Category Archives: Imperial Dam LTVA

Mittry Lake

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Left Quechan Casino

Monday I left the casino and headed to Mittry Lake via Walmart in Yuma.  Mittry Lake is on BLM land just about 5 miles from Imperial Dam.  At Walmart I picked up a few groceries and a set of trekking poles.  I had borrowed a pole while hiking outside of Quartzsite and found it very helpful so decided to get my own.

Then it was on to meet up with Gayle and Jim (Life’s Little Adventures) and Debbie.  They have a great spot on a bluff overlooking the lake and they saved a spot for me.

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It is a great spot and very level.  I am planning on being here for a few weeks as the price is right ($0).

Tuesday Jim and I drove over to the Christian Service Center just outside Imperial Dam to look for a lift kit for Jim’s solar panels.

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Unfortunately they didn’t have what he was looking for but they did have lots of solar panels, batteries and inverters of all sizes.  On our way back we decided to drive around and check out other camping areas and found several that had great views such as this one.

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Hiking in the area

There are a lot of great hiking trails in the area and yesterday we were looking for some nice trails.  We found one that went way up into the hills.  Someone had taken the time to decorate it with rocks and even had Christmas bulbs decorating a cactus.  I forgot to take my camera so didn’t get any pics.  I will try to remember it the next time.

Dental Appointment

I mentioned that I was going to go with Gayle and Debbie to the dentist on Tuesday.  I was wrong as their dental appointment was on Thursday.  I called the dentist to make an appointment, but the soonest I could get in would have been next week.  I then mentioned that my friends had dental appointments on Thursday so they fit me in at the same time.  How nice was that?  So tomorrow I will be getting up early (for a change) and heading to Mexico and my new dentist.

Weather has been great

This is the best weather I can remember since my first year coming to this area.  There have been a few cloudy days, but no rain and most of the days have cloudless blue skies.  Great solar!  It has been in the 70’s and next week it should be going into the 80’s.

 

2nd Year on the Road

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On July 12, 2012 I just completed my second year of fulltime RVing.  I can’t believe I have been on the road so long.  So once again, as I did last year, I will summarized this fantastic year with some of the highlights.

Remember you can click on any pic then click again to enlarge.

Working in Texas

To start I was in Texas and decided to work for a month to help defray costs of traveling to Texas to see my family.  What a mistake that was.  It was 106 degrees and higher the entire month I worked.  Oh well I will definitely know better next time to stay away from there during the summer.

Grand Canyon of Texas

After my work duties were over I headed to Palo Dura State Park in northwestern Texas.  It is know as the Grand Canyon of Texas and a very beautiful place.  While there I hiked the Lighthouse Trail and took this pic of myself standing on the plateau in front of the lighthouse.

Taking advantage of my NM state pass

Then it was off to New Mexico where I wanted to take advantage of the last few months of my New Mexico State Pass.  My first stop was Clayton SP.

Then on to Sugarite SP, just south of the NM/CO border.  This next pic shows Lake Dorothy just north of Sugarite SP.

My next stop was Cimmaron SP and the town of Cimmaron.

Fulfilling a boy scout dream

I also visited Philmont Scout Ranch, which had always been a dream of mine ever since I was a Boy Scout.

More of beautiful new mexico

After that it was Eagle Nest SP, Coyote Creek SP (where I saw a bear), Storie Lake SP  and then on to Villanueva SP where I got my semi-annual haircut.  Finally it was off to Hyde Memorial SP.

Then in October I met up with all my good friends at the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta where I stayed and partied for 10 days.  Even had a balloon land on top of my rig.  HA!

After the Balloon Fiesta I drove south to Poncho Villa SP to enjoy a Escapees Chapter 21 Rally.  Of course that also included a trip to Palomas, Mexico where I had to have some dental work done and make sure the margaritas still tasted as good as always.

A visit to the Whitehouse

Next stop on my route was Canyon de Chelly (pronunced d’Shay).  Located on an Indian Reservation it is a beautiful place and a must see for anyone in that area of Arizona.  Of course I had to hike the Whitehouse Trail, which is so beautiful.

Monument Valley

From there it was to Monument Valley, UT.  Talk about a fabulous area, don’t miss out on seeing this.

On my way to Amazon

Then I drove north to Interstate 50.  It is known as the loneliest highway in America.  And believe me it really is.  You could drive for miles and miles and never see a car or truck in either direction.  You would not want to break down on this road.

My destination was Fernley, NV, where I worked for Amazon for 8 weeks.  By the way it was probably the hardest job I have ever had.  Thankfully the 8 weeks went by fairly fast, although it took a couple of months to get healed from the aches and pains I suffered at that job.  OUCH!!!  On top of that it was very cold as well.  Four degrees when I left there.

I then drove to Reno, NV and parked my rig and flew to SO CA to spend a week with my family over the holidays.  It was really great seeing everyone and getting caught up.  I even played some golf.  Actually I tried to play some golf.  HA!  What a joke!

