Yuma Arizona

We are getting ready to leave this part of Arizona and start heading north and east. Our rent is up on the 26th, so will be moving on to another spot, gradually working our way towards home, but everything will depend on the weather to the north., we are under a winter storm watch right now, snow to the north, but just some rain here, very windy, the dirt is blowing until we can't see the mountains behind us.
 They have been cutting and baling hay across the street, and are flooding the field at night. It seems funny to see tractors and hay bales, they have been starting to harvest cabbage and carrots also. We will be seeing John & Joan and Randy & June this next week before we leave here.
Yuma is as far south and west as we will go this year. Located on the Colorado river, it is the crossing point into California.  On the way, we passed fields of date trees and a town named "Dateland", that sold date shakes..yuk !!!

The Territorial Prison was built in 1875, and when it was full, housed 400 prisioners, including women. It was closed in 1909, because it was overcrowded, but the space was later used by the Yuma High School, who to this day are known as the "Criminals".  Imagine going to school in a prison !!







  The guard tower was built on top of the water tank

The walls were 8 feet thick, and everything was built by the prisoners.  There were only 2 men that escaped and were never found.

Wickenburg Gold Rush Days

Wickenburg really comes to life during Gold Rush Days...we have been here the last two winters, but never during one of the town celebrations...thousands of people, lot of arts and crafts..classic car show & temps hitting 80* with plenty of sunshine.
Wickenburg itself is basically a gold mine town..Gold was descovered by Henry Wickenburg in 1863.They claim that the rock he picked up to throw at his mule was gold. He named the mine "Vulture" and it
 yielded more than $200 million in gold.  The gold rush that started after his discovery basically started the town.

Still standing in the center of town is the 200 year old mesquite "jail tree".  Lawmen chained their prisoners to this tree, which served as the town jail..everyone was so busy prospecting for gold, they didn't take the time to build a jail. From 1863 - 1890 outlaws were chained to this tree...escapees were unknown.

Classic Car show..lots to look at..

This was one of my favorites..can you see the foot hanging out of the door ??

Gila Bend and the Painted Rock Petroglyph site

We decided to drive west today, about 75 miles, to Gila Bend.  I had read about the Painted Rock Petroglyph site, but reading about it and seeing it were two different things. I was not prepared for the Hundreds of figures carved in the rocks. I had packed my hiking boots, not sure how far we would have to walk in, and was surprised to find it quite close to the parking area.  This is BLM land, they will also let you drive in and dry camp for $8.00 a night. We will have to keep this place in mind for another time.

Hundreds of figures stand out against the dark basalt boulders, there are animals and humans, sun and moon, and many geometric figures, but no one really knows what these figures mean or why the ancient indians took the time to make them.

I was in total awe !!











We came past a dairy while out there, nicknamed it the "Nowhere Dairy.".on a road that comes from nowhere, goes nowhere, and is in the middle of nowhere.

Thousands of holstein cows, the milking parlor was huge, what we could see of it, too bad we could not get closer.  The open sheds have hundreds of fans blowing down on the cows to try and keep them cool when it hits 114*

Stack after stack of hay bales, they look brown, but where they have been unloading from the pile, it is a beautiful green.  We saw acre after acre of irrigated alfalfa fields, tractors in the field, grain bins with elevators and harvestor silos.  I have never thought of this part of Arizona as farming country.


On the way home, we stopped for lunch at the famous Gila Bend landmark, the Space Age Outer Limits Restaurant..You'll know it by the 28 foot wide flying saucer on the roof.

Even the dishes had flying saucers on them..the food was "Out of this World". this must have been one of the sites of the famous "Extraterrestial Sightings" Now go back and look at the pictures of the petroglyphs again..see anything ??

Goodyear City Market and Ballpark

HAPPY 90TH BIRTHDAY DAD !!!

Super Bowl Sunday...time to catch up on all of the stuff I should do..(I only watch the commercials)

We have had a week of "not so good" weather..(nothing compared to the rest of the country, but we are in Arizona..the "Valley of the Sun").  We spent 2 days inside (except for dog outside time) with COLD&WIND..water froze up 2 nights in a row, even though Wally had the pipes insulated and a rug over all..had the slides both pulled in because of high wind.  You have not lived until you have the 4 of us (Moko & Mya included) claustrophobic from being stuck inside, but we had plenty of good books to read.  Thankfully, the weather has cleared, the temp is coming up, and the sun is out again.
There was a Goodyear City Market on Saturday, so we drove over, it was only a few miles from us. I had hoped we could find some fresh veggies, but it is the wrong season for local produce..There was not a lot there, but we did buy a bottle of "Lil Sassy's Salsa (Sassy says it all) Pineapple Margarita...The person who sold it said it was really good on baked chicken besides chips, I will let you know once we try it out.

The market was held in the field right next to the Goodyear Ball Park, which is the home of the "Cactus League"  This is the spring training field and ball diamond for the Cleveland Indians and Cincinnati Reds.. Spring training starts 02/13 and the first game will be 02/25..

This 60 foot sculpture is in front of the ballpark enterance, surrounded by gardens and water falls.
the height of 60 feet equals the distance between home plate and the pitcher's  mound..