On the move...

Yeah, we are, but it is the first of the month - so are a lot of other RVers.  Funny that it is a lot of retired people out there this time of year, but we still put ourselves on schedules: like when we made reservations: "We'd like to come in February 1st..."  It really wouldn't have mattered what day, but we did make those reservations quite a while ago.

In the previous post, I mentioned the crappy weather - it was blowing in the mid-20s when we left the Phoenix area.  The forecast along our route showed that wind was going to be a factor the whole way... in fact, it would be getting worse from time to time.  It was.

We stopped a few miles from the RV park to pick up a couple breakfast sandwiches.  Joan ran in to get them, while squeezed in a nearby parking lot to wait.  We used to joke about the windex at the top of our mast when we were sailing - it pointed to the direction the wind was coming from.  We called it "the destination finder" because the wind always seemed to be coming from where we want to go.  Today was one of those days.  I took this photo of the flag whipping in the wind...

Yep, that is the direction we are heading.  Looking ahead, you can see the dirt blowing in the air...

And the clouds to the east...

No, it is not that early in the morning - just the remnants of the storm that moved in last night.

It has been several years since we have been this direction.  There isn't a lot to look at between the west side of Phoenix and Yuma... mostly scrub-brush, occasionally a bit of agriculture or some mountains...

As I mentioned, there were plenty of RVs on the road...

Around Gila Bend, we picked up I-8.  This next photo is out of focus (bad grab shot) - see if you can figure out what it is...

Rows of scrub-brush.  Mother Nature is too random, so someone must of made the effort to plant these.

Getting closer to Yuma, you see more agriculture...

We stopped for a short break in Yuma - fueled up at Sam's Club.  Yes, this motorhome fits in their gas station, but we did hang out a bit.  We are pretty efficient - we filled up our motorhome faster than the person in front of us topped off her Toyota Echo... may have had something to do with the fact that we didn't wash the windows before getting the fuel going.  Across the street is an In & Out Burger - it only made sense to grab a burger for an early lunch and keep rolling.

Through the mountains...

Into the Imperial Dunes area...

Most of the time we've been through this area, there have been scads of people in RVs, playing with motorcycles and 4-wheelers in the sand dunes... not today.  The fact that the wind was gusting around 40mph in this area probably has something to do with the lack of people.  "Sand snakes" blowing across the highway...

I am hoping it didn't "sand blast" the pretty paint off the Aspect.  Past the dunes and into more mountains...

Then, the first of many of these...

I'm guessing they were producing plenty of electricity today.

After passing El Centro, we started our climb into the mountains east of San Diego.  An electronic sign warned us of "winter driving conditions ahead."  The temp was in the upper 50s at El Centro - figuring the standard drop in temp for each 1,000 feet of altitude... yeah, we should be OK...

Is that snow on the mountainside?  We did quite a few miles above 4,000'... some up and down... sunshine and...

Yeah, there was some snow on the sides of the roads, but nothing on the roads.

No, there were strong winds the whole way!  The V-10 in the motorhome did a fine job; no doubt, the fuel mileage suffered.  But, the road manners of the motorhome were surprisingly good, considering we had mostly headwinds, with some cross and quartering winds just for the fun of it.

Passing those mountains, we began our 6% descent to the San Diego area.  Joan (and the GPSes) did a fine job of navigating through the traffic, then south to the I-5 exit for our home for the next two weeks.

This RV park is certainly more upscale than where we were in Goodyear - should be, since it is almost 3 times the price.  But, the sites are all paved, with picnic tables, wifi, cable, and nice landscaping separating each site...

Yeah, this place welcomes us with our cargo trailer!  Putting the trailer towards the street gives us a private patio area.  Definitely a resort park, it is located alongside a nice marina - makes for some pleasant strolling along the bay.  Well, maybe when the wind dies down and the temp warms up.

For now, we are settling in.