Winter Walsh Wandering: 2016 Trip to Arizona and Yuma, AZ

2016 Road Trip to Arizona.
Heading out on Jan 22, early to attend a 6 session seminar at University of Arizona, "Ever Changing Brain" which starts on Jan 27. This is our 9th road trip to Arizona ( 2 for software classes for only 2 weeks, 4 to Tucson, and 3 to Green Valley). We've planned to take "off interstate" roads to see new territory.

We had the very best weather, no precipitation, no wind, lots of blue skies and not much traffic on our "back roads." We shortened our drive time to just 7 hours a day which got us to our overnight destination before dark. Very relaxing days. Friday = Kenosha to Chillicothe, MO. Saturday=Chillicothe to Liberal, Kansas. Sunday=Liberal Kansas to Santa Rosa, NM. Monday=Santa Rosa to Willcox, AZ. Tuesday = Tucson, AZ for our 1st class.

Our professor is very knowledgeable and passionate about neuroscience. We have recommended reading ( 2 books and 2 science articles that are pretty detailed.) She provides a copy of the slides she presents. Average age 65 in the class. We are going to learn alot about the newest advances in understanding how the brain works. We met a nice couple who have just moved to Tucson from Chicago.

Wednesday afternoon we drove to our old area in Oro Valley north of Tucson and ate at our favorite Mexican Restaurant, Mi Tierra. It was delicious. And we caught the afternoon showing of The Short Sell. Not a 'feel good" movie because the bankers and Wall Street are still the really bad crooks.

Thursday we drove to Yuma, AZ.

Lovely old buildings and fountains

This fountain has water running over the ball which has all the countries of the world.

It was pretty quiet in downtown Yuma. - no cyclists.

Off to the River Walk
There is so much history about the settlers along the Colorado River, first the Indians, then Mexicans, and all those caught up in the Gold Rush. There is a wonderful river walk. We started at the East Wetland Park.

Walking, hiking and equestrian paths.

This is the Ocean to Ocean Highway connecting the Pacific and the Atlantic. A very busy rail line shares the same bridge frame as car/truck traffic. Very long freight trains rattled through this bridge about every 15 minutes. And still there are 3 or 4 trains backed up in the rail yard waiting for their turn to cross over into CA.

More pictures to come................... We're settled in Green Valley now. So I can start to catch up on our adventuring. These are still from Yuma.

With all the rail road history here, this old steam engine, built in 1907, has a prominent place.

The Engineer sits on the black seat and looks out the window

This is where the coal would be shoveled in to make the steam

It was a lovely walk along the Colorado River.

It is hard to believe we are in Arizona where palm trees and adobe churches are a normal part of the landscape.

I do so love to see flowers.

This is a less manicured park than the East Wetlands. However, it has a huge children's playhouse and playground, a hummingbird garden, a solar field and a historical monument.

Solar screens

The Mormon Battalion was the only religious "unit" in American military history, serving from July 1846 to July 1847 during the Mexican War. It was a division of General Stephen Kearny’s U.S. Army of the West. The battalion was a volunteer unit of over 500 soldiers, nearly all LDS men with regular army officers, under the command of Lt. Col. Philip St. George Cooke. The battalion made a grueling march from Council Bluffs, Iowa to San Diego, California, the longest march in U.S. military history. The Battalion's march and service was instrumental in helping secure new lands in several Western states, and was especially influential in the Gadsden Purchase of 1853, which includes most of southern Arizona. The Mormon Battalion also opened a southern wagon route to California.