King Of The Road Again - We Are Moving

 Every time we have been staying at the Holtville Hot Spring LTVA, we eventually  had to go through the long and heartfelt Good Byes with our friends. And so we ask "will you come again next winter? Do we see you again?" And the answer is like "we never know". And these 3 words really sum it up. Because we really, really don't know. Maybe gas is getting just too expensive, maybe we get sick or the supplemental health insurance is getting too expensive, - and all of this is beyond our direct influence.

But we went through the Good-Bye procedures today and hit the road. We don't plan to get home just yet, but we would like to experience a few new or other places.

Before we left Holtville we got a little refill of water, then we went to find the weight scale in town. I wanted to get the loaded weight of the trailer. Once parked on the scale, we unhitched the trailer. The result of the weighing was 7,680 pounds, which is 180 pounds overweight of GVWR.

The water tank was only partially filled and before we had taken off, we had made sure all heavy stuff had been moved into the van. Next time we will take measures to reduce the weight even more.

So today we went up Hwy 78 almost to the little village of Palo Verde. Just south of it is the Cibola Nature Refuge. North of it we found camping facilities. We have booked a site for 2 nights for $15/night at the Oxbow Camping.

We previously also looked at the free area on the Arizona side of the river, but the area is really rough, sites very uneven and we were especially put off by the type of people who had gathered there. The site is called Hippy Hollow for a reason. Lots of lose dogs running around there and absolutely no service. But we have heard that BLM is planning to open the area as a paid for Campground with power outlets onsite. Apparently there are also dispersed camp sites along Levee Rd, but we didn't find that very tempting.

The first person we ran into at Oxbow was a camper we have known for years from the Holtville Hot Springs. Sandy and her dog have been prowling the area for more than 20 years. Oxbow also has a knowledgeable host couple. Besides of a day fee, a year-round fee for $75 is available, but camping is limited to 14 days at a time.

The river here is flanked by gravel roads on both sides, which are great for hiking.

In the afternoon we got visitors: A crew of the Border Patrol pulled up with their boat on a trailer. As soon they had it on the water, they started slowly patrolling the river. I guess these guys have a reason for doing this.

Tomorrow we are going to drive into the Wildlife Refuge. maybe we can see some migrating birds.