Let the new decade begin!!!
Its time to get the Taj-Mah-Hauler ready to sell so I am busy cleaning it out and making it ready to put on the market.
It sure isn't fun cleaning things out, but it makes me go through everything and decide what I want to put in McClassC and what I might use in the casita, and of course what I can donate.
My hopes are to have more to donate than anything.
McClass"C" doesn't have as many hiding places for stuff and since we won't actually be living in it I have to rethink everything.
Truly this is a bit overwhelming but I know in due time it will all be done and I can look back with a smile on my face.
Other things are going on as well.
We are riding the RZR with our neighbors and so looking forward to exploring some new areas around us.
Don & Cathy lead us to Winterhaven, CA. and we drive through "The Valley of Names" on our way to "The Narrows".
Our friends Len & Mary Ellen came along with us in their Jeep.
Since we are in California we have to wear our helmets.
I really felt very comfortable wearing our motorcycle helmets on the cool and a bit windy day.
We thoroughly enjoyed our outing and can't thank Don Cathy for showing us another great ride.
1-10-2020
Howling at the Moon was at our casita this month.
We hosted a Happy Hour on a pretty cold evening.
The fire was really enjoyable and I was so glad I put out a bunch of blankets as the evening required more than just a fire to keep us warm!
1-12-2020
Another day for riding and we are going to trailer the RZR's to Martinez Lake area and head to the Red Cloud Mine.
I have read about the Wulfenite rock that is coming out of this working mine, but had no idea what to actually see.
It was a great trip to the mine but let me tell you, the mine was very interesting.
The Wulfenite is quite the rock let me tell you.
I had no idea how much those little gems go for, but I knew immediately it was way too expensive for me!
Roger, the General Mine Foreman met us as we got out of the RZR's.
He was so informative and told us so much about the mine.
We could actually dig at a designated site if we wanted to pay to dig for our own specimen, but we are not going to do that.
This is a place that I would love to return to and learn more.
Since Don's wife Cathy was under the weather and couldn't make it today, we have already decided to make that return visit soon!
We met a donkey along the way back to our vehicles.
It is said that the miners had donkeys out here and when they left they just left the animals to fend for themselves.
They have flourished well in the desert and there are quite a few herds of them around the area.
We made our way back to Martinez Lake for a late lunch.
The little bar/restaurant was a great choice.
The food was wonderful.
What a wonderful day once again!
Thanks Don!
1-15-2020
Guess who has made their way back to Yuma.....yep...Diana & Chris and their two dogs.
They have rented a space that is four lots down from us and I am so excited to have my BFF here to spend some quality time with.
This is their first time to have an In-Out Burger.
I think they like them!
Diana brought some of the cutest cups for the four of us.
Seems like this is our thing....have to have a commemorative cup to remind us of all the fun we are having and going to have.
Let the fun begin!
1-19-2020
We are making our way to Quartszite for a few days.
The decision to bring the RZR's were a bit of a last minute idea since we had been in contact with Bev & Ken and they will be meeting us there as well and will have their side by side too.
This is our maiden voyage with McClass"C" now that she is fully loaded with our "stuff" and also pulling the RZR behind us.
Happy to report the drive there was flawless!
The drive to Quartszite is a short hour and a half drive.
I was in contact with Ken and Bev and they will meet us at the main road into our area where we will boondock for a few days.
We will be staying on BLM land that is north of the town of Quartszite and a little less populated.
This area just seems to work for us and not as crowded as the south side.
Ken & Bev met us as we turned towards the BLM land.They led us into where they were parked and we are set for the a few days!
This day just keeps getting better as we find out that Carol & Ryan along with Lauri and John are coming the next day to join us as well.
We set up our campsite and get the RZR's unloaded.
Tomorrow we will ride to the "wash" to the event tent and shop a bit.
This is going to be nice as we won't have to endure the long lines of cars trying to find parking, or so we hope that is how the plan works out.
I have to share the cute pin that Bev made and gave to me.
She let Diana & I pick a pin from her beading that she has been doing.
I just love my "girl" that I chose and will always treasure her so much as I know it was made with lots of love from Bev.
Thanks so much Bev....your the best!
1-20-2020
After we all filled our tummies with our own little egg cups that we prepared with the microwave we load up and Ken leads us down the wash.
It was amazing how quickly we made it to the event tent area.
The parking was very busy but we were able to find a parking area for our three ATV's.
We walked towards the big white tent and notice there is some parking areas specifically set up for ATV's.
The guys decide to go back and move their toys up closer, so we girls saved them a spot.
Now this is really working out well for all of us.
I'm thinking this will be a common thing for us to do in the future.
The tents are full of vendors and people milling around.
Our batteries on McClass"C" are in need of replacement so Chuck is looking at the vendors that have
batteries for sale.
We stood and listened to a gentlemen explain about his batteries and why they were so special.
He was the actual owner of the company and he was very informative about his product.
We were basically sold on his product but through our time at his booth and listening to people we found out that one of his distributors was offering the same batteries at a little less price.
Upon finding his distributor and waiting our turn to talk to the guy we purchase two of his 12 volt lithium batteries.
He explains to us that he can probably get both batteries charged up today so we make plans for picking them up later.
