Saturday – March 19, 2016
Anniversary
Yuma, Arizona
This is our special day of the year. We are celebrating our 37th
wedding anniversary. There was an immediate, mutual attraction, 40 years ago,
when we met one another for the first time at the Union Train Station in Chicago
on Thanksgiving Day 1975. We feel so fortunate that we have enjoyed an enduring,
loving relationship that continues to grow stronger, as we continue on our
magnificent journey through life together.
We had a marvelous dinner at Jack & Rosie’s Steakhouse, 1551 W. 5th
Street, Yuma, Arizona. We discovered this restaurant while searching for a steak
restaurant in Yuma, using the YELP app on our smartphone. It received a 4 out of
a 5 star rating and definitely lived up to it’s rating.
Sharon enjoyed the Filet Mignon, it was so tender, juicy and delicious. I had
the Rib eye Steak, it too was delicious, but not nearly as tender as the filet
mignon.
Jack & Rosie’s Steakhouse is housed within a nondescript building, located on
a corner, in a residential neighborhood. If it were not for the sign on the
building, the restaurant would look like any other home within this
residential community.
Saturday – March 12, 2016
El Centro Air Show
Naval Air Facility
El Centro, California
As the winter home of the Blue Angels, the Navy Air Facility El Centro annual
air show is the first show of their season, every year. Drawing a crowd of
approximately 35,000, it is the largest single-day event in the Imperial Valley.
Naval Air Facility El Centro Air Show
Saturday, March 12, 2016
General Admission and Parking are Free
Gates Open at 9 a.m. and Flying Begins at 10:50 a.m.
Schedule
10:50 am: Leap Frogs Launch
10:55 am: CO Opening Comments
11 am: Air Show Start National Anthem/Leap Frogs Flag Jump
11:10 am: HellCat/BearCat Blue Angel Tribute
11:30 am: Red Eagles Formation Team: Yak-52
11:50 am: Vicky Benzing: Extra 300
12:05 pm: CAF SoCAL: P51/Zero Dogfight
12:25 pm: Metal Mulisha
12:50 pm: Spencer Suderman – Pitts S2B
1:10 pm: John Collver – SNJ
1:25 pm: Planes of Fame- F-86/Mig-15 Dogfight
1:45 pm: U.S. Navy Leap Frogs
2:00 pm: Metal Mulisha
2:30 pm: U. S. Navy Flight Demonstration Team: Fat Albert
3:00 pm: U. S. Navy Flight Demonstration Team: The Blue Angels
We were only interested in seeing the Blue Angels perform. We opted not to
park within the Naval Facility and instead parked next to a farm field on Ross
Road. Our location was located about one-half mile west of Forrester Road and
about one mile south of Evan Hewes Highway, near the entrance to the Naval Air
Facility. This proved to be an opportune location. We avoided the traffic
congestion on Evan Hewes Highway waiting to park at the Naval Air Facility and
we had an excellent view of the Blue Angels as they performed their thrilling
aerial show.
Naval Air Facility El Centro
The facility was commissioned on May 1, 1946, as a Naval Air Station. For the
first 35 years, the mission of NAF El Centro was devoted to aeronautical escape
system testing, evaluation, and design. In November 1947, the Parachute
Experimental Division from Naval Air Station Lakehurst, New Jersey moved to El
Centro. In 1951, the Joint Parachute Facility was established and consisted of
the Naval Parachute Unit and the U.S. Air Force's 6511th Test Group (Parachute).
The Air Force remained part of El Centro’s test organization for the next 27
years.
The facility has two operating runways. The 9,503-foot east/west runway
handles 96 percent of the traffic. It is equipped with a Fresnel Lens Optical
Landing System (FLOLS) at each approach end as well as lighted carrier flight
deck landing areas at both ends so pilots can simulate carrier landings.
Apart from "touch and go" landings and take-offs, aircrews use the many
ranges at NAF El Centro to develop their skills. A remote-controlled target area
allows naval aviators and naval flight officers to practice ordnance delivery.
The desert range is used for air-to-ground bombing, rocket firing, strafing,
dummy drops and mobile land target training. The target complex uses the Weapons
Impact Scoring System that microwaves target images to a range master control
building for immediate verification of weapons delivery accuracy.
The addition of the Display and Debriefing Subsystem, known as DDS, expanded
the role of NAF El Centro to include air combat training by utilizing remote
television, acoustical and laser scoring systems. The DDS is linked with the
Tactical Air Crew Training System (TACTS) to provide a computerized record of
the tactics employed by individual aircrews to employ and to evaluate the
effectiveness of each maneuver.
Friday – March 11, 2016
High Winds In The Desert
Imperial Dam BLM LTVA
Yuma, Arizona
Very strong winds swept through the southwest Arizona desert Friday night.
Steady winds, approaching 30 mph with wind gusts of 45 mph, were reported on our
weather radio throughout the night. One of the campers in the area reported a
momentary wind gust of 60 mph on his wind gage equipment.
The aerodynamics and low-profile of our egg-shaped, fiberglass trailer faired
quite well in the constantly blowing wind. The winds did rock our trailer a bit,
but I would think the larger, high-profile RV’s camped in the area had a worse
experience with the wind than we did.
Saturday – March 5, 2016
Sunsets in the Desert
Imperial Dam BLM LTVA
Yuma, Arizona
We have seen some amazing sunsets in the southwest Arizona desert. The most
interesting one’s occur when there are clouds. Here is a sampling of some of our
favorites.
Wednesday – March 2, 2016
Medical Emergency
Imperial Dam BLM LTVA
Yuma, Arizona
The Imperial Dam, BLM, LTVA is located in California, just over the Arizona
state line, about 20 miles north of Yuma, Arizona. It is comforting to know that
help is available here in case of a medical emergency. The LTVA is located
within five miles of the Yuma Proving Ground (YPG), a U.S. Army military
installation.
Each year, several campers within the LTVA volunteer as emergency medical
personnel. CB Radio Channel 12 is used throughout the LTVA to communicate a
medical emergency. This channel is monitored 24 hours a day, seven days a week,
by the medical volunteers.
When a medical emergency occurs, a member of the Volunteer Emergency Team
will call the YPG Emergency Center. YPG will dispatch their emergency response
vehicles; at the same time, an emergency vehicle from Rural/Metro in Yuma will
be dispatched. These vehicles are in radio contact with each other. Should it be
necessary to transport a patient to Yuma Regional Medical Center (YRMC), a
transfer will be made to the Rural/Metro ambulance from the YPG emergency
vehicle.
During a medical emergency, each member of the Volunteer Emergency Team is
assigned a position along the route to guide emergency personnel from YPG and/or
Yuma Rural/Metro to the camper needing medical assistance. Response time is
usually within seven minutes.
Unfortunately, for one of our fellow campers, we witnessed a medical
emergency at 10:30 p.m. The camper, located two campsites north of our campsite
in the North Florida Flats section, was ablaze with headlights and flashing
warning lights on the five RV’s camped in this campsite. The Volunteer Emergency
Team had their vehicles positioned along the route leading to the distressed
camper, with their emergency lights flashing on their vehicles.
As we monitored channel 12 on our CB radio, we could hear the Volunteer
Emergency Team members communicating with one another the location of the
medical and fire personnel that had been dispatched from the Yuma Proving
Grounds.
Upon their arrival, the YPG medical personnel sprung into action. After about
thirty minutes had elapsed, the person requiring medical assistance was
transported away in the YPG ambulance and transferred to a Yuma Rural/Metro
ambulance that was waiting at the intersection of Senator Wash Road and Imperial
County Road S-24. Our prayers go out to this camper for a speedy recovery.
