December 4, 2009 – Yuma to Temecula, CA

Well, it had to happen; we finally tore ourselves away from the comfortable arms of Yuma and headed back to California. It was kind of hard to do. The paw-dragging was so evident that we didn’t get underway until well after the normal check-out time of eleven AM. We really did enjoy this place, finding something new and different to do every day, and revisiting places that we had previously enjoyed. But we finally hooked up the truck and cranked up the diesel, heading down Highway 8 toward California. We intended to have a brief fuel stop at a Love’s in Yuma, but it turned into something else. The truck area was a madhouse, filled with truckers topping off before getting into the more highly taxed fueling stops in California. We sat behind a 18 wheeler for about 15 minutes, with no action seen in their fueling. Geri finally went to investigate, and found that the driver had been in the payment line for nearly a half hour, waiting for his check to clear. This prompted Geri to head for the payment line pronto, and she was near the head of the line when Don saw a chance to move to an empty pump next to the line he was in. Geri saw the switch, got the credit card approved, and we were pumping, finally. On the road for real at noon.

We sped past the sand dunes where old Highway 80 had used a road built of wooden planks to provide a roadbed, unfortunately wide enough only for one vehicle. If you encountered a car going the other way, the one closest to a widened turnout section had to back up to allow passage for the other vehicle. I understand there were disputes involved. We ran alongside the All American Canal for part of the way to El Centro. This is a big canal. It looks like it carries more water than the Colorado does at Yuma. The end result of this water shows up in the massive produce fields around El Centro and throughout the Imperial Valley. Gotta interrupt and say hi to our friend and neighbor Joe, husband of Temptress Debbie, whose home town is here in El Centro. We understand why you love Ventura, Joe. We headed up into the mountains that separate the Imperial Valley from the coastal area. These are some of the most spectacular hills we have ever seen, they look like gigantic rock piles that had been assembled by a race of monsters who amused themselves just by piling rocks on top of rocks. Huge boulders! Don said that he wanted to study geology just to find out how these hills came into being. We made a stop at a rest area on the downhill slope, which I kind of needed for a number of reasons. I met a guy who was on his way to Memphis; Don told him that I loved Tennessee, and would be happy to travel with him, and he and Geri started to walk back to the rig. I didn’t panic, but I thought it wise to leave the guy and follow them back to the coach.

We wound down the hill to the San Diego area, encountering increasing traffic as we went. When we hit Highway 15, we headed north through Los Angeles style traffic and suburban areas that weren’t here the last time we came through. We pulled into the Pechanga RV Resort in Temecula, a lovely spot with lots of grass at each site, which I’m sure I will enjoy. Don got the rig set up and fixed some pasta, resulting in great plates for me. We decided to hang out in the rig tonight, do our exploring tomorrow. Hope you have a good night, too!