Sunset on Fort Yuma Hill…

Mary is no longer available for RV traveling, but we remain good friends.
Because we have 4,000+ postings, I’ve invited her to continue posting entries on this blog.

---

The motorhome is parked at Shady Acres Mobile Home and RV Park in Yuma, Arizona. I expect to be here a while hiding out from the cold, wet weather. Average temperatures in January are high 69.6, low 47.6. In February, high 73.8, low 50.1. As nice as Yuma is, I wouldn’t want to be here in August.  🙂

Less than two miles away is a very famous place of history in the southwestern United States…Yuma Crossing. If you are not familiar with this history, you can read all about it by clicking this link… http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yuma_Crossing

Directly across the Colorado River from Yuma is the St. Thomas Indian Mission located on Fort Yuma Hill. Here are some of the photos that I took of a sunset in December, 2013…

 

As always you may left click upon an image to see an enlarged view and then click once again to see an even larger view…

 

 

The sunset silhouette caught my attention…

 

 

The sun lighting the windows was neat…

 

 

A closer view…

 

 

The dramatic side-lighting at sunset makes for neat photos…

 

 

A close view of the stained glass window illuminated by the setting sun behind it…

 

 

Beautiful rich colors abound a few seconds before the sun drops below the horizon…

 

 

The two bridges crossing the Colorado River into Yuma, Arizona…

 

 

These beautiful colors last only a few minutes…

 

 

The Colorado River looking north…

 

 

Dramatic side-lighting makes for interesting photos…

 

 

In this view you get to see the entrance to the Yuma Territorial Prison…

 

 

A 180 degree view looking towards Yuma with the old deserted railroad station in the foreground…

 

 

Once the sun drops below the horizon, the beautiful rich colors suddenly disappear…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A reflection in a stained glass window after the sun had dropped below the horizon…

 

 

A final look back…

 

 

 

 

You can read the history of the mission by clicking this Wikipedia link… http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Thomas_Yuma_Indian_Mission

Recently I’ve been running blogs about my 2004 Central America trip. While here I’m intending to continue those postings while also alternating with Yuma area blogs.

I hope you enjoyed the photos.

 Yesterday was mostly sunny and 65 degrees. Forecast for today is mostly sunny and 68 degrees.

Enjoying nice weather is another joy in the life of a full-time RVer!

The red dot on the below map shows my approximate location in the State of Arizona. You may double left-click the map to make it larger…

Enjoying 65-75 degree temperatures with low humidity most of the year is a primary joy in the RVing lifestyle!

“Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance you must keep moving”…Albert Einstein

My current travel rig is a 2006 Fleetwood 26′ Class A Motorhome and a towed 1986 Ford Bronco II, Eddie Bauer Model. This photo was taken in the desert at Slab City near Niland, California…

On October 27, 2012, I created a two-minute video titled America The Beautiful. The music America The Beautiful is by Christopher W. French. The photos, which I randomly selected, are from the states of Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Montana, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, Tennessee, Washington and West Virginia (not shown in that order)…are mine. Yup, That’s me standing in front of the Post Office in Luckenbach, Texas…Y’all!

Click this link to start the video. Make sure you have your speakers turned on and go to full screen asap.
http://youtu.be/FfZUzEB4rM8

If you would like to see my YouTube videos, click this link… http://www.youtube.com/user/JimJ1579/videos

There are more than 600 photo albums in my Picasa Web Albums File. To gain access, you simply have to click this link… https://picasaweb.google.com/jimjrver

If you have not checked out my Ramblin Man’s Photos Blog, you can do so by clicking this link…http://ramblinmanphotos.wordpress.com/

For more information about my books, click this link:
http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/panamaorbust

All original works copyrighted – Jim Jaillet -2016

Over And Around Indian Hill…

Mary is no longer available for RV traveling, but we remain good friends.
Because we have 4,000+ postings, I’ve invited her to continue posting entries on this blog.

---

The motorhome is parked at Shady Acres Mobile Home and RV Park in Yuma, Arizona. I expect to be here a while hiding out from the cold, wet weather. Average temperatures in January are high 69.6, low 47.6. In February, high 73.8, low 50.1. As nice as Yuma is, I wouldn’t want to be here in August.  🙂

Less than two miles from my current parking spot, just across the Colorado River is Winterhaven, California where there is a very famous small rise of land known as Indian Hill. Atop of this hill sits the St. Thomas Indian Mission. This is a very famous hill for on the other side of the mission is the site of Old Fort Yuma which guarded the Yuma River Crossing many years ago. Back in those days this location was the only place to cross the then mighty Colorado River for 1,200 miles.

