.

So today the prison has been saved so all can learn yet another part of Yuma’s history.

Who would have thought that a prison would be such a fascinating place to visit.  Yet it proved to a very worthwhile trip.  Definitely worth putting on your bucket list of things to do if you are ever in Yuma.  Oh, by the way for those who believe in ghosts, the prison is also supposed to be haunted.  Now,  let’s see what was that other place someone suggested?  Alcatraz, that’s it.  We have now put it on our bucket list of California musts to visit.

So our day on The Road of Retirement has come to an end.  Despite Dish pulling the plug on most of our local channels due to a contract dispute with the carrier that supplies them, we were still able to watch the playoff games using our OTA antenna.  Time now to pull the plug on our local channel package with Dish.

Thanks again for joining us today.  We always appreciate your company and your comments.  Catch you tomorrow.

These are the voyages of  Graybeard and it’s two intrepid travelers.  Our continuing mission: to explore as many new states as possible, to seek out new acquaintances and make new friends, to boldly go where we have never been before

See you on down the road!