Yuma Stuff

As well as being the winter vegetable capital of the world this is also date country.  We went to visit Martha's Gardens, one of several date farms in the Yuma area.

Martha's Gardens

Date Palms

 Next we went to the Visitor Information Center in Yuma.  It is located at the Yuma Quartermaster Depot State Historic Park.  Beginning in 1864 this depot began supplying all the military posts in the Southwest, off-loading from river boats.  But when the railroad arrived in 1883 it brought an end to the Depot's supply role.  The buildings have been restored and turned into a museum.

Also, on the grounds was a fun little holiday village under construction.  It did seem a bit out of place, but it would make a fun spot for local holiday festivals.

Restored Passenger Train Car

Quartermaster Depot Buildings

 Right next to the Depot is the Yuma Siphon.  I never heard of this before and I thought it was so interesting.  It's a massive tunnel under the Colorado River that delivers irrigation canal water to the Yuma Valley.  Because the shaft on the California side is higher than the exit in Arizona, the water actually moves by natural siphon action.  That they built such a thing in 1912 is pretty amazing.  It's a 14-foot diameter concrete tube through the sandstone 50 feet under the Colorado River and stretches 965 feet between its 85-foot deep California shaft and its 83-foot deep Arizona exit.  

Arizona Side of the Yuma Siphon
Where The Water Comes Out

  Then we went over to the Pivot Point Interpretive Plaza.   Named so because of the swing span bridge that accommodated both rail and steamboat traffic.  This is the exact spot where the first railroad to enter Arizona arrived. The bridge is gone, but the pivot point remains, and they built a nice plaza around it.

Pivot Point Interpretive Plaza

 After all that exploring we went back to the RV and moved it to an RV Park in Yuma so we could spend a day with shore power, dump station, and water supply.

Desert Paradise RV Resort