JOHN & DIANE

Okay, okay - I know I'm getting older and more forgetful. But I still can't believe I forgot to post this.

The last night we were in Yuma at the casino, Diane and John fixed dinner for us and it was fabulous. Diane is really into healthy eating and you can certainly see it in how they look. She fixed chicken with rice and stir fried peppers and onions. What a great time.

We met them at Escapade in Sedalia, MO last year, had breakfast with them in Yuma in January and then hooked up again in Yuma at the casino. They were workcamping at an RV park in Arizona City and are now headed to a workcamp position in Skagway, Alaska for the summer.

Safe travels friends.

BLUE BEACON

We left Yuma on Monday morning making our way back to Apache Junction and full hookups. (Yea!) We had run the car through a car wash in Yuma so we could at least see out the windows, but the motorhome was still covered in all the crude from our journey through snow and mud and rain from Montana.

In Casa Grande there is a Blue Beacon truck wash. They also will wash RV's for a pretty reasonable price. We decided to take a slight detour and stop and get the RV washed. We also had them put on a spray wax and hand dry all the windows. The cost for all of this was $52.

Our home was now back to white instead of brown. Only one problem, by the time we got to Apache Junction (about 60 miles) our front end was covered with dead bugs. So Jim had to scrub them off when we finally got parked.

We will be parked here in the Santa Fe RV Park for the next three or four weeks. Jim plans on doing a lot of fishing and I will be just veggin'. I probably won't be doing a daily post but I'll keep you advised of any plans we might have.

CENTER OF THE WORLD

We visited the Center of the World and were given a tour of the area by Felicia Istel.


Jacques-Andre Istel is a gracious, well-mannered man with a vision. Maybe a crazy vision, but a vision nonetheless. He saw this barren wasteland while serving as a Marine in the Korean War and fell in love with it. With money made from his successful parachut schools he bought thousands of acres of the desert near Yuma but across the border in California.


In the 1980's he finally decided what he wanted to do with this land. He convinced Imperial County, CA to legally recognize a spot on his property as the official Center of the World. The center of the world can be anywhere. It was set by law, based upon a popular book for children - who argues with a fairy tale? The book is Coe the Good Dragon written by Mr. Istel. He named the town Felicity after his wife, Felicia.


Mr. Istel needed a way to mark his Center and his wife said that since it is in the desert, why not a pyramid. So he had a 21 foot tall, hollow, mirror-lined, pink granite pyramid built over The Spot, which is a dot in the center of a bronze disk in the pyramid's floor.







When you visit the pyramid, you step on the Spot and receive a certificate that states you stood at the Official Center of the World, with the date and time.








The sundial is a bronze sculpture of God's Arm from Michaelangelo's Dawn of Creation painting in the Sistine Chapel. The finger points toward the Church on the Hill. Mr. Astel said that if you're going to build a House of God, it's got to be on the highest spot. So he had 150,000 tons of earth trucked in and piled up to create a hill.




He added a sculpture at the entrance to Felicity which is Section 12 of the original stairway of the Eiffel Tower.



He has also undertaken a massive chore in creating his World Commemorative Center which consists of engravings in granite panels highlights of the collective memory of humanity. You will need to visit this center in order to truly understand and appreciate what Mr. Istel has accomplished.

BIRD HELP

Anybody know what kind of bird this is?

LOS MANJARES DE PEPE

John & Diane pulled into the Casino on Saturday afternoon so we went out for Mexican food with Jeri & Terry.

I found this restaurant on the internet and it had received great reviews. So off we go to try something new. Everybody really liked their dinner except for Jim. He had the pork chimichanga and said the meat was really over cooked and dried. He also had a cheese quesedilla which he said was excellent.

Had a fun time visiting and eating.

PAUSE - REST - WORSHIP

This little church is located just north of Yuma on Rte 95. It was built in 1995 by a farmer on the edge of his fields to honor his wife who died of Alzheimer's. It is 7 x 12 feet inside and seats 12. Several weddings have been held here and Easter Sunrise Services are held every year.

A wonderful place to stop and rest.

ATOMIC ANNIE

Jim and I took a drive up to check out Martinez Lake north of Yuma to see what the fishing might be like. On our drive up there was passed the Yuma Proving Ground. This large atomic cannon is at the entrance to the proving grounds.

The atomic cannon was built in the mid 50's to hurl nuclear shells far enough that they wouldn't kill the peoe who fired them. It is 42 feet long and weighs 42,500 lbs. On May 25, 1953 the Atomic Cannon was tested in Nevada. This resulted in the successful detonation of a 15 kt shell at a range of 7 miles. This was the first and only nuclear shell to be fired from a cannon.

It was just too big to move around easily overseas and had such a limited range that it was obsolete shortly after it was deployed. It was deactivated in 1963.