Desert Days and Neon Nights: Yuma, Lake Havasu, and Las Vegas

The American Southwest is an oasis of arid beauty

that glows beneath the midday sun

... and continues to radiate well into the night.

We ended our Baja RVenture as we crossed into Yuma, Arizona, and almost immediately, it hit us. We are so fortunate to live in a country where everyday necessities are always readily available! Inexpensive gas, fully stocked grocery stores, full service RV parks, drinkable water ... the basics that often go unnoticed suddenly felt like luxuries to us after spending six weeks in Mexico. It caused me to pause ... how often do I truly appreciate the simple blessings of living in the U.S. that are often just taken for granted??

... like driving on crazy wide and super smooth highways??

  Yuma is a small, sleepy border town that swells in size and buzzes with activity during snowbird season. To welcome the seasonal migration of these gray-haired human "birds", Yuma's airport offers flights to and from many northern cities. We were especially grateful for their reasonable airfares, which made it possible for us to return to Michigan on short notice for a family funeral.

Baby Beest hung out in the airport's small parking area

surrounded by spring flowers in full bloom. 

When we returned, we set our sights on Las Vegas, five hours to the north, as the place most likely to have a RAM repair shop capable of diagnosing and fixing Baby Beest's current engine woes. With Easter weekend fast approaching, we chose to slow our travels down a bit and take time to explore the stretch between Yuma and Las Vegas ... an area that attracts multitudes of visitors each year who come in search of ...

Desert Days and Neon Nights

Yuma, Arizona

Yes, Yuma surprised us! When we briefly stopped here during our past travels in the area, we didn't consider it to be the type of town that we would want to spend a lot of time in. But during our three days here, we found many "cool" ways to keep comfortably entertained as the daytime temperatures soared to near 100.

In a town that caters to the RV lifestyle, it was easy to find a full service campground so that we could run our AC as we prepared for our trip up north. It's really hard to think about packing winter clothes when the temps are in the 90s.

But yes, we needed them!

Historic Downtown Yuma turned out to be a fun spot to spend the days (despite the heat) before our flight. We enjoyed the air conditioned comfort at a cozy coffee shop and decided to catch an afternoon showing of the new sci-fi film, Project Hail Mary.

Popcorn for lunch, anyone?

But before the sci-fi geek got his movie, it seemed only fair that history geek would be able to check out Yuma's #1 tourist attraction, Yuma Territorial Prison. Located on a hill overlooking the Colorado River, this historic prison-turned-museum offered a glimpse into how the Arizona Territory attempted to bring law and order to the lawless southwest during the late 1800s. Stepping back out into the oppressive afternoon heat, I can only imagine how harsh life must have been for those once confined within these walls.

There was definitely no chance of escaping the desert heat here.

After our return from Michigan, we decided to spend one more day in Yuma as Doug wanted to get his teeth cleaned ... in Mexico. Just across the border, the town of Los Algodones is famous for its high concentration of dental clinics. In addition to providing high quality and reasonably priced dental services, its streets are also lined with many colorful souvenir shops and tasty authentic restaurants.

"I'll take a $3 fish taco to go with that $30 dental cleaning."

Wheeling and dealing for a new leather belt 

Quartzsite, Arizona

Quartzsite, located north of Yuma along the California/Arizona border, is surrounded by vast stretches of desert BLM land ... that is, public land where camping is often free and wonderfully remote. This tiny town of about 2,500 residents transforms each winter into a sprawling, temporary city of more than a million RVing “snowbirds.” As quirky as it may sound, experiencing this “epic” boondocking scene had long been on my vanlife bucket list. Even though we arrived after the peak season, there was something truly special about soaking up the solitude of desert camping.

Just us ...

and the full moon.

Lake Havasu City, Arizona

 Continuing north, we arrived at the location of one of the Colorado River's many man-made reservoirs, Lake Havasu. After the dam was built in 1963, the surrounding land quickly developed into a popular retirement and recreational community. Today, hiking, water sports, and year-round sunshine invite tourists to enjoy this desert paradise.

