Yuma to Hemet

Leaving Tucson and heading to Yuma Arizona takes us through typical desert terrain. Miles and miles of miles and miles. Its a great drive though and as you can see the traffic isn't too heavy.

A week in Yuma gave us time to catch up on what our friends are doing. Sort of relaxing like we do. A day in El Godonas Mexico allowed us to get some cheap stuff, but the best part of the day was drinking Coronas in a Mexican cantina.  Real authentic heart burn, none of that prepackaged stuff. On Mexican time, a couple beers and a burrito took a couple of hours. But the day was warm and the beer was cold!

The week went quickly and we're on our way again, this time to Hemet California for our final stop for the winter. Driving through the desert it's rare to see any water and this lake is huge. Its called the Salton Sea. Apparently it was a huge vacation destination a hundred years ago but the water absorbed chemicals from the ground and couldn't be swam in or fished anymore so now its nearly abandoned. Still looks good. 

Now we're getting close to our final stop. This is the mountain valley just north of Palm Springs. Do you think they may get a bit of wind here? Last year when we were down, the wind was so strong it blew over power poles. See that mountain range on the left? We're going to be staying on the other side. It blocks the wind and we see little wind there. Just the way we like it.

Arrived in Hemet with no problems and after a couple of days of setting up, we're ready for the winter. Last year we were parked on the other side of the street but between the trees and Harvey, we got very little sunshine. So this year we're facing the other way. Now we're on the sunny side of the street. I needed to get a sun screen because the sun is low in the sky and the awning did little to block it. Now its just right.

Between the time zone and the change from daylight savings time, its dark by 5 PM. So if I want to barbecue I need to do it in the dark. So I take our excellent $5.00 T bone steak, put on my head light and BBQ in the dark. Where where's a will, there's a way.

Just another beautiful desert sunset at 5:00 PM. Well, that's our trip for this fall. Not as interesting as last fall but I hope you enjoyed some of the postings anyway. We're set up and ready to relax. The postings are going to be less regular now that we're here. We've stayed here last year so not much new to cover but we're planning on going into Los Angeles a few times and may blog about that. So check back once in a while, you never know. TTFN

Odessa to Tucson

Our next leg is from Odessa Texas to Van Horn Texas. Along the northern side of Texas the traffics light and  it makes for a long quiet drive. This truck livened up the drive for a few minutes. Its a large decal on the back doors that looks like the front of a truck. The driver and passenger are both looking back like he backing up down the highway. Really cool. I can imagine it could startle someone who's pulled out to pass and sees this right in front of him.

We're getting used to Texas campgrounds. Lots of dust and dirt but that adds to the ambiance, right.

The KOA in Van Horn is quite rustic in a cowboy sort of way. At one end of the campground is a horse corral and you can buy feed and grain for your horse if you stop there. And you get the most current weather. 

The old hitching post had a few saddles that have been there for awhile. Perhaps payment for staying there.

Sunrises and sunsets are quite beautiful in the desert. When we have a travelling day we're up by 7 AM. So we get to see a few sunrises along the way. 

After Van Horn we head towards Las Cruces New Mexico. But, to get there we have to go through El Paso. It sounds like a sleepy north Texas town, but its not. Along the west side of the town is the Rio Grand river with Mexico on the other side. The east side of town is bordered by a mountain range so the town is 20 miles long and about a mile wide with one main road for all Texas traffic heading west to go through. It's crowded, busy and aggressive. When you finally get through it, it's like being popped out of a champagne bottle.

Where did everyone go? 

Just into New Mexico and you start to see feedlots and dairys. They're huge with thousands of cattle. I don't know how they can milk that many cows.

 A couple of days in Las Cruces gives me time for a bit of repair work on one of the lights.All the road vibration takes its toll on stuff.

Then on the road again, this time to Tucson. This is what most of New Mexico is like as we drive through, flat and mostly wind swept.

As we entered Arizona the terrain changed dramatically. From open windswept flatland to open windswept hills. A welcome change from the boring prairie.

We start to see great orchards of pecan trees and these pistachio trees. After the bare desert these look so green and healthy.

We look forward to our stop in Tucson. We stayed here in 2009 for two months and loved it (check out our blog from then if you're curious). It's a beautiful resort with more amenities than we had time to use. We do miss our friends John and Elaine who introduced us to the resort and showed us the ropes back then. They'll be down later in the year so we missed each other this time. 

This is one of those lovely desert sunsets I mentioned earlier. We're sure enjoying the warm weather and look forward to heading to Yuma and then on to Hemet. Stay tuned.