Our first trip of the year was more of an escape, then a planned trip. Our inept leaders in California have had us locked down in various phases since March of last year. Our restaurants have gone from take out only, to outdoor only, and now back to take out only. It is very frustrating to live in a place with very few freedoms because of policies that are clearly not working. Isn’t the definition of insanity doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result?
Okay, enough of my rant. Back to the “travel” part of my travel blog. We decided to take our trailer to Yuma, Arizona for a quick five day get away. Yuma is a mere five hour drive away and Cindy’s friend Sylvia went with us on this trip.
Day 1
It was a pretty easy drive and at one point, we drove along the west side of the Salton Sea. The Salton Sea looked very blue and inviting as we drove by. A bit of a contrast to when we stood on the shore on the east side and it was less inviting. Either way, it is something everyone should see at least once in their life.
We arrived in Yuma and as we drove through the city streets, we saw some guy riding on a small three wheeled homemade gasoline engine powered type of vehicle. He had his boom box bungee strapped to the top of what looked like either an air filter or the gas tank. We had a small laugh when he hit a bump and the boom box sprung loose and quite literally went “boom” in the street. He somehow managed to turn his contraption around and we lost sight of him as he went in search of his missing music.
We stayed at the Mesa Verde RV Resort, which is located near both the Yuma Airport and a Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS). More on that later. The resort was very clean and mostly quiet. More on that later too. The resort had a no pet policy and was “age qualified,” meaning you had to be at least 55 to check in and the youngest person in your party had to be at least 40 years old. At first I was bummed out because we didn’t qualify to stay there. Then I was even more bummed out when I realized that not only did I qualify to stay there, but I was only two months away from becoming 56!
Now to the two airports. You would think this would be a problem. It was actually fun. The airport had very few large planes flying in and out, and none at night. Not even close to being a bother. And the MCAS, now that was really cool. We got to see and hear numerous F-35B Lightning II fighter jets as they maneuvered across the sky. We quickly learned that if you heard the plane to your right, you needed to look to the left because that is where the plane really was. Plus we got to watch AV-8B Harrier II’s landing. The AV-8B Harrier II is the plane that can take off and land vertically. It was unreal to see a fighter jet basically stop in mid air and slowly drop straight down to a runway.
Even though the fighter jets were loud, they only flew during the day and it was just too much fun watching them to be annoyed by any noise they made. The real noise issue turned out to be the 24 hour business that was literally next door to the resort. The first morning at about 5 am, they ran a forklift, forward and backward, for about an hour. When the forklift went backward, it had a loud “beep-beep-beep.” Kind of like an alarm clock. Did I mention this was at 5 am? Luckily for us, this only happened the first night.
We went out to dinner at the Prison Hill Brewing Company. The food was very good and their beer was very good as well. The evening ended with a cool pinkish hued sunset.
Day 2
After being awakened by the forklift alarm clock, we did our morning routines and headed off to get some lunch. We ate inside at the Dog Haus, a hot dog and hamburger joint. The food was good, but not great. From there, we took off to go sightseeing. Our first stop was at the Peanut Patch.
As the name suggested, this was a peanut farm that had tours and a gift shop. Because of Covid, the tours were few and far between, and we arrived at the far between, not the few. So we did not get a peanut farm tour. Instead, we checked out the gift shop. Sylvia bought a pound of Virginia Peanuts that she and Cindy munched on for the duration of the trip and we bought some native honey. Delicious.
Our next stop was the Yuma Territorial Prison State Historic Park. As the name suggests, this was the location of a Territorial Prison that was in use from 1876 to 1909.
Then from 1910 to 1914, it was the temporary site of Yuma High School while the actual school was being built. In 1913, the Yuma football team traveled to Phoenix to play the “Coyotes.” Yuma High won. The angry “Coyotes” dubbed the Yuma High players the “Criminals.” At first “Criminals” was a fighting word. Before long, students and teachers wore the name with pride, and in 1917, the school board officially adopted the nickname. Yuma High School has been proudly called the home of the “Criminals” ever since.
Now back to the prison tour. Here are some of the cell blocks.
This is D.L. Bailey, one of the prison pharmacists. With that mustache, he could be a relative. He is the man on the far left.
This is the “Dark Cell.” It was the disciple cell. It was a cell about 15 feet by 15 feet with nothing inside it (no toilet, bunk, etc) and when the door was closed, it was pitch black. And more than one inmate was placed in there at a time.
