October 30th, 2026
I left Cattail Cove State Park, on Lake Havasu, and made the drive to Yuma this morning. I am now set up at Imperial Dam LTVA. I found that my site from the spring of 2025 is open, so unhitched there and prepared for a 5 month stay.
Fortunately, the Bureau of Land Management has not yet increased the season price, so I paid $180 to stay until as far as April 15th. I am not sure I can stand to be in the desert that long. It usually starts to warm up around mid-March. The $180 gets me a spot to camp, garbage disposal, the dump station, fresh water, and wild burros. I am near the lakes, ponds, and lagoons formed by the Colorado River as it flows into Imperial Valley.
I am high on a flat, so should not have to worry much about a flash flood. I have managed to stay just ahead of flash floods all across northern New Mexico, Utah, and northern Arizona. I was under a tornado watch will near Grand Canyon Village and the little town of Tusayan. That hasn’t happened there in 16 years. While there were a few close lightning strikes, I weathered everything fine. At Cattail Cove, I was able to clean up the residual red mud that I picked up at Valley of the Gods and Monument Valley. Several of the highways and bridges that I traveled were covered by floods and closed a within day or two after I passed. Luck! I picked up supplies, ran some laundry, and got a haircut in Lake Havasu City. Now I am all ready to hunker down for the winter.
I have things to do here. I’m close to a city, so can catch an occasional movie, should there be a good one. There a many decent places to dine about 15 miles away. I have a puzzle I have not completed. There are several good books I have queued up, if I can keep from dozing while reading. I will get back into my daily walking/hiking routine once the nights are cool enough to discourage snakes and tarantulas. Perhaps I will meet some like minded fellow campers with which to converse. That is sometimes a little difficult now, as the lack of much talking seems to lead to a rough voice when I do try to speak. I also have a dozen or see TV channels here, though I think a good number of them have a political or religious theme. And, I have reserved airline tickets from Phoenix back to the Midwest to see my mother and sisters at the holidays. Best of all, I have a trip to Alaska planned for June, something for which to look forward.
“Somewhere a place you have never been is quietly waiting to become your favorite.”