Back in 2012, I and my friends Randy and Anne took a two-hour walk…this time over and around to the other side of Indian Hill…

As always you may left click upon an image to see an enlarged view and then click once again to see an even larger view…

 

 

In the first photo…to the left is the Old Yuma Territorial Prison…then the railroad bridge and finally…the one-lane (even today) vehicle bridge that completed the Coast To Coast Highway in 1914…

 

 

Next left to right…Old Fort Yuma Barracks…the old railroad station and St. Thomas Indian Mission…

 

 

The old railroad station waiting area apparently did not have any exterior walls for most of the building…

 

 

My walking companions Anne and Randy pose near a salt cedar tree…

 

 

A side view of the St. Thomas Indian Mission and the old railroad station…

 

 

A big old palm tree…

 

 

Interstate Highway 8 crosses the Colorado River heading north…

 

 

The Colorado River looking south…

 

 

A very old dried-up tree trunk…

 

 

A very old brick made in Mexico…

 

 

Another side view of St. Thomas Indian Mission and railroad cars…

 

 

Looking north at first the Coast To Coast Bridge in the foreground and the railroad bridge in the background…

 

 

Looking south at Interstate Highway 8…

 

 

A front view of the St. Thomas Indian Mission…

 

 

And a closer view…

 

 

The Colorado River heading north…

 

 

Finally about 15 minutes after sunset…

 

 

Recently I’ve been running blogs about my 2004 Central America trip. While here I’m intending to continue those postings while also alternating with Yuma area blogs.

I hope you enjoyed the photos.

 Yesterday was cloudy with showers and 59 degrees. Forecast for today is partly sunny and 62 degrees.

Enjoying nice weather is another joy in the life of a full-time RVer!

The red dot on the below map shows my approximate location in the State of Arizona. You may double left-click the map to make it larger…

Enjoying 65-75 degree temperatures with low humidity most of the year is a primary joy in the RVing lifestyle!

“Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance you must keep moving”…Albert Einstein

My current travel rig is a 2006 Fleetwood 26′ Class A Motorhome and a towed 1986 Ford Bronco II, Eddie Bauer Model. This photo was taken in the desert at Slab City near Niland, California…

On October 27, 2012, I created a two-minute video titled America The Beautiful. The music America The Beautiful is by Christopher W. French. The photos, which I randomly selected, are from the states of Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Montana, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, Tennessee, Washington and West Virginia (not shown in that order)…are mine. Yup, That’s me standing in front of the Post Office in Luckenbach, Texas…Y’all!

Click this link to start the video. Make sure you have your speakers turned on and go to full screen asap.
http://youtu.be/FfZUzEB4rM8

If you would like to see my YouTube videos, click this link… http://www.youtube.com/user/JimJ1579/videos

There are more than 600 photo albums in my Picasa Web Albums File. To gain access, you simply have to click this link… https://picasaweb.google.com/jimjrver

If you have not checked out my Ramblin Man’s Photos Blog, you can do so by clicking this link…http://ramblinmanphotos.wordpress.com/

For more information about my books, click this link:
http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/panamaorbust

All original works copyrighted – Jim Jaillet -2016

Two Unusual Happenings…

The motorhome is now parked at the Paradise Casino in Winterhaven, California. Less than 1/2 mile away is the Colorado River and on the other side…the sunniest place on Earth…Yuma, Arizona. I’m here hanging out and enjoying the nice weather. I have several friends in the area. Mary is now expecting to rejoin me here in later January.

I’ve been coming to this Yuma, Arizona area coming on to 20 years and have thoroughly explored the area. Rather than go back to these various places and re-create the wheel, (unless I do something different and unusual) I’m electing to republish some of my earlier blog entries while I await Mary’s arrival.

Here’s a reprint of the blog entry from December 28 2013…

Two Unusual Happenings Yesterday…

Normally I do not like to close the curtains of my motorhome at night…kind of makes it feel like the inside of a coffin. But while here because of the cold nights and having to light the catalytic heater about 3:00 AM, I’ve been closing the curtains to help retain the heat inside the motorhome.

Yesterday morning when I opened the front curtains at 7:30 AM, this is what I saw…

As always you may left click upon an image to see an enlarged view and then click once again to see an even larger view…

A hot air balloon in the process of being inflated here in the casino parking lot. I’ve not seen this activity in the numerous times I have parked here. That’s my friend Randy’s travel trailer on the right…

A few moments later it was upright…

A closer view of the adding of the hot air from the gas burners…

Just about ready…

And away they go…

A closer view of the cockpit and passenger basket…

This time of the year the wind is out of the North, so they are heading South. I hope they know what they are doing as Mexico is only about 20 miles south of here….

