Day 3 Kofa Wildlife Refuge – Palm Canyon Road

Whether the coyotes howling in the distance at 4am woke us up or if we were already awake and we heard them…we aren’t sure.  It was very cool.  Another reminder that this desolate place is alive. 

We took another road through Kofa.  The longer we stay, the more we see.  Today we noticed scat, animal tracks, a centipede, lots of butterflies, new wildflowers, a hummingbird, and a Gambel quail. 

Our lunch spot.

These are the guts of a dead saguaro. The wooden ribs once helped to hold the cactus upright. The round pouch that you see is actually a scar. A woodpecker probably drilled a home in this cactus. The cactus formed a scar or a “boot” around the wound, creating a nest for the woodpecker. When the woodpecker moves on, all kinds of other animals make their homes in the abandoned nests.

Did you know that Arizona has a “stupid motorist law?”  If you decide to cross a wash during a thunderstorm and get stuck in a flashflood, or if you go 4 wheeling and get into a mess that requires emergency services and rescue…then you have to pay for it!

I’m not sure if it is dust or the new wildflowers blooming…but I don’t feel very good…going to bed super early with lots of medication…need to feel better tomorrow!

Day 2 Kofa Wildlife Refuge – Palm Canyon Road

We took the road to Crystal Hill.  Quartzsite and the surrounding area is well known to rock hounders.  You can hike to the top of Crystal Hill and collect all kinds of interesting rocks and minerals.  We bypassed this hike though, and drove on the Pipeline Road through the northern portion of the refuge.  

Rocks and mountains and cacti everywhere.  I’m not tired of the view…I love it here.

Our lunch spot.

We drove through town to fill the Jeep with fuel.  We were also able to find the Quartzsite, Arizona Off-road Atlas and the Map of the Arizona Peace Trail also meant for 4 wheeling.

This evening we invited our neighbor, Bob, to join us for dinner.  We grilled shrimp and garlic flatbread with small potatoes and broccoli with teriyaki glaze.  It was nice to have some company. 

We had a campfire and watched the stars pop out.

“I wanna sleep with you in the desert tonight with a billion stars all around…’cause I got a peaceful easy feeling.”  Eagles 1972

Kofa Wildlife Refuge – Palm Canyon Road

Mileage:  57,319

We drove back to Kofa this morning and traveled in the RV, towing the Jeep, 8 miles down the dusty gravel road that leads to Palm Canyon.  We were able to get a free campsite in “dispersed camping.”  There are places along the park road where you can plant your rig and stay for as long as 14 days. 

We took the Jeep on a rough road called Kofa Queen Canyon Road.  The steep mountains nearly engulfed us as we made our way through the narrow passage.  The sky was brilliant blue, the sun warm, and the scenery incredible.

We have started to notice changes in the desert flora.  The wildflowers are beginning to bloom.

This cactus is a jumping cholla.  It is called a jumping cholla because the stems are easily broken.  This allows bits of cactus to fall to the desert floor where they begin to take root.  These pieces are also easily carried in the fur of animals or on items of clothing and spread through the environment.  In the past several days, these cacti have started to develop buds.

Happy hour today…because we were feeling happy!

Cactus spines hurt!

We met our neighbor, Bob.  He has been fulltime RVing for the past 5 years.  It was great to talk with him.  He had lots of good ideas for things we should try to see while we are in the southwest.

As we cooked dinner, the sun began to set. The sky was a glorious canvas. 

The mountains to the east were bathed in fiery red light.

We are looking forward to exploring more tomorrow!

Day 10 Arizona West RV Park Yuma, Arizona

Today was spent getting ready to camp in the desert. When we went to Kofa Wildlife Refuge the other day, we scoped out an area where we can park the RV for a couple of days. There are no hookups and no other services for miles. Today we did all the laundry, got firewood, propane for the grill, groceries, filled the fresh water tank, emptied the grey and black tanks so that we would be ready in the morning. We were finished with our chores and after lunch we were rewarded with some playtime. We took the bikes back to West Wetlands and rode along the Colorado River. We took at break to rest on a picnic table and I was cloud watching.

