Down Yonder in Yuma

With both our time and propane in short supply, we abandoned Tranquility Base on BLM land outside Quartzsite on Sunday. We'd been there for 5 great days and nights. So much of the experience of boondocking at Q depends on the weather... mostly the wind... and the string of light wind days we were lucky enough to hit upon made our stay one of the most agreeable camps in recent memory.

I mentioned in a previous post, and will do so again here, that we've found periods of solitude to be so important to our psychic balance. We've discussed this at length and found, happily, we both feel the same way. It's easy to get wrapped up in busy-ness, socializing, and doing things. But having a few days to do nothing... to ponder... to think on your own (instead of being told what to think by the talking heads on TV)... is a very good exercise for the mind and for your well-being.

We pointed the bus-house nose south for one last time this year... can't go much further south without going into Mexico, which won't happen any time soon... at least with the bus-house. Our 100 mile drive to the Yuma area was easy and quick. Neither of us had ever been to Yuma before and were surprised by the vast amount of agriculture going on here... all irrigated, of course, by the waters of the Colorado River... what little water is left by the time that poor overworked river get's here. Mile after mile of neatly lined fields of lettuce, cabbage, and who-knows-what else. It's clearly a huge part of the local economy.

We settled into the Escapees Coop Park... SKP Kofa Ko-op Retreat... got one of the last sites for the next week. It's a tight-knit community of people who mostly live here all winter long. Some have RVs that they use to travel to and from their home "up-north", but many others have more-or-less permanent installations of mobile homes or park model trailers, complete with patios, screen porches, and covered parking for the Buick and the golf cart (local transportation only... no golf course here at the park). Escapees Parks are always friendly and we were thrown right into the mix at the weekly Sunday night ice-cream social. A couple musicians from the park even provided live musical entertainment for the big group. What a hoot.

We're making today, Monday, a chore day... and I won't write more about that. But tomorrow we thought we'd run into Mexico, we'll, actually "walk" into Mexico, and see what our neighbors to the South are selling these days. (Might be able to find a cheap inexpensive Christmas gift for my sweetie.) Later in the week we'll explore Old Yuma and other historic sites in the area.

Oh, and in case anyone is wondering... it'll be in the mid-70's today after a low last night of 50f.

Looking for my passport...
T