February 4 - 5, 2009 – The Slabs

What an interesting time we have had.

On Wednesday (4th), we left Yuma and headed to the Slabs. Some scenes along the way:

Before the Dunes:

The Colorado River and the All American Canal at the Dunes:

Camping at the Dunes:

The other side of the Dunes and back to the desert:

We arrived here mid-morning (we gained an hour) and as we entered the area:

I had been emailing Cookie, Earl, and Bob (on the Boon Docking Yahoo Group) and they invited us to camp with them. As we were coming down Beal Road, Bob met us and took us to the area. What a great group of people.

After setting up, we went into town to get some water and gas and drop off some trash from the area. For supper we went to the Oasis Club here and had some great tacos and met even more people.

This is a neat little community – some people live here year round but many just for the winter. Here is a great link for some details - http://www.desertdutch.org/slabcity.htm

Elliot in his favorite spot when we park:

Bob stopped over this evening and shared his home brewed beer with us – YUM! Andy shared our local beer with him – Yuengling Lager, of course!

The stats:

Miles Traveled: 105 Miles
Routes Traveled:
AZ: I-8
CA: I-8; CA-111; CR S27; CA-86; CA-111


Today (5th), we went for a bike ride to some of the places:

The pet cemetery (there is also the ashes of two people buried here):

The tanks:

Salvation Mountain:

There is a great story behind this mountain – here is a link - http://www.salvationmountain.us/

It was fascinating what Leonard has done and is still doing.

Here is Leonard:

The views from the tank area and Salvation Mountain:

The Church where there are services and other things going on:

The Slab Information Board:

The Range where there is entertainment every Saturday.

Our site:

We spent the rest of the day just hanging out. I finally got my beading organized after my shopping in Quartzsite. Me enjoying the afternoon:

Some of my views:

It is different than I expected. This is just like a little city with neighborhoods. People are very friendly and very accepting. There is a church, two clubs that serve dinner or breakfast, entertainment at the Range on the weekends.

Living quarters here go from tents to makeshift homes to million dollar rigs.

People take care of each other – there are a variety of different skills and they are shared or sold.

It is desert living so the sunsets, the sunrises, and the stars are breathtaking. Last night we saw a satellite go over!

It is a very busy place, the sheriff goes thru about three times a day and the border patrol goes up and down the county road quite often.

The military training grounds are next to the Slabs and it is not unusual to see flares in the night, hear bombing or guns in the distance, and see helicopters with machine guns flying low.

There is a nightly update on the CB – news, announcements, etc.


Would I spend more time here – ABSOLUTELY!

We are headed out tomorrow to spend time with my cousins, Jim and Deb and we may come back here next week.

January 30 to February 3, 2009 – Yuma and More

What a wonderful couple of days. Thanks so much to Sandy and Raul for showing us the area and spending time with us. You are wonderful.

So this is what we have been doing:

On Friday (30th), we took a drive to a number of different places and saw some beautiful areas. We first went to the Imperial Wildlife Area:

What a contrast of the greenery in the desert:

Next up was Martinez Lake. It was like an oasis in the desert:

As we traveled to our next destination, we went thru the Yuma Proving Grounds. During World War II, many military were trained here by General Patton because he believed this desert was very much like those of Libya and Africa. There were a number of tank displays and it was really interesting to walk thru them.

Notice the dust in the background – it is a tank on training maneuvers:

From there we went to Senator Wash Reservoir, Imperial Dam, and Squaw Lake areas. These areas are part of the BLM lands here and many people camp here. It is another good option for us.

More sites:

And we even saw a wild burro:

On our way back, we stopped at the Imperial Date Farms, took a break, and munched on dates and date shakes. Here are the date palms:

We finished up our day with a stop at the local casino. What a wonderful day with good friends and family.

On Saturday (31st), we took a ride to the Imperial Sand Dunes in CA. These dunes are amazing. Some of them are over 300 feet high. There were a lot of people camping in the area and many 4 wheeling thru the dunes (we may even try it with the Tracker some day -:-)):

Notice the fence – the Mexican border:
We stopped by the remains of the plank road. This road was a moving road used to transport vehicles over the sand:

We spent the rest of the day and evening just enjoying the warm weather and each other’s company.

On Sunday (1st), we went to a great breakfast at another casino and played a little bit (no, we didn’t win anything). We went back to Sandy’s and Raul’s and they showed us around their complex. We saw this little roadrunner:

And of course, watched the Super Bowl – what a game!!!

On Monday (2nd), we went to Algodones, Mexico. It was a pretty neat little town – lots of shops and some really good price. I bought a purple (yes, ladies, purple) purse!
The town:

We had breakfast at a quaint little café and supper at Sandy’s and Raul’s – mmmmmm, great food!

Today, Tuesday (3rd), we have spent the morning and afternoon doing the normal household choirs and getting caught up with bills, blog and email. Tonight the four of us are going out to dinner and tomorrow we are heading to the Slabs.

We have had a great time here in Yuma – Thank you Sandy and Raul – and we will be back.