#11-15 Dixie and, Dalye’s birthday, Algodones with Linda and Anniversary Lunch at Jullianna’s 3-27 thru 3-31-11

When there is no house to decorate for a birthday party, you use the back of the RV!!!!

Frank did a nice job of keeping the party a secret. We had moved from the RV park to a private lot in the foothills, and I thought we were going to a good-by party for the street (Prickly Pear) that we parked on. But, it was a surprise birthday party, for me, but also for Dayle who’s birthday was 3 days later.

Dayle and I each had hair bands to wear for our birthday’s. Barb is showing us the cake and we had to blow out the candles! Dayle is fun and funny, so we had a great time.

What a great group of friends to go to all this preparation for us. Maude and Ian were packing to leave the next day, and many others had already headed back to their northern homes. But, if there is a party—everyone shows up with their chairs and drinks. Gidget loved happy hour!

The B’day Party 3-27-11 VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

A great picture of Linda (wearing one of my beaded projects) at the party. By the time she had met and enjoyed our RVing friends, I think she had a better idea of what fun is all about. We even took her to look at some small class B rigs! Retirement is great!

Monday the 28th of March, Linda had a dentist appointment in Algodones to have a new crown fitted. Frank came with us and we had lunch there and did some shopping.

Linda remembers her Spanish from high school and we finally found out what Algodones means. It is cotton and the area used to grow a lot of it. On the sign welcoming us to Algodones you can see the cotton bolls up in the top right hand corner.

We encountered this dancer on the street. From what we were told they do this on the 40 days of Lent. There were a number of the dancers on the streets where we walked.

The next day we went out to lunch at Julianna’s. The restaurant is tucked away among a lot of Dr. offices and near the hospital. Julianna’s husband is a Dr. and she runs the restaurant. We sat outside in the Patio area.

All the patio table tops are done in mosiac patterns. We walked around and looked at them. Most are birds and fish or sea life and really fun to see. I should have taken more pictures. The weather again was beautiful and not too hot!

Tomorrow Linda leaves for Oregon. The time has gone by so fast. It was really nice to have her visit and share some of our experiences with us. Thanks, Sis for making the trip!

#11-14 Linda Arrives, Dinner at Mia Fajita and a lunch at Lutes with a visit to prison. 3-21 & 3-23-11

Linda Phillips finally arrived in Yuma for her winter visit with us. We wanted to introduce her to all our new friends, so arranged a small dinner party of 20 at the local Mexican Restaurant, Mia Fajita.

Let’s see how many I can name, starting from the left. Wilma and her husband (can't think of his name), Jim and Marianne, Marg and Ron, John and Barb Perry, Frank and Dixie, Linda and Mike, Ian and Maude, Barb and John Parent, Mike and Heather (John and Barb’s cousins), Judy and Don . Not too bad. Only forgot one husband's name!

It was a good time and a good meal.

Our next outing with Linda was one we had been saving until she arrived. We went to Lute’s for lunch and then visited the Yuma historical Prison!

Outside Lute’s is a cardboard prisoner without a head. So Linda gets to be the prisoner today! She really enjoyed looking at all the wall art, and even found a picture of the Mayor of Portland!

The Territorial Prison is now a historical site and we were able to catch up with a group on tour to learn a little about the prison. It had quite a history, and was considered by the town folk to be a “country club” because it had electricity and air conditioning before many of the local people did.

Frank and Linda at the Prison VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

The sign above tells a little about the prison. If you double click on the picture you can view it full screen. Press the escape key to go back to the blog.

Inside the cells you can read the writings on the walls. They have been preserved and some have dates in the early years of the 1900’s.

The entry into the prison State Park is really pretty.

These are the views from the top of the water tank. As you can see we had beautiful blue skies and pleasantly warm weather.

#11-13 Los Algodones good-by party 3-19-11

On Saturday the 19th of March the town of Los Algodoes threw “good-by” party for all the visitors who were leaving for the summer. The town closes off two blocks of streets, sets up a stage, serves food, beer, margaritas, and advertises itself. It is quite a production.

Above is the plates of food served, and you have to just sit where you can find a chair and eat off your lap—no tables. The city provides the plastic chairs and as you can see above, you sit is the street and enjoy!

This table above is where a dentist is advertising his services. Complete with a set of teeth!. The music act above is a father and daughter. They encouraged people to dance in front of the stage and also pitched their next performance locations.

Ladies above were dancing with the Lion and with the Mime. Everyone seemed to be having a really good time. Free beer and margaritas will do that!

Dixie found the lion near the free Margarita stand out in front of the Purple Pharmacy and Liquor store. Or maybe, the Lion found her.

Time to go home, the margarita mix is all gone, and the trash box is filled. I had only one margarita, but two shrimp tacos, so no problem driving the 20 miles back to our RV park. It was a great day with perfect weather!

