Waking up in Havasu BLM Dispersed, I knew I’d be more than ready to leave. For the second day in a row, I hadn’t prepared coffee, knowing that I’d be stopping at a restaurant soon.
Even without coffee, one look around was all that it took to get me motivated to get on the road after I did a quick bit of work.
After the disappointment of the Black Bear Diner and knowing that I wanted to get to my next selected spot earlier in the day in case I had another day of calamity, I decided Mickey D’s in Lake Havasu City would be good. The once clown-adorned fast food joint has good coffee, and the sausage McMuffin really hasn’t changed since it was released many decades ago.
I guess some McDonalds are trying to act a bit like a fast-casual restaurant and bring your food to you at your table. Oh! So Fancy!
As I crossed the border into California, I cranked some Red Hot Chili Peppers, trying to ensure that I would be in a better mood than I was by the end of the day before.
The night before, I had decided that rather than heading toward Las Vegas, I would head west into California and check out the Mojave National Preserve. The weather app indicated the temperatures were in the mid-60s during the day, and that sounded totally acceptable.
When I arrived at the road that allows free dispersed camping, there were two other campers set up. I partially pulled into one of the open spots and slowly got out of the jeep. After yesterday and a couple more hours of driving today, my back was killing me. So I headed deeper into the preserves, hoping to be able to stretch it out with a bit of a good walk
As I was walking back to my jeep, the RV that was parked at what looked like the best site began to pull away. As I began to move my jeep, the other camper got in his vehicle and also departed. I quickly sniffed under my arm, wondering if I was driving them away! Convinced it wasn’t me, I set up camp.
Because of the water container leak the day before, I had to pull a number of things out of the under-seat storage and leave it open to dry.
While the temperature was in the 60s, it certainly didn’t feel like it. There was a cold wind blowing, and unless you stood in a protected location in the sunshine, it felt very chilly.
Of course, that didn’t stop me from climbing up on the rocks by my campsite.
As I headed to bed on the first night, I was really hoping that the weather would be better over the next couple of days. Otherwise I am going to seriously consider heading back to the Sonoran desert. in all honesty, I liked the Sonoran desert and am missing the cactuses.
I really didn’t want to backtrack and head southeast, but maybe in a few more weeks, spring would begin to arrive and hopefully, with it, warmer weather.
February 27: Work and Wind
Over the weekend, the weather improved, and I was able to spend a chunk of time working outside. However, doesn’t look like it’s going to stay that way, and I am leaning more and more toward heading back to Arizona.
I appear to have picked a popular overnight location. Late each evening, a couple of vehicles will show up and then leave the next morning.
While they set up in the evenings, I either am sitting on a rock or wandering around with a cup of cocoa in my hand watching a gorgeous sunset. I will have to admit the southwest seems to be consistently delivering a peaceful experience at dusk.
When I woke yesterday morning, the Verizon tower nearby had gone down. One of the nearby campers came over to my campsite as they were leaving, wondering if I had connectivity. Fortunately, the T-Mobile tower was still functioning, and I was able to turn on my Internet and help her with some directions.
As we were talking, I discovered that she and her husband often travel into Mexico. With all the negativity on the news about what’s going on south of the border, I inquired how they stayed safe and planned their trips. Her response was, “We just go.” They’ve been RVing for years and have never had any trouble. Damn! I wish my passport was current.
Stupid Wind Storm
Perhaps it was because the cellular connection was down, or perhaps it was just that the day and evening were so pleasant I completely missed the National Weather Service alert. As the late evening war on, the wind continued to pick up.
Around 11 PM, I realized I wasn’t going to get much sleep. I went outside, flipped over my table and collapsed my chair to keep them from blowing away. The wind continued to get worse, and the trailer was rocking. I kept opening the door to check on the awning, and it seemed to be holding fine.
At 1:30 AM, a massive gust shook the trailer, and I opened the door to a huge relief that the awning was still in place. However, the wind was getting more and more brutal, and I knew I needed to get the awning down.
As I released the tension on the ropes staking beyond down, I had to balance keeping the awning from flopping around with untying the knots. To add to the challenge, I couldn’t untie the knots with the gloves that I needed to twist the poles. So holding the awning and putting the gloves on and off was interesting.
What is usually less than a five-minute job turned into a 20-minute battle. It reminded me of the time when I was sailing with a sailing instructor in a J-22, and we got hit by a wicked, unexpected storm. I had to crawl to the bow to bring down a Spinnaker (front sail) while the boat was screaming through the water, keeled over more than 45°.
Much like the sailing experience through it, no damage was done, and the awning was stowed. Okay, one of the poles will have to be reassembled and a buckle put back on the strap. So, no permanent damage.
A couple of the stakes holding my privacy shelter down. We’re also being pulled up. so I flattened the shelter and dropped a cup of water containers on it to hold it down for the night.
The shelter popped back up in the morning with no problem, the solar panels weren’t damaged, and the rest of my campsite seemed to be okay.