November 9 to November 15, 2002

Saturday November 9:

I awake early and do as much computer business as possible, uploading the webpage from the week before that is finally finished.  The GPS has detailed maps of the Squaw Lake area, so we determine we can proceed.  One problem causing the driving directions to be confusing is that the two routes involved are both loops crossing the border between Arizona and California.  As we are headed to the CA side of the Colorado river, we decide to cross into CA on I-8 then pick up the county route S-24 there. Yuma has its built up areas, with closely spaced houses on parallel streets.

This is not unlike Phoenix or Tucson, but there are not so many here. The road in California is good, well marked, and paved.  It threads through the Imperial Valley vegetable fields, a multi-billion dollar business providing produce for much of the nation.  The farm machinery is slow moving and wider than the road, but the drivers are courteous and move onto the shoulder so we can pass.  The dams and irrigation canals complicate the road path, but provide points of interest for us "touristers" too.  :-)  Here is Laguna Dam with water frothing over it's fish ladder.

 The Dams on the southern Colorado river do not come close to rivaling the height of the dam at Page, AZ.  The land here is much flatter, and a high dam would flood too much fertile crop land.    We have no trouble finding Squaw Lake campground, signs are clear and descriptive.

The azure blue water of the lake is BIG TIME impressive, perhaps made more so by contrast with the barren brown hills everywhere away from the water.  We have a bit of trouble understanding the fee structure.  Most parks charge by the night; BLM charges by the DAY, so one night is charged as two days of use, two nights as three days and so on...  Oh wellllll..  :-)  At $2.50 per DAY it is still a HUGE bargain; dump and water are a couple miles away, but our campsite looks down on the beautiful blue lake 50 feet away and the birds chirp around us.  Trails are visible going over the hills.  The sign warning us to evacuate quickly to high ground if a siren sounds reminds us that one of the "hills" behind us and overlooking the campground is really the earthen dam holding water in Senator Wash Reservoir. We decide to disregard this "danger" and sign up for 5 nights (SIX days), planning to return to Yuma next Thursday.  I am amazed that this facility is not filled to overflowing on a Saturday, but many spaces are unused. Lots of boat trailers are parked in the designated trailer parking area. We pick a site with a curbed sandy open space separator that allows us to spread our awning without encroaching on the neighboring site.  The awning is not needed in today's breeze; I'm not even sure it would hold up to the stiff gusts.  Folks say that in January the area will fill up.... I guess we have once more lucked out and avoided the peak season.  :-))  There are also long term visitor camping areas nearby that can be used for $150 a season or $25 for 14 days, but the permits must be purchased in the BLM office in Yuma.  These areas do not overlook the lake so closely, and are not paved.  :-)  The sites there are not rigidly designated; you just pick a spot in the desert at least 15 feet from any other camper.  I am surprised that all these BLM recreation areas are not better publicized;  I suppose local businesses prefer that you pay THEM much more for much less.  :-)  We very much enjoy the succulent Imperial Valley vegetables we'd bought in Yuma in Claire's stir fry tofu delight.  

Yummm;  a true Stir Fry Imperial!   :-)     The bok choy was also delightful as a snack during preparation; it is tender, sweet, crunchy and succulent, with none of the dirt we are familiar with in east coast marketed vegetables.  I understand why the Chinese and Japanese so value these vegetables that much of the crop grown here is exported there.

Sunday November 10:

Today is a rest day for us; it is nice not to HAVE to do anything for a while.   A family camped with their big California style pickup truck parked two slots away from us last night. Some of them slept in the slot between us.  Today the truck and dad departed, leaving Mom and son set up right next to us sleeping on the blacktop parking lot on air mattresses.  There are MANY spaces further away so we do wonder why they choose to stay here right NEXT to our generator exhaust???  They seem nice, and seem to know a group camped in tents across the lot on the sand, but they stay close to us....Claire speculates it is because our length prevents others from driving over them at night?  Most others have tents and camp on the sand.  This group wants to sleep in the open air on the blacktop parking lot, but cooks on campfires down at the water...  I would not feel safe myself in snake territory with only a sleeping bag, blacktop or no....but to each his own.  We DO try to run our generator when they are out of the area. Purry is quite interested in their things though, and it is a struggle keeping him at a respectable (beyond marking range) distance when he walks outside.  :-)  We decide to find the dump station and take on water, then since this is Sunday with free cell minutes, continue driving toward Yuma until we get a useable digital cell signal.  The dump is about a mile away, and the road leads past some of the long term camping areas in the desert.

