Life in Arizona is certainly a contrast
from our life in Washington, and some of the changes take some
getting used to.
For example, low-flying military jets.
There's a Marine air base next to Yuma International Airport. While
we haven't seen any commercial planes taking off or landing, we've
seen plenty of low-flying military planes whooshing overhead at high
speeds. The first time I encountered this, we were riding scooters
back to the RV park. The planes went by so quickly and noisily, I
almost crashed my scooter in surprise. While the RV park we're
staying at doesn't seem to be in the planes' flight path, we do get a
lot of low-flying helicopters, especially at night.
* * *
Yuma gets a fair amount of winds, so
much so that we rarely put the awning down on the trailer. There's a
palm tree right next to our trailer, and I enjoy watching the
branches blow in the breeze through the translucent vent over the
bed. Song birds roost there during the morning, with their warbling
providing a wonderful alarm. I do not, however, like the pigeons that
hoot all around the clock. One of these days, I swear I'm gonna make
us some pigeon pie!
* * *
In Washington, we had signs warning of
deer and elk on the road. In Arizona, they warn about wild cows and
burros, neither of which we've seen (I don't count the “wild”
burros of
Oatman) on the road, though Jon did see a deer on the road
the morning we took the freeway to Wellton, a town about 30 miles
east of Yuma.
* * *
I can't get used to the Border Patrol
inspection stations a few miles out of Yuma: eastbound on Interstate
8 and northbound on U.S. 95. As gringos, we are automatically waved
through, though one time an inspector stopped us long enough to ask
if we were U.S. citizens. He quickly waved us through without asking
for proof when Jon said we were. We have seen cars of Hispanics
pulled over and being questioned. I wonder how many illegals they
catch this way, since motorists can take back roads that bypass the
inspection stations.
* * *
Though I used to complain about having
to cut the grass at our house, I really miss green grass. Here, most
homes have graveled yards filled with cactus of various types and
palm trees. By the way, a palm tree is no substitute for a stately
Douglas fir. Give me one of our national forests any day!
