Imperial Dam LTVA

“This is just a gravel pit!” “It looks like the moon or Mars or something!” Darlene was having a bad day because of allergies & the heat when we pulled into the Imperial Dam LTVA (long term visitors area) north of Yuma, AZ. And to be honest, it is a rather stark setting the first time you see it. But hundreds of RVers show up to spend the entire winter here (up to 6 months). There must be something to like here.

Actually there's a LOT here to like.

Our campsite is at the blue dot

“The Imperial Dam Long Term Visitor Area (LTVA) was created in 1983 to fulfill the needs of winter visitors and to protect the local desert ecosystem from over-use. The campground is approximately 3,500 acres in size, flat landscape, sparsely vegetated with plants such as Creosote bushes, Palo Verde trees, Ironwood trees, Mesquite trees and various species of cacti.”

Camping here is “dispersed.” In other words, there are no proscribed campsites. You just put your rig where you want, being courteous to any neighbors who are already in place. 

There are no hookups, so you have to be self-contained. Many folks have solar power and almost all have a generator. Some of the area is absolutely free camping, other areas are $40 for 14 days, others choose to pay $180 for 6 months. Any way you go it's a cheap place to spend time.

View out our door

We had heard of this location (as opposed to the (in)famous Quartzsite, AZ) at a Good Sam Samboree last summer. So we intended to come check it out and sit for a week or so. It has been enjoyable not packing up and moving. We found plenty of time to make friends, read books, even take a nap or two. A couple days we experienced high winds (20-40 mph) and just hunkered at that time.

On one day when the winds had adversely effected Darlene, I got in the truck and followed a wilderness road about 10 miles to Ferguson lake. It was a fun ride; not 4 wheel rock crawling, but 4 wheel high range rough road. It took about 1½ hours each way.

Ferguson Lake - Colorado River

First responders killed on search & rescue mission

End of the road

Another afternoon we went into Los Algodones, Mexico, a very tourist friendly town. Many snow-birds come to this area just to go to Mexico for dental work, eye glasses, prescription medicine, and liquor at ridiculously low prices. The Mexican food was great, too.

Yesterday, in the cooler morning hours, I took a hike to investigate Senator Wash, which runs through the LTVA. From the surrounding mesas, the wash looks like a wide, dry river bed. 

 But in the bottom of the wash there is a channel (two actually) cut down into the rock another 10-20 feet. 

Where the channel divides into two

Looking up!

desert flower 

Notice the rock layer on the bottom under the sedimentary

What does a rusty pop can in the bottom of the wash tell you?

It took me over 3 hours to hike up the wash & back, about 4 miles. I had FUN. I also chose to take an afternoon siesta.

I hiked from the rt. arrow up the wash to the lft. arrow & back

But now our time here is up. Temps are routinely hitting 90 by late afternoon and you can't use A/C unless you run the generator all the time.  And that would label you as a wimp!  It cools off to the 50's at night. But lots of folks are moving northerly to stay in a more moderate climate. Tomorrow we will be moving west to San Diego and then up to Yucca Vallley, CA. 

But that's another post.

Moon-rise in the desert

Moon-set in the desert

Why?

My last blog ended with the question “So now it’s time to move on west. Our next destination: Why?”  If you submitted the correct answer, Congratulations.  Actually that shouldn't have been Why with a question mark, it was actually Why with a period. Our destination was Why, AZ.  Check the map.  It has frequently been noted on lists of unusual place names.

  According to Wikipedia, Why is a tiny unincorporated rural community in Pima County, Arizona which lies near the western border of the Tohono O'Odham Indian Reservation and due north of Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument in Southern Arizona. It is approximately thirty miles north of the Mexican border and ten miles south of Ajo, Arizona.

The town derives its name from the fact that the two major highways, State Routes 85 and 86, originally intersected in a Y-intersection. At the time of its naming, Arizona law required all city names to have at least three letters, so the town's founders named the town "Why" as opposed to simply calling it "Y."  The old Y-intersection has been removed for traffic safety reasons and replaced by a conventional T-intersection south of the original intersection.




We decided to stay in Why because some friends we met in Tucson recommended seeing Organ Pipe Cactus National Park.  Why is a logical place to stay outside the park (more on the park later).  Since we had never been in the area before, we decided to camp in a private campground, but one that allowed Boondocking: Coyote Howls.

We arrived with plenty of time for a nice relaxing supper and evening.  We didn’t set up the whole 9 yards because only planned to stay for 2 nights.  See the National Park the next day and then move the day after.













On the way south to Organ Pipe we had to pass through a Border Patrol Checkpoint.  Not the first one we have encountered in this part of the country so close to Mexico.  There is a lot of illegal border crossing and drug smuggling down here (obviously not something we see in Indiana).  The agent would just smile and ask, "Having a good day, folks?  Both American citizens?"  And wave us on our way.  Nice, courteous guys that we met.

