Drivers, Start Your Engines at the Camping World 500 Nascar Cup Race!

My parents, in their infinite wisdom, decided the best way to spend a sweltering 92 degree Sunday was viewing Turn 4 at Phoenix International Raceway for the Camping World 500 Nascar Cup Race.   Another trip that required us to arise before dawn and do a 2+ hour drive.  While I’m not really a “morning person” (I’m more nocturnal like my Mom), hitting the road early allowed me to view another spectacular sunrise.

I know you must be wondering why in the name of Swiss cheese would we leave so early when the race doesn’t start until 12:30 p.m.?  The answer, my friends, is crazy Nascar fans.  Yep, by the time we arrived at 8 a.m., the first free parking lot was nearly filled, the beers were already being guzzled, the brats were already being barbecued, and the bean bag (a.k.a. cornhole) tournaments were already underway.  Although I have attended truck races and NHRA drag races, this was my first Nascar race, so I didn’t realize the extent of the tailgating extravaganzas!  I sure learned fast.  These people transport stereos, tents, picnic tables, coolers, and grills (not the small table top or hibachi types, but the big-ass, multi-racked, huge surface grills complete with Nascar branding irons!).

After socializing with neighbors in the parking lot (they even let me play a round of cornhole), we headed over to Zoomtown, about a mile away, where they had all sorts of promotional and marketing activities going on.  For example, Camping World had a mini RV Show.  Chick-fil-A had mini stuffed toy cows and calendar give-a-ways.  I won a gift card for a free breakfast sandwich and got my picture taken with the giant Chick-fil-A blowup cow!   

Me and the Chick-Fil-A BlowUp

After renting our cushioned back “chairs”, we headed to our bleacher seats on Turn 4.   I noticed concessions at Nascar were cheaper than at the Spring Training game we attended recently.  For example, foot long hot dogs were only $10 here (instead of $12), mixed cocktails only $9 (instead of game day’s $12).  I also observed that EVERYONE has tattoos!  Doesn’t matter age, ethnicity, gender, occupation, or social standing, almost everyone I looked at had at least one tat (most had multiple).  It is amazing how mainstream they have become.  I think it’s about time I get one, too.  I’ll run that by my folks and let you know how my plan for a Rat Tat works out.

The opening ceremonies started at 11:45 a.m., and I got to see all the top drivers ride by in Chevy trucks.  We stood for the invocation and a beautiful trumpet rendition of our National Anthem, followed by fireworks, and a flyover by two F-35s out of Luke Air Force Base.  Cool stuff. 

Drivers, start your engines!  Holy cow, the noise level was deafening, even with our ear protection!  Carole King sang, “I feel the earth move under my feet, I feel the sky tumbling down”.  While I don’t think she was referring to Nascar, the description surely fits.  My whole body reverberated every time the cars roared around the turn.  They call this the Camping World 500, but because it is a short track (only 1 mile long), the 500 refers to kilometers.

The view at Turn 4, which includes "The Hill" seating section.  People hauled those tents, chairs, and coolers from the free parking areas a mile or two away

Despite the sweltering heat, the place was packed!

Normally, I find Nascar a bit anti-climatic because everything before the last lap doesn’t matter.  I guess I’m not the only one to feel this way, since Nascar actually changed its format for 2017.   It now has multiple “stages” wherein championship points are awarded each stage, making it more competitive for drivers and more exciting for fans.     

I love Dale Earnhardt, Jr., but I also have a soft spot for Martin Truex, Jr., since he hails from New Jersey.  

Me with my favorite car and driver!

Unfortunately, neither Earnhardt or Truex finished within the top 10.  Ryan Newman actually came from behind, stealing the checkered flag from Kyle Busch, Kyle Larson, and Chase Elliott, who were in the top positions for most of the race.  And Busch’s repetitive response to reporters (who asked him not once, but 4 times about his relationship with Joey Logano) that “everything’s great” held true--no fights between the two drivers at this race!

Well, I’m tuckered out.  It’s been a long day.  Dad’s putting the generators on so Tabby and I can have air conditioning for a fitful night’s sleep again.  Talk to you soon!

