Colorado River Oasis/ Western Horizon Resort (WHR)

50238 Ehrenberg/Parker Highway
Ehrenberg, AZ 85334
928-846-3421
4/2008, 11/16/2009 & 3/12-3/19/2012

Our first visit in 2008 was a complimentary 4 night stay with a 90-minute tour scheduled during our stay. This is part of the WHR private membership and we are now able to utilize our Coast to Coast membership for our stays.


In 2012 we paid $10 per night with no additional 50amp or cable charges for a water, electric, sewer, flat, gravel, back in site with a concrete pad patio. The sites were a good size for us. On our first visit we had our Jeep which took some manipulating to make it all fit. We noticed many other toad vehicles parked on empty sites which could cause complications of incoming guests.


Our Verizon phones and MiFi worked great here.

Very well maintained park right on the Colorado River which on this visit did not have much activity on it, during our visit in 2008 it was noisy all day with constant watercraft noise.

The pool and spa was fabulous, clean and the perfect temperature.


Doing laundry was nice because they had a lounge area with puzzles and a television. The only issue was there were several out of order machines which made our chore more time consuming.


They had lots of activities which we did partake in a few and had a blast. This is one of those parks where there is a lot of participation in the activities and we can see why. We attended Bingo and Karaoke and fun was had by one and all.


If we are ever in the area again, we will definitely stay here as long as they continue honoring Coast to Coast.

For more photos, check out our Picasa Web Albums.

Yuma Lakes RV Resort

6275 S Avenue 8 ½ E
Yuma, AZ 85365
928-726-5860
3/9-3/12/2012


This is a Colorado River Adventures park which is a membership park that we used our Coast to Coast membership. We paid $10 with no additional charges for a water, electric, sewer, back-in, level, gravel site with free WiFi. Our Verizon MiFi worked exceptionally so we did not even log onto theirs.


We were greeted very nicely, even though it was early in the morning of our check in day, not a problem they escorted us to our site. Included with their brochure, they gave us a book that had information about the area and coupons from local area establishments to use during our stay, very welcoming.

They have all sorts of activities throughout the resort, shuffleboard, horseshoes, Bingo, pool and spa, and so much more.


There is a lake for fishing, but we were told we would need an Arizona Fishing License to partake. They even have a restaurant open all week long that serves some pretty good choices at a great price.


They have several laundry facilities and the one we were closest to was small, only a half a dozen washer and dryers and each time we came by there were people waiting. Thank goodness we were able to wait and do it at our next location.

The resort is old, but they maintain it well, several restrooms and showers were located throughout the resort, that were kept clean. If we are ever in the area again we would most certainly stay here.



Back when we were in our stationary lifestyle our home was decorated in the southwestern motif and since we had our own tile installation business, my favorite thing to do with tile was and still is mosaic. We created so many items with this design and for me it was like therapy and knowing just how time consuming it can be, it is appreciated when we see other creations. Here are just a few of the southwestern and other artwork that you will find throughout the resort.




For more photos, check out our Picasa Web Albums.

Our First Gypsy Journal Rally

We have been following Nick and Terry Russell’s travels for many years and have always wanted to attend one of their rallies but we were never on the right side of the country during the events, but this year we made a point of being west for the one in Yuma, Arizona.

We arrived as early birds on Sunday morning shortly after 8am and were instructed by very pleasant volunteers that we would not be able to get parked until after 1pm. We already knew this since we had been keeping up with Nick’s blog so we were happy to just hang out and meet others who had the same idea. The meet and greet didn’t take long to begin, groups of people were gathering everywhere and as usual our rig became a good meeting place.

We met new people and even met up with some we had met before. Bob & Cathy worked at the KOA on the Outer Banks of North Carolina the same time we were there and we did some catching up with one another.

Time flew by and we were parked and settled in by 1:30pm and met our new neighbors, Glenn & Marcia Shields who journal online every day. We also met John and Carol Herr from Our Trip Around The Sun, one of the blogs we follow. We met many more folks, many who didn’t have blogs or websites, but some who we just gave them our card and hopefully will send us their information. We absolutely love meeting new people and following their travels so if you were one of those folks, please comment on our blog so we can begin following your journeys.


We are not experts on rallies, this is actually our first, but we will be attending others now that we have gotten our feet wet. We plan to attend a larger one in our future so we can compare them to one another. The Gypsy Journal Rally is very small and in speaking with Nick, he wants to keep it that way. There were approximately 130 rigs and about 300 attendees daily, including the walkups that came just for the day but were not camped here. This makes it very quant but they have tons of seminars which will satisfy most palates.

