Gateway Park and Yuma East Wetlands

Cocopah RV Resort

Yuma, AZ

February 14, 2025

Sunrise...taking Lucy to the doggie park.

Gateway park is located at the end of Madison Street in Historic Downtown Yuma. It is a waterfront park with a 1.5 mile  paved walk along the Colorado River. There is a beach area, picnic tables and grills, covered pavilions, fishing dock, and a playground.  

Lucy's first steps in the Colorado River...

Gateway Park is also home to the first highway crossing of the lower Colorado River.  Ocean-to-Ocean Bridge was built in 1915 and is the earliest example of a through truss bridge in Arizona. 

The name of the bridge also dates back to 1915 when the transcontinental Ocean-to-Ocean Highway (later US 80) took folks from downtown San Francisco, CA to Teaneck, NJ in the New York metropolitan area.  It replaced the ferry crossing and allowed for two-way automobile traffic to cross the river.

The Ocean-to-Ocean Bridge was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1978. 

Instead of turning left on the walkway, we headed under the bridge into the Yuma East Wetlands.  This wetlands is considered a model for wetlands in the desert Southwest and is led by a partnership between the Heritage Foundation, the Quechan Indian Tribe and the AZ  Game and Wildlife Department.  

Restoration was initiated in 2004 and nearly 400 acres have been transformed from a trash dump filled with hobo camps to what is now a beautiful area to walk among a variety of trees and wildlife.  

In the top left corner the map shows Gateway Park to the left.  We followed the orange dots along the river for a while before turning back.  Lucy was one tired puppy !

Lucy is making herself right at home in the RV.  It's fun to watch her figure things out for herself. So many nice memories come to mind as she sits on the quilt Dover had on the dash and watches the world go by.  

Lucy loves everybody...two legs and four legs.  She figured out to roll over on her back when the big pups visit and the mid-size to smaller pups have been so patient with her.  

Playtime with Molly, a beautiful Wheaten Terrier...

 I was lucky to see this small male Vermillion Flycatcher.  The locals call this bird "bien viaje"...simply translated as the good luck bird.  If the bird is facing you, according to locals, it is a good omen.  If the bird is turned with his back to you showing his brown wing feathers bad luck could be in the offering.

Joe and I have seen this beautiful small bird perched on our fence at home several times.  As the name implies, this brilliant orange/red bird hawks flying insects and will catch them in midair.  They prefer shrubby habitats including scrubby desert, lightly cultivated lands, and riverine woodlands.  

Although these birds are small, they are easy to spot and put a smile on my face.

Until next time...a little twist and twirl in your step goes a long way...

HAPPY TRAILS !

A Winter Vaca...

February 12, 2025

Cocopah RV Resort

Yuma, AZ

...but first a quick catch-up from the oasis.

The start of another wonderful day...

Lucy enjoyed a very nice play day at the Doggie park in Green Valley.  

Quail Creek Dog Park in Green Valley. This is the side for small pups.

It's a huge park divided in half to separate big and little dogs.  There were only a couple of other pups there. Lucy ran and ran and chased and chased...it's so much fun to watch her socializing and having a good time.  

Taking a break under the shade pavilion...

Lucy loves ice and one of those wonderful warm, sunny days we were enjoying our rockers on the patio.  Before I knew it, she jumped on the table and turned my water  glass (thank goodness for Tervis) over and just helped herself.  Now I add ice to her water bowl if we are sitting outside.  

Lucy is always a good helper, 

Dad needs my help with the hose reel...

and loves to play fetch.

So focused on Joe and the ball...

I planted some flowers.  I just love our little kitchen table garden especially with the afternoon sun shinning in.  It's my favorite time of year because I don't have to shut the blinds to keep the heat out.

So on Monday, February 10th, we loaded up the bus and headed west.  

It's Lucy's first RV trip and we are happy to report so far so good.  She sat with me all the way and watched the world go by.  It is so amazing how puppies adapt.  to what ever we throw at them.  She sat like the sweet little pup she is all the way to Cocopah RV Resort in Yuma. 

Our last trip to Cocopah was in February 2014.  My how the time flies !  Monday night we joined Carol and Ronnie and Don (his better half, Jan, wasn't feeling too good) for pizza.  Lucy went for little while and then we took her home to her crate for a nap.  Good friends just seem to have "this thing" when they meet up that wipes out all the time passed in-between visits.  The conversation and laughter just flows like we had seen them last week.  Life is good that way ! 

Lucy has already made friends at the puppy play area.  It's a huge 2.5 acres of green grass nestled within the residential area and not fenced in so we haven't let Lucy off-leash yet. 

This is Daisy...Lucy also met Keva and Lexie and their humans who are all so nice to our very active 5 month old puppy.   

 This morning, our walk was along the Colorado River.  The path has been greatly improved since we were here 11 years ago.  It is so peaceful and so pretty to walk along the river...one of my favorite things to do while here.  

We also spent time at the pond in front of the RV Registration office.  We saw lots of birds this morning. I photographed a few and my favorite was a Snow Goose.  

These beauties migrate to and from their breeding grounds in northern Alaska and Canada.  They are strong fliers, walkers, and swimmers.  The male and female mate for life. The female chooses a nest site sheltered among vegetation in the willows and rocks or small shrubs.  Being close to snow melt when breeding presents a challenge to find a dry spot and the female sometimes makes several decisions only to change her mind.  These geese are vegetarians with a hearty appetite.  In fact their two favorite activities are eating and sleeping.  

So until next time...

HAPPY TRAILS !