Two days ago I transited from Thousand Palms to Niland California…home of Slab City.
It’s about a 75 mile trip. Much of the drive is on California Highway 111 which runs along the eastern shore of the Salton Sea…essentially right atop the San Andreas Earthquake Fault. Not much out here for 40+ miles. Looking to the right in the below photo you can see the Salton Sea. As always, click on the photos and then click once again to see the enlarged views…
To find out all about Slab City, you may check my last two Blog entries…
http://wp.me/pDCku-2XZ and http://wp.me/pDCku-2Y4
I had three planned things to accomplish at Slab City. First was to visit Solar Mike, the owner of The Sun Works where I’ve bought all of my solar panels for my RV’s over the years. Mike has been installing solar panels and associated equipment at Slab City for more than 20 years. The reason was to get my intermittent-functioning solar panel controller repaired or replaced. Mike fixed a cold-solder joint on the printed circuit board…problem solved. I also had Mike test our six-year old coach batteries status. These batteries have an expected life of 5-7 years. He ran three different tests and told me the batteries did not need to be replaced at this time. That’s why I buy from Solar Mike…he’s honest! Here are some photos from The Sun Works…
First Mike and his wife’s living quarters. Look at all the solar panels upon the roof…
Here’s Mike bumper sticker…
Mike has a solar-powered car which he uses to run around Slab City. It is actually street-legal…
Next on my agenda was a visit with my good friend Leo Perth. Leo has had Doberman dogs since he was 14 years old. Look carefully and you will see his latest named Deja by his feet…
I spent the night parked in front of Leo’s RV. Just before sunrise I took these next two photos. Normally it’s always sunny here, but this morning there was a small weather front moving through the area and we actually got a few rain sprinkles.
First looking west out of the dining room window…
Then I stepped outside and looking east took this photo…
That’s one of the neat things about the desert…you get to see many magnificent sunrises and sunsets.
My final agenda item was an enjoyable two-hour visit with another good friend…Bob Gambol. Bob was the co-planner of my 2004 Central America trip. He’s also an ex-Marine of 22 years and in his 50’s spent six years back-packing around the World…alone. A most interesting and unique guy…
After my visit with Bob, all my preplanned agenda items completed…I headed for Winterhaven, California about 85 miles distant and parked in the lot of the Paradise Casino right along the shore of the Colorado River directly across from Yuma, Arizona.
Old Fort Yuma…which overlooked the Yuma Crossing…which was the only way to get across the Colorado River for many miles back in the old days, is actually in Wunterhaven, California…next to the Paradise Casino. It sits atop a small hill and on it is a water tower…which gets decorated with Christmas lights every Winter. It’s a neat sight…
This morning I’ll drive the motorhome about 20 minutes to a site about 12 miles north of Yuma. It’s a small piece of BLM land adjacent to a VFW post. It’s a spot which RVers visiting the Yuma area have stayed for many years and I expect to cross paths with some old friends there…just hanging out and trying to stay warm. I expect to be in that location for two weeks.
All original material Copyright – Jim Jaillet 2011
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Que Sera, Sera... Whatever Will Be, Will Be... 