Day 47 Wednesday February 27

Treat Street Bungalow BnB

Out of Palm Canyon at 8:22. Picked up R after a few fruitless loops through Phoenix International. Uber, dinner at the Penca Restaurante recommended by Penny C., Uber home and van to laundry mat. On Treat Street in Tucson at the Desert Retreat Bungalow. B not supposed to be here and WiFi not happening but otherwise nice. R got the big bed.

Day 46 Tuesday February 26

The Rapture, am version

     The van did not move today. Huge breakfast. Staring off into the distance. S hiked, then I rode the bike up the slope and hiked over to a formation of reddish rocks and met a small hawk. We had a good signal so that ate up time looking at Revels. Nothing much moved except the wind. We had Nourish Bowl with some last chunks of the 4 Steaks for supper. Later there was a fire and we discussed the pet issue to come at the bnb in Tucson plus Revels.  B seems to find the place somewhat tedious especially for movement.  Heat on at 8:24 pm but not really chill due to the thin overcast that arrived in the early afternoon right after my nap. Heat off at 8:49.

Day 45 Monday February 25

Palm Canyon within Kofa National Wildlife Refuge

Its not all sweetness and light

Mostly though

Drove, after pancakes with F and E, from LTVA north of Quartzite to Kofa National Wildlife Refuge, a distance of 20 miles or so. Palm Canyon is the name of this part of the refuge which is 600,000 acres so there is more. Slipped into a spot upslope from the basin bottom and only a short but strenuous bike ride to the canyon trailhead. Nice line of palms up a narrow side canyon but not oasis as is the usual way.  Felt very small again but didn't push into the boulder scramble high up the canyon. Bike ride back to van not as fun as it could have been if I had brakes on both wheels. Fried last 2 of the 4 pack of giant steaks from some grocery buy 4 days back. Cooked under a ironwood or mesquite tree for the wind break and to use up the backpacking gas bottle. Had the boiled potatoes and the cabbage salad. Couple of hot toddies due to the coolness of the night. Clear, Milky Way clear as it gets since the moon is down. Chatted with a couple of South African/Canadians in the deep dusk as they were taking their large dog for a walk; B was less than welcoming. The pair are in the wine industry in Lillooet, BC. F and E off to Palm Desert for the medical. Stay here tomorrow, go get R on Wednesday in Phoenix then to Tucson for R&R at a BnB.

Day 44 Sunday February 24

Main Street, Quartzite

Quartzite, AZ (really OZ)
     All three Sprinters and their people left Senator Wash Res. at the same time but there was still some confusion or disagreement as to what time zone or even what state we were in. M and L went off to do some preparations for the paperwork needed to get L US citizenship; F and E we would meet later in Quartzite at the Starbucks but S realized that she had been mistaken about the existence of Starbucks in Quartzite so we re-planned to meet at a small market. Which we did. S and I went to the RV bazaar to get a new chair, to the flea market but it was packing up and finally to the Quartzite Yacht Club of dinner. Much karaoke but a good yodeler and decent victuals. Out north on 95 to re-connect with F and E for cookies and beer and then rest. Very light overcast and warmer. I think where we stayed the night was a LTVA but the host was off duty and when E rousted him anyway he said no registration or money for overnighters. Pretty cold at night especially with the back door not quite closed.

Day 43 Saturday February 23

Mad Max in retirement

see camp and van by enlarging photo to max (Senator Wash Res.)

More of the Colorado River Complex - from the dam 

Two views of the same day because I lost my way:
     1. We came to Senator Wash Resevoir and sought a spot with L ang M and found one.

Rode bikes long enough to get a light fry and circle Senator Resevoir. Practiced electric bike operation and stood ready to lead F and E on in from Squaw Lake which we did at some point near noon or 1 pm. It was like a escort. We grounded on a distant cove and as the lake water began to rise we had a communal meal. A fire burned well with native ingredients and various intoxicants were brewed and swallowed. There was some argument as to which time  it was.

