Meandering Our Way Back East

Morristown, Arizona

Lake Pleasant Regional Park

It's time to leave the southwest and head back east. We'll be workamping in New York starting on May 1st and we are looking forward to seeing friends and family along the way. 

Our site

After the Gypsy Journal Rally we headed to Lake Pleasant Regional Park for a few days.  This lovely park is located about an hour north of Phoenix.  It was great to be camping in a more natural setting.  We been recently stayed in a church parking lot, casino parking lot, and even a fairground.  Too much concrete!

There are plenty of big rig friendly sites at this park in the Roadrunner Loop.  Be sure to get good directions to the campground.  We wandered around for quite awhile trying to find our site. The rate per night is $27 (water and electric).  We did make our reservations online a few days in advance due to this being a very popular time and close to spring break. 

This park surrounds a huge lake and is great for all types of boating.  There are several marinas and one day we saw a lot of sailboats.  It is a very pretty area. 

This was our favorite site overlooking the lake (#24). 

Site #24 (lake view)

Workampers site

We talked to a couple of volunteer camphosts and they seemed to enjoy working here very much.  Their sites have a covered roof and have full hook ups and free propane.  You work three days and have four days off. 

The campground has one hiking trail. They had an organized flower hike and an upcoming canoe scavenger hike that sounded like a lot of fun.  It is a very friendly place and most of the campers were local folks.  Our  neighbors even asked us over for a campfire one night.  Priceless!

Across the lake there is a full hook up snow bird campground called Pleasant Harbor RV Resort.  It was an attractive park with activities and a pool.  Sites were very close together but very tidy and neat.  Rate are $600-700/month including all utilities.  There are boondocking sites near the marina and some with water and electric only with a daily rate.  We really liked this boondocking site overlooking the marina.  We might have to return for a visit sometime in the future. 

Boondocking site

Pleasant Harbor Marina

It was great to see a few friends in the area too.  Our friends John and Cathie live in Phoenix and met us for lunch at a nearby outlet mall.  They recently visited us while we were workamping at Cripple Creek and we originally met many years ago in Ixtapa Mexico.  Our visit was short due to John recovering from knee surgery.  We hope he is back in action soon. This picture was from our train trip together last summer.

We also had lunch with Mary and Tom.  They have wintered in Casa Grande for many years.  We met at the Bowling Green Ohio FMCA rally several years before we started fulltiming. Mary has a great blog and has been so supportive of us as we started this journey.  They also have a Dutch Star and Mary gave me some great tips on how to organize our things in the rig after we first purchased it.     

Our site was not lake view site but it was a great place to enjoy the sunset.  We'd stay here again. It is a jewel of a campground.

Jimmy liked it too!

Jimmy sitting in his favorite lawn chair

Thanks for stopping by.  We'll be heading next to Sedona.  Check back soon for some great pictures of the beautiful red rocks.  It's one of our favorite places.

Algodones Has So Much to Offer + Fun Times At The Gypsy Journal Rally

Yuma, Arizona (64 degrees, high winds at times, blue skies

We spent a week prior to the Gypsy Journal Rally boondocking at the Quechan Casino in Yuma Arizona.  It is within minutes (seven miles) of the border of Mexico and a small unusual town called Algodones.  You park your car in a huge lot and actually walk across the border.  It is so easy.  Within four blocks there are  hundreds of dentists, opticians, doctors, and pharmacies.  Plus, lots of shops selling jewelry, leather goods, and some very delicious fish tacos and margaritas. 

Crossing the border

We watched people flock across the border and quickly disperse into the many pharmacies and medical clinics.  Hawkers were everywhere wanting to sell you goods or refer you to a dentist.  It was overwhelming at first and a sensory overload. 

We crossed the border with J.C. and Bev and their friends Jo and Fred Wishnies who have also been full timing since 2005.  We followed their blog and comments on the RV Dreams forum for several years and it was really great to meet them in person. 

Market area

Bargaining is expected when you shop for merchandise.  Bev and I found some very nice silver bangle braclets and earrings.  I also purchased a nice leather purse that has hand tooled inserts.  Everyone speaks English and U.S. and Canadian dollars are accepted. 

Dentist we used

I was planning on replacing a cracked crown when we return to Indiana. Jo had a great experience with Castle Dental and recommended that I talk with them.  We were all impressed with the office and Angelina answered all my questions. Bev and J.C. also had their teeth cleaned for $25 each. 

Angelina, the friendly receptionist

I ended up having two crowns replaced for $600 and was very pleased with the outcome. My dentist was professional and conscientious. It took two visits to complete and it was amazing how quickly they worked with short timeliness. 

John and Bev had their eyeglasses and sunglasses replaced.  This was also a place that Jo and Fred had used in the past.  Everything was completed in two days and at about a third of the cost in the U.S.  It is a good idea to obtain recommendations from others.  Jo was a great resource and we sure appreciated all her advice. 

You can also save on most prescriptions at the pharmacies.  A perscription is not required but it is important to know your out of pocket costs and the generic and brand name of your medications.  Over the counter medications such as ibuprophen and zantac are also very reasonable. 

Where Bev had her glasses made

We enjoyed our stay at the casino.  Boondocking in the parking lot was free and the area was very clean and well maintained.  The buffet restaurant was great and  reasonably priced.  J.C. taught us some strategies for black jack.  We sat at the table together and I  managed to hold onto my $40 stake for awhile.  It was fun but I was a little nervous.  J.C. and Bev did very well. 

We then drove to the Yuma County Fairgrounds to attend the Gypsy Journal Rally.  This is the first time we have attended but we have met Nick and Terry Russell several times in the past.  They both presented at the first rally we attended (Life On Wheels) several years before we started full timing.  They offer two rallies a year (Yuma and Celina Ohio).

Nick is a great writer and publishes the Gypsy Journal.  It's a newspaper chronically their travels across the U.S. It is well written and he recently published a e-book with Amazon that is doing very well. 

About 140 rigs attended and we have lots of fun over the five days of the event.  We attended lots of seminars and most were presented by vendors.  We especially found the solar presentations by Larry Crutcher of Starlight Solar to be very informative.  Bev and I even learned how to knit and made these pretty suncatchers.  There were seminars also on insurance, RV batteries, water filters, geocaching, and much more.  There were four sessions a day with several options to choose from.  I found the computer classes to also be very infomative and well presented. 

John serving pizza

Each evening door prizes were given away.  In fact, all attendees won something.  The grand prize was a SeaEagle kayak and a Kindle.  We all volunteered to help out on pizza night.  The entire crowd was served in five minutes and twenty seconds.  Amazing!

One night there was an excellent entertainer that sang the best cowboy songs.  We really thought he was terrific. 

Right next to the fairgrounds is the Yuma Marine Corp Air Station .  We all experienced a free air show each day watching these amazing planes take off and land.  It could be very loud at times but Nick told us it was the sound of freedom. 

Osprey

Harrier

We had a great time.  The only tough part was saying goodbye to J.C. and Bev.  They are heading to California to visit with family.  John and I will start to meander towards Indianapolis to spend time with our family and friends.  We will then travel to Watkins Glen New York where we will be workamping this summer at a KOA. 

Bev took these great pictures of a sunrise one morning.  We wish you safe travels J.C. and Bev.  We so enjoyed traveling with you and hope our paths cross again soon.