Time to warm up

Then I hit the road to get out of that cold weather up north and drove down to Quartzsite, AZ.  There I met up with a whole bunch of Lazy Dazers (about 20 rigs at different times) and relaxed in the wonderful Arizona sunshine.  Of course I also saw the crazy RV show and even saw a concert by Paul Winer (the Naked Book Seller) although he was fully clothed.  Great show by the way with SRO.

With the help of all my friends I was able to upgrade my rig with new LED lighting, another 12v receptacle and an outdoor motion sensor light.

Next stop – Imperial Dam

In February I left Quartzsite and headed to Imperial Dam just outside of Yuma, AZ  I really enjoyed my stay there with more friends.  Got to do a lot of hiking in the desert.  Plus don’t forget the wild donkeys.  HA!

Heading south of the border senor!

Then it was south of the border to Mexico with the Harvest Host Wine and Whale Watching Tour.  What a fabulous trip that turned out to be.  Visited 5 wineries, with great wine tasting at each.  The wineries were located in the Valley of Gaudelope with very beautiful scenery around.  Also stopped in Ensenada for a day, where we had a great lunch down at the fish market and an opportunity to stock up on lots of great seafood.  Of course we also had to have some cervasa’s (brewskies) at Hussong’s Cantina.

Later visited La Bufadora (the blow hole).  Another very scenic spot.

The wineries were great plus the wine was even greater!  Even got to see a colt that was born that very day.  How exciting!

I am NOT an illegal alien!

After crossing back into the US I drove to Tamarisk LTVA where I stayed for a week and met some really wonderful people.  We hiked ever day in the desert and one day we were surrounded by Border Patrol cars who thought we were illegal aliens.  No comprende  Senor! What a trip that was!

One of my very favorite spots

After spending so much time with so many wonderful people, I needed a break and decided to head for one of my most favorite spots in the Clark Dry Lake bed of the Anza Borrego desert in southern California.  It is 7 miles outside of Borrego Springs.  This place is so peaceful and always gives me a chance to reflect on my future plans.  It was here where I made my resume on workamper.com and emailed it to various people.  Within 10 minutes I had a call for the job I would be working at this summer. More on that later.

Back to the coast

Then it was off to the west coast to Oceanside, where I parked my rig at the Elks Club and took the train up to Orange County to see family.  It was back and forth visiting different members of my family and it was great seeing my Mom.  Love you Mom!

Heading up north

Then it was time to hit the road and head up north.  My first stop was the Trona Pinnacles outside of Ridgecrest, CA.  It is like a trip to another planet.

From there it was off to the Alabama Hills just outside of Lone Pine, CA.  This has been one place I always dreamed of venturing to even before I had an RV.  An absolute MUST SEE.

From there it was off to Mona Lake, where I stayed for about 5 days and ventured around the area seeing the tufa’s at the edge of the lake and the weird cloud formations.

I also took a side trip to the old ghost town of Bodie, CA.  Much of the town is still intact as it was a hundred years ago.  Really neat and another MUST SEE.

Then I finally made it to Oregon where I stayed at Goose Lake SP, La Pine SP and finally Crooked River Ranch.

My workplace for the summer

I met up with my area managers who I would be working for the summer in Prineville, OR.  I am the camp host at the Ochoco Divide, a NFS campground.  It is on the summit (4,726′ elevation) of Hwy 26.  This campground is nestled among giant (200′) Ponderosa Pines among other pine trees as well.  I have now been here 2 months and love this job.  I get to meet a lot of interesting people and have lots of areas to hike in.

Well that about wraps up another fabulous year of my fulltime RV lifestyle.  There were some tough times (truck breaking down) and some great times (caravan trip to Mexico) as well as taking time out to see my family, which is very important to me.  I had lots of times spent with great friends and even some time to myself to ponder how lucky I am.

I almost can’t believe it has been two years since I have set out on the road.  I would also like to thank all my wonderful followers who have been with me as I experienced each and every day.  Every day is a new adventure.

Wild Donkeys to more hiking

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Wild Donkeys

There are wild donkeys all over the Imperial Dam area.  Everywhere you go you see evidence of them.  There are many donkey trails throughout  the area.  Finally we had some donkeys come into our area while we were having “Happy Hour”.  They are very friendly but it is against the law to feed them.  I heard it is a $500 fine if you are caught.

One of the donkeys was pregnant and looked like she was about to pop.  They strolled around to many of the rigs including mine but once they discovered that they were not going to get a handout from any of us they quietly moved on.  They were very tame and there was nothing to be afraid of.

Thursday morning hike – Painted Desert

The last Thursday I was at Imperial Dam I again met up with the group to go hiking.  We all had to hitch a ride to our next hike which was called the Painted Desert.   It was about 10 miles away past Martinez Lake.  There were about 22 of us just the same as the last hike.  It was only about a 2-3 mile hike but it went up and down the local hills and thru the washes.

