3:10 to Yuma

After leaving Casa Grande, we spent four nights in Yuma, Arizona, the halfway point between Casa Grande and San Diego.  Yuma is located on the California and Mexico borders.

We toured the Yuma Territorial Prison which opened in 1876 and closed in 1909.  The site is now operated as a historical museum and is Yuma's No. 1 attraction.  For the movie buffs, 3:10 to Yuma, refers to a train that is scheduled to take outlaw Ben Wade (played by Russell Crowe in the remake) to the Yuma Territorial Prison; great movie if you haven't seen it!

The IRS finally gets their (wo)man

Many visitors to Yuma travel across the border to Algodondes to obtain dental, vision, prescriptions and other medical services.There are more than 60 RV resorts and parks in the Yuma area and approximately 90,000 snowbirds supplement the city’s population, many of which are from Alberta.

The age demographic in the park we stayed at, is certainly on the older side (square dancing to Adele was a pretty good indication).

We played some golf and met up with a couple of older gents who were vets from the Second World War Korean war and enjoyed hearing about some of their reconnaissance missions and their jokes.

The Ocean-to-Ocean Bridge which straddles the Colorado river was completed in 1915 and was the last bridge built to join the Atlantic to Pacific Oceans with a highway.





Year round records show that Yuma receives an average of 93% of the possible 4,400 hours of sunshine yearly. This amounts to 4,133 hours of the sun's golden rays in an average year (not to mention the 11 extra hours on Leap Year).




Large white blimps maintained by the U.S. Air Force are visible which provide an important link in the “radar fence” along the international border that detects drug-smuggling airplanes. We might not have known what they were if we hadn't been golfing with the vets.

The Nay's Blue Angels overhead at El Centro

After leaving Yuma on our way to San Diego, we were treated to a training session by the United State's Navy flight demonstration squadron, the Blue Angels, while stopped at a rest area near El Cenro, California (which is the Blue Angels winter home).

The squadron was formed in 1946 making it the second oldest aerobatic team in the world, after the French Parouille de France which was formed in 1931.

The show went on for approximately 30 minutes right over our heads; what a fantastic show and view!

Unfortunately, with the "sequester" budget cuts coming into effect on March 1st, the Blue Angels have been grounded for the 2013 season and all 70 shows in the US have been cancelled.

Linda catching up on some Oilers' action