     2. Another day at Senator Wash Reservoir waiting for F and E to arrive from Borrego Springs for dinner and chatting away with M and L. Short ride across dam and out into the LTVA (Long Term Visitor Area) for a look about in that world. A bit of a Mad Max vibe. Mid afternoon call from F and E sent M and I out on the Haibikes to escort them in to our hidden camp on the rising waters. Fun on the turbo setting on the bike accelerating up the hills and around the bends. Sort of a tabas style dinner with guacamole, pretzels, pickles, bits of steak with various drinks. Nice fire. Broke a chair.

Day 42 Friday February 22

 

Thinking of Palm Springs

Thinking of Palm Springs 2 

      Starting to return to parts already seen recently like the Lucky store in El Centro and Senator Wash Limited Stay Area. Headed to Mittry Lake in the previously mentioned Lower Colorado River Complex with L and M but found it less than (10 miles of washboard further into the the Complex) the Senator Wash Res., on an isolated cove of which we had stayed a fortnight earlier. However someone had opened the pipes and let out a bunch of water. We found a good spot under some enormous cottonwood trees and notified F and E who will attempt a docking here at the Senator tomorrow; we have discussed how we could guide them into our spot and I think it will be with the electric bikes. It has been bandied about that I might captain one of these scout bicycles. M created a tasty dinner of stir and fry and as the night will be deeply cold we ran heaters hard in both vans which can make all the difference. Wind blowing too strong for fire outside, maybe tomorrow.

Day 41 Thursday February 21

Interstate 8 Fish pond next to hot spring

Interstate 8 Hot Spring

Interstate 8 Tecate Pass

This is a hard day to explain starting out at the Crown Plaza or as we came to refer to it The Plaza, moving into the complimentary breakfast area or the Tiki Room, on to the hotel laundry mat where I spent most of my morning, to the parking lot where S spent a lot of political capital trying to retrieve some of the money I lost by confusedly using my credit card instead of my room card to get into over and over, to the blizzard on Tecate Pass 45 minutes out of downtown San Diego to the palm oasis with hot spring beside Interstate 8 45 minutes beyond the pass where Mark and Liesbet were waiting with kind words and good local info. Now we have come to rest in another BLM wasteland half a mile from the hot pools.

Day 40 Wednesday February 20

Under the Imperial Beach Pier

Noddle shop

Coronado Beach sewage tainted and storm tossed. Mexican Islas Coronado in the distance.

     Crown Plaza again today and tonight starting with the complimentary breakfast. Bike ride to Presidio and on to Natural History Museum which had this wild little exhibit that I missed but S sent me back to about a digger named Cerruti who found evidence of human activity in the San Diego area 130,000 years old. Lunch at a ramen place in the Hill Crest neighborhood and a drive out to Coronado for a nice frontal system front row seat followed finally with a quick trip to the Apple Store for S to buy a keyboard for her ipad which visit in a tony mall was interrupted by a guy shouting about the store being his, etc. Gargled back to the hotel fed the dog and visited the K-9 Korner in the back of the parking lot, quick shower and G & T and slumped.

Day 39 Tuesday February 19

   

border

Deck party

     25 degrees this morning at the Morena Lake County Park. This whole east San Diego county is a pretty hardscrapple place, you ask me. No breakfast then winding and winding through Cleveland National Forest and then bam Lake Otay Elite Athlete Training Center and the eastern suburbs of San Diego. Turned south into the Tijuana River Preserve and thence to the Border Fields Monument Park or whatever and it was the same strange non-place it was several years ago at the bitter end of the bike trip from SF except this time S and I tried to shortcut back to van and got lost in a tangle of sand roads and mud slicks all with the taint of sewage according to the signs. Down to the harbor on to the bikes and over to the aircraft carrier Midway with lunch at Busters between. 23$ each for the tour of the boat, but worth it when S and I were given instant titles, rank and jobs on the bridge and took brief command of all 70,000 tons. Workers were scurrying about preparing for a party of 800 that evening on the flight deck. Drove around briefly following carrier visit finally ending up at the crown plaza in some neighborhood called hotel circle. S and I spent a good bit of time washing the toxic mud from Border Field off of our shoes and clothes. Sticky.

