Borrego Springs

 

Last Friday Max and I had to move from our Olgiby road boondocking location due to work that was scheduled for the railroad crossing. They are repairing the crossing and it will be closed for a few weeks. We did not want to get cut off so we moved a few days early to Borrego Springs. After a quick stop to dump the tanks we headed north.

It was about 140 miles and it was getting hot, into the mid nineties. We went directly to the state park campground to fill our water tank up. It costs us $8.00 for a day use permit which is not too bad. We filled up our 100 gallons of fresh water then drove 7 miles east of town. There is a large section BLM land where many people boondock.

We found a location close to the road to help with getting an internet connection. The closer you get to the mountains the worse it gets.  We are still trying to figure out which way to position the rig. We sit outside most of the time and hate having the afternoon and evening sun hitting under our awning and front door. So we usually put the door east which also puts the solar panel pointing to the south. The downside of this is that it puts our refrigerator on the west side which gets all the afternoon heat making it work harder to keep cool. I could put the door to the south but then I would have to get up and tilt the panels. I really hate getting on the roof so I try to avoid that option.

Here is our site from a distance

Then looking from our porch.

We have not had time to enjoy the area or the spot as yet due to the high winds that started Friday night. 30 to 35 mph sustained winds with gusts up to 50. It will calm down for an hour or so in the morning and then start up again. I put out our vinyl mat and staked it down only to have it blow away.  During a calm period I put it back out only to have it blow away again. Fool me once….

Here is a pic of the dust and sand blowing.

In a wind this strong we will usually bring in the slides of the side that the wind is coming from. This is mainly to protect our slide top awnings. This means that if it is coming from the bedroom slide side I have to close Max inside the bedroom so she can have the bed and then I will sleep in the recliner or on the floor. If it is really bad then I bring in all the slides and I try to sleep by the front door so I can still access the slide controls. I really need a slide remote control. Then I could just close us in the bedroom and we could sleep. We new when we bought the rig that it would not be very accessible when all closed up. But hey, we only have had to do this twice in the three years we have been on the road.

This morning around 4am it seemed calm enough to open the kitchen slide, then it got really windy so I brought it back in. The slide came in okay but the slide awning was caught in the wind and did not roll up. The slide closed but the awning was like a big sail flapping wildly. I opened the slide and went out to check the awning and it was a mess.

Nothing tore, but it had slid down the length of the roller and was all bound up. I could not bring the slide back in. It was going to have to wait until daylight so I could see what needed to be done. Luckily around 6 am the wind just stopped. I was able to go out and climb up the ladder to unwind the awning all the way and reposition it.  We were lucky that it did not tear.

Hopefully the windy days are behind us. The forecast says that it will be breezy today but calming tonight. I hope so, we could really use a good nights sleep. Tomorrow we plan on taking a bike ride to check out the Salton Sea, and with the temps cooling on Tuesday and Wednesday there are some hikes we want to do. With a cooperating wind of course!

Enjoy Your Day!