Bye Yuma, Hello Quartzite!!!

 

Our last few days in Yuma Arizona had us taking one short drive over to see Mittry Lake Wildlife Area with its boondocking sites as well as simply enjoying the amenities at West Wind RV and Golf Resort.

We drove AZ Highway 95 north about 9 miles to Imperial Dam Road. Imperial Dam Road passes through part of what is known as the Yuma Proving Grounds, an Army base used for testing military equipment. Next we turned off on a pavement road that later became a dirt road which traveled alongside a canal to Mittry Lake.

As we drove around Mittry Lake we saw several boondockers in place and located a few spots that had great views overlooking the lake. The lake itself is rather striking with its blue waters and marshlands as stark contrast to the surrounding desert with its brown hued mountains. We thought it might be a nice place to get away from it all in the desert yet still see water.  And with all the coots on the lake I am sure one would be serenaded to sleep at night…. There were trash dumpsters and a vault toilets on site for convenience and little or no traffic.  We only saw one other car at the day use area while we were there.

Heading back we stopped to look at the historic military equipment on display near the Army base. I also stopped to take a picture of the base for a friend back home who had been stationed there during the Viet Nam era. He was a helicopter pilot and when I sent him the picture he relayed a funny story he recalled about his time training there:

“It was fun then. There were lots of allied soldiers there for training - Brits, Aussies, Germans - they all had much better bar drinking songs than Americans.“

I enjoyed seeing the interesting military equipment including one old Sherman Tank. As we looked closer we saw several indentations in its armored shell where it obviously took on enemy fire. I am sure there are many interesting stories that go along with each piece of equipment on display at the Proving Grounds.

Back at the RV resort Sharon and I played several last rounds of pickleball and I visited their spacious hot tub one last time the morning of our last day.  Also on our last day we used the first timer's breakfast coupon given to us at checkin.  What a fieast it turned out to be as we each took home leftovers to enjoy later.  Westwind RV and Golf Resort was a very enjoyable two week stay  The friendly Canadian neighbors around our site made it all the better and it was great to see Reg and Karen, friends we met at Betty's RV park in Louisiana. However, it was time to move on and so we did.

We headed north on AZ Highway 95  to Interstate 10 to the town of Quartzsite Arizona. Next we drove east out of Yuma onto Dome Rock Road turning south on Mitchell Mine Road until we found the Boomers Class-Less group.  These Boomers are part of the Escapees Group and we are anxious to meet the fun folks in this group. We plan to be here for six nights to fully explore the Q experience....