End of the Road

After 212 days on the road and more than 13,000 miles of driving, we finally reached the end of the road . . . at least for this trip.  We said “Goodbye” to our Yuma friends in early February and headed home, stopping for a few days at Lake Minden (near Sacramento).  Gas prices were rising rapidly, so we decided to put the motor home into storage and drive the Honda home, then return to California later this summer for some warm weather camping.  This will be our 20th and final chapter of our travel blog.

Salton Sea

We wanted to visit Ron’s cousin Sherry and her hubby Bill in Indio, California while we were in the neighborhood.  So, we drove west over the dunes to El Centro, then north along the Salton Sea.

Salton Sea:  The Salton Sea has an interesting history.  It was created by accident in 1905 when an unusually heavy rainfall and snowmelt caused the Colorado River to flood.  The floodwaters overran gates to a major irrigation canal, breached an important dike and created two new rivers into the “Salton Sink”, a large dry lakebed.  Efforts to stop the flow of water failed and the Colorado River continued to flow into the valley for two years, submerging the town of Salton while creating what is now California’s largest lake.

The surface of the Salton Sea is 226 ft. below sea level.  Since water doesn’t flow uphill, the lake has no outlet and, over the years, agricultural runoff and other factors have contributed to the water quality deterioration and high salinity.  Today it’s a valuable haven for birds, but not a good home for fish.  Talapia still thrive, but many other species have died out.  Massive fish kills have left the shorelines messy and stinky.

Resort communities were built on both sides of the Salton Sea but few prospered.  We walked along the deserted beach at Salton Sea Beach Marina and drove through neighborhoods that were flooded and abandoned decades ago.

 

It’s a sorry sight today, but efforts are underway to restore the water quality and maybe even future living conditions.  Much of the current interest was sparked in the 1990s by the late Congressman Sonny Bono of Sonny & Cher fame.  His widow, Mary Bono Mack was elected to fill his seat and continued his efforts to improve the Salton Sea.  In 1998, the Sonny Bono Salton Sea Restoration Project was named for the politician . . . and the beat goes on.

 

Salton Sea neighborhood fixer-upper

 

Indio:   It was our first visit to Sherry and Bill’s waterfront home in a beautiful RV community in Indio.  They live in a very nice “casita” and turned their motor home into our guest accommodations for one night.  They gave us a golf cart tour of their community and topped it off with an excellent potluck dinner.  Very nice indeed.

View from Sherry & Bill's patio.

Ron, Sherry & Bill - at home in Indio CA

 



Slab City:  Our return trip from Indio took us around the east side of the Salton Sea to the town of Niland. 

 

Highway 111 along Salton Sea

A few miles from Niland, and well off the beaten path, is a very unique community known as Slab City.  This is the site of World War II Camp Dunlap, but all that remains are concrete slabs that once supported Marine barracks.  The area is now a popular wintering place for campers, squatters and snowbirds who park or pitch their shelters on and around the slabs.  Many “slabbers” are retired folks on fixed incomes.  Others live on Social Security or Disability, and others came here simply for the freedom, to be left alone, or to live “off the grid” with minimal finances.  Summer temperatures often exceed 110 degrees, but an estimated 150 permanent residents manage to make this their home.

The military site is decommissioned and uncontrolled.  There are no fees for camping or parking and virtually no facilities or amenities that would normally be associated with a campground.  Electricity is not available, there is no running water, no sewers and no trash pick-up.   Water and other provisions can be obtained in Niland and a few slabbers use generators or solar panels for electricity.  We found an interesting assortment of recreational vehicles and tents, along with lots of scattered trash in some areas.  Some folks are working to keep the place clean while others obviously aren’t.  Some are devoting much of their time to artistic pursuits, such as “art cars”.  It’s total freedom here.  No rules.

Salvation Mountain:  This work of art is Leonard Knight’s tribute to God.  Leonard created his masterpiece to include biblical and religious scripture as well as flowers, trees, waterfalls, suns, bluebirds, and many other fascinating and colorful objects. The mountain is 50 ft. high and 150 ft. wide and made totally of local adobe clay and many gallons of donated paint.

Visitors can walk all over this artwork and explore several tunnels through its interior.  Leonard’s health is failing and he’s now in a nursing home, but his creation is something to behold.

