McPhaul Swinging Bridge

Mary is no longer available for RV traveling, but we remain good friends.
Because we have 4,000+ postings, I’ve invited her to continue posting entries on this blog.

I’m currently in my 21st year of full-time RVing and my lifestyle is changing, For more info click Here

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The motorhome is parked at the Paradise Casino in Yuma, Arizona. I expect to depart here January 10th.

 

McPhaul Swinging Bridge: Located 18 miles North on Highway 95, the McPhaul “Swinging Bridge to Nowhere” is a Yuma oddity. Originally the Dome Bridge, the McPhaul Bridge was constructed by Yuma County and the State of Arizona in 1929. Built to allow users of the Yuma-to-Quartzite road (now Highway 95) to cross the Gila River, this suspension bridge, with a span of 798 feet, currently spans only desert sand and rocks after river was diverted in 1968. Although damaged in 1990 by fire, this bridge outlasted its replacement which was destroyed by the flood of 1993. See five photos below I took in 2007…

 

 

 

 

 

 I hope you enjoyed the photos.

 Yesterday was mostly sunny and 62 degrees. Forecast for today is mostly sunny and 63 degrees.

Enjoying nice weather is another joy in the life of a full-time RVer!

The red dot on the below map shows my approximate location in the State of Arizona. You may double left-click the map to make it larger…

Enjoying 65-75 degree temperatures with low humidity most of the year is a primary joy in the RVing lifestyle!

“Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance you must keep moving”…Albert Einstein

My current travel rig is a 2006 Fleetwood 26′ Class A Motorhome and a towed 1986 Ford Bronco II, Eddie Bauer Model. This photo was taken in the desert at Slab City near Niland, California…

On October 27, 2012, I created a two-minute video titled America The Beautiful. The music America The Beautiful is by Christopher W. French. The photos, which I randomly selected, are from the states of Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Montana, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, Tennessee, Washington and West Virginia (not shown in that order)…are mine. Yup, That’s me standing in front of the Post Office in Luckenbach, Texas…Y’all!

Click this link to start the video. Make sure you have your speakers turned on and go to full screen asap.
http://youtu.be/FfZUzEB4rM8

If you would like to see my YouTube videos, click this link… http://www.youtube.com/user/JimJ1579/videos

There are more than 700 photo albums in my Picasa Web Albums File. To gain access, you simply have to click this link… https://get.google.com/albumarchive/110455945462646142273?source=pwa

If you have not checked out my Ramblin Man’s Photos Blog, you can do so by clicking this link…http://ramblinmanphotos.wordpress.com/

For more information about my books, click this link:
http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/panamaorbust

All original works copyrighted – Jim Jaillet -2016

A Techie And His Lady…

Yesterday I wrote about my current location here in Yuma, Arizona. Among the first friends I got to visit were Bob Parker and Donna Huffer whom I’ve known for a number of years…

They travel in this rig…total length is 66 feet…

Click to enlarge the photo…then click it again…and look at the doodads on their roof! If you do not know what they are…I’ll tell you. To create electricity there’s a whole bunch of solar panels and a wind generator. In addition there’s an Internet satellite dish as well as an anemometer to measure the wind speed. Don’t miss the kyack atop the roof of the trailer.

Speaking of the trailer…what do you suppose they have in there? Another RV?…nope! An airplane?…nope! A boat?…nope! Extra paper towels?…nope! None of the above!

It’s a mobile garage! Just like you have attached to your house. And what do you have in your garage? Well…so do they. Alongside of the motohome you can see their SUV…well that’s in the garage as they go down the highway. In addition, Bob has his workshop in there.

Bob is a retired die and tool-maker having worked for General Motors for 28 years. This also makes him a very creative person. If you think the outside of their RV is something…you should see the inside. Bob has installed all sorts of doodads to make their interior life more comfortable and convenient. Here’s a recent Blog he wrote about his solar panel installation…
http://parkerrver.blogspot.com/2011/11/solar-panel-upate.html

It truth I think he’s a borderline mad scientist!  🙂 Actually he’s a real nice guy who just enjoys being creative. Need a problem solved? Bob’s your guy!

I  think he’s just about out of ideas on what more he can do to their rig. So he helps other folks do things with their rigs. He ended up giving me a couple of ideas which I can use in my rig. When I get them done…I’ll tell you about them.

Bob and Donna are full-timers and very active Geo-cashers…which requires a GPS device…naturally! They go everywhere! Here’s some further information about them that comes from their Blog…

Donna has been on the road since 1998 and Bob since 2004. We are both from Salem, Ohio and met December 2005 on the desert below Quartzsite AZ, having not met previously in Ohio. We joined together and are traveling in a motorhome we purchased together in 2007. We are discovering the country together and even though Donna has been to 49 states she is enjoying seeing new sites with Bob that she hasn’t seen before and he is enjoying seeing everything for the first time. Follow us in our journey across this great land and let us know of places we shouldn’t miss along the way Donna & Bob

You might enjoy following their travels on their Blog at http://parkerrver.blogspot.com/

That’s another thing I love about the full-timing RV lifestyle…you get to meet so any neat and unusual folks!

