After spending the past 16 years with the Army in DC, they've offered me a new position in Yuma Arizona. Until our house in MD, sells my wife and kids will stay behind and I will likely be living in the barracks on base. I'm determined to figure out a way to disassemble my harley and stuff it into my civic for the trip along with my suddenly smaller amount of worldly possesions. The key things for me to find out from folks on here that are familiar with the area are some local bike/car shops as well as if there are any garage spaces for rent. I'm going to have to leave behind quite a bit of my tools for the time being and the base is pretty strict about not storing or working on "projects". Any insights would be great.
Wow, hate to see you move. I know you've been a lot of help to quite a few folks in this part of the country. Sure wish you the best of good fortune out there. I know there must be lots of great, dry, rust-free stuff to play with in Az. Good luck................Don.
Yeah, there will be some new toys in the very near future. A buddy dropped off several auction listings for stuff near there. Made me salivate. It does get me over still being upset about selling my Model A.
You've picked a good time of year to move to Yuma! I left there after the summer of '95' when the all time high of 124 happened! I still hang out there, as my buddy is the manager of the city water plant. I'm not sure about storage garage's, but there is lot's of storage lots in the area due to the "Snowbird" population and all the RV's. I used to do off-road stuff, so the only mechanic shop I know of is ORB (off road buggy). Dick should be able to help you find the Harley guys.
yikes - one extreme location to the another - make good A/C priority in living quarters for Family. since you likely will not be able to get to a possibly temporary storage/shop on daily basis may want to rent at a regular storage facility for a while. try looking at AA Val-U-Store near main Airport. also, check out Jim's Rod Shop and Bobby's Territorial HD shop for starters. have fun
A few simple rules: 1. If the sun is out, dont touch metal 2. Get a quad or side by side, the dunes are close and fun 3. Learn some Spanish 4. Make sure your A/C works in all the cars 5. Sell snow tires, chains, sno blowers, and most of your winter coats BEFORE you move, you cant sell them in Yuma 6. It's a LOOOONG way to everywhere from Yuma It should be fun.
Yuma is one dem places that has two populations . First , theres the folks that actually "Live there ". Second , there's the folks that come there about late september an only stay there until mabye April. scrubba
Wait.......you're not telling me it's going to be hot are you? It should definitely be an interesting change. I'm looking forward to it. Everyone tells me rust free desert cars are addictive.
Yuma is nice. Life is a little slower down there. it's 3 hours drive west to San Diego, and east ot Phoenix. There's a lake down there that is supposed to be one of the best kept secrets in AZ (lake Martinez).
My inlaws live in San Diego and my brother inlaw lives in Scottsdale and we drive through Yuma when we go out to visit, the most I know about it is that there is a Burger King there and it doesn't take long to pass through. Hope things work out for out there and yes, it gets hot.
Get a little hitch for your Civic and one of those small motorcycle trailers and tow the Harley - Don't take it all apart and cram it inside! That way you hit the ground riding when you get there!
I'll keep my oppinions of Yuma as a nothingness dirthole to myself They do have a couple good car shows there each year. Yes its hot, REAL HOT, but winters there are great, no in between. Our summer just ended this week. Close drive to get cheap stuff (health care, meds, work done) in Mexico.
Yuma is the last place I would move to especially take my kids to... best thing about Yuma is it only takes 5 minutes to drive thru it.....
Wow....you are in LUCK!!!! Take it from a retired Marine...Yuma is HOME. Great smaller town, loves service folks, plenty of HAMB-type gear heads. I have a 6-month love affair with Yuma every year and will soon be there,,.(we live in Montana in the summer and Yuma in the winter.) Look me up...I can help you in lots of ways....storage, projects, hot rods, etc. Russ V.
Yuma is a short 3 hour drive to San Diego and 5 hours or so to Vegas. I was in Sierra Vista for the last 5 years before moving back to MN. Yuma is Hotter than SV. There are quite a few people that head over to Yuma for the sand dunes. You can probably add selling your lawn mover to the list unless you are lucky enough to find a place with a yard. Good luck with the move and thanks for your service.
Don't let the Yuma Haters get you down. I lived there for 40 years, and have seen it grow from 20k to 80k+. A great place to live and raise your kids. I went to HS and JC there, then came back after NAU to work. Retired now and living in the Sedona area. Yuma is Hotter than Hell in the summer, you will be miserable without a pool. Try to rent/buy a home with one. Buy yourself a Boat and/or a Jet Ski and hit the river. Only minutes from town, launch from Fishers landing (free) or Squaw lake (CA) $10 You will have to check the classifieds for a garage where you can work on your cars/bike. Nothing formal out there, as mentioned there are lots of empty lots that snowbirds rent in the winter. Mostly in the foothills area. Jims H/D near 3E is probably the best of the bike shops. Any Q?s let me know. Curly
My wife and I live in Yuma. It is a great place to live especially this time of year and it is within driving distance to many car shows/events in Southern California without having to live in California. Life is very quiet here but there is always something to do if you enjoy the out doors. And during the summers the ocean is only 3 hours away. I know there is a hobby shop at MCAS Yuma but I am not sure about the Proving Grounds depending on where you are stationed. What year is the Harley? Feel free to contact me when you come to town. I am a motorcycle guy too. There are some great guys here.
I'm assuming there is a hobby shop at YPG considering the size of the installation but at the barracks they haven't confirmed if they will allow me to have two vehicles(even if they fit in one spot). It'll be bad enough being the homesick old-guy. Since I'll be working 4-10's(Mon-Thur) I'll have time to find a small rental space to work on whatever and start scrounging parts to put another rod together. I'm supposed to drive out during thanksgiving so I'll get in touch after I'm out there.
Moving to a new place can be a pretty exciting adventure. When my kids were young we moved around the country a bit and all of us enjoyed the new things we experienced. That is the key, you and the Mrs. have to be on the same page witlh respect of how you sell it to your kids, otherwise they will probably see moving as a negative. The older the kids are the tougher the sell is because when they get in their teens they have established friends, GF and BF, etc. The other thing you need to consider is how are homes selling in your area, ie, will you and the family be separated for only a short time or a long time. I never liked being away from the family at all, so we all moved at the same time. Not trying to make your decision to take the new position harder, just suggesting that with the housing market situation in most places it might be a little while before it sells. As for the heat in AZ, Florida is similar in the respect we suffer through the Summer just to get to the great weather we have from Mid October to April or May. You are also going to find it very dry there, which is great for car bodies, but can be tough on our bodies.......skin and nasal passages dry out a little, from what people have told me. Finally, I agree about the trailer behind the Civic to move not only the bike but more of your belongings too. I had an Accord and we towed a lot of car bodies and almost complete cars from places like Georgia and the Florida panhandle with no problems at all. Hope you enjoy your new home and thank you for your 16 years. Don This was towed from Pensacola to Ft Myers behind my Accord, so was an almost complete 39 Dodge pickup.
There are lots of storage places in Yuma. I used to rent 2 big ones out in the foothills. The one I rented at was a small place on Fortuna Rd. There is a couple who live on premises. They were around $80 a month, if I remember right and big enough to house a 58 cadillac. I have lived here this time since 2001. I lived here for 2 years when I was in high school and hated it. This time around I actually kind of like it. There is A LOT more here now than there used to be. I like that it has a small town vibe, but is only a couple hours away from several big cities.
Hurry up and you can go to one of the best bike runs around. http://www.rockypointrally.net/ been 5 years since I was there, but it is great
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