Sunday Jan 21, 2024 - Gilbert Ray Campground to Old Fogey Hot Springs BLM Campground in Holtville, CA

Deb here. It rained off and on during the night, making for some great sleeping. We woke to grey skies and more rain, which as new “desert rats” we found absolutely delightful! After our late night last night we slept in. We made our usual coffee and tea, then packed up and left Gilbert Ray by 9:30 or so.

Our first stop was (you guessed it) McDonald’s, for coffee and the usual breakfast sandwiches. From there we jumped on the I-10, and eventually west on the I-8. Our next stop was Dateland, a classic throwback snack/gift/convenience shop, reminiscent to us of Stuckey’s back in the day. We picked up a bag of medjool dates and a small date shake, which we split. Love those date shakes!

From there it was on to Yuma and a visit to the Yuma Territorial Prison. The prison was built in 1876, operated until 1909, was abandoned for a new facility in Florence, AZ, and finally restored in the 1940’s by the town, and then in the 1960’s by the state as a museum. What an interesting place to visit… lots of information about some of the prisoners there, and a chance to see the very depressing cells. Over its 30 year history the prison housed 3,000 people, including 29 women. There’s an extra creepy “dark cell”, where the worst criminals were held, often up to 100 days. 

By the time we left the prison it was late afternoon and the half of a (small) date shake and breakfast sandwich had worn off, so we headed to Mr. G’s for some food. Our friend Carmen lived in Yuma for many years and told us we needed to visit this establishment. Great stop, inexpensive and tasty Mexican food, and it’s been around Yuma since the 1960’s. It reminded us of one of those classic vintage local fast food places, like Al’s French Frys in Burlington, VT and The Pioneer in Albuquerque, NM.

After our food we left Yuma and continued west. We crossed into CA, picking up an hour, and 40 minutes later stopped at Old Fogey Hot Springs near Holtville. Our friends Lindsay and Dan recommended this spot, and another great tip. The hot springs and camping land is owned by BLM, so free for us tonight. We soaked in the hot springs for awhile, which was lovely, and then moved our van to the camping area.

So here we are tonight, relatively clean, and comfortably set up on BLM land. On to La Jolla tomorrow!

97 nights in the van