Kool Corner - Yuma, Arizona

We spent the middle part of February boondocking on Bureau of Land Management (BLM) land just north of Yuma, AZ at a place known as Kool Corner. We took walks, visited with friends, shared meals with our neighbors and ate lots of lettuce. If the center part of the country is known as America's bread basket, this area must be it's salad bowl. It's incredible how fast the vegetables grow, are harvested and almost immediately a new crop is planted. This is amazing as the annual rainfall is only about 3 inches. Water for the crops is supplied by an extensive network of canals connected to the Colorado River. Yuma has the reputation of being one of the sunniest places in the country with over 330 bright days each year. Quite a difference from central New York, where it seems there are over 330 cloudy, dreary days annually. Well, maybe not that many, it just seemed like it. Almost every day was blue sky and sunshine, (we haven't gotten tired of that yet) but we did get one unusual heavy rain. We didn't plan for this and ended up with a moat around our door. Careful placing of some large rocks, provided some stepping stones to get to dry land.

Our spot at Kool Corner overlooking the valley.

This hummingbird was a common visitor.

Hard working laborers picking broccoli. Yum!

Patches of red and green lettuce makes an interesting pattern in this field.

Baby greens are picked by a machine that looks like a giant vacuum cleaner. It cuts off the small leaves and sucks them up.