Fleece, a ParaGolfer, Felicity, Border Patrol and The Lazy Lizard

We made it to California!  But first ... last night we stayed in the Cactus Gardens RV Park in Yuma, AZ. When we arrived, the temp was 110F, and I had to spray down the top and sides of The Bus with a garden hose three times to help her cool off. We are now in San Diego, where it’s 65F. That’s a 45 degree difference in temperature! Suzanne had to put on a fleece sweater tonight while walking the puppies. We have the windows open and a pleasant breeze is blowing. No air conditioner needed tonight.

On our walk around our Navy campground, we met Anthony Netto, a paraplegic in a motorized wheelchair that he designed to help Wounded Warriors like himself get outside and learn how to play golf, shoot skeet and bat baseballs. His Stand Up and Play Foundation is based in Washington, DC, but Anthony is on the road in an RV with two ParaGolfer/Paramobile wheelchairs teaching wounded soldiers and Marines returned from Afghanistan and Iraq how to become more mobile, build their confidence and achieve greater freedom and independence. See www.standupandplay.org for more info.

Okay, here’s a pop quiz for you: what city/town in the USA was the site of the last invasion of the United States by soldiers of a European power? Here are a few hints: it has no residents, a pyramid, one church on a hill, was the center of the Jackass Mail route, calls itself The Center of the World, was one of General George Patton’s training areas in WWII, is the site of a monument to French aviation, has an original section of the staircase from the Eifel Tower, and has a sundial with the pointer being a bronze sculpture of God’s arm from Michaelangelo’s Sistine Chapel fresco. If you said, Felicity, California, you win today’s quiz. If you didn’t know the answer, please go to their web site for more information than I can provide here.  www.felicityusa.com   You will be amazed! And if you’re driving between Yuma, AZ, and San Diego, CA, please stop in.

We drove west with the Mexican border and the fence only a mile or so south of us. We encountered several checkpoints; one for agriculture and two for immigration/drug interdiction. If you ever think these checkpoints are a waste of time, please think again. Here are the statistics at this Border Patrol checkpoint in 2011: 843 immigration arrests; 589 criminal arrests; 7,500 pounds of drugs seized, 20 DUI’s arrested. Keep up the good work, guys! 

The highway in southwestern Arizona passes through landscapes that reminded Suzanne of the moon. It’s inhospitable territory in the summer, very hot and dry. It's not completely uninhabited, though, as this sign at a rest stop proves. We decided not to go looking for the critters. Besides, it was over 100F when we stopped.  We had to carry Rudy and Gretchen to what little shaded areas there were so they wouldn't burn their paws while doing their duty.

We had lunch today (delicious shredded beef, beans and cheese burritos) at The Lazy Lizard Saloon in Ocotillo, California. It’s in the heart of the Imperial Valley, west of El Centro. There were only two places to eat in Ocotillo; the other was the Old Highway Cafe.The entire town is 4 blocks by 3 blocks, and the two hundred or so residents are retirees or workers at nearby Plaster City, where US Gypsum mines that mineral and manufactures sheetrock. With construction down across the US, and especially in California and Arizona, employment at the sheetrock factory is down from 400 to 100. Here is Suzanne outside the Saloon (no, we didn’t have any beer there, only a diet soda and water; we still had many miles to drive). 

It was a long, steep, hot climb from below sea level at El Centro in the Imperial Valley to the 4,180 foot summit east of Alpine, CA. The Bus’ engine coolant temperature was in the red zone, but after cresting, we had a 13 mile 6% downhill grade into San Diego. After the dry, dusty, deserted desert between Tucson and Yuma, it was a nice change to pull into San Diego. After we parked, Suzanne took the pups out and sweetly said, “I’m hoping you’ll have a glass of wine ready when I return.” Well, I confess that I got involved with some project...  when she opened the door, looked into my blank face and saw my empty hands, she said, “Okay, we’ll try this again”, and went back outside. I knew I was in “Deep Kimchee”, as they say in South Korea. I quickly recovered and had a nice glass of cabernet ready for her when she returned. Whew, that was close.