Mexican Art

We spent some time in Quartzsite, Az and then decided we needed to get a few things done before the snowbirds all hit Yuma so we moved to Yuma.  The new resort we will be working at isn't ready to open yet so the owners had us park at Las Quintas Resort in Yuma for free until we can move to the new park.  Its very nice where we are -- the resort has a pool, hot tub, shuffleboard, bocci ball, volleyball, an exercise room and a rec hall with a laundry, library and pool tables.  So we should be able to keep busy playing while we wait. 

We went to Algodones, Mexico -- you just walk in from an Indian casino parking lot in the U.S. -- and we brought a piece of wood and an old gold pan to have painted.  If you have never seen spray paint art that the Mexicans do you should put it on your list of must sees.  It is amazing -- the artist that did our sign and the scene on the pan just used spray cans of paint and a scrunched up plastic bag as a brush.   He did have some cardboard cutouts for the animals to use as a guide otherwise it was all free hand.  We wish we could think of something else to have painted.  We've seen people bring all kinds of things across the border to have painted.  

Its been in the high 90's here in Yuma but its supposed to cool down to the high 80's starting this week which would be a little nicer for relaxing outside. 

Monument Valley Scenic Byway

 

The road to Monument Valley was a beautiful drive.  We stopped many times to take pictures because the scenery everywhere you looked was so gorgeous.  The owner of the campground we stayed at in Bluff, UT told us to drive to Goosenecks State Park.   We took pictures of one of the "goosenecks" of the Colorado River.  She had a picture of all three goosenecks on the wall of the campground office.  We decided the only way to get that picture was from a plane. 

 

After we left the Monument Valley area we headed south into Arizona.  We stayed at an RV resort in Camp Verde, AZ which is less than 100 miles south of Flagstaff.  The resort was owned by the Indian tribe that also owned a casino close by.  The resort had top ratings and we had to admit it was a very nice park.   We went from Camp Verde down toward Phoenix and then cut over west to an RV resort in Wickenburg.  We got as close to Phoenix as we ever want to be -- the traffic is terrible.    After visiting some friends in Sun City West and up in Prescott we headed farther west to Quartzsite.  We are parked here until the first part of November.  The new park that we are working at this winter is still under construction and we've been told they are two weeks behind schedule.  So we will have an extra two weeks of vacation before we start working again. 

 

 

Monument Valley

We traveled south from Arches and Canyonlands and found a nice quiet campground close to the Monument Valley Scenic Byway.  It was great to park the RV and just drive the truck on the scenic byway.  Most people take their RV's on the byway and then park at a campground right in Monument Valley.  We were glad we didn't.  We got to stop and take lots of pictures along the byway -- couldn't have done that with the RV and boat in tow.  We checked out the campground in the heart of Monument Valley and we would never have fit.  Its also expensive and you don't really get a view so we were glad we stayed a little north of there and paid half the price for a much nicer campsite. 

We checked out the different tours available through the Monument Valley Park itself.  It is on Navajo land and you need to pay to go in and the road they allow cars on is really meant for 4wheel drive vehicles.  We opted to take a tour with an Indian guide.  It was well worth the price -- we had our own private tour - just the two of us - and it only cost ten dollars more than other people were paying for a group tour.  We spent 3 hours going to almost two dozen sites and learning about the Navajo culture and the names of the beautiful land formations.  We felt like we were in a John Wayne movie.    

Arches & Canyonlands

Once we left Vernal we headed down to Moab.  We followed highway 191 down through Utah and it was an "exciting" ride.  Narrow roads that wound up and down through the mountains with lots of truck traffic and no shoulders.  The road was pretty rough in places which just added to the "fun".  Moab was very busy with lots of tourists from all over the country plus local weekenders enjoying some 4wheeling.  We drove through both Arches and Canyonlands National Parks.  They are both very beautiful and very different even though they are fairly close together.  Most of the famous arches are back off of hiking trails.  We didn't do much hiking because it had rained and the ground was that soupy, sticky, slippery mud.  Canyonlands reminded us of the Grand Canyon only smaller. 

Since Moab is in the middle of nowhere off of I-70 we found it kind of expensive -- they take advantage of their location close to the national parks and charge accordingly.   I did get a new grocery discount card that I can use in a lot of areas of the country since it is good at Kroger stores.  I now have quite a collection of grocery discount cards.

It was fairly warm in Moab but the rain did change to snow on the tops of the mountains that run between Utah and Colorado down there.  It was a very pretty sight from a nice long distance away.