The view was outstanding.

I got to the top of the hill ahead of Tim. He is itty bitty on the gravel road far below.

This train is crossing the Colorado River from California into Arizona.

We decided to go out to dinner one more time. We have been trying to go to Da Boyz Italian Restaurant but once again they had a wait. We went back to Prison Hill Brewing and got the same thing we had the other night…yum!

A walk back to the car.

If the blog isn’t posted for the next several days…don’t worry about us. We will be in the desert and I’m not sure if we will be able to post. We will catch up when we get back to town!

Day 9 Arizona West RV Park Yuma, Arizona

We grabbed our passports and headed for Los Algodones, Mexico BC. This is a tourist town on the Mexican border. It caters especially to “medical tourism” or people who need cheap prescriptions, eye glasses, and dental work. There are about 350 dentists in the immediate area across the border. This town is nicknamed “Molar City.” We have found that it is easy to cross into Mexico. You park your car on the US side in a secure lot and just walk on in.

We walked among the street vendors. There is not a speck of wasted space on the sidewalks. People are selling jewelry, leather goods, blankets, pottery, metal art, clothing, hats, handbags, and all kinds of trinkets. Everyone invites you to come and look at their goods. “Cheaper in the morning.” You want this for $10.00…how about 5…for you senor…3.”

Also there are many salons for manicures, pedicures, massage and hair.

We stopped at La Parrilla, an outside patio restaurant where Tim had Tecate beer and we ordered chicken chimichangas for our lunch. The guacamole was very good and the tortilla chips were the best we have ever had.

We wandered around for awhile and then wandered back to the US border entry.

“Welcome to the line,” said the man selling cold water for $1.00 a bottle. We waited for about 40 minutes to cross, but there was shade and cold water if you wanted it. If you want the experience of going, you have to be willing to do whatever it takes!

Today it was warm enough to ride topless in the Jeep. I just read that 75% of the US population will suffer below freezing temperatures this week…it is sunny and warm here…that’s why we are here!

Day 8 Arizona West RV Park Yuma, Arizona

Our journey today began at the Palm Canyon Trail in Kofa.

From the parking area, there is a half mile trail up into the canyon.

The trail leads to a narrow rugged canyon where you can see the fan palms growing. This is a cluster of about 40 palm trees that have managed to survive in this harsh desert climate. This canyon allows the trees the perfect amount of moisture and sunshine. It is ecologically and biologically significant. For us though, this walk was not about the palm trees but more about the beauty of the canyon. My heart felt full as I made my way up through the rock formations. We took a lot of pictures…trying to convey just how special this was…the rugged peaks high above us, the surrounding mountaintops, the desert far below…this was an outstanding hike.

We had our lunch and decided to drive into Quartzsite. We wanted to see what the buzz was about and we needed to refuel the Jeep so that we could continue our ride. Quartzsite is the largest area for dry camping in the United States. You can come and park your rig in the desert and live there for free. There are a lot of area businesses that cater to the RVer’s. We saw signs for the RV Proctologist…he will come and take care of your holding tanks. This place was a carnival! There were all kinds of people selling all kinds of things from their RV’s and tents. It was a kind of giant swap meet. It is hard to put into words or pictures…

With a tank full of gas and cold drinks, we headed back to Kofa. We wanted to cook dinner in the desert, watch the sunset, and stargaze.

We stood then watching the stars pop out until we could see the Milky Way…simply beautiful!! Of course now it was very dark in the desert and we had to use 4WD to get out…such fun! We were hoping to see the animals begin to emerge. We saw about a dozen jackrabbits.

Today was an amazing day!

Day 7 Arizona West RV Park Yuma, Arizona

We began the day at the Yuma Farmers Market. There were a lot of cool things there, but mostly arts and crafts. We had been hoping for all of the local fresh veggies that are being harvested, but there was very little there to chose from.

