10:50 AM Tuesday January 4, 2005

Well folks, you ain't missing much here in Yuma! It's pouring down rain this morning after an all night deluge and we have a waterfront site here in Friendly Acres RV park! Phil will need boots to get to the Ranger as it's parked right in our new "lake." The forecast is for more of the same plus thunderstorms and hail. Phil says, "Well, it's winter afterall!" but, isn't good weather the reason so many people come to the southwest in the winter? I'm confused! The problem is ... where do we have to go to find some sunshine? Florida maybe? Believe me, I'm tempted! Okay, okay, the temperature is almost 50 degrees here and it was 28 degrees in Shelton yesterday ... I'll concede that much. Oh yes, the frosting on the cake today is the water is shut off here in the park all day so the city can work on the water lines out front in all the street construction. I know, we're luckier than some because we are living in an RV with our own water tanks but still it's another kink in our great adventure. Every day is a new experience. No two days are ever the same, the one consistency being my blog and I'm so grateful to have this journal calling to me every morning (however, as you know, sometimes I ignore the call) to keep me focused on the positive instead of wallowing in the negative. Oh oh, I can hear your comments and they are all true ... so, I am reminded to think about our good health, our brave soldiers fighting the war in Iraq and the mind-boggling loss of life from the tsunami in Southeast Asia and it snaps me back to realty. Y'all are so right; time to count my blessings and STOP whining!

We found McPhaul Bridge as we returned to Yuma from our day trip to Quartsite last Saturday. We had stopped to investigate the tiny church (Sorry about the poor quality of the photo. The sun was setting directly behind the church!) sitting out in the lettuce field and when we looked off in the distance we could see the tops of the bridge towers. Since then, I've done a search for that church on the Internet and so far, I can't find anything. It does not have a name that we could see and if anyone knows the story of why it was built where it sits and who built it , please let me know. McPhaul Bridge in contrast had quite a write up in the Yuma Sun back in December 2004 when the community marked the 75th anniversary of the opening. To quote the article: "For 40 years it was the only way Yumans could cross the Gila River on their way toward Dome Valley and beyond, then the route of Highway 95--the road that crossed the bridge--was changed and the crossing became known as the Bridge to Nowhere. The bridge site was first used by Indians, then by Spanish conquistadors and missionaries. Later, early pioneers, the Mormon Battalion and the Butterfield Stage crossed at this point." For ten years before the bridge opened there was a ferry that operated at this crossing that charged $2.50 until 1928 when the AZ State Hiway Commission awarded a contract to the Levy Construction Co. to build the bridge at a cost of about $160,000. There are some historical reports that the McPhaul Bridge might have been the model for the Golden Gate Bridge because Joseph Baermann Strauss puportedly drew the designs for the bridge and was later credited for designing the Golden Gate in San Francisco. In 1980 a fire (suspected to have been started by a transient camp fire) destroyed about 150 feet of the bridge bed consisting of wooden planks and asphalt and the bridge was closed off for safety reasons. At 798 feet long, the beauty of the design is still very evident.

I've been writing and posting pictures for over an hour and still no sign of the rain and hail they have in the forecast. In fact, the sky is full of fluffy white clouds and the blue is back! Go figure!