The wind has been howling since last night, which was OK for our cozy homeschooling day. It doesn’t look like the winds will be letting up any time soon:
Good Shabbos from Anza Borrego State Park!
Day 177: Homeschooling in high winds
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Day 176: Ferrous Giants of Anza Borrego
This morning, John and I went for a 31 mile ride with a 1,700 foot climb into the mountains on the West side of Borrego Springs. We couldn’t see our RVs from the viewpoint where we turned around:
After lunch, we drove out to view the Galleta Meadows sculptures, an art installation spread over a wide area in the desert North of Borrego Springs:
After finishing our tour of the sculptures, we visited the Anza Borrego State Park visitor center:
We then stopped at the library and checked out some books. Throughout the day, winds from the West have been intensifying, and during the drive back to the RV we had to slow way down as visibility was reduced to a few dozen feet due to blowing sand.
There’s something cozy about being in an RV during a storm, especially when the RV rocks slightly as the winds howl past. We’re looking forward to the cooler weather these winds are supposed to bring.
Day 175: Heading to Anza Borrego
This morning we got up a little late. We bought a few supplies at Walmart, and by 10am when we left Walmart it was already approaching 80 degrees. We have to keep reminding ourselves that it’s January.
We drove Southeast towards the Salton Sea and Anza Borrego State Park. The park allows dispersed camping, so we found a spot at a site recommended by WheelingIt. There are about 50 RVs parked here over a very large area. We deployed the new windsock and awning shade:
Once we unhitched from the RV, I drove out to the highway and went for a bike ride:
Almost immediately, I ran into John, who was returning from a 120ish mile ride to the Palomar Observatory and back. He was moving along at a good pace, which told me he was a strong rider. The fact that he asked if I wanted to ride tomorrow morning only reinforces this perception. I told him I would see him in the morning.
Riding on alone, I headed East until I topped the local summit between here and the Salton Sea. Bats raced along beside me as I rode back in the quickly darkening dusk.
We plan to hang out here for at least a week. See the trip map for driving details.
Day 174: Ancient Roads and Modern Ruins
This morning we headed back to Los Algodones for Tricia’s glasses. The Indian tribe’s parking lot was quite full by 10am when we arrived:
We headed through the gates. Once through the turnstile, there’s no returning without a passport. I checked my pocket one more time to make sure the passports were there before heading through:
We picked up Tricia’s glasses and they seem to fit well. We did hear another couple being told that their glasses weren’t ready, which made me wonder if perhaps the “they’ll be ready in 3 hours” promise is just something they say to make the sale.
One of the things I noticed about the street peddlers that came up to us and asked us to buy something is that all the peddlers of a given type had identical merchandise. For example, all the men selling jewelry had the exact same jewelry, all the women selling wallets had the exact same wallets, etc. I wonder if they are working for a company, or perhaps they just all get their wares from the same supplier.
Standing in line to leave, we could see that the security forces in Mexico want to have a visible presence here:
Today we managed to get through the line with only a 25 minute wait. Heading back to our rig, we headed North to I-8 and drove West to the Grays Wells Road exit. After a few miles, we reached the remnants of the old Plank Road. The segments here are all that remains of a 6.5 mile boardwalk-like “road” built over the dunes nearly 100 years ago to allow travel from Yuma to San Diego. A paved road would replace the plank road ten years later:
Farther along, the road disappears into the shifting, blowing sands:
We’re quite close to the border here. The steel wall goes on in both directions to the horizon:
Looking back towards the RV:
The dunes are about 5 miles wide where the interstate cuts through:
Next we headed West and North to Niland, CA, and from there we briefly drove into and out of the Slabs, where 150 or so squatters called “Slabbers” live all year round in RVs, other vehicles, or in modified structures left behind when the Army base once here was torn down. If you’ve ever wondered what life might be like after a Zombie Apocalypse, this is the place to visit:
Continuing North, we followed the Eastern shore of Salton Sea. Last time, we were on the West side. We stopped in at Bombay Beach, which was thriving resort town until the Salton Sea ecosystem collapsed and all the fish in the lake died as the lake salinity rose beyond that of the ocean:
Structures closest to the shore have deteriorated the quickest:
As on the West side, a horrible smell was in the air and the water was soupy with minerals:
We reached Palm Springs around sunset. The locals didn’t seem to notice or care about the sunset:
After doing some food shopping and picking up a package shipped here for us, we retired to the Walmart of Thousand Palms, just a couple of miles from Palm Springs. See the trip map for driving details.
