Saying Our See You Laters, Getting Dumped and Construction Nightmare.

Our Location today is Holtville Hot Springs LTVA, Holtville, California, U.S.A. 

Last night there were more than a few Coyotes in the near vicinity of our trailer. Even in the middle of the night we could still hear them with our windows closed. That made no difference to me and other than waking briefly just before 3:00 MST I slept like a rock. Kathy on the other hand was having Sinus issues that kept her awake until after 3:00 in the morning. 

Melinda, Tucker and Gerry

When I got up shortly after 7:00 I didn’t open too many shades but proceeded to turn our easy chairs into their travel positions. I thought that I was being very quiet but Kathy knowing that this was a Travel Day didn’t want to waste any time. She was practically falling asleep in her breakfast and kept saying we didn’t have to rush but in the same instance kept saying we needed to get going. 

It didn’t take very long to finish securing the inside of the trailer so when we were ready to go outside we had a little shock. The last few days in Quartzsite have been mildly warm with sunny skies. When we opened the door, we were hit with Cold North Winds that had us putting our jackets back on. 

Once the Trailer was hooked up and the jacks all raised we walked over to say our “See you Laters” to Gerry, Melinda and of course Tucker. Kathy had a farewell Empty Water Bottle for him which he destroyed within seconds. We managed to get a final “FamilyPicture” of them by their trailer then we walked over for a last picture of us by our Home. We all wished each other Safe Travels with plans to meet up again next year in Quartzsite. 

The first leg of our trip lasted about three hundred feet. Since we had been in La Posa South we wanted to see the Map of Canada and the US that someone painstakingly made to scale. We were amazed how accurately this was made using only Rocks that were readily available around Quartzsite. We’ll check it out better next year. 

The second leg of our trip was another three hundred feet to say “See you Later” to our former neighbour Wayne. He couldn’t believe how the wind had kicked up. After asking where we were heading today he gave us a few tips about driving in California. Wayne and his wife Sue will be back in Quartzsite again next year so we’ll see them again then. 

This time we maneuvered through a few Shallow Washes and made our way to the back of the line of RVs that were also needing to dump their tanks. After parking in the line up I walked over to get rid of our Trash and still got comfortable in the driver’s seat before the line stared to move. That was when I looked in the mirror to see the line up was growing directly behind us. There was five ahead of us and eight behind. Looks like we made it just on time. 

We are going to miss seeing this out of our windows.

We also wanted to top off our Fresh Water Tank so while that was taking place I noticed it was already past 11:15 and suggested to Kathy we grab lunch before leaving town. We waved to Gerry who was coming back into the park probably after running an errand just as we were finally on our way out of the park. We had lunch at Carl Jr’s where we easily parked and we also relaxed before we hit the road.

Overcast Sky.

It was exactly 12:00 noon when we pulled onto Highway 95 heading south towards Yuma. Once we had passed by La Posa South’s front gate Kathy started to relax. With the lack of sleep she had last night she needed to take a Snap (Short Nap) so she would be able to function when we arrived at our destination. She managed to get a few minutes of rest until she heard the camera turn on as we were approaching the Yuma Testing Grounds. 

The Yuma Proving Grounds as we drove by.

Our trip to Yuma was uneventful but once we turned onto I-8 heading west into California things started to get interesting. The best part of this highway is where it passes through the Nation Sand Dunes Recreational Area. Seeing this area brings back memories of what Deserts always looked like in the movies, miles of drifting sand. 

This Interstate Highway is having a lot of construction done so not all the exits or entrances were accessible but instead of adding signs for travelers to say take Alternate Exit the contractors simply took down all the signs leaving you guessing on where to exit. The fact we were not using our GPS and have never been here before also added to the problem. When I asked Kathy what exit number we were looking for and when the answer was Nine Higher than the Mile Marker we were just passing we took the next exit we could to get off the Interstate. 

Don't see any mountains here.

We found our way into Holtville but there were No Signs indicating the direction to the Hot Springs. Seeing a place to park by a curb I thought about just asking someone. That someone turned out to be Eric from Winnipeg, Manitoba and his pal Bill from Dearborn, Michigan. They assured us that we were on the right road and our Destination was only six miles away. With a big Thank You we were back on the road. 

After making the turn we were told we should Kathy was starting to think we had been taken when suddenly we could see RVs parked in the Desert. We had finally arrived at our destination. 

Downtown Holtville.

We were met by Karen the Camp Hostess who took down our information and noted we were using our Quartzsite permit. She gave us an approximate idea of the layout of the Park and about the Hot Springs on the other side of the road before telling us to “Enjoy Your Stay”. 

Everyone we know that has been here in the past told us park as far to the back as possible because you hear the traffic noise at the front and there is more dust from all the traffic. We spotted a number of nice spots but we wanted to see how deep this was. We finally reached an area that had plenty of space to turn around but it had something else. There were signs saying “No Camping Beyond This Point”.

Sign near the back corner of the trailer.

Kathy thought we should go back out a bit but I convinced her this was perfect for our Solar Panels even though there were a couple of RVs a couple hundred feet away. We were in the process of Unhooking the trailer from the truck when one of those neighbours Ron and his wife Betty from Marquette, Michigan came over to welcome us to the Neighbourhood.  

While Kathy started getting things organized inside I was on the roof raising our Solar Panels to collect what little Sunshine they possibly could. That was a little tricky because we were getting Wind Gusts of Thirty MPH which meant I had to stay low on the roof in order to not get blown off. Looking off in the distance from the roof I could see a steady stream of traffic going by on I-8 but could only hear a faint sound from that direction. 

For Supper Kathy made Mixed Bean Salad, Perogies and Sausages. They truly hit the spot. After traveling all of 163.2 miles today we plan on relaxing a bit but we also plan to check other things in the area out. Thanks for following along and feel free to leave a comment. Be Safe and Enjoy! 

It’s about time.

Krackers 

Words of Inspiration 

My God, these folks don't know how to love -- that's why they love so easily. 

D. H. Lawrence, British Author