Postcard from Yuma – Trippin’ with the Snowbirds

Yuma, AZ sits right on the California/Arizona/Mexico border. It is pure desert country with sand everywhere as opposed to the cactus-covered Sonoran Desert of Tucson. It has more sunshiny days than any city in America. In summer, it is blazing hot, day after day. In the winter, temperatures are in the high 70’s and low 80’s, day after day. The native population is around 60,000 people…but now, in the middle of winter, the population is around 160,000 people. This is where many people from the northern climates come when the weather starts turning cold at home.

And, boy, do they come! They get in some of the biggest, most luxurious RV’s you have ever seen and point their vehicles towards the Southwest. Most are retired and they come here year after year without fail, at least until fate steps in. They are spread throughout southern Arizona from the Phoenix area, to Tucson, and smaller places like Yuma and Quartzite. In the big cities, you don’t notice them as the populations are quite large and they blend in. But in smaller places like Yuma, they standout like icicles on a cactus because they are everywhere.

If you don’t believe me, take a walk through a Yuma grocery store or Wal-Mart…or cross the border into Algodones where the meds and dentists are cheap. There are 112 RV Parks in and around Yuma (maybe up to 170, as I read in one article)…and they are mostly full. Some have trees and landscaping, others have nothing except plastic flowers and even plastic palm trees. But, that doesn’t discourage the folks who show up there without fail. And who can blame them? The winter weather is amazing, although in Yuma, there doesn’t seem to be all that much to do.

There are a couple of parks located just a couple of blocks from my son’s home, so when I am there and am out for a morning walk, I sometimes wander through these parks just to look in amazement at the collection of incredible vehicles and to see what is going on. There are license plates from all over the United States and Canada…and its cheap for them. For $300 a month you get your space, all connections, and even DirectTV.

At one park, I stood for a while and watched the guys playing a game called Pentanque. It is a simple game, just like horseshoes. There's a target, and you have to get as close to it as possible. What makes it so appealing, is that you can be way ahead for a while, yet lose a second later, or vice versa. Because nothing is decided until the last player plays the very last boule.

And here they were, a sandpit full of guys, all older than me, faithfully playing the game for about two hours every morning…same time, same sandbox. I met one man in his late 80’s who was diagnosed with a serious cancer, just before it was time to come south. Doctors told him not to come but to stay up north and take the treatments. Obviously, he refused and came south to play Pentanque with the boys. I was asked to join in, and even though I wasn’t a snowbird or even an RVer, they still wanted me to play. I was tempted but was leaving soon for the next phase of my journey.

Next to the Pentanque pit was a shuffleboard court and a horseshoe pit…and next to that was a large clubhouse for all the potluck dinners. These folks, God love ‘em gave up shoveling snow for playing in the sun. And they are having a great time, or so it appears. No doubt they have put in their time at work, raising families and all the other goodies that go along with life. Now, they have earned this time to play in the sun and no one is happier than me for them.

Maybe the next time I"’m in Yuma, I might just try my hand at Pentanque.