INDIO, CA TO YUMA, AZ

 Lots of agriculture in the Coachella Valley north of the Salton Sea.

 

With only about a 3 hour drive ahead of us, we weren't in any big hurry to leave the Indio Fairgrounds yesterday morning.  We said so long to Barb & Tom Westerfield, and Judy & Luke Rinehimer, the only members from our Golden Spike Chapter who hadn't already hit the road.  By the time I took care of the dump station duties, it was around 10am when we pulled out onto Hwy 111, with Nancy following behind.

Rather than take the 4 laned Hwy 86 expressway around the west side of the Salton Sea, I took the less traveled 2 laned Hwy 111 down the east side of this huge lake.  If you're interested in the history of this latest evolution of the largest lake in CA, click on the link above, and you'll discover some interesting facts about how in 1905, much of the entire flow of the Colorado River created what is now a 15 mile wide by 35 mile long lake. The story of how the Colorado River was diverted into the Salton Sink, has to go down as one of the biggest engineering disasters in modern history.

 A CA. State Park occupies 14 miles of the eastern lakefront, but that's about it, other than Hwy 111, and the Union Pacific Railroad.

The new Hwy 86 expressway bypasses the towns of Brawley, and El Centro, but I stayed on the old Hwy 86 through both towns, kind of like a stroll down memory lane.  I first started traveling this route to Yuma, back in 1981, when the Harley was the method of transportation, and the destination was the annual Yuma Prison Run. 
  

 And, more agriculture in the Imperial Valley, south of the Salton Sea.

 The entire Imperial Valley is below sea level, as indicated on the Spreckels Sugar processing plant.

When we crossed the Colorado River at Yuma on I8, we were back on Mountain Standard Time, and my watch was once again correct, as we lost an hour.  After a fuel stop at Love's, we continued E/B on I8 to Fortuna Rd., where the Western Sands RV Park was only a short distance from the exit.  After we got settled, our first dinner out in Yuma was at the Cracker Barrel.  The girls had the Tuesday special of trout, and I had the roast beef dinner.  If I had any criticism of Cracker Barrel, it would be only that I could eat a lot more.  I've always found the food to be good, reasonably priced, and the service is usually excellent.  We'll be here in Yuma for a week, and the agenda today is to follow Nancy to La Mesa RV, where she has a service appointment for her motor home this morning.