YUMA with the Woodbury's

Jan 24th thru Monday Jan 28th

Yuma is really lovely: all the amenities you can wish for along with thousands of acres of desert and foothills to explore. John and Wynn's lot is very pretty. It is surrounded by an "Adobe" or "Mexican" brick wall. This is a lovely, colorful red, yellow, gold (and other earthy colors) brick. It's heaven for the dogs to run free in the yard.

We enjoy long walks through the foothills lots, and in the desert too. John and Wynn are incredible hosts. There is never a dull moment. We unload the RZR for the first time. Paul finds out it is legal to drive the 4 wheeler on the roads of Arizona, with modifications to make it street legal. John obligingly takes us to the Polaris dealer to purchase what we need to make it road legal. A few hours later we are driving down the streets of Yuma and into the foothills of the Gila mountains. I love this new terrain! The mountains are purple, and the desert is full of colorful rocks and varied species of plants and cacti. Not boring, this desert: no way!

We enjoy eating at the Golden Corral buffet, and later at Texas Roadhouse.

Both were excellent.

1/26/08Today we explore the desert in the Barry Goldwater Range West. It is a test range for the Marine base there. We had to obtain permits to enter the range. It's a pristine landscape here...in places it looks like gardens of cacti, and of course, the lovely mountains always in the distance. We put about 80 miles on the RZR here, reaching speeds of nearly 60 MPH!! FUN!! (The RZR starts skipping at 60 for some reason) We drove all the way to the Mexican border, where the huge fence has been built. What a joke! You can crawl under it or go around it. Too funny. Paul and I crawled under it to say we were escaping to Mexico...then back to the US.

1/27/08

Today we visited "Dateland" and enjoyed a date shake, made with the dates from the date palm trees there. Really delicious! We drove to California to see the wonderful sand dunes there. 4 wheelers and rails were everywhere, having a blast on those dunes. We will have to come back here to try this!!

1/28/08

We are a bit sad to leave John and Wynn's lovely lot and hospitality, but George and Rachel are waiting in Brenda, so off we go, looking forward to meeting our good friends there.

MAINE TO ARIZONA: THE RIDE

Jan. 19, 2008
Left Maine at 12:30 AM (half an hour after midnight Friday) Paul drove 19 hours without sleep. All went well, drove approx. 900 miles. (almost to Bristol TN) COLD!! about 20 degrees, brrrrrr


Spent the night at a Love's truckstop, slept very well. I kinda like hearing a diesel engine running all night, white noise, I guess. Paul began driving at 4:30 AM, I slept in with Bella snuggled up against me. Very comfortable and cozy. Passed thru Knoxville and Nashville, still COLD. 9 degrees this morning, 20 degrees now. Bright and sunny, tho.

John and Wynn, David and Teri, Dick Lamb, Harold and Kathy, George and Rachel, and Roger and Karen all called to check on us today. Dogs are doing great, Bella is calm and happy, eating well. Had some air brake problems in the truck: had to pull over right in the middle of Little Rock Arkansas to fix the air compressor.

1/20/08

Crossed the Mississippi at 4:53 PM...now we are really "West".

1/21/08

Headed for Dallas/ Fort Worth
Still cold, about 30 degrees.

Holy COW...just west of Fort Worth Paul felt a nudge, then looked out to see our trailer coming around sideways!! He waited until the trailer was straight then stopped as fast as he could. The trailer hitch had broken completely off our truck. Very Scary!!! Called Good Sam's roadside assistance, but had to wait over 2.5 hours for help. Paul went to town with the service truck, and welded the hitch. It took us about 6 hours to get back on the road. The motorcycles and RZRwere OK, amazingly. Paul's Busa broke the tailight and platelight. Very minor, considering what happened.

1/22/08

hhhmmmm...something is wrong. Just saw a double bottom trailer truck upside down on the side of the road...the road is shiny and slippery!! Here we are, headed for Abilene, it's 26 degrees, and there is an ice storm!! There is ice forming on the windshield, and now I see two cars that have flipped over. The trees are covered in ice, so we get off the road as soon as possible. There is a car hanging over the overpass above. Yikes. The photo of the stop sign with ice hanging from it was taken in Amarillo.

We ate at a Cracker Barrell, then did some shopping at Wal-Mart. After about 3 hours we hit the road again. It's still cold and icy, but the passing trucks have dried the road.

Headed West through the Guadalupe mountains, new and different scenery.

1/23/08

Going through New Mexico today. Desert and mountain scenery. The grass here is like sharp needles, the dogs hate it and avoid it. Both Annie and Bella have gotten a sharp thorn in their paw.

There are some huge dairy farms here, with cultivated grass and water ditches for irrigation. There are hundreds of Great Egrets along these ditches.

1/24/08

Arrived in Yuma today. Found our way to John and Wynona Woodbury's lovely lot in the foothills of the Gila Mountains.