Arizona Marketplace

Near Yuma, Arizona High 81 Low 53

It was cloudy all day, but still very warm, no complaints.

This morning we went into Yuma. We went to the library first to use their wi-fi for a while.

 

After lunch we went to the Arizona Marketplace, kind of a large swap meet. There are lots of booths divided under six long covers. Some of the places, I remember at the tent in Quartzsite.

Cindy looked at some of the jewelry and took pictures of it. She was trying to get some ideas about making her own necklaces. We came across one booth selling quilting material. They had one bolt of some south-western looking material that she liked and had to buy. She has to keep that stash going. LOL

We walked past all the booths and listened to some entertainers singing country at the food court. I think today was karaoke day, and some of the entertainers were excellent, while some were not so good, but they at least tried. They were a lot braver than I would have been.

I think he is a professional, because he filled in every time no one else sung.

We then drove to Grandma Jo’s fabric store a little way from the Market. We had been there last year and knew what to expect. Cindy had been looking for some red material to finish one of the quilts she started, and also needed a little white and some green. They had some fat-quarters and bolt ends that will work nicely, so she got enough to finish up the top she has going.

Other than that, we missed Jim and Sandi, who had stopped by to see us. They are heading back to Apache Junction tomorrow, so we will have to wait till we get to Mesa in three weeks to see them.

Again this is last night's post.

Thanks for visiting.

The Riverton Bunch in Algodones

Near Yuma, Arizona High 81 Low 53

Some of the Riverton bunch on Tuesday night.

We went over to Algodones again this morning. We waited for our friends from Riverton to come where we are parked, and then drove to the large parking lot. We went into Algodones together and then agreed to meet at the town square later and find a place for lunch.

Tuesday's sunset.

When we got into Algodones, there were a lot more people than yesterday, but we knew that would be the case when we saw how full the parking lot was. Cindy and I were more than a little concerned that getting back into California was going to be a long wait, but more about that later.

We went to the Pharmacia and bought a few more meds. We wanted to get a few more of Cindy’s diabetic pills, so she would have a year’s supply. We also got some antibiotics.

 

There are jewelry stands everywhere and lots of these spray can artists. Their work looks to be very good. Cindy tried to find a pair of earrings to match her turquoise necklace. She finally found some that matched the necklace pretty well. Cindy likes the kind with posts and not hoops, and not too many of the vendors have the post type earrings.

We went over to the shop where we had our stained glass made for our door glass last year and said hello to Luis, the owner. This picture is of his shop, just down the street from the Purple Pharmicia. 

All are our friends from Riverton.

We then met up with our Riverton friends and went to a restaurant for lunch. There were 10 of us and it was a good meal. We spent quite a while visiting with them. One of the couples are the ones we spent some time with in Alaska last summer.

We left before the rest of them at about 2:30 and were afraid the line to go out would be long, but surprisingly it wasn't bad at all, and we were able to get back to the US in about 20 minutes. Again the customs people didn't seem too concerned about the meds we took out, and all I got was a quick glance into the sack I was carrying.

Cindy's lunch.

My lunch.

We spent the rest of the afternoon watching some old movies, neither of which was very good. I tried to get a good sunset picture, but there weren't enough clouds. This picture is as good as I could get.

This is yesterday's post. I didn't have a good internet connection last night.

Thanks for visiting.

Made it to Yuma

 Near Yuma, Arizona High 80 Low 54

Yesterday we spent the morning checking out bead and gem stores. Cindy was trying to get ideas about how to make necklaces and about beading. She really doesn’t do anything halfhearted. Our granddaughter already makes earrings, and is excited about getting more supplies for a little less than home, so we bought her a package of earring hoops and some gem stones.

They got through with the levelers at about noon. We went and got lunch and got away from RV Lifestyles a little after 1:00. We had plenty of time to get to Yuma, and made it to the Casino parking by 3:30. This place is way busy with hardly any place to park, but we did find a place in the truck part of the two lots. They have added definite lanes in the RV side, so people can’t park helter-skelter like last year, but it doesn’t seem like they can get as many RVs in the lot.

The levelers seem to work well and it is much easier to get set up than it was without them. So far they work as promised and I’m sure I am going to like them.

We were both tired from not sleeping well Sunday night, so we went to bed early. The night started out hot, but we had a nice cool breeze, so it cooled down to where we could sleep well.

This morning we went to Algodones to see about meds and a dentist. When we got to the dentist’s office, we were the first ones there and had only been expecting to make an appointment, but they took us right then, so we got our teeth cleaned and one small cavity filled, which only took about 45 minutes for both of us. The total bill was $110.00 which was less than we would have paid for co-pay when we had dental insurance, which we no longer have.

