3.10 to Yuma. (I hope that title isn't too obtuse?)

We wake to 47F ... bliss! We have a wonderfully clean RV after all the work we did yesterday - inside and out.  When we leave Campbell Cove RV Resort in Lake Havasu City we find just what we are looking for - a bank, a post office and a Starbucks. And we get to drive across London Bridge!!!

It is only about 160 miles to Yuma; the highway stays close to the Colorado River for the first 40 miles and then it turns back onto flat desert. The scenery around the Colorado River is spectacular; lots of housing and golf courses take up the vantage spots.

Away from the residential areas we see many RV's parked out in the desert. They are known as 'Boondockers'.  Boondocking is camping in your RV in an area with limited or no facilities. The upside is that it is usually free.  In many areas in the west you can just drive into the desert and stay free for up to 2 weeks on Bureau of Land Management and National Forests lands.
You can also stay overnight for free at some Walmart stores in the parking areas, but I don't think that is truly 'boondocking'.

Usually stay free at casinos.

Quartzsite

The town of Quartzsite is at the junction of Highway 95 - which we are travelling on - and I-10.
It is a popular RV camping area for winter visitors and tourism is the major contributor to its economy. Quartzsite lies 20 miles west of the Colorado River. It has been a rockhounds paradise since the 1960's. But these days it is also the mecca to well over 1 million visitors each year, most of whom converge on the town in a wave of RV's during January and February.

Can you see the RV's in the desert?

One of the largest gatherings of 'boondockers' is in and around Quartzsite.

The road to Yuma.

At 3.30pm we drive into Yuma.  It is an amazing agricultural area with vast numbers of acres under production. We see mile after mile of lettuces growing. Many other vegetables are being grown - as far as the eye can see.

Yuma is where the Colorado River meets the Sonoran Desert, where mountains overlook lush farm fields, where Native American and Mexican cultures blend and ... it has more sunshine than anywhere else in the world. Go check the Guinness World Book of Records.

Yuma is also the nation's 'winter vegetable capital' growing more than 90% of North America's leafy greens from November to March. And it is the world's largest producer of Medjool dates.
Yuma's population of 93,000 nearly doubles during the winter months.

Essentially Yuma is where Arizona, California and Mexico meet.

We book into the Villa Alameda RV Resort for a week.