Category Archives: Alumafiesta 2014

Alumafiesta 2014 Trip – Days 15 & 16 – End of the Line

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We had another nice night by the Salton Sea but it was time to move on.  The thought was to do what we normally do, go to Sam’s in Desert Hot Springs for a night or two for the hot pools and one last blast of relaxation.  We headed into the Palm Springs area and I was very aware of what was going on.  The Date Festival was in Indio, Modernism Week was in Palm Springs and President Obama was in Palm Springs and on top of all this it was a three day weekend for most.  A lot going on.

We made a detour to a Costco and went right by the Date Festival but Roxie didn’t seem too interested.  I remember going when I was a kid.  The only thing I really remember is my dad taking pictures of the Date Queens in their bikini style costumes.  However during that era Queens were female.  I am sure the slides are in his collection somewhere.

I called Sam’s to see if they had any spots available.  I had called them about a week earlier and they person there said not to worry about reservations as there would be spaces.  On this most recent phone call they stated that they had about 20 spaces this AM and only about 5 people had come in.  15 spaces?  OK.  We went to Sam’s.

We pulled in and found it was really full.  I got a map and we looked around.  There were about 3 spots, very narrow, very crowded and ALL dirt.  No thanks.  I called another location in the area, a 55+ park.  When I asked them if 53 was OK they told me to call their other location.  Wow 2 years!  OK.  We went to the other location.

The lady in the office showed me on the map the 5 spaces that we could fit in.  She also told us we could walk to see them as she didn’t want me driving the trailer through the park.  What?  So I took my bike off the rack and rode around.  Not impressed by any of those, especially not for $50/night!  We decided to get out of the Palm Springs area.  After some discussion we took a cue from our friends Dan and Marlene of MaliMish.  Morongo Casino.

Dan and Marlene routinely will leave the LA area on a trip late at night and spend their first night at Morongo.  This lets them avoid the LA traffic.  We thought we would just spend another night dry camping.  We had dumped and filled up on water at the Salton Sea so we were good.  After we got to the Casino we exchanged a few tweets with Dan to figure out where to park.  It was with all the other RV’s, duh.  We walked to Ruby’s Diner for a quick dinner.

Here is our convoluted journey that day (Yes, we made a loop):

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The night at Morongo was not a great one or the worst one.  Roxie didn’t sleep real great but I sure did.  She was awake at midnight watching, and listening to, a couple running around trying to find their dogs and each other.  You get what you pay for ($0).

We decided we would head home with the option of stopping if it seemed prudent.

We headed through Victorville and the high desert.  I wanted to see how the truck did on the Cajon pass which is a healthy climb.  It did wonderfully.  I now have no qualms about taking the rig on any hill.

As we were passing through Victorville/Adelanto I spied a Bowlus 5th wheel.  A what?  We had to stop and turn around.  It appears to be a polishing business and there was a LOT of aluminum there.  I have a webpage setup to show all the photos but here is one to tease you:

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It was fun to see them all.  The guard dogs were also pretty fun too.  They were two pit bulls and did a lot of barking at first.  Eventually they just followed us along (on the other side of the fence), wagging their tails and just laid down at the end.

We pushed on and then something pretty amazing happened.  As we were going through Boron I pulled off the exit and got out of the truck.  Roxie then got in the drivers seat and we took off.  Yes, Roxie was driving the rig!!  It is one of the signs of the Apocalypse!  We had discussed it earlier in the trip and she mentioned that some other stretches that we went on would have been good for to try.  This stretch was perfect.  4 lanes (2 each way), light traffic, a pretty healthy headwind (but hey it’s an Airstream).

She did GREAT!  She made it until Monolith where she pulled off and let me drive.  42 miles later!  She even had to go up and down some hills and pass a truck.  It was wonderful to see this.  Next time we will up the ante just a bit.  She is not ready to graduate to highway 99 yet.

We stopped for lunch and continued on to home.  The worst part of the trip is always the last 70 or so miles.  Here are the truck stats for the entire trip:

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Total trailer miles was 1550.

It is nice to get home but it is nicer to be on the road.  Check my week counter on the right and count down with us!

Alumafiesta 2014 Trip – Day 14 – Happy Valentines!

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Valentine’s day when traveling is kind of odd.  Neither Roxie nor I had any time to get the other anything related to Valentine’s day.  I usually remember to get something before I leave if I know we will be gone but not this time.  Sigh.  So we agreed to go have Valentine’s lunch in a local town and the only local town was Mecca.  Population 8577 (Salute!).

Before we left we thought we would take a walk down on the sandy beach by the Salton Sea:

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Looks somewhat inviting, until you get to it and see it is like this:

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Barnacles, or what is left of the dead ones.  Billions of them.  At least 100 feet wide to the shore.  Good thing we had shoes on.  Closer to the shore were hundreds of Tilapia carcasses, very old and dry.  These are two of the many problems facing the Salton Sea.

The sea is more alkaline that the ocean and is currently only sustaining Tilapia and Mudfish.  However when it gets hot the algae blooms and exhausts all the oxygen in certain areas.  This is what kills the Tilapia.  It is a cycle that is only getting worse as time goes by and the sea get more alkaline.

Our camp host tells us about the barnacles.  General Patton trained his troops around this area before/during WWII.  There is a museum for him at Chiriaco Summit (where we almost stayed on the way out).  It appears that they brought ocean going amphibious crafts into the Salton Sea, the barnacles dislodged and started reproducing madly here.  I can buy that.

I remember going to the Salton Sea area sometimes when I was a kid but Roxie has a vivid memory.  Not being a strong swimmer at the time she was wading in the sea when she came to a sharp drop off underwater.  She lost her footing and went under the water.  She kept going up and down thinking she was going to drown.  No one heard her cries for help.  She finally was able to regain her footing and get back to shore.  Scary stuff.  In the description of the Corvina Beach area it described it having a sharp drop off.  Perhaps she actually returned to the scene of the crime.

Lucky for us a soldier was left behind to guard things:

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We headed to Mecca for our Sweetheart lunch.  There were not many choices so we went to Taqueria Guerrero.  I thought it was pretty good but not what we are used to.  Any type of food is very subjective.  Roxie thought it was OK also.  Better than cooking.

We stopped by the Salton Sea visitors center on the way back and learned some more about the area.  The sea was formed by an accidental levee breach where the Colorado River dumped its contents into the Salton Sea for 16 months!  That is a lot of water.

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We got back to the trailer for a relaxing evening of not doing much of anything.  Sitting out, watching the sun set over the mountains and the water.  When we got inside later Roxie’s stomach was really hurting her and she didn’t want to mess it up even more.  She knew she had to have some dinner and asked me to make her a sandwich.  Which I happily agreed to.  When I served it to her I told her that this was the first time I had ever made Valentine’s dinner for her.

I will do my best to make sure it is not the last.