Cleared up – More People
24 01 2010The rains let up, and I got a chance to break the cabin fever and go out for a walk.
There are a lot more people out here on the Yuma LTVA than when I got here. More RVs in circles and small bunches. Lots of different kinds, too – everything from little “burro” style trailers to cabover campers to big fifth wheels (like mine) to $120,000 and up class A diesel pushers.
And they’re from a lot of places – I like wandering and looking at the license plates to see where folks are from. Almost all of the western states are represented, and the western Canadian provinces, too. California, of course – Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, Colorado, South Dakota and Utah (besides self) are all here, as are British Columbia and Alberta. From further east, I’ve seen Illinois, Texas, Tennessee and Ontario.
Conspicuously missing are Nevada, New York and Florida. Florida’s already warm, so they probably have no point in moving. Probably true of Nevada, too, but it’s not warm enough for me. New York has a large enough population that you would think there would be some representation, but I don’t know – maybe they’re all going down to Florida.
ALSO CONSPICUOUSLY MISSING are any Mexican plates, despite our proximity to the border. RVing doesn’t seem to be in the Mexican culture, although there are several parks down there to accommodate US and Canadian gringos wintering over. Camping in general doesn’t seem to be in the culture, in fact – something about fear of ‘bad air’ in the night. I remember taking a ferry between Cabo San Lucas and Puerto Vallarta one year – all of the Mexicans were either in cabins or bunched together in bus-station seats arranged under a covered deck. All of the gringo European, American, and Canadian passengers were on the top uncovered decks, many pitching tents, many standing on the rails with the wind in their faces.
A striking cultural difference, to be sure.
