Apache Junction - Sunrise RV Resort

03/01/2019 – 03/04/2019

Friday – 3/1/2019 We get itchy feet if we stay too long in one spot. Our friends Jim and Bonnie are staying at Sunrise RV Resort in Apache Junction and last summer we made reservations there for the month of March. So this morning we left Yuma and headed east on I-8. We stopped at Gila Bend for to take a break and get fuel. We continued east on I-8. At Casa Grande we headed north on I-10 a short distance. Apache Junction is on the east side of Phoenix and in order to avoid the heavy traffic around Phoenix we decided to take an alternate route so we turned off of I-10 onto Hwy 387. We were on this road for no more than five minutes when we met a series of cars and dump trucks going the other way then Bam! A huge rock hit our wind shield. Crap! We continued on our way. Turned onto Hwy 87 toward Florence, then Hwy 79 to Hwy 60 then to Apache Junction.

Saturday – My phone was acting up again so right away in the morning we went to an Apple store to see if they could fix it. They said the issue fell under a Quality Program and needed to be sent in for repair. Depending on what they find they can either fix it or give me a new phone at no charge. We shall see. In the meantime they gave me a loaner phone. Yeah!

Bonnie had purchased us tickets for the weekly Saturday afternoon BBQ which today was hamburgers. It was a nice lunch with burgers, beans and potato salad. The rest of the afternoon we spent at the pool. Later that evening Jim and Bonnie took us out north of town to the Tonto National Forest area to see if we could spot some wild horses. We saw a couple of different groups and also checked out Saguaro Lake. This area is breathtaking and we will need to explore it some more.

Sunday – Bonnie and I headed to West World of Scottsdale to take in some of the events at the Sun Circuit Quarter Horse Show. We watched working cow horse, reining, roping and western riding events. So many beautiful horses! Some of the outfits the ladies in the western pleasure classes were wearing were so sparkly you almost could not see the horse they were riding. There were vendors selling the tops and they were EXPENSIVE! $2000 TO $5000! Oh and you can purchase the coordinating saddle pad for another $400! We arrived back at the park around 3:00 just in time for the block party on our street.

Where we are parked: – Sunrise RV Resort Site 238– 500 sites – heated swimming pool, hot tub, shuffle board, horseshoe pits, pickle ball and tennis courts. RV site rates: We paid $804.40 which included a referral discount. There are other rates for extended and fall only stays.

Sunrise RV Resort - Site 238

Oh Crap!!

WILD HORSES - TONTO NATIONAL FOREST

NOT SO WILD HORSES - QUARTER HORSE SHOW

Yuma - Dunes and Betty's Kitchen

02-22-2019 - 2-28-2019

Friday – 2-22-2019 – After another rainy cold day we needed to get out of the camper. We hopped in the truck and headed west to check out the Imperial Sand Dunes. First stop was the Buttercup Ranger Station about 30 miles west of Yuma. It is right off of I-8 so was easy to get to. We talked to the ranger and picked up some information about the area and the highlights.

The Imperial Sand Dunes Recreation Area is a large sand dune area which is a favorite destination for off-highway vehicle (OHV) enthusiasts. The dunes cover an area of about 5 miles wide to 40 miles long. Some dunes are as high as 300 feet. Permits are required October thru April. There are several dry camping spots in and around the recreation area which is included in your permit.

A short drive from the Ranger station is a section of old plank road that has been preserved. The plank road was built in 1915 to provide access into the Southern Imperial Valley. The single lane road was built like railroad tracks and could be moved and re-positioned as it was covered with sand.

From there we got back on the highway and continued west and exited at highway 115. Near this intersection is a place called Old Fogey's Hot Spring. It is an actual hot springs with a concrete tank for soaking. A little oasis in the desert. There is a Long Term Visitor Camping area here as well so you can dry camp and soak in a hot springs for free!

We wanted to check out the north end of the dunes area. There are no roads through the dunes so headed north on Highland Road. This took us through Imperial Valley farm areas and eventually to highway 78 and then headed east. Back inside the recreation area we checked out Gecko Road. This is the only road into the dunes and seemed to be the main camping area as there were at least 11 camping areas along this road. It was Friday and most of the spots were pretty full.

Further along highway 78 we stopped at Osborne Lookout. The views of the dunes spectacular. There is a paved dry camping area here as well. We continued east on 78 then turned south on Ogilby Road. Pretty typical desert scenery. Our last stop was Tumco, a historic mining town. We took the 1.5 mile self guided walking tour however there was no tour literature so we did not know what we were looking at. You could see some remnants of building foundations and well as structures from the mining operations.

