We have been here at Alamo Lake State Park, AZ since December 26th.  The weather has been quite chilly (for AZ!) with daytime highs in the 50s to low 60s and some overnight lows into the 30s.  Most of our days here have been partly cloudy with wind under 10.

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View out our back window

Alamo Lake State Park is way out in the middle of the AZ outback...internet connection here is very poor, even with our WEBOOST. But using it we went from nothing to being able to stream Netflix!

WEBOOST Antenna

There are some fearsome bugs here...The Tarantula Hawk Wasp...a spider wasp  that preys on tarantula spiders. They are one of the largest parasitic wasps, using their sting to paralyze their prey before dragging it to a brood nest as living food; a single egg is laid on the prey, hatching to a larva which eats the still-living prey.

Tarantula hawk wasps are relatively docile and rarely sting without provocation. However, the sting is among the most painful of all insects, though the intense pain only lasts about five minutes. One researcher described the pain as "...immediate, excruciating, unrelenting pain that simply shuts down one's ability to do anything, except scream".  This one is a big female (I read you can tell by the curled antenna, I wasn't going to pick it up and check!)..nearly 2 inches long.  Only the females can sting...but why mess with them and take a chance?!?!?

The Palo Verde tree next to our campsite was attractive to them for some reason.  Counted 9 on it at one time.  They didn't bother us but it's still un-nerving when they fly close by you on their way to look for a spider!

The peak in the photo below is Artillery Peak.  The whole area in the photo is the weathered remains of an ancient shield volcano.  The peak is what's left of the original lava conduit.  The contours of the original volcano are marked by the red lines.  Over the eons erosion by wind and rain has reduced it to what we see today.  The peak is the solidified "plug" of the lava conduit....Click the photo... 

The area around artillery peak has vast resources of manganese, one of the largest deposits in the country.  Also found in this area are good deposits of uranium and also some gold.

Tomorrow we will be shooting some Drone videos....Watch for them soon!

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL!

We arrived here at Alamo Lake State Park, AZ on December 26th.  The weather has been quite chilly (for AZ) with daytime highs in the 50s to low 60s and some overnight lows into the 30s.  Most days have been overcast with periods of sunshine ...winds under 10.

Internet connection is very poor here, even with our WEBOOST...It took almost 5 minutes to upload this post with just the one photo above.  Without the WEBOOST we would have no connectivity all.

Tomorrow we will be moving on to White Tank Mountain Park, AZ...in the mountains just west of Phoenix.  About 123 miles.  Beautiful place...at night you can look down over the city lights of Phoenix and during the day the F-35 Lightning fighter jets are coming and going to Luke AFB nearby.  For a real show we drive down and park at the end of the runway and the departing jets come right over us with full afterburner...What a rush!

Anyway once we arrive and get set up we will have fast internet again.  We have video, audio and photos of our time here at Alamo Lake and we will post those!

                       HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Here's hoping your Christmas was a great one!

Tomorrow morning we leave the Kofa KO-OP Escapee Park outside of Yuma, AZ and head to Alamo Lake State Park, AZ. The distance is 162 miles...  

Heavy rain is expected after about 11 AM tomorrow, so we will try to get going early and miss it.  There are some crossings that may flood on the way from Wenden, AZ to the lake and we don't want to do any water crossings!

Alamo Lake State Park is way out in the middle of the AZ outback...Not too sure if we will have any internet access out there.  It was very spotty out there last year, but we have improved equipment so it just may work!

Tuesday, Dec 24, Christmas Eve!...  Another nice day today! 

This evening there were luminaries set up throughout the park!  Most of the folks walked around all of the roads in the park singing Christmas Carols...A nice guy had a table in the walkway, serving Bailies Irish Cream....dangerously tasty!

After they served cookies and hot chocolate in the clubhouse...everyone is so warm and welcoming here!  We could easily live here!

Later we went home...It was so warm we were able to recline outside for awhile.

Wishing you all a Wonderful Christmas!  <<<<Click!

Monday, Dec 23, sunny and about 65...breezy.  Looked around at some crops today...

Cotton....ready to go

This is the cabbage that will be in the Montana stores in awhile...

There were truckloads of Iceberg lettuce on the roads heading to market...It will show up in Billings in a day or two...

Stopped and got a close look at a remote section of the Border Fence...

Also stopped and picked some Grapefruit...Ruby Red!  Yum!!  When we got back Bill was sacked out...as if to say whats up?

Today, Dec 22, we drove around and looked at some of the citrus orchards... getting cloudy in the afternoon...about 65 degrees and breezy...

Lemons for miles!

We saw lemons, oranges, grapefruit, palmellos and date palms.. Never ate a date before today! 

Tomorrow we will cross the border and visit Los Algodones, Mexico.  Also known as "Molar City".  Its about a 20 mile drive...

We read that there are over 300 dentists in a 4 block area of Los Algodones, catering to American tourists.  There are dozens of pharmacies too... prescription medications are like 1/10 the cost or less than in the states.  My Daughter is paying over $300 bucks for a bottle of insulin that sells for $25 in the major pharmacies.  Also optometrists..one can get an eye exam for $10 bucks and two pair of progressive glasses for under $100. We will look into getting some prescription sunglasses and a few prescriptions...This should be interesting!!