Visiting Anza-Borrego Desert Park and the Sultan Sea Recreation Area in CA

The greater amounts of rain and cooler temperatures in these desert lands provided the perfect recipe for producing a banner year for wildflowers!  So we journeyed to Borrego Springs, CA to see the first “super bloom” Anza-Borrego Desert Park has experienced in decades.

It’s about a three-hour trip from our camping area in Q, so we got a VERY early start at 5 a.m.  As we traveled, I could see snow still covered the mountaintops outside Coachella.  Continuing on, groves of palm and citrus trees dotted the landscape, and the fragrance of citrus tickled my nose!  

We stopped at Saltan Sea Beach for some photo ops of the Saltan Sea.  The “town”, which consists of under 500 people and only about a ½ dozen dead-end streets, is a bit scary, with lots of graffiti and burned out abandoned buildings.  Mom and I snapped a few pics, inhaled a few whiffs of the salty air, and high-tailed it back to the truck.

        

We entered Anza-Borrego Desert Park from County Roads S2 and S22, portions of which are very poorly maintained.  Guess they strive for the roads to fit in with the surrounding badlands.  Fortunately, as we traveled on, the road conditions improved and so did the scenery, now sporting vegetation.  We learn there are tons of boondocking opportunities here, even for big rigs!  As California’s largest State Park, Anza-Borrego encompasses nearly 600,000 acres, of which 400,000 are back country and wild.  Needless to say, we saw only a glimpse of all it has to offer.  We met up with wonderful friends from Amazon, Rick and Janice, at the Visitor Center.  We began our park exploration by hiking three trails in the immediate area of the Visitor Center:  the All-access Nature Trail, the Campground Trail, and the Panoramic Overlook Trail.  The flowers were so gorgeous, hugging the creosotes, cacti, and other bushes like landscaped flower beds!

The real treat was seeing the “Sunflower Fields”.  Now bear in mind, they are not the tall, big-headed sunflowers we had in our backyard garden in NJ with the seeds that the squirrels and birds loved.  However, these smaller yellow wildflowers just made me beam with happiness!    The blooms were just prolific, dotting the desert floor like a yellow carpet!  I felt just like Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz when she gazed upon Emerald City for the first time!  Just breathtaking.  A prime example of The Creator's handiwork. The color scheme of the sunflowers, combined with lilies and other flora of white and purple hues, just exuded “Easter”.  How I yearned to pick a basket of flowers to make Mom a bonnet!  But I followed the directive of the Park Service, “leave only footprints, take only memories”.   Borrego is the Spanish translation for “big horn sheep”. Unfortunately, we didn’t see any of the 60 who supposedly reside in the Park.

We viewed the sculptures of Ricardo Breceda, whose metal art of insects, camels, elephants, dinosaurs, and even the Loch Ness monster, are so detailed in physical attributes and emotion that they appear likelike!  Big Boomer looked like a Volkswagon Beetle compared to the size of the scorpion/spider sculptures.

These creatures were so lifelike in size and detail, I was hiding behind Big Boomer for fear they would eat me!

The emotional and physical agony this creature is experiencing is felt by all who view it.

We head into Borrego Springs, a quaint, art-centric little hub, with Christmas Circle Park in the center of town—literally.  Located in a traffic roundabout, it is a favorite spot for folks to chill, lounge on blankets, sunbathe, or enjoy an iced tea in the shade.  The town hosts only about ½ dozen restaurants/cafes, and they were all bustling from the inordinate number of weekday visitors.  We decided on Carlee’s, which has something for everyone’s taste.  Unfortunately, the wait time was over an hour.  A Borrego Springs native recommended the Red Ocotillo Café as an alternative.  With just a 20 minute wait time, we said what the heck.  The Café is small, with shabby chic décor and unassuming exterior, not to mention no indoor bathrooms (portables outside).  Needless to say, we didn’t expect much.  But we were all pleasantly surprised with the food and the service.  Dad’s Cobb salad was a “hefty man's portion” packed with chicken, avocado, and blue cheese (good thing Janice chose the ½ size serving).  Mom and I had the French dip sandwich, with medium rare beef (just the way we like it) on a sourdough roll and a side of mixed greens tossed with tomatoes, red onion, cucumber and Kalamata olives.  Rick was was quite satisfied with the taste and size of his Reuben as well.  Our server Sherry did an outstanding job, in spite of how busy she was.

