February 6 - 18, 2015 (Yuma, AZ)

This post is just a highlight of a couple of things that we experienced here in Yuma these last two weeks.

Of course we started our morning out with our "walk away the lbs" or "walk aerobics" which we both really love to do.  Then we would stop off at the fitness room and Rich would work out on the equipment and I would do some more stretches.  After that it was shower and start our day.  Gracie usually would get a walk to the park and time to play with her ball.  We'd usually do a few chores around the 5er or do some grocery shopping and then it was time for lunch.  After lunch, we would do some reading and then head to the pool for a nice swim.  Sometimes I'd go early and lay in the sun and read and then Rich would come and join me for a swim.  Then it was time for dinner and a relaxing evening around the 5er, either reading or watching tv.

One event we participated in was called the Mobster Ball.  It was a dinner/dance put on by The Palms and the theme was back in the gangster days of the roaring 20's.  The fun thing was that people dressed up in "gangster and flapper" costumes.  Needless to say, Rich and I didn't have any of that type of clothing with us, so we spent one morning checking out the local thrift shops for our costumes.  Last year when they held this dinner/dance, only a few people dressed up, well the word spread about the fun that was had last year, so this year, almost everyone was dressed up.  It was really fun to see some of the costumes.  

One side of the ballroom before the dinner/dance started

Our costumes, you can't tell in the picture, but Rich's pants are pin stripe.  We tried to find suspenders, but they were sold out.....hmmm couldn't be because most men at the dance had them on?  Next year we'll go shopping earlier or bring some with us.  

This is our table.  The lady with the red flower had a beautiful flapper dress with lots of fringe and loved her red gloves.  The gentleman to my right was from Quebec with a distinct French accent, he had on the white tie and suspenders, but was wearing shorts.  =)  You meet a lot of Canadians at The Palms.

We had a very fun night.  They served us a spaghetti and meatball dinner with a small slice of cake for dessert.  It was very tasty.  Then we spent the rest of the evening dancing our dinner off.  It was a very fun time.  We will definitely take in this event next year if we are in Yuma. 

A couple of days before we left Yuma, I read on a friend's blog that they were in Yuma at one of the rv parks.  So after our morning routine, we set off to see if we could find them.  I knew which park they were in and what type of rv they had, but no idea what site they were in.  Well I'm happy to report that we found them without a bit of trouble.  Just as we were pulling into the rv park and deciding our strategy I saw way down the street a bit of a blue, and blue not being the standard rv color, decided we should check that out before we started our search.  Well it was their rig, "Miss Blue" all right.  There door was open, so we hopped out and knocked on the door.....surprise, it's Rich and Kelly and we are here for a visit.  =)  I do think we surprised them.  We had a nice visit with them and invited them over to visit us at the Palms the next day.  Again, we had a nice visit, catching up on each others adventures and on news of our former co-workers.  Did I mention that we know Marilyn & John from our work days?  We enjoyed both of our visits and were glad we were able to connect this year.  Last year, when they were down south, we kept missing each other and one time think we even passed each other on the freeway.  

John & Marilyn

The other thing we wanted to do before we left Yuma was to ride our bikes along the Colorado River on the Yuma East Wetlands trail.  So after our normal morning routine, we loaded up our bikes in the truck along with Gracie and headed out.  We stopped first and had an early lunch at our favorite hamburger place - In N Out Burger.  We really enjoy their burgers, fries and chocolate shakes.  We think they have the best shakes and their burgers are delicious.  So after we fueled up our tanks, we headed to the Quartermasters state park to park the truck and catch the start of the bike trail.  

I have to say, that we were a little disappointed about our ride along the Colorado River, just because it was too short and you weren't along the river all that long.  Still it was nice to be out on our bikes.  So on the way back, we weren't ready to stop riding, so at the state park, we went the other direction on the bike trail towards town and actually enjoyed this part of our ride more than we expected.  We rode through another park which had a small fishing pond and lots of pretty green grass and nice playgrounds for the kids.  We stopped and rode through a small rv park along the river, not one that we would probably stay in we decided.  We enjoyed getting out on our bikes and Gracie got lots of comments about her "doggie visor".  I couldn't find her "doggie goggles", so she got to wear her visor to keep the sun out of her eyes.  She does really well about keeping on her goggles or visor as long as she is riding in the basket, but if we take her out of the basket, then she tries to get them off.  I think she realizes that they are helpful for keeping the sun and wind out of her eyes when she is in the basket, at least that's what I tell myself.

This was one of the beautiful sunsets we experienced here in Yuma before we left.  We really enjoyed our stay in Yuma this winter and if we are blessed enough to be able to come south again next winter, will probably come to Yuma.