The landscape colors away from the water are mostly brown, with some haze from blowing dust, but the blue of the Senator Wash reservoir stands out attractively.  After stopping and asking whether a wooden covered hole in the ground surrounded by stakes is the sewage dump, we are told it is the well for that camping area.  YIKES!  I suggest the users of the well put up a sign; WE asked first, but not everybody would.... The Canadian folks playing cards in the shade of their motorhome indicate we are not the first to ask, and kindly point out the dump station entrance 500 yards away; we proceed.  We find a first class concrete paved 4 bay pull through dump station serving the long term visitors areas; it is just the sign posts that are not quite up to snuff.  There is also a bit of dust blowing from vehicles moving on the unpaved desert surface.

The flag flying fully on the left is an indicator of the brisk breeze.  We notice 2 bars of digital cell signal, and Claire manages to initiate an accidental call to Carol with her foot on the phone....  :-)  Perhaps this can serve as the cellphone site as well; it is MUCH higher than our campsite, overlooking the Senator Wash Reservoir far below.  We are camping below the reservoir water level and are warned to evacuate our campsite for higher ground if sirens sound warning of dam failure.  :-)  

We drive away from the dump station, and cannot find the 2 bar cell signal again, but park out of the way, and with the amplifier are able to make many calls and connect digitally to the net.  This is not a far drive to make calls, and we will use it during the week for business if needed.  We've already paid for the amplifier, so best use it instead of paying for extra gas to drive the RV....  We return to our campsite after dark, and back carefully into our slot next to the neighboring air mattresses and sleeping bags;  this operation is made much easier by the backup camera's ability to see and hear Claire's ground guide directions and the parking lot lines in the light of the RV backup lights.  I cannot see well at all with the rear view mirrors.    Claire did find strong TV signals at our campsite, in contrast to her expectations, so she watched while I turned in.

Monday November 11:

Today we decide to bicycle;  the wind is quite high and we soon decide it is better to spend the time sheltered indoors.  Even Purry decide he'd rather return indoors after a very short walk.  This Jet Skier cavorting in the reservoir did not seem deterred by the wind.

We did explore from the road above the dam this reversible pump/hydroelectric generating station that controls the water level in Senator Wash Reservoir.  

Right now water is flowing out of the reservoir into the lakes behind Imperial Dam, and generating electricity;  when desired, the reservoir is pumped full again from the water backed up by the dam.  We conversed with a local businessman from Yuma who was spending the Veterans Day holiday here.  He said the electric power from this station is insignificant; its real purpose is water level control.  He indicated that folks who spend the summer here plan all their outdoor physical work for the day to finish by 10AM.  Their activities then move into air conditioned areas.  He had moved here from San Diego to avoid the two hour commute to work, and had his own business serving the agricultural industry here. He finally resolved my curiosity about the blimp shaped balloon we had seen to the east; it is a military radar "aerostat".  

