Off To Prison We Go! Yuma, AZ

We went to prison! Well, to Yuma Territorial Prison State Historic Park. It is the most visited place in this area. We got there right as it opened. We paid $10.00 each to get in. The prison was built in 1875.

First we saw the Guard Tower. It was built on top of the water supply. Great views from the top level. The Sally Port is one of the last remaining original adobe structures here. Past the gate is a nice museum and a theater that had captions on the film. This place gets an A. We walked in about 9:50 a.m. and saw a sign for a tour at 10:00 a.m. We looked at some of the displays and then took the tour.

The tour guide, from Canada, said we were her very first tour group. Another volunteer was along and a few times added some stories to the conversation. There were about 20 in the group and it lasted an hour. We were able to see what the cell blocks looked like – small and slept 6.

A lot of movies have been made here. For one of the movies, the actor was really short so they actually built the wall and doorframe short so as he walked through, he looked taller. HAHA Big sign warning it was low. I walked through, jumped to see if my head would touch but it didn’t. 🤣 

The Dark Cell went back into the rock quite a ways. There was a cage in there where criminals would go for bad behavior. It was so dark you couldn’t see a thing. Only a small hole in the ceiling where guards would drop creepy crawlies. Prisoners were stripped to their underwear and chained together with a pot for the potty and not cleaned out except maybe once a year. 

For the most part, Yumans (isn’t that funny, I saw it on a display) were upset because the prison was what they called a Country Club. The prison had running water, flush toilets, a band, a hospital, could learn a trade, great food, etc. In fact, some would get out and want to go back in for the good medical care! 

This prison was built where the Colorado and Gila Rivers meet. It was used as the first place to cross along the lower basin. The prison is on rock. It lasted, I think 33 years, and then moved to Florence because of overcrowding. It was used as a high school for 4 years when the local high school burned down and a new one had to be built. It was also a community hospital for awhile. During the depression, people would just move in. The Southern Pacific Railroad took out 1/3 of the prison to build a track. We enjoyed the visit.

Travel Day: Yuma, AZ to Lake Havasu, AZ. For the next 3 weeks, we had 3 week-long events we were attending. Each of these would be “dry camping” or “boondocking”. What is that? It is camping without hook ups of electricity, water, and sewer. Your RV must be self-contained, which ours is. We have a solar panel plus a new lithium battery so we were excited to see how that would work. Of course we have a generator, as well. 

Just south of the Parker, AZ,  area we saw a large mound of dirt on the east side. The land is very flat with mountain ranges in the far distance. I said it looked like a giant used a dump truck to make this pile. HA We saw a few palm trees and a building, someone must live there. And then we came to the “driveway” and saw the sign…it is a landfill. HAHA 

We stopped in Parker at Boondocks RV Station. We needed to get fresh water in our 90 gallon tank. Kevin filled the tank full and it was only $8.00. PLUS, I was very impressed with the cleanliness of the place and how they have the dump stations and water for it away from the fresh water. You can also get propane filled and they sell fire wood. We are very impressed!!! Then on to our first event of three…Lake Havasu Balloon Festival.