27/29th March
Not quite the ‘3.10 train to Yuma’ but the I-8 instead! (Any fans of the Glen Ford film or the
Russell Crowe remake?). As we drive the
I-8 we see a number of green fields of crops.
By the time we get to our camp site we are surrounded by lemon orchards
and alfalfa fields. This is turning into
a surprising agricultural area – all fed by the waters from the Colorado River.
Paul discovers one of the inside rear tyres on the RV is at
‘zero’ pressure so he inflates it with the compressor. Next day it is down again. We suspect a slow puncture and call out the
Good Sam Breakdown Assistance. It turns
out to be just a leaking value and soon rectified. It took a lot of effort for the mechanic
lifting the two tyres, which were nearly as big as he was, off and and back
onto the RV in 30C temperature!
30/31st March – Yuma Prison
We had a visit to the Yuma Territorial Prison Museum – the
one referred to in the film. It is
right beside the Colorado River and there is a substantial portion of it still
standing. Some of it has been hewn out of the local "Kalichi" which is were the soil has become so hard it is like concrete and they have carved out cave-like structures. The living conditions during its
use, 1876–1909, must have been pretty horrendous. Six people in a cell 6’ x 12’ in temperatures
of 40Cs must have been awful.
During the Depression Years impoverished travellers used it
to camp in as it was next to, what was then, one of the few road crossings over
the Colorado River into California. At
that time road blocks were set up checking people coming across the state-line
as they were looking for jobs that didn’t exist and many were turned away as
California didn’t want ‘vagrants’. You had to prove that you had money to
support yourself and your family.
1st April - Sand Dunes and YPG
We drove over into California to see the Imperial Sand
Dunes. The yellow sands stretch north from
Mexico for approximately 40 miles. They were
used for filming movies such as ‘Star Wars – Return of the Jedi’.
We then drove along the California side of the Colorado River
through the Quechan Indian reservation lands.
We drove past several Date Farms with hundreds of Palm Trees lining the road. We crossed back into Arizona at the Imperial Dam and then past the Yuma
Proving Grounds (YPG). We stopped at a
site were a number of Tanks, Howitzers and nuclear missiles were on display at
the side of the road, including a Sherman Tank.
Everything there had been tested at the Proving Grounds during the past
80 years.
2nd April – Los Algodones, Mexico
Our main reason for coming to Yuma was to go over to Mexico
for Alison to seek out some dental work.
We have had many recommendations of the high standard of dentists in the
border town of Los Algodones and we were not disappointed.
The drive to the border took about 30 mins. We parked up and walked through barriers into
Mexico. There was no-one there to check
who was crossing; no-one wanted to see our passports!
As we walked around the town we were continually bombarded
with people trying to sell us something or persuade us to come for a dental or
optician appointment. We found the
dentist we wanted and he treated Alison for the first part of a tooth implant,
there and then.(no waiting time here)
Afterwards we walked around looking at the souvenir
shops. We also checked out the prices in
the pharmacies for Paul’s migraine tablets which were a 10th of the
price here compared to USA prices.
Everything was in US dollars not Mexican pesos, so we didn’t need any
foreign exchange. The place was busy with fellow visitors from USA and Canada;
all here for cheap medication, glasses (£20) or dental work.
Coming back into USA we queued for around 15 mins to go
through normal immigration passport checks - easy. We will have to return in 6 months, or more,
for the final stage of Alison’s dental work.
Everyone at the camp site is really friendly and we were
invited to join in a number of activities during our stay – all of which
involved eating and drinking!
So we’ll be back here again one day ……!
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