My French Dip platter

Time to part ways with the Binns.  We wished them well on their upcoming trek north to Alaska (I asked if I could stow away in their storage compartment, but they declined politely).

We headed to the California 111 for the Sultan Sea Recreation Area.  The 111 takes you through farmlands with cattle and crops.  The odor of manure hung in the air and stung my nostrils.  Luckily the irrigated farms were a favorite hangout of assorted waterfowl, making the stench a minor annoyance to witnessing such a wonderful sight.     

 

We opted to stay on the 111 to visit various locations of the Sultan Sea Recreation Area to evaluate boondocking opportunities, foregoing a visit to The Slabs outside Niland (especially after seeing what Sultan Sea Beach looked like.)  For those of you unfamiliar, The Slabs or Slab City refers to the concrete building pads that are the remains of Marine Corp Training Camp Dunlap, built in 1942 and dismantled in 1956.  Slab City is a haven for squatters and nontraditional snowbirds. Inhabitants tend to be unconventional, minimalistic, artsy types (a visit to East Jesus or Salvation Mountain will attest to this), reminiscent of hippies with Scooby Doo vans.   They take “living off the grid” to the extreme, and are even quirkier than my own parents (who qualify as pretty weird for  traveling in their house on wheels with goldfish, a cat, and me, a stuffed rat who writes a blog!)

Views of the Sultan Sea along California 111

We passed the International Banana Museum, which bills itself the “most aPEELing destination on the planet.”  Apparently, it is everything bananas.    From harmonicas, pillows, ceramics—everything resembles a banana.  Most appealing to me is that it has a banana bar:  Splits, shakes, and smoothies.  I was drooling just reading about it.  I convinced Mom and Dad to let me visit, only to find it was closed.  Talk about disappointment.  They promised me we would visit next year.  PLEASE hound them for me so they actually do it.  I’ll just go bananas if I don’t get to the Banana Museum.

We arrived home to one hot and bothered Tabby.  Dad indulged her with running the air conditioner for several hours.

Oh well, time for me to say goodbye for now.  Speak to you again soon!

Surprise! Reunions, Ball Games, and More

Hi, everyone.  I fired Dad, so I am back to writing my blog myself.

First off, hope all our friends and family in New York and New Jersey stay warm, dry, and safe with the predicted Nor’easter snowstorm.  Guess those pesky groundhogs knew what they were talking about this year—it’s been a long, cold winter for y’all.

Not to rub salt in a wound, but we are experiencing some awesome weather here in southwestern Arizona. Temps in high 80s to low 90s, but nice little breezes to keep us cool and dry.  Just perfect for taking in a Spring Training game between the Texas Rangers and Chicago White Sox in Surprise, Arizona. Nice little stadium, not a bad seat in the house.  I didn’t catch any balls, but at least the Rangers won.

After the game we reunited with friends Jerry and Jack, a terrific, funny couple who worked with my parents in Amazon in 2015 in Haslet.  We shared a bite to eat and a beer at the tiki bar and just had a blast catching up with them.

We also received the grand tour of Sunflower Resort from them, where they are work-camping for the season.  Let me tell you, this is one top-notch place!  Tennis, horseshoes, shuffleboard, pickleball, swimming, woodcarving, Zumba, yoga, line dancing, Texas Hold ’Em, painting, nightly musical entertainment—you name the activity, they’ve got it going on.  All in a beautifully-landscaped setting, with the fragrance of citrus trees permeating the air.  I felt like I was at an exotic destination instead of in the suburbs of Phoenix!  (My photos just don't do it justice).  I guess this is why they can command $1,000+ per month for this 55+ community!  A true resort, unlike those places in Quartzsite that call themselves “resorts” but in reality are just parking lots with electrical hookups.  

