Field Trip to Mesa

Today we drove to Mesa.  It's about 55 miles away.  Our prime purpose was to visit the Mesa Market Place Swap Meet.  It is huge.  We had lots of fun shopping and came home with many bags of loot.

Mesa Flea Market

Making a purchase

After we finally finished at the market, we went in search of a Trader Joe's.  This is a specialty grocery chain that originated in California.  The stores aren't big, but they have lots of stuff.  One of the most famous products is Two Buck Chuck (a line of wine just for Trader Joe's).  Two Buck Chuck costs $3 in Arizona because of taxes.

By this time we are ready to eat.    Across the street we saw a Black Bear Diner.  I have seen  a few of these diners since northern California and was curious as to how they were.  Food was pretty good and we went for the so called smaller portions.  Plenty big.  Staff were really nice.  We were able to get directions to get us back home.  Lola (our GPS) is a bit outdated and sometimes has trouble if there has been any construction changes to the roads.

All in all a great day and a wonderful way to spend my birthday!  Life is Great!

Casa Grande Ruins

Today we visited Casa Grande prehistoric ruins.  This archeological site was a village of about 3,000 people.  The people were farmers and traders.  They developed a system of canals to irrigate their fields.  In the 1400s their era ended.  No one knows why or what happened.  It is thought that weather conditions -either drought or flooding made the village unsustainable.  The ancient people could have formed smaller family groups making it easier to sustain themselves.  Quite a mystery - like the Mayans and Anasazi.

Monument entrance.  The protective canopy was constructed in the 1930s.

Casa Grande was 4 stories high.The building is partially underground.  About 7 to 9 feet.  It is made of caliche.  A very strong clay and stone material found in the desert under the top layer of sand and dust.  Wooden beams from over 80 miles away were used in the construction.  The roof would have been made of a combination of sticks, cactus ribs and the caliche.

Casa Grande - Great House

Our tour guide explaining holes found in the building

There are holes about 3 inches in diameter on both the east and west sides of the structure.The sun enters through the hole on one side of the building and exits on the other.  This happens on the summer and winter solstice only.  Another hole allows moonlight to enter.  It only happens once every 18 1/2 years.  Why?  the final hole on the west side allows the sun light to enter at sunset.  Very cool.  Apparently ancient buildings all over the world have similar systems.  Including Stone Henge.  How could these different cultures know nothing about each other but have similar technology?  Could aliens be involved?

Opening at upper left fills with light at sunset.

This is an amazing structure.  No one knows for sure what the building was used for.  There is no written or oral history for this ancient civilization.  Houses in the village were much smaller, rectangular in shape and usually only one story.  A few had two stories.  The upper story was probably living space and the other floor for storage.

I thoroughly enjoyed the tour - finding it fascinating.

Update on Wayne's fingers:  A couple of pieces have come out.  Nothing seems to be infected.  They don't hurt anymore, but Wayne is aware of something being inside the digits.

Getting Our Chores Done

The last few days have been spent doing household chores and cleaning.  I've done the laundry and sorted some cupboards.  Wayne has been busy washing the trailer and then today the truck.

While washing the truck, Wayne had a close encounter with a cactus.  He accidentally brushed his hand against a cactus and was stung about seven times.  The barbed spines pierced his skin and buried themselves quite deeply.  We haven't been able to get most of them out.  On the Internet it said to soak in hot water with Epsom salts.  If that doesn't work the spines will most likely infect your skin.  Sometimes that will release them.  If not it's a trip to the doctor.  Stay tuned.

Wayne's wounds

Vicious cactus

The weather has been great.  Yesterday we went to the pool for a swim and a bit of sunbathing.

Refreshing dip in the pool

Sunshine, G and T and a good book - can life get any better?

We have met some of the other park residents.  There are several Canadians from Alberta, Saskatchewan and Ontario.  Many American states are also represented.  We were supposed to attend a coffee and donut meeting this morning.  We got there late and missed the presentation on summerizing your rig for storage.  Next time we need to be more organized.

Tomorrow we are going to explore Casa Grande.  So far we have only checked out the main shopping drag.  Kind of reminiscent of the Golden Mile in Barrie.  Casa Grande got its name from an ancient Indian ruin.  It is now a state memorial.  Want to check that out.