Day 38 Monday February 18

Night van

     Started normally Standard breakfast except it was cheese omelet with the fried toast.  Headed east to Yuma on Interstate 8 then to Fry’s which was too much but then we aimed west for san diego county backlands taking a turn into Mc Cain Valley Recreation Area and it had started to snow just then. We tried Moreno Lake county park  a little further on and laid in as the air hit 32. We have gone into lockdown with the magic power screen over all windows but not sure how to lock the door from the inside without starting the engine which I don’t want to do because the zombies. No, but really there are these flat marshy areas and groves of big dark dark oaks and only 2 or 3 people here, past civil twilight, and quiet as a cemetery and its cold. The rest rooms are several stories and modern medieval. Can’t see the lake.  B not troubled in the least by any of this.

Day 37 Sunday February 17

Black gallon

on the trail to arch rock

Arch up trail

arch down trail

end of the trail

    Breeze flapping the awning. Unimog sleeps. No clouds. Starbucks White Chocolate Latte powder plus  Starbucks instant coffee, gorpy but powerful. Inverter not kicking in on request, mysterious. May have to call Jason in Yuma for advice. House battery fully charged at 13.4 volts.
     Lounged in van until 2 when lethargy replaced by firing up the beast and heading back out Ajo Mountain Road to scramble to the top of Arch rock trail starting on foot and ending on all fours. Steep, rocky and unofficial. The arch was below us and out of sight when we reached the top but the effort was challenging and highly satisfactory. Three hours. Back to B and van by sunset. Tomorrow we move on. West though forecast is poor: rain and snow in San Diego County. 

Day 36 Saturday February 16

Unimog!

Above standard breakfast

Cup and a half of coffee and hard at work emptying and filling tanks. Tamale and egg breakfast! Probably walk the Senita Basin today. Cool with light overcast, bright and clear air. Drove to trailhead and locked B in the van while we walked 6 miles into the desert on a jeep road. Much of the first two miles lay in a deep wash. Got a little lost but S lassoed a trio who set us straight. S had sore back so she adjourned to the back and I made her a nice lunch of sandwich and hardboiled egg. Motored back to camp on the beautiful Puerto Blanco Road and rested up before our dinner with P and R in their Arctic Fox. Two Euro license plates in the camp neighborhood one a Mercedes UNIMOG and the other another less iconic Mercedes Bocklet. S found a shawl and a black plastic gallon jug. Government signs here and there in the Monument warn against approaching those who carry black plastic gallon jugs; S is keeping. P said not to keep because the dogs at the security checkpoints will notice. The desert always has a slight hint of danger one way or the other.

Day 35 Friday February 15

Beside the Puerto Blanco Road

     10 mile bike ride out the Puerto Blanco Road. Nice road, ridge and wash, ridge and wash and the approach and exit from each dip is paved. Million sagauro cactus although each one seemed to be his or her own person.

      S made hash; unbelievably, stunningly tasty and then P and R came to camp from Patagonia and we had some toddies and chatted.

Day 34 Thursday February 14

Portion of Ajo town square

Ajo church

Different Ajo church

Valentine's Day!

     Gray water overflow. Also have been losing things: headlamp (me), dog bowl (B), cosmetic bag (S), broom (X). Got cosmetic bag back after long backtrack and nice Organ Pipe volunteer ranger woman found dog bowl in first night camp site (tenting only) and I went to her tent/trailer rig just around the corner and retrieved it except there was a bike chain in it that was not ours. But its V Day! Maybe go into Ajo, or Why or Lukeville for dinner.
     Day overcast, breeze coming up. S had a long walk to Victoria Mine. I took a short bike ride and a short walk up an unnamed wash.
     As rain and wind pickup in the early afternoon, we drove to Ajo passing of course through Why and the security checkpoint. Ajo used to be a copper mine town now it is mostly retirees and homeland security; don't know how that is working out but it sounds like a tractable mix except maybe for the guns and alcohol. 
     Met a guy at the thrift store on the square in Ajo who had just bought a kayak at the thrift and planned to take it to Anacortes. Don't recall ever seeing a kayak in a thrift store before. The woman who seemed to own the thrift said it would be quicker to take it to the Sea of Cortez. She also said the owner of the defunct copper mine owned the electric company in town and that was why there was no electricity in the town at the moment, but it did come back on and I bought what I think is a pretty nice shirt for 4$.

