BIG WINDS BLEW THE BAYFIELD BUNCH ALL THE WAY TO YUMA

ROLLING THROUGH THE IMPERIAL SAND DUNES
When I'm able to start a blog off without mentioning the word 'wind' several times in the first paragraph you  will know we have progressed from wind blown RV'ers to Happy Campers.
The winds never let up all night so it was cramped quarters again with the slides pulled in & we only put the larger slide out part way when we got up.  The wind chill factor probably had the temps down in the low to mid 40's somewhere as I struggled to disassemble the large oval shaped elliptical satellite dish.  The wind wanted to dump me & the satellite right into the middle of next week somewhere.  Not nice outside!!  As much as we love Borrego Springs we were happy to be on the road this morning as we pulled out onto highway S22 heading east.  This now marks the first leg of our looooong slow journey home.  Or, it may be faster than we expected!!

THE SUN REFLECTS OFF THE SALTON SEA'S SOUTHERN END AS WE HEAD EAST
There was another reason for changing our Joshua Tree plans yesterday.  No internet or cell phone coverage in that park & we weren't sure if there was any on Box Canyon road leading there either.  It's important right now that we have cell phone & internet service because a couple of things have taken place in the past week that require us to be in touch with family.  Kelly's 91 year old Dad was admitted to hospital near Rochester NY late last week & my 93 year old Uncle Harry was taken to the Woodstock Ontario hospital by ambulance a few days ago.  Both guys are holding their own but at that age & stage of life things can turn from bad to worse pretty quick.  We are presently boondocked about 10 or 15 miles northwest of Yuma on Ogilby Road with good internet & cell phone. 
First stop after leaving Borrego this morning was the big new Arco station at the junction of S22 & highway 86.  For any RV'ers in the area this is a great all in one stop.  They have 13  free dump stations, 2 fresh water locations, multiple diesel & gas pumps plus propane, laundry & shower facilities.  Lots of pavement to move the big rigs around & there are some groceries inside Kelly said.  The propane gal came out in a golf cart & gave Kelly a ride back to the cashier's counter.  Stay on the pavement though because the gravel areas are bomb cratered.
 
GAS, PROPANE, & DIESEL
The winds were blowing from the northwest today so we basically had a tailwind all the way.  We have been this quiet route a couple times before & much prefer it to I-8.  Went right through the Imperial Sand Dunes & the desert RV, ATV, & Dirt Bike community of Glammis.  Last time we went through here a little over a year ago these huge sand dunes were alive with dune buggies, etc.  Saw 3 riders today & that was it.
click to enlarge
  
OUR NEW DIGS ON OGILBLY RD NORTHWEST OF YUMA
Last time we were in this area we spent Christmas here.  We didn't go back to the same site we had in December of 08 because recent heavy rains have made a bit of a mess on American Girl Mine Road.  We are about a mile northwest of our old site.  If you type in Ogilby Road or Tumco Mine it might take you to our blogs from that time.

Very few rigs here compared to our last time her so we didn't have a problem finding a spot.  Snuggled ourselves up alongside a row of 30' Mesquite trees & that has offered us a bit of respite from the still howling non stop southwest winds.  In Borrego we had no protection whatsoever but here we've got a wee bit of shelter.  I sat outside for awhile just listening to the wind in the trees.  Music to my ears.  Will still have to pull the living room slide in tonight though because that is the side where the wind is beating on us.  We have 4 out of 4 green Verizon bars & that's without having to use our Wilson antennae too.
Our little Motormouse is not happy with this site because within minutes of setting up, an F/A-18 Hornet streaked over the Motorhome with a loud roar & scared the ba-jeebers out of our little mouse.  I knew right away from it's markings that it was from the flying aerobatic team, THE BLUE ANGELS.  I wonder if they train in this area.  It was only a single plane & I watched it for a bit practicing aerobatics.  Our poor little Motormouse was inside shaking like a leaf under my bed.
                                             
A LONE BLUE ANGEL F/A-18 HORNET (click to enlarge)
No idea how long we'll stay here.  Just playing things by ear right now waiting to see how the fellas in the hospital are going to make out.  Either one or both of them could be back home within days......or maybe not.  We'll stay close to our phones & computers in the meantime.
4 PM temps outside now are 66F with wind chills in the 50's.  Yuma is 10F below normal & the weatherman is calling for mid 80's stuff next week with winds dissipating beginning tomorrow.  Now, how's that for a good old Canadians weather report eh:))

MAX & CHECKERS ON PATROL
GROANER'S CORNER:((  And remember this because it is important......... 'Never, under any circumstances, combine a sleeping pill and a laxative on the same night.'
BLOGGER WEBSITE http://thebayfieldbunch.com/
OUR PHOTO ALBUMS http://picasaweb.google.com/stargeezerguy/
The only thing better than right now will someday be the memories of right now...... AL.

HAD ENOUGH OF THE WIND....WE'RE A GETTIN OUGHTA TOWN!!

 

We have had it & we are throwing in the towel!!  The California winds have had their way with us too long now & we are packing up & getting out of Dodge first thing Wednesday morning!!  Might have stayed a few more days but we got some tanks needing to be emptied anyway so decided to pull the pin today.

RV NEIGHBORS (click pics to enlarge)

The winds slammed into us about 4 a.m. in the morning & I was up for the day by 4:30 pulling the slides in yet again.  All the outside furniture was scattered around on the ground & anything that hadn't been nailed down is probably in Texas by now.  Any area folks living in sticks & bricks houses & reading this would say, wind?? What wind??

