Yuma on Thursday

It is early February and that means it is time for the Southwest Area Geocachers event in Yuma. We have been attending the SWAG event every year since 2013, except 2021 when it was cancelled due to COVID-19. 

Fellow geocacher Sherry (LifeIsGuud) was our co-pilot and ride-along for the 5 days of events. We left Phoenix area after attending a breakfast gathering hosted by four geocachers from Gilby ND. We made one stop before reaching Wellton.

The Naked Date Farm (organic dates, thus 'naked') has become a traditional stop for the SWAG weekend. There were some noticeable changes since our last visit in 2020.

The Naked Date Farm hosts live music on the weekend bringing crowds of several hundred people. The sun shades are a colorful addition.

There is a new entrance to the farm. Date palm fronds have been used to create an interesting fence around the farm yard.

date trees

We timed our arrival for late lunch. BBQ'd pork sandwich for Hubby and 

grilled cheese and bacon with date spread for Sherry and I. YUM!

And date shakes for dessert!

Then it was off to Wellton as some geocaches were calling our names.

Once we got into Yuma we stopped at the AirB&B house we rented and checked it out, unloaded the car, and headed to Winterhaven, a community bordering Yuma in Imperial County CA, for more geocaching.

One of our stops was at the Araz or Pilot Knob settlement. This structure was the station for the Butterfield Overland Stage line until the railroad arrived in 1877. It was an early operation of Wells Fargo and American Express. Butterfield Stage or Butterfield Overland Mail Company had the government contract from September 1857 to June 1861.

Center of the World.US was another intriguing geocaching stop. It is the Felicity exit on I-8. The gate sign said private entrance and admission fee required. We did not have the time to explore, but I did once we got home and I started looking at my photos and began the research. Felicity was established in 1986 and is located in the Sonoran Desert.

The three of us thought it must be a 'compound' of sorts. The church was located on a hill behind the buildings in the photo below. Center of the World.US was started by Frenchman Jacques-André Istel, a French-American recreational parachutist and investment banker and later in life, historian, widely responsible for popularizing parachuting in the United States. He is considered "the father of American skydiving. ~ Wikipedia

He founded a city in southeastern California, which he named Felicity and it is here that he founded the Museum of History in Granite. 

Felicity or Center of the World.US has no political, religious or scientific designation; just one man's dream and money.

Center of the World.US has a very interesting story. This photo taken from the website promo info shows what we could not see from the road or without paying an admission. CHIP (California Highway Patrol) have an office building at Felicity. 

Another stop was at the Veterans Memorial at Fort Yuma-Quechan Reservation. The memorial is on a hill overlooking the Quechuan Casino and is on the grounds of the reservation headquarters. More about Fort Yuma later.

It was dark when we completed the 10 stops for the Imperial County Adventure Lab. A successful first day of geocaching and exploring some new (to us) areas in southwest AZ.