Steven & Fran's Travelog for 2009
The Reunion Tour - Part 5
Reunion Tour 2009 Part Five
Day 23 - Travel Day - We headed for Yuma and that headwind out of the east we had on I-10 several day ago was now coming from the west on I-8. From the git-go that morning I felt a vibration in the truck, even when the road was smooth. I said nothing to Steve but it wasn't long until he mentioned it. He said we would probably be okay until we made it into Yuma and the BIG O tire store. We hadn't been to Yuma in several years, but we had purchased new back tires for the truck when we were there the last time.
There is a lot of repetition in the scenery between Gila Bend and Yuma but when there is not a lot else to look at we take to counting certain kinds of vehicles. There are some RVs ...5ers as well as motorhomes ... that are instantly recognizable but there are others that have names that are not discernible from across median strips of highways.
So far we have counted way more Montana 5ers than any other kind of RV. Other things we count at times are Corvettes, Schwann trucks and sometimes we do FedEx and UPS, I guess just because they stand out. This sort of activity occurs when we've forgotten the Nano with the audio book.
We did make it to Yuma and the Big O store was still there. We pulled off the road and into the store's very small parking lot. Inside Steve discussed with the clerk the type of tires and decided that we wanted new ones on both sides. They had what we wanted in stock. We were then told to pull our rig around to the other side of the building and they would change the tires there without us having to unhitch. Steve wiggled his way through traffic, parked cars and stacks of tires and finally got the rig around to the designated area. That was the easy part.
The hard part was next ...we sat in the truck for more than two and a half hours waiting to have the job done. They were busy, and it was lunch time but we thought they had forgotten we were there. About the time we were thinking there must be another tire store in Yuma the technician arrived and began changing the tires.
Finally, sporting huge, expensive new tires, we took off for Winterhaven, CA where we had planned to stay. The Sans End is a nice park just across the river from Yuma. Rustic, shady, great old palm trees everywhere and nice folks. We signed on for three nights.
We got connected to our utilities and settled in a bit then called Gayle and Buddy Lee, as are the Emmons that we visited at Emerald Cove, the Lees are former residents of the Sutter Yuba area north of Sacramento in California, which is our base. The Lees are now residents of Yuma, AZ. They invited us to dinner at their place the next day.
Day 24 - We decided to get an early start and go to Las Algodones, Mexico. There was a forecast of rain for the next day and we didn't want to be across the border if it did rain. We park on the U.S. side and walk over the border. It’s easier that way although sometimes the lines waiting to get back into the USA are quite long. We found what we were looking for and used our new Passport Cards to re-enter this country.
Dinner with the Lee's that evening was delicious. It is always great fun to visit with them. They are very active folks who enjoy all the activities offered by their RV Resort. And they always have good stories to tell.
Day 25 - We stayed at home trying to do catch up on computer work. Decided to go to Yuma and resupply our drinking water in the afternoon.
While there we drove by a music store and it reminded me I needed a G string for my fiddle. After getting fish tacos for supper we headed back to the park to get ready to leave in the morning.
Back at the park the sky threatened rain but none came.
If you look closely you may see the rainbow under the palm over our rig.