The farming operations are huge commercial companies. There are 175,000 acres of cropland in Yuma. There are about 24 cooling facilities located here where the produce is held until it is taken out by truck. More than 1.000 tractor trailers move vegetables everyday. The harvesting is 7 days a week and sometimes 24 hours a day. 30,000 to 40,000 workers are in the fields on a daily basis. All of the fields are laser leveled flat. This is to ensure that water and chemicals applied to the crops stay on the fields. There is NO runoff. There are more than 75 winter crops growing here. If you eat salad in the winter, chances are that the lettuce was grown here. 11 salad processing plants in Yuma each process 2 million pounds of lettuce per day!

We took our bikes from the West Wetlands Park and biked into historic Yuma to see the Medjool Date Festival

We wandered through the booths, absorbing the gorgeous sunshine and the cool atmosphere. There are 20,000 RV sites in Yuma. In the wintertime, the town doubles its population because of snowbirds. There were lots of older people at this festival. Whoever arranged the entertainment was a genius though! The first groups were dance students. We all stood watching these little girls dance in their adorable tutus…a bunch of aging grandmas and poppops smiling and cheering! The second act was a mariachi band of young men. The star was maybe 9 years old and he was singing and playing the accordion quite well!!

The local sheriff complete with cowboy hat!

We had some lunch and decided to ride our bikes back. Then we drove to El Centro, California. The ride took us through more farm country. There also seems to be an infinite number of RV parks.

Imperial Dunes Recreation Area is BLM land. This is a 40 mile x 5 mile swath of sand dunes formed by windblown sands of ancient Lake Cahuilla. There were lots of ATV’s, OHV’s, dune-buggies, and dirt bikes enjoying the dunes.

The border wall was in sight to the south for the last portion of our drive.

We passed through a very scraggly and dry area of desert and then more canals and farmlands before the town of El Centro. This town is 50 feet below sea level. This is marked on a water tower as you drive into town. Consequently, the town is very dry and extremely hot in the summer, temperatures reach 120 degrees.

There were no festivals and the downtown area appeared to be fairly depressed.

We spent a quiet afternoon back “home.” Later in the evening I used some of our Medjool dates to make energy trail treats. These are great to take along for a hike or a bike ride.

Recipe for Energy Trail Treats

• 1/2 jar of Earth Balance peanut butter/coconut blend
• 1 cup mini semisweet chocolate chips
• 2 cups rough rolled oats
• 1 pound of Medjool dates finely chopped
• 1 cup of walnuts finely chopped

Mix ingredients by hand and form into 34-36 balls.

Day 6 Arizona West RV Park Yuma, Arizona

We began our bike ride at Caballeros Park.

This trail follows the West Main Canal. We initially had golf courses on our right. Across the canal was farmland.

We rode through residential areas…some nicer single family homes, some trailer parks, some very large and beautiful homes.

The trail had these dips built into the hillside above and extending down into the canals. I cannot imagine what a heavy rain must look like here. The ground is so dry and dusty and there is nothing to hold it in place. These washes help to direct the rainfall and collect it.

As we have traveled across the country we have seen cell phone towers “disguised” as crosses, pine trees, and palm trees. I’m not entirely sure who they think the are fooling!

At the West Wetlands Park we stopped to eat our lunch and watch a group of older gentlemen steering their remote control sailboats across the community pond.

Our ride took us though the adjacent park, Playa Linda.

“Sports do not build character, they reveal it.” The same might be said for hard work.

As we traveled past this field the air was filled with the aroma of cilantro. On the way north we faced a headwind. How very nice then on the return trip to be pushed along by a tailwind!

We didn’t get back to the RV until late afternoon. We got some groceries and rested. This evening we went back to Yuma and had dinner at the Prison Hill Brewing Company. We were able to sit outside on the patio and enjoy our dinner.

I don’t have a lot of pictures today and I don’t have a lot to say. Today though was a very good day! The warmer temperatures might have helped!

