Retirement homes and Skydivers

We left Yuma Saturday March 30^th and set our sights on Tucson. While en route we decided to alter our plans and stop in Casa Grande. We found one of our half price RV parks and paid for a couple nights. Sunday morning we drove into town to explore a bit. We enjoy looking at retirement communities so we stopped at Mission Royale Golf Course and Community by Meritage Homes.  These communities all have their model homes available for showing and they are all professionally decorated and landscaped. You can really see the attraction they have for folks that are looking for either a winter residence or year around home. While there we spoke to a couple who had just purchased a home. They asked if we had looked at Robson Ranch community as a comparison to Mission Royale. So we set the GPS and off we went to visit Robson Ranch. This was another fantastic golf community with outstanding amenities. What has come out of all this visiting we do is that if we ever win the lottery we know that one of our homes will be down here.  

After we got our heads out of the clouds and our feet back on the ground we continued looking around again. We knew of a very nice RV Resort in Casa Grande but never thought too much about it because of the price for a night’s stay. We decided to go over and take a look around and see why this place is so expensive. First off it has a beautiful golf course which adds to your bill and first class amenities as well. The place was beautiful with its palm trees, green grass and flowers everywhere. Again they had an area where they also had park models on display so we had to look. While talking with one of the sales associates we found out we could get a deal to stay here. First time visitors get a 2 for 1 deal so we paid for a week and we are now here for the next two weeks.   

Main Gate

Flowers along all the walk ways

Very nice golf course

Lush gardens

Looking at the sales building on left and activities building on the right

Main pool area

Main patio

Today we drove to Eloy Arizona to watch an attempt for a world’s record. A skydiving group is out to set a worlds record for the largest free fall in the US.  222 divers from 28 countries will attempt to set the record by making two formations in a group jump before deploying their parachutes. Their first attempt was tried yesterday (Tuesday) and will continue until this Friday. They jump from 10 ten planes flying in a V formation at 19,500 feet. If successful they will shatter the previous record which was set in Florida with 111 divers. It was something to see when they all appeared overhead trying to land safely, which it appeared they did.

Skydivers packing their chutes

Indoor skydiving chambers

Landing area and first plane taking off

Ten planes before jump formation

The sky was full of jumpers

More jumpers

Still more

First jumpers down

They just kept coming down

Hard to believe there were no accidents

Last man down

A Sea and a Pile of Trash

 We thought we would explore the area again today. We ended up in Niland California at the Sonny Bono Salton Sea National Wildlife Refuge.  Originally named Salton Sea National Wildlife Refuge in 1930 it was renamed to honor the areas late congressional representative in 1998. The area was originally 37,600 acres but much of that has been inundated as the Sea has enlarged, only about 2,000 manageable acres remain. 

The Salon Sea 

Very large California Fan Palm

From the wildlife preserve we continued north through Niland to check out a RV Resort, Fountain of Youth Spa and RV Resort, that had been highly recommended. The story on this Resort is that hot springs had been discovered after WWII by construction workers who recognized the therapeutic and healing effects of the artesian mineral water and spread the word. By the late 50’s people from all over the country were coming to camp by the pools.

After a quick tour of the park we headed back toward the town of Niland. Just east of town on government land on the site of an old military installation is the infamous “Slab City”. Slab City is both the strangest and most disgusting place we have ever seen. The first place you come to is Salvation Mountain. This is a work in progress and just keeps growing. Other than the large main painted hill the new addition is man made out of hay and mud plastered on logs, sticks, garbage, ladders and who knows what else. I’ll just post the pictures and let them tell the story. The rest of slab city is nothing but a garbage pile in the desert. It is beyond description and it might be best to Google it to learn more.

Salvation Mountain

A couple of the vehicles parked at the foot of Salvation Mountain

Salvation Mountain 

Entering the addition

One of many side rooms 

Continuing through the maze 

Another room

and another 

and another 

Shows some of the garbage that goes into the structure

 What would the place be without a shoe tree

Once we got back to Yuma we stopped for dinner at the Quechan Casino and enjoyed the Prime Rib special.

Yuma Territorial Prison

One of the items we purchased in Quartzsite at a RV accessory supplier was this sun shade that attaches to the awning. This actually works better than I thought it would because it is very hard to see through from the outside thus giving us a nice almost private screen room, I say almost because there are no sides. Anyway it keeps the area under the awning completely shaded.

Our new sun privacy shade

You can see out but not in

Looking east from our spot

We toured the Yuma Territorial Prison today. The prison was in operation from 1876 until 1909.  A total of 3,069 prisoners lived there including 29 women during this time.

Prison enterance

Front gate

Guard Tower on top of the prisons original water supply

A look into the cell area

Up to six prisons shared a cell with nothing but a bible and a pot for a toilet 

Entry to the dark cell (for incorrigible prisoners) 

Entering the dark cell 

 Dark cell

Looking out from the dark cell

looking at some cells from the yard

Here are just a few of the female prisoners that lived here.

Looking from the guard tower

View from the guard tower overlooking the Colorado river

 Just down the road is St. Thomas Mission

St Thomas Mission 

View from the mission parking lot