We spent the last week of 2019 at the RV resort property of Dan and Peggy Quinn in Yuma, Arizona. They are full-time RVers who we met years ago in West Yellowstone and have hooked up with us from time to time on the road.
Earlier last year the Quinns bought a property just east of Yuma that accommodates two RV’s on full hook-ups. It’s walled on all sides with nice wrought iron gates, so their Boston Terrier “Katie” can roam as she wishes within the 60’ wide by 120’ deep lot. The lot includes a paver patio, a 10’ by 20’ storage shed, and has gravel everywhere else. No dust.
The Quinns invited us up for Christmas and we came, driving 370 miles south through Nevada, California, and Arizona. We could have made it in one long day, but we stopped in Laughlin, Nevada for an overnight on 12/23 and arrived in Yuma early on Christmas Eve. Not a bad drive; however, it rained on us for over 300 miles of the trip, and my freshly-cleaned RV and tow car Jeep looked like dirt clods when we arrived.
The three Boston Terriers immediately commenced playing dog games as soon as they hooked up. They get along well, particularly Baby (3 yrs old) and Katie (1 yr old) who are still young at heart. Lots of toys to play with and people to throw them. Katie took every opportunity to investigate our rig and put her stamp of approval (pee!) on the place. HaHa.
As it was Christmas Eve, we decided to exchange presents with the Quinns. Everyone got something, including the dogs. I dressed up like a fool in an elf costume and a Santa beard. Good times!
In the afternoon we enjoyed a very nice munchie party at the Quinns’ neighbors’ home (Gordy and Maureen) along with two other nice couples. The appetizers were great, as was the company.
As I understood the conversation, Gordy and his wife bought several lots twenty years ago, built-out their lot, and then sold off some of the neighboring property. They planted a date palm seed way back then, along with a 2’ Saguaro cactus; both are now about 20’ tall. (The Quinns’ neighbor on the east side (?) has some huge specimen cactus growing up against the wall which are quite spectacular, including a huge Ocotillo.)
Our appetizer party hosts and friends are “snowbirds” from Canada as are thousands of Yuma residents in the Winter. One of the guests told me that Yuma’s population is maybe 150,000 higher now than it is in the Summer.
I took a drive to the grocery store the next morning, and I’ve never seen so many RV parks in my life. It reminds me of Hemet (“God’s Waiting Room”) but on steroids; lots of retirees here, livin’ cheap in a nice climate.
Except, of course, in the Summer, when Yuma is a broiler. It’s low desert here (150’ above sea level), as compared to high desert (1800’) in Mesquite, Nevada, so it gets even hotter than our city…as high as 120 in July and Aug, while Mesquite might hit 115 on a bad day. (“Not fit for man nor beast!”…that’s why we flee to Oregon in the Summer and the Quinns hit the road in their 5th wheel RV.)
But, Arizona is a beautiful place, particularly when it isn’t 120.
On Christmas day, Dan cooked up a Prime Rib in his Big Green Egg smoker/BBQ. Then, we enjoyed dinner with Bill and Marsha, longtime friends of the Quinns who also hailed from Michigan before doing the Snowbird thing in Yuma. It was a scrumptious meal, including baked potatoes (Peggy), salad (Mannings), pasta salad (Marsha), and almost baked beans (Marsha). No one said anything about the baked beans until she’d left, but they probably needed another half-day of cooking to be edible. HaHa. Nice people, though. And, we all had some apple pie and whipped cream (Mannings) for dessert.
We had a day of rain on Thursday. That was a good thing, because our dogs’ poor feet were sore as Hell from running around for two days on the sharp gravel. Baby was the worst casualty…several blisters on her foot pads. So, we had to open up our amateur veterinary hospital and tend to their aching feet.
Charlie and I learned two new games, Pictionary and Wizard (cards), with the Quinns while the dogs recovered, and later enjoyed some Chile Verde burritos, courtesy of a pork loin that I had slow cooked all day. Good eatin’.
On Friday, we went to a local cactus nursery. It was an enormous place and had all manner of large, exotic cacti that are native to, or will survive, in Summertime super hot desert climates like Yuma and Mesquite. After extensive browsing and discussion with the owner, I bought a 42 inch Arizona Saguaro and a 30 inch Toothpick Cactus. Both will be very unusual specimens in our Mesquite neighborhood.
We also visited a store which specializes in Mexican yard art. I bought Charlie a large spider that she liked, and we closed out the morning with some drinks at a local bar.
Later, we had an early dinner at one of the Quinns’ favorite hamburger joints called the A&R Grill; the burgers were huge and delicious.
In the evening we played some more Pictionary in the Quinns’ coach; Peggy and I kicked ass.
On Saturday morning I picked up my packaged cacti from the nursery and washed the RV later in the day while Charlie worked in “the office”. After that, Peggy, Dan and I went to a large flea market where I got some awning strap for RV repairs, and later in the day I repaired our bedroom and dinette awnings. Afterwards, we all enjoyed some food from a local Italian take-out joint. It was a productive day.
Here’s Dan in his Man Cave:
On Sunday we went about 15 miles to the Mexican town of Los Algodones.
It’s a popular day trip for Yuma Snowbirds. Most visitors park their car, walk across the border, and return through Mexican customs, as opposed to the Algodones citizens who take advantage of the many underground tunnels in the area (!)
The big attractions in this Mexican city are cheap pharmaceuticals, dental and optical services, decent Mexican food, and Tequila. It’s a mini version of Ensenada, with lots of vendors hawking their wares: “Almost free today!”
Charlie and I have visited hundreds of Mexican towns just like Los Algodones, we always have fun and buy some crap that we really don’t need. That’s exactly what happened on Sunday, as we pumped a couple hundred American dollars into the local economy. The good news was that there was virtually no wait line walking back across the U.S. border. “Viva Los Estados Unidos!”
Monday was our last day at the Quinn’s Yuma ranchero. Charlie and I cleaned and packed up the RV in the morning and then joined the Quinns for an afternoon of food and drink. We first went to a huge bar called Lute’s Casino. It was about the size of my high school gym and totally festooned with memorabilia and goofy stuff hanging off the ceiling. I had a beer and some Buffalo wings.
Later, we headed across the street to a craft brewery called Prison Hill and had some beers.
We were then going to return home and have BBQ’d steaks but decided instead to continue our pub crawl and have some eats at a place called Weezy’s. We each ordered an appetizer item and ended up with a mountain of good food.
It was a great way to end a nice trip to Yuma. We hope to return next year if the Quinns will have us.
On New Year’s Eve we drove all day back to Mesquite, about 370 miles, in a little under 7 hours with stops. We had great weather. Yay!