Imperial Dam LTVA

I've been having some computer/phone/Internet issues the last week or two, but I think I finally have things back to normal.  I got a new phone, then found out Verizon blocked my ability to use it as a hotpspot using FoxFi and it was a pain to always have it connected by a USB cord (and that didn't always get me connected).  So I bought another one and returned the first phone.  Now everything works again.  I loved my 3G phone and knew it inside and out, but the hardware just didn't talk to the upgraded software anymore so....   I really had no choice.  Now I'm super glad to have this nice new 4G phone!  It has a little bigger face, too, so it's easier to do things with just the phone. 

Christmas was quiet, but I made a nice breakfast for myself:

Man, was it good!  Two large eggs scrambled with cheese on top, a whole avocado mashed with lemon and salt/pepper, sour cream and catsup.  Ummmm!  And a toasted Chibatta roll with lots of butter and apricot jam.  I ate every single bit, too. 

Then Katie and I went out for a walk.  We walked down across the road to the water, then back to the road and down a ways to the canal.  I don't know what part of "Imperial Dam" this is, but it looks like a dam.  Pretty with the palm trees and mountains.

I'm finding it hard to push Katie's stroller on the rocky and/or rough roadways, so I think if I'm going to get any real walking in, I'm going to leave Katie home and put on my MP3 player full of audio books and take off by myself.  I hate to leave her, because she loves to come along, but I think 2015 is going to be the year of walking alone for me.  At least while we're in the desert.  As long as I have an audio book or walking music to listen to, it'll be enjoyable and good exercise.

Here are some shots of the areas by us.  These are across Senator Wash, the road in front of us.  Here's the water:

And right to the left of it is this beautiful field.

That's the view out the dinette windows.  Here's our site at the edge of the campground.

The edge is slowly falling down and right before I got here the Rangers (or someone working for the BLM) brought a bunch of rock and filled in some of the edges of the slides.  That concrete pad is the largest one left from a small community that lived here when Imperial Diverson Dam was built between 1936 and 1938. Families lived on this land while employed to build the dam, and this one was apparently where the hospital was, and there were little houses all over this area up here.  Every so often you can spot a water pipe right below the dirt.  There must be a whole bunch of pipes and "whatever" under the ground here.

It seems like each year when I come there is a little less area to camp overlooking the road and water.  This isn't the prettiest campsite I've had, but I sure do like my view.

Here are a couple of my neighbors:

See how his coloring blends into the rocks?  (These are the rocks used to "fill" in the areas where the slides are taking place.)

Cute little critters!

We drove to Yuma to do some shopping yesterday and on our way back, past the military base, look what turned out of their driveway and came toward us, a big tank:

From me and Katie, have a great Tuesday, everyone!  :)