Opening day was mostly introductions, meeting others and drawing door prizes. We won a $10 gift certificate from the local Applebee’s, we already have a $20 gift card so we hope to be able to stop while we are still in the area and have lunch or dinner.


On Tuesday we attended a few seminars and believe it or not we learned a few things…imagine that…we thought we knew it all! Not really, but it’s nice to keep an open mind and get more information from others even though we have a good grasp on how we like to do things.

We were most interested in learning more about Geocaching, we have been interested in this for some time and this was a great opportunity to learn about it and see if it was something we wanted to pursue. Even though the instructor was interesting, we now know that it is not for us.

The weather took a drastic turn on Wednesday, the wind was strong and brought some pretty chilly weather which was a little of a relief from the unseasonal heat that we were experiencing for the first few days. Since there weren’t many seminars that we were interested in, it was mostly a relax day for us. Later in the evening, we went to the Pizza Party and then the Cactus Queen Beauty Contest, what a hoot! Imagine all the things your mother warned you about and then times that by a thousand and that is what the contest is all about. Our guts are still hurting from all the laughter this contest bestowed upon us.

Five men , very masculine men who were secure enough in themselves to be able to dress up like ladies, well that term is used very loosely in this description, more like ladies of the night. But, anyway for them to be able to come out in front of hundreds of laughing hysterically people is just amazing to Jerry. He was asked several times to volunteer and each time he replied with a resounding, “NO”. These five were hilarious and we believe that there had to be a lot of Jack Daniels going on in the back for them to be able to do this so well. Unfortunately, I forgot my camera and since we were sitting way in the back my IPhone did not take very good photos, so none from this event from me.

Thursday was filled with some seminars that we were interested in, Smart Phones, writing a book, and working while RVing.


It was really nice to once again meet up with Jaimie Hall-Bruzenak who writes RV Lifestyle Experts and has interviewed us several times, including our very first year out here. We have kept in touch throughout the years by telephone, emails or just reading each other’s blogs but it has been a long time since we met up personally. She asked us to speak in her class about our adventures and we were glad to share a hint of our stories. The response was overwhelming, we received so many folks asking us for more information that we decided this just may be something for us to look further into. This has given us a push in the direction to begin publishing our books and then possibly get into giving seminars about living this lifestyle…stay tuned for more on this in the near future.

Writing about this rally cannot be complete without mentioning the constant noise from the Marine Corps Air Station Yuma located across from the Yuma County Fairgrounds. Nick made a great comment during introductions about this noise. He said to think of it as the sound of “Freedom”. Nice point but the constant noise from early in the morning all the way to after ten most nights and even as late as midnight on one of the nights just became very annoying to us. But as we have said so many times, it’s easy to live with things for a short amount of time as long as we are having fun and we enjoyed ourselves tremendously.


For more photos, check out our Picasa Web Albums.

March Has Rolled In

After we left Needles, we headed south on 95 on the California side. Usually we travel on the Arizona side because it is not as wavy of a drive but we had planned to stop at Havasu Landing Casino which can only be approached on the California side.


Well, that is a bit incorrect, you can take a boat from Lake Havasu City over, but they do not have a road or a bridge that will take you across.


It was as wavy a road as I remember, so I was busy staying focused on the road ahead and not turning my head in any way to provoke the Vertigo to return.


We had planned to spend the night at the Havasu Landing RV Park but...


We were not impressed with the area and decided to continue to our next stop instead. We did stop at the casino and played a bit, walked out with more than we came in with so that was a plus. It is a very small casino and they have a great marina and the RV Park looked nice, but just not what we had pictured.

We headed for Parker to make a Walmart stop and boondock overnight at the Blue Water Casino. It is one of the most welcoming casinos to boondock at, the only disadvantage is it was well lit up at night, that could also be an advantage depending on how you look at it. We played a little, ate a little and then called it an early night and had a restful sleep.



Once on the road early the next morning, we finally made a stop at Daniel’s Really Good Fresh Jerky and tasted the best jerky we have ever had…flavorful, juicy and soft…just the way we love it! In the future we will not be passing by this place again instead we will make it a definite stop for more jerky.

Next on our travels was Quartzsite, it had calmed down quite a bit since we were there last. The crowds really thinned out and the deals are flying, but we could not find anything we needed. For the first time in our lives, I believe we have everything we need…NOT! But, it sure is nice that our shopping list is clear at this time.

After an overnight stay at the Tyson Wells RV Park, where we paid $25 for a water, electric and sewer with no frills on a flat, gravel site, we headed for Yuma.

