Yuma Living

Living in Yuma has been a sunny experience. Literally. We came from Colorado Springs which boasts in it's amount of annual sunshine days to another town which boasts in it's amount of annual sunshine days. From my research, it appears that Yuma and other parts of AZ truly do have more sunshine days annually than Colorado Springs. I've only missed a couple days when I haven't made it to the pool to soak up sun. On Caleb's days off work he enjoys getting to be at the pool too. Lathering on the high SPF sunscreen has become a daily habit.

The pool has been a fun place to meet more RV park neighbors and to keep running into other regular pool-goers. Americans are the minority in our RV park. Canadians make up most of the residents. It is safe to assume when we meet someone new they are from Canada. These snowbirds come from British Columbia, Alberta, and Saskatchewan. We haven't met a person who hasn't been friendly. It seems easy for anyone to start up a conversation with us, due to the nature of us being most likely the youngest ones in the RV park. We are often asked, "You are too young to be snowbirds. So why are you here?" It's fun to hear people share their stories about having someone in their family or friends who have done travel nursing. It's also fun to listen to them share about different aspects of the Canadian culture. We've heard about how their health insurance works (quite different from the USA) along with other differences from Americans. We've heard stories about their extreme cold temperatures below 0 and long snow-covered winters and understand why they get away to warmth for a few months in the winter. 

One afternoon after talking with a couple at the pool, they invited me to come join them at a "jam session." I went and joined a group of about 15 people (me being the only American) seated in the driveway at one of the homes in the RV park. A tent was set up and three gentlemen were playing music and singing. One guy was playing acoustic guitar, one guy playing an electric guitar, and one guy on the keyboard. It was a fun experience getting to listen to them play and sing together. A few of the ladies jumped up and started doing a polka dance and pulled me up trying to teach me. Polka dances are quite common in Canada for them to grow up learning. These ladies were a hoot! I loved their energy and enthusiasm and I love their Canadian accents. Caleb and I both agree we may end up leaving Yuma in April with a slight Canadian accent. It's quite catchy. "Oh yeah" with a Canadian accent is one of my favorite things to say now.  

Great quality horseshoe pits for us to play on

The RV park has a lot of options for fun activities and amenities. We have gone to BINGO a couple nights. I decided it is not quite my cup of tea. I'm fine if others love it, but it's not for me. I enjoy a nice game of horseshoes though.  Caleb and I have played a couple games, and I foresee more in the future weeks. Another activity we haven't participated in yet is the weekly Wednesday night dances with a live band. We have to make it to at least one before we leave I say! I woke up one morning to make it to the aerobics cardio exercise class that is offered. It was a great workout and my muscles were feeling it for the next couple days. The only negative to the class is it's at 8am and that doesn't work well with the sleeping hours I usually keep. Zumba, Water Aerobics, and Yoga are also offered in the mornings at 8am and 9am different days. 

Caleb is still enjoying his work in the Emergency Room. He said there hasn't been a day yet where it hasn't been busy. From the sound of it, there will never be a day where the waiting room isn't full of patients. The hospital he is working at is a regional hospital. It is the only hospital in town as well as being the only hospital for neighboring towns and cities as well. If any type of emergency or trauma happens in the region, along with all the regular ER visits people make for varying reasons, they all come to this hospital. Life flight helicopters transport patients to a larger hospital in Phoenix (3 hour drive away). It is a common sound to be outside and hear the helicopter in the sky. I feel like I see the life flight helicopter fly over everyday. Many days it flies over multiple times. Construction is taking place now on a multi-story building to house a new larger ER for the hospital. 

It has been a fun experience living in Yuma both on the work front for Caleb and on the relaxing days for both of us. The desert sunsets are beautiful. Most evenings end with a vibrant display of color. Colorado Springs had a large snowstorm last week with over a foot of snow and we said part us of wished we were there for it. We were thinking of all that great skiing and being cozied up at home snow-bound. We are grateful to be having such a great time in Yuma and the opportunity to live a travel nursing lifestyle but it doesn't mean we don't miss beautiful Colorado. We FaceTimed with our Gunnison family tonight and Daniel said, "Do you know what temperature it was here this morning? -15 degrees." Caleb responded that's almost a 100 degree difference from them and us here in Yuma. How bizarre! We have made it to the 80s and are predicted to even hit a couple days at 90 degrees next week in Yuma. 


This coming week we are heading to Tucson, Arizona for exploring and fun. We love how Caleb's work schedule allows for him to be off multiple days in a row so we have time to travel. My Aunt Jane and Uncle Steve come from Maine to live in Sun City for part of the winter. Aunt Jane sent us a lot of great ideas for places to visit around Tucson and we hope to get to a lot of them. One being the Saguaro National Park! Pictures of saguaro cacti will be covering the blog next week.  I leave you with this sign which was posted on the RV park bulletin board. Now I have a legitimate reason to scan the ground everywhere I walk and listen closely for a rattle sound (which I was already doing, especially at night).