A ride to Salton Sea and more…
Tuesday, January 23rd, 2007
There was no sleep last night, the wind was howling and luckily my fear for the top of the camper to blow away did not materialize! My brain feeling like a wind tunnel itself this morning, the situation was getting worse and I decided to move down the road, about a mile away, protected by the mountain, unfortunately with more campers scattered… but a quiet crowd keeping to themselves. I am good at this now!… In about thirty minutes, including rig on the trailer, I am ready to roll… took a little longer today as I am standing… and waiting for that 5 seconds for the wind to stop and put the top down… The front never tucked in!… I was only going a mile or so, as long as it was locked it should not be a problem…
The sunrise, regardless of it all… as one cannot ever loose the spirit of admiring the surroundings…had a golden glow to it, yellowish, promising a warm day for a change. And on we went… to the same area some new friends from Alaska also are camping. Same as I use to, they work 6 months a year and travel the rest… glad that I am not the only one that had that concept.
Nice, very nice camper… on top of a Dodge 2500 Diesel truck. Made in Canada, all first class inside… twice… maybe three times as large as mine, tall… it reminded me of my days on sailboats, accommodating four very comfortably; Suzanne and Jim have been pros at this since 1993!
Her menu included some couscous and also some lentils, I have no clue what was in the lentils, besides curry, but delicious, and my part was some sauteed chicken strips with the Hot Sauce still remaining, purchased from Tabasco Island. Amazing how the memories come back… seems so long ago and so far away since being in the Desert for a few days now, and yet so much more to see.
Suzanne and Jim also use their own Internet Satellite Dish… Ah! Two more weeks and I will be using one just like it… be prepared for some serious camping as I always say, in the middle of nowhere with instant posting… It was a great time with great conversations, how often one meets others that share the same path of life for the same reasons, unencumbered with material possessions, just letting the days flow and the mind grow.
So back to this morning, finish setting up… again… on our way to check out Ocotillo Wells, hundreds of acres, free to ride anywhere… As we left camp, passed the first curve, the wind became stronger than ever. I was remembering my ride to Presidio from Big Bend on that windy day, it was nothing compared! The giant playground is deserted, only one group of riders are in for the day and I decide to go in and talk to them a bit. I was given a tip yesterday from a rider that Ocotillo will not be as sandy. Well, that was half right! The trails taken by the multi wheelers were fine, but the many washes to cross where of deep… did I say… deep sand! I honestly was not in the mood today to get stuck again, what you are seeing in the picture, in the background is a sand storm… and so… I decided to go on and see Salton sea, at least once!…
I am sorry if I cannot show much excitement regarding Salton Sea, but it is what it is!
Maybe today’s weather was not helping… white caps all over it from one end to the other…
We passed the main road on to a boat landing that I found by accident taking a wrong turn. I thought maybe a walk on the beach would be nice… Spirit does not like water, I do… sand… take a break… watch the birds…
As we are now on the beach… looking up… looking ahead… I noticed Spirit stopping quite a bit too often… My black Lab Tascha use to love dead fish!… when I lived on the sailboat and we would take walks along the water I could smell her from a mile… she loved rolling in dead fish… and always ran back to me wagging her tails and me holding my nose!
And as I look down, what I thought was sand… was… might not be a pretty picture… and again it is what it is!… the beach was made of dead fish…
I think that was enough for the day, my helmet had felt like a gyroscope not getting any rest all afternoon and my arms like I had worked out at an Intensive Care Gold’s Gym… As usual, when struggling with the wind going one way, it is always nicer on the way back… we passed Ocotillo one more time, the sand storms were approaching and trust me that today the sight of the campsite was a welcome one!
I have decided to skip Death Valley for this weekend’s DV Meet… not much sense going up there for just a couple days when I still have so much to do here… and actually be in Mojave on the 3rd.
I think we will leave in a couple of days, take a visit into Joshua tree… much to see on the way.
Enjoy… till later you all be well!
Ara & Spirit… at the end of a rough day!
