Back to Arizona

After leaving Lark Spa on the Salton Sea we drove to the Cocopah Casino near Yuma, AZ. We had a few days to wait until the Yuma hamfest.

We were able to get into the fairgrounds at noon on Thursday and set up for the hamfest that started at noon on Friday. The crowd was pretty good for a Friday afternoon and on Saturday it was pretty crowded.

Carl and Lynda came over from Lark Spa to get some equipment and maybe take his test but decided he had better do some more studying before taking the test. He can take it locally at one of the radio clubs in Brawley, CA.

Our friends Dan and Karen Critten from Missouri stopped by to say hello. They are staying in the area this winter. Hopefully we can get together with them before we leave, or maybe when we get back to Yuma for the Gypsy Journal Rally in March.

We had a pretty good weekend in Yuma and are currently in Gila Bend, AZ for a couple of days before going on to Mesa for a few days to visit Nancy and Leona Mae and get some adjustments on the new power chair. Hopefully I will get used to it before long. getting in and out is getting a lot easier as things are a lot different than what I have been used to for many years.

The photos are of the Cocopah Casino and their RV parking lot, which was near capacity every night.

We are about ready to leave this nice place, the Lark Spa campground near the Salton Sea. We have been visiting with our friends the Byrd's for the past couple of weeks as we had some time between the hamfest in Palm Springs and the Yuma hamfest next weekend.

We will be leaving tomorrow and heading south to the town of Brawley to find a welding shop to weld a piece of stainless on the Ricon lift in the van. After that we will go on south to I8 and east to Yuma and find a place to stay to get some shopping done as well as hair cuts, etc.

We have really enjoyed our time at Lark Spa and ate way too much. We generally take turns having them come to our place and the next night we go to theirs. We have had some way down home cooking going on, like sauerkraut and spare ribs and things like that. The Byrd's are from Wieser, Idaho and lived for some time in Washington and Oregon. We have seen them several times over the years as they are members of the Handicapped Travel Club as well, so we have had an opportunity to see them at the national rallies.

Yesterday we went to Bombay Beach to the VFW as they were having a fish fry. It was the first fish fry we had attended since we left Indiana last summer.

From our front window we can see out over the units in front us and see the Salton Sea as well as the mountains on the other side, when it is clear enough. Sometimes there is a lot of haze and you can not even see the water. We are about 40 ft below sea level. The sea is much lower than we are, maybe 200 feet or so.

Friday, Ed and Bonnie Pearson came by for a visit. They were headed for Salvation Mountain which is over at the Slabs, a camping area that is all boondocking and out in the wide open spaces. A very interesting place to visit. There are all kinds of units there from small junkie ones to large expensive ones with solar panels, etc. All doing their thing in the desert.