Monday 2-25-2019 – Hiked Telegraph path today. It is a concrete road that leads up to the top of the mountain where there are several antennas. We drove to the trail head which was 2 miles east of our park along the I-8 frontage road. From the parking area we hiked 1.5 miles to bottom of the mountain then another very steep mile climb to the top. We estimated the grade to be around 30 to 40 percent. We made it about half way up then became concerned that going down was going to be harder so turned around. It was not too bad going down but by the time we got back to the truck we were pretty tired. Spent the rest of the day hanging out at the camper, reading and then went to happy hour to listen to the band.

Tuesday 2-26-2019 – Today we took a short drive north to check out the Mitry Lake area. First stop

was Betty's Kitchen, a federal wildlife area. We took the short walk on the nature trail. We heard lots of birds and caught a glimpse of some gambrel quail and rabbits.

A little further north we came upon Mitry Lake. There were many RV boondocking spots in this area with access to the lake. We saw lots of water fowl.

Where we are parked: Fortuna De Oro RV Park – Site 313 – 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 $42, Weekly $275, Monthly $675 plus utilities. There are other rates for extended and fall only stays.

Imperial Sand Dunes Recreation Area

Old Fogey's Hot Spring

HIKING UP TELEGRAPH PATH

TRIP TO BETTY'S KITCHEN AND MITRY LAKE

BIRTHDAY LUNCH

Yuma - San Luis and Wellton

 02-12-2019 - 2-21-2019

Tuesday – 2-12-2019 - Shared a wonderful dinner of barbecue spare ribs with Steve and Li. Dennis is becoming an expert at cooking ribs on our Traeger Smoker Grill. Later we were visited by Mike and Terry. They were spending their last night in Yuma then will be heading east to Tuscon then on to New Mexico. Safe travels Mike and Terri!

Monday – 2-18-2019 – Steve and Li left this morning. They have reservations at a park in Cedar Key Florida in a couple of weeks. They plan on taking a couple of weeks to get there which will include a stop at Big Bend National Park. Save travels Steve and Li!

Tuesday – 2-19-2019 – Today we visited another Mexican town just across the border. San Luis is south of Yuma about 15 miles and was an easy 26 mile drive from our park. There is one pay for parking ($6) lot near the entrance. Most of the streets were parked full, we assume for field workers. After driving around we found a spot on the street then walked about 6 blocks to the border entrance.

San Luis is nothing like Algodones. A fairly large town with quite a large down town area with lots of stores for purchasing everyday merchandise. Not the tourist shops you find in Algodones. We walked around and did some window shopping. A few blocks off of main street we found a nice central park. Around 11 o'clock the small sidewalk kiosks opened selling street food and trinkets. We stopped at a sidewalk food stand selling beef tacos and sheep stew. The stew looked good and I would have loved to try it but I typically do not like lamb so both Dennis and I opted for beef tacos. The corn tortilla shells were made to order from freshly made dough. Five tacos and a bottle of Coke was 120 pesos which comes out to around $6.50. We gave them $10 as we did not have the right change. Right around on the corner was a bakery. We stopped in and purchased two large cookies and three other treats for a cost of $2.76.

Wednesday – 2-20-2019 – Took a drive today to check out some other RV parks in the area. First we headed to Wellton, a small town 15 miles east of here. Here is some info on the parks we liked.

Rancho El Mirage – Wellton – $335 a month. This is a new park, only 3 years old, with 184 sites. There is a very nice clubhouse with nice amenities which include a heated pool and hot tub, 4 pickle ball courts, tennis court, shuffleboard, bocce ball, horseshoe pits, billiard room, bowling alley, exercise room and a very small laundry. The RV sites are very large as it was originally built for park models. There are a few park models in the park. As of our visit only about half of the sites were occupied. Apparently not all the sites have working electricity but they are working on getting them hooked up and inspected. Next year they should have another dozen or so sites available. A couple of things we did not like is there is not concrete pad on the sites and on some sites the electric pedestal is on the wrong side of the site. This means you need 40 to 50 feet of cord to reach the pedestal. The park has extra cords they will provide for a refundable $170 deposit. It was also a little sparse on trees and vegetation however we were told the new owner is going to work on this. Also this park is fairly close to the interstate so there is some highway noise.

