Tuesday, February 4, 2014

Off to Yuma

Tuesday, February 4, 2014

Decided this was the day to leave Borrego Springs and head for Yuma, Arizona.  Got on our way around 10:30 for the 120 mile trip.  Headed out of town on S3 east to hwy 78 heading southward to the town of Westmorland, California.  Hwy 78 goes through the desert floor.DesertHighway 78 through the desert.

We turned south on S30 which is a two-lane highway that goes straight down to I-8.  This road goes through the Imperial Valley and there are a lot of farm fields being tended by field workers.Migrant workers in a fieod.  

We got onto I-8 and stopped at the first town, El Centro to eat lunch at an In and Out burger place.  Heard of them but never been to one.  Only sell burgers, so no fish sandwich for me today.  Nice clean place and fast service.  We then pulled into the Shell station and if you buy $75 or more of gas, you can dump your tanks and get water for free, so that’s what we did.  Gas was $3.69 a gallon so I was afraid I would not make the amount but came up with $80 and change.

Finally, we got out of there at 2:30 and headed the last 47 mile leg to Yuma.  The countryside was flat and bland and I was afraid that it would look like that when we got to Ogilby Road, but it doesn’t.  About 28 miles out we started getting into the tail end of the Imperial Sand Dunes.Imperial Sand Dunes   They were beautiful and I-8 ran right through them.Imperial Sand DunesImperial Sand DunesImperial Sand Dunes

Soon after, we saw the Ogilby Road exit and turned off.  I expected to see RVs around but nothing.  To the right it dead ended and to the left it went towards the mountains through a recreational fee area.  I could see what looked like RVs in the distance but didn’t go there.  Turned around and got back on the interstate and went to the next exit, Sidewinder Road.

Stopped at the gas station and he told me that about a mile and a half west of them was the BLM area.  We are there for the night, but it is not where we want to be.  Very small area and way too many RVs.  We will stay for the night and find the right place in the morning.

Got on the internet and I have concluded, I should have kept going north on Ogilby Road to American Girl Mine Road and park in that area.  Oh well!  It is getting dark and tomorrow is another day.  Beautiful sunset at Sidewinder Road west of Yuma.Sunset at Sidewinder Road west of Yuma.

See you later.

5 comments:

  1. Too bad you missed Ogilbe, lots of room there & old mine sites to explore around. If you happen to go just go up Ogilbe until you cross the train tracks about a mile or two up. Anywhere after that along the right side you will see places to pull in & park. You might find Mitry Lake a bit crowed now that Quartzsite is over. Best malls in Yuma are in the west end just off I-8 only about 6 or 7 miles in from Ogilby.

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    1. Thanks Al. I was hoping you would set me straight. We will head over this morning. I was debating on which way to go and you helped me make up my mind. Great to have an experienced hand to help. Just want space.

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  2. Ohhh we really liked that area of the Imperial Dunes... Between where you came from El Centro and Yuma, there was a Holtwood Hot Springs that would have made a good stop off. We liked checking that out, and there is a campground right across the road to make a quick stopover at if you liked sitting in the springs.

    ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
    Karen and Steve
    (Blog) RVing: The USA Is Our Big Backyard
    http://kareninthewoods-kareninthewoods.blogspot.com
    ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

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    1. Thanks Karen. We will stay near the Ogilby exit and may get over to the springs while here. We are looking for things to do in the Yuma area. I will go back to the dunes area looking for places to view.

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  3. Here is my blog post of when we went there:
    http://kareninthewoods-kareninthewoods.blogspot.com/2011/03/vacation-second-trip-to-mexico-and-no.html

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