Two Days Left in Yuma

We have two more days in Yuma and then we hitch up and head to Bullhead City AZ for a couple nights. We will be starting our journey to Sunset Utah to tune the motorhome up so we are ready to go to Alaska and join our friends Richard & Karen Hugo, Pat & Barb Pintus and Joe & Hannah Dubuc for a 3 month tour of Alaska.

As always it has been great being in the Foothills, weather has been sunny and very warm. Only a few days of wind storms and only a couple nights of rain. It rains so quick that you don't even think it rained because the ground is still dry. We tease people and say" we had 13 inches of rain......one drop every 13 inches!". Because of very little rain alot of people have the drip systems for watering their plants when they are away.

The town is getting quieter, on our block there are people in only 9 homes, everyone has left for cooler climates. The last couple days has been over 100 degrees.

Went to the border today for my Crestor meds that I get cheaper over the border, had our Cholesterol checked in Yuma and mine was way down from the last time so that was great. I won't see my doctor till we get back to the Northwest though. We decided to eat some shrimp tacos, the last time we'll be crossing into Algodones till we come back this winter.

Like many of the other Snowbirds we get our meds, glasses and dental work done in Mexico.
When Dan and I stopped working we lost all those benefits. Now we only have Catastrophic insurance and have no other insurance. So we have to go where it is cheaper....Mexico!


We talked to Josefina Ruiz who has a little shop in Algodones to have a bathroom mirror made to match my bathroom sink that I want to get from Mexico. Josefina said they are made in Delores Hildalgo ....famous for their beautiful pottery, so I have to tell her in advance so she can order it.

Went to Lowe's to check out the stacked washer /dryer I'll be buying and also getting a Idea which refrigerator to buy for the kitchen area of the casita.

Tomorrow is Happy hour & card games next door with Bob & Terry Wiggins and Earl and Sandy Estes. Bob has a prickly pear cactus for me to put in my 2nd garden area. Earl and Sandy have a couple more for me too of a different kind. Have to get them planted in the morning before we leave on Tuesday.

I always hate to put everything away when we leave. Construction will begin in Sept, our yard will be torn up to lay down the foundation, glad I took " Just bought" photo's to compare with those as we go along. Our patio will no longer be the patio and we will be facing North not South when we come back so hopefully they'll have the power/water/septic moved so we can pull in. Jerry our contractor is hoping to have the casita finished by Christmas.

Spoiled Cats

Spoiled Cats? WHO ME?

Biff, Sasha Mio & Felix relaxing in the shade in "Their" tent. They like the shade but they like that it is also a wind breaker the most. The boys don't like it when the wind picks up and flings the dust around.

Dang they caught me jumping over the walls and wandering again!

Biff looking leaner since last year. Last year he topped the scales at almost 31 pounds! From Sept to Feb he has lost 4 pounds and still losing....hooray!

The fact he can roam the yard in Yuma has been good for him but he is also living up to his middle name Houdini because he does just that he ESCAPES! He thinks that if Kitt next door can jump the walls and wander so should Biff.

Kitt next door being naughty, he keeps catching birds and critters and bringing them into the house

Here is Kitt, up on the wall giving the boys a bad time. Felix, Sasha and especially Biff get jealous that Kitt gets to wander all over the neighborhood and they can't!

News about the Casita

We have learned this can be an expensive venture making the casita. We wanted a patio on the roof with a staircase but was informed it would cost an extra $20,000 . So we checked that off our Wish List because we are on a strict budget. We would have had only a partial view of the mountains anyway so realistically we would be wasting the money.
If the bid goes though and we sign a contract ( Scary!) the ground breaking will start in Sept and will take 4 months to build. Then we have to make payments as they go along ...GULP!

With the price of gas going up , traveling alot is going to have to slow down after Alaska....if we have any money still in our pockets! I assume this means no shopping for me...darn!

I have to say both of us feel better health wise being here in Yuma AZ , we ache less and we exercise!

By having a casita I can get my stuff out of storage and stop paying for storage fees.
I enjoy doing my crafts when I am sitting still , it is very hard to do crafts in a small area in the RV so that is why I put everything in storage and taking photo's only.

We wanted a nice area for eating inside/outside and a place for guests that do not have a RV and room to enjoy card games with friends and neighbors.

So we will keep you posted as we go along.

Our Wish List

Ok Folks, Dan and I have decided that this is the style of Casita that we want to build. We like the three arches over the front porch. I do not want the roadrunner at the top of the arch on the roof though. I'd rather put something else in front of a solid arch .

I have talked to two couples who have this style and both liked the contractor who built them. The inside was really nice on both casitas.

Ours might not take as long to build because it will be 20 ft X 24 ft. UPDATE! Casita is 24 ft by 24 ft now!

We will talk to our friend Bob first to find out some info before we make the call to be on the list for this Winter. It will take 3-4 months to build from what the others have stated so looks like we will plan it after we come back from Alaska or next year.

Luckily we have lots of room so we can move the motorhome off to the side so we can get things started. We also need to move the power,septic and water to the sides since this casita will be in the middle towards the back of the lot and our hookups are closer to the middle right now. Now I need to put down on paper ideas on what goes where on the inside. I have never done this before so this will be a challenge.

