2/11/2020
– 4/22/2020
Holy
cow! Its been over two months since I wrote in my blog. One reason is
we have stayed in one place for a while and since we have been here
several years in a row have not seen anything new to write about. And
if I am honest I was getting lazy as well. So what has happened since
the middle of February? We had been enjoying the park amenities and
activities. I attended the pool exercise classes a few days a week
and went on a couple of the park led hikes. We enjoyed playing Bingo,
happy hour music as well as the weekly jam sessions. Also visiting
with friends in the park. For my birthday we smoked some ribs and had
a few friends over for happy hour. Dennis and I also took lessons to
learn the Texas Two Step! Of course most of these things came to a
halt by the end of March. More on that later.
Through
a Yuma Equestrian Facebook page I was put in touch with a gal in
Wellton to go horseback riding. She has several horses and including
some adopted mustangs and a burro. She is working on getting
certified as a Mustang Trainer where she would get the mustangs and
do the initial gentling before they are put up for adoption. She also
happens to be the reigning Yuma Silver Spur Rodeo Queen as well as a
student at Arizona Western College. Despite her busy schedule she
found a couple of days for me to come out and ride. She has access to
quite a bit of open desert land. I loved riding with her and plan on
contacting her next year when we return to Yuma.
One day
a group of us ladies went to a nearby park for a fashion show. It had
a Hawaiian theme and a group of ladies from the local Ukulele club
played and sang Hawaiian themed songs. We had a nice lunch and
enjoyed the fashion show and the music. Watching the ladies play the
Ukes was particularly interesting as Dennis had just purchased one
and started to learn to play.
All of
this fun stuff came to an end the middle of March. We had heard about
the corona virus on the news and the increasing amount of travel
restrictions being put in place to try and stop or at least slow down
the spread. Apparently the virus started in Wuhan China and was the
result of a virus transferring from animal to human which meant that
humans did not have any antibodies to fight it. On January 30 the World Health Organization
(WHO) declared the
outbreak a global public health emergency as more than 9,000 cases
were reported worldwide, including 18 countries beyond China. Over
the month of February more and more cases were reported in more
countries which resulted in more travel restrictions. On March 11 the
WHO declared the outbreak as a pandemic. Two days later on March 13 president Trump declared a national state of emergency which addition
to freeing up $50 billion to fight the pandemic also started a
landslide of closures and shut downs. Most states shut down schools,
restaurant and any public gathering place as well as all public
events. This included all sports. Most states issued a shelter in
place, safe at home and social distancing orders which encouraged you
to only leave your home for essential goods or services.
At
Fortuna De Oro they started suspending events and shutting public
places in the park. A lot of the Canadians that winter here were told
by their travel insurance providers to return to Canada as their
coverage did not include pandemics. So we saw a lot of people leave
the end of March. The pool was open for a few weeks but eventually
they closed that too.
The
virus changed our plans as well. We were planning a visit to San
Diego in March but decided to call that off. We were also planning on
leaving Yuma the end of March and slowly make our way home through
Utah. However since things were shutting down all over the place we
decided to spend the month of April in Yuma. This would at least
allow us to enjoy some warm weather for another month since it is
still pretty cold in Wisconsin in April. Also they discouraged you
from even visiting with family. We would not be able to visit our
kids, Henry or any of our family anyway.
So
since we had a lot more time I our hands it was a good time to work
on crafts. I continued to crochet some things as well as dug out my
glass enamel paint and decorated plates. Before the stay at home
order went into place I attended a scratch art class with my friend
Li.
The
weather here has been pretty nice. In February we had some cool days
where we had to wear jackets. March was a little warmer with temps in
the 70's. Still a bit cool in the desert as the humidity is really
low. There was a couple of significant rain events in the area. We
were able to observe water running the the washes. Otherwise they are
bone dry. April has been really nice with temps in the 80's. The
weather man is forecasting highs around 100 for a few days this week.
Not sure how that is going to go as we only have one air conditioner
on our camper. Lots of sitting in the shade drinking lemonade I
guess! We are planning on leaving here May 1st.
Where
we are parked: Fortuna
De Oro RV Park – Site 954 and site 618 – This is a very large RV
resort with all the amenities: Golf, boccie ball, shuffle board,
pickle ball and tennis courts, two swimming pools, a restaurant and
bar. Also lots of activities in one of several clubhouses. RV site
rates: Daily $48, Weekly $280, Monthly $750 plus utilities. There are
other rates for extended and fall only stays.
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| Site 618 |
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| View over the golf course |
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| Birthday happy hour |
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| Dance Lesson Group Bar-B-Que |
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| Hiking |
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| Hiking |
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| Steve Bub and Me |
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| My ride |
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| Turkeys on the farm |
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| Hawaiian Themed Fashion Show |
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| Dennis' Uke |
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| Crochet Projects |
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| Mandela Plates |
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| Scratch Art Project |
