Fortuna De Oro RV Resort

Yuma, AZ

While we were in Quartzsite, AZ in the second half of January, we picked up a coupon from the big RV show that was good for 3 free nights at this resort. We checked in here on Monday, February 18th along with our friends, Jim and Corinne, for our free 3 nights. The forecast for our day of departure was rain and the forecast for the following day was cold with potential for snow in pretty much any direction we could head so we decided to stay for two more days. Good thing we did because it even snowed in LA for the first time in 50 years! When will we get the warm weather that the southwest is supposed to have this time of year?

When we started to setup the RV and get the slides opened, Amy noticed that all 3 drawers of our pantry were open and fallen at an angle. This did not bode well and after some inspection we discovered the issue. The draws had a wooden frame constructed to hold the back of the draw slides and this frame was secured to the floor of the RV with a single screw in the middle and the construction of the frame used simple staples and no glue or screws. The frame had come apart and cracked and needed repair in order to get the slow closing drawers to work properly again. With Jim’s help (again) we managed to get the frame out and rebuilt with sturdier construction techniques. When the frame was reinstalled and the drawers were put back, all was back to normal.

Jim and Dan decided to hire a local company to wash our RVs and vehicles at a cost of $55.00. This is a bargain given the size of the rig and the size of our truck. It took 3 men about an hour to do ours and another hour to our friend’s rig and Jeep, the one we took off roading last week. Now that it is clean, we should use the new dry cleaning/waxing kit that we bought in Quartzsite to get it really shinny. We’ll see.

While Jim and Dan were watching other people wash our rigs, Amy and Corinne did laundry and sewing. The sewing room at this resort is in the same building as the laundry so that made this very convenient. They finished the top of the quilt they started working on during our 2 week stay in Quartzsite boondocking (see picture).

We took full advantage of camping with another couple to do some activities together besides crafts and RV repairs. We went out to dinner a couple of times at local brewery restaurants. We spent time wandering around an open air flea market because we evidently didn’t get enough of that at Quartzsite. On Friday, we took a driving tour that brought us to the Army Proving Ground where the military has been testing equipment since the beginning of WWII. Once through the proving grounds, we drove through an agricultural region and tried to guess what all the crops were. There were quite a variety of crops at different stages of growth from freshly planted to being harvested.

After leaving the agricultural region, we drove further into California to the Buttercup Sand Dunes, at the southern end of the Imperial Sand Dunes. The sand dunes were created from wind blown sand off of ancient Lake Cahuilla and covers an area 40 miles long and 5 miles wide. While we were there, a young couple parked beside us and got their drone out to fly over the dunes and the many off-road vehicles riding around. The drone was the same model that Dan is interested in eventually getting so we watched and asked questions. They were very nice people and said they would send us the video so we gave them our cards. That’s right, we got “business” cards while we were here. Having business cards is a thing for RVers as it makes it quick and easy to exchange information with newly acquainted friends.

From here we plan to go into California and visit Joshua Tree NP and other points of interest in southern California that aren’t too far from the Arizona boarder.