A very windy day here on Ogilby Road......

 

Our Location: 

North of MM 4, Ogilby Road, Winterhaven, California

 

The wind picked up last night and is still with us today. The weather guessers are saying 25 mph/40 km an hour gusts for most of the morning. And I can tell you it feels as if they may be right on the mark. Our temps are still on the very chilly side sitting at 56F/13C. Yes I know back home in the great white north that would be considered balmy but for here it's down right cold. 

 

A stay inside day and keep warm, some nice homemade soup for comfort food and a good book or a good game or two, what else can one do on a day like this?

 

 

Our condolences go out to Janet and Dennis on the loss of his brother Bobby. The boys came from a large family and grew up in Port Anne. Hockey was a passion for a lot of the boys. Dennis and Janet have a farm not far from Port Anne, in Roseneath, Ontario. We stay at Buttercup Ridge usually twice a year on our journey's to and from the west.  

 

As I'm sure you can tell by now, today's photos were ones that I haven't used but liked. They are from our hike in Calcite Mine Slot Canyon and a couple from our trip to Julian, California as well. 

 

 

Thanks for stopping by, I hope you have had a wonderful day where you may be. 

 

Until next time...

 

Take care, stay safe, 

 

Deb

 

Errands, chores and friends arrive.....

 

Our Location: 

North of MM 4, Ogilby Road, Winterhaven, California

 

This morning Riley and I had errands and chores to accomplish. We loaded ourselves, the laundry, propane tank, gas can, etc into the Dogsled and headed off around 8:30 am MST. Our first stop was diesel and gas (for the generator) at the Arco Station at Exit 2. Diesel was down to $4.49 per gallon. We managed to fill both the truck and gas can and get rid of some garbage all at one place. A good start to the long list. 

 

Our second stop was for propane at U-Haul. Here I was informed it will be the last fill of this tank as it expires at the end of the month. Looks like we may be using smaller tanks until we get back to Ontario to exchange this one again, since it left Ontario as an exchange. What a pain in the ...  On the plus side, it was cheaper to fill this tank than last time. Less than $30.00 USD for a 30lb tank from flat. 

 

Our third stop was the laundromat. We managed to snag 4 big washers and within two hours had our laundry all completed and back in the truck. We also managed to find a post box for some mail back home. Two  more things off the list. 

 

The last stop was at Walmart on S. Pacific Ave for groceries and drinking water. We managed to find everything we needed, fill up the remaining 4 drinking jugs and put a jug of Def Fluid in the Big Dog. Wow, we were finished and heading home around 12:30 MST. 

 

We pulled in as Doug was pulling out, he came back for a quick chat and then scooted off to town. Riley and I managed to get everything put away and sitting down to lunch within the hour. We were happy to have this long list behind us. 

 

Around 3 pm MST the Stinger B and family pulled in. We went out to greet them and then came back inside while they did their parking and setting up. We had a quick happy hour and soon the cold and rain had us all heading inside. All is well in the neighbourhood. 

 

Thanks for stopping by, I hope you enjoyed your visit. 

 

Until next time.....

 

Take care, stay safe, 

 

Deb

 

A birthday trip to Mexico....

 

 

Our Location: 

North of MM 4, Ogilby Road, Winterhaven, California

 

Today's plan was a birthday celebration for Riley in Mexico and so that is what we did. Doug, Riley and I headed off in the Dogsled for a very relaxing few hours in Mexico. We left around 9:30 MST and got back home around 2 -2:30 MST. A nice relaxing day was enjoyed by all. 

 

We have a busy day planned tomorrow with a number of errands/chores in Yuma that will take a big part of the day for us. 

 

Another birthday note, my cousins Bob and Ruth (brother and sister, oldest and youngest child) celebrate today. Bob is in his mid 60's and Ruth in her mid 40's. One remains on the rock in Lake Huron and the other moved a number of years ago to the east coast of Canada. We wish them both a very happy birthday.  Also a happy birthday to Sally, who celebrates today. I hope you have a wonderful day. 

 

Thanks for stopping by, I hope you've all had a wonderful day.   

Until next time...

 

Take care, stay safe, 

 

Deb

 

We moved today....

 

Our Location: 

North of MM 4, Ogilby Road, Winterhaven, California

 

This morning Riley and I were on the road after dumping at the fuel station at Salton Sea by 9 am MST. We enjoyed a leisurely drive along Cal 86/78 to Cal 111 and then I-8 EAST. Yes our westward travel is complete for this year. All travel will be with an easterly hint from this morning on until we arrive back at our summer spot around May 1. 

