A Visit to the Center of the World!

Still in Yuma...Site:134    Highs: Low 60's   Lows: high 30's to low 40's

When we heard a winter storm was going to sock most of the northern US this week, we consulted all our 3-4 of our weather apps (they differ wildly in AZ, we're not sure why), as we were scheduled to leave this week. We saw that our last Cottonwood, AZ visit-- near Sedona was going to get 6" of snow, and the temps at night were going to be in the low twenties. That's even too cold for Sparky and too risky to travel through the high winds and bad weather in the mountains to get there. Besides that, in the next couple of days, a wild windy weather pattern was calling for 50-60 mph in Cottonwood, and being situated near the top of the park was a concern, because the the winds sweeping across the mountains and the mesa table top at the park where we were supposed to be, meant significant swaying and movement of the RV.  So-o-o-o, we decided to add another week to our Yuma stay, and skip Cottonwood as hiking would be out of the question as well with the snow in Sedona and higher elevations. Phooey! But---there's always next year. Sparky wants to hike the Boynton Canyon Trail....it's on her bucket list. But at 6.1 miles, this is a significantly difficult hike for someone her age, so we'll see. (SPARKY said that? asks an incredulous Eldo.) Yep, she does have her limitations and is starting to accept that.  (THUMP!) That's Eldo falling on the floor in shock. 

This part of the Boynton Canyon hike is called Subway Cave and is the most difficult part of the hike to get there. There are many other beautiful hikes in Sedona, so if this one is out of reach, she will try for another. BUT--maybe her adventurous brother, Charlie, would be up for this hike--he did the Ironman at age 65 this year!

Subway Cave

So our remaining time in AZ was spent visiting friends the first day we got here, Denise and Shane Selby, who were leaving the next day. We checked out an interesting outdoor museum called the Museum of History in Granite at the Center of the World, checked out some of the beautiful art installations all over Yuma, and met with more RVing friends at the end of our stay in Yuma. We met them in Maine two summers ago. George and Lynn Venezia spend a long period of time here in Yuma for the winter so it was great to see them again!

The Museum of History in Granite is an outdoor museum of  granite panels made from Missouri red granite located just over the California border in the very small town of Felicity, CA, exit 164 off of I-8. Not only is the cool granite installation of the world's history here, but also the "official center of the world" as proclaimed by Imperial County, CA, and Jacques-Andre Istel-the founder-and his former native country of France. 

standing on the center of the world!

The center of the world can be anywhere since our world is spherical, but it was fun to stand on the "official" spot, get your photo taken and receive a certificate that says you visited the pyramid and stood at the "official center of the world". Then you head out to the courtyard of monuments. A great guide, Ms. Baptiste, was very informative and enthusiastic, and filled Sparky in on some interesting facts about the founder and his compound. 

The pyramid with the sweet center spot

Jacques has a great background story. He and his family escaped the Nazis and landed in New York. From there, Jacques grew up and traveled the country, becoming a young successful entrepreneur and avid parachutist. He is renowned as the "father of American skydiving". He invented safer ways to jump and safety mechanisms for the chute and started his own parachuting company. He served in the US Marines during the Korean War. At some point, he chose the Sonoran Desert location between Yuma and San Diego to start a little town called Felicity, population 2, himself and his wife. He had a vision. He was going to perpetuate history with a series of triangular granite monuments and attract attention to his vision by proclaiming his place "The Center of the World". With his successful background and perseverance, he almost singlehandedly built this compound into the weird and unusual tourist attraction it is today. 

There are 20 triangular slabs of granite, with 700+ professionally engraved panels, with over 1,000 illustrations that are hand etched and each monument is over 100 feet long. They are arranged in a compass rose with a multilingual Rosetta Stone in the center.  A great guide at the museum said that the etchings are done by a single artist who has been with Istel for over 30 years, and the lettering is done by hand by another single artist. After etchings, the stone is painted or sort of white washed, to make the lettering and illustrations "pop". The painting has to be redone after so many years due to the relentless desert sun.

The choices of what is engraved on them, the bits of history were all chosen by Monsieur Istel. He researched extensively and chose some odd ones along with the basics, starting with the "Big Bang" and went from there, combining human accomplishments and traditional history with a bit of silliness and oddball facts. He also included some French history--the Foreign Legion and the history of French aviation. He's got Vincent Van Gogh's "The Starry Night", Sandra Day O'Connor, first woman on the Supreme Court, the first game of polo, the origin of the hamburger, and on the American History monument, he has the safety pin listed FIRST--before the airplane and the computer. George Washington is remembered for his taste in beer! Culture is almost as important as factual dates and historical events.

There is a quote from Julia Childs, famous chef--"If you are afraid of butter, use cream." Lest you think this is all just silly historical nonsense, it is not. There is an amazing progression of important information, facts, and valuable history, truly a treasure trove for future millennium.

from the church doorway

On the site is also a church high up on a manmade trapezoidal hill that is 35 feet high. It's a beautiful little church. Remarkable, because Jacques was not religious, and his mother was Jewish. He doesn't really know why he built the church, he just thought it was needed. 

inside the chapel

At the top of the church hill, you can see the layout of the compound below.

There is a piece of French culture sculpture there, too. A staircase that leads to nowhere. It's from the Eiffel Tower, a set of original iron steps! Over time the heavy iron steps caused the tower to sway, so they were replaced. The original steps were cut into 20 portions, auctioned off and Mr. Istel purchased a portion and placed it at Felicity. 

There is a Maze of Honor separate from the monuments. It's a granite walkable labyrinth that you can put your own historical remembrance with an illustration and backstory on a 12" X 12" piece of black granite for the cost of 1,000 dollars, but it will be there for eternity or somewhere close to it.

You have to remember that Jacques Istel is an amateur historian, but the immensity of this project leaves you with an admiration of his achievement and his vision. Some people might call that a bit of eccentricity, but who knows? Several thousand years from now, this place will still be standing and a glimpse into what passed before in a condensed version, will be there for someone to ponder and wonder--a"modern" day time capsule.

We highly recommend visiting this cool place. It's a little bit weird, a little bit touristy, but a whole lot of interesting to view one man's vision. It makes you wonder....What would you have included? What was left out and why? Why did he pick this event and not that? 

See you down the road....one last stop in Yuma to see some terrific art and a trip to the Prison Brewery and the famous Lutes.