Yuma & Wickenburg...

Finally doing some exploring in the Yuma area, we came upon a date farm...lots of them here.
In our yard we have this beautiful, blooming, fragrant Texas Desert Laurel.....

We took off and spent almost a week back up in the Wickenburg area. We boon-docked for three days at Vulture Peak....seen here at sunset....

and sunrise....

The view from our trailer....

We took a walk up the road - notice all the saguaros....we miss them here in Yuma!

Vulture Peak with an Ocotillo and Cholla in the foreground. Watch out for stickers!

Tom and Casper enjoying docking in the boons....

When we returned to Yuma, we were over-run with local lemon pickers....aka Carl, Kay, Donna, John etc....

Happy New Year 2011

June's daughter Bethanie and husband Ryan are going to spend New Year's weekend with us. Here's June busy getting ready for them....

Happy New Year. After toasting the new year at 9 P.M. there was a rousing game of Apples to Apples....

New Year's Day was spent running around the nearby desert on quads. Bethanie was June's chaufeur in a Rhino.

Here's Tom.....holding still just long enough for a photo!

After our ride, we visited the Yuma Territorial Prison. Here are Bethanie and Ryan near one of the cells.

Bad News: Someone recognized Tom, and asked him to pose for a mug shot...

....next thing we know, he has a cell of his own......

oh well, we were afraid they'd catch up with him sooner or later....

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!

Christmas Day

Where we are...

Macho Mr. Mertz showing off his Christmas Day tan....

Merry Christmas from Yuma

Here we are snowbirding once again - this time in Yuma, Arizona. Yuma is listed in the Guiness Book of World Records as the sunniest place on earth! Now that the rains are gone, we're getting to experience some of that. Bend has been having a very snowy winter. There was a brief break between storms so we quickly packed up and headed south on December 15 (June having just returned on the 13th from 10 days with her family in Fairbanks, Alaska). Going south on 97 from Bend we encountered some snowy, slippery conditions, but fortunately it didn't last long. The first night we were in Weed, California - woke up to 14 degrees! Quickly left there and continued on to Bakersfield where we stayed the next night. Our next stop was La Paz County campground in Parker, where we spent a few days catching our breath. We moved into our rental place in Yuma on the 20th, and we learned about the rain and flooding in California. We were glad that we made a run for it when we did. The rains followed us into Arizona, but didn't last long, fortunately.

Having never spent any time in the Yuma area, we have some exploring to do. To begin with, here are some pictures from our rented abode. There are 10 fruit trees on the lot - orange, lemon, grapefruit and tangelos. We have our own private orchard!

Here is the west side of the lot...

A shot of one of the lemon trees....lemonade anyone???

The east side of our lot....

And The front....

We plan to be here a few months, with comings and goings around the state, especially back up to the Wickenburg area where we have been the last two years. We will update the blog as we add to our Arizona adventures. In the meantime, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to everyone!!!

Summer Adventures

We packed up the camper and headed out of Bend on Monday, July 12, heading east. Our first stop was Jordan Valley, OR, near the Crater of the Moon Park. It wasn't so exciting to us, since we live in a lava field, but we made the visit anyway.


The main focus of our trip was to get to Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Here 'tis....

The ski lift....

The Grand Tetons. And yes, they are Grand!

We took the ski hill tram ride to the top of the ski hill - 10,450' up.

The view from the top. That's the Snake River you see winding thru the picture.

From the top of the mountain there was a good view of some of the many hiking trails in the area.

Downtown Jackson is known for the elk horn arches in the town square. There is an identical arch at each of the four corners of the square.

We had spent a day visiting Teton National Park, and then a day in downtown Jackson and up the hill. Our next stop was Stanley, Idaho. Tom's favorite spot...

We were fortunate to have great weather the whole trip. On Saturday, July 17, we celebrated Casper's 6th birthday with an ice cream treat for him. Here is his birthday portrait.

Once again it was a fun trip and a fine time was had by all!

Parting Shots

Since we are down to our last week in Arizona, we decided to cover a few things on our "to do list". One of them, was to visit Payson, Arizona. It is north and east of where we are, at an elevation of 5000 feet, and in the trees. We had to wait for snow to melt before making the trip. Taking a circular route to get there, we went through Fountain Hills, Rye, Payson, Strawberry, Pine, and Camp Verde. Payson, Strawberry and Pine are popular summer spots for Phoenicians to get away from the heat.

Driving through Rye, we spotted something that deserved a u-turn and some photos!...some kind of a grave-yard for anything with wheels, except cars. Even a few snowmachines and little red wagons in the mix...

When we first arrived in December, we shared photos of our adobe abode....we finally got around to taking pictures of the interior! This is where we've been working so hard while here....the office.

We have been spoiled with the huge TV...especially watching football. Will be hard to go back to our little one at home!

The master bedroom, with the master looking out the window....

Tom is an expert hummingbirder....he has the right recipe, and it didn't take long for the word to get out. Every evening as the sun is going down, there is a swarm of hummingbirds....waiting on hold in the air, in the tree....every spot on the feeder taken.....it has been amazing to watch.

Two rose bushes out back flourished with the rain and Tom's watering....

This is a spot along the road on the way into Wickenburg....could not pass up a photo opp. Desert wild flowers are blooming like crazy, and we hope to get some pictures as we head out of town.

Our snowbird session is coming to a close. June's 45th high school reunion is Saturday, April 10 in Phoenix. Over 200 of the 636 graduates will be in attendance, from all over the U.S. Sunday morning we will be heading north. It has been a wonderful visit, but we're ready go get home.

Ollie & Janelle Come to Visit

Ollie & Janelle Orcutt, from Madras, OR, came to visit us this week. We showed them downtown Wickenburg. To our surprise, they ran into a long-lost friend....


Ollie got downright friendly with one of the locals....

We took them to Jerome, AZ...one of our favorite spots from last year.

We had to sample some of the local brew.....

and then caught the boys coming from the House of Joy!

We had a fun time showing them around central Arizona, and expect they'll be back for more some time.