YUMA, THE IMPERIAL DAM, & A 65 MPH SURPRISE ENCOUNTER WITH A FELLOW BLOGGER NORTH OF YUMA

(THIS IS MONDAY’S POST)
Woke ourselves up to a cloudy day but hey no wind.  Could have easily ended up being one of those hang around the rig days but when your only out boondocking for about a week at a time like we are now we like to get as much in as we can.  No time for sitting around doing nothing when there just happens to be a big beautiful world going on right outside our door.

OH MOM PLEASE TAKE ME ALONG TODAY CAUSE I’VE BEEN REALLY GOOD
Had planned to head up King Valley road to have us a look for a cabin we heard about.  For photography purposes I like to do those days when we have some sun out bringing the landscape alive.  We made a last minute decision to hold off on the cabin search & head on down to Yuma instead.  My old pair of antique flannelette ‘jammies’ are about done for so figured we’d hit a Walmart & get me a new pair.  Needed some gas for the Jeep anyway.

TAKEN JUST DOWNRIVER FROM THE IMPERIAL DAM TODAY
We’ve been in & out of Yuma a few times over the years so we have a pretty good idea where things are.  Knew there was a Walmart just off I-8 at Yuma’s East end & that’s where we headed for.  It was cold enough this morning driving down to Yuma we had to crack on some heat in the Jeep. 

As a rule I don’t mind bonking around in a Walmart store looking at this & that once & awhile if I’m by myself but this morning it was such a Zoo in there I wanted to run back out of that store about 15 seconds after I walked through the door.  This place was crawling with Walmartians everywhere.  People & carts tangled up all over the place.  They definitely need some kinda traffic lights, radar speed traps, & crowd control in those aisles.  Growled at a few folks when they blindly ran into me with their overburdened & over hurried carts.  We picked up a few groceries & never did find what we had come for.  Our jammies raid was a bust.  They had cotton jammies but no flannelette & it’s flannelette I be needing on these cold desert nights.  Rumbled through the check-out line & quickly extricated ourselves from the store. 

<<< I TOOK THIS REFLECTION PICTURE IN YUMA THIS MORNING FIGURING I WOULDN’T BE TAKING MANY PICS ON THIS CLOUDY COOL DAY…I ENDED UP TAKING 147 PHOTOS MORE BEFORE WE GOT BACK TO THE RIG
I had worked up an appetite trying to outrun a few Seniors I had growled at so we headed off to an A&W.  Been a fair few years since I’ve had a Papa burger.  Ended up with about a third of it on my clean shirt I put on this morning.  Nothing on the steering wheel again.  I’m getting good:))

CLOUD SHADOWED MOUNTAINS IN THE CASTLE DOMES TODAY
Rolling out of Yuma’s Northeast end on highway 95 Kelly noticed a sign that said Date Shakes.  We had never had a Date Shake & I was sure needing something sweet to get the hamburger taste out of my mouth.  Decided to split a Shake so in we went.  Pheebs & I headed off for a walk around the property looking at some fields of green stuff.  The cabbage field I recognized but the other two fields of green I had no idea what they were.  Kelly returned with a small Date Shake & as usual I ended up eating 95% of it.  It was more like thick soft ice cream & reminded me of a Butterscotch Shake.  Did I like it?  Well I’ve never met a Shake I didn’t like yet:))

PHEEBS SAMPLES THE DATE SHAKE…CABBAGE FIELD IN THE BACKGROUND
  
I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT THESE CROPS ARE

TOOK THIS PHOTO BECAUSE IT WAS JUST SO GREAT TO SEE BIG TREE
Just north of Yuma is a place we had been by before but had never driven into the area to have a look around.  Two big artillery guns mark the entrance to the Imperial Dam.

ACTUALLY TOOK THIS PHOTO EXITING THE YUMA PROVING GROUNDS LATER THIS AFTERNOON
Keep in mind the majority of this whole area is owned by the military & it is active to say the least.  These are the vast Yuma Proving Grounds.  Not far up the road we spotted a display of army tanks & stopped.  Guys always like army tanks.  Probably spent close to half an hour here walking around looking at them.  Nobody there so it was a good opportunity for Pheebs to get out & race around all the Tanks.

 
THE PLAQUE EXPLAINS THE BULLET HOLES
   

We’ve often read fellow Bloggers posts about the Imperial Dam & Senator Wash areas but we had no idea there would be so many RV’ers there scattered over a lot of acres.  All regulated of course.  We drove through places with names like Skunk Hollow, South Mesa, Quail Run, Ferguson Lake, etc.  We probably missed more areas than we saw.  Not exactly our kind of preferred boondocking but it sure is a popular place for a lot RV folks. 

 
WE FIGURED THAT WINDOW ATTACHMENT MAY HAVE BEEN FOR A PUSSY CAT
 
LOTS OF SOLAR POWER GOING ON OUT HERE
 
SEEMS SOME FOLKS EVEN BRING THEIR GARDEN SHEDS
Surprised at the abundance of water, small lakes, channels, & swampy areas.  And Palm trees too.

  

Drove to the dam itself & saw some waterfowl along the marshy banks.  Nice park area there & well maintained.  Planned on stopping in at Martinez Lake but the afternoon was wearing on so headed north up 95 for home.  And then came a big surprise………..

