Southwest Swing Day 3

A cool morning in Yuma, a warm afternoon ride in Arizona and California, and a cold evening in the mountains above San Diego.
We spent the morning with the Little Woman’s Aunt Carol and Uncle Arden, touring their retirement facility and just being friends. While I think a community like that isn’t for me, what I got from it was that is truly is a great community. Seems like everyone knows one another, and back when Carol developed medical problems, the neighbors rallied like true neighbors should. Arden took me on a tour of their woodshop, with retirees cutting, lathing and sanding pieces of art. That would have been a great place to bring my camera, or better yet, use the new Droid. D’oh!
Around noon we loaded up the Wing and headed West. We stared in amazement at the hurt-your-eyes green fields strewn across Arizona. Amazing. Truly we Americans know how to farm. At least they do, I have no idea what they are growing so well.
The fields morphed into desert which morphed into mountains. We climbed from seal level (as per the sign) past 4,000 feet repeatedly (as per the signs). Toward the summit we spotted a turret looking thing, so we stopped. ‘Closed on Wednesdays.’ Shoot. We could have paid three bucks and climbed the rickety stairs and looked out at the desert from there. The aliens parked along the side of the road added to the ambiance.
Cresting the summit, we descended among more green as the humid air from the seaside below fed the flora. Turning off I-8 to highway 79, we entered roller coaster country, as the road twisted and turned, hanging on to the edge of the slopes. A few miles later we arrived at Thousand Trails, of which we have been a member for decades, and for the first time in over eighteen years, we took advantage of the membership. What a pleasant reunion! Clean, level campsites with hookups, a pool, rec center, and clean restrooms with hot showers. Once the sun set the cold crept in and the hot shower sounded like the treat tonight.