Organ Pipe was a beautiful place.  Its unique geology and ecology produce an remarkable landscape.  It’s a place we will return to explore in greater detail.  We had time for the shorter 21 mile loop.  But it took us 3½ hours because the road is washboard gravel and we stopped to take a LOT of pictures.
 

Those are organ pipe cacti

Baby Saguaro

The next day we packed up and had a leisurely drive over to Yuma, AZ and the Imperial Dam LTVA.

The rig at Imperial Dam LTVA

The view out the door of my trailer.
Darlene calls it a moonscape.

More to come on this very busy snowbird destination.

Tucson and a new desert

On Tuesday, February 9, we left El Paso bound for Tucson, AZ.  The road was good and the traffic wasn’t heavy, so Darlene took a turn at driving the rig.  She was proficient with our previous 5er, but this one is bigger, so she was nervous.  When it looked like we were coming to a mountain pass, she passed the helm off to me again.  She did well and only needs to build confidence which comes with time behind the wheel.

 We stopped for lunch at a restaurant in San Simeon, AZ.  

OK. We ate in the rig and just used the parking lot.

This drive took us from one desert to another.  West Texas and New Mexico are in the Chihuahuan Desert, while Tucson is on the Sonoran desert.  

Later in our trip we will move into the Mojave desert as well.  We were in the Great Basin desert on our June 15 trip.  This will make 4 out of 4 for US deserts.

By late afternoon we pulled into the Pima County Fair campground.  There's no fair now, it's in April.






For our stay in Tucson, we decided to try out our dry camping skills for a full week.  That means we would fill our water tank (93 gal.) and use our inverter & batteries & generator so that we would not have to hook up to park utilities.  We only run the generator for a few hours each morning to charge the batteries.  At the end of a week, we are doing quite well and don’t feel deprived of any RV “luxuries.”

We attended Ash Wednesday and Sunday services at Christ Lutheran Vail.  It has helped us remember the season we are in and what’s happening for Christian family and friends as Lent is observed in preparation for Jesus’ glorious resurrection on Easter.

Saguaro National Park brackets Tucson on the east and west.  Since the east or Rincon Mountain section is closer to our campground, we spent time in the Visitors Center and drove the 8 mile loop through a saguaro forest.

Our week in Tucson has been very enjoyable.  We like the city and the weather so much that returning here seems likely.  


We’ll be doing more boondocking (dry camping) in our next few locations, so this shake down time has proven quite helpful.  



So now it’s time to move on west.  Our next destination: Why?  I guess you'll just have to come back to find out.

A Road trip to White Sands

According to the White Sands National Monument website: Rising from the heart of the Tularosa Basin is one of the world's great natural wonders - the glistening white sands of New Mexico. Great wave-like dunes of gypsum sand have engulfed 275 square miles of desert, creating the world's largest gypsum dune field. White Sands National Monument preserves a major portion of this unique dune field, along with the plants and animals that live there.  

The drive was easy from El Paso over the San Agustin pass and down into the Tularosa Basin.  

On The way down into the basin we found a beautiful little mountain campground in Organ Mountain National Recreation Area - Aguirre Spring.  Unfortunately the road is too narrow and serpentine for our size rig and only those less than 26 feet should try to camp there.

Yes. That is snow.

Maybe the name “While Sands” brings something else to your mind.  It is also the site of the government's premier missile testing range which also includes an outdoor display and a museum.

After getting our credentials, which included a background check, we were allowed to enter the military base to view the exhibits.

V-2 rocket

Continuing on up US 70 to the dunes, we also had to go through a Border Patrol station where ALL northbound vehicles had to be inspected and vetted by a sniffing K9.  The nice officer only asked, “US citizens?” and told us to be on our way.  The guy and the dog classed us as WASP snow birds - harmless.  

By the way, hwy 70 can be closed a couple times per week for a few hours at a time as missiles fly overhead.  We weren’t delayed, but that would be interesting to see.  Also the air base near Alamogordo, NM is the home of the US stealth fighter squadron.  We didn't get to see any of those either. Shucks :-(

No. That is not snow.

Having lived in and toured extensively in Michigan, we are no strangers to sand and dunes.  However, these dunes are WHITE, bright white!  

They are made from gypsum (think drywall) which is leached from surrounding mountains and then left behind as the water evaporates in a terminal lake in the basin.  The white sands are more the consistency of talcum power than Lake Michigan dune sand.  It’s even slippery under foot as you walk on the boardwalks to view the dunes.  

Yes. They go sledding on the sand dunes.

The entire ecosystem has adapted to the dune environment by growing longer roots, sprouting taller flower stems, coming out to be active at night and even to being white or lighter colored than the same species in surrounding areas.  It is a very interesting place.