This one is installed on Yuma Proving Ground and from it's apparent height of thousands of feet above ground it's radar can see deep into Mexico and the Pacific Coast border area, monitoring for smugglers and other illegal activity.  Other similar radars are located along the border in Texas and in south Florida.  Under extreme weather conditions it is pulled lower for it's own safety, but today is quite windy and it flies high.  This is a good example of how military developments can be used to aid civilian goals. I decide to concentrate on indoor repairs today, and first investigate the source of dampness in the bedroom storage area under the water fill;  I had previously tightened the hose clamps, but the dampness persists.  I cannot find a leak, but speculate that water might sit in a dip in the fill line, and seep out through a small leak in the hose caused by chafing against the metal drawer guides.  I tie the fill and vent hoses up and away from the drawer guides, giving them a constant slope toward the water tank.  Next fill I will watch carefully for the source of the leak.  This MUST be found or it will cause rot in the floor wood.  :-((  I decide to install child proof latches on the drawers that vibrate open when we drive.  I found a lot of cracking on the particle board supporting the drawer guides in the bathroom, so I epoxy filled the cracks; that will be reassembled tomorrow after curing.  The bottom kitchen drawer gets a child proof latch, and during the process Claire notices a broken plastic piece on the outside of the drawer;  THAT is the latching mechanism for the drawers!  I had thought it was a lip the drawer dropped down into...DUHHHH!  A check shows the other two drawers have broken or unscrewed pieces in the same place.  Perhaps replacing these would work better than baby proof latches?  :-)  Well, the latches are a good backup.....  We enjoy a lazy day, and the Pueblo Indian lamb-squash soup Claire prepares.  This is a REALLY good dish, a keeper for home as well.  We have not tried it with the specified pumpkin, but it works really well with the Massachusetts garden grown butternut squash which seems to be in excess supply on this RV.  :-)  The good news is that the squash is keeping really well in the dry air; the bad news is that some is bound to be left to fly home in our luggage.  We cannot risk storing it and having it rot while we are not here.  Throw it out?  NEVER!!  :-)  

Tuesday November 12:

After hours of TV, the battery is only 60% this morning.  This is the second day I am late to arise;  it is almost 7AM.  There is NO COFFEE in the thermos.  This is gross negligence!  :-)  I hesitate to run the generator this early even if it is permitted.  Expresso will do nicely, and we have a stove top pot for that.  :-))  The expresso is delightful, and the sun's warmth speedily brings the outside temperature from 60 F at 7 AM to 67 at 9AM.  It will be 75 or 80 by mid afternoon.  At 9 we start the generator, and Claire vacuums the bedroom at the same time.  We need to PLAN to use the generator for all these tasks when it runs.  :-)  Folks who regularly camp here spend thousands to install solar panels on their RVs so they do not need to run their generators, but these need to be set up when you stop and stowed for driving.  They are also not well suited for cloudy areas.  We apologize to them for our noisy annoying generator, but will run it when we need to.  We have gotten no direct complaints, just comments about how nice and quiet solar is... as the guy two slots down runs his generator 4 hours a night to watch TV.  :-)  Solar just makes NO sense at all for us.....  we need about an hour a day to keep our battery up, and will run that.  Right now we must find a place to change the generator oil.  BLM prohibits such activity on their land to the tune of a $100,000.00 fine;  we can buy quite a few new generators for that!  We do some interior cleaning, then debate whether the wind is low enough to bike.  We decide to try; the bikes are off the rack locked to the awning support, easy to get at.  If we drive some place they must be returned to the rack before we can start.  The wind is noticeable, but not kicking up dust; we continue riding along the road we had come in on, and spot these snowy egrets enjoying the waters of the reservoir.

The water is being let OUT of the reservoir now; the shoreline is still wet from a higher water level.  Things dry fast here in the low humidity.  If it were constant level or rising the shore line would appear dry.   I was curious about finding the Imperial Dam.  The GPS map showed the way, and soon we reached the turnoff road.  In a mile we reached "US Government Property, No Trespassing" signs placed in the road.  The dam could be seen nearby.  I took a few pictures, and a narrow gage rail car with dam debris and a few workers approached.  I asked where there was a road that we could cross on; one worker told us the signs were for vehicles, we could cross on our bikes.  We did not ask further, but rode across the single lane traffic pavement that topped the dam structure.  

Employees passing us on the single lane road are unconcerned by our presence, even though the numerous "No Tress passing" signs are a bit unnerving at first; we would sure look foolish getting busted for trying to sneak across into Arizona illegally.  :-)  Along the Arizona side of the river here we notice we are quite close to the developed RV Park we've noticed from our campsite.

