Thursday, December 29, 2016

TONIGHT WE SLEEP IN THE DESERT SOMEWHERE WEST OF CALIFORNIA’S CARGO MUCHACHO MOUNTAINS

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SOLAR MIKE LOOKS ON AS OUR TRUSTY BAYFIELD BUNCH BANKER WRITES OUT A CHECK FOR TODAY’S NEW BATTERIES AND CONTROL MONITOR

Our spotty Verizon internet signal seemed to re-vive itself by morning and I was actually able to publish Wednesday’s post in about 20 minutes.  That finally catches me up with actually publishing my posts on the day I write them again.  Fingers crossed that we have no more Verizon connection problems.

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YEP, GONNA BE A GOOD DAY

It was not a quiet night in the Slabs but it’s the Slabs and we were too tired to let anything bother us.  Well until somebody went flying by on a noisy dirt bike waking me up at 4 a.m.  And that was the start to my day.  Of all the off-road vehicles it is the sound of dirt bikes I detest the most.DSC_0023

SLAB CITY HAS BUS SERVICE AND BELOW A FEW FOLKS AWAIT IT’S ARRIVAL

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I HEARD SOMEONE PICKING ON A BANJO AND SPOTTED THIS FELLOW

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MANY HUMAN INTEREST STORIES HERE IN THE SLABS AND I ALWAYS WONDER AS I WALK AROUND WHAT STORIES THESE PEOPLE COULD TELL BUT NOT LIKELY EVER WILL

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THESE TREASURED PETS HAVE FOUND A QUIET RESTING PLACE AND I WONDER ABOUT WHERE THEIR LONG GONE OWNER RESTS NOW

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SUNRISE AT SLAB CITY

Drove the rig a few hundred yards over to Solar Mikes at 8 and our battery exchange was soon underway.  Jordan, one of Mike’s workers did the installation and brought us up to speed on some battery info and maintenance. 

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IT’S NEARLY 8 A.M. AND SOON WE’LL SEE SOLAR MIKE WONDER OUT WITH COFFEE IN HAND

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BY GOLLY THERE HE IS NOW:))

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OUR NEW GREEN DEEP CELL INTERSTATE BATTERIES ARE LINED UP AND READY TO BE INSTALLED

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KELLY’S RIGHT IN THERE SUPERVISING THE INSTALL

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“GREEN SIDE OUT JORDAN GREEN SIDE OUT”

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KELLY’S STILL DOWN THERE SHOWING JORDAN HOW TO HOOK THOSE NEW BATTERIES UP

When Mike’s other worker Billie checked out our Go Power controller a further problem was found and upon further sleuthing a burn mark was spotted on some disconnected wiring.  The Go Power controller was old so we decided to update our system with a newer technology Go Pro.  Billy did that installation and we were soon good to go.  Again, two thumbs up for Solar Mike and his ‘Sun Works’.  

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BILLIE CHECKS THE NEW BATTERY NUMBERS AND THEY WERE NOT THE NUMBERS HE WANTED TO SEE

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MIKE AND BILLIE TRACK DOWN THE SOURCE OF THE PROBLEM

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KELLY CHECKS TO MAKE SURE MIKE’S GOT IT FIGURED OUT

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THE NEW MONITOR IS WIRED AND READY TO BE MOUNTED

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ALL EYES INCLUDING PHEEBS ARE ON THE INSTALLATION OF THE NEW MONITOR

Always a genuinely friendly welcome here and Mike gave us great break coming in with a final bill less than he had originally quoted us.   Thanks to Mike, Billie, and Jordan for work well done:))DSC_0043

KELLY SAYS GOOD-BYE TO PHEEBS AGING SLAB CITY PAL ‘GRANNY’

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BILLIE AND JORDAN WERE SOON BUSY WORKING ON ANOTHER RIG’S SOLAR INSTALLATION

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WE SAID GOOD BYE TO 3 OF MIKE’S FORMER EMPLOYEES AS WELL

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BYE GUYS AND THANKS FOR EVERYTHING……THAT’S MIKE IN THE BIN

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It was 11 a.m. when we rolled out of Slab City back along an old rickety asphalt road to Niland.  Turned south and headed down highway 111 to number 78 and swung our nose into the East and headed us on through Glammis and the Imperial Sand Dunes. 

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WE ROLL BY SALVATION MOUNTAIN ON OUR WAY OUT OF SLAB CITY

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WE ALWAYS SEE A LOT OF VISITORS HERE AND A LOT OF THE FOLKS ARE ORIENTAL

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HEADING DOWN 111 THROUGH FIELDS OF GREEN AGRICULTURE

Lots of off road vehicles flying around in the many Lawrence Of Arabia like sand dunes.  Over the years I’ve managed a few nice mobile photos driving through these sand dunes.  Did I mention it was a beautiful warm sunny California day as we drove another favorite road section of mine with enough gentle ‘whoop-de-doos’ in the road to make a land lubber seasick. 

