California, Arizona, Mexico

Today we were in California, Arizona and Mexico....no wonder I don't know what time it is?    It's hard enough to know where we are, much less what time it is.....don't judge me.

 We earmarked today to go across the border into Los Algodones, Mexico to shop for a couple pair of spare prescription sunglasses.

We parked in a huge parking lot on the California side of the border ($6 for the day) and walked across into Los Algodones.    Across into a different world.   A world catering relentlessly to the thousands of American and Canadian senior citizens drawn to this part of the southwest by the wonderful winter weather and the inexpensive way of life.

Scores of dental offices, pharmacies, and opticians are housed in the storefronts lining all the streets.   One must wade through vigorous vendors of wallets, jewelry, purses (handmade and knockoffs), belts, dolls, snack foods, etc. to access these businesses.   Everyone is pleasant and friendly, but very focused on luring you to their particular wares.  

 We were on the hunt for prescription, polarized sunglasses and to that end visited at least 7 shops.    We soon found that many of them are owned by the same people, use the same labs., have the same selection of designer frames, but have very different prices.  

 The prices we were quoted ran from high to low (haggling is expected),  but always much lower than anything we could purchase in the US.   Ultimately, however, we didn't buy.    Even though purchasing our particular glasses in Algodones would have been a great deal, we decided it was still too much to spend just before the holidays.  

We walked around a bit more, enjoying the maze of colors and shapes of people and goods, appreciating the different styles of selling pretty much the same things, and the serious attitude folks had about their jobs, before heading back to the border crossing and home.

if you won't come to him, he'll bring his bags to you!

 After lunch and a few errands we (I) decided to look for the Imperial Date Farm in nearby Bard, California.    The dates I bought at the tiny farm in Desert Hot Springs have turned me into an addict.   I admit it.    But, I can't find any I like as well as those, which has us searching for an acceptable substitute.  

The drive to Bard took us through more fertile and beautifully fitted farm fields.     We're fascinated by them, pulling off to look at the various kinds of produce growing in perfect, hilled up rows.   We must frustrate the locals driving behind us....

All American Canal junction

There are lots of different farm implements and trucks running the roads between the fields.    Harvesting has begun in some lettuce fields.

people hauler complete with "facilities"

We found the Imperial Date Farm, bought some test dates and a really really good, thick date shake and continued on our exploration of the area.

the shake was so thick I could barely
draw it up through the straw!

Rather than turning around and going home the same way (something Dave never likes to do) we continued on down the road.    We drove along the Colorado River in California (I think, but it may have been Arizona - my phone and my watch sometimes agreed, sometimes not....)

We saw a sign for the Imperial Dam and thought it might be interesting, but were turned away by a sign telling us that the dam has been closed to the public, recently.

We were heading further and further away from home, so we turned around and decided to call it a day.   We passed this interesting little dam (Laguna Dam) on the Yuma Reservation.

Tomorrow is our last day here, we have jobs to get done since our next couple stops will not provide us with water.....

Off we go again

Saturday was our last day in Borrego Springs and it started, as usual, with a round of golf.

a sweet couple of American Wigeon on the 9th hole

 

Lewis and Sasha spy Gramma Pamma and her cookies -
note Lewis' wildly buzzing tail....

 The rest of the day was taken up with a few last shopping stops and capped off by a delicious steak dinner (Mr. David, Grillmaster Extraordinaire produced a near perfect porterhouse).    The BEST part of the day, however, was the discovery of Sweet Limes.....   Pam and I have been collecting, zesting and juicing the lemons, oranges and grapefruit on the trees around our campground.  The first tree I went to was directly in front of Beluga and filled with tiny lemons.  It looked like a lemon tree that had a blight of some sort.  Hardly any leaves and just packed with extremely small, hard lemons.    I ignored it in favor of the large, luscious looking lemons everywhere else.      Pam went to the weekly Farmer's Market on Friday and saw a basket of  tiny, hard lemons...what the vendor called Sweet Limes.   Hmmmm, could that be what was on our little tree?     YES!      And, are they ever good!    They take an already good Tanqueray gin and tonic to an entirely different level.....   I'm sorry I dismissed them as "blighted lemons".   We could have been using them for our entire stay.    Ah well, I must remember not to judge a book by its cover.

