Marine show and a fire

Yesterday was our last visit to Algodones, Mexico for dental reasons.  My, there were huge crowds to cross back into the US! We waited for over 2 hours in a line to pay $5 to ride the "faster" bike rickshaw in order not to stand in the other line, which was still longer and slower than our line. Oh well.

Last Saturday, we joined Bob to visit a parking lot RV show, where Bob was interested in perhaps upgrading his motorhome. Did we find anything ? Nope. Still happy with our 5th wheel. Great prices, though.  After that, we headed off the the Yuma Marine Force Base to take in their annual Air Show. The base is huge - seemed to be about 10 times the size of the Naval base in El Centro. We arrived to see a Harrier jet doing maneuvers about the airfield. Cool.

The main act was the Air Force flying team, The Thunderbirds and they were very fine! They taxied down the runway right in front of the crowds, waving from their cockpits.

Nights at Senator Wash aren't boring either!  FIRE! Bob and Don hopped into Bob's Honda to take a look at how close this was and whether we had to start packing up, but due to the quick response from the local Army base fire team, they just let it burn a small area and kept an eye on it for a couple of days.  It is so very dry here, and when the palm trees catch fire, they just explode.

Many rigs are starting to depart from our lovely desert area, but since it was snowing not too far from here, we'll hang out a bit more! It was warmer 2 hours north of Toronto than it was here in Yuma yesterday!

Bob, waiting to take off in a Globemaster ( C117?)

Creatures of all kinds

As much as you do not want a schedule in retirement, we continue to be busy travelling to Algodones for dental appointments, and will be finished with that in a couple of weeks.  Bob is back from travels with his daughter and granddaughter and has joined us here in Senator Wash, albeit not on his favourite hill perch site. Well, he is nearby in case it is vacated and can claim it next.  The hill was the one we were on last year, overlooking the lake and valley.

We managed to catch the last hour or so last Saturday, of the Naval Airshow at El Centro, home of the Blue Angels team. We were impressed by some of the static displays, the flight of their C-130 support plane ( a Hercules ) of the Blue Angels, and the Team.  There were all kinds of characters there, some of them recruiting for the Armed Forces, and some we couldn't see as recruiters!

We are not posting as often as we would like, as the Verizon service here is ok, but not that strong and posting takes forever.  Yesterday afternoon, we were invited to a saurkraut and sausage lunch at the covered remada.  Everyone brought their own utensils,drink,chair and something to add to the lunch. As always, it was delicious and about 100 people attended.

There was a free movie night ( The Help ) at the Army Base last evening, but Bob had just arrived, so we provided dinner as his was a travel day from San Diego.  This afternoon we are back to Mexico, three more to go after this.

The Marines were recruiting in a very LOUD way at their set up in El Centro. This hummer picture is for our younger boy!

Oh yes, the increasing hot weather has brought out more and more creatures.... we have to watch where we step! This little lizard was about a foot long, very shy and sandy in colour.

Date Farm Tour

Busy times here at Senator Wash.  Gosh, I just realized that we took our Date Farm Tour last Monday and lots has happened and where does the time go? The tour was at Martha's Farm, in Yuma, which is a family owned and operated 8000 Medjool Date palm operation. It was extremely well done, and hosted by one of the owner's son, Jason. He informed us about the highly labour intensive pollinating procedure, using the 8 male plants on the farm.  In the blistering heat of the Yuma summer is when they pick and process the dates.  The male flowers were being removed, the pollen shaken into a galvanized drum and then that powder put into squirt bottles to hand pollinate the female trees. After a string is attached to that area, they move onto the next tree.

Social life is also busy here at the Wash.  We met some wonderful people last year here, and were invited back to camp near them again.  Ed enjoyed his 75th birthday, with great chicken enchiladas made by Ray and Marilyn. A great early evening.

Yesterday we had an AWESOME day as we headed to El Centro, California. Well, we started off poorly, when 45 minutes into the drive I realized I had forgotten my purse, with our passports. Why did we need our passports? Yep, we had a border guard stop to go through and a Naval Base to get into! So, back we went.  Must be mentalpause, as I am never without my purse.  After a stop at Costco for coffee and 2 more of the Game of Throne series books, we headed off the NAF El Centro for their Annual Air Show - Whoo hoo! So, more on that later!

Dogs love Jobs

Yesterday morning we left our little camp early to meet up with Allen and Linda at the Arizona Marketplace.  We enjoyed some coffee, conversation, walk around the booths and then lunch at the Vinnepeg Palace for perogies, sausage and cabbage rolls. Yes, Vinnepeg is spelled correctly.  The food booth is a combination of Ukranian and Thai food.  Three out of four of us are from Canadian Ukranian country in Saskatchewan, and nope, sorry, the Vinnepeg Palace is ok, but doesn't cut the mustard sour cream. Ha.

Afterwards we went back to their RV site at Del Pueblo RV and Tennis Resort.  It was very clean, quite new with lots of rules and very little trees.  They agreed that the Sands, even though an older park, was much more private.

The ordinance ( bomb ) noise has been much quieter lately from the nearby Yuma Proving grounds. It does not bother us at all.  Yesterday I found out that the base is also has a huge training program for working dogs and soldiers, with well over 600 canines visiting each year, as well as their handlers.  Courses range in length from one week to over a month, with dogs trained in searching for and identifying explosives, searching for people and more. ( Yuma Sun, Sunday March 4, 2012 ). Very cool!!!!! Maybe some of the dust clouds and booms we hear are for their training purposes, as some of their training incorporate simulated arms fire and explosions caused by hard-to-spot tripwires. I hope they get lots of treats.

These are our resident wild ones. Last night I was sure they were tromping about the RV so we quickly made sure our petunias were out of danger! On tap for today: Date Farm Tour this morning and an invite for Chicken Enchilada's at a neighbours. mmmm.

A small move

Everyday here at Senator Wash has been a busy one, but take a few days off from writing your blog, and you wonder what you have been doing!  We continue making a few trips to Algodones, Mexico for dental appointments and we already picked up our glasses.  This year, both of us choose sunglasses with our eye prescriptions, and we now have sunglasses with progressive lenses.  I love it, as I can read a book outside!

Yesterday we looked after dumping our tanks, filling up with water and moving to another area.  Last year we met some great people from Indiana and Rhode Island, and they invited us back to reside in their neighbourhood and join them.  Thursday we joined over 80 others here for a Hot Dog/Chili supper, which is an annual event hosted by a great couple, Merle and Cora.  Awesome chili and Donald thought the desserts were heaven, as there were at least 50 homemade various specialties! This is roughing it in the boondocking area!

Today we are meeting our friends, Allen and Linda at the Arizona Marketplace.  They left the Sands and have travelled down to Yuma to check out some of the golf courses and visit with other hometown buddies from the northland. Monday we have reserved a spot on a farm tour of a Date Farm, and we have another dinner invitation for chicken enchiladas!

Oh - our other spot here at Senator Wash was probably a scorpion nursery!  Remember a large Arizona Barker scorpion ran past our lawn chairs - well, there was a baby one by our back RV jacks. Equal amount of venom. None have been seen at the new location - whew!

Blog writers lately have been talking of the winds and yes, they have been strong at times. While in Tucson last year, we picked up some X Chocks for the wheels of the 5th wheel.  There are easy to put on as you set up and come with a little handy tool which I also use for the rear jacks.  The up side is that the rig does not rock nearly as much with the winds of the southwest! Bonus!!!!!

Yuma is the winter vegetable capital of North America! Who knew that you can smell broccoli as you drive by - yes the fields are growing massive amounts!