Yuma has this delightful place call the Pivot Point where the railroad from the East hit the Colorado river 150 years ago, and the engines were forced to turn around. All roads across the southern continent used to converge on this point. The mighty Colorado narrowed at Yuma. Ferries had been in place since pre colonial times, and it was an important stop for boats going up the river. Then the bridges came -- the railroad in 1877, the road thirty years later. Then the dams, starting with Laguna in 1905, and pretty soon the Colorado River was not longer an obstacle. Nowadays, the river is no longer even a feature -- obscured completely by freeway and railroad bridges that push you into the lower part of the town and the desert before you realize what is happening. I went looking for the river and found a small water course, maybe 50 yards across, which I knew was not a canal because it meandered back and forth between clumps of cottonwood trees.
Yuma is half way from San Diego to Tucson
. There I took formal possession of my cycle, had lunch, and trundled on into the desert. This town is credited with receiving more sun than any other place in the planet (take that Sahara Desert !) and they are making good use of it.
The desert is not a desert. Thanks to the Colorado and other rivers, huge fields of green and brown produce vegetables, cereals, fruit, cotton and a high quality durum wheat beloved by pasta makers. Cattle fattening farms make use of the hay and other byproducts. And East towards Gila Bend one crosses a huge aluminium farm with rows of shiny concave reflecting surfaces 12 feet tall stretching North as far as the eye can see. Turns out to be the Solana solar generating plant. Still under construction, it will use solar power to heat water and drive turbines to produce electricity. It is all based on the reflector oven principle we all learned to be wary of when trying to cook bread on a camping trip. I still can't believe it will produce 230 megawatts of power.
Gila Bend is also the site of the well known Space Age Motel which I had to get a picture of. Surprisingly homely and charming, it made me feel like an alien for the second time during the day. The first time was at a Border Guard check point on the Interstate, looking for non-citizens (aliens in Immigration Service speak). Officers were courteous when they found out I was from Uruguay -- but the incident made it clear I was in no country for old men.
Traveling to Tucson
Wednesday, January 09, 2013
Tucson, Arizona, United States
Other Entries
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1Into Hiding
Jan 081 day priorEscondido, United Statesphoto_camera7videocam 0comment 1 -
2Traveling to Tucson
Jan 09Tucson, United Statesphoto_camera16videocam 0comment 0 -
3Across Arizona to Lordsburg
Jan 101 day laterLordsburg, United Statesphoto_camera22videocam 0comment 4 -
4Around to Van Horn
Jan 112 days laterVan Horn, United Statesphoto_camera12videocam 0comment 3 -
5Driving Round the Big Bend
Jan 123 days laterBig Bend National Park, United Statesphoto_camera11videocam 0comment 9 -
6A Night in Gage
Jan 134 days laterMarathon, United Statesphoto_camera17videocam 0comment 7 -
7All the Way to San Antone
Jan 145 days laterSan Antonio, United Statesphoto_camera6videocam 0comment 4 -
8Winter (and I) come to Port Arthur
Jan 156 days laterPort Arthur, United Statesphoto_camera1videocam 0comment 4 -
9A Night in New Orleans
Jan 178 days laterNew Orleans, United Statesphoto_camera17videocam 0comment 3 -
10Along the Gulf to Panama City Beach
Jan 178 days laterPanama City Beach, United Statesphoto_camera15videocam 0comment 2 -
11Along the Panhandle to Jacksonville
Jan 189 days laterJacksonville, United Statesphoto_camera12videocam 0comment 5 -
12Up the Coast to Myrtle Beach
Jan 1910 days laterMyrtle Beach, United Statesphoto_camera13videocam 0comment 6 -
13To Williamsburg and Family
Jan 2011 days laterWilliamsburg, United Statesphoto_camera12videocam 0comment 3 -
14Home Again
Jan 2112 days laterArlington, United Statesphoto_camera1videocam 0comment 2
2025-02-10