  

OUR FRONT YARD THIS MORNING

Not totally sure but I think our travel plans have changed again.  We may save Joshua Tree for another time & just may head back down Yuma way where the weatherman says it's going to be really nice & warm in a few days.   Had it not been so blasted windy today I think we just might have pulled up stakes & rolled out this afternoon!!  Maybe that's why all the other RV'ers left yesterday, they were paying closer attention to the weather reports than we were.  As it was, the temperatures dropped & the wind chill factor kept us confined to the rig for the whole day.

WHERE HAVE ALL THE NEIGHBORS GONE

Been thinking it's still too early to head any further north right now anyway because I doubt northeastern Arizona would be warm enough by the end of the month.  Was hoping to go through Monument Valley to the 4 corners area of Utah, Colorado, Arizona, & New Mexico but probably not this trip now.  Ideally we would like to leave Ontario in early September some time to do those 4 corners States. 

It's been brought to my attention recently by an internet friend that I may be forgetting to answer email questions or comment questions sent in by folks & I am afraid I have to admit that I have.  My forgetfulness is not an excuse.  It is unfortunately a problem I am having with my short term memory.  Just as I forgot to turn our Motorhome off for 5 hours one day last summer I am sometimes forgetting to get back to folks who have had questions for me or even to just say, "hey, how's it going eh." My apologies once again to everyone I have forgotten to respond to.   It's a daily thing & this morning I forgot to put the oil cap back on the car's engine after checking the oil.  If Kelly hadn't spotted it on a chair a lot of that oil would have blown out all over the engine compartment.  She's having quite a time with me & will probably pen a book someday with a title like....'Trials & Tribulations of Living With an old forgetful Cranky Pants Airhead Husband:((  Hmmm, wonder if this might also apply to any of you other guys out there too......:))

OK, now that I've said all that & my mind is kinda working clear I will answer Terry's questions about BLM land.  BLM (Bureau of Land Management) seems to be mainly located in the southwestern States, especially Arizona & California.  Some of this land people stay on indefinitely while other areas are enforced by 14 day limits & then you have to relocate a minimum of 25 miles away in some cases.  This section of land we are on here at the Clark Dry Lake Bed east of Borrego Springs, California is actually private land but the owner is long gone.  This chunk of land was owned by a developer years ago who wanted to set up a mining operation I think.  Roads were put in, buildings up, gravel pit was dug out, & acres & acres of land were dozed flat.  For whatever reason the company went belly up, the owner flew the coop, & here we are:))  RV'ers have been boondocking on this land for a long time now & up until a few years ago there were even a few old desert codgers living out here fulltime. 

  

MEMORIES OF THE STONE TURTLE SITE

Laurie from SEMI TRUE TALES wondered if the long 'foot' along the bottom of our new Toshiba was actually a battery compartment.  I turned it over & saw small battery symbols so assume that's what it is.  I didn't attempt to open it knowing I probably wouldn't have a hope in hell of ever getting it closed again.  And I seem to recall JoAnne from LIVING OUR DREAM asked awhile back about a histogram.  Short answer there is that it is a short gram of history:))  Long answer is that the graph of the photo shows your exposure levels & the more centered those peaks are in the center, the more even your exposure throughout the photograph.  High peaks on the left side of the graph may indicate overexposures while high peaks on the right may indicate underexposures.  The graph meter I keep in my head now tells me I probably had about a 5% chance of explaining that right. 

And I just remembered another question about where is it safe to drive here at the Clark Dry Lake Bed.  There are hard packed sandy roads running helter skelter through the desert & it's important to stay on them.  Along the bumpy roads in willy nilly fashion are shrub free spaces of hard packed sand/gravel & these are the RV sites.  No particular order, no organized spots, just drive around until you find a place you like.  And don't try to cut across between the roads like that poor Albertan couple did!!

ANOTHER SAN YSIDRO MOUNTAIN SUNSET

Weather bureau predicted 45 mph wind gusts this afternoon so this morning I took advantage of the slower 20 mph winds to get the solar panels down.  Stowed away the flag poles, rolled up the bamboo ground mats, folded up all the furniture, glued the fur back on the dogs, & loaded everything in the bins for tomorrow mornings departure.  We might just end up having to go in whatever direction the wind decides to blow us.

SECURING THE SOLAR PANELS TUESDAY MORNING

We had a nice email from a fellow in San Diego today.  He apparently hiked up through Alcoholic Pass yesterday just a couple hours after we did & found one of our Bayfield Bunch cards at the top.  We leave cards here & there & this fellow was the first person to ever find one & send us an email.  Thanks Howard, & if you were driving a white Volkswagen van, then I saw you slowly drive by our car on the road below.  We were just making our way down the northwest side of Coyote Mountain about 1:45 PM.  I had 2 older VW camper vans years ago so I always notice them:))

And where did we go for supper our last night in Borrego Springs??  Why, Jilberto's of course.  And did AL have his usual lettuce & water.........ya right!!

                      

Don't exactly know where we'll be tomorrow night at this time or if we'll have Verizon coverage but keep an eye out for us anyway & I'll be back buggin everybody as soon as we can........:))

GROANER'S CORNER:((  And ladies, it's time to give up jogging for your health when your thighs keep rubbing together and starting your pants on fire.

GOODNIGHT & GOODBYE BORREGO.....THANKS AGAIN FOR THE MEMORIES:))

BLOGGER WEBSITE http://thebayfieldbunch.com/

OUR PHOTO ALBUMS http://picasaweb.google.com/stargeezerguy/

The only thing better than right now will someday be the memories of right now...... AL.