From Yuma We Go

---

It’s been more than a month since we’ve posted any information, and it’s time to catch up at least a little.

We are now in Van Horn, Texas and will be leaving in the morning for Sonora, Texas and think we might get to San Antonio next week. We left Yuma the day after Easter. It was time to get moving again, before Yuma gets entirely too hot. We also have to get to Texas so we can get started establishing our domicile for the time we’ll be living full time in our RV. Who knows: we might even decide to settle there. There are many things about Texas to make that idea a good one. We’ll see.

Our first stop after Yuma was Picacho, Arizona, which proved to be a delightful place. The park was a very nice KOA, and the view out our living room windows was a true joy – first, because we had one. (At Yuma, we had an excellent view of the back side of a park model.)

Picacho, AZ, south of Phoenix, has two very interesting sites that in my opinion are worth making the trip. The first is the Rooster Cogburn Ostrich Ranch. Oh, this is so much more than just a ranch! After paying the entry fee, they give you pellets to feed all the critters. The first you meet are dwarf donkeys, and they know why you’re there: to feed them. And it’s a competition among them. One of the attendants is right there to tell you feed them, and you can spend as much time at every display as you like. They all act like they’ve never been fed. It's really quite humorous, especially the donkeys, which talk to you very loudly. But there are deer to feed, goats, sheep, tortoise, ducks, chickens, rabbits and of course a bunch of ostriches, all by hand. Here is a source for ostrich feathers and eggs. For an extra charge you can feed the stingrays. Yes, I said that right. You stick your hand under water with a piece of squid between your fingers and these swarm up to suck it right off your hand. (They don’t have teeth or stingers, and they suck the squid off your hand. They feel very velvety in Natalie’s opinion, but she was scared to feed them. They get attention by flapping their fins which is quite cute too.

And there are birds to feed too. You feed the parakeets by poking a popsicle stick with a bunch seed stuck to the end through the wire cage. They form a circle around the seeds and feast away just devouring the seed. Fascinating. But the birds that made Natalie just giddy were the Rainbow Lorikeets from Australia. They are so colorful with deep greens, blues, reds. You are given a tiny dish (like you get extra tartar sauce in) with its lid on. Then you walk into their cage holding the dish tightly in your hand. They land on your arms, shoulders, head very gently, like a butterfly, rip off the lid to this dish and drink the nectar. They linger on you in case more nectar will materialize. Hint, buy extra just for the fun of this bird. One landed on my head and I could hardly tell. The reason he was there is because they like white hair, which Natalie has in abundance.

The second go-to spot is the Casa Grande National monument in Coolidge AZ. Constructed before they had tools we’d recognize, a complete civilization built large compounds. The main building even had 2 round holes to identify the solstices. The people hand dug canals for irrigation from the Gila River miles away to their site. Around 1450 BC the whole civilization just vanished, but this ruin is quite a testament to their ingenuity. The main cause of death among them was tooth decay because of the rock pieces left in the corn they ground. Be sure to watch the 20 minute video, then take the tour; they're well worth your time.

One “guest” at the Casa Grande during our visit was a horned owl family. The mother sits on the nest for 35 days while the eggs hatch. The father brings the food for her and then for the chicks. After 2-3 weeks, the chicks are taught to fly. We were fortunate to see the whole family. What a treat. I can’t guarantee they will be there when you get there but God knows.

After three nights at Picacho, we moved on to Deming, New Mexico. The RV Park was a sparse gravel field, with the hookups we need and a nice staff. They had a nice, but small pool and hot tub, and the first night, the park had their weekly ice cream social, where we met some nice people.

There’s not a lot to recommend Deming as a destination, but they have defined a walking tour with a pamphlet listing the noteworthy buildings. Each building listed has a plaque on the exterior wall with a story about the history of the building and a humorous anecdote. Natalie loves architecture with names and dates at the top. We enjoyed the walking tour and appreciated the original buildings.

One really enjoyable stop on the walking tour was the mercantile – actually an antique store filled with very interesting stuff and staffed by a delightful lady who displayed an amazing knowledge of the history of the things on display. We truly enjoyed the store and her conversation.

The visitor center was a train depot in its day, as are many visitor centers. As luck would have it, they were closed on the Saturday we stopped by. (The museum was also closed for a special event.) But the building had windows and fences we could see through, so we were able to see some of the displays and railroad cars. They also had the brochures about the walking tour.

After Deming, we came to Van Horn, Texas, and haven’t found anything that sounded interesting to do except fuel up for our drive tomorrow. And a one-night stop seems to be why most of the RVs we’ve seen come here. We did meet a couple very interesting people, though, and it’s amazing how many people we’ve met on this journey have some connection to Washington. And how many of them never plan to go back.

Van Horn, Texas, feels like a stagecoach is due any day, much like one of Clint Eastwood’s spaghetti westerns. Driving all this way has shown off the vast desert in a way we never considered before. Birds seem to find landing zones however everywhere: we’ve seen doves, sparrows, a road runner as well as the ones we don’t know, plus a jackrabbit of course—what is a desert without jackrabbits?

Someone said “the desert is full of thorny things” and everything is thorny, even the citrus trees and cotton. The ground is thorny, with burrs that get into my crocs so now I understand why boots are THE footwear. I don’t have any, but my sketchers will do here in the desert.

Our winter in Yuma was a truly enjoyable experience. We now understand why people would want to spend their winters here. There were so many things to do, so many places to go, so many awesome people to spend time with, and it rained a total of three times the whole 4 months we were there. We hardly had any time to play tourist.

It was so surprising to see so many our age and older, yes there are older ones than us, playing instruments, especially the guitar. But many play other instruments as well. Yuma blessed us with so much wonderful music in many genres. We were so entertained by many guitars, violins, dulcimer, harmonicas, flute, piano and organ, hand bells concerts, saxophone and a homemade gizmo called a “humstrum” . Every Wednesday there was a pool party with a different band. There was dancing every Monday and Friday evening, with different bands. There were concerts, gospel jams, all from folks in the Yuma area. Singing was included of course. All free!! This is besides the paid professional musical groups that came in, one a month. We were treated to wonderful entertainment at no cost but lots of joy and even more memories.

---

Photos

Easter Potluck0.
Such youth