Today, Dec 21, we drove over to visit the Yuma Territorial Prison. <<<Click the link for more info...Sunny and about 70.  On July 1, 1876, the Prison opened its gates for the first time to prisoners, and continued to accept prisoners, both male and female, until it closed in 1909.  The last prisoners were transferred to the new Arizona State Prison in Florence, Arizona.

Click photos to enlarge...

  

The prison has an interesting history, and is worth visiting if you are in the Yuma area.  Many of the original cell blocks remain, but a lot of the buildings and exterior walls have been demolished to make room for the railroad, or were destroyed in a fire.  This is a photograph of the prison complex when it was in full operation.  At the time, the Colorado River came right up to the rocks.

The main guard tower was reconstructed on its original site.  The Sally Port remains intact, as well as the buildings behind it, which are not visible on this photo.

The rock structure under the Guard Tower is actually a granite tank that was built by the prisoners.  The wood cover was built on top of it to help control evaporation by the desert sun.  The roof was added later to shield the guards from the sun and was eventually turned into living quarters for them as well as a guard structure

The Sally Port above is where the prisoners entered/exited the prison.  It was large enough to hold a covered wagon, with both doors locked, for unloading the prisoners.

This is the row between the main cell blocks.  Six prisoners were assigned to each cell, and in 1901, iron bunks were installed, since the wooden bunks became severely infested with bed bugs.

Looking into a cell

Looking into a cell

This is the exterior of the six-person cell blocks.   The cage on the left is part of the “incorrigible” ward that was built in 1904, and consisted of five steel cages.

When prisoners misbehaved, they were sent to the “dark cell,” where they endured 24 hours of darkness, along with snakes and bats.  The guards would drop scorpions and snakes down the vent pipe to torment the prisoners.  You can go down the hallway into the dark cell, to experience what it was like.  

We discovered the bats are still there…they didn’t like the camera flash!

The prisoners, not surprisingly, hated the place, but the local community thought the prison was more like a country club.  The museum contains a lot of interesting information about the prisoners, life at the time, and a display of weapons.

It all was real interesting!  The place has been used in a lot of movies as a movie set.  If you get to Yuma you should check it out! 

HAVE A GREAT CHRISTMAS SEASON!!

Click to>>> Enjoy this Christmas Video!

Saturday, Dec 21.  Christmas Season in Yuma, AZ!  Temps have been cool (for Yuma...warm for us!) mid 60s with sunny skies and light winds.  Looking for a bit of rain next week...😞

(Click on any photo for a larger view)

We have a great spot here at the Kofa Ko-op Escapees Park.  Very clean and organized...everyone is very friendly and welcoming.  

We are invited to the Christmas  Dinner on the 25th and are really looking forward to it!  We are treated like family here!

We have our Christmas Tree and Christmas Lights set up in our little home away from home!  Very cozy!...we are Blessed!

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Ted watching the sunset!

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Today, Tuesday, Jan 17, we made our way from Buckskin Mountain State Park, AZ to Yuma, AZ...via Parker, AZ and Quartzsite, AZ...on HWY 95.  A distance of about 132 miles.  Mostly sunny, but breezy and chilly, about 55.

Quartzsite is an interesting little town on the crossroads of HWY 95 and I-10.  The population is about 4,000 except in January when it grows to about 250,000 during the big Rock and Mineral Show and the giant Quartzsite Sports, Vacation and RV Show.  There are hundreds of RVs for sale and anything one could want for RV accessories.  There are hundreds of vendors selling just about everything.

The huge tent at the Quartzsite RV Show.  <<< Click link for video.

We have been there three times!  It's a MADHOUSE!  We will be out of the area when those shows are going on so we wont be visiting this year.

While traveling South on HWY 95 we passed the BLM Long Term Parking areas that are both north and south of Quartzsite.  Some areas are free camping...others are 14 per week.

These areas cover thousands of acres and there are many hundreds of RVs of all types for miles on each side of HWY 95 as far as you can see...

After driving through those areas we made our way on to Yuma, AZ.  Yuma if on the Colorado River, and the river water has made the desert a huge agricultural area.  We saw lots of winter lettuce, cabbage and citrus trees.  Mile after mile of lemon trees as we drove on to our destination, the Kofa Ko-op Escapees RV Park.

In the photo above you can see the Kofa RV park in the lower right...look at all of the orchards and crops!  The Kofa Ko-op Escapees RV Park is a very nice, clean place.  The residents are super friendly and welcoming...like in all Escapees Parks we have stayed in.

The MCAS Yuma Marine Base is about 5 miles away so we get to see a lot of Marine Aircraft fly overhead.  We have seen the many of the V-22 Osprey, the F-35 Lightning, the very cool Harrier Jump Jet  and Apache Helicopters.  

The RV Park residents welcomed us with open arms, they had a parade through the Park with their Razrs and Golf carts covered with Christmas lights and then a meet in the Clubhouse for cookies and coffee.  Love those cookies!!

A great day (but chilly) with a beautiful Arizona Sunset!  Ted thought so too!  Expecting temps in the 30s overnight!