Soon the sign at the gate revealed it was Hidden Shores RV Park, as we had speculated from our campground guidebook. I was surprised it is a BLM cooperative development with a private contractor.   The gate is guarded, but we are allowed to pass and given directions to the store and restaurant.  We enjoyed inexpensive soft ice cream, and bought a very expensive bag of corn chips to supplement our dwindling supply.  A gentleman on a four wheeled All Terrain Vehicle (ATV) stopped to chat, and indicated that CB channel 12 was the BLM campground emergency and calling channel.  He suggested we listen in the evening for roll call.  The price sheet for camping in this resort is an order of magnitude more expensive than our site across the river, and with electricity much more so.  The difference is this resort advertised in the campground guides, can be found from anywhere in the US, AND has a store with SOFT ICE CREAM.  :-).  The BLM campgrounds we are using require some other knowledge to find them;  it's like they are a well kept secret for those with local knowledge.  :-)  Usenet news groups supply the knowledge that they are here;  asking local folks can eventually help find them.  We were dreading the return bike trip, as a long hill we had descended revealed coasting speeds approaching 30 mph as I quickly glanced at the GPS.  The sun was getting lower in the sky as we sat, and we knew we must not delay any more;  we took our leave from Hidden Shores.  The trip back turned out much easier than anticipated; the hill was long, but not too steep to ride comfortably in low gear.  The wind had diminished to almost zero.  As we descended from the dam to our campground the sun disappeared below the hilltops to the west.  We have about used this day completely!  Dinner is bean burritos with Imperial Valley vegetables, a delicious way to end a fun day! :-)  The kitties insist on their time outdoors, but it happens AFTER dark tonight.  TV is available, and we catch up on news as well as entertainment before bedtime.

Wednesday November 13:

5:30 AM and the neighbor's generator starts, despite the 10PM to 6AM quiet hours in the campground.  This is a nice retired man and wife from Oregon travelling in their pickup camper with their adult daughter.  I'm sure they do not realize the time changes to Pacific this side of the river....  I'll leave it to someone else to complain.  :-)   Our battery is at 60% due to a lot of TV last evening.  I'll plan on starting our generator early, as soon as reasonable for Claire.  I do need to do a lot of computing or the webpage will not be ready for upload Saturday.  This is the last weekend before our return home.  After 4 hours work, the computer crashes as I try to process our last week's pictures without closing the web editor.  ALL of the morning's work is lost except the pictures that were prepared for the webpage.  grrrrrr  :-((((((  I decide it's time for early lunch!  After lunch I learn how to save easily with the web editor.  It has always been a pain for me to do that the way I know, closing the project.  There is an icon that does it easily;  I just HATE icons... a bit too much methinks.   :-)  I redo the page, but it is easier with the pictures already prepared and in chronological order.  When I have finished, up to the point of the crash, we decide on another bike ride rather than a walk; Claire's stubbed little toe is still a bit tender.  We choose a ride by road this time, avoiding crossing the Imperial Dam.  The ride will be longer, but after yesterday's "practice" run it appears within our abilities.  It is not long before we pass the road to Hidden Shores RV resort;   I remember the huge soft ice cream of yesterday...  :-)  We continue toward a settlement on the horizon;  it leads us to the gate to US Army Yuma Proving Ground.  

There is quite an RV park present here; Claire asks the gate guard who can use the park.  He asks, and finds it is available to retired military and civil service personnel.  That is not us, and as we have no other business on the base, we are not welcome to enter either.  We bike back the way we 'd come;  along the roadside I notice some green barked Palo Verde trees with ripe bean like seed pods still hanging on.

As we were neared the road to Hidden Shores, I suggested we stop for another soft ice cream.  Claire agrees, and we ride the mile to the resort's store/office.  This time Claire decides to also have the large plastic cup, and we both pile our servings high...after all, we NEED the extra energy to peddle up the hill to our campground!  :-)  On the way back we took greater notice of the quaint names assigned to the various long term visitors area campgrounds.  Who says it's all in the name?  Skunk hollow does not seem deserted, despite the obvious disadvantage it's name implies...

This entrance even looks invitingly decorated.  Down in the hollow with high ridges near for their antennas, these folks seem to be the area communications specialists, complete with many solar arrays for power.

There is an antenna that is probably an amateur radio 3.5 MHz dipole, a number of high CB verticals, as well as a Wilson Trucker cell antenna like ours up on a mast so it clears the bluffs that shelter the RVs from the wind; I do wonder how much dust blows down from those bluffs on windy days though.....  This chap on the hilltop at "Hurricane Ridge" has all bets covered with his solar array on the ground and the wind generator on the rooftop.  