I hope they have their passports with them!  🙂

Watching all of that activity reminded me of the time Mary and I got an unexpected hot air balloon ride in Gallup, New Mexico last year. You can read about that event by clicking this Blog link… http://wp.me/pDCku-4xW

The other unusual happening occurred later in the morning while Randy, his friend Anne and myself were taking our morning walk over and around the old Fort Yuma Crossing hill. Randy claimed the old railroad inspection station located at the base of the hill was located in Arizona and I said no way! Now, Randy is a well read guy and quickly laid down the challenge of a $5 bet. When we got back to our rigs I did some research on the Internet and much to both our surprises the legal boundary between Arizona and California was not quite where we thought it was. Nonetheless, can you tell who won the bet? I’m the guy on the right holding the newly won $5 in my hand…

The win was especially sweet as Randy is known as one to be tight-fisted about a dollar! How sweet it is!

You can read about the history of the Yuma Crossing by clicking this link… http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yuma_Crossing

End of blog reprint…

Yesterday was a sunny day at 60 degrees.  Forecast for today is sunny and 60 degrees.

The red dot on the below map shows our approximate location in the State of California. You may double left-click the map to make it larger…

Enjoying 65-75 degree temperatures with low humidity most of the year is a primary joy in the RVing lifestyle!

“Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance you must keep moving”…Albert Einstein

On October 27, 2012, I created a two-minute video titled America The Beautiful. The music America The Beautiful is by Christopher W. French. The photos, which I randomly selected, are from the states of Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Montana, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, Tennessee, Washington and West Virginia (not shown in that order)…are mine. Yup, That’s me standing in front of the Post Office in Luckenbach, Texas…Y’all!

Click this link to start the video. Make sure you have your speakers turned on and go to full screen asap.
http://youtu.be/FfZUzEB4rM8

If you would like to see my YouTube videos, click this link… http://www.youtube.com/user/JimJ1579/videos

There are more than 500 photo albums in my Picasa Web Albums File. To gain access, you simply have to click this link… https://picasaweb.google.com/110455945462646142273?authkey=Gv1sRgCKrvzqm8-IKGdA

If you have not checked out my Ramblin Man’s Photos Blog, you can do so by clicking this link…http://ramblinmanphotos.wordpress.com/

For more information about my books, click this link:
http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/panamaorbust

All original material Copyright – Jim Jaillet 2014

Two Unusual Happenings Yesterday…

The motorhome is now parked at the Paradise Casino in Winterhaven, California. I’m here with my friend Randy Vining and others…hanging out and enjoying the nice weather.

Mary is spending the holidays with her family and is now expecting to rejoin me here in late January.

Normally I do not like to close the curtains of my motorhome at night…kind of makes it feel like the inside of a coffin. But while here because of the cold nights and having to light the catalytic heater about 3:00 AM, I’ve been closing the curtains to help retain the heat inside the motorhome.

Yesterday morning when I opened the front curtains at 7:30 AM, this is what I saw…

As always you may left click upon an image to see an enlarged view and then click once again to see an even larger view…

A hot air balloon in the process of being inflated here in the casino parking lot. I’ve not seen this activity in the numerous times I have parked here. That’s my friend Randy’s travel trailer on the right…

A few moments later it was upright…

A closer view of the adding of the hot air from the gas burners…

Just about ready…

And away they go…

A closer view of the cockpit and passenger basket…

This time of the year the wind is out of the North, so they are heading South. I hope they know what they are doing as Mexico is only about 20 miles south of here….

I hope they have their passports with them!  🙂

Watching all of that activity reminded me of the time Mary and I got an unexpected hot air balloon ride in Gallup, New Mexico last year. You can read about that event by clicking this Blog link… http://wp.me/pDCku-4xW

The other unusual happening occurred later in the morning while Randy, his friend Anne and myself were taking our morning walk over and around the old Fort Yuma Crossing hill. Randy claimed the old railroad inspection station located at the base of the hill was located in Arizona and I said no way! Now, Randy is a well read guy and quickly laid down the challenge of a $5 bet. When we got back to our rigs I did some research on the Internet and much to both our surprises the legal boundary between Arizona and California was not quite where we thought it was. Nonetheless, can you tell who won the bet? I’m the guy on the right holding the newly won $5 in my hand…

The win was especially sweet as Randy is known as one to be tight-fisted about a dollar! How sweet it is!

You can read about the history of the Yuma Crossing by clicking this link… http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yuma_Crossing

Yesterday was a mostly sunny day at 72 degrees.  Forecast for today is sunny and 71 degrees.

