I'M POSTING, I'M POSTING

A good friend just told me I haven't been posting like I'm supposed to. So I'm making a post today. The problem is I really haven't done anything to post about. Laundry and grocery shopping and reading and walking the girls just doesn't make for anything interesting. Jim's been fishing but he hasn't even taken any pictures for me out on the lake.

We did have a good-bye potluck -- hotdog cookout last Saturday here in the RV park. (forgot to take any pictures) Lots of the snowbirds will be leaving this week to head to all points north. The couple next to us are Canadians and they will be leaving the 10th of April to get back across the border. I told them not to be out there racing or I'd sic Terry on them.

We'll probably be here another couple of weeks and then I think Jim wants to go fish Alamo Lake before we head up to northern AZ. And that's my exciting news. But I will try to do better about posting something.

JOHN & DIANE

Okay, okay - I know I'm getting older and more forgetful. But I still can't believe I forgot to post this.

The last night we were in Yuma at the casino, Diane and John fixed dinner for us and it was fabulous. Diane is really into healthy eating and you can certainly see it in how they look. She fixed chicken with rice and stir fried peppers and onions. What a great time.

We met them at Escapade in Sedalia, MO last year, had breakfast with them in Yuma in January and then hooked up again in Yuma at the casino. They were workcamping at an RV park in Arizona City and are now headed to a workcamp position in Skagway, Alaska for the summer.

Safe travels friends.

BLUE BEACON

We left Yuma on Monday morning making our way back to Apache Junction and full hookups. (Yea!) We had run the car through a car wash in Yuma so we could at least see out the windows, but the motorhome was still covered in all the crude from our journey through snow and mud and rain from Montana.

In Casa Grande there is a Blue Beacon truck wash. They also will wash RV's for a pretty reasonable price. We decided to take a slight detour and stop and get the RV washed. We also had them put on a spray wax and hand dry all the windows. The cost for all of this was $52.

Our home was now back to white instead of brown. Only one problem, by the time we got to Apache Junction (about 60 miles) our front end was covered with dead bugs. So Jim had to scrub them off when we finally got parked.

We will be parked here in the Santa Fe RV Park for the next three or four weeks. Jim plans on doing a lot of fishing and I will be just veggin'. I probably won't be doing a daily post but I'll keep you advised of any plans we might have.

CENTER OF THE WORLD

We visited the Center of the World and were given a tour of the area by Felicia Istel.


Jacques-Andre Istel is a gracious, well-mannered man with a vision. Maybe a crazy vision, but a vision nonetheless. He saw this barren wasteland while serving as a Marine in the Korean War and fell in love with it. With money made from his successful parachut schools he bought thousands of acres of the desert near Yuma but across the border in California.


In the 1980's he finally decided what he wanted to do with this land. He convinced Imperial County, CA to legally recognize a spot on his property as the official Center of the World. The center of the world can be anywhere. It was set by law, based upon a popular book for children - who argues with a fairy tale? The book is Coe the Good Dragon written by Mr. Istel. He named the town Felicity after his wife, Felicia.


Mr. Istel needed a way to mark his Center and his wife said that since it is in the desert, why not a pyramid. So he had a 21 foot tall, hollow, mirror-lined, pink granite pyramid built over The Spot, which is a dot in the center of a bronze disk in the pyramid's floor.







When you visit the pyramid, you step on the Spot and receive a certificate that states you stood at the Official Center of the World, with the date and time.








The sundial is a bronze sculpture of God's Arm from Michaelangelo's Dawn of Creation painting in the Sistine Chapel. The finger points toward the Church on the Hill. Mr. Astel said that if you're going to build a House of God, it's got to be on the highest spot. So he had 150,000 tons of earth trucked in and piled up to create a hill.




He added a sculpture at the entrance to Felicity which is Section 12 of the original stairway of the Eiffel Tower.



He has also undertaken a massive chore in creating his World Commemorative Center which consists of engravings in granite panels highlights of the collective memory of humanity. You will need to visit this center in order to truly understand and appreciate what Mr. Istel has accomplished.