Note: All the vehicles in this park have their hoods open wide because of the pack rats. It doesn't seem like a good idea in this rain and wind.
Added a quart to the engine; stick showed a 1/4 drop since Yuma.

Day 33 Wednesday February 13

Poppies!

Morning at Organ Pipe

S's early valentine prototype

     Organ Pipe National Monument (name sort of risqué when you think about it what with the big pointy cacti) is a very friendly and orderly operation. We slid into a tenting only site at 8 last night after an 8 hour day of driving and of course we needed to make that right by moving to a pull thru site the next day but one that is still deep in the no generator zone.

     At some point we took off on the 20 mile bad road loop provided by the Monument for exploring the Ajo Mountain. Hit the Bull Pasture trail hard for 4 hours of busting butt and feeling small.

Now we have deployed our rug and our awning and the woman in 138 behind us is playing a medieval ukulele .  B is abusing her licker license.

Day 32 Tuesday February 12

The joy of the library park in Yuma, AZ

     After the free breakfast at the Historic Coronado Motor Hotel's sister establishment, Yuma Landing Bar and Grill we will as mentioned point toward Phoenix and the Mesa RV extravaganza followed by a westward wander to the southwest corner of California followed by an eastward ramble to Tucson to meet R at an airbnb in the historic West University neighborhood on or about the 27th of this month. In short this is now a drill down into the idiosyncrasies of the far western southwest. Less driving more meandering. More county parks than national ones, more back roads than interstates, etc. It seems a viable idea, but we'll see. Bell is doing well. As can be seen from her expression in the photo above.

Day 31 Monday February 11

Climbing out of the secret camp at Senator Wash Lake with some windshield issues

the towel swans of the historic Coronado Motor Hotel in old town Yuma

Our secret and special camp at Senator Wash Lake

     Off to Yuma to see a man about a charger. Found him in the person of one Jason and he reset the parameters for the system claiming they were all messed up and then proceeded to add a relay and wires to the house battery from the  engine alternator and once the truck was running it will recharge the house battery.  So S and I rode the bikes through some rather interesting residential architecture and a lunch of fish and chips from Mr. Fish across the street. Shortly there after we paid the 200 $ fee to CJ and set off for Yuma 15 miles to the west so as to take a second night in a hotel this trip and  which in this one a 10 $ extra gets the pooch in the room. We stayed at the Coronado before and had the free breakfast down the street at Yuma Landing est, 1938. The Del Sol Market of the huge bags of tortilla chips but no salsa no pico lumes across the street blocking the setting sun.  This evening we went to find a drink first at  Yuma Landing  and it turned out to be happy hour  so we settled in but the fat guys fighting in a cage and the angry woman sitting next to me kept me from focussing on my ipa that I did't quite catch the name of. The bartender was nice but she was having a hard time keeping up and she ran out of tonic. We broke out of there and slid across 5 lanes of traffic to another known spot, Tacos Mi Rancho.
We seek out a giant RV show in Phoenix tomorrow followed by a hike out to San Diego and its hinterlands. Leaving SD we will seek Tucson to meet the daughter who is cold and looking to be resuscitated.

Day 30 Sunday February 10

S and B swim - actually neither actually swims

B would like to go upstairs to bed but van is on fire

Standard Breakfast.
S walks
I pedal and walk some
We worry about shade and electricity
We angle panels more toward sun
We go inflatable kayak fishing
Catch balloons with wee lights blinking inside them
I deflate and fold kayak - not easy
S shreds chicken and all for tacos
I make fire
A little later B wants to go upstairs to bed
Shortly we all go

Day 29 Saturday February 9

B and S at Senator Wash Lake camp S talking to R above Senator Wash

     Huge breakfast at home. Biked a circle around Yuma Resevoir Complex which includes a labyrinth of dirt roads and spots for campers on the water or atop the hills in great villages of cheap rvers. Indeed, we have clearly decided to attend the big RV show in Phoenix early next week!

