In Yuma we stayed at Uncle Jim and Aunt Sandy’s place. I knew that living in South Florida we had some unique architecture – but I was unprepared for the uniqueness of Arizona. It was REALLY cool.

The night we got there we had some of Uncle Jim’s homemade chili. That morning we got the grand tour of their house and then went to a local restaurant for breakfast. I had some kind of funky breakfast burrito that was REALLY GOOD.

Jim and Sandy’s place.

After that we went back and got on the quads to go surprise Uncle George & Aunt Margaret. Aunt Margaret is my Grandpa’s sister.

Uncle Jim did not tell Aunt Margaret who was coming. Dad was bummed because that meant she wouldn’t be serving us some awesome homemade desserts. (Not to worry …)

Uncle George and I talking trains.

Needless to say, Aunt Margaret was quite surprised to see her nephew. She didn’t recognize me though, and said the last time she remembered seeing me was my wedding day – over 10 years ago. Wow.

Dad with Aunt Margaret.

All four of us.

We sat on the porch and chatted for quite awhile. I learned a lot of interesting family history – especially about her dad (my great-grandfather.) After we got back in the truck I opened my laptop and quickly typed up everything I could remember. Pretty cool.

Well, we didn’t leave empty-handed. Aunt Margaret had just baked a batch of cookies – and by the size of the bag I am guessing she gave us pretty much the whole batch. So dad didn’t leave disappointed.

Mmmm. Homemade cookies.

We took a detour back to Uncle Jim’s on the quads – through some dry creek beds and dunes.

Riding quads. Saw a lot of quail.

After we got back we spent a while packing up and picking fruit. We got navel oranges, tangelos, and ruby red grapefruit.

Jim showed us his turtles. What kind of turtles are these Jim? (type in the comments below)

After we were all loaded up we said our goodbyes and took some last moment pictures.

Thanks for all the fun in Yuma! We’ll be back.

Soon we were on the road headed towards El Paso. With fresh fruit and a huge bag of homemade cookies, we were set to head out across the Arizona and New Mexico desert. There were trains everywhere.

I promise these will be my last train pics …

I apologize in advance to anyone from Gila Bend, AZ. That town was one of the most depressing places I have ever been to. But apparently someone there likes it:

To be fair, they did have a hotel (sign) that grabbed my attention:

We refueled in Gila Bend. Before we took off we stopped at Dairy Queen and got some ice cream. Dad really enjoyed his:

He didn’t know I was taking this.

Oops! I guess he did.

After Gila Bend, Arizona we went across some more dramatic landscape:

The sun was starting to go down so we stopped and did a quick refuel for the final stretch to El Paso.

Straight up gangsta.

Shortly after this we were in New Mexico in time to enjoy a dramatic and colorful New Mexican sunset. I am not sure if the pic below captures the full splendor, but it’s pretty close.

The sun went down. The sky went dark. Soon we ended up in El Paso, Texas where we checked into a hotel and quickly fell asleep.

Tomorrow: El Paso to Dallas to Jacksonville (Texas, not Florida)

Road Trip Links:

• Road Trip: Washington Arrival
• Road Trip Day 1: Shelton to Fresno
• Road Trip Day 2: Fresno to Yuma via Tehachapi
• Road Trip Day 3: Yuma, AZ to El Paso, Texas (You are here)
• Road Trip Day 4: El Paso to Jacksonville, Texas
• Road Trip Day 5: Jacksonville, Texas to Nacogdoches, Texas to Memphis, Tennessee
• Road Trip Day 6 (Part1): Graceland
• Road Trip Day 6 (Part2): Nashville, Tennessee
• Road Trip Day 7: The Road Home