On the Road Again!
We arrived in Yuma on Monday afternoon.  The landscape was mostly dusty flattish desert with a lot of creosote bushes.  There was also a lot of volcanic rock and as we got closer to Yuma some beautiful purple flowers brightened up the desert floor!

As we got closer to Yuma we passed through these mountains and as usual I loved them!

Before I forget I want to add a picture of Ralph and Linda.  We had a lot of fun with them and it was unfortunate that we didn't get to see them much in the last few weeks we were there.  They are from Alberta and they lived halfway down the street from us.

Check out the great "for the road" treats made for us by Suz and Florence.  How nice of these ladies, of course I had scarfed down one piece of the rice krispie cake before we even were technically on the road.

I just love this beautiful church up on the hill, too bad the water tower is in the background, kind of ruins the ambiance.  We went to see the jail that was built in 1876 and used until around 1910.  It was partially destroyed and then the people of Yuma rallied around to make it a historic sight.

The Colorado river is close by and we discovered they have a bike path for about 6 miles or so around the river - that's the plan for Thursday!

They had pictures of a lot of the inmates on the wall and it told about their crimes and what not, there were even women in this jail.  They did have a few break outs and repeat offenders. The jail was actually built by the inmates and they got credit for doing work while incarcerated which they could use to get out early.  Some of the people were even locked up for adultery.

This is the most beautiful dainty lace.  The man that knitted it was a lifer at the jail (he committed murder).  He also tried to escape twice and was in solitary twice for not following the rules. Go figure!

OMG did I really see this bird?  I think it is a curlew.
Today we went to Mexico.  On the way you actually go back into California.  The ride from Yuma to where we parked was only about a half an hour.

You park your car in the US and then you walk over the border into Mexico.

The few blocks that you can walk in the town of Los Algodones is jam packed with vendors trying to get your money before you move on. I found it really interesting just to watch the Mexican people.  Some were eating their lunch which was mostly corn tortillas stuffed with interesting looking little morsels.  Children and adults alike tried to sell you a product or a service.

This lady walked up and down the streets calling "paragoose".  It looked awesome and freshly picked!

The previous 3 pictures were taken inside the grocery store.  Most of the store fronts were just shacks and lean too's.  I was thinking it would be fun to buy some of these things but its just too weird to buy stuff you can't read.  Plus the price was in peso's so it looks super expensive.

Hee Hee, couldn't resist.

 There were numerous dentists and optical and drug stores.  You can apparently buy prescription drugs without a prescription very cheaply.  I did find some glasses that I really liked with the sunglass clip and everything for about 220.00 (compared to 800.00 at home)  however they need to send them away to get the anti-glare coating and it takes a week .  BOO!

Pretty sure we saw this veggie deal go down  right behind that truck there.
Then you line up and go through the American side of the border, show your passport and walk back to your car.  Don did not enjoy his trip to Mexico as they are very pushy trying to sell you stuff.  It did get to be a bit much after a while especially when you realize how poor these people are and this is how they "eat" as one lady said.  I did try to make a contribution by buying a nice light jacket, a trinket for Kylie and some silver earrings.  Don got Kahlua chocolates - pretty smart on his part as I am allergic to Kahlua.  It was fun and interesting but we're ok with not doing it again.

This is a small portion of the miles and miles  fence that line the U.S. border.

 They grow dates here - cant wait to check out the date farm

They bring in Mexican workers in these huge buses to pick the crops.   They grow a lot of lettuce and that is what they were picking.

 Yuma area is a huge producer of vegetables and fruits. The fields are everywhere.  We have seen many types of lettuce, broccoli, cauliflower and rice as well as animal feed crops.  Some fields are harvested, some are just planted and many different stages of growth.  We have also seen huge citrus orchards.

Looks like hard work, but I would like to try it anyway.  Apparently there is a lettuce festival coming up, which sounds super funny but intriguing.  Can't wait to find out more about the agriculture here.
I am writing this blog from the main office where there is a library, barbershop and beauty salon.  We cannot hook up to the internet in our RV for whatever reason.  Not bad to do it this way but I miss my "google" and of course my skyping!