February 8-14, 2019 — There are many benefits to living and traveling full-time in an RV, one of which is not being tied to a set schedule and having the flexibility to change plans as desired. Originally we planned for a short visit to the Yuma, Arizona area, just long enough to visit Wisconsin friends and see the dentist in Mexico, but that “short” visit morphed into almost two weeks. Our wonderful Boondockers Welcome hosts we were staying with invited us to extend our time so we could go along with them for a second week of off-roading fun with their 4×4 group. What great hosts!
We LOVE the Boondockers Welcome program. It is a great way to meet fellow RVers and learn about the local areas all while enjoying a safe and free place to overnight. Annual membership fees range from $15-30, less than one night at a campground. Currently there are well over 1,000 Boondockers Welcome locations in North America and more are joining all the time. Have questions about the program? Let us know and we will help you find the answers.
6 nights this week were free stays at a Boondockers Welcome host site and 1 night was spent on Bureau of Management (BLM) land near Quartzsite, Arizona.
Colorful tree-ripened locally grown fruit. Yum! Another perk of wintering in the Arizona desert.
Look how green the desert is! Thanks to an abundance of rain this winter the desert has come alive with color. The Painted Desert Trail is located inside the Imperial National Wildlife Refuge north of Yuma, Arizona. The 1.3 mile loop trail offers stunning views of the Lower Colorado River Valley and Sonoran Desert. What a beautiful hike!
Interesting hoodoo rock found along the Painted Desert Trail in the Imperial National Wildlife Refuge. So cool!
A traffic sign announcing no traffic signs. Hmm….
Maintenance time on the RV. Projects this week included checking the roof integrity and applying sealant to prevent potential leaks along with defrosting the refrigerator/freezer.
No roads, no problems. We had such a good time off-roading last week with our Boondockers Welcome host that we decided to stick around the Yuma, Arizona area longer than planned so we could go out with the group again. This week we explored the Western Barry Goldwater Range. The area was much more rocky than we experienced the prior week but all the Jeeps made it through. We look forward to returning next winter for more 4×4 fun.
While off-roading in the Western Barry Goldwater Range we saw four abandoned vehicles including the one pictured below. Would be interesting to know the story of why they were left behind.
While in Yuma, Arizona we enjoyed date shakes for the first time. Yum! Ground/chopped dates are added to vanilla ice cream and blended resulting in a very sweet shake. Dates are grown in the United States (southern California, Arizona & Florida) and Mexico (Sonora & Baja California) as well as Iraq, Iran, Arabia and parts of northern Africa. Pictured below are Arizona grown Medjool date palms. The trees take 4 to 8 years after planting to produce fruit and bear 150-300 pounds of fruit per harvest season.
Another great week in the books. We highly enjoyed our time in Yuma with our Boondockers Welcome hosts but it was time to move on. Follow along next week as we make our way to the Lake Havasu City, Arizona area. See you then!