A Few Flashbacks As We Start for Home

The sunny skies of Yuma, Arizona are so inviting that we have decided to leave our travel trailer in storage here over the spring, summer, and fall months and start here again next December.  We picked up our trailer this trip in Junction, Texas and have stayed in thirteen different RV parks to end up in Fortuna De Oro in Yuma, Arizona.

We have had a fine two-month trip here in the Southwestern U.S........

Del Rio, Texas had a wonderful city park.

Fort Davis, Texas had interesting ruins.

Tombstone, Arizona was memorable and Karen liked this old sign.

Benson, Arizona showed us that the desert held a lot of beauty.

Thanks for sharing our travels with us.

🌵👢🚙

A Concert in the RV Park

On Saturday afternoon, after the softball games and horseshoes, we attended a small concert in the main hall. 

It was a local youth group called the String Ambassadors.  They varied in age from middle school to college.

The group included nine violins, two cellos, and a bass.  Their instructor was the lady on the piano.  They were not exactly professional-grade, but they were pretty good and loved to perform in front of the small audience.

Before the concert we had lunch at the restaurant in the park.  It is actually very good.  Note the full- size metal pack-horse behind us.

In this retirement community here is a clock that seem very accurate most days.

Cheers!

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Saturday Morning 55+ Games

Fortuna De Oro is full of senior citizens this time of year and many of them love to come out and compete with each other on Saturday mornings.  We found that many of these games have a different set of rules by which they play.

The horseshoe pits were full.  A couple of players were over 90 years old.  Everyone was throwing from 27 feet rather than 40.

There was a slow-pitch double-header at the softball field against the RV park next door.  Our park had a lady playing second base.

A batter cannot get a base on balls, but can be called out on strikes.  In these fields there are two home plates.  The one on the left is for a runner coming home to touch, and the regular home base is protected by the catcher.  This eliminates collisions.  

The same is true at first base.  The red base is for the runner.  There is also a mercy rule that a team can score no more than five runs in an inning.

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Animals at the Yuma RV Parks

Both of the RV parks in Yuma in which we have stayed have specific sites for visitors with no pets, pet optional sites, and what they call pet spaces.  People are very disciplined about picking up after their pets when they take them for walks.

On a recent stop at one of the dog parks we recently got to meet Angel.  She was eleven years old and  was very busy barking at the golf carts going by.  (Typical Pug!)

Roxie was ten and a bit over-weight.  She was a bit more laid back.  Note her fancy pink harness.

This strange looking dog out for a walk,,,,,,

....turned out to be a cat.  A very pretty kitty.

🐱

A Birdie on the Golf Course

Our RV park has its own 9-hole golf course - so on Thursday Bill and Karen decided to give it a try.

The course is nothing fancy but it has a very reasonable price for campers to play.  Here karen tees off on the first hole and look.......

......she almost got a bird.

Here Bill prepares to putt and he also.....

...almost got a bird.

These Roadrunners think cart paths are roads and are pretty bold around golfers.

🐓

A Look Around Eastern Yuma

Some residents of these RV parks know how to turn their tiny front "yards?" into fancy pieces of desert landscaping.

This garden with the skeleton of a dead socorro Cactus was unique and probably fun to decorate on Halloween.  

Eastern Yuma is considered the "Foothills Area" because of these small mountains about one mile away from where we are parked.  The sun was peeking over them at about 7:15 this morning for the start of another sunny day.

🌞

Why Fortuna De Oro is Nice (besides the weather)

When we checked into this very large RV park/resort we did not know if we would like it - but we thought we would give it a try.

We like it - and here a few of the reasons why:

There are eight pickleball courts and each has individual fences so your ball never goes into another court.  There are also four tennis courts.

There are eight horseshoe pits and play is heavy certain mornings of the week.  All the courts including shuffleboard and bocce have lights.  All are well-maintained.

There is a billiards room with three tables as well as a room for darts.  The park has a full-size 9-hole golf course, a restaurant, a barbershop, a hair and nail salon, a softball field, a fitness center, two swimming pools and two hot tubs. three dog parks, a quilt and sewing center, craft rooms, a very large recreation hall and the list of activities goes on and on.  In other word, there is a lot to do, and believe it or not - people here are friendly. 

😊

A Flea Market With Real Fleas

As adventurers, we just had to go Sunday to check out the famous Yuma Swap Meet.

Unlike the fancy outdoor market at Arizona Marketplace, this was the real thing when it comes to flea markets - (with a Mexican flare).

It cost a dollar to get in.  Here Karen is deciding where to explore first.

