Let other people freeze their earlobes off during their winter break. You could be soaking up desert sunshine, seasoned with a little sightseeing, maybe golf or fishing and a shot of Wild West history.
www.visityuma.com
Head for the lower end of the Colorado River and the city of Yuma, Ariz., where they claim 95 percent of the days are sunny, and the average high temperature in January is 68 degrees (up to 74 in February). Dig through the pages of their online guide and, once you’re finally past the advertisements, learn that Spanish explorer Hernando de Alarcon crossed the Colorado here in 1540, and the place has been a crossroads ever since, from ferry boats to today’s Interstate 8.
Then click into “Things to Do” and look up brief descriptions of the area’s golf courses, tennis, camping and fishing and boating on the Colorado River. That section also has important tips in case you want to cross the border into Mexico. And up at the top of the main page, click on “Tours/Day Trips” to collect more ideas for filling your leisure time.
tinyurl.com/664p6x
One of the entries in “Things to Do” is an all-too-brief description of Yuma Territorial Prison State Park, one of the more stark relics of the Old West. Make your travel arrangements for the second weekend in January and you can take in the Annual Gathering of the Gunfighters at the prison. Despite its notorious reputation, the facility is described as being something of a model prison for its time.
tinyurl.com/66trlm
Pick up a few more ideas for things to do from Yahoo Travel, where the entries include the Saihati Camel Farm. You might also take a few minutes to browse through “Reviews,” where one visitor notes that the summers are very hot but “the winters make up for it. This is the best weather in the U.S.” Another reviewer complains that the drive from Phoenix is “really boring.”
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Collect a few other opinions from the forum at TripAdvisor, and then hit “Traveler Photos” to see how your fellow amateur photographers remember the area. And in this economy, take time to scan “Yuma Deals” to see if any of the entries have anything you can use to stretch your travel dollar.
yumazone.com
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There’s that river next to the town, so maybe you’ll want to wet a hook. The fishing info page at Yuma Zone has a link to the state Game and Fish Department and brief directions to possible fishing spots including wildlife areas and state recreation areas. The state even provides a blog for fishing in the region.
www.yumabirding.com
Those riverside wildlife areas are great bird habitat. The 2009 Yuma Birding &Nature Festival is coming up in April, with field trips and seminars, and even an art contest.
www.go-arizona.com/yuma
www.ineedahotel.com/hotels/us/az/yuma.html
RVers and campers looking for a spot to park can visit the Yuma section of Go-Arizona for a directory of 28 resorts and parks. And if the motel listings at Visit Yuma didn’t inspire you, a Web site called “i need a hotel” has its own lengthy directory.
tinyurl.com/6zxb2a
Look up more things to see and do along the Colorado at state tourism’s Arizona’s West Coast with a handful of articles of read and links to town information under the “Learn More” heading on the left side of the page.
Associated Press
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