Yuma, AZ
OK, the title was meant to catch your attention. Hope it worked. Read on and you’ll see what it’s about.
This morning I started the next phase of my “No Fixed Address North American Tour”, travelling only 3 or so hours east from Palm Desert to Yuma, Arizona. I hated to leave Emerald Desert RV Resort as it was a great Park and I had a great stay, but it was time to move on. Today my “house” entered it’s 4th State along our journey since Yuma is just into Arizona. Great to be on this side of the time zone now, so that it stays light later.
I headed east on Interstate 10 to California 86, just east of the string of desert cities. Hwy 86 headed south and just west of the Salton Sea. I didn’t take any pictures because I was on a freeway and I didn’t think they would look like much. This sea has a very unusual story which I had read about and thought about as I drove along. Very briefly, the Sea originally started as a low area of land that got flooded by the Colorado River (it’s not clear whether it was accidentalor intentional) and became a usable sea where resort areas sprung up in the 50s – Palm Springs with a beach. But then it started to become polluted by the chemicals from the farms surrounding it and the fish stocks died leaving millions of fish carcases on the beach stinking. It’s now mostly deserted.
You can read about it here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salton_Se a
This link is to a personal account which differs somewhat from the Wikipedia version, but it’s an interesting read: http://www.vice.com/read/i-went-to-cali fornias-post-apocalyptic-beach-town-sal ton-sea
I joined Highway 78 and then down to Interstate 8 for the rest of the drive in to Yuma, running very close to the Mexican border. The fence was even visible for some miles. The countryside for most of the trip was not that interesting, although there were some great sand dune areas along Highway 8 just west of Yuma.
I am staying tonight and tomorrow in an RV Park, which is primarily for permanent residents or snow birds with just a few spots for transients, because I happen to know some of the snow birds from Smith Falls, ON who are staying there. I will see them tomorrow, along with another couple I know from Prince George, BC who I got to know in the lower mainland. More on that tomorrow.
When I asked what I should see in Yuma it appeared the most interesting thing would be to visit the Yuma Territorial Prison State Historic Park. Thus the subject line. So after I was set up I headed off to see this historical state park. It’s built into the hillside near historic downtown Yuma and just off Interstate 8, overlooking a relatively new riverside park which runs along the Colorado River. There is a small charge ($6 or 8, I forget) to get into this well maintained and laid out site.
The prison was in use from 1876 – 1909 when it was closed because of overcrowding and the prisoners were transferred to another state prison. There were a total of 3069 prisoners held there over the years, including 29 women, who according to the accounts there, created a lot of trouble for their jailers.
The tour starts in a museum building with artifacts and a 7 minute video presentation, and then you exit outside to the cell block area, where some of the cells are set up to represent what it would have been like. One interesting take away was that in 1901, steel bed frames were installed throughout because they were not able to do away with the bed bug problem any other way. And another interesting story is of a woman prisoner who had a child while in prison. The child stayed with her until he was 2 and then she and he were released out of concern for the child.
The prison is built on a hill overlooking the Colorado River, and they have done some work on rejuvenating the shoreline which you can see from the guard watch tower in the prison.
I realized at that point that I hadn’t had lunch yet and it was now almost 5 pm Arizona time so I stopped in Historic Downtown Yuma at an appropriately named restaurant, Prison Hill Brewery, for a great chicken salad sandwich, in house made chips and coleslaw with a kick! So much for my resolve to eat healthier. And they had a $3 a glass wine special……so how could I resist.
Thanks for joining me again on my journey around north america. Remember to let me know if there are any stops I should make along my way. I’m headed east now as close to the Mexican border as I can go without crossing it, all the way to the Florida Keys.
Lois' Adventures 