Glamis Day Two (Thursday, October 26th, 2017)

We heard several UTVs running around during the night, but other than that it was pretty quiet. We are expecting everyone to start showing up at some point today, so we decided to head to 'town' early and check things out.  Camp RZR and all of the vendors were busy setting up. 

And some of them have pretty sophisticated setups.

Our main reason for going into town was that before we left for our Topock ride a couple of days ago, our check engine light on the RZR came on briefly, and Steve heard that they have free service here at Camp RZR, so he wanted to get it checked out. 

When we got to town there were about seven cars in line ahead of us. So we jumped in line to see if they would run diagnostics for us. It was about 10:15 when we jumped in line and they were supposed to open at 11:00. We thought a 45 minute wait would definitely be worth it for our peace of mind.

They opened as expected at 11:00 and started talking to the first people in line to see what their issues were.

They took the first cars in and told the rest of us to wait, we would be in the next group. So we all waited patiently for our turn.  It didn't take long until they asked us to pull in front of a bay.  They asked what our problem was, and we told the about our check engine light.  

They have a nice tent set up as their service area.

With all the tools they could possibly need.  Look at the size of this jack!

At first the guy came out and hooked up the diagnostics equipment out in the sun, but quickly realized that he couldn't see the screen at all and pulled us into a bay. Steve was using the hood to try and shield the computer screen so he could see it.

The reading came back as a low voltage reading, so they think Steve just had too much electrical stuff turned on at once. They said it was nothing to worry about and told us to come back and see them if it happened again. They said that they never see people come in at Camp RZR trying to prevent a problem. Everyone waits till it's too late and damage has happened!

When we were done with our diagnostics we headed over to the Rugged Radio tent to meet Ethan, a Rep that Steve has worked with in the past that we knew was going to be here. It's always nice to put a face with a name. Then we headed back to camp.

Within about 10 minutes of getting back to camp the first people in our group showed up. Raul and Diane are from California and had two of their grand kids with them. They got all set up and then after lunch we all decided to go for a ride. 

You never want to ride the Imperial Sand Dunes alone because they are huge, and if anything goes wrong, you need someone there to help you out. So off we went together for our first ride in the dunes. 



We have only been to Glamis one other time so riding the dunes is new to us and very different than riding in the desert.  The pictures I take of the dunes don't do them justice.  They are big and intimidating.

I almost missed the next picture, but I still like it.  Raul was leading us up a steep little hill.

Our first stop with Raul and Diane was Oldsmobile Hill one of the big hills between the train tracks and Osborne Overlook. We stopped here and watched several cars maneuver up the hill.  It wasn't crowded yet, but it will be packed later in the weekend.

As we were sitting here a big group of Rangers assembled at the hill they must be expecting a lot of action this weekend. 

Then we got back in our cars and headed up Oldsmobile Hill ourselves.  It's a long climb, but the wide part of the hill isn't that steep.  It's an easy climb for our RZR.

Then we headed over toward Osborne Overlook. The dunes by Osborne Overlook are much bigger and trickier to navigate than the dunes by camp, but Steve was driving them very well.  

As we came up on one of be hills Steve stopped and put the car in high. He said it felt weird and he was having trouble keeping up with Raul. We took off again and came over the crest of the hill. The back wheels of the car caught in the sand and we started to roll. It all happened in slow motion, to the point that it's hard to understand what was happening.  Our four point harnesses held us good and tight.  We weren't going anywhere.  When we stopped, we were on my side of the car, with Steve hanging above.  I slowly undid my harness and crawled out the front window, then Steve did the same.

This is exactly why you always ride in a group.  We waited about five minutes, and sure enough, here came Raul and Diane back to us.  He hooked onto us with his tow rope and very easily pulled us back to all fours.  Then he had to give us a little tug to get our tires unstuck.

 We couldn't see any visible damage to the car but noticed a lot of grease on our back axle which indicated we had a broken rear axle.  Raul took us the easiest way he could find out of the dunes, and left us at the service tent in town.

