2017 - January

Fred and Nancy came to Yuma for a visit.  We had a great time enjoying the sights and cuisines with them as first timers. 


Our first stop was the Yuma Territorial Prison.  The Yuma Territorial Prison is a former prison located in Yuma, Arizona. Opened in 1875, it is one of the Yuma Crossing and Associated Sites on the National Register of Historic Places in the Yuma Crossing National Heritage Area. 

Next stop was Martha’s Garden Date Farm for a tour with Fred, Nancy, Peter and Denise.  We learned about the life of a date and what it takes to produce them.  After the tour we had a great lunch with date shakes.  Jerry says they are the best date milk shakes you can get and he has tried a few between Southern California and Yuma. 

We all enjoyed the Farm to Feast Tour through the Yuma Visitor Center.  This was a 5 hour agricultural tour that was awesome and we would highly recommend if you are in the Yuma area when they are available.  We started our tour learning about the agricultural industry and spent about an hour picking fresh greens and vegetables.  We never knew there were so many health and safety rules that must be followed for the production and harvesting of our vegetables.  We picked 2 bags full a piece of our choice, two for us and two that is split between the food bank and for our lunch prepared by the Western Arizona Culinary Arts students.  Our next stop on the tour was the processing and transfer warehouse where the vegetables are brought in for quick cooling and preparation for shipment.  The average time from field to store all the way to the East Coast is 3 days, that is amazing.  The last stop was Western Arizona University.  The Culinary Arts students cooked a wonderful lunch for us using some of the vegetables we picked that morning and some picked the day prior.  The dishes they prepared were so unique and flavorful. 

After the Farm to Feast Tour we walked through the Quartermaster Depot located at the Yuma Visitor Center.  Once an army depot, this series of restored buildings now houses exhibits related to area history.  The bumble berry pie at the Depot was a great way to end a wonderful day.

Our last event with Fred & Nancy was a traditional “Howling at the Moon” concert gathering event.  Timed as a sunset and full moonrise festival with great music, munchies and dancing located basically way out in the desert at the base of the foothills.  Unfortunately it was a cloudy night so we didn’t get to see the spectacular moonrise but there was definitely some howling and refreshments in the air.  Great fun in Yuma if you are there during a full moon.

We made a day trip up to Quartzsite, AZ to see what it looks like with all the RV’s in the desert.  It was fun to see all the boondockers and the vendors selling their wares. This area is the U.S. dry camping mecca for winter RV'ers on (BLM Land) Bureau of Land Management with thousands of rigs spotting the desert.

From Yuma we headed to Harlingen Texas with a few days layover in Las Cruces, NM waiting out the weather and enjoying a few of our favorite eateries in the area.

We settled into Fig Tree RV Resort for the next 2 months.  So good to see our Fig Tree Family again.

Our first stop was “No Name” Hamburgers.  It has been on our list for several years, this was our first time.  Our wonderful Canadian friends showed us the ropes.