Alas, time to say goodbye to the Pierces.  As we guided Big Boomer out of the Sunflower complex following our GPS directions, Mom realized we were less than 5 miles from Roberts Pueblo El Mirage Resort, where friends Marie and Bob (whom we met at Crazy Horse Memorial) are work-camping.  We gave them a call to see if they were available.  We so enjoyed our impromptu visit with Marie and Bob and our tour of yet another lovely resort, this one with a golf course included in its long list of amenities!  And listen to this coincidence:  Bob and Marie have friends staying at one of the 1,200 sites within Sunflower Resort, and those friends just happen to be neighbors of Jerry and Jack--yep, parked right next door.  It’s a small world sometimes within our RVing community.    

We caught up again with friends Curtis and Stephanie from our Montana Owners Club in Los Algodones (Mexico).  We ate a less than desirable breakfast at El Paraiso’s and did a little shopping.   Our only purchase was 4 tubes of Volfenac analgesic cream.  (For those of you unfamiliar, Volfenac, which is only available in the U.S. by prescription, is the absolute best non-steriodal anti-inflamatory for relieving joint and muscle pain.  And no stinky smell to it!  All for the low price of $1.95 per tub at the Purple Pharmacy).  We said our good-byes to the Matthews, making plans for them to come for dinner when they headed back through Quartzsite.

Since we were out and about anyway, we decided to tour a BLM long-term visitor area located outside Holtsville, California called Hot Springs.  It could be a viable alternate place to stay because like the Imperial Dam area in Yuma and our LaPosa areas in Quartzsite, it is covered under the same $180 seasonal pass.  It was just 30 miles away in California as we exited Los Algodones, or so we thought.  It turned out the exits we needed to take off Interstate 8 were closed down due to construction!  We took some backroads and detours and arrived at our destination to find it didn’t quite meet our boondocking requirements.  It is a much smaller BLM area than anywhere offered in Quartzsite.  Its close proximity to the Interstate, power plants, and phone/power lines doesn’t offer the remoteness or “backyard views” we prefer, although there are some highly-vegetated areas where you can tuck in for privacy from other RVs (though not from the less than aesthetic power plants/lines).  Additionally, there is no water or dump station on site.  Those amenities are available through private enterprises about 15 miles away.  The hot springs were nothing of the caliber we’ve experienced previously (especially in Canada).  They consisted of a concrete pad with two small pools and a fountain from which folks were filling up water bottles.  Not very appealing to me.  I think the ducks got the better deal for the hot springs.   Rambling RV Rat’s assessment:  not bad for a short visit (maybe a week max) to be closer to California/Mexico activities, but not somewhere I would stay long term.

Where the ducks enjoyed the Springs.  Much nicer than what the humans got to use.

Power/phone lines are not the "backyard views" we like when boondocking.

We then visited the Imperial Sand Dunes Recreation Area.  We were enthralled by the dune buggies climbing the massive hills of sand.  Some of these hills are said to be 300 feet high!  Very cool stuff.

When we returned to the highway, we were entertained by a private little custom car show as several “classics” drove by Big Boomer. As we traveled through Yuma on our return to Quartzsite, I was intrigued by the farm workers installing irrigation systems.  And as we passed the many fields, the pungent scent of freshly cut cauliflower tickled my nose.  It was a long, but truly wonderful day.

More surprise reunions for us! Friends Susan and Rodger (our campground neighbors when working at Amazon these last two years) contacted us to say they will be in the Quartzsite area for a few days. They have been work-camping for 10 years doing a variety of jobs (from Beet Harvest to gate guarding to Amazon to working at the ball games in Surprise), and they are just a wealth of knowledge to us.   Their timing worked out well.  They joined Curtis and Stephanie for dinner at our place—sharing the very last of our Alaskan salmon and halibut. (Me thinks it is time for another trek North to Alaska!)  

We joined fellow RV Dreamers Nathalie and Brock for a Happy Hour at Steve and Dianne’s on Thursday.  This was our farewell to them—they are heading back to Vancouver today.  We wish Steve and Dianne safe travels and look forward to seeing them next year.

Time for me to say goodbye to you, too—at least for today.  I want to chow down on Mom’s Nacho Skillet Dinner before Dad gets to it.  Then early to bed for me. My parents want to hit the road by 5 a.m. tomorrow for our day trip to Anza-Borrego Springs.

Talk to you again soon!