Friday, February 18, 2022
Parking My Minnie Winnie in Yuma, AZ
I’m staying a few days parked near my hiking and backpacking buddy, Jan. She snowbirds on long weekends here all the way from Wyoming! Well, I guess that’s not too far to go considering there are a ton of people here from Canada! Last winter season was a lot more quiet due to Covid restrictions but this year they have “flocked” back south to enjoy the AZ sun and warmth.
I gotta tell you the story of how I met Jan.
A Little Background Before You Meet Jan
My divorce was finalized in 2015and I was ready for a fresh start. I waited a few years for my kids became adults and could live on their own so I could make my move. Fall of 2019 they were ready and I could be a free roaming parent!
I was working remote out of the Bay Area, when mom and her husband in Arizona offered to let me stay with them until I got my shit together. It was a huge relief! I didn’t need to find housing right away. I was undecisive to where I’d live after selling my home in 2019 in California.
Yet things took a turn for the bad. November 2019 I lost my job at the cool startup I was at for 2 years.
Then my world really fell apart. My loyal, trusty, amazing hiking partner Maggy dog was diagnosed with cancer in early 2020. She was 14, so had already lived a full life, for a dog. But I still tried to cure her. The treatments didn’t work and I had to put her down February 15, 2020. The very next day I impulsively did something that changed my life forever!
Meet Jan, the Woman Who Got Me Backpacking
At the time I met Jan I had already begun to obsessively hike; I had to get on trail to keep me fit mentally and physically. I joined an all women’s forum to be part of a community that I felt would support me and I them.
The day after I put my dog down I was too heavyhearted to think. I took social media and hiking forums to keep my mind off negative thoughts. This is when I saw the entry from Jan.
“Does anyone want to do the AZT with me?“
My fingers seemed to have had a mind of their own in that moment and I typed back “I will!” I had no clue what the AZT was but figured it was a trail in Arizona.
After my response to Jan, I researched what the AZT. It’s the Arizona Trail. An 800 mile trek from Mexico to Utah through the deserts and forests of Arizona!
More about the AZT at AZT.org
Oh! Wow! I was glad I told her I’d go!
This was going to be exciting!
Nothing like a physical struggle to get your mind off of lossing your job, your dog and not having a home of my own.
Keep in mind, I didn’t know this woman and she didn’t know me but later we reflected on the fact that we both trusted our guts that the person on the other end was not out to harm.
Three weeks later and a frenzy of buying all my backpacking gear, since I had never backpacked, we met in Tuscon, AZ to start our trek north to Utah.
The trip lasted 76 out of the 800 miles when the Covid pandemic hit and we decided to go home to our families.
Jan holds a special place in my heart. She’s the person that got me into backpacking and I will forever hold her close.
Back to Yuma
Fast forward a couple of years and Covid is backing off. Jan and her husband snowbird intermittedly in Yuma Arizona. Me and Minnie Rambles happened to be in Lake Havasu at the time they decided to head down. So I headed down to meet her.
Visiting Yuma Territorial Prison Park
We had one thing on our mind – HIKING!
But the day I arrived it was too late in the day to start a hike so we decided to hit the Yuma Territorial Prison. I’m not a very good tour guide so if you’d like more info head over to their website for all the info.
I’m not usually a touristy type of traveler; I don’t “do” museums or historical monuments unless they involve being outdoors or are about the outdoors. But my mom had recommended visiting the Yuma Territorial Prison Park a while back and we have very similar taste in activities. (Mom was the one that nurtured my love for the outdoors.)
Jan asked what I wanted to do while in Yuma and I told her I wanted to check out the prison, she was onboard!
The admission at the time of this publishing is $8 for adults. You get a self guided, glossy sheet to follow the numbers at each station. We meandered for a couple of hours taking in the feel of what it would have been like to live here as an inmate.
I have to say, I was really impressed with the information and the presentation of the history of this establishment. I felt I went back in time to get to know some of the inmates and the time era.
