Three Tooele couples trade snow for Yuma’s sun on annual escape from winter

Before the first snow flies, many Tooele County residents start packing bags and loading up cars in anticipation of escaping to a southern locale to spend the winter.

“I just decided one day that I wasn’t going to drive in the snow again,” said Linda Nelson, who along with her husband Bill, migrates to Yuma, Ariz., every winter to escape the wet white substance Tooele County is known for. “We are out of here before it comes and there’s a crowd of about 20 couples who do the same thing.”

While the local residents, who have since retired from their jobs, will always call the county home, Yuma’s sunny skyline and warm temperatures make it a close second.

“For the most part it’s just pleasant weather, great company and a lot of social activities,” Nelson said.

For the Nelsons, the tradition of flocking to the Arizona border town began 20 years ago, when some friends invited them down for a short stay.

“I think we started to go down in 1989, back when we were stuck with only two weeks of vacation every year,” Nelson said. “We thought we were having a great time. It’s beautiful and then you have to come back to the snow. It was terrible.”

Not wanting to rely on the generosity of friends for too long and recognizing the longing to make their vacations stretch all winter long, the Nelsons decided they might have to purchase a place of their own.

“We toured all across southern Arizona and ultimately decided that Yuma was the best place, and in 1997 we saw a tiny ‘for sale’ sign on an RV lot. We pulled over to look at it and a little man asked if we wanted to buy it and we said yes.”

And so began many more years of winters filled with tan legs and tank tops — and the continued company of many other Tooele County friends all year long.

Some of those friends are Fay and Ben Ruybal, who began following locals to Yuma in 1989 as well.

“The first time we went down we went with another couple in a motor home,” Fay said. “Then we got to know people down there and kept going back.”

Enthused with the opportunity to golf during the winter, enjoy evenings on the deck of their trailer home and take road trips sans snow, the Ruybals eventually found themselves spending seven months of the year in Yuma.

Though the nights can get chilly, because after all it’s winter, “there’s none of that white stuff,” Fay said with a laugh.

“This is my winter coat in Yuma,” Robert Evans quickly interjected, pointing to a long-sleeved button-up shirt he was wearing. The Evans began their annual pilgrimage in 1985.

“We don’t have a problem with winter,” his wife Elva said. “We used to go camping at the sand dunes for New Year’s. We just like the social aspect. First it’s one week, then two, then three. We just can’t get enough time down there.”

The Evans began the tradition by taking a motor home down and camping out for a few weeks at a time, but then they ran into some friends who bought a lot in a quiet neighborhood and fell in love with the area.

“We ended up buying our own lot through the mail,” Elva said.

Though the Ruybals, Evans and Nelsons don’t live in the same neighborhood while in Yuma, they and their other Tooele counterparts all live within a five-mile radius of each other, promoting continued parties and get-togethers.

“We went to a New Year’s party down there one time and some guy said ‘Is there anyone left in Tooele,’” Elva said.

Backyard bon fires, potluck parties and movie and lunch dates are the norm for the women, while the men enjoy horseshoe competitions, bocce ball, panning for gold, fishing, and of course golfing.

“We are always outside doing something,” Robert said. “It helps us stay young and active.”

The disappearance of age in Yuma is something Linda enjoys wholeheartedly.

“Age isn’t a thing when you are there,” she said. “You can wear what you want and not risk getting made fun of. In Tooele, when you come back and are still wearing shorts people are disgusted with your varicose veins.”

The couples spend so much time playing that when they return to Tooele County in the spring, they are kept busy with doctor visits, home responsibilities and generally catching up with life. They rarely see their Tooele friends in Tooele anymore and instead catch up again once across state lines.

But that won’t stop these folks from taking the 12-hour exodus twice a year.

“How long it takes to get there depends on how lucky we are in Mesquite,” Ben joked. But we haven’t gotten lucky yet.”

“We’ll be going down there as long as we are able,” Elva said.

Jamie Belnap: jamieb@tooeletranscript.com