To The Valley Of Names

If you've ever been around these parts of the country you might have heard about "The Valley of Names". We did know about it, but never went to see it. Our camper neighbours, who had actually moved from the Hot Springs to the Valley of Names had invited us to come and visit the area and even offered a terrain ride with their ATV.

So today we piled into the van and drove east on the I-8 towards Yuma.

So what is "The Valley of Names" and how did it get this name?

For over seventy years, people have been driving out in their RVs to a remote desert area near the city of Yuma, Arizona to write their names and leave messages on the desert floor. Unlike regular graffiti that is hurtful to the environment, at Valley of Names messages are spelled out by carefully arranging rocks and small boulders in the hard-packed white sand.

Even dogs are remembered here

The practice probably began during the Second World War when U.S. Army General George Patton brought his soldiers to this flat rocky area to train. This training camp, known as the Desert Training Center, was the largest military training ground in the history of military maneuvers. The camp grounds stretched from the outskirts of Pomona, California to within 50 miles of Phoenix, Arizona, and from the suburbs of Yuma to the southern tip of Nevada.

While this was the beginning, it has continued, and still is to this day. The total area is approx. 35 acres or more.

But if you want to see it, there is a price to pay. From Winterhaven you drive north on a worn-down paved farm road, which eventually gets you to the unpaved and terribly washboardy Picacho Road. For approx 5 miles you have to endure the rough drive until you see a huge powerline crossing the road. Right there is a turn-off in north-westerly direction. It gets you right into the names-area. These names were put there on the desert floor partly to commemorate people who have passed away, partly just to leave visitors names. The area makes you think of a cemetary, a place of worship. The rocks used for writing names or making frames around them have mostly been transported in from outlying areas. As the practice lives on, the area will be growing in size.

Our friends had set up camp in a low lying area with some nice trees around. Even though it was very windy, we all sat outside protected from the fierce wind by Tim's cargo trailer. 

These incredibly nice folks had prepared hamburgers, cooked on a smoker BBQ. They were super delicious and we enjoyed the company. A truly delightful afternoon! 

Prior to having the food, we had gone out with their Side-by-sides driving around in this truly amazing display of names. Dixie was glad to see her friends again and hung around the burger delicacies, and when Kathy started to give her nice treats she wouldn't move away from Kathy.

And while we others were on the ATV ride, we left Dixie in Kathy's care, which actually was the first time ever that Dixie stayed back with someone else. Initially, Dixie hadn't been happy to be left behind but all went well in the end. And when we returned she was overjoyed to see us come back.