TOUR AMERICA, 2019: YUMA, ARIZONA – THE GRAND CANYON STATE

Places We Have Called Home In 2020

Places We Have Called Home In 2019

Home Is Where We Park It:   Rancho Rialto RV Resort, Yuma

January 2, 2020

Temperature 71 Degrees

Yuma Crossing National Heritage Area – Colorado River State Historic Park

Time to get back in the sight-seeing groove and there was no better time than today to begin.

Wait, breakfast first.  Potato pancake sandwich – yum – a glass of orange juice and a couple cups of coffee and now I was ready.  I’m making the most of these next few days because I know beginning next Monday it is back to counting calories.  Some unwanted pounds seemed to have attached themselves to my waist and it’s time to say goodbye to them.

On the road.

We headed past the RV Park and eventually to Route 8.

On Route 8 we discovered this bridge art.  I finally figured out that both are representations of steamboats the kind of which used to ply the Colorado River.

Alongside the highway was just one of many produce fields.   I discovered that over 90% of leafy vegetables that American’s consume is grown in this area.  Produce season starts in August and typically ends in April.  The winter crops are more than 75 varieties of lettuce, baby greens, cauliflower, broccoli, herbs, roots, vegetables and kales.   Harvesting is done on a daily basis, 7 days per week, and the fresh produce leaves Yuma within 24 hours of harvest.

Moving along

The road sign that shows where we are heading – the bottom part of the brown sign today, the top part next week.

This was our destination today which is one part of

Yuma Crossing National Heritage Area.  This area encompasses seven square miles along the Lower Colorado River in Yuma, Arizona and Winterhaven, Califorina.  It includes several noted attractions and over 3 miles of contiguous riverfront parks, trails, and 350 acres of restored wetlands.  The Red X on the map above is where we are today.

Let’s get started.

This is the front entrance to the Visitors Center

The Visitors Center from out in the park.

This is a map for a Self-guided Tour of the park.  They stated it would take no more than 45 minutes, well two hours later we finally left.   We’ll get into the many exhibits in detail tomorrow but tonight, first an overview.

Founders Plaza

This is a general overview of the Park itself.  We could not have asked for a better day to visit.  Temperatures were in the low 70’s, clear skies and bright sunshine, and a brisk wind to keep it from getting too hot.

Throughout the park there is a lot of unique plants.

An Orange Tree.

Pink Grapefruit.

Pomegranate bush.

By far my favorite place in the whole park.

Oh I’m glad I found this before next Monday!

My mouth was watering and I hadn’t even entered the shop.

Moving inside, what a unique and fascinating place.  There are little touches everywhere that put you immediately at ease and make you feel like you are at home.

For example, this was so beautiful.

The counter was absolutely wonderful.

This, however, was the real reason we were here – fresh pie.

Here it is!  Fresh baked, hot apple pie with vanilla ice cream.  It doesn’t get better than this.

We’re going to call it for now.  Tomorrow and for the next couple of days we’ll share with you the many fascinating exhibits and interesting facts that we discovered during our visit here.  We’ll learn about the significance of this area, a bit more about Yuma itself, and the significance of water to this area.  Stay tuned.

That was our day on The Road of Retirement.  It felt both a bit unusual and exciting at the same time to be out sightseeing again.  We’ve been looking forward to this for a long time.  I don’t believe we did all that bad for our first trip out in the new year.  Again, there is much, much more to come.

Thanks again for coming along with us.  We always enjoy your company and your comments.  We have so much more to share with you in the days ahead.  Catch you tomorrow.

These are the voyages of  Graybeard and it’s two intrepid travelers.  Our continuing mission: to explore as many new states as possible, to seek out new acquaintances and make new friends, to boldly go where we have never been before

See you on down the road!