Wednesday, February 22, 2017

Painted Rocks and Travel Day

Wednesday, February 22, 2017

My location:  Albertsons Neighborhood food Store in Blythe, California

Last night around 7 pm, I went over to Eric and Shaena’s RV to paint rocks.  They have a dead tree out front of their site and Shaena had decorated it with junk found on the ground in the area.  She likes to paint rocks, so they invited me over, and that’s what we did.

Here are the painted rocks.

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Theirs says Fillmore with a fancy “F” and the date.  The Fillmore design has meaning to the two of them.  Mine has our names on it and the year in the rays of the sun.  The “50” represents fifty years of marriage.

We let them dry overnight with plans to place them under the tree in the morning before we both leave.

This morning around 7 am, Yuma and I took a walk down one of the old asphalt roads left from the Camp Young years of the early 1940s.  Overgrown and broken now, but still visible.

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We looked for tortoises, but didn’t see any.  Maybe too early for them. Looking back at the two MHs.  Close enough to run an extension cord to their generator to pump my tire up before leaving.  As you can see, it is going to be another beautiful day!

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After breakfast, we all took a walk down the hillside looking for Faith and Matt.   Shaena wanted to say goodbye to them, but we had no luck this morning. 

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Yuma and Punk did their hardest to sniff them out, but still no luck.

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We had dawdled enough.  It was getting close to noon and we had to be on our way, so we placed our painted rocks under the tree and moved on.

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It was 12:30 by the time we left the site.  They are headed West to Indio to stock up on food and then head on down to Borrego Springs.  They were looking for a new boondocking place and I told them this would be perfect for their adventurous spirits.  I turned East, heading for Blythe, California to get my tire fixed and stock up on supplies for my next boondocking experience.

Before parting, we became Facebook friends, so we would not lose track of one another.  I wish them luck!

I pulled over on the Interstate to get this photo of the pipes for the Colorado River Aqueduct.  Must have been something to dig that tunnel through those mountains.

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I stopped at Desert Center, about 25 miles down I-10 to take some photos and let Yuma run around.  This little place is almost deserted.  The only place still active was the Post Office.

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We only had to go 70 miles today, so wasn’t in any hurry.  The interstate was smooth and a joy to drive on.  Even Yuma liked riding with no bumps.

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Made it to Blythe, in the early afternoon and as I was driving up the main drag, I spotted a Good Year Tire repair shop and pulled in.  Met the nicest guy.  He had me pull right in and started right away, pulling the two tires off the driver’s side.

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He placed the tire in a vat of water and the sizzling started.  I had a rusted spot in the extension hose for the valve stem.  He didn’t have a new one available, so we put the tire back on without the extension and bolted everything up and we were done.  Didn’t take a half hour.  What a lucky duck I was.

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He took me inside to settle the bill.  I slipped him a ten spot and thanked him.  Then I got a surprise.  When he told the boss man the work he had done, the boss man said there would be no charge.  Can’t get any better than that!

I then headed to the Albertsons Neighborhood Food store and parked for the night in the lot next door.   The stores for that lot were closed down and empty.

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Do a little shopping and then call it a day.  Turned out to be another great day in the Southwest!

See you later.

19 comments:

  1. I'm so glad you got your tire finally fixed! The tree Sheena decorated was terrific looking. That is an awesome windchime she made! Loved your painted rocks. I wonder where your next adventure will take you and Yuma.

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    1. Was a fun day. Amazing how interesting a move day can be. Helped that I was only going 75 miles up the road. Slowly heading home now.

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  2. What a fun day you had! Love the tree and the rocks. YOu have made great friends and that is a total bonus! What a funny town that Desert Centre is, a bit spooky to me. Travel safe, glad you got the tire looked after.

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    1. Thank you, Patsy. Had a fun day and very glad to get that tire leak fixed. First time with the painted rock thing for me, but it was fun.

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  3. I forgot to mention what an interesting place Desert Center is. It even has trolley service. Wonder what the zip is there.

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    1. Thanks Dolly. Lots of strange stuff laying around there. Old town I guess.

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  4. Great pictures of the Desert Center.
    Safe travels.

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    1. Thanks. I like these short drives. And getting that tire leak fixed was great.

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  5. Nice to check out these Ghost towns. We made good use of that Albertan's when we were in Quartzsite, enjoy the journey is always fun.

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    1. For some reason I thought there was a Walmart here. Surprised when I got here and they don't have one. Albertsons is okay too. If you sleep in one parking lot, you've slept in them all.

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  6. Painted rock is such a sweet tribute to Dolly and your 50 year marriage ! Really nice photos of Desert Center. Glad the guy fixed your tire so you can begin the slow journey homewards.

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    1. Thanks Moonfly. Had a great time in the middle of nowhere, making friends. Can't beat it.

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  7. Hi! I loved your painted rock! I think it's so sweet that you put Dolly's name on there too and made it a tribute to your amazing 50 years of marriage! I think we'll bring Keats out to the farm sometime when he's older and you and Grandma can paint rocks with him and place them somewhere on the farm! Looks like a beautiful day! Glad you got your tire all fixed up and I hope you had a nice night at Albertson's! Love you!

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    1. Thank you, Sarah. That's a great idea to place some painted rocks at our place.

      Love you too.

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  8. You know, that's another spot we haven't visited! A colleague of mine taught at the school there in Desert Center. He said years ago it was state of the art with computers. He had been a coder himself, so he knew...what a shame.

    Hubby hurt his back this morning and can barely walk, so it will be a while before we get out again...sigh...

    ~Cheryl Ann~

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    1. Hi, Cheryl Ann. I hope there was more to the town than I saw. Not much there along the interstate.

      Sorry to hear about your husband. Bad back can bring you to a standstill. Hope he gets better soon.

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  9. Desert Center is a sad place indeed. We were lucky enough to have had breakfast in that old historic Café before it closed. Yes there is another part to Desert Center and a very beautiful part at that. There is a whole palm treed community with lakes and a golf course just a mile north of there. It's where you can see all the greenery in the distance and it's called Tamarisk Grove Resort. Here's my link for the day we were there should you ever get up that way again.

    http://thebayfieldbunch.com/2012/02/tonight-we-arealmost-in-arizona.html

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  10. Here's another post with a few more Tamarisk photos and also some photos from around Desert Center and inside that old Café.

    http://thebayfieldbunch.com/2012/02/he-dug-his-own-grave-but-they-buried.html

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  11. In 1967-1969 I lived at the Hayfield Pumping Station of the Metropolitan Water District (the one in your photo) before moving back to it's more "remote" Iron Mountain Station 50 miles away on the Rice Road. The tunnel is one of five built in the 1930's between Lake Havasu and Lake Mathews - the water is being pumped up and through the mountain. Still amazing. Desert Center was never booming, but the gas station, cafe, hamburger stand and small market were active for years. We will be there next week to visit friends at Lake Tamarisk :-)) Great to see you and Yuma back enjoying the sunny southwest. Safe travels.

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