Our sunset view at Cattail Cove State Park

During our three day stay, we took advantage of ...

scenic hiking trails,

an outdoor community music festival,

and magnificent views of the London Bridge!

As strange as it may sound, developer Robert P. McCulloch purchased the historic London Bridge from the British government in 1968 and had its exterior granite blocks carefully dismantled and shipped halfway across the world. The 150-year-old stones were then meticulously reassembled, and the land beneath the bridge was dredged to create a deep canal for recreational boating. His $7+ million gamble was driven by a vision to attract developers and tourists to this remote desert community. Judging by the number of condos, thriving businesses, and the steady stream of boaters cruising the canal on this sunny afternoon, it's obvious that ...

  McCulloch's "crazy idea" succeeded wonderfully!

Las Vegas, Nevada

We traded our Desert Days for Neon Nights when we arrived in Las Vegas. While the local RAM dealer worked on our van, we had a chance to once again, to check out Sin City.

Much to Doug's delight, a number of new craft breweries had sprung up since our last visit nine years ago. 

Celebrating craft brewery visit

#800!

From our "home" at Las Vegas RV Resort, we were about 20 minutes from The Strip, so we decided to try out the local bus system. Unfortunately, this method was painfully slow and convinced us that Uber was the way to go in order to enjoy the ...

glisten of the day

and glimmer of the night.

Colorful

Las Vegas moments included ...

... urban hikes down The Strip

and along the Fremont Street Experience

... a larger than life, AI-enhanced performance of

The Wizard of Oz at The Sphere,

 ... sweet decisions at the M&M Store,

... spring blossoms at the Bellagio Conservatory,

... a test ride in Las Vegas' newest robotaxi,

the ZOOX,

... unique extra-terrestrial sightings in the crowd

underneath the lights of Fremont Street,

... a free concert by the tribute band, Hairball

celebrating the music of Kiss, Queen, Rush, AC/DC,

and other great Rock 'n Roll legends of the 80s, 

... and just taking in the Vegas sights and sounds with

the best "jackpot" win of my life.

While our van repair has dragged on a little longer than we originally planned, we're grateful for being "stuck" in an area where the desert days and neon nights allow us to

 enjoy our hikes wherever they lead us!

RVing in Baja: Worth Every Bump in the Road???

We knew that driving our van down the Baja of Mexico would have its challenges.

Potholes.

Narrow roads.

Language barriers.

Finding safe drinking water

But when rewarded with beautiful waterfront views, we were almost able to forget what was involved in getting here.

Almost ...

Yes, I'll be honest in saying that during the travel days of our Baja RVenture, we quite frequently wrestled with the question ...

Is it worth it???

In order to enjoy seaside views like this at the end of the day, we had to navigate a few bumps along the way. And somewhere between the rough roads and the quiet horizons, we came to better understand the culture of Mexico ... and our own strengths and weaknesses as RV travelers in a foreign land.

Let's start with those ..

"Smooth" Pavement Moments

We were happy to discover that our Spanish skills ... and especially Doug’s advanced conversational Spanish ... served us well during our time in Baja. At the military checkpoints, Doug was able to quickly and confidently answer questions about our travel plans and destinations. Twice, officers did a brief inspection of our van. We’re still not sure what they were looking for… though I suspect they mostly wanted to admire Baby Beest’s sweet layout or talk a bit longer with her driver. I've noticed that my "man of few words" does suddenly get more talkative when he can practice his Spanish!

In a country where many of the people earn very little money, we were surprised to not ever encounter any beggars. Instead, we experienced a culture that is hardworking and takes great pride in the food and goods they create. When vendors approached us with their wares, a simple “no, gracias” was met with a smile as they respectfully continued on their way.

Fresh fish and shrimp tacos ... everywhere ... everyday. And while they were delicious and surprisingly affordable (about $3 each), I hate to admit it ... after a number of days of this seafood diet, I began to miss having a variety of food we're used to finding in restaurants back in the U.S.

