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.

Bring on the PARADE!!!!!

We are now in the parking lot of the Santa Anita Race Park with about 75 other RV's patiently awaiting the 5PM Beer & Wine Get Acquainted party before they feed us dinner. Many of the RV's are the "upper end" of the RV spectrum. We are nestled in amongst a couple of large units that will give us good shelter this evening when the winds pick up from the coming Pacific Coast storm. Rain tonight but forecast good weather for the parade:)
We killed some time this afternoon by visiting a really good quilt shop in the Montrose area of Glendale. Lou found some neat fabric to add to her collection she has been collecting for a quilt for the RV.
Here are some sunset pics from Senator Wash BLM, South Carlsbad Beach and the Santa Anita Race Park hopefully in that order.

Merry Christmas from Carlsbad, CA

We left the highly recommended Senator Wash BLM Long Term Visitors Area just North of Yuma on the 21st to get provisions in town and move toward the West side of town for a quicker start toward CA. After a noisy and wet night in the desert at Pilot Knob BLM (along side I-8 and a railroad track just beyond) we made it to beautiful Carlsbad, CA. We have decided we are NOT candidates for Long Term desert occupation. It is a means to an end if the end is strictly to save money but we are not really geared too that.
Perched on a high bluff overlooking the Pacific Ocean is the South Carlsbad Beach State Park where we now sit. We had a truly wonderful Christmas Eve dinner and games with Peter and Gabby at Gabby's parents house. The gracious acceptance of the Salazars was awesome:) After dinner, we played "Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader?" and "Jeopardy" to assist staying awake until midnight when the family opened their presents. It seemed as though very few of us were smarter than a fifth grader:D Tomorrow we meet with Tom Jr. and his family for lunch and then will prepare for our jaunt up I-5 to Pasadena for our next adventure with the Tournament of Roses festivities. I'll take lots of pics and post what I can along the way.
Happy Holidays to all!!!

Wilderness Pics

Attached are some of the pics I have taken of sunrise, sunset, good and bad desert camp sites. I'll try to figure out how to label and organize them:)

OK, I don't know how to label the pics in the posts yet.

Top 2 are sunrise and sunset at Pinal County Park near Casa Grande, AZ.
Next 2 are out of sequence. On the left is Quartzite in December. Nearly empty but will be packed in Jan & Feb. The right is our camp area at Pinal County Park with plenty of Saguaro cactus.

The last 3 are where we are now at the BLM area North of Yuma, AZ at the Senator Wash South shore campground. Very nice and very quiet which after our previous night we both needed:)

Out of Arizona

We have left the safe environs of Arizona and are now in California... sort of. We left the great campground in Arizona, went up to Quartzite and got "solarized" with a solar panel on the roof to keep the coach batteries happy. After the install, we headed down to Yuma. After all the Westerns I have seen about Yuma with the desert, sand, rocks and nothing, it was a very pleasant surprise to see verdant green farms growing a myriad of farm crops including cabbage, lettuce, dates and much more. With water, the desert is rich and abundant. Without water, it's just dirt and rocks:)
We spent the first night in Yuma in a small BLM spot behind a VFW lodge. It is "conveniently" located next to a highway with lots of trucks. Right across the highway is a railroad track. And behind us is a crop duster that flew from 10PM to at least 2AM spraying (or watering???) the local crops. Very nervy and noisy. Did I mention there were LOTS of trains all night long?
We are now at a BLM site called Senator Wash North of Yuma. Very nice and quiet... so far:)
In a few days we will begin our sprint towards Carlsbad, CA for the Christmas Holidays and are looking forward to seeing our nephews Peter and Tom, Jr and their families.
No pics in this blog. I'll attach some later.

Desert Sunsets

We are now at the Pinal County Park South of Maricopa, AZ. Beautiful sunsets in the desert as the pics will show. We'll be here for a week or so and then move Westward once again. No sewing tonight, no electric power unless we crank up the big Onan Generator:)