It’s been a week since my last post…

 

Our Location:

BLM Ogilby Road, Winterhaven, California 

We’ve had a few very warm days but the nights cooled off for sleeping. We are happy to have our flannel sheets! We have journeyed into Yuma a couple of times for groceries and to just get out of the Igloo. We have been walking more mornings than. We even went to Algodones to pick up some prescription medication, but we literally just went to the pharmacy and no where else.

Some painted rocks left behind at a site down the way.

The deer hunt back home went well, Rick and the boys came away with 2, and Leah’s party ended up with at least 2. All in all a good hunt. Jason ended up in the ER with a badly cut finger, I believe stitches or glue were used. 

We parked here our first year in the desert.

I’ve been chatting with Dad and sister, keeping up with latest news from the Rock in Lake Huron. A little of the white stuff, some heavy frosts, glum, overcast weather, in other words fall has arrived.

The Imperial Dunes
and the All American Canal.

Our thoughts are with the Bayfield Bunch as they face challenging times ahead. There are no words or gestures that will help, but we like many others are thinking of you.

On a morning walk..

Thanks for stopping by.

Until next time…..

Take care, stay safe,

Deb

We are in California….

 

Our Location:

BLM Ogilby Rd, Winterhaven, California 

 We had the wheels rolling this morning at 8:07 am, and finished dumping the tanks and depositing the garbage at La Posa South LTVA ( long term visitor area) by 8:38 am. We took AZ 95 south all the way to I-8 west in Yuma and it was shortly after 10:00 am when we entered California. Within 15 minutes we were searching for a place to put feet down. The two spots we had in mind are both occupied so we checked out a couple of others before settling into this one! We had everything completed for a quick setup inside and out by noon. At 12:15 pm I was chatting with Dad’s answering machine.

The Guns of the Proving Grounds.

Crops are just coming up here.

The roads were excellent, no slow downs or construction disruptions of any kind. Some new hardtop for a long distance, with only one very rough patch in the whole trip, 10 lengths of the rig at the beginning of Ogilby Road coming down the off ramp. It is always the same there. Ogilby Rd is getting a bit rougher as well but overall is good.

This one is closer to harvest.

It was a bit breezy when we were setting up. In Q the wind was steadily coming from the north, northwest since our arrival a few weeks ago. Today’s winds were from the south, southwest. Can you guess which direction we were heading? It was a slight breeze but really!

I never tire of this view.

Familiar views.

A very basic setup but we are relaxing, we both had a nap already.

We have a few plans for the next couple of days but I will not be posting for a bit. I do promise to give an update by weeks end.

Thanks for stopping by. 

Until next time…….

Take care, stay safe,

Deb

We’ve started our long drive towards Ontario…

 

Our Location:

BLM Road Runner, Quartzsite, Arizona 

Yes, we have moved but first a catch up of the last couple of weeks. Of course Doug came for a bit, but you already know that from his blog, so I won’t retell the same stuff. Yep, he got stuck, we got him out and life moved on.  He left us a few days ago and is near by at Palm Canyon Rd. 

Lots of things fly over us on Ogilby Road.

If you look  closely, there are 7, that is a big number all at one time.

Riley and I visited Mexico one last time for dental cleaning on Monday 18th. It was a very quick trip as everything was backed up due to a late border opening that day and a full parking lot. We didn’t take any extra time there, we didn’t want to wait in the line any longer than necessary.

We are in Indio, California 

We are travelling near the Salton Sea.

Forgive the dirty windshield. I think the white is a salt residue as we are near the Salton Sea.

We also managed to visit Yuma a few times for some errands, groceries, laundry, etc.  Otherwise it was peaceful but pretty warm. On Saturday 23rd Riley and I climbed into the Dogsled for a round trip of about 300 miles to visit SIL/Aunt Janet and her hubby Dennis. Both are doing well , Dennis escorted the three ladies to a local restaurant for lunch. Thanks Dennis. We had a nice visit and will hopefully see them again in the summer on the Island. We had our first ride in a very shiny black Maserati. They traded in the Bentley earlier this year, we didn’t get a ride in that one! We were home around 5:30 pm. We hunkered down due to wind on Sunday.

Exiting their gated community.

High winds, blowing sand all around the Glamis area.

The Cargo Muchacho Mountains off in the distance 

Our morning started around 7 am and found us in the Dogsled by 8am. We stopped at the Chevron Station to empty the tanks, took Exit 3 to 32nd, turned left and at 8:45 am pulled into East Bay tires. Friendly, clean, and knowledgeable, we were on the road again shortly after 10:30am with new rubber all around the Igloo. We are pulled into RR BLM, parked and as set up as we plan to get here before 1 pm. 

Dusty at home too, not just in Glamis.

The dust makes the mountains hazy and unfocused.

Dust makes an interesting sunset.

We’ve been talking to dad and folks back home. Good weather, snow, cold, more good weather, etc, etc. So pretty typical weather. Everyone is doing well there and are looking forward to spring.

The empty spot that was our home for most of the winter.

And we start homeward, Monday, March 25, 8am PDT.

We have a purpose for being here, we want Lifestyles to add an indoor quick connect for our heater and after that  we are heading slowly home. It is time, we have the urge and the itch!

Thanks for stopping by.

Until next time….

Take care, stay safe,

Deb

Some pics from a few days ago...

