Bill & Teresa's Excellent Adventure: 3) The 3:10 to Yuma

     This blog title has nothing to do with the time we left for Yuma. It just seemed a fun way to give readers a ballpark idea of where were going next. For those who don't know, "The 3:10 to Yuma" was first a 1957 movie starring Glen Ford and later a 2007 re-make starring Russell Crow ("Gladiator") and Christian Bale ("Vice".)
     But, I'm getting ahead of myself. Before T & I ever left Tombstone we met a great couple from California.

Mischa & Jennifer Mayfield

     We met Mischa and Jennifer Mayfield at our hotel in Tombstone. Before we knew it, we unintentionally met up with them again for supper at Tombstone's #1 restaurant Big Nose Kate's Saloon. On a side note, Tombstone really needs to ramp up its food game, especially if Big Nose's place is #1... Whew, not too good.
     Bottom line is Mischa works/worked as a locomotive mechanic. Jennifer works/worked for Hewlett Packard. Needless to say, we enjoyed our visit A LOT MORE than our food. I asked important questions like "What happened to the caboose" and "If an engine is going backwards, is it still pushing or pulling the train?" The answers are, the caboose is still exists but not as necessary as engineers now have restrooms inside the big engines and yes... an engine going forward or backwards is still pushing or pulling the train. We both left Tombstone the next day. They went north. We went west.

Da' Boyz/Yuma, AZ

     I'll get to our absolutely spectacular dinner experience in a paragraph or two. But first, the drive to Yuma is/was BRUTAL.
     Driving out of Tombstone is actually quite pretty thanks to the Saguaro National Park. The cacti are truly phenomenal. Check out https://www.nps.gov/sagu/index.htm.
     But after that... oh my. We had to cross a mountain range that included signs like: 'Turn off A/C so not to overheat.' If that wasn't enough they had 'Radiator water barrels' about every two or three miles. Once we were on the other side and made a pit stop, we were very grateful we didn't need gas.

Gas in the Sonoran Desert

   
     Yep, you're seeing right. Cheap gas somewhere in the Sonoran Desert was $4.19 per gallon. Thank goodness, all we wanted was a restroom and some bottled water!
     Once we were out of the desert and cruising west toward Yuma the scene changed from rugged and rocky to flat, green and purple. We didn't know what we were seeing. Simultaneously, we kept seeing big white buses. All of them were hauling two porta-potties.
     First, we figured out the green and purple. Then, we passed close enough to a bus to read the small print.
     The green and purple were different kinds of leafy greens/vegetables. LETTUCE!! Teresa googled the area. Turns out, the Yuma valley produces 95% of the leafy vegetables we eat in the winter.
     The sign on the side of the white buses read: "Field Workers Transport." The buses were used to haul workers to and from the many, many produce fields.

     Now to that surprisingly great dinner and a movie in historic downtown Yuma. We walked to a place called Da' Boyz, an Italian place in the historic district which runs as perpendicular as it can from the winding Colorado river.
    There's a restaurant expression that goes: Everybody eats first with their eyes. The cliche' is, 'My eyes were bigger than my stomach.' We definitely ate first with our eyes, but not in the over-stuffed kind of way.
    But first, our drinks. It's so nice to have choices. Teresa ordered a white wine. The house was C.K. Mondavi. We'd never heard of it. Unfortunately now, we can't find it. It was crisp and so mild. There was absolutely no hint of that twangy after taste. I told the waiter that I'd like a draft beer.
Me: "I'm a pilsner guy preferably with a low ABV (Alcohol by Volume.)"
Waiter: "Sir, we have 21-beers on tap."
Me: "Ok, just pick one that you think I'll like."
     I have no idea what beer I had but cold, creamy and light like water would be a good description.

     Now to eating with our eyes. We watched table after table gets these big salad bowls. Each one came with multiple plates and big tongs.
Us: "What's that?"
Waiter: "Oh, that's our house garden salad. That's the small."
Us: "That's the small?!!! We'll take one, please."
     Talk about plain and perfect! I think it was $6.99 but enough crunchy iceberg mixed with shaved carrots and pepperocinis for at least five, much less just the two of us. My bleu cheese dressing was thick enough to spread.
    Next, absolutely perfect lasagna. I have no idea how they made this plain dish so perfect but they did. It was the kind of lasagna that after eating all the big stuff... pinches of the fresh bread were in order to swab up any sauce. The morsels of beef and sausage had that taste that had us wanting more, but completely satisfied.
     Yuma, Arizona... who knew? Great Italian food. Combine the food, the service, the portions, the price with our seats on the patio and Da' Boyz gets a minimum of two thumbs up!
     We decided to stop at the downtown movie-plex for a flick after our feast. We saw Clint Eastwood's new one, "The Mule." Sorry, but I can't enthusiastically recommend it. I'd watch it again for free, but I wouldn't pay for it.

     Next stop, Oceanside California. SoCal! Jack & Allison, surfers, sand, sea lions and a really good bakery.

Bill Robertson