We were invited to Cathy & Don's for a Super Bowl Watch Party.
We were supposed to go to the Alton's but this changed due to Len going to the hospital for a few days to see what is going on with him.
We are hoping he will be let out today and be able to come to the get together.
The weather is still a bit cool so this outing was set up inside the neighbors garage.
Its amazing to me how wonderful our garages are for a meeting place.
Everyone brought food so we had a plethora of good eats to enjoy with this group.
You know how the Super Bowl is really all about the ads that are being shown.
I am here to report that our Canadian TV system doesn't show the same ads that we get here in the USA.
The game really ended up being a nail biter and I for one enjoyed actually watching it.
Mary Ellen did make it to the party but Len was not released from the hospital.
We surely miss him and hope that tomorrow is the day he gets to escape.
As if Heidi and I haven't gone to Algodones enough in January we decide to make a trip over on Feb. 3rd.
Our plan was to check on some prices of meds for her husband Tony, but much to our surprise the one Pharmacy we go to was closed.....not just closed, but closed by the government of Mexico.
The sign says "due to violations".
We did go to another one of the smaller pharmacies and were actually able to get some of the things she was wanting.
By the end of this day Heidi had a monster turtle to carry back over the border.
I had my share of stuff as well, but I was able to handle my packages without too much effort.
Thank goodness the line wasn't too long so we didn't have to stand and hold our purchases for very long.
Valentines Day we took a ride on the RZR's with our neighbors and a few of their Canadian friends.This group was so Canadian that Chuck and I were the only American's in it!
We trailer our RZRs to Wellton, AZ.
We unload and follow our leaders Don & Cathy on an exploration of this "new to us" area.
The ride and the group was delightful.
The scenery was great.
We crawled all over the area and even took time out to have a picnic.
You just can't ask for much better than this.
Back at the trailers, we loaded up. Staring right at us on one of our tires was a very suspicious looking something in the tire.We get back home and Chuck proceeds to remove the suspect blob to find it is a very very long thorn.
Upon removing it the tire proceeds to lose air.
So glad this happened after the ride and not during.
Our patch kits have been used up so Chuck just puts a pick in the hole and at least the tire stays somewhat inflated.
We have plans to go to our friend Brenda's after the ride so we will work on the tire tomorrow or the next....who knows!
During our Happy Hour at Brenda's one of the other guys that was riding with us says he also got a thorn in his tire as well.
Guess we were the lucky ones this trip!!!!
February 15th
The Yuma Proving Grounds is having an open house today and we have plans to go with Heidi and Tony to check it out.
Looks like us and about 20,000 other people had the same idea.
We sat in a line for about 45 minutes just to get up to the entry of the area.
During this wait I get a phone call from our friend Brenda and she is saying they finally got in but the line to get on a bus to ride to the main area was a mile long and they weren't going to even attempt it.
What perfect timing to get this call as we finally got to the main entrance area.
That phone call changed everything, as we made our way to one of the guys that was directing traffic Tony asked him "How do we get out of here", and he proceeded to give us directions to exit this craziness.
As we made our left turns and right turns to get to the highway we could see all the people in line to take the bus to the other location.
I for one was delighted we didn't hang around for all this.
Brenda said they were looking for someplace to eat so we decided to meet up at the little BBQ spot we had always wanted to try.
Guess what,,,,,,seems like everyone that decided to ditch the Proving Grounds had the same idea and the small restaurant was slammed with people.
Len, Mary Ellen and Brenda decided to not wait and try another place back in Yuma and left us in line to fend for ourselves. LOL
They told us when we finally got to order that it would be about a 45 minute wait for our food.
Well, let me tell you, that was the longest 45 minutes of our lives.
I felt bad for the little place as they had no idea that there were going to be so many people eating at their place today.
The manager said she had no idea that the event was even going on.....not exactly sure what rock she was living under but it had been advertised heavily in the area for well over a month.
Our food finally made it to us around 2-2:30pm.
It wasn't bad but I have to say it isn't Oklahoma BBQ!!!!
What a crazy day this has been.
We gather back at our house and have a little impromptu Happy Hour just to discuss all this crazy day.
I ended up pulling the two tangelos that have been growing and we pealed one and ate it in all it juicy delight.
What a day...time to call this one a day!
The sunset was beautiful and of course I had to run upstairs and take a pic.
I read online that the Yuma Proving Grounds Open House was quite a success.
It had grown from 12,000 people a couple of years ago to well over 25,000 this year.
I am sure they have learned to plan even more for such a large crowd of people and then next one they offer will take all this into their planning.
February 18th and its Tuesday, so that means golf in the afternoon for our group that golfs.Chuck let me know when he was on the last hole and Diana, Chris and I rode our bicycles over to the clubhouse to meet up for some music and cocktails.
The clubhouse was buzzing when we got there and we were in time to clap as Chuck along with the other golfers make their way off the last hole.
Mary Ellen and Len had a Dr. appointment but they made it in time to have a cocktail with our weary golfers. LOL
Diana, Chris and I get back on our bikes and meet Chuck back at the house.
February 19th.
Guess who is back in Mexico.
Yep, Diana, Heidi and I are!
Diana ordered lunch for us today and man I think she has hit a home run.
The plate of deliciousness was beyond good.
