Back to Yuma for Warmer Weather
Wednesday, 13 February
After several days of sightseeing, it was time to play some golf. The weather forecast was better than the last few days, mostly because of our getting further south and lower elevation. And rain was forecast for late Wednesday and all day Thursday, with a Flash Flood Watch issued for southwest Arizona.
Golf today was at Rivers Edge Golf Course, a municipal course in Needles, CA located about 40 minutes south of Bullhead City, AZ. We were able to secure a 10:37 tee time. We arrived in time to hit on the range, and got off a few minutes before our scheduled tee time. We both opened with a par on the first hole, and tied the next two holes. Kris started to pull away, and made the turn at three over par and three strokes up on Darrell. The back nine was about a mirror image, with Kris finishing 6 strokes up on Darrell. Darrell’s ball thought it was a beach day, finding 6 sand bunkers on the day. Considering that, he was glad to only be 6 strokes back.
After golf, we headed south to River Island State Park Campground between Lake Havasu City and Parker, AZ. It is a small state park right on the Colorado River. In calling them this morning, they said they were full up, but had dry camping in their overflow lot for $20/night. As everything else in the area was full up, it sounded like a good option. Turns out, the overflow parking, which was the boat trailer parking lot near the boat ramp, was better than some of the normal sites. We shared the large parking lot with wide parking lanes with only two other campers, and have full use of all the facilities and amenities.
As we came through Lake Havasu City, we saw some very large events going on. At the Lake Havasu State Park, they were holding the 11th Annual Lake Havasu City Rockabilly Reunion. At the speedway south of Lake Havasu City, they have the 30th Annual Western Winter Blast Pyrotechnics Show. It is large enough they had speed limits down to 25mph in the area, and hundreds of RVs were parked in the surrounding desert. And nearby campgrounds being full up.
Thursday, 14 February - Yuma again
The rain started before daybreak as forecast. Our initial plan was to just stay put for another day so as to not have to navigate any of the washes if they were flooded due to the rain. After a couple of hours of poor internet (unusable Verizon, no T-Mobile, and spotty AT&T), we got antsy and checked Google maps for traffic issues along Arizona Highway 95 to Yuma. Finding none, we decided to reposition Sprinty to Yuma where the weather forecast for the next week was better. And internet was better. And there were golf options. And some sightseeing we did not do on previous trips.
As we passed through Quartzsite, we stopped at the Pit Stop to get the propane tank filled. Our destination was the Escapees Kofa Co-Op RV Park located south of Yuma. As we had stayed at three other Escapees Co-Ops this trip, we decided to check this one out. A quick phone call confirmed they still had two dry camping sites vacant. As they do not do reservations, we decided to give it a try. We were able to get a site for $8.08/night dry camping.
Friday, 15 February - repositioning to Wellton, AZ
While we liked the Escapees Kofa Co-Op RV Park, it is located several miles south of Yuma out in the farm fields. There is nothing nearby, and it was not located near any of the golf courses we planned to play. So we opted to only stay one night.
Golf today was at Coyote Wash Golf Course located in Wellton, AZ, about 20 miles east of Yuma. We have played there twice before and thought it was fine. We left ourselves some time to scout out three of the RV parks in Wellton for where we might camp for the next week. The first park had great reviews on Campendium, but had no openings. The second place had only one site available, but had soft sand and heavy rigs were getting stuck. We decided not to press our luck. So we settled on Tier Drop RV Park, which offered a weekly rate of $160 including electricity. It has about 200 park models and 60 RV sites. Most of the RV sites are pull-thru. Kind of close together, but fine for Sprinty.
Golf was fun. We both opened with a par. Then Kris made birdie on the second hole, and continued to add to her lead. By the turn, she was up by 5 strokes. Most of her drives were 170 yards or more. Darrell opened up with a birdie on the 10th hole, and picked up strokes. After 16 holes, he had tied it up. Finding sand bunkers on 17 & 18 (two of seven sand bunkers he found on the day) and the trees on 18, Kris finished the day up by three strokes with a well deserved 84. And three drives over 200 yards!
We checked in to the Tier Drop RV Park. Although located fairly close to I-8, we did not hear any traffic noise. And the passing trains did not blow their horn, so you almost did not notice them.
Another benefit of the Tier Drop RV Park is that it is located by the main cellular tower for the area, providing great connectivity on all three carriers.
Saturday, 16 February - Windy golf
Weather forecast was for a breezy, mid-60s day. Golf was at Las Barrancas Golf Course in Yuma, a course we have played twice before. Part of why we picked this course is they have a military discount on weekends, making them less expensive than other 18-hole choices.
We had a 11:38 tee time and were paired up with Chris and Lana. Lana had never played before, and Chris had not played in a very long time. Kris and Darrell opened with a bogey on the first hole, and tied the next two. Kris then pulled away to lead by 3 at the turn. On the back nine, which is the more challenging nine even without the 20-30mph wind, we both played below our expectations to tie on the back. Kris had to buy, and since we have been to Yuma before, Sprinty knew the way.
Sunday, 17 February - chore day
After a couple of days of golf, we decided to make today a chore day - similar to things that have to be done at home. We started with laundry, and even though we’re at the laundry before breakfast, we found that some others were even earlier birds than us, one couple was already pulling their laundry out of the dryer.
Once it warmed up enough, Darrell fixed the latest chip in Sprinty’s windshield. The chip as a result of a regular passenger car passing us on Arizona Highway 95. Probably the largest bullseye chip Sprinty has experienced. Darrell started the trip never before having fixed a windshield chip, and now he has gotten quite good at it.
