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Our Awesome Travels

Our Awesome Travels
Taken In Quartzsite Arizona Dec 7th 2015

Saturday, January 04, 2014

Back to dry Camping at Hot springs Holtville California,

Where are we today ?
        Had a great nights sleep and up early as usual. Coffees computing walkabouts and secure our coach to travel, on the road at 9:30 am. No rush today we are only moving 34 miles west down I-8. Through the Imperial Sand dune recreation area to the Hot Springs BLM Long Term visitor area. Permit for two weeks is $40.00, dry camping or $180.00 for 7 months.  (no hookups) in the desert. BLM = Bureau of Land management.
        We love these areas  for a few reasons. No reservations, lotsa space (we can be as secluded as we like), come and go as you please and move from one area to the next with this permit. This particular place has pit toilets and Hot Springs too, wonderful.
34 miles today, through the Imperial Sand dunes
         A few dune buggies passed us along the way heading into the dunes to play, this one below is a "sand rail". An expensive high powered toy to play in the sand dunes.
you can see the huge fence along the Mexican border
         Just before turning off the interstate you can see this small Oasis off to the side. This is the Hot Springs that are so comforting.
         We found a spot near our friends. I mentioned that we would be here on the first, quite a while ago but failed to tell them we extended our stay at Pilot Knob and we would arrive two days later. Well we sure were told by everyone that you guys are late, wondered what happened.
         Had met this group here in 2007 our first winter touring the southern states. They are all from Northern Ontario, Kenora, Dryden. Its been a couple years, but everyone is still looking great. So nice to see old friends.
solar panel tilted, a group of friends close by
Love the hot springs here
nice lagoon
A nice hot sunny day, reading in the shade
we have a nice view, not crowded
         As we are reading for a while in the shade another couple dropped on by. Al and Cathy from Montana. We met them at the BLM land in Quartzsite 2007 and almost every year since then. They used to spend the winter there. Now their desert spot of choice is the Hot Springs, BLM here in Holtville CA. Had a nice chat with them so nice to see after a couple years.
they have a new Dachshund, her name is Chewy and
she is a soft hair breed, so cute. 
         Now at 3pm it is the standard happy hour to day at Oscar a Judy's so we all gather around with a few snacks, and social time, catching up with everyone.
Don and Ailene have lotsa solar
         New Years day we had a turkey dinner with friends at Pilot Knob and they are on the road exploring other places. Rob and Pat donated the turkey carcass to us so I made a huge pot of turkey noodle soup. I finished making it today when we arrived and brought it out for Happy hour just enough for 10 servings, the whole bunch of us here.
         A few other nibblies supplied like Jalpano poppers, chips and home made baked goods.
lively conversation all around the table
and the afternoon just flew on by
lotsa small dogs, Suzie got her Doggie fix
         Now shortly after 5 o'clock (California time now) the sun is beginning to set and cooling down so we all head back home.  A light supper after all our appetizer's earlier on.
a couple of Apple Cinnamon Sausage from Swiss meat in Missouri
they don't take long on our Weber Q
 a small lettuce salad did the trick.
        Now as I am in the process of posting our blog all of a sudden our internet quits. Hmmmmm,, a quick check tells me we had hit our 10 GB limit only two weeks into the month. OOOPPPS..... must have been all those live video chats with family over the holiday season. We prepay for 30 day or 10 GB on our Verizon MIFI, so needed to wait until the morning to hit a Dollar General and top up our account.

        Looks like we got that done so now can post our blog even though it is a little late.

       Thanks for joining us in the desert of southern California, here the weather is perfect.  
Posted by George, a.k.a. "The Weber "Q" Man of Blogland" according to Rick Doyle. 
 Check out the map below to see where we have been this Winter
View Winter 2013-14 in a larger map

24 comments:

  1. Here I thought you were "roughing it" out there in the BLM - looks like business as usual to me! It was neat to see all the solar panels on the trailers - too cool! Take-care now,

    Monique

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    1. Thats what most people think we are doing, but camping is what you make of it and we just love it! We have everything we need right here, sunshine, open spaces, tv, internet, cell phones and pretty quiet too, have not heard a generator run yet. And we love the prices too.

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  2. Wowzer... Don and Ailene look like they are running a regular power plant there.

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  3. I'd sure like to take a dip in those hot springs!

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  4. The hot springs sound wonderful! Thank you for sharing the photos here and there. I agree that Don and Ailene are really 'powered' up! Glad you are enjoying your stay, the prices are phenomenal! PS - I did wonder why we hadn't heard an update yesterday...........you just explained it. :)

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    1. We good now until we go over again, hope nit too soon.
      Love this area!

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  5. We've been to the Holtville BLM several times. The last time during the 2010/2011 winter - we stayed too long and overdosed on it. Bet the people are the same. We didn't really like the 'village' much - kinda like a gated community to us - but we didn't really like the hinterland across the highway much either. Doubt we'll get that way again - we find the BLM lands are very Mars like. But enjoy! Nice to have friends to visit with in those places.

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    1. You are so right, thats why we only stay for a short period of time. Nice in a short doses, and keep on moving.

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  6. Looks and sounds like another great day, glad you are back online!

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    1. Kinda lost without the internet, not like to "OLD" days. Glad you stropped by.

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  7. Aww! Looks so familiar! Lots of good memories for us. We met so good friends there and had a good time for years. Well, there will be another chance for us. I am sure you enjoy your time.

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    1. I am sure there will be another chance for you guys, I do know you enjoyed it here.

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  8. The hot springs look nice. I guess solar power is pretty much a necessity for staying at most BLM sites. Your friend sure has enough to power a small town.

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    1. Yes they do have losta power there, but does work very well for them.

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  9. oh, very pretty and relaxing … I love the lagoon also… howe pretty

    love the solar panels… AND your food! ;)

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  10. Chewy is a wired hair Dachshund. They also come as long haired or smooth haired like our girls.

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    1. The vet told them it was a soft hair one?
      Chewy's hair is so soft and fluffy, not wirey at all.

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  11. We were at the Hot Springs a few years ago with our Winnebago Fifth Wheel, and met the group from Ontario with all the solar panels. Are they down there now? We have a different RV and are thinking of adding solar panels, and wouldn’t mind connecting with them,

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