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Published: January 23rd 2015
The Colors Are Not As Vivid In Low Light Conditions
Colorado River Crossing Balloon Festival - Winterhaven CAI had taken a look at the MapQuest data for the drive from Riverside CA to my winter base in Apache Junction AZ and didn’t really like what I found – it would be a much longer drive than I fancy. Drawing upon some shorter options, I remembered friends of mine from Illinois winter in Winterhaven CA, just across the Colorado River from Yuma AZ. A quick phone call informed me they already had arrived at their winter home, so Plan B went into full swing.
‘Twas another fine southern California day as I departed Rancho Jurupa Park. Irene, my GPS, guided me through Riverside and onto eastbound I-10. Near Indio CA, I exited onto CA 86 which took me to I-8 near El Centro CA. There I headed eastbound until I reached Winterhaven. I arrived at the Sans End RV Park without any glitches. The manager gave me a map of the RV park, showed me where my friends were staying and told me to take whatever vacant space I wanted. The Pligrim ended up directly across the street from their rig.
After chatting with my friends for a few minutes, I set up and then returned for
some more catching up. I’m sure glad I returned as I received an invitation to a scrumptious supper. They told me about the Colorado River Crossing Balloon Festival which takes place the weekend before Thanksgiving. One of the mass ascension points is directly across the freeway from the RV park, and having morning coffee while watching the balloons depart is a well-established ritual in the park community. I suggested my friends knock on my door “the morning of” when they were ready.
Saturday, November 22, 2014 found me startling to a knock on the Pilgrim door as I was savoring my second cup of joe. A knock on my door is highly unusual any time of the day! After filling my insulated travel mug, I departed the Pilgrim as daylight was waxing. We walked to the well-established vantage point and waited for the first hint of a silhouette of a hot air balloon. Soon one was seen on the horizon, then another and another. I wasn’t counting but suppose that 20-25 balloons launched. What a nice, unexpected treat!
Monday, November 24, 2014 found my friends and me taking a short trip into Yuma and the
Yuma Quartermaster Depot State Historic Park. The Yuma
Interesting Cacti Are Scattered Throughout
Yuma Quartermaster Depot State Historic Park - Yuma AZ Quartermaster Depot was used by the US Army to store and distribute supplies for all the military posts in all of Arizona as well as posts in Nevada, Utah, New Mexico, and Texas. A six-month supply of clothing, food, ammunition, and other goods was kept at the depot at all times. The supplies were brought from California by ocean vessels traveling around the Baja Peninsula to Port Isabel near the mouth of the Colorado River. There the cargo was transferred to river steamers and brought upstream to Yuma.
After the supplies were unloaded, they were transported to the depot by mule-drawn freight wagons. The depot quartered up to 900 mules and a crew of teamsters to handle them. The Southern Pacific Railroad reached Yuma in 1877 and heralded the beginning of the end of Fort Yuma and the Quartermaster Depot. Trains could move supplies more efficiently than ships. When the railroad reached Tucson, a depot was no longer needed in Yuma and the depot's functions were moved to Fort Lowell in Tucson. The Yuma Quartermaster Depot officially closed in 1883.
Five of the original depot buildings remain on the park grounds, and four of these buildings contain exhibits
Who Needs A Mule When You’ve Got A McCormick-Deering?
Yuma Quartermaster Depot State Historic Park - Yuma AZ which cover both the military history of the site and the history of the Bureau of Reclamation’s construction of major irrigation works in the Yuma area during the early 1900s. The most fascinating exhibit, in my opinion, relates to the
Yuma Project.
The Yuma Project was started by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation in 1903 and was essentially completed by 1915. It was designed to divert water from the Colorado River to irrigate over 68,000 acres of land in Yuma County AZ and Imperial County CA to take advantage of the year-round farming conditions. On July 6, 1905, a contract to build the Laguna Diversion Dam on the Colorado River was awarded.
Due to the location of the reservoir created by Laguna Dam, a canal to carry water to serve the Yuma Valley would have to cross the Gila River if the canal started on the Arizona side of the Laguna Reservoir or would have to cross the Colorado River if the canal water exited the reservoir on the California side. The decision was made to build an inverted siphon to carry canal water under the Colorado River and, thereby, to serve the Yuma Valley. The inverted siphon consists
of two vertical concrete shafts and a connecting horizontal concrete shaft that carries the canal water under the Colorado River. Water from the canal descends into one shaft before moving laterally and, seeking its own level, rises up the other shaft and into the canal on the opposite side of the river.
Construction of the vertical shaft on the Arizona side of the Colorado River began in December 1909. When completed, a concrete “plug” was placed at the bottom end of the shaft, and horizontal tunneling began. To keep water and sand from seeping into the horizontal shaft, sandhogs pressurized the tunnel. They then dug the top half of the soon-to-become tunnel and poured the concrete. The bottom half was then excavated, and the concrete was poured. Section by section was completed until the sandhogs broke through into the vertical shaft on the California side of the River on June 8, 1912. At 8:25 AM on June 29, 1912, the Colorado River Siphon received water for the first time. In 1992, the Yuma Project supplied 1060 cubic feet of water per second to 275 farms, irrigated 58,626 acres and served over 94,000 people. Pretty cool!