Interior passageway

Some vintage recreational vehicles also grace the property.

We met many very nice friendly people during our two month stay at Cactus Gardens RV Park in Yuma.  Most were Canadian snowbirds, mostly from Alberta, Saskatchewan and British Columbia.  And, many brought their musical talents and instruments to Yuma.  There was no shortage of afternoon jam sessions, and the group “Canadian Critters” provided good music for dancing.

The Canadian Critters provide music for dancing at the rec. hall.

Lots of participation for Water Volleyball

 

We couldn’t keep up with all the steak barbecues, breakfasts, BINGO, darts, cards, water aerobics and volleyball, and other activities.  Bonnie joined a craft group and got a good start on making a pine needle basket while Ron was playing shuffleboard every weekday morning. 

Friday Burger Barbecue

Shuffleboard

Yuma doesn't have the best drinking water, so most folks take their plastic water jugs to one of these little water booths where they can get a gallon of fresh salt-free water for 25 cents.

Thanks to all the retired folks in town, Yuma offers many festivals, concerts, dinners, “meat draws” and other activities during the winter months.  We also made three trips over the border to Los Algodones where we got new glasses and brought back a few souvenirs and a bottle or two of liquid spirits.

We went to Yuma to find out why so many of our friends go there in the winter . . . and we found out.  Half of Bonnie's high school class was there and it seemed like we had more friends in Yuma than we do at home.  It’s a great place to spend a few months surrounded by folks of similar ages and interests.  The weather is very comfortable, the sun shines nearly every day, the lifestyle is relaxing and pleasant, prices are reasonable and the people are terrific.  We don’t know if we’ll go back next winter, but we’re seriously considering it.

Our last sunset in Yuma - Feb. 5, 2013

We checked out of Cactus Gardens on February 6 and drove to Sacramento.  We stayed a few days at Lake Minden before putting the motor home in storage and driving home.  And so our extended vacation came to an end.  It was a good one.  We'll have lots of great memories and we thank you for following along.  Until next time . . .

        Ron & Bonnie

Yuma 2

Sunrise at the RV Park

Hello again . . . 
Yes, we're still hanging out with our snowbird friends in Yuma AZ.  We intended to stay for one month (Dec.) to better understand why so many folks spend their winters here.  It didn't take long to figure it out and, when we did, we extended for another month.  There are so many things to do that we're busy every day and most things are geared to the interests of people like us . . . retired empty nestors.  Most folks are here primarily to escape the hardships of northern winters.   Canadians make up the majority of our park.  They are all friendly and happy as clams to be this far from the frozen tundra back home.

Our "Things to Do" list is gradually getting shorter.  We'll try not to cover too much in this chapter of our blog.  We'll pick a few things of interest and add another chapter in a week or so.


Ocean-to-Ocean Bridge

Yuma Crossing:   In the 1800s, thousands of gold seekers and pioneers on their way to California passed through Yuma because this was the easiest place to cross the mighty Colorado River.  A small ferry shuttled people and goods over the river for many years.  Finally, in 1915, the first bridge over the Colorado River was built.  The “Ocean-to-Ocean Bridge”, a one-lane steel structure, is still in operation and is a Yuma landmark, alongside the railroad bridge.

 

Historic Yuma Territorial Prison:   Back in the 1870s, 40 years before Arizona became a state, the southwest had a crime problem and needed a place to put the criminals.  Yuma was chosen as the site of a new territorial prison. 

With labor provided by prisoners, the new adobe prison was opened for business in 1876.  During its brief 33 years of operation, more than 3,000 prisoners, including 29 women, spent time here.  It was closed in 1909 and inmates were moved to a new prison in Florence.


Most of the small cells accommodated six prisoners.  There were no televisions, cell phones (pun intended), carpeting, etc.  However, Yuma prison was a state-of-the-art facility in its time and gained a reputation as the “Country Club of the Colorado”.  The prison offered amenities not found in the city or surrounding areas, such as a clean water system, a sewer system, hot and cold running water and electricity with ceiling fans for summer cooling.  The thick adobe walls were no match for the 115+ degree summer heat.

A typical 6-prisoner cell

The Dark Cell was reserved for the worst offenders and problem inmates.  This cell was hollowed into the rock hillside at the end of a short tunnel.  It was almost totally dark, had no heat or air conditioning, no water or bathroom facilities and no furniture.  It smelled terrible and was not a comfortable place to be.