One gal said to come by and show her Casita to Dan, there are alot of things to write down and Dan needs to see what I'm talking about.

Sooooooo....here is what has got us so excited here in Sunny warm Foothills of Yuma AZ.

We are getting our exercise here in the sunny weather, didn't realize I had walked 5 miles last night. Had to cut my walk in half tonight because the wind started up and started to whip up the dust. I love walking or riding my bike here. I really love checking out every one's yards because alot of the plants are in bloom and just gorgeous!

Beauty for only one day

Well folks I'm glad I have watched the progress closely of this Hedgehog cactus because it opened up and lasted only ONE DAY! It was so beautiful with colors of Yellow, Orange and Pink. The stamens in the middle were almost in a circular design. Petals looked like feathers! Now it is closing and will not open again.....

But alas...two more buds are forming so more will bloom while we are gone. Sandy & Earl our next door neighbors will have to enjoy them for us.

The birth of a Desert Beauty

When I came to the Foothills of Yuma Arizona in March of 2006, I did not know how beautiful the Desert can be with all it's scenery and cacti. I fell in love with the atmosphere of sunny skies, warm temps to thaw out my achy muscles and bones. I fell in love with an area that reminded me of my happy days of childhood riding my bike over miles of flat land. Walking is fun too because no two yards are the same and people wave as you walk by and very friendly. Every day we see people out taking walks in the mornings and evenings.
I hear birds chirping every day and love watching the bats fly over at dusk doing somersaults in the air catching bugs.
Another reason I like it here...no annoying bugs! Sasha Mio will find a black Beetle or a Grasshopper once in awhile and loves to eat the tiny red Ants. Thank goodness they are not Fire Ants!

I love to see the Lizards squirming across the yard looking for vegetation to eat....good eat my weeds!

I like to see the tall Palm trees and giggle that our neighbor Bob is using the palm leaves over his Tiki Hut Bar in his back yard behind us.

The Gila Mountains to the East are beautiful at Sunset and we have a good view of them from our yard, the skies are gorgeous to the West with shades of pink and tangerine and always worth a good photo taken.

After we bought our property in April of 2006 I wanted to plant some more plants but had to wait till October to buy them and plant them so they would get a better start when it was not so hot in the Summer and cooler in the Fall.

I went to the Cactus Man who lives in the neighborhood close by. This guy's home is surrounded with different kinds of Cacti. Many are for sale but many are his private passion. I bought 3 plants from him, a Golden Barrel, Hedgehog and Texas Mule Cripple.

The above photo is the Hedgehog that I planted in October and I am delighted beyond words to show you what has happened to it!

Small Garden complete

New Yard Art from Mexico for the garden

Two prominent buds sticking out and one more at the top and one on the bottom of the small Hedge hog cactus. The buds look like furry little balls on the spines.

Buds getting bigger and BIGGER!

To my surprise the flowers bloomed at night!

Huge Blooms!

Just Beautiful!

Desert News

Well folks it's been great here in the Foothills of Yuma AZ. Weather has been sunny and very warm most of the time. We did have one night that the winds kicked up to over 50 M.P.H. Everything had to be put in the shed or held down with something heavy that day. We soon discovered the satellite dish did not withstand high winds and fell over! It's still running thank goodness but now we have learned to play it safe and take it down and put in the shed.

The Snobirds are leaving each day and as we take our leisurely walks we see less lights on the fences and getting darker down the streets at night. The way the weather has been though I'm not wanting to go up North just yet!

Travel we must though so we can get the motorhome all tuned up to travel to Alaska this Summer so we leave our little piece of Heaven in the Foothills on May 1st. We will be heading to Utah just outside Salt Lake City with stops to Bullhead City AZ and St George Utah before we get to Charlie's Service in Sunset Utah to see our friends Charlie & Vicki DuBose.

Before Charlie's we hope to go to Provo so I can find my Ancestor's Pioneer graves. Then we will mosey over to Idaho and corner of Oregon to see my Sister Chris and then my family in Eastern WA and the rest of the family in Wa before heading to Alaska.

While in the Foothills I have been taking lots of photo's of casitas ( little guest houses/storage room/whatever rooms) .We will not have it any bigger than 20 ft X 24 ft and we would like to put a patio up on the roof to watch the glorious Sunsets in the foothills. So we are getting ideas and talking to others about them.

Our neighbor Bob Wiggins is a retired Contractor so we will have him be one of our consultants since we know nothing of building a structure. Through him we hope to find a contactor that can do it all and not cost us a arm and leg!

We do want to put in a bathroom, washer & dryer & frig. Need plenty of shelves or closet space so we do not have clutter and then a Murphy Bed for guests. I will be glad to have my art room back and not all packed away in storage.

We have had guests come stay with us. Sid & Barbara Zielke have a motorhome like ours. We headed to Algodones Mexico for shrimp tacos and some yard art, had a great time together. We hated to say good-bye to them as they drove off into the Sunset .