McPhaul Swinging Bridge

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.

I’m currently in my 21st year of full-time RVing and my lifestyle is changing, For more info click Here

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The motorhome is parked at the Paradise Casino in Yuma, Arizona. I expect to depart here January 10th.

 

McPhaul Swinging Bridge: Located 18 miles North on Highway 95, the McPhaul “Swinging Bridge to Nowhere” is a Yuma oddity. Originally the Dome Bridge, the McPhaul Bridge was constructed by Yuma County and the State of Arizona in 1929. Built to allow users of the Yuma-to-Quartzite road (now Highway 95) to cross the Gila River, this suspension bridge, with a span of 798 feet, currently spans only desert sand and rocks after river was diverted in 1968. Although damaged in 1990 by fire, this bridge outlasted its replacement which was destroyed by the flood of 1993. See five photos below I took in 2007…

 

 

 

 

 

 I hope you enjoyed the photos.

 Yesterday was mostly sunny and 62 degrees. Forecast for today is mostly sunny and 63 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 700 photo albums in my Picasa Web Albums File. To gain access, you simply have to click this link… https://get.google.com/albumarchive/110455945462646142273?source=pwa

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

McPhaul Swinging Bridge…

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 couple of months 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.  🙂

McPhaul Swinging Bridge: Located 18 miles North of Yuma, Arizona on Highway 95, the McPhaul “Swinging Bridge to Nowhere” is a Yuma oddity. Originally the Dome Bridge, the McPhaul Bridge was constructed by Yuma County and the State of Arizona in 1929. Built to allow users of the Yuma-to-Quartzite road (now Highway 95) to cross the Gila River, this suspension bridge, with a span of 798 feet, currently spans only desert sand and rocks after river was diverted in 1968. Although damaged in 1990 by fire, this bridge outlasted its replacement which was destroyed by the flood of 1993. See five photos below I took in 2007…

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…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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 sunny and 62 degrees. Forecast for today is cloudy with an afternoon shower 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 -2015

McPhaul Swinging Bridge – Arizona

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 mid-February.

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 February 2, 2011…

The McPhaul Swinging Bridge is Located 18 miles North on Highway 95, the McPhaul “Swinging Bridge to Nowhere” is a Yuma oddity. Originally the Dome Bridge, the McPhaul Bridge was constructed by Yuma County and the State of Arizona in 1929. Built to allow users of the Yuma-to-Quartzite road (now Highway 95) to cross the Gila River, this suspension bridge, with a span of 798 feet, currently spans only desert sand and rocks after the river was diverted in 1968. Although damaged in 1990 by fire, this bridge outlasted its replacement which was destroyed by the flood of 1993. See 5 photos below I took in 2007.

 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…

End of Blog reprint…

I HOPE YOU ENJOYED THE PHOTOS.

Yesterday was a cloudy/sunny day at 72 degrees.  Forecast for today is sunny and 75 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 2015

McPhaul Swinging Bridge

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

Mary is tending to business at home and is now expecting to rejoin me here in late January.

Since I’ve been coming to the Yuma area for a number of years during the Winter, I’ve explored the area pretty thoroughly. Rather than re-visit each place again, I’ve decided to show photos I’ve taken in the past. All these places are within about a one-hour drive from Yuma.

The McPhaul Swinging Bridge is Located 18 miles North on Highway 95, the McPhaul “Swinging Bridge to Nowhere” is a Yuma oddity. Originally the Dome Bridge, the McPhaul Bridge was constructed by Yuma County and the State of Arizona in 1929. Built to allow users of the Yuma-to-Quartzite road (now Highway 95) to cross the Gila River, this suspension bridge, with a span of 798 feet, currently spans only desert sand and rocks after the river was diverted in 1968. Although damaged in 1990 by fire, this bridge outlasted its replacement which was destroyed by the flood of 1993. See 5 photos below I took in 2007.

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…

Yesterday was a mostly sunny day at 72 degrees.  Forecast for today is sunny and 75 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

Painted Rocks Historic Park, Arizona.

Yesterday we drove to about 80 miles from Wellton, AZ to Painted Rocks Historic Park.

Along to way instead of being out on Interstate Highway 8, whenever possible I chose to drive on Old U.S. Highway 80…aka the Ocean To Ocean Highway. In this area of Arizona the old highway parallels the Gila River which in the old days was the major highway for pioneers moving westward to California. Modern man has changed that and it is now just a dribble. You can read about the Gila River by clicking this Wikipedia link…

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gila_River

You can read all about the Painted Rocks Petroglyphs by click this BLM link…

http://www.blm.gov/az/st/en/prog/recreation/camping/dev_camps/painted_rock.html

and this Wikipedia link…

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Painted_Rocks_%28Arizona%29

Here’s what the petroglyph site looks like on Google Earth…

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…

From a higher elevation you can see Interstate Highway 8 about 12 miles to the south. You can also see the Gila Riverbed flowing towards the lower left…

This is my second time here. I was first here in January 1996. It’s a lot different from I remember as very remote and quiet…like it was the end of the World. We were the only people here. Not so now. There are about 12 RV’s in the campground and trucks roaring by on a nearby road. Heck, there’s even a four-bar Internet and cell phone signal.

But then, I have trouble remembering what happened yesterday! 🙂

Now that you know all about the petroglyphs, here are some of the photos I took while there…

These are the two petroglyph hills as seen from our campsite, they are maybe 50 feet high. The hill on the right has the most petroglyphs as it was closer to the Mormon Battalion Trail where all the pioneers such as Kit Carson passed…

Shortly after our arrival we met a local expert. Jerry Ahnert has been studying the trail for 42 years. He gave us about a 1/2 hour seminar about the history of the trail which also served the Butterfield Overland Mail Company.

In the above photo, he told us the white skull marked the actual trail…even though there were no signs identifying it. We presume it’s to keep it from being stolen.

Turning 180 degrees and looking west…this is what the trail looks like today…

He has written a book entitled “The Butterfield Trail And Overland Mail Company of Arizona, 1858-1861. It presents a very detailed of the history of the 400 mile portion of the trail in Arizona. Mary bought his book for $29.95. To order you can contact him at nobottomgulch@yahoo.com.

Here are some other photos that I took…

And finally…a panorama sunset shot. The two petroglyph hills are to the right of the motorhome and above the Bronco…

And finally finally…a cloudless desert sunset with a jet plane exhaust trail, a quarter moon and the planet Venus in the background…

To see the remaining photos that I took…click this link…
https://picasaweb.google.com/110455945462646142273/PaintedRockHistoricParkArizona

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

McPhaul Swinging Bridge

McPhaul Swinging Bridge: Located 18 miles North on Highway 95, the McPhaul “Swinging Bridge to Nowhere” is a Yuma oddity. Originally the Dome Bridge, the McPhaul Bridge was constructed by Yuma County and the State of Arizona in 1929. Built to allow users of the Yuma-to-Quartzite road (now Highway 95) to cross the Gila River, this suspension bridge, with a span of 798 feet, currently spans only desert sand and rocks after river was diverted in 1968. Although damaged in 1990 by fire, this bridge outlasted its replacement which was destroyed by the flood of 1993. See 5 photos below I took in 2007.

All original material Copyright – Jim Jaillet 2009
For more information about my three books, click this link:
http://www.panamaorbust.com