 

In the early 1900s, Yuma High School burned down.  The prison had recently closed, so the high school moved into the vacant structure and held classes there while the new high school was being built.  During that time, the Yuma football team traveled to Phoenix for a game.  Fans of the opposing team knew they were operating out of the old prison, so they poked fun at them and called them “criminals”.  Yuma won the game and the name stuck.  Today, the Yuma High School mascot continues to be a criminal in striped garb.  During home games, the fans go wild when he is brought into the stadium in a police car with the siren blaring and lights flashing.  During the recent Heritage Festival, supporters were raising money for their Criminal Marching Band.  In Yuma, the "criminal element" is a good thing.

Gathering of the Gunfighters:   For the past 15 years, the Yuma Territorial Prison has hosted this unique event that features period costumes and old west skits.  It’s an historic and often humorous glimpse into the past with confrontations between good guys and bad guys, deciding their issues by shooting it out on Main Street.  It was fun to watch the skits and mingle with old timers from the wild west. 

Gathering of Gunfighters participants

Typical Yumans - 1850 style

Two Guns are Better than One?

Tumco is an easily accessed California ghost town "site" not far west of Yuma.  While most of the town's structures and mining equipment have vanished, it's still a fascinating historic place to visit.  It gets very hot in the summer, so we decided to take advantage of the cool winter weather to visit Tumco before it disappears entirely.



Bonnie hiking to Tumco

Not much left of the town of Tumco

The name Tumco is the acronym for The Union Mine Company. They were mining gold ore. At the height of mining operations the town’s population soared to 3,200 and had the saloons, murders, and a red light district typical of other mining towns. There were dozens of buildings, including a dance hall, the Stingaree Saloon (owned by the town constable) and a grocery store run by Charly Sam, a Chinese immigrant. Tumco didn't last long and, according to historic accounts, it wasn’t a pleasant place to live.

 

Cyanide vats for processing gold

Not much remains of Tumco today.   The old cemetery is still there, as are a few remnants of old buildings and the rusting remains of huge cyanide vats that once separated the gold from the ore and produced gold bars in the final stage of the process.

Foundations from the dismantled mill can still be found and there are lots of old bottles, broken glass and rusted tin cans littering the site.

 

Gold was discovered in this area of the Cargo Muchacho Mountains as early as 1853, and it's possible that the Spanish mined the area long before that. But the mining history is based largely on tales of lost treasures and short on documentation. The most accurate of the tales describes a railroad worker named Pete Walters who discovered "mica schist heavily laced with gold" in this area. Prospectors began pouring into the area in the early 1880’s and established the tent city of Gold Rock Camp, which later became Tumco.

Imperial Sand Dunes Nat’l. Recreation Area:   Not far from Tumco and along the east side of California’s Imperial Valley lies the largest inland sand dunes in the U.S.  We drove out to the small dusty town of Glamis to view the dunes and play in nature’s huge sandbox.  A few dunebuggies were climbing up and down the dunes.

We did a little climbing of our own . . . without a motor vehicle.  That's Bonnie getting near the summit.

The dunes were very impressive.  Fortunately, not all of the area is open to motorized recreation.  The North Algodones Dunes Wilderness Area, beyond the highway in the photo below, is being protected in its natural state.

 

Farm Tour:   Near the town of El Centro, the Univ. of Calif. operates its Desert Research and Extension Center.  This 255 ac. complex raises crops and cattle and conducts extensive research in areas of agriculture and the desert environment.  One of their outreach activities is agricultural education through the “Farm Smart” program.

We drove over to El Centro one day and took the Farm Tour.   It turned out to be much more than we had anticipated.

Greenhouse

After a lecture, video presentation and greenhouse tour, we were treated to an excellent lunch of salad, fresh from the farm.  Then we climbed onto hay-wagon trailers behind antique tractors, for a tour of the farm.

Farm Tour behind a 1953 Massy Harris tractor

Friends Dave, Dorothy, Dick and Arlene also enjoyed the Farm Tour

At the end of the tour we were invited to help ourselves to a large variety patch of vegetables.  We walked through the rows of cauliflour, broccoli, lettuce, Napa lettuce, beets, radishes, etc., and picked a nice variety to take home.

