The Saturday after Thanksgiving we left Pala and returned to Tucson. Our normal route has been to head west to I-15, then east on I-8. This time we decided to take an alternate route parallel to I-8 through the mountains to the desert into Imperial Valley. Before reaching El Centro, in the valley and near the Salton Sea, we begin to see dust in the distance.
Signage told us that our route was taking us through Ocotillo Wells State Vehicular Recreation Area (SVRA). You could see RVs, with their flag poles up, in all directions. Ocotillo Wells is open for off-highway exploration and recreation, which in another life I would have loved to have experienced in my dirt-bike twenties.
As we headed east early in the morning, (about 8:00 am) the were just a few off-road vehicles out in the desert leaving behind a lot of dust, which would be a multiple of what the day would bring once hundreds of vehicles hit the dirt.
Once we were on I-8 and near Yuma, Arizona, we once again saw off-road vehicles, this time on the Algodones Dunes. The dunes are 45 miles long by 6 miles wide, extending along a northwest-southeast line that correlates to the prevailing northerly and westerly wind directions. Where I-8 crosses the Algodones Dunes, the frontage roads provide an easy access for off-road vehicles.
At least there’s not a lot of dust stirred-up by the many vehicles on the sand.
We stopped at a rest area to take a few photos of kids of all ages.
Images by kenne
DIRT IN MY LIFE
Children play in dirt
We stay connected to dirt
Always washing hands.
I had a dirt bike
When I was in my twenties
Fate was on my side.
Now I hike in dirt
Staying bonded to nature
Not destroying it.
— kenne
![Strawberry field forewer [Explore 2023-05-30 #1]](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52938290739_54fc88d448_s.jpg "Strawberry field forewer [Explore 2023-05-30 #1]")
Becoming is Superior to Being 