Bailey

Today we head, for the second time, to the Yuma Proving Grounds. TripAdvisor’s #5 best things to do in Yuma. Second time cause they were closed on Friday when we attempted a visit.   Photo 1; if you look at the sign, to the right of the brick and a bit up. the little dot is a military ✈️.  You’ll see more of it soon

We understand you have to register: both our driver’s licences, Bob’s registration & insurance to enter.  We are prepared and anxious to see the Heritage Museum

The front lawn of the entrance, lots of tanks

In we go with all our docs, “hello how can I help”, we say we’re here to see the Heritage Museum, “that’s no longer open”.  Why oh why didn’t we read to the end of the web page.  The part that reads… Hours of Operation:  Closed until further notice.

Back to the plane, it appears the pilot may be practicing as the plane did several fly-bys

Next stop   

Tiny church’s story, click here

There is even an outhouse! 

The church is surrounded by goodness

Introducing (who else is tired of me naming everything)  “Colourful Flammy”For those of us who have known Allan forever, who would have ever thought we’d see him in this pose!

Kyle, Megan notice Allan’s “Wonder Woman” sleeve  You guys give the best gifts.  Allan is loving it, never lost a screw today (back off with the screw references LOL)Out with the old

In with the new…  Way to go Allan!!

That done, out for a walk and some pickleballing.

Next up light the bomb for the charcoal grill

Delicious…Heat =   

Now to the highlight of the day!   

We’ve been looking forward to the festival, it’s our “Date Day, Date Fest”

Start the day at the Yuma Farmer’s Market, they have great fresh produce inexpensively priced.  Seems to be turning into a weekly visitOn to the festival. It’s very crowded, by now crowds feel more like the norm though I’ve never been a fan of crowds,

In the crown who does Allan spot?? Friends Debbie, Donny & Lucy. Her dark coat blends in too well, she is here 🙂

Entertainment and vendors galore.  What we can’t find are date squares or a date shake

Lunch time!  Lutes Casino has a specialty burger called what else “Lutes Special”  A burger with hot dogs in it

Looking for a wedding chapel?   

Trivia! We easily remember the zip code here cause when we saw Elvis one of his jokes was “Yuma 85 degress for 365 days”  hence 85365.  It’s not true but it doesn’t make the zip easy to remember

Haven’t found a date square or date shake yet.  Are date squares Canadian like Butter Tarts.  Turns out… “A date square is a Canadian dessert or bar cookie made of cooked dates with an oatmeal crumb topping.”  Allan, time to give up!!

We did get our new favourite hot sauce. Mamma Bella, “Mamma Bella es muy deliciosa”

Walk the wetland times.  This is the back of the Yuma Penitentiary as seen on the beginning of our walk. Birds on our walk!  We also saw a Roadrunner

Almost 10k steps, it’s that time   

Back at the festive we find a date shake!  More of a date “spoon”  I thought shakes were consumed with straws!  This is very good and not as sugary as expected

Fun day!  Hot tub time and throw in howling at the full moon!

We are working on our Yuma Buck List!!  Have seen lots already but don’t want to miss out on stuff so now have a list.    Up today…Castle Dome Ghost Town Museum

Driving we spot..  what is it??  First thought, a plane but it didn’t move, next guess a cloud. Next, neck guess – a dog. No to the cloud & dog.  We settle on a UFO 🛸🛸

Allan checking out the signage.  No photos, hum

Pavement ends here.  Didn’t know we’d be on a rocky road for the last 14km (8.5m).  Happy we didn’t decide to trailer a Vette.  About 1k into the drive we encounter this sign.

Made it!  Bob loves this type of road, us not so much.

We were surprised that way out there there was an RV park to accomendate about 5 RVs with full hookups.  Maybe park workers?

 

Love the upper balcony The fountain; the sign  🙂

The mine shaft

Shattered glass is common around historic mining sites. Hard at work!

 

Hum! having a little bit of a good time?

What happens when you drink on the job?

Look at those pipes!   

My bother used to work for Peter&Paul.  Their sogan was “Sometimes you feel like a nut, sometimes you don’t”

Finally, an animal! 

Bottles, bottles, bottleBack to our UFO.  Mystery solved! I thought at certain angles it looked like there was a rope attached to it,  It was a rope and it’s connected to the fan on photo 2.  Look above the fan to spot the rope

Turns out it is a Aerostat blimp that flies at 10,000, The blimp is one of eight that are part of the Tethered Aerostat Radar System owned by the U.S. Customs and Border Protection. They are used for surveillance of the southern U.S. border.