 

Our Location: 

North of MM 4, Ogilby Road, Winterhaven, California

 

Errands in Yuma where the focus, Harbor Freight, 99cent store, Walmart, and propane. The U-Haul where we normally get propane and the Chevron at Pilot Knob are the same price, $3.99. Home and finished putting away the groceries by 1:30. The wind started picking up and making it kind of dusty to be outside and a wind advisory in effect tomorrow as well. Chatted with my dad later in the day, surprise, surprise the Rock is getting a lot of wind too. Wind seems to be the constant word in most conversations. 

Those looked like smoke from farther away.....

Palo Verde trees that are dying....

all along this wash.

 

They are still very stiff and pointy needles.

Deep in the wash, lots of debris.

They are fast and blend well.

The pattern is eye catching. You can see the direction of the flow from the caught up debris.

Waves in the desert.

Paper thin layers.

Still some pretty blooms, some not open yet too.

 

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

 

Until next time...

 

Take care, stay safe, 

 

Deb

 

 

 

Our Location: 

North of MM 4, Ogilby Road, Winterhaven, California

 

A cool start to the day but we had errands to run today and so headed off around 9:30 am. First was a garbage run to the rest area, next was Arco for diesel for the Big Dog, next was Harbor Freight, Walmart, gas and water all in the Walmart parking lot, and finally a bust at Ferrell Gas, no longer open to the public. Oh well, we'll get it filled in a day or two elsewhere. 

I love the colouring.

Nothing is repetitive. The hills are never uniform, nor the colours.

We stopped and parked here for a bit.

After that it was a very quiet but nice day, not too hot, reached about 73F/23C. A beautiful day. Some helicopters flew by so low their feet were almost dragging in the desert sand but too far away to get a good pic with the phone. I do miss my camera. More pics of the ride with Jerry again. I hope you are enjoying the views. I sure did. 

Those are water tanks over there and supply lines running to them along the hill.

We headed down that trail on foot. It was some pretty amazing things to see down there.

That's a man made dam over there. Lots of concrete.

Thanks for stopping by, I hope you had a great day.

A closer look at the dam. The dark is water leaking through.

There is a spigot in the dam side.

To relieve pressure if the dam gets too full.

Until next time....

Some water behind the dam....

See the pipes? They are steel and the holders are secured in the rocks. They go to those first tanks in the pics.

They get their water from here. Tomorrow some more of pics of the water way.

Take care, stay safe, 

Deb

Errands and chores today....

 

 

Our Location: 

North of MM 4, Ogilby Road, Winterhaven, California

 

This morning our temperatures were in the more expected range of 52F/11C and later in the day it was warm enough to register 72F/22C and I sat outside in shorts and a t-shirt. It was a wonderfully warm experience. However I'm getting ahead of myself. 

 

The water is not extremely deep here, the sides are pretty sandy and the bottom is a silt that is easily stirred up.

It is very early in the Spring, so there is no new colours yet.

A little colour in the grass, and the water is starting to move here, very shallow in 2021.

Up river from the falls. The salmon come up here to spawn.

 

We loaded up the Dogsled with dirty laundry and headed off to town with a number of things in mind. Laundry took us about 2 1/2 hours for 5 big loads, washed, dried, folded and packed back into the truck. Next we stopped at Harbour Freight where I managed to snag some rope lights and I may go back for more. My original purchase of 3 strings years ago in Mississippi (at least 6) worked so well I wanted more. I have 1 string left from the original 3. I bought 3 more today. From there we headed down to Sports Clips on Pacific for hair cuts. We both came away with a lot less hair. Our final stop was Walmart for a few groceries. After that we headed home and had everything unloaded and completely put away (including all the laundry) by around 2 pm. Lunch was followed by the 'sitting outside' part mentioned above. 

 

Getting closer to the falls.

The cause of the disturbance is salmon steps in the river to help them manage the climb It gives them a place to rest from the current.

The falls isn't very big but the water is fast and the rocks are slippery.

I wonder how long that stayed there.

 

I chatted with my dad tonight for about a half hour. We never really have much to say but we manage to find something. The weather there is very much a yoyo type thing, cold and warm, warm and cold, just depends on the moment. 

 

The water moves very quickly even though it's pretty low.

The trees cause a great deal of shade at the waters edge .

Looking down river the water starts to calm a bit.

I love the water spray, you can see the drops in the air above the falls.

 

I didn't take any photos today, not a single one. I have some left overs from some where but decided I wouldn't use those here. Instead I'm going to post some pics I took on April 14, 2021 back home on Manitoulin Island. It is a place we often visited when I was a young girl. We had many family picnics there with my dad's siblings and their families and us kids would walk along the top of the falls but far enough back that if we fell we wouldn't go over. It was a great spot to just sit and enjoy the cool water.  Some years the water was high and moved very quickly from one bank to the other and other years there was little water and lots of space on both banks that were dry. Of course some years was in the middle of those extremes. The year 2021 the water was low and lots of stepping rocks were available. The spot is called Michaels Bay, the first white settlement on the Island. I hope you enjoy them. 

 

The water moves rapidly and the salmon use the man  made steps to help them get up.

It's calmer up river and the water was very shallow that year.

The bottom is rust coloured and very slippery.

It is a place of my youth, and fond memories abound.

 

Until next time....

 

Take care, stay safe,

 

Deb