 

 

Very few photos today. The weather is warm and sunny, with very little to no breeze of any kind. Truly a nice day. We pulled into the SAME road way we were parked on before,  following the little silver streak as it zoomed its way back to the White Lion. We are parked off the same road but on the opposite side of the ROAD , not the wash Deb. We could have taken the same spots as before but not any longer as someone has moved in. Yuma was happy to see us and I think Doug had a bit of a smile too. It seems both Doug and us are enjoying a much more social year than in the past. Called my dad to say we'd arrived, a balmy -4C/25F on the rock in the waters of Lake Huron!!

 

Today is Riley's 31st birthday. She is enjoying the day just relaxing. We celebrated with her Aunt Janet yesterday and tomorrow we will celebrate again, and again yet later in the week. I was thinking she was aging a year for each celebration but she advises that is not how it works. 

 

Thanks for stopping by, I hope you have had an enjoyable day. Today's photos are a mix of phone and iPad. 

 

Until next time.... 

 

Take care, stay safe, 

 

Deb

 

 

A visit with family.....

 

Our Location: 

Ocotillo Wells BLM, Salton Sea, California

 

This morning we had plans and so up early, a quick coffee and we were out the door. A $75.00 pump at the local fuel spot had us with only a quarter of a tank more than when I started to squeeze the handle. I guess $5.99 per gallon will do that. 

 

 

We were through Indio and into Indian Wells, California knocking on Janet's door by 10 AM PST. She looks wonderful and we haven't seen her for a long while. We've missed her but we do stay in touch via phone and text messages. We visited at their home for a long while and we even picked some fresh grapefruit from her tree. We finally headed off to Mexicali's, an authentic Mexican restaurant in Indio. Can you believe I didn't take a photo of Janet or the restaurant? Well, I didn't! We had a great visit and hopefully will see her again back in Ontario before fall. 

 

Riley and I were back home around 3 pm PST and have just kind of been resting and I've been editing photos for tonight's blog. Please forgive the dirty windshield in any of the photos, we just can't seem to keep it clean. 

 

Thanks for stopping by, I hope you've had a good day. 

 

Until next time...

 

Take care, stay safe, 

 

Deb

 

A walk into the Badlands and Borrego Springs...... 30 plus photos.

 

Our Location: 

Ocotillo Wells BLM, Salton Sea, California

 

A better sleep with the help of a night time cold pill. Not how I'd like it but it is what it is. A nice morning here but the wind has steadily picked up all day. We've pulled in the big slide as it makes the topper snap and crackle and we don't want to see it flapping down over the window when it rips off. So we will make do. 

 

 

This morning I chatted with the folks across the way and learned some interesting things. They are from Germany. They are carpenters, or at least two of them are, I think there are three all together. They have a couple of off road bikes and at least one street cycle.  They pull a cargo van behind a pickup with a truck camper. The fella (I didn't get his name) said they work from April until Dec and then come to the USA for 3 months to avoid the winter weather back home. They've been doing it for 16 years. 

 

I strolled along in the edges of the badlands and took numerous photos. The paths are rutted and rough, the walls are close and it's extremely hilly here. There are numerous rocks/stones around but also what it's called mudstone. It dries out and flakes off or chunks fall off changing the looks of the wall until the outer shell once again dries up and falls off. An interesting cycle for certain. The colours are natural I didn't change anything. However the placement of the sun also makes a difference in the photo. All photos were taken this morning before 11 AM PST. 

 

The wind kept picking up and made things difficult for taking photos with dust blowing around and the tops of the hills were extremely windy, so I opted to come back home. I chatted with a different neighbour on my way back. Him and his little dog are full timers too. His newly purchased (less than a month) solar panel suitcase fell over in last nights winds and smashed one half, now it doesn't work. I suggested calling the company and explaining what happened, maybe they will give him a new one or at least prorate this one. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.

 

Tomorrow we have plans to go to Indian Wells, California to visit Janet & Dennis, or at least Janet. Dennis will probably by out on the golf course. After that we are going to head back to the Yuma area for a few weeks, we have some plans there. 

 

I have changed the colours of the text in the photos to better show up against each background. I've been experimenting using iPhoto and I'm trying to decide if it's worth the extra trouble. I have a great deal of trouble loading photos from Google Photos to iPhotos and then to the blog. A pain in the ...... however I'm still testing out various things. Comments would be welcomed.

Thanks for stopping by, I hope you enjoyed the visit. 

 

Until next time....

 

Take care, stay safe, 

 

Deb