Dates & sand dunes

Into every life a little disappointment is bound to occur!  Our week away in Yuma, now at an end, failed in its hopeful promise of “Let’s pretend it’s not really winter”.  As we departed, warmer temps were foretold, but such was not the case for our stay.  True, there was no snow; however, there was plenty of cold wind and rain, leaving even the Canadians singing the blues about the weather.

Although we were not active outdoors nearly as much as we prefer, we did manage to hie ourselves out for a tour we heard about when we were here last March.  That area is all about agriculture (besides multitudes of snowbirds - human & avian); mostly in the form of field crops, lettuce in all its forms being paramount, but the conditions are also optimal for dates.

Lettuce tours being of only nominal interest, we opted to check out Martha's Gardens Date Farm to learn about the process of growing dates.  

 

 

This delightful young woman drove the tractor that pulled us around the farm, and did double duty by being a most exemplary tour guide.  She was knowledgeable in every aspect of the family operation and fielded all questions with ease.

 

We came away educated far more than expected regarding the cultivation of dates.  The hand work, from using a knife to slice away thorns to bending the trees' "arms" to the exact right angle to hand thinning the burgeoning fruit to bagging each cluster - it's an exacting and intense process.  I came away incredulous that dates don't cost much more than they do. 

And then there are all those offspring - suckers that form around the bases of the trees.  Left in place, they would eventually siphon off all the juice (my very own date-speak) from the mother tree (yes, there are males and females) to its detriment, so they must be removed.  When I inquired exactly how those substantial parasites are removed, our guide showed us the hand tools with which it is done - what a job that is!

The offspring do not grow their own roots until they are removed; they are potted and then take root (some kind of tough love, I think).  Eventually, they are used to expand the grove or sold to other growers.  When the mother tree attains a certain height that makes the work from a riser platform unsafe, they are sold as landscape trees.

From a plank road to an interstate highway . . .

How many folks speeding along on the pavement of Interstate 8 give a thought to how they would have traversed the section through the Imperial Sand Dunes in the long-ago?  A turnout in the midst of those impressive rolling shifting hills gives access to a fascinating step back in time where a section of the little-known Plank Road is displayed.

Between 1914 & 1927, the route through that stretch of countryside would have been impossible by vehicle without the construction of the unusual road.  Remnants of the plank road are maintained as a historical landmark, and show both a reconstructed section . . .

. . . and another part that is being twisted by the harsh elements of wind-blown sand, clearly showing that ongoing constant maintenance would have been necessary to keep the route open.

 

 

The Plank Road made commercial traffic between lower southern California, Yuma and central Arizona possible.

 This is a fun photo from Wikipedia of the Plank Road in use during its heyday.

 Playing in the sandbox . . .

Despite less than optimal temperatures, we slogged our way through, up and over the shifting sandhills.  Just when I visualized attaining the crest of one hill to climb the next, we would find ourselves at the precipice of a chasm with nearly vertical sides.  In some places, the surface was relatively packed, and in others we would sink in deeply enough to make walking difficult.

Overcast skies and dull lighting were not great for photography, but I shot away in my enthusiasm to convey my fascination with the place.  The first photo shows the fence along the nearby international border with Mexico.

An ancient lake, Lake Cahuilla, was the source of the dune system that extends for more than 40 miles and about five miles wide.  We were in the section that is accessible for and favored by off-highway vehicles, although we didn't encounter any during our time there.

Next time we're in the area, I would like to explore the section known as the North Algodones Dunes Wilderness.  There's so much more to see out there.

Life manages . . .

. . . to survive in that inhospitable environment somehow.  We saw a few ants wandering (what in the world are they finding to eat?), and I took a photo of what we decided must have been a spider egg case, although perhaps someone will set me straight on that identification.

As an aside, both Norma & Katy identified what I called chicken legs for want of a better descriptor in my last post: they were screwbean mesquite seed pods.  Thanks, friends!

Downtown, history, music . . .

I wrote a bit about Yuma's historic downtown last year and so have skipped over most of that this time.  We did encounter a fun street musician while there - Ethan Grillo with his friend accompanying on the washtub bass.

Besides having Sunday dinner at the Yuma Landing, which honors some of Yuma's history, we lunched at El Charro, another long-time staple there.  The food was delicious and I was taken with its story: it is being operated by two granddaughters of the original owners who opened it in 1949.

Meanwhile, back at the RV park, we walked the extensive grounds and were astounded to find huge tomato plants and blooming sunflowers despite the chilly temps.

One evening, we attended a dinner/concert at the resort.  Gordy & Bonnie "reminisced" with two hours of songs we all remembered.

Another evening brought music of another ilk - jam-like Grand Old Opry-like toe-tapping time.  The gentleman pictured below blew my socks off with his rendition of Unchained Melody, my favorite song of all time.  And he did it powerfully at the age of 88!

He is probably the senior of the musicians in that group; however, all were of a an age when some folks no longer put themselves out there like that, but put themselves out there they did - courageous and inspiring!  The violinist pictured at the left was formerly in the Washington State Symphony. . .

. . . and the singer pictured below had two days previous been at home in Idaho when she responded to the call to be in the show.  That's some quick action to get from Idaho to Yuma in an RV and be prepared to perform.  The group performs once a month during snow bird season; the coordinator agreed to include the señor on keyboard if we return at the right time.

Sun Vista RV Resort offers facilities, classes & entertainment non-stop.  In the heat of last March, we utilized the outdoor pool a good bit.  The chill of this stay encouraged us to enjoy the very impressive indoor spa out of the wind.  Sigh. . .