Yuma and across the border

We love Yuma!  It is warm! warm! warm!

Villa Alameda RV Resort is a large park with a mix of motorhomes and camp models (permanent trailer homes). Most people here are regular visitors - winter visitors from places north, mainly Canada.
The RV park backs on to a large area of market gardens.  I walk each morning - about 3 miles. It's so nice to get back doing some exercise. I am blown away to think I am walking in Yuma, Arizona. I can see mountains in Mexico in the distance.
On our first day in the park we are invited to a block party - fortunate for us that we are parked in the block having the party. It is a great way to get to know our immediate neighbours. The people in the park are very friendly; full of tips about where to go and what to do in Yuma.

I also try line dancing. So much fun! Trevor joins the water volleyball team which he enjoys; it goes for 2 hours and is taken very seriously! There are  many activities going on in the park. Just a few to mention: water aerobics and walking class each day; men's water volleyball 3x a week; line dancing 3x a week; shuffling 3x a week; horseshoes, quilting; wood carving, men's pool, men's and women's golf, and at night - bridge, canasta, bingo, poker, pinochle and pokeno.
They also have entertainment.  We attend the rec hall one evening where a local school choir performs for all the winter visitors.

We rent a car for the weekend. We also book the RV in for a service in San Diego on 6 March - a week away.



Our first 'attraction' is a visit to the Yuma Territorial Prison State Park. Between 1876 and 1909 this prison housed many of Arizona's most dangerous criminals.
The remains of the prison are now a State park and museum.
In July 1876 the first seven inmates entered the prison and were locked into cells they had hacked from the granite of Prison Hill  themselves. A total of 3,069 prisoners, including 29 women lived within the walls during the prison's 33 years of operation - long enough to etch a fearsome reputation in Old West history that lives on in movies like  '3.10 To Yuma'.

We went through a 'dark cell' where prisoners were held in a cage in a completely dark environment, sometimes up to 20  in the cage at one time. Prisoners were also held in ball and chain for periods of time.
The prisoners crimes ranged from murder to polygamy.

Between 1910 and 1914 (after the prison had closed), the Yuma High School occupied the buildings. When the school's football team played against Phoenix, who were expected to win and lost to Yuma, the Phoenix team branded the Yuma team the 'criminals'. Yuma High School adopted 'Criminals' as their  mascot name - still used with pride by Yuma High today.

The prison guard tower

The city of Yuma, once known as Yuma Crossing has an epic history, from famed Spanish conquistadores and missionaries, Juan Bautista de Anza and the National Historic Trail (to San Francisco); trappers like Kit Carson; '49ers en route to the California Gold Rush; the Morman Battalion and the Butterfield Overland Stage.
The Yuma Quartermaster Depot State Historic Park highlights the importance of the Depot in the mid to late 19th century where Army warehouses held a 6-month supply of clothing, food, ammunition and other goods for forts in Arizona, Nevada, Utah, New Mexico and Texas; not to mention the more than 900 mules and their teamsters. The Quartermaster Depot was also an active US Army post during the period of the Civil War.

Yuma has such a wide ranging fascination. The Yuma Proving Ground, one of the world's largest military installations,  is a multi-purpose facility critical in the development of combat vehicles, aircraft and weapons systems. We see and hear many military planes flying overhead; Mace would be in seventh heaven!

Outdoor adventure is another huge attraction to the area with the mix of the Colorado River and everything that offers, the Sonoran Desert and the mountains and of course .. golf!

Farming is Yuma's number one business. Sunshine, rich soil and good water create an oasis that produces more than 175 different crops. The spotlight is on lettuce - fields and fields of them - highlighting Yuma's abundance. I have already mentioned that Yuma provides 90% of the entire country's green winter vegetables.

We cross the border into Mexico twice while we are here.


Our first crossing into Mexico is at Los Algodones, Baja California, about 7 miles west of Yuma. It is the northernmost town in Mexico. We leave the rental car on the US side of the border and walk across the border. Algodones is known for its  cheap and speedy dental procedures, optical and pharmaceutical products, not to mention food, souvenirs, liquor and cigarettes.

Trevor buys a pair of prescription sunglasses for $120.00! They take about 3 hours to be made up. He is tickled pink with them ... and the price. He also has a haircut - $5.00.
We have lunch in an open-air bar/restaurant -  although we don't have much idea what we are ordering,  it's a surprise when it comes out and very nice.
It is difficult shopping as the vendors continually cajole and harass you into buying. I find it off putting. We did buy some fresh asparagus!


It is said that Los Algodones may have the heaviest concentration of physicians, pharmacies, dentists and opticians of any four-block area on the planet! Tourists are the focus and most businesses are within a 5 minute walk from the border. In peak season - winter - big crowds mean long waits to re-enter the US. We have a wait of about 11/2 hours to cross back into US.

Street performers dressed for Lent

We also visit San Luis Rio Colorado which is in the northwest corner of the State of Sonora, Mexico. We are invited to join a Canadian couple, Albert and Anne - they are from Saskatchewan. We have a great day.
San Luis is not such a tourist mecca as Los Algodones; there is not the pressure from vendors to buy; more time to look at what they have to offer.  Pure vanilla essence is a big ticket item; it is so cheap and - I am told - the best you can buy. A 500ml bottle costs $3.95!

Playing dominoes in the park.

A couple of 'shady' characters!

San Luis is more like 'real Mexico'. It is dusty; the roads and footpaths are poor and you have to watch where you are walking. But the people are all  really friendly. Albert has some glasses ordered so he is having a fitting.
We have a great lunch and a beer. We then sit in a park and watch a group of men playing dominoes while we eat the pastries we bought at a bakery. Very enjoyable!! Calorie free?


On 5 March we leave Yuma. It has been a lot of fun; we have met some lovely people; a very friendly park. We say our goodbyes to those who have befriended us especially Albert and Anne.
Leaving Arizona! We have been here for more than 3 weeks; such a diverse state with wonderful sights and places from Tombstone to the Grand Canyon, Casa Grande to Yuma and Mexico. But it is time to move on.

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