Saturday, March 19, 2016

Anniversary - 03/19/16 - Yuma, AZ

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.

Tomorrow another adventure begins.

Saturday, March 12, 2016

Air Show - 03/12/16 - El Centro, CA

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.

Tomorrow another adventure begins.

Friday, March 11, 2016

High Winds - 03/11/16 - Yuma, AZ

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.

Tomorrow another adventure begins.

Saturday, March 5, 2016

Sunsets - 03/05/16 - Yuma, AZ

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.

Tomorrow another adventure begins.

Wednesday, March 2, 2016

Medical Emergency - 03/02/16 - Yuma, AZ

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.

Tomorrow another adventure begins.