California!!

We are celebrating our eighth and final state.  We left Parker, Arizona at 7 am in order to enjoy the ride before the heat arrived.  As we had only 50 miles, we arrived in Blythe, California about noon.  The ride today was flat, a nice change, as we traveled through the Colorado River valley and the Colorado River Indian Tribes reservation.  The valley is one of the few irrigated areas of Arizona, a legacy of the internment camp for Japanese-Americans.  With approximately 17,000 internees, a water source was needed, and the irrigation system developed from that initial diversion.

What a difference water makes.

Tribal symbols 

Only a few buildings from the camp remain.  The camp, the largest in terms of area, was built on tribal land. The tribes opposed the idea, but the Bureau of Indian Affairs intervened.  After the camps were closed, the tribes were able to utilize the remaining infrastructure.

Poston Memorial Monument, erected in 1992

California, Here We Are!