Tuesday, February 21, 2017

Wheels are Itching, Saying Goodbye Again, Park Life for a Week

Tuesday, Feb. 21st is moving day. Our wheels are ready to move and so are we, kinda, a little bit, okay yah. I must say that Borrego Springs area is my favourite boondocking place so far. There are ups and downs as far as our cell service but nothing that takes away from this beautiful place. As Arnie says “I’ll be back”.

I peeked out the blind at 6 this morning and saw red. Literally, I saw red and jumped out of bed to grab the last and most beautiful sunrise that I’ve seen here. I was in and out like a jack rabbit and when Bill realized I was still in my skivvies said “you went out like that?” Yupper!

The sunrises, sunsets and clouds are like a drug to me, I guess, can’t get enough and the good thing is that it is beneficial to my health. The euphoria I feel when capturing those beautiful skies is addicting.

We did some reading of blog posts with our tea and coffee then proceeded to pack up inside and out. Bill turned the generator for a couple of minutes so I could heat up our steel cut oatmeal for breakfast and then we packed the genny up too.

By 9 most everything was ready so I took my coffee over to sit with Gayle and John for a few minutes. This would be the last time we see them until we are back home in Ontario. “I’m gonna need a proper hug”. (Blind Side)
Gayle and John say goodbye from Borrego Springs
By 10:00 our wheels were rolling out of Borrego, stopping briefly as we saw Clarke coming across to say goodbye. 
Clarke comes to say goodbye
You know sometimes you just click with people and we were very happy to meet these two. So we headed west on S22 turning left onto Borrego Valley Road, Rango Way, Yaqui Pass and eventually CA78 taking us onto CA86.

Beautiful highway for travelling
The roads were good to travel on and it still amazes me to look out my window and see open desert as far as the eye can see. Interesting though how the vegetation changes from area to area. No cacti once we turned off CA78 other than the bushy creosote. Where did all of those beautiful ocotillos go?

Flat desert land, no cacti
It was smooth sailing all the way into El Centro, our first stop being Costco to pick up groceries. Our fridge and cupboard were looking mighty bare.
Note the sea level line? Soooo, we are below that? Hmmm
We arrived around noon hour so managed to become part of the mid-day rush hour. Oops! It took a bit of maneuvering to get ourselves around the streets to get into a parking spot but Bill managed it like a pro.

Luckily the Costco was beside a Pet Smart so we were able to stock up on Clemson’s favourite food too.
Sugar Factory , now that is a sweet subject
 It was around 1:30 when we pulled out onto CA86 again, this time looking for I-8 E towards Holtville and Winterhaven. It was pretty awesome looking out across the dunes, that was when we realized we were getting close to our destination.

The FENCE between Mexico and California

Dune Buggy haven

One thing Costco didn't have on my list was
iceberg lettuce. Hopefully this truck load is heading
to Yuma!
By 2:30 we were pulling onto Sidewinder Road towards our destination for the next 7 days, Pilot Knob RV Resort. The sky was clear and the air was warm, just the way we like it. We chose a site along the fence not by chance being close to our friends, George, Suzie, Rob and Pat.

This is one of our membership parks and we checked in under R.O.D. which meant we didn’t have to pay to stay here. Unfortunately, when we opted to pay the $5/day to have 50-amp service, our cord was not long enough at site 8. Oh well, we can still run one of our air conditioners in our Suite, if we need to, on 30 amps. We like the spot.

It was fun to drive by and note that everyone was enjoying Happy Hour at Rob and Pat’s. What? It was only 2:30! Oh, wait, we lost an hour on the drive here and are now on Arizona time, 3:30 it is. We set up the basics and thought we’d stop for a breather and join the group for a quick drink. It was so nice to see everyone again and nice to meet a couple of new friends of George and Suzie’s.

We had groceries to put away, a satellite dish to align and other inside things to set up so we parted for the day. At Costco I picked up one of the fresh roasted chickens for $4.99 and since we missed lunch, sliced it up for a chicken on a Kaiser for supper. It was yummy!
Two or three meals for $4.99
We are settled now and will enjoy the time here. Bill already has plans with the guys for tomorrow and I hope to get some laundry done as well as some swimming. I think relaxing is on the agenda as well.
Wee tiny peek at the sunset over there

I hope you had a great day, we did! I missed a pretty sunset tonight, hmm, one downfall of being in a park. I hope my sister and friends back at Borrego Springs caught this one for me. 

Thank you for reading along, your comments are welcome.

10 comments:

  1. Those Costco chickens are such a deal as you point out. You might want to try this with some of the leftovers: Cut up the chicken to bite size. In a sauce pan add a can of Campbell's Cream of Chicken Mushroom soup, some milk or water, a small can of mushrooms (optional) and some frozen peas or a small can of peas. Can be done on a grill, stovetop, or even a microwave. Heat and serve over toast or mashed potatoes. Very good and something different to use up leftovers.

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    1. Ooh, that does sound good! Thanks, nice for when bookdocking and I don't use my microwave. Thank you Scott.

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  2. Sunsets and sunrises are my favourite as well 😊 Enjoy your time in Yuma.

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    1. We'll miss the views from the park but the sun is here regardless. :) (and a pool and hot tub!)

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  3. Nice to see you guys again, we will have fun, and relax as well.
    Hard to get the sunsets here with all the trees in the way.

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    1. Yes, at least we have a better view of the sunrises back on the fence this way. :)
      Great to see you guys too!

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  4. I agree the sunrises and sunsets are always obscured when we are in a park just not the same as when we are in the wide open desert spaces. Once and while it is nice to have full hookups though. Enjoy and stay safe.
    P.S. Glad to read you knew what direction you headed...:)

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    1. you win some things and you lose others, it is what this lifestyle is all about

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  5. Love the pictures of the sunrise. Looked similar to mine that morning. Great shot of the sand dunes with all the tire tracks.

    Glad you made it back to the civilized world okay.

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    1. The sand dunes are so pretty but never usually show as nice in pictures. I liked that one too. Yes, back to even more friendly faces.

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