Oh. It’s almost over. The road trip is almost over. Whoa is me. It’s almost back to the daily grind. And how fitting is our final stop? Yuma Territorial Prison. I love the way the three of us are smiling in this picture. What? You don’t see me? I’m that ball and chain next to Dan. Haha. I’m sure getting funnier in my old age.
Here’s the main entrance of the prison. Some of you might recognize it if you are cowboy movie buffs. This is where the “bad guys” were sent when caught by the “good guys”.
Over 3000 bad guys (and some bad girls) were imprisoned in these rock and adobe cells during the prison’s 33-year existence between 1876 and 1909. Once it closed its doors, the Yuma Union High School occupied these buildings from 1910 to 1914. A few years after that, the empty cells provided free lodging for hobos riding the freights in the 1920s and sheltered many homeless families during the Great Depression. You can see inscriptions left behind on the cell walls dating back to those early years.
We were actually able to go inside some of the cells. Check out these 5-star accommodations. There’s actually more room here than the Airstream! Though their views never changed. These are the original iron bunk beds that slept six per cell.
The historic records of the museum appear to be well kept. They show that 26 prisoners escaped. Some made it out successfully, some were shot dead, and some were caught. The unsuccessful escapees that were caught were chained to iron balls for the remainder of their stay.
After our stop at the Yuma Territorial Prison, we hit the road with hopes of visiting Salvation Mountain before nightfall. But we didn’t make it. The sun was setting as we pulled into Salton City. So, we tried to find an overnight spot near by but it wasn’t easy to do. It’s super dark near the Salton Sea, making it more difficult to find a spot. We pulled into this one place that had some RVs in it but it ended up being a hunting station. As soon as I saw a man throwing a dead furry white thing into his pick-up truck, I knew our trip was over. We pulled into another area with a camping sign but ended up having to trespass into a chain-link fenced yard just to turn the rig around and make our escape. We decided to drive a little way up to La Quinta in the Palm Springs area to get a bite to eat… and to hang out until Ava’s bedtime. It was a nice way to end our trip. Together. Playing. Reminiscing.
And recreating our Tombstone mustache adventure!
Thank you Arizona for a fabulous time. We’ll be back again. For sure!
the end,
marlene
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