     Trouble with this whole situation now is that it is overcast and 58 degrees and to me that makes it seem even more unworldly. B has bathed her belly twice.

     Moved from Squaw lake to Senator Wash Lake after bike ride of area reconnaissance. Steps from water, no one in sight, sun might come out soon.

Day 28 Friday February 8

beside the Salton Sea

East Jesus

Left Salton Sea camp about 11. S swam in the sea, said it was good. Goodbye to F and E. Through Brawley on to 78 a road much like a desert road from a '40's movie stylized but real. Fire in a palm grove should have stopped and gawked. On to Yuma and an Albertson's that seemed familiar but in a city so much larger than I remembered. Decent shopping experience and then back north across town to the Del Sol Market where the search for pico de gallo using three completely different store workers was simply a failure; there is something in this, something elemental. This the Del Sol, not some Krogers, there should be nine flavors of pico de gallo. The salsa I got which was the only one was pretty good and I had Dona Luna's corn chips and guacamola in an unlabeled plastic sack. After the two commissaries we had our flavors and substances we launched toward squaw lake camp; a parking lot like space with some breaks for sand and plants, plus the lake was rimmed with cattails and there where bass in there. Every thing seems quiet and orderly here cept for the Roxanne our neighbor who was told to shut the f--k up. She says there has never been this type of thing until now. After that things mellowed at the edge of anarchy camp with only the little generators making a fuss. We did have the sausage marinara pasta and a nice salad followed by graham crackers and peanut butter all with box red.  20 miles outside of Yuma, 8:48 pm.

Day 27 Thursday February 7

136 under the tamarisk trees at Salton Sea State Recreation Area Mecca camp

East Jesus

Salvation Mountain

   

     Today was our day to tour Slab City. Slumming in a desert slum. The by word out there was freedom but there was something of the feel of nothing left to lose. The suburb near by of East Jesus was an open junk art museum and we stopped to walk about. There was a host/narrator and a 12 foot high teeter-totter which S and I rode with some boarding and dismounting assistance. Prior to Slab City there was also Salvation Mountain which also had a narrator/handyman not to mention several groups of Asian girls with an obsession with rather advanced selfies using a drone set to hover at about 6 feet. We had lunch near Salvation Mt. On the way back to last night's camp, S and I took a left into Bombay Beach which kind of made Slab City look prosperous. Wikipedia said an Israeli director had made a film in 2011 about Bombay Beach that won first prize for documentary at the Tribeca Film Festival. I didn't take any pictures there but I should have.  We bought some snacks at a market in Niland the nearest metro to Slab.

     Its 4:30 and time to feed B.  I believe that tonight we will add the recently purchased sausage links to the Prego marinara sauce for the noodle delight.
No sausagey pasta this night; F and E produced a nice supper of chicken, vegetables and rice. Maybe the sausage pasta tonight at Yuma where we are headed for an electrical consult on Monday. We may miss this quiet unassuming camp by the inland sea. Good fire tonight.

Day 26 Wednesday February 6

I am the cowboy horse is the rv

Accidental inland sea

Freight train all night all day BNSF

     Left Rock House in a hurry after coffee. Took care of business at Christmas Circle, got big bag of  Seley grapefruit from the Kiwanis for five dollars and split. I had 2 eggs almost over easy on two fried tortillas with a combination of hot sauces. Split again for PS to retrieve S’s suit from M and buy sundries in Rancho Mirage: a new step stool (which was really bought online and delivered to M), a new can for garbage, a cord to make an external speaker on the tv after which we could watch “8 Days in May" with Burt and Kirk. I got a tee shirt, some underwear and a $.99 plastic spatula from Target. Picked up some groce from Aldi which seemed to be a sort of Grocery Outlet. Split to northeastern part of the Salton Sea where we found waterside space. Big freight trains just beyond our small highway and camp. F and E arrive at dusk. We share a fire until bed time. Couple of semi or recently retired national park rangers came over for a chat. Sea calm with sand made of fish bones. Sunset hard against Eastern mountains.