This pic shows part of our hiking group.

I believe this is call a hoodoo.  This was the only one I saw along the trail.

The trail was very up and down among the hills.

This was one of the honeycombs we say in the rocks.  You could also see the bees flying about.

On of the many washes we climbed thru.

The temperature was about the mid 80’s and it was quite hot.  It sure was nice to find some shade when we stopped to have lunch.

This is part of the group checking out a large cave we discovered.

It was a great hike and glad to get the exercise.

On to Baja Wine and Whales Tour

The rest of the week was spent getting computers (both old and new) and preparing for the Baja Wine and Whales Tour that starts Sunday afternoon.  The tour is gathering at the Portrero County Park just north of Tecate.

I will post whenever I get a chance but it may be sporadic since I probably won’t have Internet access all of the time.

Back to the Posting Boards

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Back online

Well I didn’t get my computer fixed (at least not completely).  I did pick it up and Charlie at My Internet in Yuma did replace the power plug on the computer’s mother board.  But after plugging in the AC adapter realized there is also a pin missing on it as well.  I can not leave it any longer for him to fix but will have to work on it later.

Picked up new computer

The big news is that I picked up my new computer from the FedEx store in Yuma.  They called this morning and I couldn’t wait to get down there.  This new computer is going to be a real learning curve for me.  I finally made the big switch from Windows to

My New Mac Book Pro

I opened the box in my rig at the FedEx Store and spent almost an hour playing with it and trying to figure out the difference between it and my old Windows PC.  In a nutshell – I LOVE IT!

Things do come a little slow but I am starting to figure it out.  Well enough on the subject of computers.

Getting hotter

The weather here is getting much warmer.  The highs are in the mid 80’s and not too cold at night.  The only bummer is that it has been quite windy.  I guess they don’t call my camp area Hurricane Ridge for nothing.

Andrea left this week to catch up with the WINS.  Ann and Jerry were staying down in Senator’s Wash but had to move after 14 days.  Now they too are up on Hurricane Ridge for 14 days and then will move on down to Senator’s Wash again.  They had the family over last week and had a wonderful time being entertained by their grand-kids.

Thursday is hike day

Every Thursday a large group gathers to go on a hike.  The first hike I participated in was to an arch.  It was about a 5 mile hike round-trip and the hiking wasn’t necessarily easy.  The hike was led by a guy that was 80 years old, but you sure couldn’t tell.  He walked at a very fast pace and kept everybody moving.  Up and down a lot of steep hills and over a lot of rocks.  It was a good workout for everyone.

Hiking to the Arch

We all made it to the arch after about a 2-2 1/2 mile hike.  The we all took a break and ate lunch.

Made it to the Arch

It was an absolutely beautiful day.

It was sure a great day and everyone enjoyed the hike.

I am glad to be able to get back online and posting again.  There is nothing worse then when you have computer problems.

Breaking Camp and on to Imperial Dam

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Last one in our camp

I am the last rig in Roger’s Half Acre in Quartzsite.  I took these pics showing how bare it is once everyone left.  I stood at the very ends of the encampment where the furthest rigs were standing.

Will the last rig out of Rodger’s Half Acre please remove the flag?

I stopped at Old Yuma Road and removed the flag.  I will be giving it back to Rodger at the 2012 Balloon Fiesta in Albuquerque, NM.

On to Imperial Dam

I then drove south to Yuma, AZ did some shopping at Walmart and then headed out to the Imperial Dam LTVA.  My annual pass is good there also so it will not cost anything to stay.   Andrea had written that she was staying at Hurricane Ridge and there was lots of room there.  I entered Hurricane Ridge in my GPS and it took me right there.

When I arrived I parked right next to her rig, but noticed that her car was gone.  I went across the road and was checking out the Senator’s Wash when I spotted An and Jerry’s rig with Andrea’s car parked next to it.  I then walked down and joined them just in time for Happy Hour.  There are thousands of rigs parked out here in the desert and I was able to find them without any trouble.  It’s a small world, isn’t it?

Hike to Squaw Lake

I set up camp and the next day we all went on a hike down to Squaw Lake about a mile down the road.

First we passed Senator’s Wash.

Then on to Squaw Lake where I am planning on launching my kayak later in the week.

Longer hike around Senator’s Wash

The following day Ann, Jerry and I had planned a longer hike that went all around Senator’s Wash.  It was about 8-10 miles.  Not really sure since I forgot to set my Android Runkeeper App to calculate the entire distance.  Here are some pics from this hike.  I got a pic of a Blue Heron at the water’s edge.

Next are some pics taken around Senator’s Wash.

It was a perfect day for a hike. The wind was blowing a bit but now too much and then temps were in the low 80’s making a perfect day. I drove with Andrea down to Ann and Jerry’s rig and had a fun Happy Hour enjoying all the wonderful scenery. After dinner I went down to the campfire they have every night at Hurricane Ridge and enjoyed sharing tall tales with everyone else.