THERE ISN’T MUCH TO RECOMMEND YUMA, nor anything terribly wrong with it either. Many of the snowbirds we’ve met have been spending the winter here for years, but I think a month will be enough for us.
Ladderback and Gila Woodpeckers
We have been visiting the birding hotspots, such as they are, following the advice of birders from the local Audubon Society chapter. Basically, anyplace there is a pond, a lake or a river in this parched land will attract waterfowl and visiting migrant species. One surprising hotspot is called East Wetlands park on the Colorado River. Yes, this is the same Colorado we rafted in 2010, although these placid waters are a far cry from the rapids of Lava Falls in the Grand Canyon.
Two faces of the Colorado River
Looming above the park is the Yuma Territorial Prison State Park, a relic from pre-statehood Tombstone days when this was still the Wild West. Prison life was no day at the beach — six men to a cell, and a number of women prisoners, too — but, as prisons go, Yuma was better than most. The wardens were progressive, and the prisoners got an education, learned Spanish and German and even had a band. The prison was so much a part of the town’s legacy that the local high school teams are still called the Crims, short for Criminals! It almost makes me ashamed of my high school’s wimpy Cardinals.
Real Criminals Yuma "Crims" wrestling team
Historic downtown, as opposed to the “Anyplace USA” strip malls, has an art deco feel — a couple of blocks of wide streets with colonnaded sidewalks. The neighborhoods we’ve seen are mostly modest, single-story as befits a desert setting, or trailer/RV parks. Spanish is at least as common as English, not surprising with Mexico only a tamale-throw away.