That's fine with us so we continue to shop with the plan to return to his booth around 4pm to pick up
the batteries
While shopping, Bev gets a text that Carol, Ryyan, Laurie and John have shown up and found where we are parked so we will head back to our rigs to see them,
Back down the wash and bypassing all the people was absolutely amazing.
If anyone has ever been in the Quartszite mess during this time of year, you can appreciate the smiling faces we had on our faces as we get back in the wash and divert all the other people.
It was so nice to pull up and see some faces we hadn't seen in quite some time.
It was like old home week for sure.
We got to sit around and cuss and discuss the past year.
Chuck and I had to make another trip back to the event tent and pick up the batteries that were supposed to be ready for us.
Upon arriving to the booth and talking with the guy it seems he has been over run today with battery purchases and says he only has one battery charged for us.
Not what we wanted to hear but we have to go with it.
We take the single battery with us and when we get back to the rigs Chuck replaces just one of the batteries.
We end up just having pot luck for dinner and we all just kicked in something to eat and let me tell you it was great.
The battery issue is a little important to us since we have had to run the generator at night to be able to keep our old ones up and charged, so we are in hopes that even though we have only one of the batteries in the rig we can make it through the night without using the generator.
Unfortunately all was good until around 6am.
Our low battery sensor started chirping.
But gosh we had made it almost the whole night on the one battery.
Not too bad!
After breakfast we make our way back down the wash 5 ATV's strong to do more shopping.
Chuck and I's agenda is to pick up the other charged battery this morning.
Everyone is shopping around and we make our way to the battery vendor.
Chuck is talking to him and he tells us he needs to apologize to us as it looked like he sent us home yesterday with a battery that hadn't been charged.
This actually made Chuck feel better about the events of the battery dying on us this morning.
We were told to put the newly changed battery in and the other one would charge through our solar panels and all would be good.
Gosh I hope this is true.
We had pretty much seen everything we needed to see so we head back to the rig so Chuck can put the second battery in McClass"C" and get her all back in order.
Batteries are now in place so it is time to go explore the mountains around us.The afternoon we rode out from the BLM land we were on to explore a little of the area around us.
Chris lead us out west.
It was a very interesting area.
We saw so many mining claims in those hills.
I guess there is supposed to be gold in them there hills and everyone is wanting some of it.
The whole staking a claim area was interesting and of course I had to google what it took to get a mine claim.
For a mere $194 a year you can find an area that isn't occupied by anyone else and you too can dig for gold!
The trick around this area would be to find an area that hasn't already been claimed as there are post everywhere with claim papers stapled to them.It was a lot of fun driving around and checking out the area.
Back at the rigs we discuss dinner and decide we will have some left overs from the night before and Ryaan says he is going to make some chicken tortilla soup.
Of course once again we had plenty of food and the soup was totally delicious.
Carol says that her sister always fixes mason jars with all the secret ingredient that makes this Chicken soup so wonderful.
They always get a batch for Christmas.
I think this is a really cool idea for gifting during the holidays.
The evening came to a close once again with a fire and full tummies sitting around discussing our day.
This has truly been a great outing for us.
I am so glad we were able to get McClass"C" out and actually live in her for a few days.
I'm thinking we are going to enjoy our new rig!
We pack up and head back to The Foothills the next morning.
Our plans are to meet up with this group once again and visit Los Algodones with them the next day.
Our trip to Algodones was a blast.
Everyone seemed to have a great time shopping and exploring the town.
I think our picture at lunch says it all and I will leave it at that.
Once again we enjoyed spending some quality time with some great peeps.
Looks like this might become an annual event!!!!!
1-24-2020
Since Diana & Chris didn't get to go to the the Red Cloud Mine and since Cathy wasn't able to make the last trip either, it was decided that we need to revisit the location.
We have to trailer the RZR's and Diana & Chris rented a trailer to get theirs to the trail-head.
It was a beautiful day for a ride.
I enjoyed talking to Roger the Mine Foreman again, and this time we bought some of his Wulfenite and also Vanadinite samples he had for sale.My thinking is that Cash, our grandson, will think these are some really special rocks.
It would be so much fun to take him there, and hopefully when he comes and visits we can do just that.
The ride was great and we even went a little farther this time than last.
The road gets a lot more narrow and more rocky as we make our way back into the mine infested area.
There are several old abandon mines that can be seen as we ride the road.
I was reading about this "road" and it was used as a main road to get back and forth from Blythe and Parker.
It was a lot of fun exploring the area but we needed to turn around and head back home way too soon.
I think everyone had a great time today...I know we sure did.
Not to let the last few days of the month go without another trip to Los Algodones, Heidi and I decide we need to go back for more "stuff".
Diana and Chris have headed back to Oklahoma so Diana didn't get to make this trip.
The wind was something fierce today and the dust was flying like crazy, but it didn't stop Heidi and I from shopping our hearts out.
We even tried a new to us place to eat lunch.
It was as good as any of the other restaurants we have eaten at and due to the wind the place wasn't that busy.
We even noticed that the vendors were a little easier to deal with today as well.
I think we both came home with some very special items....LOL
January has come to a close and I think it has been fun filled and quite busy.
This retirement thing is pretty cool!
