Episode 4 - South to Yuma & Beyond

Bullhead City to Quartzite

We took off from Bullhead City, AZ heading south with our friends Ann & Eldon and the decision was to use as many secondary roads as possible so that we could spend more time venturing and less time watching traffic. The first leg of the trip was down the west side of Lake Havasu which is in California. Then we swung back east to Quartzite, AZ. Now Quartzite is a small place where Interstate #10 & State #95 cross. Normally it is nothing more than a truck stop but come winter, vendors setup stalls along the highway and sell about anything you can think of. By mid January the population swells to thousands of trailers and motorhomes boondocking (camping in the desert without electric hookups or running water). They end up as small communities scattered over the desert. There are trucks that will come to your RV and supply you with fresh water and others that will take away the "used water". Most of the RV's have solar panels for electricity. Many have been doing this for years and have formed small mobile groups that seem to travel around according to the weather. Some of these RVs are pretty elaborate, 35-40 ft motorhomes with new cars in tow to older units. While we were there they were just starting to show up so there was only fifty or so vendors and just a few hundred boondockers in the desert. We will be going back later in the new year and hopefully get some pictures of the area.

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Travelling South from Quartzsite

After leaving Quartzsite we headed down #95 toward Yuma. Most of the terrain is flat desert until you get close to Yuma, all of a sudden the desert turn into very large vegetable farms. Then you realize that you are now driving on a river delta which was formed long ago from all the silt that has flowed down the Colorado River towards the Gulf of Mexico.

We were told that Yuma has a population of about 60,000 in the summer but that doubles during winter with all the "snowbirds". It seemed larger then that to us or it might have been that we have spent most of our time in small towns or out in the desert since being down here.

We booked into the Travelodge motel and then went looking for place to eat and ended up at a Chinese buffet, seems that we can't get away from buffets, anyways it turned out to be great Chinese restaurant and of course we eat ourselves into a stooper.

The next morning we headed for Mexico which was only a few miles away. We crossed the border into a town called Algodones which is noted for its cheap dental work & and glasses. You can also get your prescriptions filled there at a quarter of the prices in the Sates. Not needing glasses, dental work or drugs we spent our time wandering around the streets checking out the wares that were for sale wherever you looked. We spent time talking to the locals and then back to Yuma to get ready for another day of sightseeing.

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The next day we spent at the Old Yuma Prison

and also at the Fort Yuma Indian Mission, just over the border, in California.

We spent some time watching them harvesting fields of lettuce, parsley and other vegetables. It is amazing to see how these are harvested, boxed and shipped directly from the fields.

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The next day we headed west into California to the town of Calexico which is across the border from Mexicali, Mexico. We were told that there was a parking lot right at the border where we could park and walk across just like we did south of Yuma. Well, something went wrong and as we passed the sign saying that this was the last u-turn before the border and then got into a line between two concrete barriers you guessed it, "Welcome to Mexico". The next thing to happen was a Mexican customs officer telling us to do something in Spanish and then ordering us all out of the car and to open the trunk. Then he told me to open one of the suitcases. Well, he seemed satisfied with what he saw and told us to get back in and welcome to Mexico.

At this point we realized that we didn't have Mexican car insurance and one look around told us that we might need it so the unanimous decision was to turn around and cross back into the States. The only problem with this plan was that the street was only one way so this meant finding a street going the other way and also one that would take us back across the border. After revising the rules of driving we finally got into a line of traffic that seemed to be heading back to the border and after running the gauntlet of peddlers, we arrived at the U.S. border. The U.S. customs officer asked us how long we had been in Mexico and after finding out it was less than one hour he smiled and said, "Have a good day".

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Our next area to explore was the Salton Sea, California's largest inland body of water.

The Sea was created in 1905, when a canal flowing from the Colorado River collapsed and ran into the area where the Salton Sea is today. Being the lowest area (240 ft. below sea level), the water settled there. The canal was repaired after a year and a half this landlocked body of water is all that remains of the flood.

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Further north on Highway #111 we stopped at a date plantation called Oasis Date Gardens near Thermal, Calf. It was quite a view to see date palms growing for as far as you could see, and of course we had to leave there with a few samples.

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Seeing that the day was coming to an end we decided to stay over in Indio, Calf. and then head towards home base the next morning. Not wanting to drive the interstates we chose Highway #177 & then #62 to Vidal Junction. This area is quite desolate and I can't imagine breaking down here in the middle of summer as the only thing going for you would be the solar powered emergency call boxes every couple of miles.

Once we got to Vidal Junction we turned east towards Parker, AZ. Now this section of the road isn't much different but there is a railway track which runs along side the highway for about twenty five miles. For most of the way along the gravel edge of the track, people have placed rocks to spell out words. Some were just peoples initials - others were quite elaborate with full poems, letters to loved ones, etc. We have no idea how this got started or how old some of these are but what a great idea.

The next "strange" thing to see on this stretch of road was what we nicknamed " the sneaker tree ". We spotted a large tree that was completely covered in peoples sneakers, cowboy boots and other forms of footwear. Lynne was able to find a sneaker a ways down the highway so we were able to contribute to this trees different crop.

After the sneaker tree we headed off towards Parker and then north to Lake Havasu City where we stopped at the London Bridge to have a bite to eat and then back home to Bullhead City.