The margaritas weren't half bad either.
Yes, we came home with stuff we probably didn't need, but we sure had fun.
February 20th.
Figured it was time to drive Diana and Chris over to Glamis and see all the sand dunes up close and personal.
The area was so much more quiet than the last time Chuck and I were here.
We did see a few out on the dunes riding their vehicle of choice.
Our plans were to drive and eat at the Duner's Diner but alas that didn't happen.
Seems they are not open on Thursday.
Or Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday either.
Oh well, we tried....we can always do it again next season.
With the Jeep low on gas we make our way back to Yuma just in time to fill it up.....sure glad we didn't run out cause I don't think Diana and I would have liked to push!We go to the Mexican restaurant and have some great food and margaritas.
Get the idea that all our great meals involve margaritas...well, they do!
February 23rdWe ride the RZR's to an area that will take us to Mittry Lake.
Don is leading us once again and this ride will not fail to make us smile quite big by the end of it.
We are told that will be riding the ridges of the mountains.
Sounds interesting.
Sure enough we get to the area that will take us up and over the mountains.
There is a group of about 15 UTV's that are in front of us so it makes the navigating the unfamiliar terrain a lot easier.
This was an absolute awesome ride.
Our little RZR's riding on this thin well packed road running along the top of these small mountains was absolutely a blast.Sadly the pictures won't do justice to this area, but I promise you it was a lot of fun.
We stop for lunch and afterwards head over to Mittry Lake to check it out.
They had a controlled burn going on so we weren't able to ride as far as we wanted but hey it was all good.
Don & Cathy told us about a bridge that we would see along the way.
Don said we would talk about it once we saw it.
Amazingly this bridge that was built back in the 1920's has what looks like Swastikas on it.
Probably one of the most interesting things I had seen in a long time.
Here is a link on it if you are interested Swastika bridge
Amazing what you will see along the way.
Take a look at the man made pole we saw as we make our way through the wash to get back home.
February 25thYes we are heading back to Algodones and yes there is a line to get back into the USA.
This is not an issue with these three girls as we find a table and chairs to sit and watch the line slowly go down.
Tecate's helped the time pass and so did all the vendors selling all their stuff.
I thought the three of us needed a cowgirl to commemorate our day in Mexico and the young lady was so happy that I bought some from her.
It was almost 6pm before we got back into the good ole USA.
What a great and memorable day we had.
These three Amiga's rate it as a 10!
February 26th
Heidi makes some really good chicken enchiladas and she said she would share the recipe with Diana and I,
She not only shared we got hands on experience with making this goodies.
Heidi decided we would make her enchilada for our little group so in the afternoon Diana and I go to Heidi's kitchen and do just that.
It was so fun working with her and fixing her recipe.
I think that I can speak for everyone to say we had a really good meal with our little group of friends.
Thanks again Heidi for the hands on instructions.
Also we got to take home some of the leftovers for future dinners!
February 28th
Sadly we are saying goodbye to Diana & Chris once again.
This time they are "really" leaving as they are taking their rig back home with them.
I know this experiment wasn't quite what Diana had wanted it to be as they didn't get to spend quite as much time here as they wanted but gosh I for one can say we really were glad they got to come to Yuma.
I think they enjoyed it too as they have talked to the owner of the lot they rented and asked about next season!
Safe travels back to Oklahoma and we will see you sometime in April!
We had a "salsa tasting happy hour" today at Mary Ellen and Len's house.
It is always good to get everyone together and this was a really cool idea.
As we sat on their patio talking away I looked up and say what I thought was an older gentlemen walking around in the empty lot next door to them.
At first I didn't think much about it as I knew the lots had sold and assumed it was the new owners walking around.
Now the person had my attention as he had walked up closer to their fence and was peering over at us.
I was trying to be non conspicuous and mentioned to Tony to look at the guy.
He turned and looked at him with a glare and sat back down.
Heidi had noticed the guy as well and before I know it she is standing up and walking towards the side yard.
No one else was even standing up and going with her so I had to protect my friend so I popped up and went behind her.
She was trying to get the older hunched over man to notice her and he was just ignoring her.
I said something to him as well, but he didn't respond....he just kept walking towards the street.
She and I discussed that we thought maybe he couldn't hear or something was really wrong.
Things just weren't adding up.
So we stood there a little bit and watched him walk over to Mary Ellen's drive was and start walking towards us.
OK, this was a bit scary.
The closer he got the more scared I became.
By the time he got about 4 feet away I studied his face real good and realized our crazy friend Brenda was this "old man"!
OH MY GOSH.....Really!
OK, you got us!
Seems that Brenda is known for doing this and a few of the people in the group knew exactly what was going on.
Heidi and I were two of the ones that had no idea!!!!!
As Brenda comes back to the patio and takes off her hat and pillow and fake mustache we all burst into laughter.
He tells us his name is "Holger".
Lordy lordy she had us all going.
I tell you this is something we will all be talking about for quite a while.
Way way too funny!
February 29thI will end my blog for February with a beautiful sunset.
We have been talking to Brenda about her "Holger" visit and she said that Heidi and I were way too funny for her and she knew if she even said anything she would burst into laughter and blow the whole thing.
Such a great prank Brenda....you got us and got us good!
