Yuma, Arizona: Hello from the USA. I can't promise a very exciting report today, as today was a "driving day"... which all RVer's know, usually does not involve much excitement.
If we are lucky.
We woke to clouds, high surf and wind. Though I had cleaned the bus top-to-bottom on Monday, this morning the Magna Peregrinus required another swabbing o'the decks. Sand, wind and surf combine to make a gritty coating on everything. Blech.
Dad hitched up. We hitched up. At 9:30a, we pointed our rigs north and traveled 80 miles to the US-Mexico border.
Truth be told, this morning it was really just the US border. We never saw a Mexican official. Seems you can leave Mexico, but the US immigration officials want to know who you are, where you have been and where you are going. Our passports were requested.The lanes to pass through US immigration and customs are 10'-8" wide. Our bus is 8'-6" wide - and we have huge mirrors on either side. Of course, My Driver (and My Dad, following behind us) cleared this obstacle course with ease.
Me? I was holding my breath. (As if holding my breath would to make our coach a few inches smaller.)
The US immigration official asked if we were Americans. Where had we been? Where were we going? Did we buy anything in Mexico? We told him we had souvenirs (20 bobble-head creatures are souvenirs, right?). He asked us where we were from and told us to have a nice day. The same questions were asked of Dad and we both continued on our way.
Fifty miles down the road we were both stopped at a US Border Patrol check point. We were asked if we had any aliens in our bus. We said no. The agent asked if we had any drugs in our bus? We said no.
Luckily for us, US Border Patrol are not interested in bobble-head turtles.
Whew.
And so we arrived in Yuma, Arizona for the night. (Dad is spending a few days with friends and will join us again next week.) We needed to clean our bus - again - of another inch of sandy grit due to terrible winds all day, and stock-up at a grocer before our next adventure. We are camped over-night at The Palms RV Resort, where we have camped before. This RV park has sites for sale... and if the owners are away, or the sites are unsold, you can rent by the night or week.
Currently the RV park has "Jungle Fever" and sites are going for $19.95 per night. With tax, we paid just over $22 for our site - 50 amp, full hook-ups, luxury pools, spas... everything. We haven't paid this little for a campsite in years, and this RV park is quite nice - such a deal!
Still, I have no idea how one can contract Jungle Fever in the desert.DT and I headed out to the local grocer to replenish our wine stash larder, and tonight we stayed in. Amazingly enough, I sautéed flounder from The Three Boys in Puerto Penasco and roasted asparagus spears I bought (for $1) from a beach vendor yesterday.
Hey look - it's Garlic Fish! Third (or fourth?) time this week.Except this time, the Garlic Fish came out of my little RV kitchen. I cooked the fish in a little olive oil and butter combo with three cloves of minced garlic. Two minutes per side and the thin fillets were perfect. The asparagus - drizzled with a little olive oil and kosher salt - was roasted for eight minutes at 450°. Wine was enjoyed. After dinner we watched Sunshine Cleaning and called it a night.
A very blustery night. Apparently the entire southwest of America is blowing away tonight.
Until my next update, I remain, your dusty correspondent.
RV Park: The Palms RV Resort. Just a few blocks off the interstate, in a quiet neighborhood. Luxury park. Sites are for sale or rent. Fabulous pools, hot tubs and spa facilities, fitness center, shuffle board arena, tennis courts. Billiards hall. 30/50 amp service, gravel sites with paved patios. Cable, Wifi. Everything.