Once again it’s been a while since I updated the blog, so I’ll share with you some of our past week
On Saturday we travelled northeast of Yuma to Castle Dome City. It’s situated east of Highway 95 near the Yuma Proving Grounds. The road in from the highway is paved for the first couple of miles and then changes to a very bumpy gravel road for the next 5 miles, but the drive was worth it. Castle Dome City was once a thriving silver mining town. When the price of silver dropped too low the mines were abandoned. What remains is a ghost town of the late 1800’s with the buildings and property left as they were. It has become a museum of sorts with some additions added from the area. For $15 each you can take a walking tour of the town and of an area outside the town where the mines were. Inside the town there are quite a few buildings with some furnishings remaining. It had many of the buildings you would expect to find in an old western town; only about 7 are original. You will find a Hotel, Bank, Sheriff’s office, Post Office, Church, Saloons, and various small residences. This was an interesting place and well worth the price of admission.
Sunday morning we decided to take a drive a few miles west to the Imperial Dunes. The Dunes reach as high as 300 ft in some areas and they are quite expansive. This is a popular spot for dune buggies and various types of ATV’s. This day there were quite a few RV’s parked along the edge of the dunes and many dune vehicles in use. It was quite windy back at our RV park but out here at the base of the dunes the wind was somewhat lessened. An interesting note on the dunes is that they were used to film the Sand Dune scenes in Stars Wars the Return of the Jedi. While at the dunes we saw the remnants of the old Plank Road that ran east and west through the dunes. Back in 1915 when automobiles were becoming more popular, this road was the only way for cars to travel across the dunes between Arizona and California. The road was made using 8′ lengths of lumber, much like railroad ties, laid side by side to form a long row 6 1/2 miles long. The road didn’t hold up to the elements and traffic and was eventually replaced by an asphalt road. What remains of the road is a decayed section that rises up over a small dune in the distance. Along with that is a small section of reconstructed road to show what it originally looked like. Still very interesting.
Plank Road
On Monday morning I played a little bocce ball and in the evening I played poker in the clubhouse. During the afternoon we drove into Yuma to get a few things and decided to drop over and see Bill and Patsy and Rob and Pat for a bit.
Wednesday morning we were back in Yuma to do a little shopping and we met up with George and Suzie and Rob and Pat at Lin’s Buffet for a late lunch. Once again the food was great and so was the company. Of course I ate too much again. After lunch we returned to the RV and enjoyed happy hour with Rob and Pat and Bill and Patsy at George and Suzie’s.
Thursday’s weather was cold and windy and rainy off and on. Even so I played bocce ball in the morning with some of the diehard bocce ball players. After lunch we went to the Arizona Market and made a stop at RV Connections for a part I needed for the RV. For supper Kim made Mississippi Pot Roast in the Instant Pot. Absolutely delicious….hmmm
Saturday turned out to be a beautiful day. Sunny all day and much warmer with very little wind. That was nice because I was going the RC (remote control) Air Show just outside Yuma. Bill Richards (of Bill and Patsy) is an avid RC hobbyist and he had told me this would be a really good show. He was right; what an impressive display of aircraft and skill. They had everything from small planes to helicopters to stunt planes and even jets. I was really impressed with the jets. They had real jet engines in them and wow, were they fast. During the show they were flying at about 150 to 200 miles per hour actual speed. They even sounded like jets and you could smell the jet fuel as they flew. After the aerial dislay the planes were all lined up on the runway and we could walk around them and see them up close. These were impressive planes and very detailed. Some had wingspans over 8 1/2′. Couldn’t have asked for a better day, the weather was almost perfect.
We had happy hour with George and Suzie and Ron Font dropped by for a bit. After supper we walked to the clubhouse to hear some Karaoke. There were a few really good singers. We stayed for a couple hours and then called it a night.
Well those are the highlights of the week. Looks like the weather here is going to start improving. It has been a cool, windy winter here by Arizona standards. We may be having temps in the low 80’s by the end of the week. That will be nice.
Journey with Ken and Kim 