BIRD HELP

Anybody know what kind of bird this is?

LOS MANJARES DE PEPE

John & Diane pulled into the Casino on Saturday afternoon so we went out for Mexican food with Jeri & Terry.

I found this restaurant on the internet and it had received great reviews. So off we go to try something new. Everybody really liked their dinner except for Jim. He had the pork chimichanga and said the meat was really over cooked and dried. He also had a cheese quesedilla which he said was excellent.

Had a fun time visiting and eating.

PAUSE - REST - WORSHIP

This little church is located just north of Yuma on Rte 95. It was built in 1995 by a farmer on the edge of his fields to honor his wife who died of Alzheimer's. It is 7 x 12 feet inside and seats 12. Several weddings have been held here and Easter Sunrise Services are held every year.

A wonderful place to stop and rest.

ATOMIC ANNIE

Jim and I took a drive up to check out Martinez Lake north of Yuma to see what the fishing might be like. On our drive up there was passed the Yuma Proving Ground. This large atomic cannon is at the entrance to the proving grounds.

The atomic cannon was built in the mid 50's to hurl nuclear shells far enough that they wouldn't kill the peoe who fired them. It is 42 feet long and weighs 42,500 lbs. On May 25, 1953 the Atomic Cannon was tested in Nevada. This resulted in the successful detonation of a 15 kt shell at a range of 7 miles. This was the first and only nuclear shell to be fired from a cannon.

It was just too big to move around easily overseas and had such a limited range that it was obsolete shortly after it was deployed. It was deactivated in 1963.

Q CASINO

The Q (or Quechan Casino) has really great food. It is located at the exit for Mexico and we decided we would try their $2.95 breakfast special of ham and eggs. This special is not listed on their menu but Jeri spotted it on a billboard as we headed towards Mexico. This was as good as it looks. In fact, it was so good we went back again another day for breakfast.

The second time we went for breakfast, Jeri's and Jim's coffee came in this really strange little cup. Whoever bought them for the casino must not ever have tried to drink out of them. Jeri finally asked for a styrofoam cup so she could enjoy her coffee without wearing it.

The Q also has a fabulous seafood buffet on Friday nights. The line is really long for this one but we got there early and were near the front of the line. Our friend Evelyn joined us. Evelyn and Jim and I go back about 23 years. She also worked for IRS in Washington, DC and came to our rescue when we were trying to buy our first home. It was wonderful to finally track her down in Yuma and get reaquainted. She spends about 7 months out of the year in Yuma and the rest of the time up in Seeley Lake, MT.

Of course, we had to spend some time donating to the casino while we were there. We didn't come out a winner this week-end but we had a lot of fun and didn't lose "too" much.

BORROWED PICTURES

Before I go any further with my blog, I must give credit to Jeri for some of the wonderful pictures I put on my blog. When we are together she often gets better pictures than I do. So I just "borrow" them from her bog and put them in mine.

Thanks Jeri!!!!

ST. PATTY'S DAY

What better way to spend St. Patrick's Day then with the green twins in Mexico.

We headed for our big adventure of crossing the border into Algodones. This is where thousands of Americans go each year to get glasses, dental work and medications for much less money than in the United States. So I figured I'd check on our meds and see if I could get them any cheaper.

There is a large parking lot on the US side of the border where you can park for $5 for the day. Then you just walk across the border. From the US into Mexico they don't check you out at all. That really surprised me. As soon as you cross the border you are in Algodones and the pharmacies and dentists are right there.

They are selling lots and lots of "stuff" from purses to jewelery to t-shirts, blankets and on and on. After stopping in a pharmacy to check out prices (my drugs are cheaper through my insurance company) we wandered around the streets trying to ignore all the sales people on the streets. We stopped at a Mexican Restaurant to have a drink and some nachos. We had eaten a huge breakfast at the Q casino so we didn't feel like eating anything more.

