March 8th to 13th - San Carlos to Yuma

Mar 8th - Sat - San Carlos
I did a couple of loads of laundry this morning so I wouldn’t have to worry about it as soon as we get to Yuma. Chores & errands took up the rest of the morning for everyone. Terry & I went to Jax Snax for a hamburger for lunch.
Pat, Val, Terry & I went golfing. Craig showed up before we had teed off so Terry played with him instead of with us ladies. I started out OK and went downhill. Pat started out not so good and got better. Actually, I got on the green for the first time on the first par 3 that is well guarded by a sand trap and did par the hole so it made the whole round worthwhile. Terry got a 44 so he was very pleased.
We had our clam feed this evening. Our 6, Les & Wendy, Bill & Joyce and Gary from a couple doors down. Again, excellent clams with absolutely no grit. It was hot during the day and stayed warm enough to sit out in shorts and short sleeves until suddenly a cool breeze came up about 8:30 and chased everyone in.

Mar 9th - Sun - San Carlos
Cathy came in from the lot to join our group of 6 for a morning kayak trip in the estuary. The weather was wonderful and the tide was in enough that some of us only had to walk our kayaks over a couple of sand bars. Cathy left and the rest of us went to the Soggy Peso Bar for lunch. It was very windy - not cold but not pleasant enough to stay for more than one beer.
Terry continued packing up stuff to get ready to leave and I organized stuff inside and worked on our contribution to a shared dinner with Rick & Pat and Claude & Val. We all watched Oprah’s “Big Give” after dinner.

Mar 10th - Mon - San Carlos
I got a load of sheets & towels on the line before Terry took me to get a haircut at 11. The water was running really slowly into the washers so we did the “bucket brigade” to speed things up. After lunch, I made a couple of things for an Appy Happy Hour gathering this evening and then Terry & I went to buy a souvenir T-shirt for me. All this time in San Carlos and I did not get a T-shirt!
We had our 5th wheel washed this afternoon. A group of us sat in the shade and watched Victor (park employee) work. They charge $30 (plus a tip for Victor) for this service.
All 4 couples from the lot joined us for Happy Hour(s). Joyce & Bill and Les & Wendy were also there and later Gary & Virginia joined us.
I had Dolly out with me for a while and when I took her in and set her down she let out a yelp and started packing her left back leg. I felt her leg and she yelped again. The only thing I could figure was that her leg caught in my sweatshirt pocket when I set her down. She started putting some weight on it later in the evening.

Mar 11th - Tues - leaving San Carlos
Dolly’s leg is much better today.
Rick & Pat are traveling and staying with us in Yuma. We left at 8:15 and got a very special sendoff - a BA from Claude and “torso” flashing from Cathy & Linda.
Highway 15 to Santa Ana seemed to have more potholes than 3 months ago when we traveled south. At Santa Ana we turned west on Hwy 2 to enter the US at Lukeville, AZ. From Santa Ana, the highway is 4 lane concrete for a ways - very nice. Then we got into construction for quite a ways - sometimes we were on one lane of new concrete which was scary because it was narrow with about a foot vertical drop off on each side and sometimes we were “in the ditch” on a temporary dirt road past the construction. Sure am glad we got the 5th wheel washed yesterday! After the construction, the road was still better than the potholes on Hwy 15.
We had to stop and turn in our vehicle permits about 17 km from the border. It is such a weird setup. You have to go past a little booth on the left of the highway, turn around in a dirt pullout and enter a road going past the other side of the little booth. The person working there has to verify that the vehicle matches the paperwork for the decal before they give you a razor blade to scrape it off the windshield. Then another U-turn out of this area and back onto the highway heading north.
No problems at the border crossing. The agent asked very few questions and we had gotten rid of meat, fruit & veggies that weren’t allowed.
We were told that there was a casino - with a restaurant - at Why so that is where we headed. It is 27 miles from the border. We were directed a couple of miles off the highway and found the “casino” and an RV park. We set up, relaxed with a drink and went to get some dinner. The “restaurant” is a snack bar but since we didn’t have groceries and didn’t want to cook, we had chicken strips & fries for dinner which actually were good - just not what we had our mouths set on.
While we waited for our food to cook and after we ate, Pat, Terry & I tried out nearly all of the 30 or so slot machines in the casino.

Mar 12th - Wed - to Yuma
Relaxed with coffee and left about 9. We planned on stopping in Ajo for breakfast but there were no obvious eating places so we carried on to Gila Bend. Stopped at a service station to top up and then ate next door at McDonalds since we could not find anywhere else on the GPS and it is a little difficult to drive two 5th wheels around town looking for a restaurant.
We stopped at Wellton to visit Canadian friends Nicole & Francis who stay there for the winter. They are leaving tomorrow so we just stayed for a short while and left them to their packing.
Rick & Pat needed a repair on their toilet so we stopped at a small shop in Wellton that Francis told Rick about. The guy could put in a new toilet today so we left the truck & 5th wheel there and all drove to Yuma in our rig to get an RV site.
I had made phone calls to RV parks while we were driving (nice to have phone service again!) and had selected one. When we got here, all the office personnel were at a lunch so we called the number they had left and they said we could park our rig by the pool and they would get us a site when they returned. We had to get some groceries so we unhooked the 5th wheel and went shopping. We were just paying for groceries when the shop in Wellton phoned to say Rick’s rig was ready. We drove out there, dropped off Rick & Pat, came back to the RV park, hooked up, got a site, parked and set up. Pat & I had planned a shared dinner while we were shopping. It was so nice that we dished up and ate outside.

Mar 13th - Thurs - Yuma
Should always do things right the first time! We knew our rig was a little high on one side when we parked but figured it was not enough to have to level with a board. Well, even Terry noticed it so he hooked up this morning and we did the job right. We ended up having to push gravel out of the way and only put one wheel on a board or else the other side was too high.
By 9:30 we were ready to leave for the Arizona Marketplace (“swap meet”). We had lunch there and left there just before 3 - and we hadn’t even walked through all of it. We had a wonderful surprise when Terry spotted Clem - our friend from South Dakota - while we were shopping. Marlene was somewhere else in the market with another lady so Clem’s friend called his wife and asked the ladies to come see them. Marlene was really shocked when we came out of a store when she got there. We didn’t chat for long as Rick & Pat were moseying down the aisle and Clem & Marlene were there with friends. They are staying in Quartzsite and just drove to Yuma for the day.
We relaxed for a bit after our strenuous day and then Terry and I made a quick trip to get some pork chops for dinner. About 8:30, Pat came over to see if I wanted to go in the hot tub with her. There was one other guy in the hot tub by the time we got there but it is huge so no problem. We cooled off with a swim in the pool, warmed up again in the hot tub and then showered to rinse body and bathing suits before heading home.
I was reading a book that I knew would have a tearjerky ending so I wanted to finish it at night instead of outside during the day. I finally finished it at 11 - didn’t think it would take so long.