Day 3 Arizona West RV Park Yuma, Arizona

We spent the morning working on tax stuff and doing laundry. We decided to travel to the border town of San Luis about 26 miles south of Yuma. We took our passports and off we went. It has been very windy and since it is very dry here…the dust was blowing.

Our journey was through farm country; fields of lettuce, yellow, purple, and white cauliflower, and lots and lots of cabbage.

We were not allowed to take any pictures at the border crossing. There was a high fence many miles long with barbed wire on top. This town, San Luis, is where hundreds of immigrants recently dug a tunnel and surrendered themselves to Border Patrol. We saw a lot of makeshift tents on the sidewalk on the Mexico side. We believe these people were from Central America, waiting to cross the border. We were directed to pass through immigration. Because we were just planning to walk around and have lunch, we were not required to do more than show our passports. This city is a working city and not a tourist destination. Many people come from San Luis into the U.S. each day to work. There were buses transporting men and women to and from the fields. The city itself was a little gritty, but everyone was friendly and helpful and we felt safe.

This is where we had our lunch. Authentic Mexican tacos. They were very good. It was $6.00 for our meal.

We rested for awhile and decided to go to Old Yuma for the evening.

We had dinner at the Pint House. This is where we met Rob and Emily. They had lived in Alaska and then a job transfer brought them to Yuma 7 years ago. They were interesting to talk to. One of the things that I asked Emily was about the water situation out here. The Colorado River and it’s tributaries have been diverted for the collection of water for human use, beginning with the Hoover Dam. There is a lot of controversy about how water should be utilized and distributed. It is important to be able to grow food but it is also important for homes to have water. I don’t understand the issue well enough to form opinions but it is important to listen to how it effects those who live here. Emily grew up in southern California where she was taught as a young child to conserve water. As an adult, she visited Las Vegas. In the plush hotel room there was this amazing shower with great water pressure…it made her angry. The water is distributed to the surrounding states including California, Utah, Nevada, and Arizona. She and her family had been so careful with water and for her to see it wasted so frivolously, made her really question the fairness of it all.

After dinner we went to the movies. We hadn’t been to the movies in so long that we had no idea that it could be so comfortable…no sticky floors with trash and littered popcorn…these very luxurious recliners where you didn’t have to strain your neck looking up for 2 hours…and only $11.00 for both of us!

We enjoyed the movie very much!

We were intrigued by a bike path along the Colorado River. We might try that tomorrow!