End of the Rainbow!

My soggy walk this morning was rewarded with a beautiful rainbow coming out of the valley and stretching out beyond the hills. Further examination led me to find the rainbow's end in a field. As picture shows, there is no pot of gold at this end, maybe the farmer on the other side of the hills got the tangible rewards. My reward was the glow in my soul at such a rare sighting. The owner of this field will hopefully be blessed with a bounty of crops due to today's rains.

We are in the small, pop 1000 on a good winter day, town of Aguanga CA. Now for those who don't know, it is 17 miles east of Temecula in the coastal hills. Still in the dark? Temecula, a city of about 100,000, is just about mid way between San Diego and Los Angeles on I-15. This park, Jojoba Hills, sits just north of Mount Palomar. If the clouds clear, we plan to drive there today or tomorrow.

Jojoba Hills is a Escapees Co-op, the jewel in the crown! These folks have it all, including a long arm quilting machine! They have dinner dances a couple of times a month with a live band. The views from the community center hall and pavilion are out of this world breath taking. Tennis courts, horseshoes, putt-putt, extensive library, full size swimming pool, 2 hot tubs, a sauna in both men's and women's restrooms at the pavilion. They have citrus fruit trees, olive trees, various gardens and all kinds of plants from agave to pine. The mechanics shop is large enough to pull in any size RV with tools and equipment to just about do a re-build. The adjacent wood shop would have our son, Kyle, hooked forever. They have it all and more than enough room to make use of it.

Yuma Surprise

We enjoyed a week in Yuma, accomplishing most of what we set out to do. "Historic Downtown" isn't so much, unless you consider that most of the stores are history and probably have been for the last decade. We did enjoy lunch at Lute's Casino. The non-casino restaurant and pool hall has been in operation for over 100 years and does serve a mean hamburger. After placing our order, we found that the speciality of the house is potato tacos, a new one on us. They looked great and calorie-laden. The piano man was very entertaining as is the eclectic decor.

We really enjoyed a walking trip across the border to Los Algadones. Passports are safely tucked away in Las Vegas, but we went anyway with assurances from the border patrol guy on the phone that we would be fine. I got a new hat, vanilla and a purse, Russell got meds and Tequila. We had all we wanted to carry, so planned what to buy on the next trip over. The border patrol officers checked our docs, we had printed off copies of birth certificates in addition to our licenses. There really was only a slight delay, not the horror stories we'd heard. Just as I was walking away, the officer I talked to said, "Don't come back until you have your passport!" I completely believed him! We'll make another trip next winter to catch those other purchases.

The Territorial Prison was another nice surprise. It is a fraction of the facility that existed for 33 years around the turn of the last century. It was complete built by the inmates, a total of over 3000, and very advanced for its time, but overcrowding caused its closure in 1908. The buildings were later used as temporary housing for the high school at which time the mascot became, and still is, The Crims.

We walked along the Gila and Colorado Rivers which converge at Yuma. We walked under the single lane Ocean To Ocean Highway Bridge. And through the very popular park that provides sandy beaches along the Colorado River.

We were not able to see the 2 military installations, so that too will wait for another trip.

Yuma, AZ

For the last week, since the rally, we have been at Rovers Roost in Casa Grande. Most of that time I was sewing...YEAH! Russell was working, but not having as much fun. Both of us were enjoying the park and the town. I talked to several park folks about other SKPs (Escapees') parks. Everyone recommended that we come to Yuma. They said the SKP park, town, and Mexican border town of Los Algodones were all very safe and well worth a visit.

Driving to the Escapees Park southeast of town we passed the Marine Corps Air Station. It was fun to see a few jets land, and plan to take a tour if possible. We had a late lunch and then went to the downtown visitors center. What we found out was that there is even more here than advertised.

The vast irrigated farmlands were no surprise as we drove in; we've been on this stretch of I-8 before. This is the route we drove coming back from San Diego a few years ago. This is a continuation of the Imperial Valley of California. The bounty of produce from this region is courtesy of the Colorado River and its many irrigation channels. We walked along the banks of the river and stood at the point where STEAMSHIPS docked here! The safest way to transport goods to the southwest was out of San Francisco, around the Baja, through the Gulf of California and upriver on the Colorado. Today we walked the grounds and museum of the Quartermaster Depot.

The town appears to be prosperous, clean, and very historic. We hope to visit the old town, the Territorial Prison, a few produce markets, the Yuma Proving Ground in addition to the MCAS. That is certainly a full week!