Pioneer RV Park – Wellton – $360 a month. This is a little older park but not as old as most of the other parks in Wellton. It has 336 nice sized sites with nice amenities which include 2 pickle ball courts, shuffleboard, horseshoes, billiards and heated pool and hot tub. It was full at the time of our visit.

We also checked out a few of the RV parks in the Foothills area. Most of them are older parks with very small spaces or more expensive than the $675 we are paying here at Fortuna de Oro. We did find one that we really liked.

Carefree Village Resort – Yuma – $575 per month. This park is only 5 years old. Very nice clubhouse and amenities which include 8 pickle ball courts, 4 lane bowling alley, bocce ball, volley ball, horseshoes, billiards, and miniature golf. The sites are large as they are planned for future park models. Some sites have a concrete pad but some do not. The roads are all paved. This seemed like a very active park as when we visited around 2 in the afternoon there were lots of folks around. Some were playing pickle ball, there was a water volley ball game going on and the bowling alley was busy with a league.

The temperatures have been colder than normal here in Yuma. Highs only in the low 60's but lots of sunshine.

Where we are parked: Fortuna De Oro RV Park – Site 313 – 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 $42, Weekly $275, Monthly $675 plus utilities. There are other rates for extended and fall only stays.

VISIT TO SAN LUIS

HANGING OUT AT THE RV PARK

Getting the rig washed....

....so Dennis can chill!

Mike, Terri and Kes

Playing shuffleboard with Steve and Li

Braving the chilly weather in Yuma

02-05-2019 - 2-11-2019

Wednesday – Friday – We have been enjoying our time at this park, playing pickle ball and bocce ball, attending the music nights, enjoying a dip in the hot tub and visiting with friends and neighbors. Tuesday we went with Steve and Li to Quartzsite. Since we talk about it all the time they wanted to see what it was all about. On the way back we visited the Imperial National Wildlife Area. They have a nice visitor center but we did not see any wildlife.

Thursday was a trip to Algodones Mexico just across the border for our dental cleaning. We made appointments for Steve and Li as well, this was their first visit for dental work. Our appointments were at 11:00. Li got in first. Dennis was last and by the time he was done it was almost 12:30. None of us liked the wait but the price is right. Cleanings were $65.

We ate lunch at one of the many Mexican cafes in town then did more browsing and shopping in the markets. Dennis purchased some more inhalers ($2 each). We pay $20 each with insurance in the states. Also purchased a bunch of our favorite liqueur filled chocolates as well as Kahlua ($6.99) and Tekali Tequila ($6.99). All this stuff is non-fattening of course!

We finalized our purchases and decided to leave around 3:00. The line to cross back to the U.S. Was HUGH! I thought it would take at least 3 hours! It was almost 2 hours but was pleasant enough as there is shade and we spent it talking to a nice couple from Canada.

Saturday – Earlier this month I purchased another Native American Flute (NAF) from High Spirits Flutes. This company is located Patagonia AZ which we stopped at when we were in Benson. I discovered that there are Flute Circles that gather throughout the country. A Flute Circle is a group of NAF enthusiasts that meet on a regular basis to play and share music and information about NAF. After some research I found a Flute Circle in Yuma and this morning Dennis took me to the Yuma Public Main Library so I could check it out. There were 6 other folks there. Some have been playing for many years, others for less than a year. It felt very comfortable as I was not the only rookie. I was nervous to play but I did OK and really enjoyed it. One of the participants lives in Quartzsite but is from Wisconsin and will be moving to Bowler this summer.

Monday – It has been pretty chilly here this past week. And it is not just me as the folks that have been coming here for years say this is the coldest winter they can remember. Highs in the 60's but it seems every day there is a cool wind from the north. This morning seemed especially cold. Still better than the weather back in Wisconsin. It seems as if its not bitterly cold, its snowing or warms up and rains. Yuck!

I have been having pain in the right hip and knee so this morning I went to see a chiropractor recommended by my Dr. in Sheboygan. He did a few adjustments so we will see if it helps. Afterwards we met Ira and Evelyn for lunch at the Black Bear Diner. They are staying at the Pilot Knob RV park west of Yuma.

Where we are parked: Fortuna De Oro RV Park – Site 313 – 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. We are staying free for 3 nights. RV site rates: Daily $42, Weekly $275, Monthly $675 plus utilities. There are other rates for extended and fall only stays.

Waiting in line to leave Algodones

The line at the border crossing

Our purchases in Algodones

A field of lettuce

Top: Cedar flute in the key of F#
Bottom: Walnut flute in the key of C