Yuma, Quartzsite, Scottsdale & Willcox

Mon, Jan. 9th - Sun, Feb. 5th

This is a beautiful riverside park built by the Quechan (pronounced Kwitsan) Indian tribe, just across the street from the Paradise Casino where we dry camped for two weeks for free.


From the road by the casino, this is a view of the park with the Yuma Territorial Prison and the Ocean-to-Ocean Bridge in the background. There is a Spanish Mission just to the right of the bridge. There are miles of beautiful parks and hiking and biking trails along the river.

This is the Spanish Mission next to the bridge. Just over the bridge is Old Downtown Yuma. The bridge over the Yuma Crossing connected the first cross-country highway in 1915, I think.

This is a view from just below the mission on the hill, back toward the park and the casino parking lot. This was a beautiful, peaceful place to go for a hike every day. We drove down to Algodones, Mexico one day. I got new glasses for $150.00, ready in a couple hours while we had tacos and margaritas.

We drove north to Quartzsite on Friday, the 21st, to take in the largest RV show in the world, so they claim anyway. These are a couple views where we camped in the desert the three nights we were there. There were people camped everywhere in the desert for five miles from town in all directions, plus lots of campgrounds right in town.

We spent two whole days tramping in and out of motor homes of all kinds. Well, John did wimp out for a while both days, and waited in the car for me.

On Monday, the 23rd, we drove over to Phoenix. We parked at the Wild Horse Casino in Chandler for a couple days and drove up to Sedona to visit friends on Tuesday. On our way to Sedona, we drove thru Cottonwood and up to Jerome. Jerome is an old mining town built in tiers on the side of a mountain. It was pretty much abandoned at one time. In the 60s the Hippies moved in and it now has some interesting, quirky little shops and restaurants.

On Friday, our kids and grandkids flew into Mesa. John took us on a tour of some of the stadiums where the baseball spring training camps take place, so the boys could see them. Unfortunately, the games don't start until March. We also stopped to visit my Aunt Ruby in Phoenix.

This is where the Milwaukee Brewers play.

John's sister and a friend arrived on Saturday, so the kids could stay with them in their time share in Scottsdale. That was nice. It gets pretty crowded in the camper with all the kids and their luggage, car seats, etc. Thank you, Jo.

One day we toured downtown Scottsdale. Tierney wasn't too sure about sitting on the bench with this old guy, but Great Aunt Kathy talked her into it. I'm not sure what she bribed her with, but she looked pretty happy. We had a terrific Mexican lunch downtown. Thanks, Kathy!

Hilary and Jeff looking fine. "Howdy, cowboy. Hello there, sweet thing."

Carter's favorite part of the downtown, was going to the huge mall where he got to blow some of his birthday money at the American Eagle Outfitters. The clerk couldn't believe they didn't have even one of their stores in the whole state of Montana. There's probably not one in the whole Midwest!

Touring around town. "Carter, please give me back Grandma's glasses."

One night we had supper at Organ Stop Pizza in Mesa. The stage comes up from below with this guy playing the organ. It's an amazing organ. You can see all the pipes and bellows in the background. I think you can see it on the internet at www.organstoppizza . The pizza was really good,too.

Kathy, Jo and I took took Carter and Tierney to the Phoenix Zoo. Here they are watching a leopard basking in the sun between the two trees.

Tierney's favorites were all the animal statues she could climb on. Here they are sitting with a chimp.

Here they are with the Komodo Dragon.

There was a lot of loud grunting going on here. I didn't even know turtles made any kind of sound. Hopefully, all this effort leads to some baby turtles.

"Look at the Flamingos, Grandma."

It took Tierney all day to decide she would ride the camel, but she seemed to enjoy it. And I think Carter was really excited about it, too. Well, maybe not, but he was being a good sport anyway. He will be a teenager next week, you know.

"Let me show you how it's done, Kathy. I saw a lady at the fair milking a cow!" After this, she had me lift her up on the cow, so she could ride it.

At the petting zoo, the kids got to brush the goats.

I think this little guy reminded Tierney of their dog, Digger, because she put her arms around his neck and gave him a hug and a kiss.

"What is Kathy doing? Giddy up? Who is she kidding? Doesn't she know these goats aren't real?"

"Relax, Grandma."

One day John, Jeff and Carter went to the Pro/Ams for the Phoenix Waste Management Open (the largest PGA Golf Tournament). They saw famous golfers like Phil Mickelson and other famous people, including Alice Cooper.

The kids flew home on Friday. We miss them already. We drove east thru Apache Junction and the Superstition Mountains on Hwy. 60 thru Miami and Globe, then SE on Hwy. 70 thru the San Carlos Apache Indian Reservation. One small town we drove by named Geronimo appeared to be nothing more than two abandoned adobe shacks. I think there is also a town named Cochise somewhere in the area. We camped the next three nights at the Elks Club campground on the edge of Willcox on I-10. We stayed here last year. The campground is just a short walk from the old downtown, where the youngest of the Earp brothers was shot down in the saloon. There is a nice monument for him in this old, abandoned city cemetery, which is just a short walk from our campground. They also have a Chiricahua Indian Museum, the Marty Robbins Museum and the Rex Allen Sr. Museum with his horse, KoKo, buried across the street. They are all on the same block as the saloon and an old railcar BBQ place.

Tomorrow we are heading for Big Bend National Park in Texas. Our phone and computer reception may not be too good there, but we will try to keep in touch.

Happy Trails,

Tarra