Since we still had a few days to hang out before arriving at the Gypsy Journal Rally, we checked out the boondocking situation at the 3 nearby casinos.

Our first stay was at Quechan Casino located at 525 Algodones Road in Winterhaven, California, just under 10 miles from downtown Yuma. Enter at the South Entrance and follow the road to...


The area where they have ample amount of space to accommodate hundreds of RV’s.


This is the largest casino of the three, with plenty of slots, table games, and a few restaurants where we enjoyed our time. There is no charge, no requirements required to fulfill with the casino or security and no overnight limits.


Our next stop was just a few miles east to the Paradise Casino that is located at 450 Quechan Drive in Yuma, Arizona and is affiliated with the Quechan Casino. They have signs to follow to the back of the Casino where they offer...


A huge area off the pavement where you can boondock for an unlimited time also with no charge or requirements to fulfill. They had closed down an entire section of the casino since our last visit which really made it small and not so inviting.


Our last stop was at Cocopah Resort & Casino located at 15318 South Avenue B in Somerton, Arizona which is just out of Yuma.


They have designated numbered sites on pavement where after finding a spot, you must check in at the Gift Shop and pay $5 for 3 nights. Any nights after those initial three will then be allowed only if your Players Card points add up to their requirements.


Because we do not play our cards unless they have some sort of special going on, we were approached several times and were told that if we do not play our cards we will not be allowed to stay any additional nights. We informed them that we were only staying one night and did not want to play our cards which did not sit well with many of them. The casino was smaller than we remembered it to be and we do not like that sort of treatment, so we will not be returning any time soon, especially when the Quechan Casino is a much better choice to stay and to play in any future visits to the Yuma area.

For more photos, check out our Picasa Web Albums.

So Many Offers

We are always surprised when we hear others say they can’t find work. We realized a long time ago that there is always work to be found, it is all about how you go about it.

We knew we wanted to stay west this season, even with that in mind we received offers from the east and really considered them along with the many others from so many different areas. These offers continue to come in, but in the end we accepted the one that we felt best suited us at this time in our journey.

Most of the positions that were in the front running offered good pay…paid for all hours worked…a full hook up site included at no extra charge…perks, not just discounts at the location, but many other local discounts. The different types of work ranged from maintenance and front desk, cook and assistant, retail work and supervisor, bartender and restaurant help. Any one of them we would have felt comfortable doing, but as we said the final decision comes from our gut, our heart, and our feelings from within.

Our interview with Tom Forsythe, Artsudist and Proprietor of Frontier Movie Town in Kanab, Utah went the best. We felt most comfortable with our conversations with him. Even though our first adventure full timing we were at the North Rim of the Grand Canyon and spent a lot of our time off in Kanab and surrounding areas but would be content to revisit the area. We took thousands of photos the last time we were there but lost most of them when our computer crashed, so this will give us the opportunity to take more of this very picturesque area.

There was one thing that kept me on the fence longer than Jerry and that is the length of this position. We will be there until the end of October which means we will be settled in for 7 months. My hitch itch usually begins to show just after a few weeks, so this will be interesting. Taking many side trips on our time off will definitely help me with it.

For now until the first of April we will enjoy our travels around Arizona, California and Nevada before heading to Utah. This week we will leave Needles and head to Yuma for the Gypsy Journal Rally. If any of our readers plan to be there, let us know so that we can get together while we are there.

For more photos, check out our Picasa Web Albums.

Northshore Resort/Colorado River Adventures

3408 River Road

Needles, CA 92363

760-326-5111

Updated 2/29/2012 - First visit was 4/2010

We paid $10 with our Coast to Coast membership, with no extra charges. They are also a Colorado River Adventure membership resort. Our site was a water, 30amp electric, sewer, flat, gravel back in site. Sites are made to fit your length, thank goodness we are trained to say we are 30’, we fit perfectly in our site. They do not offer WiFi or cable at the sites but have a computer room where you can get online. Our Verizon phones and MiFi worked fantastic during our entire stay.

Located right on the Colorado River, they have set up some nice areas where you can fish, picnic, or just sit and enjoy the magnificent scenery.

The pool and the Jacuzzi are well maintained and quite invigorating.

Activities are plenty, even for this time of the year which is their wind down time, many folks heading back up north for the summer. The laundry room was large but only 5 washers and dryers, for as large of a room, they could put in more.

