November 28 - December 3, 2014 (Yuma, AZ)

Here's a recap of our last week here in Yuma.  We've done a bit of exploring other RV parks here in the Yuma area and so far, The Palms beats the other parks hands down, though you do pay for the nicer amenities.   Since we didn't find another park to our liking, we went ahead and booked another week here at The Palms.  

While we were out exploring, we went by several citrus fields that were being harvested.  

Grapefruit trees


In addition to RV parks, we checked out the Arizona Marketplace which is just down the road aways.  This is like a huge swap meet type of event that takes up approximately 7 open air buildings.  It took us two days to walk through the place, though the second day we came back we were only there less than an hour.  They have a used book booth that we wanted to check out and see if we could exchange some of our books.  Looks like they will take books in on trade, so we were happy about that since we do so much reading while we are down here. 

Last year when we were in the area we attended Stone Ridge Church, so that was our choice again this year.  We really enjoyed the service, they had a great worship band and the pastor gave a good sermon on God's relentless love for us.  We definitely will attend again for as long as we are in the area.

One day we spent just doing chores around the 5er, see you have chores even when you are traveling on the road.  =)  One of the things that we do when we are in this dry climate is to oil all the wood inside the 5er, which there is LOTS.  Rich also replaced some caulking on one of our roof seams.  All pretty boring stuff, but important to keep the 5er in good shape.

On Tuesday, the local Yuma Farmers market started in the historic downtown part of Yuma so we were excited to attend.  Wow....what a disappointment.  We expected tons of stands with all sorts of fresh veggies and citrus, well there was only one vendor with veggies/citrus and I didn't think their produce looked all that nice.  Especially since here at The Palms, a small vendor comes in on Tuesday with fresh veggies and they looked way more appealing.  Since the Farmers market was such a disappointment, we decided to visit a fruit stand we saw when we were coming into town.  On the way, we saw this cotton field.  Cotton is one crop that we are not familiar with, so we had to jump out and grab a couple of pictures.  I'm sure the locals thought we were nuts.....

I'm happy to report that we were successful at the fruit stand and came away with some nice veggies and a big papaya.  While we are here and have access to some different types of fruit and veggies, I want to try and incorporate them into our diet.  We typically don't buy papaya's and after cutting into this one, I can see for our taste buds, that eating it just sliced plain, it's just OK.  I can see we might enjoy it more combined with other fruits or dishes. 

We did make it out to Martha's Garden for one of their wonderful thick date shakes.  They are so yummy.  I know a date shake doesn't sound that tasty, but boy if you haven't tried one and you get the chance, you should. 

One day when we were driving around, we had two Harrier jets fly right over us and they were down low....boy that was something, I was a ducking my head and wondering what on earth was coming crashing down on us...good thing I wasn't the one driving.  Rich knew right away what they were as they went speeding by.  There is a big military base here in Yuma and we hear quite a few military jets fly over.  Rich loves planes so he enjoys watching them and usually knows what kind they are which is fascinating to me since they all pretty much look the same to me. 

One of the main reasons we came down to Yuma was to go across the border to Los Algadones to visit the dentist for a teeth cleaning and for some new glasses.  That was our adventure today and I'm happy to report that we had a very successful day.  We left the 5er around 7:30 p.m. for the short drive to the border.  We were parked and across the border by 8:00 a.m.  Our eye appointments weren't until 8:30 so we had a few minutes to walk around and check out some of the vendors since the office didn't even open until 8:30.  Our eye appointments went very well and we are back home this afternoon with our new glasses.   One thing that I really like is that they will let you reuse your old frames.  I had a very nice expensive pair of glasses a couple years back that I was still packing around with me, so I took those frames and had my updated lenses put in them today.  Rich did the same thing with some older frames.  So we walked away with two pair of updated glasses and one pair of updated sunglasses for about what one pair would cost us in the states. 

Then it was on to the dentist office for our teeth cleaning.  Again, very reasonable and we were both happy with the dental work. 

After our dentist appointment we had a couple of hours to pass the time while we were waiting for our new eyeglasses, so we visited some vendors.  Today's weather was not the best, it actually rained on us and the vendors had to cover up their wares. 

Notice the plastic draped over the outside of the booths

We took refuge from the rain inside this restaurant.  They have a beautiful outdoor seating area but because of the rain, people were inside.

This vendor was right outside the door of the eye doctor.


We were on a hunt for a nice piece of stained glass so visited several vendors and went back and forth before we finally settled on a piece we both liked.  Last year I bought a nice ring from a vendor and after a couple months, the weld where they sized the ring came apart, so I was looking to see if I could get it fixed for a reasonable price.  We found a vendor who had a pair of earings that I liked and asked if we bought the earings, would he fix the ring......so after haggling on the price of the earings we finally came to a deal where we both were happy.  He made a sale and I got my ring fixed and a pair of earings all for the price of $10.00. 
Then it was time to head home to let Gracie out to go potty and we both were ready, a person can only take so much of telling most of the vendors you walk by that you aren't interested. 

Because of the rain, the line at the border crossing was very small which made for a quick and easy crossing.  Last year we had to wait in line for awhile before we slowly made it past the border crossing guards.  They don't allow you to take pictures, or we would have one here of the two Federales standing there with their guns outside the crossing.  I have to say that the gentleman that passed me through was very nice and just waved me on through with a compliment on my nice smile....he must be working with one of the dentists.  =)

That's pretty much been our excitement over the last week, we of course are still doing the Walk Away the Lbs during the week, except for today.  Yesterday after our Walk Away the Lbs class I decided to try a Zumba class......hmmmm that was definitely interesting.  I don't think I have enough Latin blood in me to make some of those hip and tummy moves and I was lost on most of the dance steps.  People say that the more you do it the more you will catch on but I'm not sure it will be for me.  I'm glad I tried it though.

Until next week.....