Yuma, Arizona

November 1-30, 2008 - We left San Diego in high spirits, the memories of the fog horns, the salt air, the fresh sailing breezes and

warm air still filling our senses. So it was quite a shock when we climbed the mountains to the east on I-8 and had to brace

ourselves against a nasty wind storm that forced us under way too many blankets at night while the heater ran full blast. We were

in denial about winter coming, and it was a relief when the storm passed and the California deserts at the base of the mountains

warmed us up again. We stopped near Salton City for a few days, and heard the sad tale of the sadly exploited Salton Sea.

Salton Sea - lost treasure

The Sea was once a playground, filled with fish and boats and laughing

kids throwing sticks in the water for their dogs. Sadly, now the beaches

are layered in dead fish on thick beds of bleached non-native barnacle

shells. We rode our bikes through virtual ghost towns along this huge

inland salt lake's shoreline. Palm trees lined would-be neighborhood

streets amid developers' evaporated dreams. Half-built homes had long

ago given up hope for windows and siding, and their yawning open

frames were a stark contrast to the beautiful mountain, beach and

waterfront backdrop.

All are victims of

pesticide runoff

from adjacent

farmlands and ever-rising

salinity caused by the

Sea's constant

evporation. Former

picnic areas, RV parks,

tiki bars and housing

stand vacant,

disintegrating and forlorn,

longing for the return of

ecologically healthier

times that may never

come. The only life is

huge flocks of pelicans and ibis that feast on the sole surviving fish, a tiny non-

native species. After talking at length with several long-time residents about this

miserable state of affairs, we moved on, our spirits badly deflated.

Yuma: desert + water = produce

We went to Yuma, Arizona, hoping for sunlight and some good cycling.

We found both, along with a great place to camp near a small lake along

the edge of vast farmlands. This corner of the world is rich in lettuce, kale,

spinach and other leafy greens.

We hooked up with Yuma's Foothills Bike Club and did several

terrific rides with them, getting to know the back roads and canal

banks around town. Yuma is blistering hot in the summer but

comes to life each winter as residents of the northern states and

provinces arrive in flocks during their annual "snowbird" migration.

Most people we met around town lived in an RV, and there was a

festive air everywhere as old friends arrived and got together again.

One morning we awoke to a spectacular sunrise, but "red sky at morning"

proved true as an amazing wind storm blew into town. The dust swirled until

you couldn't see, making white-out blizzard-like conditions on the roads.

The temperature dropped

and suddenly we were

thrust into winter for

several days. Suddenly

we were drinking copious

cups of hot tea and taking

long turns over the heat

vents to warm our bones.

We had left San Diego

just a week or so ago, yet

all that summertime fun was quickly fading into a

beautiful, distant memory. Sigh. Winter is not our

favorite season. Even in Arizona it is just too darned

cold for too long!

We cheered up immensely one afternoon

when we found ourselves in traffic behind a

yacht hauler taking a brand new boat from

Florida to a dealership in San Diego. How

ironic that this very same dealership had

taken us on a "test sail" of this very same

boat model just a few weeks ago.

Yuma's Old Town

Yuma has a lot of history, and we

spent some happy afternoons

wandering around the Old Town

district. Most of the buildings, dating from

100 years or so ago, are made of adobe

brick, so the walls are enormously thick.

Many are decorated with pretty, brightly

colored, glazed tile, and we learned that

this is "Anglicized Sonoran" architecture.

We wandered down some stairs and

found ourselves in the middle of The

Garden Restaurant, a charming little spot

with tables on many levels,

overhanging branches offering

colorful flowers and shade, and birds

of all types singing and squawking in

cages along the perimeter.

In winter especially, this is definitely an

outdoor community, with lots of little

boutiques for shopping.

We saw the outside of the "Coolest Bar

Downtown" but went inside the famed Lutes

Casino where antiques, memorabilia and

goodies from another era fill the restaurant

from floor to ceiling. A popular hangout for

marines from the nearby Air Station, Lutes

has a display with a letter from a homesick

marine in Desert Storm who wrote longingly of

how one of their "especial" dinners (a hot dog and a

hamburger) would taste so good right about now...

