Top o' the Mornin' from Dateland, AZ!

Run Stats:

Day: 541

Miles Completed: 1878.4

MIles to San Diego: 221.6

Avg Miles/Day: 3.5

Marathons Completed: 71.7

Longest Run Streak: 16 days

Shoes: Skora Fit/Skora Tempo

Playlist Favs: Beatles & Broadway Week

Bible Verse of the Day: "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls." Matthew 11:28-29 NIV

Run Reflections: Hello from the virtual road! I'm still traveling west along I-8 and have reached the town of Dateland, AZ! It's been a good running week and I was able to keep the running streak going despite the tropical storm. I did have to run in the rain one day and had another where I was puddle jumping but it really wasn't too bad. After completing my run this morning, I've set a new run streak record of 16 days. It's been interesting running on tired legs every day and trying to adjust to the heat. Today's run was better because I backed off a little on the pace. Info on Dateland for this post came from wikipedia and a web site with a history of Dateland.

Dateland, AZ: Established in the early 1920's, Dateland was originally a water stop along the railroad lines. Located in the desert just north of the Mexico border on I-8 between Yuma and Phoenix, Dateland was a welcome site to weary travelers during the hot summer. Dateland's irrigation pond substituted as a swimming pool on a regular basis to travelers who would dive in clothes and all.

During the 1940's, Dateland was the site for two of General Patton's desert training camps, Camp Horn and Camp Hyder. In addition, in 1942, three airstrips were built in Dateland for training B-52 bombers. The buildings that were built for the airstrip were later used as part of an Italian internment camp. Because of the hot desert environment, the military still uses Dateland for periodic training for troops heading to Iraq and/or Afghanistan.

At one time, there was a hot springs located in Aqua Caliente (where else would the hot springs be?), just a few miles from Dateland. It was considered an exclusive resert, and was visited by many famous movie starts of that generation. Unfortunately, the hot springs eventually dried up due to the amount of agriculture (date groves I imagine) in the valley.

In 1965, I-8 was built to replace old Hwy 80 and travelers across southern AZ still frequent Dateland to visit the gas station, cafe/food court, gift shop, RV Park and Date Grove. The food court is home to the self-proclaimed "World Famous Date Shakes." I've included a picture from wikipedia showing the rows of date palms behind the Dateland Travel Center.

I'm not personally a date eater, and am not sure I'd want to try a date shake, but I think it's interesting that this area of our country is a place where dates come from. I did think it was cool that some of General Patton's troops trained in Dateland because the movie Patton is one of my favorite movies. I can still remember seeing it in the theater as a little boy (I was 11 in 1970 when it came out) and being amazed at the scope of the movie and the sights and sounds from WWII.

Well, as they say in the movies, that's a wrap for this post. I hope you enjoyed learning a little about this town. Have a great week!

God Bless,

Pat