All original material Copyright – Jim Jaillet 2011
For more information about my three books, click this link:
http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/panamaorbust

More Visiting With Long-Time Friends…

Jim says:

Yesterday started with another beautiful Southwest sunrise at Quartzsite, Arizona.

We drove the motorhome about 75 miles to Lake Havasu City, Arizona.

An enjoyable two-hour visit with Ted & Judy Price, my ex-neighbors of 16 years, from Olympia, Washington at the local VFW. We’ve been good friends since 1980.

When we came out of the VFW this beautiful face sitting in a car, greeted us.

Just another great day in the life of a full-time Rver!

All original material Copyright – Jim Jaillet 2011
For more information about my three books, click this link:
http://www.panamaorbust.com

A Ghost From Out Of My Past…

Jim says:

Yesterday Mary and I traveled the about 75 miles from Yuma to Quartzsite, Arizona.

Along the way, about 50 miles north of Yuma and 25 miles south of Quartzsite in the middle of nowhere, all north-bound traffic is required to pass through this U.S. Border Patrol Station for inspection looking for illegal aliens and drugs.

Because we do not look suspicious, three easy questions and we were once again on our way. While an agent asks the questions of the driver, another agent with a drug-sniffing dog inspects the motorhome and towed vehicle.

Arriving in Quartzsite we pulled into La Posa South, a Bureau of Land Management long-term visitors area where my friends Jim and Joan are parked.

Jim and Joan look terrific for being in their late 70’s.

Mary had not met them before. We went out and enjoyed a nice lunch together.

Okay…now to the story of the day…
Upon entering La Posa South and before meeting up with Jim and Joan, we stopped to make a couple of phone calls and do a little computer research. I happen to look our of our dining area window and said to Mary…”There goes a motorhome that looks just like my old one!” As it went by, I then said…”It is my old motorhome!”

Ned Bedinger bought my old motorhome in September of 2009 and I haven’t seen it since then. I checked my computer and had one 360 area code number for Ned. Dialing it, I got his wife Jane in Washington who gave me his cell phone number. I called Ned and we made arrangements to meet nearby at 4:00 PM. Had we arrived five minutes later, we would have missed Ned going by where we had stopped!

We enjoyed a nice hour-long visit with Ned and seeing my old motorhome once again. He has made only a few minor changes. He told us he left Washington only about one week ago and had never been to Quartzsite before. He also told us the he and his wife and son are really enjoying their new-to-them motorhome and they have had not one problem with it.

I had bought my old motorhome in September of 1999 specifically in anticipation of my trip to Mexico and Central America which I accomplished in 2004.

I owned that motorhome for 10 years during which time I drove it about 100,000 miles. It brought back a lot of nice memories I had experienced in my RVing past!

All original material Copyright – Jim Jaillet 2011
For more information about my three books, click this link:
http://www.panamaorbust.com

A Christmas Day Meal With Good Friends…

Jim says:

Yesterday I enjoyed a two-hour Christmas Day meal with my friends Jim and Joan. They drove the about 90 miles one way from Quartzsite in their towed vehicle to meet with me and returned to Quartzsite after our meal together. Like many friends in my full-time RVing life, we cross paths only occasionally. I last saw them here in Yuma in December, 2009..

I originally met them in 1995 just before I started my full-timing lifestyle. I met them through a gal I was seeing at the time. The gal wandered off, but Jim and Joan and I remained friends. They still own a home in Lacey, Washington so technically they are part-time RVers. In 2009 they accomplished a 50 week trip to the east coast. They spend much of the year on the road. It was Jim and Joan who “showed me the ropes” of RVing in the desert Southwest back in the Winter of 1995-96. We caravan-ed for several weeks together during which time they introduced me to Slab City, Yuma, Quartzsite, Las Vegas and Death Valley. I started RVing in 1962 and they started in 1958!

Jim and Joan look terrific for being in their late 70’s.

Despite the fact we do not see each other or communicate every day, like many others, we remain good friends. If you are not aware, when RVers part company they do not say good-bye, but rather “SEE YOU DOWN THE ROAD!

All original material Copyright – Jim Jaillet 2010
For more information about my three books, click this link:
http://www.panamaorbust.com

Re-meet my good friends Aaron & CeeCee

We first met in Quartzsite, AZ in January, 1997 under some unusual circumstances…but, that’s a story for another time. We have been good friends since that time. Like most of my friends, I only get to see them occasionally due to my mobile lifestyle. We last crossed paths during the summer of 2007 in Birch Bay, WA. Each January through March they park their RV in Mesa, AZ where they enjoy dancing most every day.

CeeCee, Aaron and their dog, Shaka.

Please excuse the poor photo…lots of harsh background from the Arizona Sun. Did I mention it was 70 degrees yesterday?

They arrived on Sunday and that afternoon Aaron helped me install a new larger hard drive in my computer. He’s kinda a computer geek. Yesterday he help me install three new belts on my Bronco II engine which is a two-person job.

CeeCee loves cook. Sunday was a delicious shrimp dinner and last night we had lobster!

The best we can determine, we will probably not cross paths again until about May, 2011. That’s the only downside to a full-timing RV lifestyle…you just don’t get to see your good friends often enough!

All original material Copyright – Jim Jaillet 2010
For more information about my three books, click this link:
http://www.panamaorbust.com