We spent 10 days at one of our favorite RV Parks, Fortuna de Oro, in Yuma, Arizona. Most people wouldn’t consider it a garden spot for travel but Yuma is exceptionally popular this year because of hurricane damage in Texas and Florida.  To give Yuma its due, it is a garden spot for lettuce.  Nearly all lettuce eaten in the U.S. November -through March comes from Yuma.

January 2015

We came to Fortuna originally because cousin Audrey had her winter home here. We spent a day with her and committed to a month the next winter. Audrey passed away before we could be here together, but she left us with an unlikely Fortuna legacy of our own.

Randy and I really enjoy music and happy hour around the pool!

Like Audrey, we have made good friends here. We met our Canadian friends, Linda, Dave, Catie and Gordon during our first stay at Fortuna and enjoy their company each time we meet up.

We also see Wisconsin friends, Myron and Peggy, each time we come. It was at their home in Wisconsin that we survived the storm of our lifetime (hopefully).    That blog is here:  Wisconsin: We Earned Our Map Sticker!

My history in Yuma goes way back as my family moved to Yuma Proving Ground the summer I graduated from high school (1977).  From there I attended Northern Arizona University, met Randy and rarely thought of Yuma for 35 years.  As unlikely as it would have seemed, we now go to Yuma regularly.

Randy and I went back to the the old stomping grounds, Yuma Proving Ground, to look around and go to the Heritage Center Museum.

The old headquarters building is now a museum.

YPG started during WWII with a mission to train and equip America’s military including men, munitions, artillery, vehicles and more.   That mission continues.

Military canines and their handlers train here.  NASA also uses YPG because equipment has to work anywhere and every where.

Yuma Proving Ground is one of the largest military bases in the world covering 1,307 square miles of southwest Arizona.  We had to undergo a background check before we entered the gate.  Although things have changed in 40 years, I knew where to find our old house.

Our old house looked rough….one of very few of the old houses still standing.

The military policeman living next door came to see why I was taking pictures and told us that the older houses are being condemned as people move out. Our house is now being used for storage pending demolition.

Back at Fortuna de Oro we made a most unlikely decision. We have had a portable DISH satellite since 2008 and it worked well until it died this summer.

This new portable satellite just didn’t work as well as our old one.

We have had two portable units since then and neither was as robust as our original. Either would have been fine for occasional use but we live with satellite TV everyday and want it to work without drama.

We made the most unlikely decision to go to a larger, heavier, 3-LMB tripod model – enticed by a more stable signal (my priority) and more simultaneous viewing and recording options (Randy’s priority).  Purposely choosing larger and heavier is most unlikely while living in an RV!

Our installer, Charlie, had the new satellite dish up and the Hopper working in the living room very quickly. Progress came to a halt when the wireless Joey in the bedroom failed to sync up. Charlie spent the whole day troubleshooting unsuccessfully.  He talked to five or six DISH support people and left very frustrated.

After Charlie left, I noticed we were missing some channels on our sports package and called DISH to figure that out. I happened to speak with someone who determined our Hopper was one update behind so she pushed that through.  Our missing channels appeared and  I asked if that might also be our Joey problem.  She and Randy worked through the Joey installation and it worked!   What an unlikely event that I would be the one to call DISH about something else and happen to get the only person at DISH who recognized that the Hopper update, initiated by Charlier earlier in the day, had failed.  Randy left a message for Charlie and he came by the next morning to hear all about it.

After years of only being able to watch/record one event at a time on only one TV, we now have three watching/recording options and get the satellite feed on both TVs.  This is glamping not camping!

We had one other event in Yuma but it can’t really be considered unlikely!  We met fellow RVers in person that we had only previously “met” on-line.  RVers have a social network called RVillage and Cheryl and I connected on the site when we were both near Sequim, Washington.  We didn’t or couldn’t arrange a get together but have followed each others blogs since.  Several months and many miles later, we were in the same vicinity again.

We enjoyed brunch with David and Cheryl, authors of Landmark Adventures at landmarkadventures.net.   Socializing with other blogging RVers isn’t at all unlikely, and it sure is fun!