Day 173: Visit to Mexico and Meeting MNFG
This morning we scheduled dental checkups for the kids in Los Algodones, Mexico. Los Algodones is two miles South of the Q casino where we stayed last night. We drove down to the border, parked in a tribal parking lot on the US side for $12, and walked through the border crossing into Mexico. The signs said No Photography at the border, and I didn’t feel like finding out what the unspoken “or else” might be.
We were very excited to make the trip, as none of us had ever been to Mexico!
For American visitors, Los Algodones is a two-by-four block enclave of dental and vision clinics, with gift shops and barber shops mixed in for good measure. Trish and I were at least one generation shy of the average tourist age. The town feels perfectly safe, especially when you realize that you’re the most able-bodied target in town.
Our first stop was the dental clinic. We opted for Circle Dental, but there are literally dozens of clinics to choose from. All the other folks in the waiting room were there for dental implants and other serious work. Once the kids finished their cleanings ($30 each), we walked the town a bit:
All the pedestrians are within the passageways over the sidewalks, so it was actually much more crowded than it looks here:
There were hundreds of street vendors running around trying to sell everything from asparagus to wallets. This fellow was painting pots, plates, and saw blades using just spray paint. Bits of torn cardboard were used for masking shapes, and a wadded up plastic bag was used to apply paint with a texture for shrubs and trees. It was very impressive:
One block North of the shops is the border fence. The obelisk on the right is one of many markers erected in the 1890s to mark the modified US-Mexico border created by the Gadsden Purchase in 1856. Note that the fence was been built well within the US, as the obelisk is on the border:
Tricia’s glasses have been scratched up during this trip, so we stopped in one of the vision clinics:
For $70, Trish had an eye exam and ordered a pair of polycarbonate lenses in new frames. We were told to come back in three hours at 4:30PM to pick up her glasses.
We walked over to the exit line to return to the US. Folks who had been there before told us that it looked like a one hour wait:
I went back to what seems to be the only food store in town to get some food, but none of the foods are marked as certified Kosher. It’s like we’re in a foreign country:
After clearing customs we headed back to RV and had lunch. We called the vision clinic at 4:30PM and they told us to come back tomorrow at 10AM, so we left the parking lot at the border and headed North.
Throughout the day I had been e-mailing back and forth with Glenn Morrissette, the author of To Simplify, to see if we could meet in person. I’ve been reading Glenn’s blog for a couple years now, and have been following his gutting and refitting of his Vanagon for almost a year. Seeing that we was in Yuma, I sent an e-mail to him, and it turned out that he was overnighting at the Paradise Casino, so rather that return to the Q Casino we headed there instead. The RV lot at the Paradise was quite a bit less crowded:
Glenn and I got together around sunset, and he let the kids try out the van interior he crafted from scratch:
Glenn and I must have chatted for some time, as it was dark when I took this parting photograph:
To explain the blog title “meeting MNFG”, I once mentioned Glenn’s van work to the kids. They asked me if he was my friend, and I said that I had never met him. When they inquired about his doings later, they asked “what is your non-friend Glenn doing now”, so Glenn was thereafter referred to as “My Non-Friend Glenn” (MNFG). Our son pointed out that now that we’ve met, we should just call him Glenn. So be it.
See the trip map for our jaunt South of the border. After picking up Tricia’s glasses, we will head West and North to Palm Springs.
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