I found two
other very interesting exhibits. One chronicles the wood plank road that was constructed to navigate the sand dunes a few miles west of Yuma, and the other highlights the steamboat shipping present on the Colorado River before completion of the railroad line to Yuma in 1877. Initially, the Colorado Steam Navigation Company held a monopoly on the River and charged $40 per ton for freight. In 1864, Pacific-Colorado Navigation Company came into existence, and the charge dropped to $20 per ton. I suppose that’s exploitation at its entrepreneurial best! By 1870, six steamers and five barges were keeping the citizens of Yuma well supplied.
Tuesday, November 25, 2014 found my friends and me heading to the
Museum of History in Granite in Felicity CA – “different” was the adjective used. According to a Wikipedia article about Felicity, the unincorporated community was founded on May 11, 1986, is named after a town mentioned in Jacques-André Istel's book,
Coe the Good Dragon and proclaims itself to be the "Center of the World." There are four landmarks at the attraction:
1) The Sundial at Felicity has a 15-foot gnomon in the form of a three-dimensional bronze of Michelangelo's Arm of God as painted on the
An Interesting Choice Of Gnomons
Museum of History in Granite - Felicity CA ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. According to the article, a sundial is precisely accurate once a year, and this sundial was set at noon on Christmas Day. The arm points to the Hill of Prayer – site of the Church on the Hill at Felicity. The Hill of Prayer was built in January 2002 by moving 150,000 tons of earth. The church is the highest point in the town of Felicity and will remain so in the future. Okay….
2) The sculpture at the attraction entrance is a 25-foot high section of the original stairway of the Eiffel Tower. In 1983, sway caused the government of France to remove approximately 500 feet of the original stairway. From Wikipedia, “It serves no practical purpose, but is part of the spirit of Felicity.” Okay….
3) The Felicity Post Office was dedicated on December 5, 1987 when thousands of small post offices were being eliminated for economic reasons. The town, whose population numbered only two persons, saw over 2,300 letters mailed that day. (Solicitations for donations, I suppose!) The dedication ceremony was highlighted by a speech IN CHINESE by Consul Zhou of the People’s Republic of China who traveled 600 miles
The (Eiffel Tower) Stairs To Nowhere
Museum of History in Granite - Felicity CA for the occasion. The Felicity Post Office is operated by the town at a cost to the federal government of one dollar per year. Twenty uncashed one dollar checks are on file. We all know it costs the government $100 to write each of those $1 checks, and it probably costs $500 to maintain each of those uncashed checks on the ledger!
4) The Museum of History in Granite is a unique attraction to say the least. The museum exhibits 100-foot long Missouri Red Granite monuments inscribed with various events from human history. Subjects include a Unites States Marine Corps Korean War Memorial (why not the Army?), The History of French Aviation (what about American aviation?), The Hall of Fame of Parachuting (surely, you gest!), The History of Arizona (why not Iowa?), The Battle of Camerone (huh!) and a list of the graduating class of Princeton University from decades ago (really!). Some of the panels are bilingual – English and FRENCH!!!
Why? I asked myself that question a dozen or more times during my visit. And, then, why here – a zillion miles from anywhere? The engraving is first rate, and the substance (for the most part) is
interesting; however, who (with the majority of their neurons connected and functioning) is going to take days (when this attraction is completed) to STAND, IN THE BRIGHT SUNLIGHT and read disjointed snippets of history? Fortunately, it’s less than a mile from I-8. If your scalp itches, you must stop. If you are addicted to the unique, you should stop; however, I surely cannot recommend this attraction for the average tourist beyond its curiosity value.
I always enjoy spending some time in the Yuma area. My best friend from childhood, Gary, was stationed at Marine Corps Air Station Yuma at least three times over his 26 year career and my ex-wife’s cousin lives in Wellton AZ, a few miles east of Yuma; so I have been to Yuma many times and already have seen most of the attractions – at least once. The Yuma Quartermaster Depot is always interesting, and I will have to say my friend’s “different” descriptor applied to the Museum of History in Granite is a classic understatement. The mind-boggling attraction was new to me, and I’m glad I got to see it first-hand. We spent a lot of time catching up, I met some interesting people
who introduced me to a couple of new card games and we visited of a couple of my friends’ favorite eateries. Oh, did I mention the date milk shake? Now, that’s
my Yuma ritual!
Now, it’s time to end the 2014 Chapter of The Great Adventure and head for the warmth of sunny Apache Junction AZ. I’ve already got appointments in place with the VA, will get my kidney stones blasted and will undergo other “tune-up” goodies. In 2015, I generally plan to be headed for south Texas in mid to late February, to get to the Kentucky Derby in late April/early May, to slowly make my way north through Ohio and Michigan, to attend the Lumberjack World Championships in Hayward WI in late July, to celebrate my late August birthday with family and friends in Rockford IL and to finish with a seven-day rafting trip through the Grand Canyon in mid September. That’s the general plan at this point!
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