Laundry, the Royal Arch, Mexico and Cards.

Tuesday.

As ever, Tuesday is Laundry day.
Patti went to the laundromat and I cleaned house.
The rest of the day we goofed off.

Wednesday Ride to The Royal Arch.

We met at the Arco station for Wednesday's ride. There were 5 jeeps in all.
Gene was supposed to lead this time but he was not feeling well so didn't come. Tom knew where we were going so he was the leader. At 9:00 we headed north on I-10 and drove  26 mile to Vicksburg Road where we left the interstate and stopped at the Zip station to top off, air down and get sandwiches.
Once we were  done there we  headed south on Vicksburg Road.

The road was very dusty but there was a slight breeze that eventually cleared the dust, but you had to leave room between vehicles.

At the pipeline road we turned left and followed it for a couple of miles, then we turned south for about a mile where we connected with Hovadder Road. We continued south for about eight miles where we turned east on BLM trail 04.

Patti and I have been on this trail before where we camped with Becky, Dennis and Bob a few years ago.

We followed this trail for a while, went through a gate and about a mile further we turned south on a small trail.
Along this trail we saw a couple of small arches.

We traveled along enjoying the desert scenery.

We went around the hills in the above picture and there was The Royal Arch. This is one of the largest arches we have seen in this part of Arizona and is pretty spectacular.

Some of the group climbed  up the rocks to the arch.

Here is Carl on top of the arch and John underneath. That gives you some idea of how big the arch is.

I don't think I would get on top of the arch but those guys are quite a bit younger than  I.

After a while  we left the arch and continued along the trail.

We saw another, smaller arch along the way.

Eventually we came to a good spot for lunch.

After lunch we got back on Hovadder Road and headed north.

When we were almost at I-10 we took a small trail to the left.

This trail took us to a spot for the rock hounds to pick up more rocks.

On the way back to the main trail Dave brushed  against a Cholla cactus with his jeep. Unfortunately he had his window open and one of the Cholla balls got in and stuck to his side. Ouch!!

Here  you can see some of the balls attached around the window.

And stuck to the tire of his jeep.

Dealing with chollas is a lot like dealing with fly paper. Every time you get them unstuck from one thing they stick to something else. If you kick them off the tire they stick to your shoes, etc.

Eventually we got back to the main trail where we aired up the tires, got on I-10 and headed for home.
On the way home we saw this blimp going east.

Mexico.

Thursday morning we met Joanne and Dave at their place. we got in their truck and headed for Mexico.
We drove down 95 to Yuma where we stopped at the Palms Shopping Center so Patti could get her ring cleaned. From there we got on I-8 and drove to Algodones, Mexico.

Here is what you see when you cross the  border.

Patti wanted to buy a dress for Riley  our great, great niece.

 I wanted to get more Omeprazole. It is very cheep in Mexico.

After we did our shopping we sat at some tables watching all the gringo's, fending off street vendors and waiting for Jo Ann and Dave to get done with what they were doing.

When Jo Ann and Dave showed up we walked back across the border, got in their truck and headed for Yuma. We stopped at Panda Express for lunch. After lunch we drove back to Quartzsite.

Cards.

Around 6:00 we went to Becky and  Dennis's to play cards.

Of course, we  had a good time.