Sunrise and Sunsets in Blythe

We are still in Blythe, CA at the Mayflower County Park. We have had a great time watching the contractors work on improvements to the park. They are building a large storage area for the trailers that the summer crowd leave here until they can get here for the boating and fishing. Good money for the county. Lets see..... 150 spaces at $40/month makes about $600K/year for the county. Not bad, and it's a good deal for the summer crowd based on the going rates in the area.
We have also been enjoying the sunsets and I have also enjoyed many of the sunrises. This AM, the sun was rising as the full moon was setting. The pic doesn't do it justice but here it is anyway.
Since we are not all that far from the El Centro Navy Base, we have quite a few daily, low level flybys of the F-18 Hornets. Sometimes playing "catch me if you can" and occasionally just going like the dickens at a very low altitude over the park. They are actually following the Colorado River course which brings them right over head. Somewhere around here the Blue Angels have begun their training for the upcoming airshow season.
Yesterday, we went over to Quartzite to check it out before the BIG TENT opens on Friday. A REALLY BIG crowd is expected for the various manufacturers' booths and other stuff that will be showed and offered for sale. We will NOT be among the early attendees. We may not even be among the late attendees. We'll see:)
We'll be here for a couple of weeks more before we consider moving on to somewhere else. All's well with the world here in Blythe. Stay warm ya'll.

Post Parade and Settled in Blythe

We started our week @ the Rose Parade Rally with a wine & beer party where we were issued our badges that would get us into all the activities of the week. It was a very busy week which went from float building (in a tent in the rain) to touring the Huntington Library and grounds where we saw a fabulous cactus garden with cactii from all over the world.. There was so much to see & do and so little time.

The next day we toured two more float barns to see more of the floats under construction and in the afternoon we went to see the Band-fest. This encompassed standing in many lines. While waiting for the people to all be seated, we got to practice our drumming skills sponsored by REMO Drums. What a marvelous performance! Some of the more memorable bands were the North Japan Honor Green Band whose members were very innovative & talented, North Carolina Central University Marching Sound Machine, Lindbergh "Spirit of St. Louis" Marching Band, and last but not least US Coast Guard Marine Corps Band. We finished the day with fine dining & winery tour at the San Antonio winery w/guitar music.

Each days events got more exciting with lunch @ the Santa Anita Park's Club Court restaurant and an afternoon of horse races. It was fun to try & guess who the race winner would be. By evening the staff had the tent transformed for a super New Years' Eve party with a live band. We celebrated on NY time so we could be up & on the bus next morning by 6:00 a.m for the Tournament of Roses Parade.

We made it to our stadium seats for the parade on time, as did the rest of the millions of people:) Our seating was right up to the curb so there was no one standing in front of us. The view was close and spectacular. Pics attached. The parade was kicked off with a flyover of the B-2 Stealth bomber. Very impressive.. and quiet!

The next day we said our good byes and headed over to Blythe, CA where we now reside for the next 30 days or so at a very nice county park on the Colorado River.