High Winds Before Traveling, Smart Alec Driver, Our New Home and Rain And Wind Tonight.

Our Location today is Imperial Dam LTVA, California, U.S.A. 

Since this is our first time Wintering in the American Southwest we had quite a number of places to check out. That doesn’t mean we will or won’t be back but it gives us a personal feel when reading someone else’s Blog and being able to picture it in our mind’s eye.  

Saying Good-Bye to Bashford''s Hot Mineral Spa.

After leaving the Dance Party at the RV Park last night and getting the rest of the Blog written it didn’t take either of us very long to fall asleep. I slept like a rock and Kathy said the roof could have fallen around me and I wouldn’t have woken up. Kathy was sleeping quite comfortably until around 5:00 PST when our Slide Toppers started getting battered by a strong Northwest Wind. She just couldn’t fall back to sleep for fear that the wind might damage the Toppers. 

Pleasant drive with no wind.

We were both up by 7:00 PST and the wind had gotten stronger making it difficult to hear one another. Since we had planned on travelling today I turned on my Computer to check out The Weather Network.  At that early hour, we were already getting hit with Thirty-Five MPH wind gusts and it was supposed to get worse later this afternoon. Checking the forecasts for towns along our intended route the highest wind was less than Ten MPH.

Desert Get-Together by the Sand Dunes.

Since we want to use the remaining time on our LTVA Permit we decided wind or not we’d just take our time and get underway. Worse case scenario we’d be Boondocking along the road. Once breakfast was over and my inside choirs finished Kathy finished securing the trailer for travel while I went outside to start closing up. 

Imperial Sand Dunes. Sand drifting across I-8.

It felt strange having to unplug the Electric, Unhook the Water but it was nice to be able to Flush Our Tanks before we pulled out. The wind was still strong enough that not only did I chase my hat a couple of times but it nearly blew Kathy over when she came around the backside of the trailer. 

More Construction.

It was just about 10:30 PST when we pulled off our site and made our way to the road. With the RV Park being Nestled at the base of the Chocolate Mountains it seemed to have lots of Wind. As soon as we got on the road the winds started easing up and the further up the road we got the less wind we got. 

Arriving at the Yuma Proving Grounds

Driving all the way back to I-8 then traveling east we didn’t have any issues but we still find it odd that Only California restricts any vehicle towing a trailer to a maximum speed of 55 MPH while the rest of the vehicles are practically flying by.  

More Old Tanks

It was 1:00 MST when we pulled into the Yuma, Arizona Walmart. We used their lot while we walked over to La Taco for lunch. Quite a different menu to choose from but very tasty. We’ll visit them again. 

Entrance to the Military Base.

Walking back to the truck we each had our own things to do so we went our separate ways. Kathy had a list of things she needed in Walmart and since we can’t use our Auxiliary Fuel Tank I needed to top off the tank.  

Crossing the Imperial Dam into California.

Like Friday the trailer was parked at the far end of the lot when I unhooked from the trailer and locked the pin before getting fuel at a station that was tight just for the truck. When I got back to the trailer as I’m backing up to hook up an idiot parks his Sporty Little Car between the truck and the trailer. When I politely explain that I was wanting to get hooked up he told me what to do. I said fine but if his car was still in the way by the time I hooked up the trailer it would be under the truck. I got the Bird when he left but I made my point. 

We use the Windsock to find our trailer.

I got inside just as Kathy was checking out her purchases. She didn’t like what I told her had happen but it was done. After double checking that everything on the trailer was okay we were soon on our way just after 3:00 MST.  

Our Closest Neighbours.

It was nearly 4:00 MST when we stopped at the Camp Hosts Office at the Imperial Dam LTVA. It was strange how we had to drive from California into Arizona just so we could drive back into California. This is another first for us but after getting all the formalities taken care of we were soon on our way to finding our home for the next four days. We were just in the process of Leveling the trailer when our New Neighbours Chuck and Karen welcomed us to the Neighbourhood. As we continued setting up the Wind that we thought we had left behind started blowing. After setting up our Windsock I needed to keep a Low Profile on the roof. 

We only Towed the Trailer 150 miles today and the next few days we’ll get a chance to check more of the LTVA out, get a few chores accomplished as well as some much deserved bit of relaxation in. Thanks for following along and feel free to leave a comment. Be Safe and Enjoy! 

It’s about time.

Krackers 

Office Jokes, Quotes, and Anecdotes 

If a job is worth doing, then get someone in to do it properly.