Last Yuma Arizona Post for 2013

Tomorrow morning we are heading out to the desert for a couple of weeks. We're going to Joshua Tree National Park. I know what you're thinking.  "It's a National Park, dummy! They are all closed."  Of course those of you thinking that are right. However, we hope the whole shutdown thing will be worked out soon. If it's not, there is still plenty to see out there. 
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Okay, now back to today's post!
I know I said I was done with posts from Yuma this year, but how about just one more. This may be the last Yuma post for 2013, but it's also a teaser of things to come in 2014. We're a few months away and I already have an agenda of things I want to see. So bear with me, umkay?

   Laguna Dam

Believe it or not, this was the first dam built across the mighty Colorado River. It was basically an earthen dam  built to control flooding. This is the place that caused a bunch of controversy because of all the swastikas imprinted in the concrete structures. Some of you will remember it. It was just about the oddest thing we've run into in our travels. If you haven't see this and you have a minute or two, check it out.

This looks like a standard photo of some old stuff, right?  Not really...There is so much history both in the photo and where I was standing when I took it. The bridge in front is a very old and an important railroad bridge crossing the Colorado River. The white bridge behind it, is mega-famous. It's called the Ocean-to Ocean bridge and was the first auto bridge across the Colorado. Before it was built, if you wanted to go east, you had to travel about a thousand miles for to go around the river. The white structure in far right is also a famous place. To top it all off, I took this photo while visiting the Yuma Territorial Prison. After we return there in early 2014 and I take some more photos of each of these things, I'll do another post.

The next three photos were taken in old Yuma. These are the only photos I have of it. That will change in a few months. It looks pretty interesting there.

No shortage of trains in the desert.

Just because I thought it was pretty.

People like to shoot at old signs, right? Well, this one is inside the city limits! Did I mention that a high percentage of folks in Arizona carry weapons? 

Okay, this time I promise! This is the last post relating to Yuma this year.


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Crossing the Desert to California's East Coast

The Colorado River divides the southern part of California from Arizona. It's a long hot trek to get there. At one point it was 118 degrees. By the time we arrived at the river to spend the night, it was down to 108.  The river is large and at Parker Arizona (where we stopped) it is primarily a recreational and party area. I liked it when I was younger, but now I just think that it's too hot, there are too many drunk people, and the noise from a multitude of fast boats going up and down the "Parker Strip" is very annoying.  As many of you already know, I love the desert for not only it's beauty, but for the people and odd things you see there.  Most of the photos that follow are random scenes that I saw on this, the first leg of our road trip. The pretty stuff will be posted later.

The other side of the river is Arizona. This is where we spent the night. Don't let the water fool you, it was well over a hundred degrees.

Big sky and big desert. This is the primary scenery on the drive through the desert. Hours and hours of this view.

Nothing remarkable in this photo except the awesome clouds. The part on the left looks like a mushroom cloud to me.

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There are a few things that are clear indication that you are in the desert or on the fringes of a small town.

Abandoned pickup trucks with the beds removed.

The pickup beds (now trailers) and/or camper shells. Bonus points if you see an old camper shell attached to the pickup bed which has now been converted into a trailer. I have many more photos of this, but that collage tool is very time consuming for an ADD person like myself.  If you haven't seen these sights, you need to get out of the city for a while.

I guess because there is very little to spray paint graffiti on, people have taken to writing names and other things along miles of railroad tracks. You may have to enlarge this to see it clearly.

Another view of the pricey real estate on the other side of the river. The properties do come with nice cloud formations and a big sky.

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The next post of our roadie will revolve around our stay at Page Springs in the awesome Verde Valley near Sedona.

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