How About This Heat...?

Sometimes I wonder what we’re thinking. South Dakota in the winter and now Arizona in the summer. Our latest adventure led us into the blistering desert on the outskirts of Yuma. I was a bit apprehensive of heading into the desert in triple degree heat, but with plenty of water and, amazingly enough, cell phone reception I bravely followed Robert to Tumco. Tumco – The United Mining Company – is just off S34 on the way to Blythe and about 9-miles north of I-8. Tumco was originally called Hedges and was established with the discovery of gold in the 1880s. At its heyday the town was home to more than 3,000 people. Now it’s a ghost town and hardly a shadow is left of its former glory, but it’s still an interesting place to explore, especially with my new metal detector Robert got me for my birthday!

We headed out Saturday morning and arrived in Tumco about 10am, just in time for the heat of the day. There was lots of scrap metal, tin cans, and wire lying around so the metal detector was constantly beeping. Our first find was a Hamm’s beer can buried in the sand! We explored for about 3-hours, but found nothing of any great monetary value. For us, though, the hunt was what we came for and what we found the most fun in.

We stayed the night in Yuma at the Knight’s Inn Motel. The next day we toured Yuma’s Territorial State Prison and the Yuma Quartermaster Depot. Another hot day, but since Robert has never been to Yuma and I haven’t been in almost 15-years, we wanted to spend some time sight-seeing. Originally, we had planned to go camping at Great Basin National Park, but with my school commitments we just didn’t have the time to drive the 12-hours to the park. However, I think this weekend was just as fun if not better. Actually, I think it was perfect.

Metal detecting in Tumco

Sightseeing at Yuma Territorial Prison

Playing on the sand dunes at Imperial Dunes Recreation Area east of El Centro