Bonnie is knee-deep in the veggie patch

Before leaving the farm, we were treated to ice cream in souvenir mugs while listening to some down home style fiddle tunes played by our hosts.  It was a terrific day on the farm.

Quartzsite – the Main Event:   Many RVers looking for a little winter excitement head for the small desert town of Quartzsite AZ in January and February.  Thousands of travel trailers, campers and motor homes arrive from all directions and claim their camp site in one of the many RV parks or camp for free on the BLM lands surrounding the city.  

The Desert Boondockers near Quartzsite

Hundreds of vendors set up their tables and tents to buy, sell and trade just about everything at the “Main Event”.  We did a day-trip to Quartzsite on a cool cloudy day with friends Dave and Arlene to check it out.  For several hours, we wandered through the maze of buildings and tents looking at the amazing array of “stuff”.  

This huge tent is crowded with vendors and shoppers

We bought an interesting stove-top grill and Bonnie found a style of jacket that she had been looking for.  We also collected a bag full of informational brochures, picked up some free ballpoint pens, had a concession stand lunch and topped it off with a huge bowl of ice cream.

Dining at one of the many fine restaurants in Quartzsite

The “Main Event” is the first of many Quartzsite activities.  It’s followed by the “Tyson Wells Sell-A-Rama” which features gems, rocks, minerals, lapidary, precious metals, silver and goldsmithing.  Then there’s the “Vacation and RV Show”, the “Quartzsite Improvement Assn. Pow Wow”, the “Arts and Crafts Fair”, the “Rock and Roll Classic Car Show”, “Hobby and Gem Show” and others.  When it’s all over, the place empties out and returns to being just a small dusty town in the desert.

Mexicali Expo:   Mexicali, Baja California, is a city of nearly 700,000 people just an hour’s drive from Yuma.  A one day festival (Expo) was held at the Yuma Civic Center to promote tourism and inform people of the many services and activities offered in the Mexicali area.  It was a colorful event with nearly two hours of Mexican music and dancing from different states of Mexico.  Very entertaining.

And that's about the size of it for this time.  We'll probably be leaving for home in early February.  This is a happy colorful place to spend time in the winter and we'll miss Yuma and the people we've met here when it comes time to leave.  But, we have business to take care of at home.  Maybe we'll come back next year. 

Winter in Arizona

Nearly a month has passed since our last blog entry from Las Vegas.  We hope you're still on board.  We waited to see if the world was going to end this month.  Now that it's clear that the Mayans miscalculated and the world is still alive, we'll add another page to the blog to let you know where we are and what we're doing.

We departed Las Vegas on November 27 and drove south to Quartzsite, Arizona.  It's an interesting spot of desert that comes alive with the arrival of thousands of RV "snowbirds".  We arrived early to take a close look at the many campgrounds, RV parks and miles of BLM land around Quartzsite where visitors from the frigid north claim a patch of ground to park their trailers and motor homes for the winter.  A very large gem and mineral show and flea market take place in January, so Quartzsite is the place to be (or to avoid) at that time of the year.  We hope to experience that event next month, so stay tuned.

Sonoran Desert and hills east of Yuma

After a couple days in Quartzsite, we continued down Hwy. 95 to Yuma, our ultimate destination.  Many of our  friends spend their winters in Yuma and urged us to give it a try.  So, we decided to do just that.  We always wondered why anyone would want to spend any time in Yuma, much less several months sitting in a recreational vehicle in an arid sandy desert amongst the scorpions and cacti.  There must be more to it than that.

We parked the motor home on Janet's property for the first week.  Janet is Bonnie's ex-sister-in-law.  After many years of cold wet Washington winters, she decided to buy some property with a manufactured home and become a full-time resident of Yuma.  Her property has separate RV hook-ups which made it very convenient and comfortable for us.

Janet lives in the Foothills, a large residential neighborhood about ten miles east of Yuma. Neighborhoods in this area are designed primarily for RVs. The streets are wide, lots are large and typically enhanced with colorful Mexican brick walls, nice paving, ironwork and desert landscaping.   Many residents park their motor homes on their lots in the winter and go home during the hot summer.  Others make the transition to a "park model" (small casita type dwelling), a manufactured home or a full-size conventional stucco home. It's a fascinating concept that seems to work very well here. 