As we started to turn back towards the parked truck we

heard the most amazing electric guitar riffs in the distance.

Someone was having fun -- either listening to something

very loud or playing loudly himself. We followed the sounds

to the Mustard Seed Restaurant. The door was propped

open, and a musical firestorm filled our ears as we poked

our heads inside. A young fellow was playing his heart out.

He stopped when he saw us and introduced himself as the

Owner-Operator-Chef of the restaurant. "I'm just checking

out the sound system. Come back tonight at 9:00 and I'll

be jamming with some friends."

Balloon Festival

Yuma hosts the Colorado River

Crossing Balloon Festival each

year, and we went to the

fairgrounds to see the Balloon

Glow one evening. One by one,

at least 25 balloons were laid out

on the grass and filled with hot air.

Balloon teams come to Yuma

from all over for this festival, and

each team expertly raised their

balloon to vertical and kept its

basket tied to the ground

so it wouldn't float off.

There were traditional

balloon shapes, a few

with advertisers' names

displayed, and even one

lady bug balloon.

As the sun set the

spectators streamed in

and the glow began. An

announcer would get the

balloonists to

coordinate their

flame blasts so that all the balloons would

light up together. The balloons can't take

the hot air for too long at a time, or they

will try to float away, so the balloons

would glow together for just a few

moments and then go dark to cool down.

There were two balloon launches during

the weekend as well, but they required

getting up and driving a long ways before

dawn, and both mornings we opted to

stay in our warm bed with the down

comforters pulled over our heads.

Yuma Territorial Prison

Back when Arizona was young -- in 1876

when it was just a territory and not yet a state

-- it became home to the Territorial Prison.

Arizona distributed its various government

responsibilities between the three major

settlements: Phoenix vied for the eventual

state capitol, Tucson nourished the seedling

public university, and Yuma got the prison.

This shaped the future state's personality:

Phoenix is the hub of commerce, Tucson is

the cultural mecca, and Yuma, well, Yuma

gave the prison to Florence in 1909 and

concentrated on

agriculture and

winter visitors.

This prison was nicknamed "The Hellhole of

the West." Out of ~3,000 prisoners only 26

ever escaped from the cell blocks. No

wonder: the cells were steel cages covered

with granite, and each cell had a double

door. The first prisoners had the privilege of

building the prison before moving in, which

reminded me of New Hampshire's modern

day inmates stamping out license plates with

the motto "Live Free or Die."

Each cell had six bunks, but as the years went by they sometimes had

to house more than six men. The single, shared chamber pot was

emptied once a day. Bedbugs lived in the wooden bunks and ate the

prisoners raw until the wooden bunks were finally burned and

replaced with steel. There was a "dark cell" that offered solitary confinement for disruptive

prisoners. We crept into this pitch black hole that had housed a 5'x5' steel cage where prisoners

spent anywhere from one to over 100 nights. The only light came from a tiny shaft above. No

chamber pot here: the floor of the cage was cleaned every few months. Yikes. Several women

were rewarded for their bad behavior with a stint in the dark cell too.

Hikes and Walks

There are pretty hikes in the hills around

Yuma, and we ventured up a very steep

hill one morning to get a commanding

view of the farmlands and city.

Winter pressed on as November drew to a close, and we

were deluged with two days of torrential rain. Nearby Yuma

Lakes RV Park became submerged, and the reflections of the

rigs in the standing water made some colorful photos on our

daily walks.

We stayed in Yuma for all of November, 2008, slowly adjusting to the fact that winter was here and wasn't going to leave any time

soon. We got word from friends we had met last year in Quartzsite that they were returning, so we finally packed up and made the

short trek north to one of the world's oddest temporary communities: the BLM land surrounding the truck-stop town of Quartzsite,