Yesterday we were happy to see friends from Boise, Andy and his wife Julie, who were spending several weeks in Yuma. We were glad they made contact! We have been so busy enjoying all the activities in the RV resort (line dancing, biking, zumba, golf, happy hour, bocci ball, pickle ball, hot tub, visiting etc.) that we have hardly left the park.

Today we decided it was time to get out and explore a bit. What better destination than the Center of the World!

We fueled up in Yuma (happily at $1.85 per gallon) and headed west on I-8 into California. Along the way we saw other RVers who chose to forgo all the RV park activities, conveniences and expense to just hang out in the desert.

Fortunately, Randy and I agree that this form of RVing is of no interest to us whatsoever!

You may remember that last July we saw the the Center of the Universe plaque in Wallace, Idaho.

Just 1345.9 miles south of there, we came to the Center of the World Plaza in the very small town of Felicity, California.

Based on the children’s book Coe the Good Dragon at the Center of the World published in French and English in 1985, the Supervisors of Imperial County, California designated this site, by law, as The Center of the World.

Inside this pyramid is the marker.

We were given a certificate acknowledging our presence at the Center of the World.

There are a variety of other interesting things at the plaza.

First we came upon a sundial depicting the “Arm of God” from “The Creation” painted by Michelangelo in the Sistine Chapel in Rome.

The Arm of God points to the Chapel on the Hill, used for special events and services.

These stairs were part of the Eiffel Tower in Paris, built in 1869. Over the years the weight of iron stairs caused the tower to sway and five hundred feet of stairs, from the second level to the top, were replaced with lighter stairs in 1983. Twenty sections were removed. This was section twelve and was climbed by many millions of visitors to the tower from 1869 to 1983.

The History in Granite Museum is also on the same site! This is a work in progress but it is amazing.

There are large granite panels formed into long presentations depicting many aspects of history including  the histories of California, Arizona, the United States and the French Foreign Legion (The owners are French).

There is a Korean War Memorial – We hadn’t known that over 4000 US Marines were killed in the Korean War.  Their names are all inscribed here – similar to the Vietnam Memorial in Washington DC.

The work in progress is The History of Humanity. All of the granite walls are in place – it is the carvings that still need to be completed.

We didn’t expect anything this cool at the Center of the World!

A few more miles into California we came to Imperial Sand Dunes Recreation Area. This is an off road vehicle paradise but we just used our 4 feet and our 4 paws to climb a few dunes.

It was a fun day – maybe we can drag ourself away from the park again sometime soon.

It is also a sad day because cousin Audrey, the person who invited us to come have fun in her park, passed away today in Washington state.   We know why you enjoyed spending your winters here, Audrey.  Your Yuma friends, and we, will miss you.