Just returned from our sojourn to Yuma. Interesting. Not what I expected. Easy to leave.
It was either fight the crowds for a headboard at The Dump or drive 175 miles to see a prison. I chose the prison and was the happier for it. (The camera had a dead battery when we got there. No I didn't think to check before we left, and I was too lazy to use my phone.)
I thought Yuma would be a westerny town, a bit like Wickenburg only bigger. Not so fast, silly woman from Idaho. I'm not sure how to describe it other than disjointed, sprawling and lacking in charm.
We went to historic Yuma and I expected to see quaint shops and unique finds. Can you say, "Folded up?" The pitiful area was mostly boarded up and empty. Obviously the economy has not been kind to Yuma. Many of the shops were closed or empty. The ones there were impersonal and not the least bit different than you might find in a seedy part of Jerome, Idaho.
I did buy some delicious olive oil that has blood oranges in it. Yum. And we went to the Territorial Prison which is very enticing and educational. You're right, Roe. I think I might have been a model citizen in Yuma in the late 1880s and early 1900s just so there was no chance of going to those grim, cold, crowded and dank confines. Some "criminals" went there for adultery, seduction, and minor offenses that would never be blinked at today. We took Lola for a walk over to the prison cemetery (which I don't think is original. I think the railroad went through that part and they had to move it and make a mock up.) Anyway, Lola acted like the hounds of the Baskervilles were after her. She dropped her tail, pulled me so hard I almost fell and pooped right in the middle of a path. It was strange. She acted like there were ghosts after her or something. The cemetery wasn't the least bit spooky so I don't know what her problem was. Mad mojo for poor Lola.
The highlight of the trip for me was stopping at Dateland which is just a roadside Texaco station with an ice cream and date shop in the back. I love dates. Rick--not so much. Anyway, I had a date shake which was heavenly. (Rick had boring chocolate.) I could have brought home pounds of dates, but didn't because I knew I'd eat them all.
We were home before dark. Saw about 10 trains on the way there and back. We must be easy to entertain because we were thrilled to see each one.
I'm glad we went, but doubt I'll return to Yuma. Next time we'll head east to the Globe area and then back up to Flagstaff some day. Not exactly cosmopolitan travelers, are we? Next trip I'll remember to check the camera battery.
9 comments:
Well it sounds like an interesting trip. Not many people have adventures like you.
Loving trains must be an Idaho thing because they entertain me as well.
Oh no, if you weren't impressed with Yuma (which no one ever is) then you will hate Globe. Nothing to see but a quarry and boarded up shops. Did you get to the park on the beach that I told you about in your comments? That's the only thing worth seeing in Yuma. Flagstaff, Prescott, Payson, that's where you want to be. Even Flagstaff is just a big college town with not much to see but snow.
Oh, and once in high school, our church youth group's bus broke down in Dateland for two days. TWO DAYS IN DATELAND!! Can you imagine? It was a nightmare.
If you went to the prison you might have seen a
Picture of my great great grandfather William J. flake who spent some months there for a polygamy conviction. I have a copy of a very interesting diary he wrote while there
Jo, I came over to your site from your kind comments to Ann at The Elegant Shoestring. It would never occur to me to go to Yuma, but if it had, I wouldn't now! Don't ever try to get a job with the Yuma chamber of commerce! :D
HI JO!!!!!
GOSH I HAVE Missed your blogging style and your commentary!!!I always get a good chuckle!!!!!
When I make it over to the west side of town...WE MUST Meet up.....
YOUR Grand sons are growing like weeds like mine are.....can't we say SLOW DOWN...stay babies???????
by the way...I toured the New Gilbert temple the other day...I would blog about it.....but I would have to scan the brochure and the pics on it....will they get mad if I do that????
hugs,
jamie
Miss you Jo!
Miss you Jo!
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