We pulled into the Shangri-La RV Resort in Yuma, AZ at 12:15pm on Tuesday after a short, leisurely drive from Desert Hot Springs, CA. All of our packing and preparations to leave, over the weekend, sure paid off as we were able to pull out of the Sands RV Resort at 8:30am about 30 minutes ahead of our expected departure time.
We stopped for a short break at a rest stop just before Yuma, AZ
It was a perfect day for traveling too – beautiful blue skies and sunshine all the way from Desert Hot Springs to Yuma – with temperatures in the mid 80’s and absolutely no wind. We were a little sad to be leaving the Sands as we really enjoy staying there and will miss it. I doubt we will be staying in an RV Park as nice during the rest of our trip – but, we’ll just have to wait and see.
We noticed a lot of huge sand dunes along I-8 in Arizona
The Shangri-La here in Yuma is not what I would classify as a “resort” type park even though “resort” is in the name. It’s a pretty run of the mill RV Park with paved roads and nice level sites of crushed rock and cement pads. I think it must be the one that Al of The Bayfield Bunch said he dreamed about in his blog the other day. We were treated nicely on arrival, our reservation was on file and after signing in, a park attendant guided us right to our pull-thru site. The washrooms and showers are absolutely first rate and spotless so that’s a bonus!
This is our site at the Shangri-La RV Resort – plain vanilla but o.k. for a night
This park is perfect for a 1 night stop. It’s in the Yuma Foothills district and is close to the I-8, convenience stores and a few restaurants. I don’t think I’d want to stay here any longer than an overnight stop, but that goes for a lot of parks and this one is better than a lot we’ve seen.
The main gate to the Yuma Territorial Prison
After we got unhitched and all setup in our site, we had lunch and relaxed for about an hour. Then we decided to check out Yuma a bit. Our first stop was the Yuma Territorial Prison which was only 15 minutes west on the I-8 from the Shangri-La. The Yuma prison reminded us a bit of Alcatraz – without the spectacular setting of San Francisco Bay.
A row of cells with the strap iron doors in the Yuma Territorial Prison
The cells were just as stark, small and cold looking as any in Alcatraz. All the cells in the Yuma Prison appear to be open to the elements with just the iron bars separating prisoners from the outside. I imagine that might have made for some pretty cold nights here in the desert – especially with high winds.
These prisoner cells are really dark and desolate
Despite it’s infamous reputation, officials maintain that written evidence indicates that the prison was humanely administered, and was a model institution for its time. Boy, I’d sure hate to see the bad ones then. The strap iron cells and rock walls looked to me like it was a pretty miserable existence.
This alley leads to the “dark room” where troublesome prisoners spent time
After walking around the prison and the adjacent park, we drove into the downtown area of Yuma and had a quick look at the Old Town area. There is definitely a lot of history here and I’d like to come back and have a look when we have more time.
The main Lookout Tower at the Yuma Prison
On the way back to the RV Park, we passed a Michael’s store and Paulette asked me to stop so she could pick up some thread. Driving out of the parking lot, she spotted a “Log Cabin Quilt Shop” right across the street – I’m positive she has some kind of radar system. Anyway, Paulette got her 30 minute quilt fix before we headed back to the RV Park.
More of the cells – pretty hard time no matter where you were in here
Our chef, Trader Joe, made dinner last night and it was great as usual – Chicken Marcella and Gravy, with mashed potatoes and a southwest salad. I’m not sure if we’ll be running across any more Trader Joe’s stores now that we are out of California, if not, we are going to miss Joe as he’s been a great chef and we’ve really enjoyed his great meals.
So, tomorrow we’re off again, and it’s another easy driving day as we’re going to Benson, AZ for a 3 night stay at the Butterfield RV Resort.
Have a great Wednesday and thanks again for visiting!
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