The Big Q

With lots of time at our hands we sure didn't hurry this morning. Did our usual Dixie walk, checked the news (mostly terrible stuff). Then picked up the last items around the rig. Had to say Good Bye to friends, once and then again and again to other friends. (wow - so many friends)

And finally we rolled out of camp around 10:30am. For those who already had said Good Bye the day earlier I blew the airhorn when going by their site. So much fun, and always gets a lot of attention! LOL.

I-8 was very busy with cars, but not many trucks. Interestingly, the Border Patrol Check Point between Yuma and El Centro was closed today. Free run for the immigrants! Guess the officers want to be with their families too. The Checkpoint on Hwy 95 to Quartzsite though, was open, but only one officer at the booth. Well, there wasn't much traffic on this road, and when I stopped looking out the side window his attention was already towards our van, which Bea was driving behind the motorhome. I just heard "keep on moving". I asked Bea what conversation she had with the guy. "ISLAND TOURS? Where is THAT?"

We've been asked that very same question many times.

"I'm following THAT guy" Bea answered before he ordered her to move on as well.

While we normally would have had the van on top of the trailer, we didn't bother for the shorter distance to Quartzsite today. We will need the van to go into town while we are here.

Arriving at La Posa South LTVA we pulled right up the camp road and found a suitable spot for ourselves. 

We were surprised to see that there are still a lot of campers here. Last year, we were here at the same time in march, and much fewer rigs were around.

We also notice the lack of desert flowers along the road. This years winter drought has led to a rather bleak looking desert vegetation.

If our fuel card arrives on Tuesday morning we'll get out of here right away.

Below video was made after our morning walk

Last Night

 We are having our last night in California. And the last day began busy. After our daily morning walk with Ms.Dixie, I headed on top of the roof to secure our solar panels. I added an extra bolt to each panel until there was no up-down movement possible. There was already a cold wind blowing and I got quite cold as I was on my knees to deal with the bolts.

Before I was finished, the first friend came by to say Good Bye. How nice, people here are really friendly!

But there was so much more to do. We readied the coach for going to El Centro for propane and dumping. It's not a long drive to the Desert Trails RV Park, and they have the cheapest propane in the area. On the way back we stopped in Holtville for a 5gal. drinking water from the fountain. I checked at the mail office for mail, but there was nothing.

This wild looking desert plant is the DESERT BROOM

Back in the camp we backed up to the trailer and hitched on.

Lots of stuff to stow away! Unbelievable how much of that we have been dragging around!

The afternoon got a bit quieter, more friends came by, sitting around and chatting. Our neighbours had gone to the airshow in El Centro and got back around 4pm. We sat together with them until after 6pm.

Tomorrow we will be heading over to Quartzsite.

Days In The South Are Ending

We are having March 13 and our days here are coming to an end. And as if it would make the Good-Byes easier, it is raining with strong winds today. There has hardly been any rain the whole time we've been here. Two nights ago we had a shower and now a couple of hours rain.

Yesterday our lovely neighbours invited us for Hotdogs. As usual, we had a great time with them, eating and talking about our plans. Dixie too has developed a special affinity for them. All too often she received delicious treats there, so when she is off-leash she often wanders over to our neighbours in hopes of scoring a reward.

Tomorrow we will do some grocery-shopping, Saturday we will fill up propane and use the dump station, and Sunday it is off to the north. First Quartzsite for 2-3 nights and onward to the I-40 and towards Albuquerque,NM.

Planned sightseeing along the road has been canceled. We canceled it as we have to get back to Canada before April 01. April 02 will be the day when Canada is proceeding with another round of reciprocal retaliatory tariffs worth 125bill. dollars against US-products. Since our rig was purchased in the States and we still need to import it, we don't want to risk being caught up in a stupid trade war, initially started by Pres. T-Rump.

This season's stay might turn out to be be the last one for years to come. Thousands of Canadians have canceled their US-vacations, causing billions of dollars loss of revenue for US-tourist destinations. Yes, Canadians are united against unprovoked US aggression and rhetoric. America, as we have known it, has ceased to exist. International isolation is what America is headed for. A boycott of US-products is spreading all around the world.

This is serious.

We have good friends in the US. People we have met along the way. It is with a heavy heart, that we have to say a Good-Bye to them, given the uncertainty of not knowing whether we will return to see them again.

We would love to travel to Mexico next year, but we will still have to transit the US. 

R.I.P. Karen

 A friend called today. He had very, very sad news. His wife had passed away. They have been RVers for many years. This year they had arrived in Yuma in November. In December she suddenly felt ill and was quickly diagnosed with a mass on her pancreas.

They returned home to Prince Edward Island. Today she died of pancreatic cancer. We are devastated also for our friend, for whom this is the second time that his wife died.

R.I.P. KAREN

Bob and Karen at Squaw Lake