Driving to Yuma 1-2-09

We were pulling out of our park in Pahrump right at 8 a.m., an early start for us. A lovely sunny, warm day and quite a lot of traffic. The Las Vegas basin was really hazy with smog, reminded me of Los Angeles. When I drive through air like that I give thanks that I am fortunate NOT to have to live in a city. I'll take smelly cow breezes over smog...if I had to choose...fresh, clear air being the first choice of course.

It was a pretty uneventful drive, we hit a couple areas of some wind, but not for very long, the most boring part is highway 95 south through California. It was very exciting to cross over into Arizona and start seeing the Saguaros and the Ocotillos (though there were areas of Ocotillos in CA.). The terrain is just more colorful and interesting than most of Nevada's, Nevada seems mostly gray and sagey green, but Arizona is redder, browner and right now after the rains surprisingly green. The Ocotillos actually looked shaggy with their bright green leaves masking those brutal thorns that are the Oco's usual adornment. I didn't get a good picture of an Ocotillo yet this trip, but I know I've posted some in the past. All of these pics are of Arizona.

I will hopefully find time to get better pictures of the cacti, these pictures were all taken from the truck. It is hard to get good pictures on the fly this time of year with the sun so low...at least with the directions we were traveling today...I am always shooting into the sun.

The only stressful moments we had on today's trip was when it was time to get diesel. Larry had planned on getting it at the Flying J in Ehrenberg, AZ...I couldn't remember where he was thinking of until I saw it and I exclaimed..Oh, no...not here! They are laid out really badly and this time the line was longer than the last time we went through. Larry wasn't sure what was up ahead...we would have been calling it too close to go all the way into Yuma and he didn't want to get fuel in Quartzite fearing they would be crazy busy too. He got in line and I told him we would still be there an hour later...we sat there for over 5 minutes and there was no movement of any kind so we decided to continue on.

We came to a rest area and stopped to make lunch and stretch, after we got back on the road at the next exit was a large, easy to get to Texaco station...we exited behind two others pulling 5th wheels going to the same place, but we didn't have to wait too long and Larry had a nice conversation with the guy on the other side of the pumps. As we got back on the road I told Larry that we would probably still be back at the Flying J if we had stayed!

Quartzite seemed very empty going through it. There were lots of empty spaces in the various marketplaces and the RV parks and desert areas seemed pretty empty too.

The mountains from Quartzite to Yuma are pretty but between the road and the moutains are power lines and I don't like them in my pictures but I had to get a photo of them anyway.

As we hit the outskirts of Yuma we started seeing the lettuce and cabbage fields and we passed an orange grove...ah, winter in Yuma...oh I forgot to mention it was in the low 70's....woo-hooooo!!! It is going to be really nice not freezing every night.

We pulled into the Las Quinta Oasis RV park about 5 p.m., that is Mountain time here in Arizona. As we were pulling in a pickup truck full of our Canadian friends was pulling out...they saw us and swung back in to say hi! We are really excited to see them all again...it has been three years.

We were able to get a site way at the back of the park, just around the corner from where we had stayed the last times we were here...they wanted to put us up at the front, but those sites were pull-thrus with more highway noise and more coming and going of rigs, there were other issues with them, but my brain cells are getting pooped...it is almost eleven p.m. and I have to get these pictures uploaded yet.

Oh, we traveled 359 miles, which makes Pahrump halfway between Fallon and Yuma for us. It took us 8 hours from Pahrump.

After we had gotten all settled in and grazed for a bit, I sat at the computer and Larry was thinking about his shower when I received an email from Dave & Nancy inviting us over for dessert...so we went over to their place for hugs and refreshments and conversation. It was a lovely walk in the warm dark air below the sky full of stars, our way was lit by lighted palm trees...ah, Life is Good!

I apologize for any horrible mistakes I may have made in this post...I'll fix them tomorrow.....if I remember....Laugh out Loud! I have a tired brain.