It does appear that these folks are planning to stay in one place for a while; tear down, stowage for travel, and setup effort is considerable for equipment like this.   Senator Wash Reservoir is EMPTY when we return near sundown; even the inlet tube cover is exposed.  

I guess there must have been water needed downstream.  Dinner is easy, left over stir fry, so we can finish dishes, walk cats and still watch a bit of TV before turning in for the night.  As Claire was coming to bed, she woke me; BURROS she whispered loudly as she looked out the rear window.  I looked and in the dim light from the campground street lights I could see their shapes on the grass between the RV and the lake, munching grass.  They browsed quickly, and by the time I got the camera set up, they were almost out of sight, but I tried in the dim light to photograph them.  It did not work out well at all;  pure black with and without flash.  :-(    At least now we know the droppings we see around the campground are not the result of campers with horse trailers defying the campground rules against grazing their hungry steeds....  :-) :-)  Later it was easy to discern a burro's startled bray just outside the RV, and it's hoofs clawing for traction as it scooted off into the darkness.  We've heard lots of unidentified noises in this campground; it's nice to finally put a label on one of them!  .  

Thursday November 14:

Battery 68% after lots of TV.  I finish the webpage (LAST week's), and Claire proofreads it, before we shower and prepare to move to Yuma for the windshield repair.  This preparation includes pulling the RV ahead so we can load the bikes from the level surface of the campsite.  The rear of the RV was parked overhanging a hill down to the lake to get us back out of the roadway; it was hard enough getting them down with gravity assisting.  We move the RV to put them back on the rack.  We drive up the hill to the dump station, then as Claire fills water I get the 3 voicemail messages the cell phone has collected while we were out of contact.  Two were from the glass repair place, so I call them and arrange to stay overnight in their parking lot tonight and do the work tomorrow.  We stop in the Imperial Date Gardens on our way out.

they have inexpensive ice cream too, so we again indulge; this could become a very BAAAD habit..... :-)  The Yuma post office had the health certificates for our kitties in general delivery, and informed me I could only receive mail from general delivery for 30 days.  I told them I was only passing through....they did not then require that I fill out their form.  We shopped at Kmart for a few necessities (kitty litter being the most important) then move to A Touch of Glass's parking lot for the night.  Dinner was left over squash soup, again delicious, and with pine nuts include this time.  The parking lot is not the most comfortable place we've spent nights; it is well lighted but appears isolated, and there is a bar across the street catering to noisy motorcycle riders.  They did seem better behaved than their machine's loud mufflers would indicate, and there were no hints of any problems.  I think Yuma is another place where a person's worth is established at least in part by a direct connection from his exhaust to his manifold.  I must admit that I got to sleep much later than usual, after the street noise died down around midnight (or was it 1 AM?  We did not set our clocks back when we crossed the state line).  

Friday November 15:

Battery about 68% again;  I was putting the computer away after Claire reminded me that it was really after 8 AM and the glass shop looked open.  A horn sounded nearby, and a glass repairman was tooting to ask us to move into the rear of the shop where they did repairs.  The lady came out and said the repair to our drivers side windshield had been approved by the insurance company, so we had no need to continue the search for the paperwork connected with the insurance claim. The crew got right to work removing the old glass, and soon had it out, no breakage but the run had finished it's trip to the top of the windshield.  I questioned how the inspection sticker could be transferred; they said they could scrape it off and put it on the new one. :-))  They finished cleaning the slot in the rubber for the new glass, and put a primer around the edge of it for the sealant that will hopefully keep all leaks out.  They carefully attached a suction cup handle to the middle of the glass, and lubricated the slot in the gasket with glass cleaner.  The window slid into the grooves, with help from plastic tools they called bones to pry the gasket into position over the glass.  When they had worked the glass nearly into the center, it got MUCH harder as the compound curve needed to be worked into position in both directions a bit at a time.  The tube of polyurethane sealant finished the job.  I watched closely and they let surplus sealant bulge out from under the gasket all the way around; NO LEAKS I pleaded.  They explained they had never had any come back, so I relaxed a bit. Then they had to clean up, and scrape the excess sealant from around the gasket with razor blades; this took longer than the installation itself.  :-)  I was evaluating some reflective tape the business owner was recommending for making the outside of the RV show up better at night, when I returned for my camera to copy some of his documents.  The glass men had a suction cup tool attached to the drivers side windshield, and one of them was playing the flame from a butane lighter on the inside while the other pumped resin into the crack under the pressure of a hand operated piston in the tool on the outside.  I watched, looking for any run starting.  It did not, and I breathed a sigh of relief.  Since the insurance company had approved the procedure, I think they would have covered the cost of glass replacement too if something had gone wrong;  still, it is better to have no further hassle from this glass business as our return trip looms near.  The shop owner recommended we wait four hours before driving much to allow the sealant to set, as the sealant locks the glass into position and provides a lot of structural rigidity to the coach.  I ask if we might change the generator oil; he said "'If you do not leave a mess".   He further pointed out that the EPA is watching them like hawks, and the field next to our parking place is used to grow vegetables.  They were spray irrigating it all night, and I cringed as I thought of the bill to clean up an ounce of oil spread through that field on top of the water.