#11-12 Lute’s Casino and Pool Hall 3-14 and St Patrick’s Day 3-17-2011

After we left the Peanut Patch we headed to Old Town Yuma. When I went on the Garden tour with the ladies, they showed me “Lute’s Casino,” which is an eating establishment now. I wanted to take Frank there for lunch because it is so unique.

Our first stop in Old town was the old Post Office. It was open and we could look inside at the lobby. Below is a couple of pictures of inside. It is just beautiful, and had been restored and is now an office building.

Then on to lunch! Frank is in front of the entrance to the casino. There isn’t any gambling inside!

Below are just some of the stuff hanging around on the walls, from the ceiling, on the posts and any other place that can be covered.

The gentleman at the piano has been there every time I’ve been in. He will play requests while you eat.

The old days of the Casino date back to 1901. It has not always been a restaurant, but for many years it has been the local pool hall, and still has the billiard tables in the back corner. They serve a very good corned beef sandwich!

On March 16, the first rattlesnake of the season was captured and put to death. We were gone, but Ron and John sent me pictures. It’s a big un.

The snake catcher just lops the head off with a pair of garden loppers. The snake was about 4 foot long I’m told.

St. Patrick’s Day started out with a bang. Jim and Marion were both dressed up in their finest green. With shamrocks and hats and beads.

Jim, in his leprechaun hat with his vest. John from Washington state with Barb from Canada.

Happy hour and toasts to us all. A beautiful day and a fun group.

St. Patrick’s day dinner VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

After an Irish corn beef and cabbage dinner, we were all still sitting outside enjoying the warm night and great company.

I even brought out the lamp so we could see each other!

While the men were inside—doing dishes and drinking whiskey, four of us ladies went for a walk. There were parties every where. Maude invited them all to come swimming with us. Barb, from Canada, found her cousins, Mike and Heather who were parked on a different street. So we grabbed them and brought them back to the party!

And along comes Jim, trying to get us to go skinny dipping in the pool with him (he had shorts on under his towel!)

It ended up with four of us down at the pool having a great time cooling off (and sobering up) in the warm water until we were asked to leave so the pool could be closed for the night. We were out by 10 p.m.

It’s a St. Patrick’s day we will never forget! ! !

#11-11 Dinner at Marg & Ron’s 3-12, Garden tour 3-13 & Peanut Patch 3-14-2011

Here we are again at Happy Hour. Marg and Ron invited us over for dinner—we are using some of the vegetables we brought home from Lettuce days!

After dinner toast. Left to right, Frank, Dixie, Barb from Ohio, Big John from Canada, John from Ohio, Barb from Canada, Ron and Marg, both from Canada. Marg made a delicious Caesar Salad and Ron Bar-b-qued some pork loins. Yummy!

Sunday afternoon four of us ladies from the “street” in the park decided to go on the Garden Tour. After church we met at Judy’s RV and she drove. Marion had her GPS and we used it to drive to the different locations of the home gardens on the tour. Wilma was a real trooper, she stayed right up with us even tough she has COPD and gets out of breath.

Our first stop was the old Post Office building in Old Town Yuma. The building was closed, so all we were able to see was the garden outside. It had a beautiful bottle brush tree in front.

Then we walked to a couple old homes in the old town area. One was an unique two story adobe home. It even has a porch off the upstairs room.

Back in the car and driving to the rest of the homes on the tour. Some were really lush, and others used desert-scape to decorate their yards

The fountains and art work in the yards made them unique. My Mom would have loved the elephant fountain. She would say he was a happy elephant because his trunk is up in the air.

The tractor below is all made out of pop/beer cans. It was very cool.

Of course our favorite was the home owned by the Dr. and his wife who owns Juliana’s Restaurant. They have almost an acre of back yard and a view of Mexico, California and Arizona from one of the many seating areas. An infinity pool graces the back yard along with a pool with water cascading over rocks with lots of tropical plants. All this is terraced down to an area where there are live chickens in their own enclosure. The citrus trees on the grounds provide the lemons and oranges used in the restaurant. We were fortunate enough to talk to the owner and she explained a lot of the plants to us. Below are just a few of the pictures I took of this fantastic garden.

Garden tour Feinberg home VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

The next day Frank and I took off early (had to be there by 10:00 am) and visited The Peanut Patch. It used to be a peanut growing farm, but now it is just a gift and candy shop. They sell all kinds of products made from peanuts, but the peanuts are shipped in from Oklahoma and Virginia. Because the weather here in Yuma is so temperate, no freezing, the bugs got into the ground and couldn’t be frozen away, so no more peanut crops.

Above is the owner of the Peanut patch showing one young man how fresh peanut butter is made.