MY MISCONCEPTIONS ABOUT YUMA
Yuma was always my stop over during my trips from Tucson to Los Angeles. My impression of Yuma was that of a small town centered around a prison with over priced hotels and higher priced coffee in Starbucks compared to neighboring cities including Phoenix, AZ. The rugged dessert surrounding this town with oppressive heat most of the year made sense for building of a prison. I would imagine no one in their right mind would want to escape into the neighboring desert or to neighboring mexico. But then one could argue people in prison are hardly in right frame of mind. A visit to Yuma Crossing National Heritage area, and a e-visit to Yuma Chamber of Commerce helped shed some of my misconceptions. However, I am still at a loss to understand why the cost of coffee (2.15$ for small cup) in Starbucks here is higher than Tucson since the sales tax in Tucson is 8.6% as opposed to 8.41% in Yuma. For now I am just going to attribute it to entertainment tax for listening to loud sales people making their sales on phone in that starbucks. This time since I had plenty of time I decided to stop and explore Yuma and enjoy its weather at this time of the year. No wonder tourism is the third biggest industry here mainly relying on snowbirds followed by agriculture (which was a big surprise to me) and military.Yuma Crossings National Heritage Area
This was the spot for my daytime activity in Yuma, Buffalo Wild Wings being the spot for night time. This area as I later found out is actually divided into- Sunrise Point Park
- Pivot Point Interpretive Plaza
- Gateway Park
- Riverside Park
- East and West Wetlands
- Historic Territorial Prison
On the main side road leading into this area there is a big
traffic roundabout, which is huge, reminding me of the so called
"traffic circles" in India while growing up which survived for a long
time even in big cities like Bangalore. Depending on which exit you take
you would end up in one of the above areas or on I : 10 to Tucson.
Sunrise Point Park
Mission
Puerto De Purisima is a beautiful historical landmark building nestling
on top of a small hill overlooking the Ocean to Ocean bridge and the
historical territorial prison. On a sunny winter day it is a great place
to relax and watch the trains crossing the bridge. 3:10 to Yuma may or
may not be running but there is a train every 10 minutes or so it seems
crossing the Ocean to Ocean bridge carrying lots of cargo. I also saw
few homeless people cross the bridge and walk into the sunrise point
park, not sure if they got off these trains or it was just a
coincidence.
There is a small pond close to the entrance of this park where I saw few people fishing. I also saw an Eagle dive into the pond, apparently it was fishing as well not sure if it caught anything but it was fun to watch. This area is alive with bird activity but none of the cooperated to pose for my camera. There are few trails leading into the wetlands which I did not explore on this occasion. There are couple of historical remnants of Quechan tribe right next to the river.
I
ended up in this area only because I thought this was the main parking
lot for Gateway Park. Having reached decided to explore it especially
after seeing a 1907 Baldwin locomotive right next to parking lot. It is
mind boggling to imagine this locomotive logged few million miles, at
least two million if my memory serves right. There are panels on a
sidewalk giving excellent introduction to the history of Yuma, the
booming of this area because of California gold rush as this region
offered the narrowest crossing of the colorado river at that time. I did
not need a mirror to answer the question "mirror, mirror on the wall
who is the misconceived of them all". There is a stairway behind the
locomotive that leads to the Gateway Park.
Gateway Park has a great view of the Ocean to Ocean bridge part of former US 80, especially around sunset, commemorates the first highway crossing of the lower colarado river. The other side which is part of the Riverside park of this one can view love immortalized. The bravery of these love birds to write their names on top of this bridge should put Romeo to shame. One can also view wading birds fishing in the river. There is a paved bike path and a trail that meanders parallel to the river. The trail is lined with trees and provides a welcome shade in summer.
I followed the trail till I hit the historic landmark "Emily & Luis" drawn on the side wall of canal. One can only wonder, if the blackening of this original writing was the work of Veronica who always had a crush on Luis. There is always a third side to every love story. Somewhere along the trail there is a branch off that leads to the base of historic territorial prison and it has nothing to do with any of the lover birds. Unlike Sunrise point Park this area seems more popular with the locals as well as visitors probably because of the rich local history.
Like
the slogan of democracy this prison was built by the prisoners for the
prisoners to the prisoners. If they had any complaints about their cells
at least the first six first ones who built it and imprisoned
themselves they have no one but themselves to blame. In all honesty I
visited it and went through the introductory panels but did not enter
the fee area. The entry fee is 8$ which is not much. But it seemed bit
strange to pay to see the symbolism of human mistakes. When I read the
panel that described some of the prisoners who were Mormons men of
character, but got imprisoned for having more than one wife and ended
with the question "Did these men got imprisoned for their religious
beliefs or crime on society" it became intriguing. I compromised my
dilemma by promising myself a serious inquiry into "crime and
punishment" over a 8$ beer in Buffalo Wings and I kept the beer drinking
part of the bargain.
There is a small pond close to the entrance of this park where I saw few people fishing. I also saw an Eagle dive into the pond, apparently it was fishing as well not sure if it caught anything but it was fun to watch. This area is alive with bird activity but none of the cooperated to pose for my camera. There are few trails leading into the wetlands which I did not explore on this occasion. There are couple of historical remnants of Quechan tribe right next to the river.
Pivot Point Interpretive Plaza
Gateway Park/Riverside Park
Gateway Park has a great view of the Ocean to Ocean bridge part of former US 80, especially around sunset, commemorates the first highway crossing of the lower colarado river. The other side which is part of the Riverside park of this one can view love immortalized. The bravery of these love birds to write their names on top of this bridge should put Romeo to shame. One can also view wading birds fishing in the river. There is a paved bike path and a trail that meanders parallel to the river. The trail is lined with trees and provides a welcome shade in summer.
I followed the trail till I hit the historic landmark "Emily & Luis" drawn on the side wall of canal. One can only wonder, if the blackening of this original writing was the work of Veronica who always had a crush on Luis. There is always a third side to every love story. Somewhere along the trail there is a branch off that leads to the base of historic territorial prison and it has nothing to do with any of the lover birds. Unlike Sunrise point Park this area seems more popular with the locals as well as visitors probably because of the rich local history.
Historical Territorial Prison
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