December 2, 2009 – Yuma, AZ

There is a general reluctance in this group to leave Yuma. The weather is great, we find new things of interest every day, our RV Park is very nice, and the general feeling is very relaxing. We’re sleeping later (except for Don this morning) and moving slower. Like this morning, we finally got in the truck and got moving around eleven. Oh, yeah, I had gotten a perfunctory walk for the purposes of my toilet activities earlier, and I understood that major walks would be a part of the day’s excursions, so I didn’t register any complaints.

We struck out to find a date farm on the east end of town, and made our way to it pretty easily. Geri and Don had their minds set on having some date milkshakes, and they got their wish. They usually stop at Charlie Brown’s in Littlerock when we’re on our way to or from Las Vegas and get date shakes there; today’s product of Martha’s Garden apparently beat old Charlie into the dust. Don augmented his shake with a premium hot dog that he found especially praiseworthy. I didn’t get a bite of anything, but I had been given my lunch before we left, so I couldn’t complain too much. We then headed for the park along the river where the burrowing owls and hummingbirds are featured performers. Unfortunately, after a half hour of tramping through the underbrush along the river, not a burrow nor an owl was to be seen. We were a little more fortunate with the hummers, as two of them showed up to perform for us. But I had a good time exploring new environs and collecting strange smells for my catalogue.

We made our way back into town to find a historical museum that they wanted to visit; it was located in an old home built by a guy by the name of Sanguinetti back in the 1880’s. I think Geri was interested in Yuma’s Italian connection. They spent about an hour in the place, and came back to the truck full of stories that they had picked up there. Apparently this Sanguinetti guy was a real workaholic who got into every line of business available in Yuma during that period, and pursued them all very successfully. He ran a general store, invested in mining operations, grew cotton, contracted with the railroads to feed cattle in shipment, and a long list of other stuff. He lived to a ripe old age and died very wealthy; great Italian story.

Then we spent some time chasing down an RV Park that Geri had read about, located on the river and incorporating a golf course. It’s owned and operated by an Indian tribe, the Cocopah’s. Unfortunately, a miscommunication with Garmie brought us to a casino owned by the same tribe, about halfway to the Mexican border. Further consultation with Garmie set things right, and we finally found the RV Park, which we all adjudged to be below our standards. The golf course looked nice, though. It was getting time to head for home, but we had to stop at a supermarket for some of Geri’s needs. Her experience in attempting to pay for her purchases with her Discover Card and extract some cash in the deal is far to complex for this journal; let us only say that it was not pretty.

We headed back for the rig, and no one was really hungry, except for me. I guess I’m always hungry! They nibbled on some leftovers, and then got their swim suits on and head for the spa. They were back in just a few minutes; the spa was out of order. Oh, well, into each life some rain must fall. We’re going to hit the hay early tonight, we’ve got a crew coming in at eight tomorrow morning to wash and wax the rig. Should be interesting! See you tomorrow!