Gasa Grande, AZ: Yuma Explorations Completed

Yesterday we explored several possible RV Parks in Yuma where we might spend the winter. Yuma is usually a few degrees warmer than anywhere else in Arizona during the winter so it has been on our list from the beginning.


The US Army's Yuma Proving Grounds are also located there. This is where the Army tests their weapons systems including tanks and big artillery. We passed through this facility on our way to check out an RV resort which is located at a dam site on the Colorado River.

There was a display of tanks, armored personnel carriers and artillery pieces along the road. I figured I would examine them and get a few pictures on the way back from checking out the RV park. Great plan except MLA wanted to go a different route on the way back. And now you and I have to suffer without having pictures of dusty Army equipment siting in the desert. Just because MLA wanted to see different scenery on our trip back to Yuma.

It pains me to admit the alternate route she had us take was very nice, taking us through a variety of date farms. Dates grow in certain varieties of palm trees. They hand down on long stalks just under the canopy.

Of course, over the years these palm trees get quite tall. Apparently workers cover these branches of dates with white bags so you end up with huge groves of tall palm trees that look as if someone has hung up their laundry, albeit only their white laundry.

When you are in the desert and get near a source of water, such as the Colorado River, you are presented with some beautiful and sometimes unbelievable sights.

You travel for miles in the desert, surrounded by sand, rocks, cactus, and scrub brush. You round a corner and suddenly you are presented with an incredible sight: large plots of lush and dark green lands growing all manner of crops. Long, neat, perfectly formed rows of earth berms, plants on top of the berm and water trickling in the low area between the berms. Beautiful.

All of these crops only made possible by large quantities of water provided y many small dams along the river.

When we drove to Yuma on Monday the wind was blowing and a layer of sand obscured the view of distant mountains. Dust devils visible here and there. Along the highway we saw a number of Saguaro cactus that appear to be dieing, the lower portions look like they have been eaten away either by animals or disease. Never did figure it out however it's painful to see these magnificent cactus being destroyed -- not all of them but certainly a large number of them.

All in all, a fun day in Yuma and in Mexico. Did we make any decisions about an RV Park for the winter? Well, we didn't find any park in Yuma that beats where we are currently staying. We'll keep looking however I'm leaning to return to the park we are staying in right now.

See Ya!