Sunday morning we packed up and left The Springs at Borrego with a promise to return.    We thoroughly enjoyed our stay.

We drove through the Ocotillo Wells SVRA area, miles and miles of desert playground for folks and their OHV' and ATV's.     We drove through the salad bowl of the Imperial valley and along the Imperial Sand Dunes.

the All American Canal runs through Imperial Sand Dunes Recreation Area

Pam and John left before us (they're obviously more organized) but we met at our next stop in Yuma, River's Edge RV Resort.   They were here only one night, we'll stay 3 or 4 to take care of some neglected business and perhaps a quick trip into Mexico for some new sunglasses.

Our campground is technically in Winterhaven, California, just across the Colorado River from Yuma, Arizona.   The river is right at the back of our row of campers, giving us a lovely sunset view.    Its proximity, however, confuses our electronic timekeepers.....phones, computers, gps, etc.    The California side (where Beluga currently sits) is in the Pacific Time Zone.   The other side of the river is in Mountain Time Zone.    Some of our clocks tell us one time, some of them say another.   I don't know what time it is now, I'm totally flummoxed.    I guess when we go to bed its night time, when we get up its morning until I get it sorted out (or until we move into Arizona later this week.....).

sunset over Pilot Knob

Friday's Wind Caves

After a quick 9 holes of golf, the last hike of our Borrego Springs visit was to the Wind Caves.    Once again Pam and John took us to a fascinating part of the State Park for a short but steep hike up to an fantastic area of wind eroded pocket formations.

The drive through Split Mountain wash would have been excursion enough.   The sandy wash was fairly wide, sometimes smooth, sometimes rocky and rough.   The walls on either side seemed to be different at every turn.  

Pam's book tells us that his formation is an anticline

We came to the end, parked, and followed a rocky trail up the mountain to our destination, the wind caves.

two rare red backed mountain goats watched us from atop

We climbed up over, down under and all around the caves.   I half expected to walk in on Fred and Wilma putting little Pebbles to bed or meeting Barney on his way home from the Slate Rock and Gravel Company quarry.

peek a boo

The wind came up and it started to get quite chilly up at the top so we headed back to the jeep and home.

they wait for me

There was no rain in the forecast, but the sky was very dark as we drove out of the canyon and back to our campground.

The setting sun and the forming clouds gave us a beautiful sunset to end another fun day.

Slab City

Just a few words and pictures about "the Slabs".

Once finished with our Salvation Mountain visit, we continued on down the road, past hand painted signs alerting us to our next destination, and into "the Slabs".....the last free place.

A lot has been written about the slabs, favorable and unpleasant accounts of what it is and who lives there.    I'm not going to pass judgement, its not my place to judge the inhabitants or their lifestyles.

What I see is a gathering of retired snow birds, itinerants, squatters, meth and alcohol addicts and free spirits living together in what some say is harmony, some say is discord, all drawn there by the allure of free living.     This place used to be a Marine training camp called Camp Dunlap.   The military pulled out after WW 2 and left the abandoned concrete slabs behind.

Creativity abounds.   Whether as artistic expression or out of necessity, everything is used.   Wooden pallets are transformed into fences, homes and shelter from the sweltering summer sun.

There is a church, a community center, a library and a live music venue in the slabs.

live music on this stage Saturday nights

Some of the "properties" are neat and clean, some are not.   There are tents, lean to's under trees, derelict trailers, old school buses,brand new motorhomes and an assortment of folks, young and old,  living in them.

ever wondered where East Jesus was?

Some sections of the slabs are quirky and interesting, a dead tree decorated with shoes sits by the side of the main road.

Some places are scary.   There is no water, electricity or sewer, no garbage pickup.

People just trying to live.