<– Day 4- Saturday March 12th: The Aliens Almost Got Her!  | Beginning | Day 6 – Monday March 14th: Train to Yuma Prison –>

Our first time in Needles, California

Today we drove from Laughlin, Nevada, to Yuma, Arizona (view yesterday’s post here). We began the day brilliantly, with a trip for ‘breakfast’ to Laughlin’s In-N-Out Burger. Ann and her gluten/beef intolerance forced her to spurn a delicious cheeseburger, but she did partake of a few of my fries. I, on the other hand, was quite pleased by my breakfast.

Map of our trip from Laughlin, Nevada, to Yuma, Arizona

We drove north out of Laughlin, crossed the Colorado River, and quickly reached Bullhead City, Arizona. One of our goals was to take a photo with the city’s large tortoise. Our mission was soon accomplished.

Next, I wanted to take a few photos of the Colorado River and the casinos of Laughlin across the river. Somehow, my wife thought that meant stepping into the cold river.

Laughlin’s Colorado Belle Resort & Casino

Ann freezing her feet in the Colorado River

I wondered why she stepped into the river, while she wondered why I hadn’t joined her. We soon realized that we had a failure to communicate. After some discussion and shaking of heads and a “but you said” and a “no, but I meant” and similar phrases, we concluded that divorce attorneys wouldn’t be necessary. So we climbed back in the jeep and continued south on Highway 95.

Our next stop was Needles, where we found ourselves once again on Route 66. For the last three years we’ve managed to cover one portion or another of the famous road. You’d think we’d be done by now, but there’s quite a bit we haven’t seen. Below are three murals we found in Needles:

After Needles, we followed Highway 95 as it rollercoastered over hills and down dales for about an hour. I couldn’t tell whether they built it like that, or the hills had risen, or the dales had sunk. Eventually, we left the carnival ride behind, crossed the Colorado River for good, and continued south until we hit Quartzite.

The town of Quartzite has embraced the camel as a mascot, along with a  deceased camel driver named Hi Jolly (actually Haiji Ali). Hi Jolly was a Syrian camel expert who accompanied camels brought over by Jefferson Davis before the Civil War as a test to see how the animals would fare in the southwest. After the test was deemed a failure, though there’s some debate they actually failed, Hi Jolly landed in Quartize. The citizens grew fond of him and the camels. Eventually, the camels were released into the wilds, last seen in 1947. Meanwhile Hi Jolly, who’d been born in 1828, died in 1902. A monument was erected by the citizens of Quartzite to their beloved friend.

Following Quartzite, we headed for Yuma, a long straight drive down US 95 where the speed limit of 65 was only a rough guideline, at least based on the cars that flew by us at 80mph or more. I couldn’t really blame them. It was a pretty boring drive. The one surprise was the extensive agriculture near Yuma. After days of desert, I didn’t expect to see so many fields of lettuce and other to-be-identified crops.

We ended the day at Mariscos Mar Azul, a Mexican seafood restaurant highly recommended by Yelpers. The food was great, especially the home made flour tortillas. Those were worth the drive to Yuma all by themselves.

On our way back from the restaurant I happened to spot the Solano’s Homemade Ice Cream Factory. I hit the brakes and roared into the parking lot. That turned out to be a good choice, because inside we found some delicious ice cream with flavors like Balsamic Strawberry, Pineapple Jalepeno, Cantaloupe, and Rose. After tasting a number of them, I chose a scoop of the Rose and Cantaloupe in a waffle cone. Surprisingly delicious!

Tomorrow we head for Tucson in anticipation of a special tour of ASARCO on Tuesday.

<– Day 4- Saturday March 12th: The Aliens Almost Got Her!  | Beginning | Day 6 – Monday March 14th: Train to Yuma Prison –>