3.10 to Yuma

One night as we sat and talked around the table the subject came up on where we were off to next, I said Phoenix, Andy said "what's there" of course my usual reply of "no idea" it's just a place on the map. A beer or two later Andy asked if we wanted to follow them back to Yuma, I looked at Rose she looked at me and we said why not. Andy and Jackie had spent 4 months in Yuma so they were very familiar with it and the clincher was a market for RVers. All i knew of Yuma was there was a movie called "3.10 from Yuma" and that was it.

Yuma is not far from the border with Mexico and in the winter approximately 90,000 snow birders from North America and Canada call it home. Now think of this, if there are two people for every RV, Motorhome or fifth wheel then that's 40,000 RV's!! We have read that 1.7 million people head south for the winter every year, that's a lot of RV's!

Rose was given the task of finding a park for us sounds easy but there were so many and getting the right priced one was difficult. We settled on a park that had 500 sites! And there were lots this size. We had a pool, hot tub and water aerobics plus many other activities this was serious snow birding! We arrived at our park and did the usual setting up including having Andy's motorhome facing us.

Our Yuma Desert Oasis



One of the things about Yuma is that it caters for the snow birders that is the many services it has to offer. You can get anything you need for your RV or fifth wheel. I was interested in a couple of things and of course Andy was keen to see me part with my money, it a bloke thing, gadgets. Our first item was some slide out toppers so we arranged for some quotes, then I wanted the trailer washed and waxed. After a late night of playing skip Bo I awoke to Andy saying he saw a motorhome being washed not far from us and he had teed up they blokes to do our trailer, that was washed and hand waxed for $90 now that was cheap and they bring there own water. These two Mexican guys worked flat out for two and a half hours I gave them a hundred they deserved it.

Now you may ask why do they bring their own water, well the water in places like Yuma is high in calcium and lime so if you wash you RV with it you end up with white crap all over it when it dries. It's most noticeable in the shower as it builds up on the screen or if you splash water on the kitchen bench. You can drink it but they say it is "medicinal" and will clean you out quick smart so just about on every block is a water station, take your 5 gallon container fill it up for a $1 that's your drinking water. Most houses here have some kind of filtration system.

We were really getting into "doing" nothing except putting shorts, T shirt and thongs (flip flops) and of course the odd game of skip Bo

Just love this card game



The Yuma markets we were keen to see, they only exist in winter to cater for the snow birders so we ventured to them on several occasions. The quote for the toppers was to expensive so we let it go but we did but a sun shade that attaches to our awning plus some other little goodies.

Another attraction for Yuma is its close proximity to the Mexican border and we were keen for another visit but this time with someone more seasoned than us so the four of us drove to the border parked the car and walked across. Now this was a border crossing and with so many people in Yuma it was busy. There were hundreds of cars parked on the US side and a constant stream of people walking across.

First thing I needed was a hair cut, to easy Andy new a place $5.50 very cheap, I gave here $10 and she was very appreciative.
Best haircut in Mexico



One of the main attractions for snow birders both from the USA and Canada is the cheaper medical stuff. I reckon we walked past at least 50 dentists and they are all touting for work, then there is the optometrist they do the same and finally prescription medicine. We felt like we were in Bali again.
I have never seen so many "dentists" in one area.
Felt like Bali without humidity and the smell


Of course no trip across the border would be complete without a lunch and another margarita so we stopped at a place familiar to Andy and Jackie for some lunch. As always great value Coronas were only $2 a stubbie and there could be nothing more authentic than a Corona in Mexico. Lunch done we headed back to the border to cross back not the USA, another bar stop for a refreshment then onto the long line to cross back over. Getting into Mexico is takes as long as it takes to walk through a gate getting back can take hours so we lined up with all the others for the wait to get back across. Our time was relatively short just 90 mins but it can take much longer. Of course the street sellers don't miss the chance for one last sale to such a captive audience so the words "no thank you" resonate down the line
The line to cross back over



We arrived home just in time for "happy hour" and to watch other RVers come in to the park. As we watched I was amazed to see this "rig" pull in. Commonly called a double tow and this a very common site here, I mean how else are you going to get your toys to your camp site.
Note the quad bike in the truck bed



We had a great time in Yuma and it was great to just sit back and do nothing. You would think with all this time on my hands my blogs would be up to date? Our time in Yuma has been fun and always a leaning experience Andy showed me how to replace the anode in the hot water system, this is a rod that attracts all the minerals from the water, ours was pretty bad and was quite corroded even after such a short time. It just shows how much minerals are in the tap water.

Our week is up and it's time to move on to the next destination.



Posted by RnR on their IPad

Location:Yuma Arizona