It was quiet at night, but for a few mornings, the crew was out working at 6am. Since it was so nice we slept with our windows opened and they just had to work on the sites next to us, raking the gravel and dragging picnic tables across the concrete patios, but that is what keeps this place looking pristine at all times. 

This was really a great place and not only would we stay if ever in the area again, we would highly recommend it to others.

A Gregarious Man!

The summer of 2010, we were tired of working in campgrounds and were looking to do something different in this lifestyle and that is exactly what we found when we received the call from Ernie Noia, owner of Mancos Dude Ranch located in Mancos, Colorado.

As many of you know from our posts on our blog that season, we had a blast and met the two of the best people we had ever encountered, Carolyn and Ernie Noia. They were married for a long time and the respect they showed one another was enlightening to us.

They both taught us so much that season but what we got from Ernie was life changing for us. He was such a gregarious sort of guy that taught us exactly how we wanted to live the rest of our lives. He was a straight shooter and never took any crap from anyone. He was a big man, tall and broad which was intimidating in itself. As big as he was, deep inside he was a very sincere and sensitive man who liked things his way but at the same time would take our suggestions and then use them. He was fair, he was funny, he was blunt, and was always giving of himself to others.

When we left that season, they offered us a place to stay if we were ever in the area, not just at the ranch but in Palm Springs where they lived and we knew that if we were ever passing through the area again, we would most definitely stop in for a visit.

Jerry and I spoke about them often, and every chance we got we tried to live the way he presented to us that season, tough but fair. We never had the opportunity to pass through their area and now it just won’t happen since we heard that Ernie passed away after a bout with cancer.

Our heart goes out to his family, especially Carolyn. They were friends, they were partners, they worked side by side with one another for years. How on earth do you recover from losing your soul mate and continue living your life without them by your side? We really hope we never have to find out, we hope when it is our time to go that we go together.

We are so grateful that we were able to share a part of his life that season, we will never forget him!

Ridgeview RV Resort

775 Bullhead Parkway
Bullhead City, AZ 86429
928-754-2596
March 19-26, 2010 & January 2-16, 2012 & February 5-19, 2012


With our Coast to Coast membership we paid a little over $13 per night for water, electric and sewer, fairly level gravel site that includes cable and a patio slab. The last time we were here they did not have any extra charges, but they now added a resort fee and tax to their price as many others do. Even with that, $13 per night for a nice resort in a wonderful area is not so bad. Our phones and MiFi worked fairly well, but they continued to switch from Arizona to Nevada time regularly, they offer Tengo Internet for a small charge.


The laundry room has 10 washers & dryers and seems to be a very busy place but we found the time to use them. The restrooms were well maintained but as usual we did not use them.


It was quiet and peaceful at night, but during the day every once in a while a loud plane would take off from the small airport that would shake the ground.

The swimming pool and Jacuzzi was kept up well, even though we did not use them due to the weather.

The people are very friendly, both the workers and the guests and it looked as if their rules were enforced, we never seen a dog without a leash and owners were picking up after them.

We will definitely stay here whenever we come through this area again.

For more photos, check out our Picasa Web Albums.

Compressed Mattress - What a Concept!

Now many of you may be saying that we have lost our minds or something…making such a big deal out of this, but we think it is the best thing since sliced bread.

Our mattress is only about 5 years old, but due to the constant moisture we endure, the mold issues and a few springs sprung, we decided to replace our Queen mattress. We have been looking everywhere but are a bit limited due to the area where the bed fits into the rig. It was originally set up for twins; we remodeled that as soon as we got Maggie, but soon realized because of the cabinets above we could not fit every type of bed. They have to be entirely flexible since maneuvering around in that area is difficult. The sleep number ones were unfortunately out of the question, it just would not fit in there.

Putting in the one we just removed was a hilarious moment in our lives that we really didn’t want to repeat so we researched and found this one at Wal-Mart online. They come in every size and depth imaginable. We chose the 13” Queen Pillow top with memory foam and were not disappointed.


We ordered it online and could have had it delivered but we chose the store to store option. Upon picking it up we seen how it was exactly how they described, it fit into a duffle bag and weighed less than 100 lbs. We put it in a shopping cart and then very methodically we shoved it into our rig.


We drove back to the resort where we removed the old one, not a fun task but we did it. We then were able to begin removing the bags which held the mattress in its shape.


We must have inadvertently created a small hole since as soon as we took off the second layer of plastic we began hearing this hissing noise.


We quickly flattened it into place before it lost all of its compacted air.


We then cut the third and final layer of plastic off the mattress and...


Voila…like magic our mattress appeared.


This was so cool and by the way, the mattress is perfect!