 I assured him we spread plastic on the ground, and would not spill a drop.  We moved to a position out of the way, and ran the generator warm to make coffee.  I then proceeded to spread the plastic bags, and should have realized we would have difficulty when the bags needed weights to keep them from blowing away.  As soon as I had the drain plug out, oil blew into the drip pan under the generator, instead if falling neatly through the intended hole into the catch basin.  :-((  All my paper towels were used to control it, and keep any from reaching the ground.  In the end, my promise was kept; no drop hit the ground, but lots of paper towels were sopping with oil, and a paper towel plug was needed in the splash pan hole to keep the residual oil I could not reach from dripping to the ground.  :-(  At least this overdue job got done, and used surplus time we otherwise really needed for the sealant to set.  The repair folks did a GREAT job, and cleaned up after themselves too.  We enjoyed lunch in their little Mexican cafe;  the chile verde I had was not fire breathing hot, but it DID clear my sinuses.  :-)  I was interested in the fact that the chile here is really just pulled meat cooked in the chile pepper sauce; beans are served as a side dish.  I am used to seeing chile as spiced ground meat mixed with beans, or chile con carne as served back east.  This is a dish all its own, quite delicious.  :-)  After the prescribed setting period passed, I inquired inside as to the location of Pep Boys in Yuma, and got the clearance to "rock & roll" the coach if need be; the sealant is fully set now.  We drove directly to the laundromat, and proceeded to finish the task of cleaning most of the heavy stuff that will be left during storage.  We will launder light clothing a day or so before we leave, but will not have time to do everything then.  I got my favorite $2 white sun hat dirty changing the generator oil; it currently dries on my head to assure proper fit without shrinking.  :-)  Out here, drying takes almost no time at all, and in the afternoon sun the cool of a wet piece of clothing is most welcome.  After we finish here, we must look at Home Depot for a pest proof food storage can, and then will overnight at K-mart close to a large mall, so Claire has something to occupy her while I spend Saturday morning on the computer.  :-)  

Plans:

This will be the last you hear from us while we are on the road this trip;  if all our plans go well we will be home in our beds around midnight next Friday.  We'll finish the last week's page from there, and I'd expect it will be after Thanksgiving before you all see it, as we have lots to do preparing for Turkey Day.  We do plan a day walking around in Algodones, Mexico next week, a couple more nights at Squaw lake, and at least two nights in a commercial campground with water and electricity before we leave; maybe we'll even get some of our UV tender decals waxed before we must store for the following seven weeks.... :-)  

Today we AGAIN verified that all our paperwork, kitty carriers,  reservations, and electronic tickets are in order at the airport; everything came up OK to go.  The taxi the airline recommended estimated the fare from the storage place at $8, and said they would pick us up there 20 minutes after our phone call requesting them.  Right now it's hard to imagine what could go wrong, BUT a hint turned up at the airport; the cats must be CARRIED through the check-in security gate while their carriers go through the x-ray machine.  I can envision us calling "here Pookie Pookie Pookie" until WAY after our plane takes off.....  :-(((    I trust no such nightmares will act out in real life.  :-))

 Hope you all ENJOY; we are!