Prison and some much needed down time

 On the way to Palm Springs we stopped in Yuma to visit the Historical Yuma Territorial Prison. It was considered to be “the hell hole” and housed famous stagecoach robbers, murderers, polygamists and outlaws of the 18th century. In one picture I’m standing in a cage that they actually used to put prisoners in dark solitary confinement. This cage was in a stone cave like room with a hole at the top of the cave in which the guards would throw down scorpions and snakes to torment the prisoners who were completely in the dark in this cage! 





That night we stayed at a Harvest Host that was a BBQ place just outside of town. It was a cool old historical building turned into a BBQ joint next to fields and fields of cauliflower that are grown here Year round, frequented by ATV riders, bikers and other local folks. Had dinner with another couple from Cleveland, Ohio also camping using Harvest Host and traveling the country. Let’s just say we did a lot of listening- they had lots to share! 






Down time
Staying in Dessert Hot Springs just outside of Palm Springs we opted to hang out at a KOA campground with mineral hot springs and pool, laundry facilities, power, and sewer hookups, all wonderful luxuries we haven’t had! In the laundry room a woman struck up a conversation with me and before I knew it I was invited to her and her husband’s campsite to talk more about where we were headed next- Joshua Tree NP. They had just come from there and had lots of tips for us. We spent 3 hours chatting with them and sipping tea. Layer we played a few rounds of Rummicube which we lost yet again! He was a Middlebury College grad and spent a lot of time hiking in Vermont. They currently live on one of the island off the coast of Washington State. Said they’d love for us to come and explore that area even have hookups for our camper! We’ll see…
Today was rainy and windy- much needed down time. 








Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Glow Worms!

Image
 Who knew that New Zealand is home to these very unique glow worms- not actually worms at all! These short lived see through larvae, about the size of a matchstick, attach themselves to the walls and ceilings of caves. They make long sticky strings, about 30 of them. Their bright green tails glow and attract insects that get stuck in those long sticky strings. We took a boat to the caves and them walked through the cave along a roaring river and waterfalls until we reached the inner sanctum where we boarded a small 12 seater metal boat. Our guide navigated the boat in pitch darkness through a narrow waterway that eventually opened up to a bigger area where the walls and ceilings lit up with thousands of tiny glowing greed dots. It really is hard to describe. These pictures are from the journey to the caves. Cameras are not allowed in the caves for very obvious reasons!
Read more

The Arrival

Image
 After 36 hours of travel with 22 of those in the air we entered New Zealand excited and bleary eyed. Owen and Kelsey greeted us with big smiles and hugs! So happy to see them.  Their van is amazing! Our view from our Chalet was unbelievable!
Read more

Pack Rats??

Image
 So, how many people really know what a pack rat is? I always thought it was a term to describe someone who collects lots of “stuff”. Well boy was I wrong. We pulled into Karchner Caverns State Park late one afternoon and as we were trying to negotiate where and how to set up our camper on a very in- level site, we were visited by the camp host. He started with, “Hi folks. Have you ever camped her before?” “No,” we replied. Then he proceeded to tell us about the pack rats in the area asking us if we had lights for under the truck and camper. We didn’t. He said for 2 nights we might be okay. They come out at night and get into the engine compartment chewing the wires and make big nests. They can ruin your truck in no time. And with that he bid us a goodnight. For the next couple of hours we struggled to level our camper ultimately breaking the jack. Rick and I tried to fix it but darkness set in and we decided to leave and book a hotel for the night and getting a new jack in the mor...
Read more