We have a “really want to must see” list.  This is on it 🙂

“The Colorado River State Historic Park is located on a portion of the grounds of the old U.S. Army Quartermaster Depot (QMD) established in 1864. For nearly 20 years, all the military posts in the Southwest traced their lifelines to the Yuma Quartermaster Depot. On the high ground above the Colorado River, the U.S. Army’s warehouses held a six-month supply of clothing, food, ammunition and other goods for forts in Arizona, Nevada, Utah, New Mexico and Texas – and were surrounded by as many as 900 mules and their teamsters. This beautiful 10-acre park includes five buildings dating back to the Depot’s earliest days – among the oldest and best-preserved buildings in the state of Arizona.”

Cause you always need more cowbell, even back then

We walk the trail on the other side of this structure.  Allan wondered what it is, I told him it was where they burned the bodies.  I may have been a little wrong,  but in my defence it does look like it from the other side. This building looks like this on all four sides, no windowsNot sure why I never wondered how pomegranits came to be…

Inside the chef honchos digs

What’s smack dab in the middle of the park??An authentic Italian restaurant.  The owner, Mario, says it’s the best Italian anywhere but don’t take his word for it, try it ourselves.  We were too full but we will be back!  Who would have thought it was a good idea to put an Italian restaurant in a state historic park?  We thought we’d go on New Year’s Day but the park is closed so you can’t get to the restaurant

In the restaurant which used to be… see map above is this massive safe

Hanging out with Teddy!

Would not catch either of us in thisStand clear, train is comingAnyone looking for a new book? 

One of my favourite views

My parents were Austrian, we always celebrated on Christmas Eve.  Did a few Christmas mornings when Kyle was young but that never felt right. Open the evening of the 24th!

24th last of the advent calendar.  We look at it as it was fun while it lasted VS sad that it’s over. We are both amazed there where only 4 beers Allan dumped!  There were some that sounded way out thereToday’s tasks are the Yuma Farmers Market, smaller than we thought it would be but great prices on farm fresh produce!  We grabbed a yummy street taco..  $3/ea 2 for $5

Main mission!  Pick up our ready to heat Christmas dinner at Sprouts 🙂

Guess what Allan is hoping for? 

It’s that time! 

Love my bangles! Thanks K&M

From these to these!  May be a bit warm for these here

Gifts from the kids 

What are they?

Don’t walk around the kitchen with powerful magnets!  Stuck!!!Allan’s old one is wearing out, that can never be!!

Hope to get here soon!  Big story behind this t-shirt.  I’ll pass telling it for now

This is to remember how we thought we’d die!  A hike for the not meek at heart,  Only made it because our friends Doris & Kevin did, if not for them I would have quit while I was still alive,  Thanks to this t-shirt I will remember forever LOL

Can’t see my Christmas bling on my person,,here it is.  I  am very spoiled!

Christmas morning 

Allan got his driver’s car for Christmas, the yellow loser one! The second coin is K&M sent, “Joint Taskforce Ukraine, Operation Unifier” was Kyle’s Ukraine deploymentAllan loves his new 🍺mug

Dinner!  The park’s Christmas dinner was potluck, they donate a ham (not turkey) to each table.   Each table has a host who gets to bake the ham, everyone else brings a pot luck dish.  We are way too germaphobia for this.      Thank you Sprouts!

Just missing K&M, next year!!

Last year in Nanaimo it was “Frosty Bucket” in the cold, today it’s “ROCKing Around” in Yuma under bright sunshine!

First breakfast 🥣

Jerry our ex-neighbour headed back to Manitoba yesterday so left us with their condiments and other stuff, including potatoes.  We haven’t had potatoes in the house since going Keto.  We’re now more low carb so indulged and had fries in the air fryer last.  Love our air fryer!

The hit, however, are the tostadas, never had those shells, they will now be added to our staples.  Allan whipped them into a breakfast tostadas.  Simply yummy

Today’s adventure begins at,,,Get your map here! 

Nanaimo’s Frosty Bucket was open to all, today’s was all but more kids.  We were going to pass but then thought “what the heck! we’re here, we’re in”  We’ll not enter to win the prizes just have fun finding the rocks

We’re off!       

The search!!

   

​The ROCKS!

Love birds watching over us, but not helping! 

We’ve done a few loops, looking here & there then here & there again.  Simply can not find the last rock.  “Joy” is not very joyful for us. Allan said we can either 1) proudly say we found 13 out of 14 or 2) say we are losers cause we didn’t find all 14

Here’s option 3:  Allan asks for a hint 🙂

An “elf” walks Allan over to the shelter, we searched in it 2 different times but never looked up.  Survivor would be disappointed in us!