The red dot on the below map shows our approximate location in the State of California. You may double left-click the map to make it larger…

Enjoying 65-75 degree temperatures with low humidity most of the year is a primary joy in the RVing lifestyle!

“Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance you must keep moving”…Albert Einstein

On October 27, 2012, I created a two-minute video titled America The Beautiful. The music America The Beautiful is by Christopher W. French. The photos, which I randomly selected, are from the states of Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Montana, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, Tennessee, Washington and West Virginia (not shown in that order)…are mine. Yup, That’s me standing in front of the Post Office in Luckenbach, Texas…Y’all!

Click this link to start the video. Make sure you have your speakers turned on and go to full screen asap.
http://youtu.be/FfZUzEB4rM8

If you would like to see my YouTube videos, click this link… http://www.youtube.com/user/JimJ1579/videos

There are more than 500 photo albums in my Picasa Web Albums File. To gain access, you simply have to click this link… https://picasaweb.google.com/110455945462646142273?authkey=Gv1sRgCKrvzqm8-IKGdA

If you have not checked out my Ramblin Man’s Photos Blog, you can do so by clicking this link…http://ramblinmanphotos.wordpress.com/

For more information about my books, click this link:
http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/panamaorbust

All original material Copyright – Jim Jaillet 2013

Over And Around Indian Hill…

In yesterday’s blog entry I showed some photos of Indian Hill which overlooks the Colorado River across from Yuma, Arizona. In case you missed that entry, here’s the link… http://wp.me/pDCku-3fg

Yesterday after my Blog entry we took another two-hour walk…this time over and around to the other side of Indian Hill. As always you can click on the photo to enlarge it and then click on it once again to make it even larger.

In the first photo…to the left is the Old Yuma Territorial Prison…then the railroad bridge and finally…the one-lane (even today) vehicle bridge that completed the Coast To Coast Highway in 1914…

Next left to right…Old Fort Yuma Barracks…the old railroad station and St. Thomas Indian Mission…

The old railroad station waiting area apparently did not have any exterior walls for most of the building…

My walking companions Anne and Randy pose near a salt cedar tree…

A side view of the St. Thomas Indian Mission and the old railroad station…

A big old palm tree…

Interstate Highway 8 crosses the Colorado River heading north…

The Colorado River looking south…

A very old dried-up tree trunk…

A very old brick made in Mexico…

Another side view of St. Thomas Indian Mission and railroad cars…

Looking north at first the Coast To Coast Bridge in the foreground and the railroad bridge in the background…

Looking south at Interstate Highway 8…

A front view of the St. Thomas Indian Mission…

And a closer view…

The Colorado River heading north…

Finally about 15 minutes after sunset…

Once again, I hope you enjoyed the photos!

All original material Copyright – Jim Jaillet 2012
For more information about my three books, click this link:
http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/panamaorbust

A Walk To Indian Hill…

A short distance from my current parking spot at the Paradise Casino in Winterhaven, California is a very famous small rise of land known as Indian Hill. Atop of this hill sits the St. Thomas Indian Mission.This is a very famous hill for on the other side of the mission and not seen in these below photos is the site of Old Fort Yuma which guarded the Yuma River Crossing many years ago. Back in those days this location was the only place to cross the then mighty Colorado River for hundreds of miles. as always you can click a photo to see an enlarged view…click it again for an even larger view.

Here’s the view from my dining room window…

Even though We’ve both been there a number of times, two days ago my friend Randy and I went for a walk to the top of the hill. I brought my camera along to show you the views. Along the way I took this shot overlooking a small park. In the distance to the left you can see the visitors center for the remains of the Old Yuma Territorial Prison which is located on the banks of the Colorado River. To the right of the prison you can see the old railroad bridge first built in 1877. The river has taken away the bridge a number of times. the current bridge was built in 1923…

If you are interested in the history of the railroad bridge, you can click this link… http://www.yumasun.com/articles/bridge-74638-railroad-river.html

Once atop the hill…looking back to the left you can see the Paradise Casino and parking lot…

In the next zoom photo you can see the motorhome and Bronco. It’s the rig furthest in the back on the right…

Next a 180 degree panorama shot with the Colorado River on the left…

Finally a shot looking over the Colorado River at the City of Yuma, Arizona…the sunniest spot in the United States…

Yesterday we took another walk through the marshes and along the river. Here are four more photos. First two lower views of Indian Hill and the mission…

Then looking across the Colorado into Arizona and the old Yuma Territorial Prison…

And finally the Colorado River under the railroad bridge…

I hope you enjoyed the views!

All original material Copyright – Jim Jaillet 2012
For more information about my three books, click this link:
http://www.panamaorbust