We have been taking in the flea markets occasionally, which has been fun. Picked up a few (very few) items. We finally found a stroller for Neal, our handicapped Scottie, so now he can go for walks when we take Bailey. He is getting used to it, but riding in the cart certainly has a learning curve for Neal.
Last Saturday we went north of town and toured the Imperial Dam. It is a dam in the desert built as a control system to divert water from the Colorado river and desilt it for use in the irrigation systems in Yuma and the rest of the Imperial Valley.
There is a lot of farming here and Yuma is known as the Lettuce Capital of the world. They have 3 growing seasons and everywhere you see large scale farming of vegetables, citrus and dates. We walked along the dam. It is not a tall dam, but it is impressive nonetheless. We drove around the lake on the other side of it. There were some pleasure boats and fishing boats, but it was clear the lake was down. There has been no rain here for 150 some days, so it was definitely affected. They are predicting rain again for the weekend.
After viewing the dam, we drove through Bard, California, where we saw a couple wild burros along the road. They looked good and well fed for being wild. They are the ONLY wild animals we have seen. On way back down 95, we passed the McPhaul Bridge which is a suspension bridge which once spanned the Gila River, which is all but dried up now--at least there. It was a crossing point when the river was wider. It is this bridge after which the Golden Gate bridge was fashioned, and it looks odd just out in the desert with no water around.
Back closer to Yuma, we stopped off at a date farm and Terry and I shared a "world famous date shake." It actually was quite tasty and good. The date farms are interesting as there are rows and rows of date palms towering above the landscape. There were several groves in the area.
We continued our journey, traveling west on I-8 looking for the Algondones Dunes. Boy were we surprised. We were expecting a few hills, but as we traveled west, we began to see the hills on the horizon. It was awesome. Here is where they filmed movies like Starwars, Return of the Jedi, Stargate, Scorpion King, and others I am sure. There were so many four wheelers they looked like ants on the hills. There were hundreds of RV's and several campgrounds. Camping (boondocking) was available for $25 a week.
The campers all had 4-wheelers they were toting to ride the hills. I have to say, it looked like it would be the best fun. Unfortunately, people are not always careful and deaths do occur. In fact, last weekend, two people were killed in accidents at the Dunes. They extend for several miles west on I-8, but also extend way north to Glamis and beyond. Glamis is famous for the Dunes, but I guess there are some problems erupting due to the trash that people generate. People must always remember to follow the rules of boondocking--take everything you brought with you and leave nothing but footprints.
Till next time. . .
Dale
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