Our Location: BLM South Entrance, Joshua Tree National Park,
California
A very, windy night from early evening, all through the night until well into the afternoon today. We ended up pulling in all the slides and Riley slept with me for over half the night. The wind was rocking us and even with the toppers tied down they were still flapping fiercely. Better in than ripped. We ratchet strapped ourselves to a couple of Palo Verde trees, added some big rocks to the back of the Dogsled and hung on for dear life. All of this we did in the extremely bright wee hours of the morning as the moon was bright and showed us everything we needed to see.
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| Just a few of the many grapefruit I picked off the ground yesterday at Janet's. The wind had knocked them down overnight. |
Today we were planning on leaving this area and moving to Quartzsite, AZ but with the high sustained winds and heavy gusts we opted to stay put and wait for tomorrow. Even the traffic on I-10 seemed much lighter than usual until this afternoon when the winds started to noticeably diminish.
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| Gives you an idea of size. |
We stayed inside out of the wind and flying sand but enjoyed the views outside. A few folks coming and going but mostly just everyone hunkered down and stayed put. As the afternoon progressed the rigs started moving around on the interstate and began coming up the long grade to the BLM area, but only two rigs left.
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| The view out our door. That is the road into the park. |
A call to my dad to inform him of our change of plans, the rest of the afternoon was spent reading, napping and just gazing out the window. As I write this at 4:50 PM California time the winds have diminished to a slight breeze with a few little gusts but nothing to shake or rattle the Igloo. We’ve even taken away the ratchet straps and stones. Tomorrow we will be up and on the road heading east to new scenery for us this year.
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| Looking north west from our door. |
A special note today. Happy Birthday Courtney. My oldest daughter turns 31 today. Courtney is a true delight, bubbly, excitable, enthusiastic and just a very nice person. Courtney is with the Toronto School Board for the last couple of years after her return from Switzerland with hubby Matt who had a 2 year research grant there. Courtney and Matt live in Toronto and love the feel and atmosphere of the big city. So obviously a call will be placed to Courtney a bit later. Happy Birthday Sweetheart.
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| Stuck in a rock outside the door. |
So that’s it, our windy, stay inside day here at Joshua Tree National Park in California. Thanks for stopping by, I hope you enjoyed your stay.
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| I think this person may have spent the night in a motel. The car was gone early this morning. |
Until next time… take care, be safe,
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| That is toward the Coachella Valley. A few rigs that weathered the wind with us. |
Deb
I can see you two out there in the gale strapping things down in the wee hours. Reminds me of a sailing ship battening down the hatches. Just another adventure RVing.
ReplyDeleteBob I was hoping someone would come along and help. If you are in the area.....Hahaha.
DeleteThe wind died down this afternoon and was dead calm for the early evening hours and has now once again picked up to just about the same as last night. Maybe we need to rethink unbuttoning the hatches. Haha.
Take care, be safe,
Deb
I think one of the biggest problems for people RVing in the Southwest is the big bad winds and especially when they come in the night disrupting much needed sleep. Kelly isn't keen on heading to Borrego Springs this year because of the winds. We've had too many sleep deprived nights with the winds knocking us around over the years. Sounds like the winds you guys endured were extra extra bad. Scary, scary, scary...…...
ReplyDeleteI have to agree with you Al. The winds, for me are an issue. They would be one reason that would deter me from some locations. We won't park at Joshua Tree any more, it's just too much risk of too many days and nights with that kind of wind. I'd rather stay further south were the winds don't seem to be nearly as bad. We have found Borrego Springs, Joshua Tree, Indio and that area are very windy indeed. I hope you and Kelly can find some place that suits you both and with no wind.
DeleteTake care, be safe,
Deb
Hopefully the forecast holds true and less wind here in Q. Travel safe and enjoy some new surroundings.
ReplyDeleteThanks George. We left early as the winds seemed to be planning on picking up again later in the day. We arrived in Q with no wind issues on the drive. We are quite happy to be away from that area.
DeleteTake care, be safe,
Deb
Hopefully the wind has died down and you can enjoy a nice drive to Q today! That wind sounds terrible. Nice pictures though :)
ReplyDeleteOops I forgot, Happy Birthday Courtney!!
DeleteThanks Shirley. Maybe I'm a chicken when it comes to the wind but we'll be avoiding that area for camping in the future. That's twice we've been subjected to those winds in two years and that's enough for me.
DeleteTake care, be safe,
Deb
We had 40 mile an hour gusts at Pilot Knob. Jerry's brother is in the hospital in Yuma. After Jerry and Don's wife talked to the doctor, Jerry came home. I was so glad he got back sooner than I expected. Have a great wind free day! Elva Shannon
ReplyDeleteThanks Elva. I'm sorry to hear about the hospitalization, I hope things go well. I'm glad Jerry made it back sooner as well. It sounds as if you had a slightly less gusty version than we had and I'm sure you didn't like it any more than I did.
DeleteTake care, be safe,
Deb
We have been there ourselves out in the middle of the night. Usually we are taking in our sun shade as it tries to blow us away. The winds are just as bad here in FL the last couple of days.
ReplyDeleteWe didn't have the awning out but with the slides out the toppers were in danger of becoming kites I think. With the slides in we were still rocking and rolling. I"m amazed at how it starts and stops almost like a light switch effect. I hope you folks are battoned down and buttoned up down there as you're between two bodies of water. LOL
DeleteTake care, be safe,
Deb
Better to be Safe then Sorry and staying put was a good idea.
ReplyDeleteHope to finally say hello when you get to the Q.
We are located away from the rest of the gang.
Be Safe and Enjoy!
It's about time.
Thanks Rick. I always error on the side of safety and caution. I have no plans and we don't have to be anywhere except back at the Canadian Border on April 15. So we have no rush.
DeletePerhaps our paths will cross this year and if not, there is always next year.
Take care, be safe,
Deb