Not All RVing Days Are Happy Ones…

Here’s a sad story that happened a few days ago just a few miles from our current location at the Quechen Indian Casino at Winterhaven, California.

http://www.kswt.com/story/16531943/fatal-rollover-accident-in-winterhaven-slows-traffic-on-i8

All original material Copyright – Jim Jaillet 2012
For more information about my three books, click this link:
http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/panamaorbust

An Unusually Spectacular Desert Sunrise!

Yesterday we were still parked at the Pilot Knob RV Park in Winterhaven, California.

I’ve seen numerous beautiful desert sunrises in my full-time RVing lifestyle. Usually they have furious reds, yellows and purples. But yesterday’s was unusual because of the beautiful pastels. The following photos are totally un-retouched. They have not been cropped or color-altered in any manner. They are exactly as taken by my Sony DSC Cybershot-HX5V Digital Camera.

As always you may click upon a photo to see and enlarged view and then click once again to see an even larger view…

I hope you enjoyed these photos as much as I do!

Our four-day free stay at the Pilot Knob RV Park ends today. Since Mary has another dental appointment tomorrow morning in Los Algodones, Sonora, Mexico, today we’ll move over to the parking lot of the Quechen Indian Casino here in Winterhaven, California.

All original material Copyright – Jim Jaillet 2012
For more information about my three books, click this link:
http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/panamaorbust

Why Would I Back-Track 85 Miles???

In just one word…TRUST!

Yesterday I back-tracked 85 miles from Winterhaven (across the Colorado River from Yuma, Arizona) to Slab City at Niland California. My solar power system is not getting the job done and I’ve returned to Solar Mike to fix my problems…because I trust him.

Here’s a Google Earth view showing my back-track. Yuma is identified with a Y and Slab City with an S. You can click on the image to enlarge it and click on it once again to make it even larger…

Yes, I could have bought new solar stuff from someone I do not know in Yuma. I used to work with Solar Mike’s father before I met Mike for the first time in January, 1996. Here’s the link to the Blog entry when I had our current solar panel and inverter installed on our current motorhome in December, 2009…
http://wp.me/pDCku-6Q

He is the only person I have ever bought solar items from for my three different rigs in my 17 years as a full-time RVer. I trust him not to try to sell me expensive and un-needed solar components. I know he will do right by me for both the right equipment and prices.

When I had the one solar panel put on in 2009, I knew at that time it was marginal. But we figured we try it and see how it worked out. Solar items can be pricey and we could always add more. In the last two years we’ve been plugged into electrical shore-power a lot and have managed to get by when on solar power.

However…now to my problem. In the next two years we will see very little time plugged into shore-power as we begin an almost two-year circumnavigation around the United States. Click this link to read about that upcoming adventure… http://wp.me/pDCku-2W9

In addition to little plugged-in time…our storage batteries from which we get all of our living electrical power are approaching the end of their useful life span. I had Mike test them about a month ago and for their age were just okay. So I decided to test them. I’ve not had shore power in the last month…which mean I’ve been operating just on our coach storage batteries.

Low night-time temperatures have a negative effect on battery power and I’ve finally decided this problem needs to be rectified before heading out on our circumnavigation. So yesterday I drove back to Slab City to have Solar Mike fix our problem. I have an 8:30 AM appointment with Solar Mike for tomorrow morning. Like most RVer’s problems…it will be fixed by a little bit of time and a some $$$’s.

All original material Copyright – Jim Jaillet 2012
For more information about my three books, click this link:
http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/panamaorbust

Sunny Yuma, Arizona!

I’m still parked at the Paradise Casino in Winterhaven, California…just across the Colorado River from Yuma, Arizona. You may click upon the photo to see an enlarged view…then click on it once again for an even larger view.

15 minutes before sunrise…

Here’s why the snowbirds come here…

Sun character courtesy of…
http://vectips.com/tutorials/create-a-happy-sun-character/

According to the Guinness Book of Records, Yuma. AZ is the sunniest place on earth!
http://www.currentresults.com/Weather-Extremes/sunniest-places-countries-world.php

Yesterday was bright sun and 75 degrees and I’m here. It’s a lousy job, but somebody’s got to do it!

All original material Copyright – Jim Jaillet 2012
For more information about my three books, click this link:
http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/panamaorbust

A Walk To Indian Hill…

A short distance from my current parking spot at the Paradise Casino in Winterhaven, California is a very famous small rise of land known as Indian Hill. Atop of this hill sits the St. Thomas Indian Mission.This is a very famous hill for on the other side of the mission and not seen in these below photos is the site of Old Fort Yuma which guarded the Yuma River Crossing many years ago. Back in those days this location was the only place to cross the then mighty Colorado River for hundreds of miles. as always you can click a photo to see an enlarged view…click it again for an even larger view.

Here’s the view from my dining room window…

Even though We’ve both been there a number of times, two days ago my friend Randy and I went for a walk to the top of the hill. I brought my camera along to show you the views. Along the way I took this shot overlooking a small park. In the distance to the left you can see the visitors center for the remains of the Old Yuma Territorial Prison which is located on the banks of the Colorado River. To the right of the prison you can see the old railroad bridge first built in 1877. The river has taken away the bridge a number of times. the current bridge was built in 1923…

If you are interested in the history of the railroad bridge, you can click this link… http://www.yumasun.com/articles/bridge-74638-railroad-river.html

Once atop the hill…looking back to the left you can see the Paradise Casino and parking lot…

In the next zoom photo you can see the motorhome and Bronco. It’s the rig furthest in the back on the right…

Next a 180 degree panorama shot with the Colorado River on the left…

Finally a shot looking over the Colorado River at the City of Yuma, Arizona…the sunniest spot in the United States…

Yesterday we took another walk through the marshes and along the river. Here are four more photos. First two lower views of Indian Hill and the mission…

Then looking across the Colorado into Arizona and the old Yuma Territorial Prison…

And finally the Colorado River under the railroad bridge…

I hope you enjoyed the views!

All original material Copyright – Jim Jaillet 2012
For more information about my three books, click this link:
http://www.panamaorbust