Desert Hot Springs

 

One of the area favorites is 

The Cafe at Shields Date Garden

We had a nice lunch with pleasant music.

Following lunch we get to see the whole gospel story in statues.

THE WALK

They have created a lovely garden walk that features 14 scenes and 23 sculptures that feature Christ's life.

Jesus selects his disciples

(He calls them out of the world:

note the location of the gas station and shopping center😀)

Jesus loves the children

Jesus is baptized

Healing of the paralytic

Triumphal Entry 

One week later they crucified him.

His death and resurrection gives us our Blessed Hope.

Just follow Him!

So far we have seen so few flowers, but they are just starting to bloom.

Coachella Valley Historical Museum

The Mexican pottery was certainly the most colorful part of the museum.

A Mexican Tree of Life is a hand coiled pottery sculpture depicting the biblical 

Tree of Life

This one looks like a 

Family Circus

Gotta be the ugliest I've seen

and pretty creepy.

A DESERT SUBMARINE

Built in the 1920's as a sleeping room.

The cooling process was having water trickle down over burlap covered metal walls. With evaporation the interior was cooled.

This process led to the evaporative cooler still popular today.

In the late 1950's there were still a hundred or more of these at the 

Southern Pacific Railroad yards as sleeping rooms for railroad crews.

Thats all for now.

See you all soon!

Love your comments ( please add your name - otherwise you are 'anonymous')

Life in the Desert--can be interesting, fun, sometimes 'quirky'.

 

Lou is getting a little frustrated with living in the trailer!

We decided to splurge a bit for a dinner theater show

The pre-dinner entertainment gave everyone a chance to try some tricks.

The Bridge to Nowhere

Yuma, Arizona

This bridge was built in 1929 (when there was actually water underneath it|)

A dam was built in 1968 that diverted the river.

Rumor has it that it was a prototype for the Golden Gate Bridge.

When you view this 800 ft long suspension bridge in the middle of the desert 

that looks like the Golden Gate Bridge--

you wonder if it's true.

Old Town

nice collections of 'quirky' shops

Well- this one really spoke volumes to us!

The Queen Reigns!

These popular desert flowers thrive on lack of moisture.

I am hoping Lou's new stained glass skills will create one of these beauties.

The RV Park hosted a public awareness program by the 

US Border Patrol.

We got to hear many stories and see how the dogs get trained.  

Colorado River History Museum Yuma AZ

It all started as a military post along the Colorado River in the mid 1800's during the Indian Wars.

Once wild and uncontrollable, the Colorado River is now the most dammed 

and endangered river is the US.  No longer reaching the ocean 

it slows to a trickle at the Mexican border, just 20 miles from Yuma.

Same Location

THEN                                                 NOW

                  1916                                      2013

There was so much water back in 1900's that the river could be a raging, dangerous ocean.  Today it is mostly sand and some vegetation.

Our guide on the tour answered the question "What happened?" 

"People came".

After 1900's  dams were build to prevent flooding and provide consistent water for irrigation.

 Now there are 10 dams between Yuma and the Grand Canyon.

Up until the turn of the century, (1900's) the Colorado River was navigable by paddle steam ships up to the bottom end of the Grand Canyon ( approximately Lake Meade) and Yuma was a major port for supplies is the southwest.

This picture shows the route of the steam ships from San Francisco to Port Isabel to Yuma. 

THE COLORADO RIVER SIPHON

A massive underground pipeline that carries water from California to Arizona under the Colorado River to irrigate the Yuma Valley.

 

           

This massive tunnel had to go 50 feet under the river, and when bedrock was struck, they had to send divers to dynamite the bedrock to get shafts deep enough to install the underwater pipe.

The delivery of water has transformed Yuma into a major agricultural area. Providing 90% of the leafy green vegetables (lettuce, broccoli, cauliflower etc.) in the U.S. during the winter months

On our tour of the Colorado River Historical Museum we were glad to see a bit of colorful bougainvillea in this vast sand pile!

Hula and Fire Dance

at the Pioneer RV Park

The guests did a great job of dressing up for the party.

(Many elegant t-shirts)

Our friend Linda had the best one!

The featured entertainers with Polynesian dances 

Always must have the guy that will wear the coconut bra and dance.

A lively evening

The fire dancers are always great fun to watch.

It's been a good stop in Wellton and Yuma,

now we are on to Desert Hot Springs.

We miss all of you at home.  Would love to hear your comments.

 

Titan Missile Museum and Tucson Rock and Gem Show - 2 of Tucson's main attractions

 TITAN MISSILE MUSEUM

In the Cold War Era, the US put in underground missiles as a deterrent to threats of enemy attacks. They had to be able to survive an attack and still function.

This one could devastate an area of 900 square miles.

There were 18 of these in Tucson area, but now the remaining one is a museum with underground tours.

Once you managed to close this 6000 pound door and got to the control room...

you would be safe from a nuclear attack.

The officer and the deputy each had separate codes to unlock these locks

in case of orders to fire the missile.

(Fortunately that never had to happen!)

Amazing to view this in person.

Viewing from the ground level you can see the entire missile.

Stage 1 Engine

This engine developed 430,000 pounds of thrust, about the same power as

two 747's running at full throttle.

RADAR SURVEILLANCE SYSTEM

These scoop shaped units projected a motion-sensing Doppler radar beam around sensitive areas of the complex and alerted crew to the presence of intruders.

In the 25 year history of the program intruders were never a serious problem.

TUCSON'S ROCK AND GEM SHOW

Every time we have visited, it is amazing  how immense this show is, and what a variety of unusual things.

At other times we have seen huge bird carvings 

(several feet high)

Lots of gorgeous wood carvings

Lots of "Sound Therapy" bowls 

(break the monotony of so many rocks? ha!)

A whole world of crystals

Many of these globes are 1-2 feet in diameter, some even larger.

There are many vendors like this.

A 'Photo Bomb' lurking around the amethyst?

How's this for "biggest crystal garden couch"?

The slabs in the background are pretty heavy.

( I'm not exactly sure why anyone would want that in their yard)

There are many fossils of plants and fish, 

but this is the largest we have seen.

Clam Chowder anyone?

A cowboy hat or gold necklace out of

Brazilian Golden Grass

The grass is golden in color, only grown in one place in Brazil.

They wet it down, turn it into wonderful objects that are lightweight and gorgeous.

This has been an amazing week enjoying musicals (of various genres) and our attempts at hand-made crafts.

We are looking forward to spending time in the Yuma area 

the next couple of weeks.

As always, we enjoying hearing from you.

Linda and Lou