Day 5 Arizona West RV Park Yuma, Arizona

We began the day with a picnic packed and a general idea to head toward Imperial Dam. We crossed the Colorado River into California and took the back roads. On our way, we found BLM camping areas and so we wandered through to investigate. There were 100’s of RV’s parked in the desert. Some in groups and others in isolated areas. There are no hookups so you have to go in with sanitation tanks empty and propane and fresh water full. There are areas where you can stay long term…not sure that we would be interested in that…but it might be cool to stay out in the desert and see the night sky.

We stumbled upon the an old antique museum and didn’t go in but, there were some old trucks out front.

Our next great find was the date store. There are several groves full of date palms and the dates are ripe now. We could see forklifts with man cages high in the trees as the dates were being harvested. We went into the Imperial Date Gardens to do some shopping. We got fresh dates, local honey, fresh figs, and best of all a loaf of fresh date nut bread. We were hardly out of the parking lot before we were devouring the delicious, still warm bread.

The small Laguna Dam is a rock filled diversion dam on the Colorado River.

We traveled on and found a 4WD hill to climb for the best vantage point to see the Imperial Dam and Reservoir.

Yuma Proving Ground had exhibits of tanks and other military vehicles.

We drove to Kofa Wildlife Refuge to the King Valley Road entrance. We found a lunch spot.

We plotted a route on the rough gravel roads through the refuge, taking care to be sure the road passed all the way through! The brittlebush was in full bloom here.

The views were gorgeous.

This woman on horseback passed us on the trail.

Some more beauty…

There are 500-800 bighorn sheep living in this refuge. I scanned the mountain ridges all day looking for them. We were about a mile from the end of the trail when I spotted two. See if you can spot them on the ridge.

We stayed watching the sheep for a long while. As we approached the end of the road we saw that there was a gate that appeared to be padlocked and there was a sign that said PRIVATE PROPERTY. We were not sure that we were in the right place but then again there was no other place to turn…we tried the gate and it wasn’t really locked. We passed through that gate and two more before we found ourselves back on the main road. Always an adventure!!

Enough wandering for today. Time to go home!

Day 4 Arizona West RV Park Yuma, Arizona

We packed our lunch and loaded up the bikes. We drove to the Yuma Historic Riverfront at West Wetlands Park. It was a little chilly and windy as we began, but the sun was shining!

I know two little boys who would love this playground!

There is a designated multi-use path that runs along the canals and the lower Colorado River.

Border Patrol searching along the water’s edge.

The Ocean to Ocean Bridge was the bridge that finally made it possible for travelers to cross the United States without taking a ferry to cross the Colorado River. Arizona on the right and California on the left.

I like these pictures because they show what much of the landscape in this area looks like…farmland, canals, gravel/dirt roads, and mountains ahead.

There is a lot of work going on to restore the area along the Colorado River. The river banks have been stabilized and trees and other native plants have been reintroduced. The best evidence that the project has been successful is the return of wildlife, particularly “wintering, migrating, and resident birds.” We saw snowy egrets, herons, hawks, osprey, hummingbirds, a roadrunner, and ducks. This hawk was perched in a tree before he took off to hunt for lunch.

This train engine is in the exact location where the first train came into Arizona in 1877.

We ate lunch overlooking the river and the rode our bikes to the Yuma Territorial Prison State Historic Park.

The view from the prison yard.

The watch tower.

The museum was very interesting. I spent a lot of time at the medical exhibit. The medical care the prisoners received was supposedly topnotch for the time.

Pill bag.

I also enjoyed the Bad Girls Exhibit.

The prison was ill prepared to accept women and it apparently caused a lot of trouble when women were incarcerated here…go figure!

We walked through the cell block.

The prisoners were treated surprisingly well. They learned skills during their confinement and they had flush toilets and electricity. Yumans were aggravated and called the prison the Country Club on the Colorado.

Train passing by as we toured.

Solar farm at the park.

We stopped at Sprouts Farmers Market on the way “home.” We had sushi for our dinner.