Las Colinas RV Resort

As promised yesterday, I have photos of the park.  Today was a day to check out Casa Grande - grocery store, Walmart, mall etc.  We had lunch at the Olive Garden.  Yummy!

Tomorrow, I'm doing laundry and Wayne is washing the RV and truck.  After that we can explore and site see.

We have signed up for a couple of things the park has organized.  Later in the month we are touring an olive processing company and a peach orchard.  We are also going to Tuscon to see a play.

Our site

It's so nice to be able to have the door and windows open to let the fresh air in.

Our street

Desert landscaping - a variety of cacti

Where's Waldo?

What kind of tree is this?  Hint - it smells wonderful!

Mmmmm

Happy Birthday Amanda!

1 March 2012 - Casa Grande/Eloy, Arizona (Las Colinas RV Resort)

Hooray!  We have arrived at our new home.  Home for the month of March.  The drive today was fairly long but not too bad.  Leaving Lake Havasu was winding and hilly, but very beautiful.  Once on the interstate, the road was really flat.  I have never seen so many RVs in my life.  We stopped at a rest area and it looked like an dealer's lot.  At least 20 rigs lined up.  Arizona is our kind of place.  Pick ups outnumber cars.

Phoenix is quite large.  It is about 40 miles to get through the area.  We could have taken a smaller highway that bypasses the city, but we didn't know what it was like.  Next time we will try it.

Las Colinas seems like a nice park.  Our lot is on a corner in a section with park models.  Everyone is very friendly and helpful.  One of the guys directed Wayne as he backed in.  Great help to have another set of eyes.

We are set up on pretty pink gravel with a cement slab patio and our own palm tree.  Pictures to follow tomorrow.

Views of Lake Havasu.  I believe that you can navigate for 40 miles in length.

Golf course at the desert's edge

Boondocking outside Quartzite

What's boondocking you say?  Boondocking is when you camp without any services.  No hydro, water or sewer.  The RV is not even at a campsite - just out in the wilderness.  Could be the desert, forest or just a farmer's field.  Most people who boondock have generators and/or solar power.  Not something I see in my near future.  Like my full hookups.  Hey, we're roughing it at this campsite.  We don't have any cable, satellite or even TV channels on the antenna.  Going to be a month of science fiction and murder mystery DVDs.

Cacti in the desert

Saguaro cactus

29 Feb - Leaping To Lake Havasu City, Arizona

As we were leaving the KOA this morning, Wayne says I think I remember this road.  Last year we had to stop for a long train crossing.  Guess what? It was deja vu all over again.

Train crossing same as last year

Lots of scenic vistas today:

Highway winds around the hills

Some signs you don't see everyday:

Wild burros live on this open range

Rattlesnakes live at rest stop

We drove around Lake Havasu City this afternoon.  We were checking out rv parks for future trips.  We also had lupper at Golden Corrall.  It's a buffet restaurant.  Our bill was less than $16 for the both of us.  Lots of selection and very tasty.

View of Lake Havasu

Crossing over London Bridge

The man who originally developed Lake Havasu City, bought London bridge in the 1960's.  He moved it here piece by piece and reassembled it.  I remember hearing about this when I was a kid.  Thought the man was crazy.  Guess not as this is a thriving community now.

After looking at several RV parks, we decided that the nicest one is Havasu RV Resort - where we are staying.

Our site

28 Feb 2012 - Barstow, California

After leisurely travel preparations which included a delicious breakfast at the resort restaurant, we finally headed out at 1030 am.  Short travel day again - less than 150 miles.  Only a few miles east of Bakersfield we began climbing towards the Tehachapi Pass.  It is quite high but the approach and descent are very long so the incline isn't too steep.

IS

THAT

SNOW?

Yes it is!

That's why we stopped in Bakersfield yesterday.  There were weather warnings, roads closed and today some school districts had a snow day.  But by the time we went over the pass the road was bare and dry.  It's funny - we were very concerned about running into snow at Siskiyou summit in northern California.  But we never dreamed there would by snow in southern California.  And a lot of it.

The eastern side of the pass opens into the Mojave high desert.  Edwards Air Force Base is located here.  At Edwards they do a lot of flight testing and also it was a landing site for the space shuttles.

Planes on tarmac at Edwards Air Force Base

We are settled in for the night at Barstow KOA.  It is right in the desert.  But there are services here such as gas stations, diners and I think a motel or two.

Desert shot

These are Joshua Trees