This girl joined us at the restaurant. Her name is Francesca and she is the owner's pet. Everyone loves her and she gets all the lettuce she wants to eat.


Then we got in line to come back into the states. I was amazed at how rapidly the line moved. We were probably only in line about 45 minutes total. When you get to the border, you need to show them your passport and declare your purchases. Jeri and Terry and Jim all went through without a problem.

Then there's me. I gave the border guard my passport and she scanned it into the computer. Or I should say she tried to scan it in. It seems that there are some numbers missing from the very important line on the passport. So I had to answer several questions as she checked me out in the computer and finally I was able to convince her that it really was me and that I was a good guy. She keyed in the correct information and told me that I shouldn't have any problems the next time. (Whenever that might be.)

By this time the rest of the group was a little concerned about whether or not we would be spending the night in Mexico. But they let me go and all is well with the world.

Had dinner at Panda Express - my very favorite fast food restaurant. This is what greeted us in the parking lot. A huge advertisement for sunglasses.

COCOPAH CASINO

We are parked in the overnight RV parking area of the Cocopah Casino near Yuma, AZ. It's a really nice area on asphalt not gravel with a great area to walk the dogs in the desert. The cost is $5 for three nights and you can stay as long as you want to. There are no hook ups so you do have to go into town to dump and get water.







Several of the RV's have been here a really long time and you can tell this is their winter camping area. But sometimes people take advantage of the situation. This guy and his mess are so over the top. It's people like this that will ruin the camping for the rest of us. Some casinos have implemented strict time limits and other rules because of idiots like this.


Casinos, Walmarts, Cracker Barrels, Truck Stops - these are all great places to be able to spend the night when you really don't need hookups and don't want to have to pay for a campground to just spend the night. Of course, after gambling at the casinos, shopping at Walmart, or eating at Cracker Barrel - it's probably cheaper to pay for a campground.

DIRTY, DIRTY, DIRTY

This is what our car looked like when we finally arrived at the casino. Gives you some idea of how bad some of the roads and weather were on our way from Montana to Arizona. This one is from the inside trying to see out.

UNEXPECTED TOUR

Sometimes it really does not pay to follow your GPS. We got to Yuma about 3:30 so we figured we would have plenty of time to find the casino and get set up and be ready to go party with Jeri & Terry.

How wrong we were. Instead of turning left at Avenue B our GPS told us to go straight on. I was a little concerned because signs said road work ahead and then road closed. But at that point we were committed and couldn't find a place to turn around. We finally ended up at the end of the road at the Waste Water Treatment Center for Yuma.

Jim got out to unhook the car and try to figure out how to turn the MH around on a one lane road. This very nice man came out to the fence and told us he would unlock the gate and lead us around the inside of the treatment facility and let us out another gate. That way we wouldn't have to unhook and we could get out of our mess. He also told us how to get to the casino without encountering any more road blocks.

He definitely went above and beyond his job to help us out. And if my Dad had been with us we'd probably still be there. Dad was responsible for getting the new water treatment plant built in Sidney while he was Mayor and he was so proud of it. I know he would have asked this guy a million questions about Yuma's system. However, this love of the waste treatment didn't rub off on his daughter. So we took our tour and left.

ONE-MAN-BAND-DINER

We spent the night at a truck stop in Nephi, UT and decided we were tired of cereal for breakfast. So just on the other side of the interstate from the truck stop we found this cute restaurant.

It truly is a one man operation. You order by phone from your booth and when the food is ready there's a buzzer that goes off to let you know. You get your own drink and silverware as well as condiments.

The food was great. The eggs cooked just like we like them with crispy hashbrowns. And the atmosphere was so much fun.

ODDS AND ENDS

These are a couple of the pictures I took on our trip to Montana and back to Arizona.

The mountains were in Montana.

Have to have pictures of our girls.

This was the view over Monida pass between Montana and Idaho on our way north. Thank goodness it only lasted about 40 miles.