Margaritas ... not sure how they do it, but these are definitely better than any that I have had in the U.S. I suspect that the scenic backgrounds add to the enjoyment.

Those beachfront campsites ... pull in, pay 250 pesos ($15 USD), roll out the awning, spread out the rug, set up your chair, and let the gentle waves lull you into a hypnotic state of calm.

But this "new to us" experience of vanlife in Mexico did come with a few...

"Bumps" in the Road

Some of the campground amenities that we take for granted (bathrooms, showers, water, electricity, and dump stations), can be surprisingly hard to find ... especially potable water. For that, we had to seek out an "Aqua Purificada" station. While these stations were easy to find in most villages, it wasn't a given that they would have the right hose connection to fill our tank. Doug got an upper body workout (and an unexpected shower) while applying a Herculean amount of pressure to a hose whose screw-on fitting was anything but secure.

   We found that a "typical" travel day in Baja was very taxing on the brain. Random potholes ... unannounced speed bumps ... hidden stop signs ... "unique" road designs. These road hazards, not necessarily typical when traveling in the U.S., were a normal part of our Baja travel days. Thus, we quickly realized that it was better if we both kept our eyes on the road at all times.

Because of limited paved highways, a trip down and back up the Baja Peninsula is pretty much an out and back ... which means we have to repeat that same bad stretch of road (or that construction zone detour) on our way back north.

I quickly discovered that the wide variety of groceries we’re used to finding in American stores isn’t always easy to come by in Baja. As my stash of favorite vanlife staples started running low, some of my “home-cooked” meals became a little more … creative. Doug had no problem fixing that problem by suggesting that we just needed to eat out more.

There is limited internet coverage when traveling in Baja, so it was something that needed to be considered before starting our travels ... in order to prevent those dreaded "internet withdrawal" symptoms from setting in. We found that our Google Fi internet had good coverage in all of the small villages that we stayed in. And for travel and beach camping days, our Starlink was definitely the "star" of the show!

Unfortunately, with limited trash removal options, many rural and natural areas become makeshift garbage dumps. While a walk through this forest of cacti could be so beautiful, the heaps of garbage along the sides of the road took away a bit of the magic.

And yes, that dreaded "check engine" light made an appearance once again on our way back up towards the border. While it remained solid and intermittent ... instead of flashing and constant which would be much more worrisome ... we still needed to stop a few times to let Baby Beest cool her jets. As always, crossing back into the U.S. was a long and slow process, but we were grateful to reach that point and finally be in a place where finding a repair shop was once again an option.

 Baja Lessons Learned

Plan your visit during the times that match your desired activities. Want to whale watch? Early February to mid March is best.  The gray whales, who entertained us immensely on our way down, were pretty much gone when we made our return trip through Guerrero Negro three weeks later.

Want uncrowded beach campsites? Avoid the week before and after Easter. All of the schools in Mexico are on vacation for the two week period around Easter, so many families head to the beaches. From what we heard, the popular beaches can get very crowded. As for us, we will cherish the peaceful beachside camping experience that Baja gifted us.

And finally, traveling to Mexico is no bargain. With the added expenses of Mexican car insurance ($800), an immigration visa ($115), gas ($5.25/gallon) that are needed in order to reach those delicious $3 fish tacos or $15 beachside campsites, it may not seem as quite a big of a bargain.

But as the saying goes ...

Views like these are PRICELESS!

Was It Worth It???

Driving our van down into Mexico definitely had it challenges. But it also was an opportunity to "spread our wings" and learn more about ourselves as world travelers. We returned to the States with a new appreciation for all the "luxuries" that we, as Americans, often take for granted like ...

Smooth wide roads

Free public toilets that actually have toilet paper

A greater variety of restaurant cuisine from fast food to fine dining

Better availability of grocery items

Safe drinking water

Clean public lands

RVing through Mexico was, without a doubt, a learning experience. While traveling by RV proved a little more challenging than we expected, we’re grateful to have these Baja memories become another chapter of our RVentures.