Everywhere you go in Algodones, there are street vendors trying to sell jewelry and trinkets. They even had a man playing music in the town square.  Cindy wanted a silver necklace for one of her pendants, which she says she will wear with the chain, until she makes a rock and bead necklace for it. She found one that she liked, and they started out asking $40.00. Cindy finally got it for $10.00, and left wondering if she should have offered less. We also bought a package of asparagus for what we thought was a good price.

We went to the Pharmacia and bought a lot of our meds. We paid about as much for 3 months’ supply as one month insurance co-pay would have been at home. Cindy had one that they wanted almost as much, but it wasn’t quite the same and only had 1 ½ months’ supply, so we decided not to buy it.

On the way through customs, the line was fairly long, but moved fairly fast, and we only took about 10 or 15 minutes to get back to California. We left Algondones at about 11:30, and we have heard that the lines got worse after lunch.

This afternoon we are going to visit some of our Utah friends at the RV Park where they are staying east of Yuma. I’ll have some pictures of that later.

Thanks for visiting.

Home is Really Where You Park It!

RV Lifestyles Quartzsite, Arizona High 77 Low 46

Yesterday we left the Montana Circle. We had changed our appointment to have our levelers put on to Monday. We had been told we needed to be there by 3:00, but that got changed to 4:00.

We went in at about 1:30 because we wanted to go back to Tyson Wells. We found out that they were now doing 2 rigs a day instead of only one. We left the trailer and drove to the flea market mostly to just look around.

There were lots of bargains since this was the last day of the Tent Show and also Tyson Wells. Cindy did manage to buy a few more strands of beads that she liked, but nothing major. The number of people seemed to be way down and we were able to get a parking place without any problem.

We looked a some quilts, but Cindy said she liked them, but wouldn't buy them, but if she really liked them she would make them.

After walking around until 3:00, we went back to RV Lifestyles to see if they were ready to bring our fiver into the stall, but they didn't get through with the other one until about 4:30, so Cindy watched their TV, while I went outside and watched the work going on with the other fiver. The owner wasn't real happy about having had to wait until noon for them to get started on his, but he was OK with it since he only had a two hour drive to home. He was only having front hydraulic jack put on and had them work on his spring shackles.

They finally moved us into the bay for this mornings work, and we were home for the night. They even have 50 amp electrical, but no internet or TV. So we watched a couple of movies.

It seemed quite warm and we were glad for the good electrical connection, because we had to run the AC for a while. It was warm all night,, and I guess it was because we were parked on concrete in an open bay.

Cindy is watching YouTube on how to do the beading, and is getting quite excited to try it. She says she can hardly wait, but we are going to wait until Yuma to buy the tools, with a discount coupon at JoAnn's.

I expect the work to go OK, and we will head to Yuma this afternoon. Thanks for visiting.

Well, She Did It!

Plomosa BLM Quartzsite, Arizona High 79 Low 54

Today started out cloudy, but by noon it had cleared off and got warm. Tonight is forecast to be warmer than it has been.

This morning we decided to go check out the rock and gem show by La Mesa RV. There were a lot of vendors there with all of them pertaining to rocks. One even had a fossil of some kind of animal. I don’t know what it was, but it was kind of interesting. There was a lot of jewelry there and a lot of it looked very nice.

We went back to the place west of the main tent and Tyson Wells. We found the same lady we talked to yesterday, and Cindy had already decided she was going to make some necklaces, and bought some strands of semi-precious beads and some nice strands of rock chips. So she is serious about doing the beading thing.

 One of the vendors there had a lot of old Depression glass, and a lot of other antiques (junque?). He seemed to want a lot of money for what he had, so if we want any of it, we will stick to yard and estate sales.

We then went back to one of the booths at Tyson Wells because Cindy had seen some Aqua Marine that she liked yesterday, but no-one at the other show seemed to have. When she decides to do a new hobby, she seems to go all out.

We had to go to a place across from McDonald's to get some of the fittings she needed to get started. Now all she needs are some tools, which we will get in Yuma next week, and she is anxious to get started.

 

The day ended with a nice sunset, which Cindy got a few pictures of. We also got to see the motorized hang—glider come in for a landing.

 The Montana Circle keeps dwindling. We are one of 7 left out of about 60, and we are leaving tomorrow.

Thanks for visiting.

I Might Have Made a Big Mistake!

Plomosa BLM Quartzsite, Arizona High 75 Low 43

It has been cloudy all day with a little wind. It is still a lot nicer than if we were home.

