2018.02.17-El Centro, CA

2018.02.17-El Centro, CA

The weather is good; dry and in the mid 70’s.  It was a little warm when we got here, but has cooled the last day or so.  Lots of sand, some green fields and mountains in the distance.  I do wish the farmers would put big signs in their fields indicating what they planted.

Sunset on our first night in El Centro

We ventured out to Slab City and the Salton Sea yesterday.  I will describe Slab City as a place for drop-outs.  Yes, that is an opinion and not a very nice one.  This is supposedly the ‘last free place,’ which means you pay nothing to stay there.  Having said that there is nothing there, least of all shade.  You have no electricity, no water and no dump station.  After driving around, we did see some ‘permanent’ places there.  I’m not sure how they live without the basics, but they seem to manage.  They don’t take care of their trash, either.  There was lots of trash everywhere.  Think I’ll pass.  I encouraged Jerry to go there if he wants, but he too has seen enough.

When you drive into Slab City you see this mound of ‘art.’  The artist was told he needed to do this (spread the word that God is love), so he did.  However, I don’t think the mound has been maintained since 2012, the year of the artist’s passing.

Next, we visited the Salton Sea.  This sea has changed shape many times over the centuries.  Currently, it is slightly saltier then the Pacific Ocean, but enough to kill the fish.  Tilapia are the only fish left.  Sections of the beach are full of fish carcasses.  If things don’t change, the Salton Sea will dry up.  That has some very far reaching effects such as the dust, odor from the dead fish, the birds will no longer have water on their migration routes, and finally tourism will decline.  A challenging dilemma. 

Notice the elevation

Our last stop of the day was the Salton Sea National Wildlife Refuge.  We found hundreds snow geese getting ready to settle in for the night.  At first, they were noisy, but got quieter as dusk approached.  Jerry was also excited to see Gamble's Quail, Northern Shovelers and Avocets.  He always enjoys shore birds and sunsets.

Next we travel to San Diego.  Stay tuned.

2018.02.13-Yuma, AZ

2018.02.13-Yuma, AZ

Back to the dessert with lots of sand and some winds.  So, we have dust everywhere.  The last day or so the tempura has been reasonable, in the low 70s rather than the high 80s.

We ventured out to Quartzsite, AZ, so Jerry could get an understanding of the layout.  He will probably make an effort to attend next year’s big RV show there.

On the way back to the RV from Quartzsite, we stopped at the Cibola National Wildlife Refuge to look for birds.  It was a spectacular spot for birding!  We saw flocks of yellow-headed black birds, lots of sandhill cranes, flocks of red-winged black birds, raptors, two foxes (or maybe small coyotes?), a burrowing owl, snow geese and a glossy Ibis.  After soaking in these sights, we drove to another section of the refuge and were so fortunate to see the sandhill cranes flying to their nightly spot.  We must have seen 30 or so ‘lines’ fly over us.

On the way out of the Refuge, we stopped at the visitor’s center so Jerry could take some sunset pictures.  Down in the field that the sandhill cranes had vacated were a flock of snow geese.  Something spooked the flock and up they went to noisily circle the field, then go right back from where they started.  Of course, they let anyone around know they were upset.  They are loud!

The next day, we visited the Yuma Territorial prison.  The railroad destroyed some of the structures when it expanded.  What few buildings left were interesting.  I can’t imagine being incarcerated there with NO air conditioning or running water.  Oh my!!  There was one room, called the dark room, which was essentially solitary confinement in a 15’ by 15’ cage, that was inside a dirt mound with only a hole in the roof for air and light.  We were told sometimes the guards would drop scorpions or snakes down the ‘air hole’.

2018.02.06-Alpine, TX

2018.02.06-Alpine, TX

While in Alpine, we drove over to Marathon to visit the Gage Gardens and the E. Dan Klepper photography studio (see www.edanklepper.com).  For early February, the gardens looks like they had been well maintained.  Dan’s studio was fascinating.  He was actually there and took time to answer our questions.  We really enjoyed the visit.

We saw these turkeys while driving back to Alpine from Marathon.

Jerry took some pictures of the Alpine murals and some pictures at the Marfa viewing area.  Did you know Marfa was a pilot training facility at one time?

2018.01.20-Welfare, TX

2018.01.20-Welfare, TX

We stayed in Welfare, TX, while we ‘regrouped’ for the start of the year.  While there, Jerry had the oil changed for the coach and we got a new coach windshield.  The windshield folks came to us and replaced it at the campground site.  Pretty cool.

While we were regrouping, I met with Kathleen and Jody in Comfort, TX for a ‘coffee service’ at the Elephant Store (see https://the-elephant-story.com/).  It was interesting and FUN!  We laughed and laughed.  I mean, if you are drinking coffee that had been ‘processed through an elephant’, wouldn’t you laugh!???

Kathleen and Jody, waiting patiently for the coffee

The coffee was made in a lovely rose-gold coffee set made in Belgian (of course, Amazon has these-Belgian Royal Family balance Syphon Coffee Maker Elegant Retro-Style Design in Rose Gold).  Somehow the water boiled, which pushed the hot water through the coffee, then when the steam cooled, it syphoned the coffee out??  I don’t think that is actually the process, but it was fascinating to watch and drink!

While in the Elephant Story store, we learned that they are collecting crocheted or knitted blankets for the elephants.  So, my next adventure is to knit an elephant blanket.  That is, after I complete another project that I had already started.

2018.02.02-San Saba, TX

2018.02.02-San Saba, TX

Yesterday, we drove to San Saba from Welfare to have dinner with Sam and Kathi, Jerry's cousin and her husband.

This was the sunrise this morning.

We are now in Alpine, TX, at Jerry's favorite RV Park, The Lost Alaskan.

And so, our 2018 adventure begins...

2017.12.28-Vicksburg, MS

2017.12.28-Vicksburg, MS

We did the driving tour of the Vicksburg national battlefield.  Before doing the driving portion, we watched a 20-minute movie depicting the events.  From the movie, it appears that the Confederates had Vicksburg locked down, being on the high ground.  But, Grant just cut off their supply chain, and waited.

The battle ground seemed to go on and on.  But there were only plaques and monuments on the battle ground and not much else.

I asked one of the rangers if there were any active archeological digs going on.  She said they had an intern employed, but there were no active digs.  An interesting note, the ranger said the ground changes so much due to the clay so finding artifacts was a challenge.

Before leaving Vicksburg, we had dinner at the Walnut Hills restaurant.  The house was built in 1880 and is still going strong.