Some of the names of the towns I passed were charming or eccentric – Felicity and Dateland, for example. One sign I hadn’t seen before read “Mexico – Next Exit.” Another cautioned, “Blowing Dust Area.”
Wind turbines appeared throughout my drive in Southern California, Arizona and Texas.
Just before Yuma, near the Imperial Sand Dunes Recreational Area, course sand clouds billowed across the road. Each grain made a crackly ping as it struck the car. This reminded me of Aldous Huxley’s story about driving cross-country to California during bad dust and sand storms, only to arrive to find that the paint on one side of his car had been completely sand blasted away!
Right after Yuma, there was a Border Patrol check point: green-uniformed armed guards; German shepherds; and bright spotlights. The guards inspected every vehicle going east-bound on I-8, the main artery for Yuma. I’ve never seen anything quite like it. They had seen my kind plenty, I assume, because they waived be through with an earnest “Drive Safe!” after I’d responded in the affirmative to the question “American Citizen?”
As before, the photos below provide some sense of what the drive was like as far as Yuma, AZ, after which it was too late to take pics.
No comments:
Post a Comment