California, Here We Come!

(Southwestern states have these checkpoints, where Border Patrol look into vehicles to ensure drivers are not carrying illegal immigrants, drugs or firearms.  The process is quick and painless.)

While chatting up one of our neighbours at the park, Marc (my social butterfly) learned, much to our surprise, that California is actually only 20 miles away. Trust me when I say that within
half an hour, we were on our way to Cali!

The nearby city we drove to is Blythe, and it is probably about the size of Arnprior, with real grocery stores and even a Starbucks and a Ford dealership! We were like kids in a candy store. We shopped for produce and pharmaceutical items, then enjoyed a scrumptious lunch at a great Chinese restaurant! It was heaven! Oh, and we booked an oil change at Ford's (we needed a reason to return next week!).

On the way back to Quartzsite, we encountered a sand storm.  (Above picture is not out of focus.)  This was a first for us, but we quickly learned to keep our mouth shut and to squint our eyes when running from the car to the RV!  The storm lasted about an hour, and could certainly rival any snowstorm we've ever seen in intensity.