 



A cold front moved over Yuma on Dec. 18

After settling in, we began exploring the area and learning about local history, which is always fascinating.  Yuma was listed in the Guiness Book of Records as the sunniest place on earth, averaging 340 days of sunshine per year.  With few cloudy days and less than 3 inches of rainfall, it's no wonder that nearly 100,ooo sun worshipers flock to this area in the winter and occupy about 23,000 RV sites.   It's also no wonder that most of them go home in the spring when the temperature begins to rise.  Summer temperatures often climb to well over 100 degrees in June, July, August and September (record high is 124).  It's not likely that you'll find us here in the summertime. 


Yuma lies in an arid desert environment, but it also has fertile soils, water and a good system of canals for the irrigation of farmlands.  Agriculture is the primary industry and busloads of farm workers cross the border every day to work in the fields.  Yuma County provides 90% of the world's winter lettuce, ranks third in the nation in vegetable production and ranks first in the production of lemons, tangerines, watermelon and cantaloupe.  They also grow corn, cotton, broccoli, cauliflower and other crops.  It's nice to be able to buy fresh veggies at local farmers markets or pick fresh oranges and grapefruit right off the trees.



The Mexican culture is alive and well in the Yuma area and the influence is everywhere.  Wally and Lois, a couple friends from the Bellingham area, took us over the border to Los Algodones one day.  We haggled with the street vendors and had a nice Mexican lunch (huge margaritas) at a central outdoor restaurant.

Los Algadones, Mexico

Lunch with Lois and Wally

Downtown Los Algadones is very close to the border and everything is within easy walking distance.  We first encountered the sidewalk vendors selling nearly everything with especially great deals on belts, wallets, hats, handbags, jewelry, etc.  Most of the buildings are occupied by  dentists, optical shops, drug stores and liquor stores, ready to meet the needs of American and Canadian visitors.  We both needed new perscription sunglasses, so we stopped at a small shop that Wally recommended and, in less than three hours, had new glasses at a fraction of what we would have paid at home.


Bonnie gets fitted for her new Mexican sunglasses.

We've met many travelers who get all their dental and vision work done in Algodones and say the results are excellent.  Dentists advertise very low prices for fillings, crowns, bridges and implants.  A cleaning costs as little as $20 and they do a lot of business.

We hadn't been home since July and wanted to be sure our house and family were okay.  So, Bonnie decided to fly home for a week to take care of some business and visit the family.  She took a shuttle bus to Phoenix to catch her Alaska Airlines flight and Ron picked her up in Phoenix a week later and had a leisurely drive back to Yuma.

While Bonnie was home, Ron was chowing down at the annual Tamale Festival in the small town of Somerton.  Thousands of people attended the festival, listened to live music, watched a tamale eating contest and sampled some of the 40 different types of tamales that were available.  It was a fun event and the food was excellent.

Tamale Festival in Somerton, Arizona



Lots of cooks serving thousands of tamales

In early December, we moved a few miles from Janet's property into Cactus Gardens RV Park. Our intent was to sample the social aspects of being a snowbird in Yuma, and the RV parks are where the action is. We soon found that our park, and most others, are very friendly and offer a full menu of daily activities of all kinds to keep everybody busy. We'll write more about those activities in our next blog.

As Christmas approaches, most RVs in our park are decorated with lights and trimmings. We've seen a couple lighted vehicle parades and our park's golf cart parade was excellent. We don't own a golf cart but it was fun watching the carts, quads and even a decorated and lighted bicycle. It may seem a little silly, but it's serious business and all about having fun.



Christmas Golf Cart Parade

We found a small artificial tree that fits nicely on our dash and put some lights around the windshield.  It feels like home, but on a smaller scale of course.  Now we're getting ready for the Christmas dinner, church services, New Years party and dance and, of course, Ron is looking forward to the football bowl games. 

We're getting into the spirit of the holiday season and the spirit of Yuma, and we can understand why so many people come here to spend the winter.  It's a whole different world.  We'll be here through January and will explain more in our next blog.

 

In the meantime, wherever you are and whatever you're doing, we wish you all a very . . .

 

Merry Christmas

and

Happy New Year