In the Swap Meet you never knew what you would find for sale.  Pretty much everyone was speaking Spanish, but they could change to English quickly when you got your money out.

Truthfully, there was a lot of junk for sale along with some hidden treasures.  We got the feeling that if a Border Patrol car would have driven into the parking lot - then half the place would have emptied out quickly.  We think we made it home with no fleas!!

🐜

A Rare Rainy Day in the Southwest

We have been in the southwest United States for two months, and Saturday was the first full day of rain we have seen.  Not a hard rain, just a steady sprinkle.

In preparation Bill created this crude shelter to protect our bicycles.  It worked.

We had to stay inside, for a change, most of the day.  But when we looked out into the desert we noticed that the cacti were so happy they were doing cartwheels.

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Arizona People

We like the desert scenery -- but we think having a painting like this on the rear of your car is maybe a bit too much.

This Arizona garage also makes a statement.

As a belated Valentine present this week, Bill took Karen to the Paradise Casino, that you see above, to help scratch her gambling itch.  After a couple of hours the local Indians were just a tad richer, but it was a fun Yuma outing.

🎲

Happy Hours In this Huge Park are Always Well Attended

Fortuna De Oro sponsors a happy hour gathering almost every afternoon from 3 pm to 5 pm somewhere in the RV park.

The two-hour gatherings have either live entertainment or karaoke, and drinks are available for only $2.00.  Residents love to show up slosh down their beverages while they listen to the singers.

 This recent Happy Hour was at the north pool area.  Swimming and dancing to the music are both allowed.

🎤

Things To Do at Fortuna De Oro

Fortuna De Oro means Fortune of Gold in English.

The park has 14 smooth and shiny shuffleboard courts.  The courts are made from granite, or some kind of similar stone, and are carefully maintained.

The shuffleboard courts are daily sprinkled with wax shavings and are by far the most slippery that we have ever tried.  Karen liked them and beat Bill in a tough match.  Nobody dares walk on the mirror-like playing surfaces!

There are also eight well-maintained bocce ball courts on which to compete.  There are leagues here, of course, and groups of friends that have weekly fun competition, but the courts are normally empty and the equipment is always nearby.  By the way - bocce ball -, or lawn bowling, is a lot of fun if you have never tried it.

To be continued.......

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A New RV Park in Yuma

We have been enjoying the sunny weather in Yuma so much that we have decided to stay longer here, leave Edgewater here, and continue on west next year from here.  So.....

...we moved from the far west side of Yuma to try this park on the far east side of town.

Fortuna De Oro is one of a hand full of  "mega parks" in Yuma.  It is one of the numerous huge Cal-Am Retirement Resorts in Arizona and has 1289 sites as shown on the layout map above.

The park has a 9-hole golf course, two swimming pools, and a restaurant among other amenities.  All combined, the numerous RV parks in Yuma, Arizona have more than 15,300 sites!  The town is busy this time of year.  Much like the Rio Grande Valley of Texas.

The site we picked is between a park model home (on the right) and a class-A motorhome on the left.  We have a road, desert, and mountains behind us.  This is the first time we have tried a RV park of this size and scope. 

Come back  tomorrow to see what we think ..........

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Arizona Miscellaneous

In the Yuma area, as a general rule, visitors do not drink the city water coming out of the taps.  This may be because the city water treatment plant is so old, but we are not sure why.

Instead, in most of the RV parks one can find kiosks like this below ........

...one gallon of good drinking water for $.25 cents or five gallons for a buck.  (bring your own jugs)

More than a few times we have seen Gambel's Quail like these.  They are a beautiful, unique bird but difficult to get close to and very hard to photograph.

On a recent bicycle ride we saw this scene above, as Arizona has no beverage container deposit laws.

We are thankful that Michigan does, and hope the Legislature in Lansing leaves it on the books.

🍺 

Cocopah Bend RV Resort

Our current RV park is as much a golf resort as it is a campground for RVs.  The golf course has 18 holes and is reasonably priced for the Yuma area.  It brings in lots of traffic.  The RV park has 800 sites.

As you might guess, Cocopah is the name of the Indian tribe that lived here in ancient times.  We are now on Indian land run by the Bureau of Land Management.  The Cocopah Tribe also has a casino near Yuma.  (no surprise there, huh?)

This wind chime on a park model made us think of our neighbor, Harry.  Also notice the thermometer at the upper left - "Tree Above Zero and Tree Below Zero."

How is this for a method to use up old state license plates?

This last photo looks like a scene taken in the Middle East.  It is a sunrise over the golf course from the front of our RV.

We are moving on today!

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