Lesson learned - carry at least two windshield repair kits so you have them to fix the chips as soon as possible after the chip without having to find some place to buy them. For Alaska, I think we will have half a dozen or more.
During the wait times for the steps in the windshield repair process, Darrell cleaned off the solar panels to make sure they were operating at peak efficiency. He also put a little bit of air in the tires using the Viair compressor we carry along.
We also did a dump and clean of the gray and black tanks, taking advantage of the full hookup site. As part of the rinse, we hooked Sprinty up to city water for the first time in 2 years.
Chores complete, we enjoyed streaming golf on the CBS Sports app for the rest of the afternoon.
An unexpected excitement of the day (Trip?) was when our credit union contacted us to ask if we had made a $60 purchase at a Publix in Naples, FL yesterday. As we had not, we spent 30-plus minutes with the credit union fraud department and will be getting a new credit card this week.
Another lesson learned - travel with multiple credit cards so if one gets compromised, the biggest issue was an address for them to send a replacement. If it had been our only credit card, our travel and activities might have been severely impacted.
Monday, 18 February - settling for par 3 golf
The relative ease that we had been able to get tee times is no more. We tried to get a tee time for today, and the only tee time available was at 4pm. Trying for Tuesday was a little better, 3:45pm or 7:08am. For reference, sunrise is at 6:22 (with low temperature in the upper 40s) and sunset is at 5:30.
So we had a consolation breakfast out. There are only three places in Wellton, AZ open for breakfast. Dusty Rose Country Emporium, Jack-in-the-Box, and Coyote Wash golf course. The Dusty Rose Country Emporium looked decrepit, so we went to the golf course. Not only did we have a good breakfast, but we managed to also get a tee time for 10am on Wednesday, due to a cancellation.
We decided to settle on a par three course. We selected the Desert Hills Par 3 in part because it had 18 holes (compared to only 9) and the GolfNow app indicated available tee times. As we pulled into the parking lot, a couple from Florida traveling in a small Class A motorhome pulled in right next to us. They had used the Hot Deal function in GolfNow to get $10 including cart. As it was after 12pm, the rate was $9/person walking. We enjoyed a 3.5 mile walk, pulling the golf pull carts. Kris played well, and earned honors to buy. Again.
After the round, we got to talk with the motorhome couple. They had lived full-time on a boat for 14 years, and traded keels for wheels last year and were traveling by motorhome. Their travel style is a lot like ours - making it up as they go, not knowing where they are going to be a week from now, not staying any place more then one or two nights, and dry camping capable (solar panels, batteries, etc). They shared that last night they stayed at a Boondockers Welcome host in Yuma.
Tuesday, 19 January - 200 mile round trip to play golf (and other adventures)
As Kris and Darrell discussed options of things to do today, Sprinty suggested they play golf at Del Rio Country Club in Brawley, CA, a course they played about 2-1/2 weeks ago when they were in the Saltan Sea area. Forgetting about the time difference, Kris called at 8am Arizona time (7am California time) and was able to get a tee time. So Sprinty headed for Brawley about 100 miles west of Wellton.
Forgetting about the time change also had the advantage that we arrived an hour earlier than we expected, so we had plenty of time to warm up. The course was fairly busy for a chilly morning. We learned as we checked in that the course was going to be closed for the next 5 days as they were hosting a significant tournament. Looking over the Wednesday qualifying flight, the highest handicap of the field was a 4, with several scratch golfers.
Kris and Darrell both opened with a par on the first hole. Darrell then lost a ball out of bounds on the next hole. Despite a few decent holes on the front 9, he trailed at the turn by 2 strokes. Settling down, he made up the two strokes on the back by not losing any balls, even with Kris hitting her drives averaging 173 yards. In all fairness, the course did not have ladies tee boxes, so Kris had to play from the white tees, 5,581 yards, making her final score of 87 pretty awesome.
After a Starbucks to celebrate, we started back towards Arizona. We stopped at the Imperial Sand Dunes Recreation Area at the Hugh T. Osborne Lookout Park. Although it was 61 degrees and sunny, the wind made it feel like it was in the upper 40s. While we were viewing the dunes, there were two OHVs hot dogging it in the dunes nearby, each trying to get air as they came up over the ridges. It was obvious this area is very popular among off-roaders making us glad we were there on a weekday. I doubt we could have gotten in the park on the weekend.
Next stop was Felicity, CA. The CalTrans sign on the Interstate said it had a population of 2 (although the docent said the population was more now - maybe 7 or 8?). Our reason for stopping was the Official Center of the World and History of the World in Granite Museum.
As we walked up the stairs to the museum, we were met by the docent (who appears to be one of the founding trustees) who spent some time with us to tell us about the museum. We watched an 8-minute film which explained the origins of the designation as the Official Center of the World and the Museum. Jacques-André Istel is the author of the children’s book, “Coe: The Good Dragon at the Center of the World”. He officially established the Center of the World here, and he has built the town of Felicity around it to bolster his claim. For more info on The Center of the World, see:
For our $5/person entrance fee, we got to stand on the exact spot at the center of the world, indicated by a plaque in the floor inside the pyramid.
Another docent recorded the exact time we stood at the center of the world on the certificates we received that certify that we visited the Pyramid and stood at the Official Center of the World. Sorry Sprinty, but you are too tall to fit inside the pyramid to stand at the Official Center of the World.
After standing at the Official Center of the World, we toured the History in Granite Museum, walked through the Maze of Honor, and walked up to the Church on the Hill.
Also on the site was a sundial made from Michelangelo’s Arm of God from the Sistine Chapel.
And a portion of the original stairs from the Eiffel Tower when their original stairs were replaced.
For more information about the History in Granite Museum, see:
www.historyingranite.org
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