This is the cell that was in the dark cell, only moved outside so you could see it better.
In the background to the upper right of the cell, you can see the top of a bridge. There was a car accident on the bridge right before we arrived, and that was all the staff could talk about. We looked over the wall and could see a SUV that had rolled over and a tow truck was trying to right it so it could tow it away. Exciting stuff. Next to the bridge and out of view was a railroad track. Right before we left, a train came by that lasted for about 10 minutes. It was by and far the longest train I have ever seen. It just kept coming. It was so long, it had locomotives at the front and back, and had one in the center as well.
And now back to our regularly schedule prison tour. Here is the infirmary.
And finally, Cindy in the Library.
We finished the day back at the trailer, with me BBQing a nice steak and lobster dinner. We capped the evening with a game of Yahtzee, that Sylvia won, probably because this was her first time ever playing it. Darn beginners.
Day 3
After a complete night of sleep, we got up and going and had lunch at Las Palapas Taco Grill. The food was outstanding and we highly recommend it. After filling our bellies, we drove about an hour to the Castle Dome Mining Museum, which is a ghost town you can walk through. Sylvia had never been to a ghost town before, and this was a great one to start with. Cindy and I have seen several ghost towns, with Bannack Montana being our favorite so far. Until this trip, Bodie California was our second favorite ghost town, but Castle Dome easily took the second spot away. This is a must visit if you are in either Yuma, or Quartzite, or passing through either with a little extra time.
Here is the view before you enter.
A few general pictures of the town.
The schoolhouse.
Rock crushing building.
Sheriff’s office.
The hotel, complete with bar in the lobby.
The church.
The blacksmith.
And finally, a dress shop.
Like I said before, if you are in the area, this is a must see.
And here is a cool picture of the sky and scenery on our way back to the trailer.
I BBQed some burgers for dinner, and we played a much better game of Yahtzee this time. Did I mention I won this time?
Day 4
Since we were driving home the next day, we stayed local and didn’t do a lot of driving. We had lunch at Kneaders Bakery & Cafe. The food was very good, but it was crowded, so Cindy and Sylvia ate inside at a tiny table and I ate on the patio. This was my choice because it was windy and cold outside, and I enjoy that weather and they do not. We spent most of the day doing some shopping here and there and of course visiting our favorite places, also known as pawn shops. We didn’t really find anything we needed, but we did find a truly amazing place. Yuma Coin and Gun Shop was quite the experience, and not in a good way. The inside looked like the worse hoarder place you have ever seen, with a narrow trail through mounds of stinky crap. We walked in a side door and Cindy and Sylvia immediately tried to get out via the front door, touching as little as possible. I followed them and we were startled by a person seated among a pile of junk. We all thought the person was a mannequin until she moved. Once we got out through the front door, we all felt like we needed a shower and we wanted to wash the soles of our shoes, just as a precaution.
We ended the evening eating inside another restaurant, Texas Roadhouse. This is one of Cindy and Sylvia’s favorite places to eat and I like it as well. After a wonderful meal, we headed back to the trailer, and watched a movie before falling asleep.
Day 5
This was our travel day home. We drove past the Salton Sea once again, and because it was slightly overcast, it looked really dreary. Quite the contrast to when we drove past it on the way to Yuma.
We stopped to eat lunch in Indio, which is in California. What a culture shock after being in Arizona. We pulled into a shopping center, because it would be easy to park the truck and trailer and there would be plenty of food options. We were being smart. NOT. The three fast food restaurants near where we parked were only open for drive thru traffic. I can barely get the truck thru most drive thru lines, forget it with the trailer. And was not going to detach then reattach the trailer for a fast food meal. For steak and lobster, I’ll do the work. Otherwise, no. So we walked over to a row of mostly closed businesses containing a Subway. Not our first choice, but you know the food will at least be good. Once we got close to the Subway, we saw a Waba Grill, and it was open. Yea us. We got our food and ate it in the trailer, since all food places are take out only. Thanks California.
The rest of the drive was uneventful, which is always appreciated.
Our next trip is the biggie. We are going to St. Joseph, Missouri, for the entire month of February. Our daughter, Corrianne, may fly out and stay with us for a week. And Sylvia will fly out at the end of the month and drive back with us as we spend two weeks driving home and sightseeing through Texas, and Arizona.
Until then, fight the power!