Today we decided to let La Mesa RV buy us lunch again. They sure are good about it. Afterward Cindy   found a motorhome that she liked. It is a long Tiffin with a lot of nice features for only $306,000, after a $33,000 discount. I told her she needed to save her quarters! LOL We both know we are not really in the market for a new RV.

We then went over to Tyson Wells to look at some of the stuff the vendors had for sale. It is still a crazy place with hardly any parking. There are still lots of people looking for bargains. Cindy looked at some jewelry she liked, but we didn't buy anything.

 

After Tyson Wells we went out to the gem dealers west of all the confusion. There were not nearly as many people there and the vendors actually had time to talk to us. This was the start of my mistake. Cindy has been talking about getting another hobby: beading. Seeing all the beads just made her want to do it more, and she has finally decided to give it a try. She even called our granddaughter and asked her if it was something she wanted to do (she does). At the last shop we went in, the lady took the time to show Cindy how to start, and some of the difference in the beads. She said that everything she carried was glass or rock, and was of better quality than you might buy at a craft store. She has everything you would need to do it. I have softly tried to persuade Cindy not to do it, without actually telling her no. I have found if you tell her no, it is kind of like waving a red flag in front of a bull. She has told me I can try to persuade, but don’t ever tell her she can’t do something, or she will do it anyway. So I guess we will be going back to the rock and gem place before we leave Quartzsite. It won’t take as much room or weigh as much as all the fabric, but now we will have two hobbies.

Out here with the Montana Circle, there aren’t too many people that haven’t moved on. We talked about going over with the Boomers, but with the levelers being put on, decided to stay put until time to take the trailer over to them.

Thanks for visiting.

Sunrise Sunset

Plomosa BLM Quartzsite, Arizona High 75 Low 41

Last night was warmer than it has been. I didn't hear the heater come on even once. Today started out cloudy, but soon turned into a nice cloudless day.

 

Because of all the clouds, we had a beautiful sunrise. The sky seemed to be on fire. Cindy and I had both cameras going and got some good shots.

We stayed here and worked on one of Cindy’s quilts this morning. We decided to let La Mesa RV buy lunch, so we went there at about 12:30. It was the busiest we have seen, but we still moved quickly through the line. Today they had mashed potatoes and a chicken gravy, which was very good.

 

We had to go to the Laundromat to do some wash. It is a very large Laundromat and we didn't have to wait at all. It is the first one we have been to that also have showers, which are quite pricey, and has a restaurant in front. Both the restaurant and the laundry seemed very busy.

I had one of our friends that is now in Yuma call me about a folding step ladder. One of the people at the RV Park he is at had bought an 8 foot folding ladder, and he asked me if I could see if I could find the place and get him one. So while Cindy did the laundry, I went to see if I could find where I was told he bought the ladder, but all of the places I thought it would be said they haven’t carried them for several years. So I finally gave up and went and got Cindy.

This afternoon, there was another Happy Hour. There are fewer and fewer people left here. We are one of two Montana’s left on the south side of the circle, and I told the wagon master that I kind of felt like the stepchild. The north side is now Montana row with only a few of the rigs gone.

This evening there were enough clouds to make a beautiful sunset, hence the title of this post.

Thanks for visiting.

This Trip Turned Expensive

Polomosa BLM Quartzsite, Arizona High 73 Low 43

Sorry this is so fuzzy.

We Went to town this afternoon, and went to the Tent Show. It was every bit as busy as I thought it would be. There probably weren't as many people there as the first day and the traffic jam wasn't as bad as what we saw on Saturday. We were able to park fairly close to the big tent.

 We had a defective smoke alarm we bought from Mac the Fire Guy last February that was defective. He had me call the 800 number on the back and see what they would do about it. He told me beforehand that they would try everything possible to get out of the 10 year warrantee, and sure enough, she blamed the problem on the battery, because it was only good for two more years. It was brand new. After I told him what they said, he told me to bring it to the tent and he would replace it, which he did.

This is what I have now.

Happy Hour this afternoon.

After Mac is when this trip got really expensive. I have been looking at 6 way hydraulic levers to go on the fiver. When I priced them on line they were $4800.00 in Indiana. They had a special on them here for $4500.00, which was a little better, but still pricey. Because we are here with the Montana Owners group, they would give me an additional 5% off that price, which makes them about $4250.  Also the saleslady told me that if I waited till Goshen, the price would be $4900.00. So, by having them installed here I save almost $700.00. They are going on next Monday. Yes! This trip got expensive, but everyone that has the 6 way levelers tell me I will love them.

The North side of the Circle.

The circle on our side of the circle is getting kind of slim. Several have left, and three more left on our side today. We will probably stay put until we leave to get the level-ups installed next Monday.

These two pictures are our side.

Thanks for visiting.