Riverfront Exercise

It was a wonderful change of pace to stay in an AirBnB while we were getting repairs done on the motorhome, but not being in our own place makes it harder to maintain a routine. I have to admit, I missed one day of exercise. My streak of doing it everyday came to an end, but I am back at it, trying to keep the new streak alive.

We took Suki and Cassie for a walk around Gateway Park and Pivot Point Plaza one morning while we were in Yuma. Both are right along the south bank of the Colorado River, just north of downtown. It was a wonderful stroll next to the water that also came with a history lesson reading the signposts.

Yuma has been the safest place to cross the lower Colorado River for centuries. The narrow crossing here was controlled by the Quechen: a Native American tribe that learned how to live and farm the fertile river valley. The California Gold Rush, the railroad expansion, and the Dust Bowl all saw huge influxes of European Americans to this area. Some of the highlights in the parks were the massive steam locomotive that logged approximately 2.5 million miles hauling freight and passengers through Yuma, the historic pivot point that allowed the railroad bridges to move out of the way of the steamboats running on the Colorado, and the historic Ocean to Ocean Highway bridge that opened in 1915, becoming the critical link for a southern transcontinental highway.

We had excellent timing to see several plants and trees in bloom. I loved the variety of blossom shapes and colors. The “new” Interstate 8 bridge bisects the park, and the piers holding the bridge up made a perfect frame for the St Thomas Catholic Mission perched on a hilltop across the river. We thought it unusual that a group of palm trees were growing under the bridge, right up against one of the piers. The view looking down the river was was very tranquil, in spite of the interstate highway being right there.

After our walk in the park, we went to the Cocopah Museum. They are another of the Native American Tribes that have inhabited this area for centuries. It was a wonderful small museum that detailed how they lived and played on this fertile plain. One interesting note was how only the girls received facial tattoos when they came of age. Tradition held that they were given family tattoos so their ancestors would know them in the afterlife. Also, when the warriors went into battle, they cut off their waist length hair so that if they were captured, their prized possession would not be taken from them. Unfortunately, they don’t allow any photos to be taken inside, so respectably I have none to show.

As of today, we are back in the motorhome. The repairs were complete yesterday, but we had one more night at the AirB&B so we picked it up today and moved back in. Betty and Cassie are especially pleased to be back in their familiar space again, as are we that the slide can be pulled in solely by the push of a button and not needing a push of the slide as well.              

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