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HEADING EAST ON 78 THROUGH THE IMPERIAL SAND DUNES AT GLAMMIS

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LOOKS LIKE A GROUP OF OFF ROADERS UP THERE ON THE RIGHT

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PLEASE EXCUSE THE WINDSHIELD REFLECTIONS

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NOTICE THE MANY TIRE TRACKS UP AND DOWN THE SAND DUNES

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Continued east until we reached Ogilby Road northwest of Yuma then headed south for about 20 miles until we reached our day’s destination, pulled off the highway into the desert and cozied ourselves up close to a dry sandy gravel wash and a few Palo Verde trees.  More peaceful free time coming up for us over the next little while.  We will be re-visiting some old haunts, finding new ones and if ‘The Holy Cheepers Batman big Wall’ isn’t up yet at the border we might even find ourselves in Mexico.  Wouldn’t be the first time………………DSC_0077

TONIGHT WE SLEEP SOMEWHERE WEST OF CALIFORNIA’S CARGO MUCHACHO MOUNTAINS

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THIS HERE WILL BE HOME FOR A FEW DAYS

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GROANER’S CORNER:(( Here’s A Few Simple Home Remedies::

1. Avoid Cutting Yourself When Slicing Vegetables By Getting Someone Else To Hold The Vegetables While You Chop.
2. Avoid Arguments With The Females About Lifting The Toilet Seat By Using The Sink.
3. For High Blood Pressure Sufferers: Simply Cut Yourself And Bleed For A Few Minutes, Thus Reducing The Pressure On Your Veins. Remember To Use A Timer.
4. A Mouse Trap Placed On Top Of Your Alarm Clock Will Prevent You From Rolling Over And Going Back To Sleep After You Hit The Snooze Button.
5. If You Have A Bad Cough, Take A Large Dose Of Laxatives. Then You'll Be Afraid To Cough.
6. You Only Need Two Tools In Life: Wd-40 And Duct Tape. If It Doesn't Move And Should, Use The Wd-40. If It Shouldn't Move And Does, Use The Duct Tape.
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You might be a Red Neck if::
- You've ever given a set of Tupperware ice tea glasses as a wedding present.
- Your dungarees expose more than half of your butt in the back because the weight of your pocket knife.
- Your idea of heaven involves two shotguns and a keg of beer.
- You picket your horses on your lawn so you won't have to mow it.
- You're wearing a camouflage jacket and clipping on your driver's license pic.
- You stop to flirt with the person running the drive through at McDonalds.
- You save old kitchen appliances for target practice.
- You save old kitchen appliances for children's Christmas presents.
- Your gun cabinet takes up half your living room.

13 comments:

  1. Did you notice a name on that old yellow city bus Mike uses as his office? The sort of square back end reminds me on one I saw a lot in the late '40s which I think was a Ford. Just curious.

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  2. No never noticed the make of that yellow bus.

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  3. I bet there are a lot of human interest stories in the Slabs...it would be interesting to listen to some from the heart.
    Thanks for sharing...

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  4. Nice photo selection giving a feeling of the Slabs. Enjoyed the banjo guy and dog the best. Hope all your electrical systems are ready for many years now.

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  5. It's nice to have the same person working on your solar system from year to year. I like the area you where you parked.

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  6. Nice that Mike got ya all straightened away, Now to relax in the piece and quiet there, just up the road from us. There is a gate in that Mexican wall that will let y'all get through. Have too much fun there.

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  7. So glad that Solar Mike got you all figured out and found that burnt wire. Now you can boondock in peace and have power. How many watts you got up on top? We have 500 watts and 4 six volt batteries. We have room for two more that Steve could add, but so far we are fine with 4. We are usually recharged back up to 100% by 11 am noonish. We are not frugal anymore at night with our power because we know it will recharge in the morning. Heck.. we even run a coffee maker and coffee grinder in the morning ... even my curling iron and Steves electric shaver. Kinda extravagant compared to when we only had one panel and two batteries in our old rig! haha Excited to see where you go next....

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  8. Your Red Neck list would also fit for "You're a Texan if you. . . ".

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  9. Please be watchful in Mexico...That Border Patrol has a tough job! Glad to see you found a nice quiet spot for few days...

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  10. Totally agree with the dirt bike racket. I feel "angry" when I hear them. We lived on a canyon edge in San Diego for many years and they would sneak in there and tear up the place, then be gone before the police arrived. However, the only more disturbing noise (for me) was the noise of tanks coming over the hills into my backyard in Gitmo during Marine Corps NEGDEF exercises in the early 60s, practicing for if Castro sent the militia over the fences. There would be "good" Marines and "bad" Marines and they would run through the housing area shooting at one another with blanks in their rifles... Dependents (me) were supposed to remain inside their homes during these "exercises." Memories are something else, right?

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  11. Love the duct tape and WD-40 groaner, Al. Looks like Mike did another good job.

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  12. Enjoy the quiet time, guys, and Mexico if you get there.

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  13. After my last stay at the filthy Slabs a couple years ago I don't plan to return. Don't like to see the dunes torn up like that. But do like that southern quiet desert area you found. Won't be long now and I'll be back on the road again. Need to get to Mexico too.

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