 
JUST A LEISURELY DAY & WHADDYA SAY ALICE, I GOT WATER IN MY EAR

AND A SCOOT BY A COOT
 
A PARK BY THE IMPERIAL DAM & AN AWKWARD COOT LANDING

THE IMPERIAL DAM & THIS IS WHERE I TOOK THE TWO HAWK PHOTOS FROM

PHOTO BY KELLY ON HER SIDE OF THE JEEP…THIS IS THE COLORADO RIVER METHINKS WHICH MEANS WE WERE ACTUALLY IN CALIFORNIA TODAY
We were in the right hand lane heading up a long grade.  Had seen a single Motorcycle a ways back slowly gaining on us.  Saw it pull into the passing lane & watched for it to go by because the lanes were merging ahead.  The bike did not appear at my side window when it should have.  Thought to myself, better get on your throttle Buddy if your going to pass.  Next thing I hear is a Harley pacing us alongside.  A quick glance to my left sees a fully clothed rider in full black leather with a great big smile on her face….and yes the rider was a her.  A second glance, a quick mili-second head computer check for a lady riding a blue Harley Davidson & Bingo, Kelly & I both blurted out about the same time.  “Sassy”.  A flurry of waves back & forth as the Harley picked up speed.  But not for long.  Ahead of us was a Border Patrol Inspection Station.  All northbound traffic comes to a full stop as the Border Patrol officers check each vehicle with a drug sniffing dog.  I saw the lady (we weren’t a hundred percent sure it was Sassy yet) on the blue Harley pull over into a gravel parking area & stop.  Border Patrol guy waved us through & we pulled ahead & in beside the Harley.  Yes indeed it was Sassy her very self.  We had never met before.  What a great 65 mph chance encounter on the highway between Quartzsite & Yuma.  Another 2 miles & we would have turned off onto King Valley road.  What a great coincidence & what a great pleasure it was to meet Sassy.  She had been down to Yuma to have a new tire installed on her bike.  Said it was our ‘bayfieldbunch.com’ sticker on our back Jeep window that caught her attention as she was passing us.  Had ourselves a good chin wag as all RV Bloggers do & we even managed to fit some photos in as well.  Nice bike she has there.  The day was wearing on & quickly turning cooler so with a hardy High-Ho Silver or in this case a hardy High-Ho Blue, Sassy headed North on 95 for Quartzsite in her heated leathers & Royal Blue Harley-Davidson:))  You can find Sassy on our sidebar at, SASSY'S ON 'DA ROAD.  Also of coincidence was our chance encounter with RV SUE last DECEMBER 24TH 2013 only about 3 miles from the very spot we met Sassy today.

YEP IT’S SASSY ALRIGHT
  
SCRUFFLES FOR THE PHEEBS & HOW COINCIDENTAL THIS ALL IS
 
PHOTO TIME & YOU CAN SEE HOW CLOSE WE ARE TO THE BORDER PATROL STATION


HEY SEE YOU GUYS AGAIN EH:))
 
PLUGGING IN HER HEATED BODY LEATHER

A QUICK TRAFFIC CHECK & SHE’S OFF
Noticed we had some neighbors when we arrived back at the rig.  Two RV’ers about a quarter mile West of us & another one about a half mile East of us.  Neighborhood was getting crowded.  Was it time for us to move?  Nawwwwww, I guess we’re good with that as long as the folks aren’t noisy.      

 
WILD BURROWS OFTEN FREQUENT THE NEARBY RV PARKS AROUND SENATOR WASH IN THE IMPERIAL DAM AREA
One of our all time favorite places to go in the South-West is California’s Borrego Springs.  So much to see & do for adventurous folks in the largest desert park in all of America.  ANZA BORREGO DESERT STATE PARK completely surrounds the quaint little town OF Borrego Springs.  I especially enjoy posts where folks leave their RV’s behind & venture out & take part in the wondrous beauty Mother Nature has to offer.  STILLHOWLYN are those type of folks & their latest post has some great Big Horn Sheep photos & a sunset at Font’s point. Their lifestyle reflects their adventuress spirit.  
 
I THINK THIS MOTHER HAS A LITTLE ONE WITH HER & THERE’S POPS JUST OFF STANDING BY HIMSELF CONTEMPLATING LIFE
IVAN is still having problems with Blogger.  His posts are not automatically updating on people’s sidebars.  It’s been an ongoing frustrating problem for him these past few months.  You can read his latest post by clicking on Ivan’s name above.  Lots of cute Hailey pics & for sure both he & Hailey have gone to the birds………

GROANER’S CORNER:((  Recently retired George made an appointment to see his doctor, because he is worried about his wife’s bad temper. Doctor Thomas asks: "What's the problem?" George says: "Doctor, I don't know what to do.  Every day my wife Brenda seems to lose her temper for no reason. It's beginning to scare me." The Doctor says: "I have a cure for that.  When it seems that Brenda is getting angry, just take a glass of water and start swishing it in your mouth. Just swish and swish but don't swallow it until she either leaves the room or calms down." Two weeks later George returns to the doctor looking fresh and happy. George says: "Doctor that was a brilliant idea! Every time my wife started losing it, I swished with water. I swished and swished, and she calmed right down! How does a glass of water do that?"
Dr Thomas says: "The water itself does nothing. It's keeping your mouth shut that does the trick."