We’re feeling the Joy now!  Glad we got the tip cause we wouldn’t have looked in there again.

Back at Bailey, we play 2 games of Pickleball.  We’re having fun learning to play better.

It’s bevvy time!  Allan did like hisIn closing I’m sharing Kyle photo of their deck  This is what Victoria looks like, pretty but so wrong!  

We’ve never had a tamale!  Eager to try one, today is the day!

What is a tamale?    “Tamales are a traditional Mexican dish made with a corn based dough mixture that is filled with various meats or beans and cheese. Tamales are wrapped and cooked in corn husks or banana leaves, but they are removed from the husks before eating.”

There are many booths selling tamales, this is one of the cuter ones.  All tamales cost $3.00/ea or a meal for $10.  Meals include 2 tamales and a side of macaroni saladThe first entertainers, Yuma Jazz Company 

Some of the lineups are crazy long.  For our first tamale we choose a not so long line up

Allan gets “Elote con queso y chile”   I went with chicken, mine was much better

Because people like crowds our next tamale comes from a popular booth that has a long line.

We get in line @12:15     

12:37 we’re at the front of the line

Shrimp for me, pork for Allan.  Both are a hit!  All our tamales were wrapped in corn husks.                                                              We like  🫔🫔🫔🫔

Hard at work!!

Side Hustle Band  We thought they would be better but fun nonetheless

Chuckled at this tent!“Established before it was legal”

Bullrider!  The kid at the desk controls how much bucking goes on

You’ll never guess what we did next!!!

We got our Covid vacs & boosters in BC but left too soon to get the annual flu shots.  We tried Walgreen’s they, they have tons of forms to fill out and a $35 copay.  We passed, glad we did as at the Tamale Festival it was a quick sign up, only one form and the shot was FREE!

Next up, dancers.  It was a fun festival 🙂

From downtown Somerton to downtown Yuma

First a walk-about then dinner at Da Boyz

When we got back to the park our neighbour, Jerry, excitedly pointed at the sky to show us “Sundogs”.   Never heard of them before!  A day of learning first tamales then sundogs!  Not my photo of the one we saw, by the time I thought of taking a photo it was gone.

Official explanation: “Sundogs are colored spots of light that develop due to the refraction of light through ice crystals. They are located approximately 22 degrees either left, right, or both, from the sun, depending on where the ice crystals are present.  They can be seen anywhere in the world during any season, but are not always obvious or bright.”

Advent time!  Enjoyed by us both

We had errands to run in the Foothills so being in that neck of the woods we decided to explore the lights 55th St.   I get it’s daylight but thought we’d get an idea on whether it is worthwhile to return at night

We’ve never seen such a  subdivision, it has brick & sticks homes, RV hooks ups, mix & match.This is Allan’s type of subdivision, many homes are more garage than house

Some are friendlier than others.

This section has the most lights 

The most elaborate navity scene we’ve seen in a front yard

Another cute front yard

Another house of Allan’s dreams.  Garages!!All who know Allan will know what he thought of today’s brew!Allan still has a few surprises under his belt!  He didn’t love it but liked it.  To recap so far, 15 days in there were only 2 losers!

Not much excitement except:

1) our pickleball paddles & balls arrived in a back pack

2) after several days & attempts we got the new TV installed. We went through 2 mounts, I would have given up, happy now that Allan’s determination won!  It has a great picture.

We decided burritos for dinner but no sour cream so off we walk to Walmart, Today is the worst weather day since we’ve been in Yuma. “As the Sunniest Place in the World, Yuma has an average of 308 sunny days per year… that’s 4,000 hours of pure Vitamin D!”  This is one of the 57 non-sunny days.

This is the cart that won first place in the “Golf Cart Parade”  Well deserved  My new tagline…. “Don’t get your tinsel in a tangle!”

This is the first brew neither one of us wanted to drink! Oatmeal brew, who thinks up this stuff?

Burritos!  As I am writing this on the 13th I am going to include our advent #13.

After waiting all these days Allan gets an amber.  Should have guessed this as Omi was all about the 13ths and Allan!  Taste test: Declared it good but not as good as Shiner BockDinner wine, Berlinger Merlot but in a clear bottle.  What’s up with that, Clear bottles are used primarily for wines that are meant to be consumed young. Coloured g

lass is essential for age-worthy wines because they limit exposure to sunlight and fluorescent light rays that can change the colour, aroma and taste of the wine.Watching Shark Tank then off to the hot tub.