Wednesday, February 15, 2017

Mittry Lake

A week or so ago I traveled down to Paradise Casino in Yuma to meet up with Jeanne, Kim, Nancy and Tom, who drove over from San Diego.  We parked for free in the casino parking lot - it was over Superbowl weekend - and it was very crowded!  Some of us had dental appointments in Los Algodones, Mexico, and Kim and I wanted to check out new glasses at a couple of the Mexican optical shops.

I had an appointment at the main post office in Yuma to apply for a passport - since I've never had one before, I needed an in-person appointment.  A couple of days before, Jeanne and I went to town and I had my passport photos taken at Wal-Mart, I had completed the application on-line and printed it out, and had sent to the California Secretary of State for a certified copy of my birth certificate, which I received.  With all that in hand, Tom and I went to the post office and I turned it all in, answered their questions, paid the fees and now I'm just waiting for my first ever passport to arrive.  All in all, the whole process was easier than I expected.

We visited a lot, took some walks, had dinner together a couple of times, and then we moved on in different directions.

Tom and I drove our motor homes to Mittry Lake.  He's a new RVer, and since he was visiting in the dusty, crowded, dirt parking lot at Paradise Casino with no complaints, I thought it only fair to show him a nicer place to camp for a few days.  Mittry was beautiful, as usual, but VERY crowded.  We were lucky to get a spot right on the lake that was big enough for both our rigs.

Tom had his own spit of land going out into the lake right outside his door, where we put some chairs. The weather was perfect and he even did a little fishing.  There were a few mosquitoes, but not bad, and they didn't arrive until around dark when we were back in our rigs.  As long as we kept the doors and windows screened, there wasn't a problem.  Only three mosquitoes got into my rig, and I squished them all before bedtime. 

These are some photos I took while we were there.  I always see a Great Egret on the other bank and he was here again - one of my favorite water birds:


 Here he is with a couple of American Coots swimming by:



Another American Coot:


Below is a Double-crested Cormorant - a first sighting for me that I've added to my Life List:


And this little guy is another new Life List bird - he's a Pied-billed Grebe.  While breeding, their bill is whitish with a black band (“pied’), but otherwise is yellow-brown.  Very cute little guy:



This was my view out my rear kitchen window:


And below is the view out the dinette window.  There had been a fire and some of the trees were just charred sticks - but there were lots of birds on the ground and in the burned out trees while I was there. The lake came up into this marshy spot with areas  full of water, and in the evening and morning I could hear the ducks talking to each other.  Very cool way to wake up, listening to nearby duck chatter. 😴😮🙂


Beautiful sunset one night:


This was a weird sunset shot when we were at Paradise Casino - I was walking Katie and looked toward the sunset and saw a tunnel of pink coming up through the blue sky.


When the week was nearly up, Tom left to visit his sister in Sun Lakes, and I drove back up to Quartzsite, and was lucky to get my favorite spot again.

From me and Katie, have a great Social Security Wednesday, everyone!  I got mine this morning, and that always makes me a happy camper!   💲🙂💲

16 comments:

  1. Thanks for reminding me of SSW. It has been fairly nice here in the West Texas desert too. Great time of the year.

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  2. Looks like you have been having a very busy social life lately, nice to here that your favourite spot back again, keep enjoying this awesome weather.

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  3. I'll be celebrating my first SS payment in March!
    We always like staying at Mittry Lake. Was that upper area crowded, too?
    Sorry we missed seeing everyone this winter in Q and Yuma. We may be doing the dental thing in Algodones next month.

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    1. Congrats on the SS - I found out with my first one that since I was born in January, I got my first check in February. The 3rd Wednesday. I was expecting it on January 1. Just in case you didn't know. Yes, the upper area was very crowded. :(

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  4. I just loved watching the video featuring YOU!!

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  5. What a beautiful view out of both your kitchen and dinette windows. With a view like that I wouldn't mind cooking or washing dishes!!
    Gorgeous sunset pics!!
    Glad you got that passport....I haven't had one for several years. Maybe it's time!!

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  6. Love those sunset pictures. What's not to love when you're dealing with nature. A Passport does make it easier for you to get across the border.

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  7. Great pictures!! And I just get my SS payment directly deposited into my checking account.

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    1. Yes, I do the same. I don't think you have a choice any more. But even if I did, just easier to go direct deposit. :)

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  8. One of these winters I hope to make it to the desert. I get real jealous when I see all the bloggers enjoying the sunshine and free/cheap campsites. I have been in Texas for all of the winters since I purchased my RV. This job is too good of an opportunity to pass up, but I won't stay here forever.

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  9. Arizona certainly has many places that are picture perfect. Love the area and love the winters. These winters beat just about anyplace else.

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  10. I hope your passport application goes thru smoothly - I've had a passport for over 55 years and it's amazing the things that they come up with to delay issuing / renewing!!

    Mittry Lake is beautiful - I like to kayak in the channels. Your egret photos are great!

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  11. This all looks wonderful. Glad you were able to share the pretty places with your friend!

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  12. We'll be returning to Quartzite on Monday. Where are you parked?

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    1. Hi Donna - e-mail me - we can meet in town for lunch! :)

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