Steve went in the tent to check in and the girl gave him his paperwork and said it would be about four hours. We decided that  we really needed to wait it out so we took our place in line.  While we waited, Steve decided to do a little sand removal.  It was everywhere!




Within about  fifteen minutes one of the guys from this morning noticed us an said, "You're those really nice people from this morning, did you get another engine code?" We told them about our tumble and they immediately took us into bay two to look at it. They said from the looks of all the grease they think the axle broke before our roll and we just didn't know it. They got us a new axle and installed it on the spot free of charge in about 30 minutes. It was crazy!  That was amazing!

 Thank you Camp RZR for the axle!  You saved our weekend!

Then we headed back to camp and everyone else in our group started arriving. Most of our evening was spent getting everyone settled in and getting to know the people who were new to us. 

Sheila and Jen joined me for some girl time in our motor home after dinner then we called it a night.

A huge thank you to Raul and Diane for their help today.  It was a great dune tour!  And we really appreciated their help out there! They are the best!  

Leaving for Glamis and Camp RZR (Wednesday, October 25th, 2017)

We have been so busy lately that we haven't really had time to prepare for our trip to Glamis. So this morning we got up early and finished off our preparations. We got on the road by about 10:15 and headed out. We always enjoy the drive through southern Arizona because there is a lot of farmland that kind of reminds us of Colorado. There are a lot of alfalfa fields in this area, but there is also something else that we couldn't identify from the road so we stopped for a closer look.

We weren't aware that they grow cotton in Arizona, but that sure is what it looks like.  Who knew?

We ate our lunch on the road and found ourselves in Glamis in the early afternoon. It is such an easy drive, except for the stop at the Flying J on the I-10 just before we cross in California. We usually love Flying J gas stations, but this one is the exception.  It is always a zoo (because it is the last station in Arizona before crossing over into California where gas is at least 65 cents more per gallon), our credit card never works at the pump, and when we go inside to use our credit card they are always very rude and make us tell them the exact amount of gas we want. "We want to fill it up" is not a reasonable answer at that gas station.  And there are only three pumps for RVs, and all of them were occupied with unattended cars. Ugh. I guess that we are the only people in the world that fill up and then pull away from the pump before we use the restrooms and buy snacks. OK, enough of my rant. Everything else today has been perfect.

It's always fun to get our first glimpse of the dunes as we approach them on highway 78.

And of course, there is the 'town'.

We told our friends that we would turn at the railroad tracks and find something a short drive out from town.  



We ended up at wash 10 3/4.  We found the perfect spot, and hopefully will be able to save room for everyone else. It won't be a huge group, so hopefully we can pull it off easily. We really don't know what to expect in terms of crowds, so I guess we'll just have to wait and see.

We got camp set up and put up a few awnings to try and hold some spots.  It seems silly now because it is so quiet, but from what we hear, it won't be quiet for long.  As we pulled into camp it was hot, so we chose a spot with a big Palo Verde tree for it's shade.

Then went for a nice little ride, and as you can see, it is very quiet on our ride too.  We don't ride in the dunes alone, so our ride today just consisted of the area around camp.

Then we sat in the shade of our big Palo Verde tree and just enjoyed the afternoon. It was quiet with the exception of a few UTVs driving by, a train going by on the tracks periodically and the sound of airplanes overhead.  

It was a hot afternoon. Steve saw 99 on his phone while we were trying to get settled, and now it is 5:10 and the temperature is still 95. It's been an October heat wave this year! Hopefully it will cool down enough to sleep tonight.

There is an Air Force base nearby, and we keep seeing all kinds of interesting things fly by. First was an osprey with its forward facing propellers, then a refueler very close to us and then three planes flying in formation. I finally have my camera out, so hopefully I can get some pictures for you.

As we sat around our camp tonight, there was a simple, yet pretty sunset, and RVs are starting to fill in around us.  

At 7:30, it  is still pretty warm inside the motor home, but the temperature outside is perfect. Steve's phone says it is 83 degrees in Winterhaven which is the nearest town. We are now sitting here with no lights around us and a simple grass mat under our feet, looking up at the night sky with all the stars and the subtle glow of the milky way.  Now this is what I call perfection!