A Solution for Windy Camping Conditions and T'Dubing to a Nearby Mining Hill

 Wednesday, February 15

Well, we survived the "high wind advisory" conditions from yesterday.

Today, there were still winds but much milder and without dust storms.  It was chilly wind though, even with the sun shining down through clear skies.

I broke out the shade I'd bought that connects to my RV's awning but gave up on that effort as the winds rattled the awning once I started deploying it.

It was while debating whether to attach it to the RV to act as a windbreak by itself that Chris Z. remembered they had a pop-up gazebo!

In minutes, he had dug it out of deep storage and we were deploying it on the leeward side of the VRRV, which was the right side rear corner of the motorhome.

We were all amazed, once sitting inside the gazebo, how effective it was in blocking the wind using the optional solid material panels which are secured to the outside of three of the six sections which compose the gazebo.

We also all wished that this gazebo had been remembered and deployed earlier in our trips, say at the Indian Bread BLM area for instance.  Oh well.

Local desert Flamingos came visiting.

We spent the rest of the day, lounging in warm comfort, within the gazebo.  It was great, the blowing winds were blocked and I even spent some time lounging in a t-shirt and shorts!

Thursday, February 16

A milder day today in terms of winds but more time in the morning sitting within the gazebo made the winds moot.

I rode Yagi, my TW200 Dual Sport to a nearby hill with what looked like a trail to the top and some old mining wood structures.

I walked up the trail, no way I could have managed to ride what was horrendously rutted conditions filled with large loose rocks and gravel!

Above you can see the end of the trail leading to the top.  I elected not to scramble up the boulders to the very top.  

Here's some of the views from the top and on the way back down the trail:

Can you spot our rigs?

Some kind of mineral/rock processing plant?

One of two similar mining structures on this hill.

As I returned to camp, I stopped for this picture of our rigs at the campsite:

The rest of the day we spent either doing chores or resting in the gazebo.  We go into Yuma tomorrow to retrieve USPS/Amazon packages and other chores.