Yuma, AZ

The drive from Tucson to Yuma is about 4-hours through mostly barren desert as the Saguaros started to dwindle. From time to time there are interesting mountain ranges and a few noteable areas — The Sonoran Desert National Monument; Dateland; Gila Bend with its green fields, cows, and large solar array.

In Yuma we stayed with friends David and Jennifer. David was a graduate student with David at Purdue and has recently taken a job at the air station here. Last time we had seen them was 13 years ago when they lived in Maryland and David worked for the Naval Research Lab — so it was great to see them and their new home.

David is busy planting trees around their new place. It’s a lovely, large home with pool, but the former owners were not too interested in plantings, a situation which is quickly being improved with various citrus, date palms, and multiple smaller plantings. A drip irrigation system will keep them all alive in this sandy, arid climate. Their very deep well will never run dry because of all the flooding irrigation in nearby fields from the Colorado River.

On Saturday David was occupied with arranging delivery of a used spa and driving to the Phoenix area to pickup a load of parts for a planned solar array installation. We took the time to watch a Purdue basketball game and to get some drone photos of the property. On Sunday we walked along the Colorado River downtown and had a fun lunch at Lutes Casino, no longer a casino, but a bar and sandwich joint with lots of old time Yuma decorations. From there we went to the Spanish Market “Yuma Swap Meet” where clearly you can buy anything — from vegetables to clothing to used cars and furniture. Jennifer encouraged us to try a cold horchata — a rice based drink flavored with cinnamon and coconut. Over ice on a hot sunny day it was very refreshing.

At home we helped David hook up and fill his new hot tub then just sat and talked about their new life.

One unexpected part of their new estate is a RV car port with full electrical and sewer hookup. We told them we will be back. 😍

-- Janet (text) and David (photos)