SCcamper
Junior Member
Naval Air Facility, El Centro, CA
When full timing as we did, constantly on the move, Chosen Destinations comprised about 35% of our parking choices.
One time while traveling with our long time Navy friends we decided to spend the winter in CA. Our first stop was the Naval Air Station RV Park at Lemoore, CA. While on active duty I had been stationed there for 4 years. Our traveling friends had a daughter living close by in Hanford, CA.
After spending 2 weeks at Lemoore we had reservations at the Admiral Baker Naval Recreation Facility at San Diego, CA. During the move to San Diego our adventure began. Being windy on our departure day we called the CHP to inquire about wind conditions on I5 at the “Grape Vine” area. Truckers, busses and RV trailers were not permitted to travel the Grape Vine and the condition was expected to last 24 hours. We mapped out another route taking us to Bakersfield & Riverside and on down to San Diego. High winds but we could maintain 55 MPH all the way.
On the way it started raining (In southern CA in the winter time???). We got into our sites at Admiral Baker and the rain continued and kept-up, on and off for the next 2 weeks. Flooding and mud slides were all around us so we decided to leave. We figured going up over the mountains and down into the desert area of southern CA using I8 we would get rid of the rain.
It was right in the middle of snowbird season and finding a long term (2 months) parking site was going to be hard to do. We called all the areas we were passing thru and found nothing. In desperation we decided to call El Centro. It’s nearly closed down in the winter months and the RV park there has more population than the base and is normally completely full all winter. But, unknown to us, it had also been raining constantly there. They had a couple sites for us in a FHU overflow section. The sites backed-up to a ball field. We had 30 amps with another 15 amps available with an extension cord. The base had a smallish commissary, Navy Exchange, and movie theater. Right across the street from our sites was an 8 lane bowling alley, golf driving range and the main mess hall which allowed RV patrons with ID cards to eat there without reservations except on holidays. (And it rained).
El Centro is the winter home of the Naval Flight Demonstration Team, the Blue Angles. On our week two they showed-up and sleeping-in after 8 AM was out of the question from then on, except on rainy days.
El Centro is not equipped to handle large amounts of rainfall. By week four all of the parking lots were full of water. Large tank trucks with vacuum hoses were contracted to collect the water and dump it into the canals. We decided it was time to hunt for another place to park. We drove over to Yuma and started hunting. It had also rained a lot there and some of the snow birds had moved to higher ground and we found 2 sites side by side in a seniors RV park. Very good location and very affordable. We spent the rest of our winter there. A couple years later we spent the whole winter with them, that’s another story.
El Centro Main Gate Area.
http://www.irv2.com/photopost/showfull.php?photo=12630
Our overflow parking area.
http://www.irv2.com/photopost/showfull.php?photo=12628
You can see a little of the ball field in the background.
http://www.irv2.com/photopost/showfull.php?photo=12627
Blue Angles on their flight line.
http://www.irv2.com/photopost/showfull.php?photo=12629
Our parking site at NAS Lemoore.
http://www.irv2.com/photopost/showfull.php?photo=12582
Our Parking sites at Admiral Baker.
http://www.irv2.com/photopost/showfull.php?photo=12615
What the rain did to the deserts around the El Centro/Yuma areas.
http://www.irv2.com/photopost/showfull.php?photo=15329
Our final parking site that winter at Yuma, AZ. From there we would split-up with us heading down the border roads to Corpus Christi and Our friends hearing north to Peoria, IL.
http://www.irv2.com/photopost/showfull.php?photo=15051
When full timing as we did, constantly on the move, Chosen Destinations comprised about 35% of our parking choices.
One time while traveling with our long time Navy friends we decided to spend the winter in CA. Our first stop was the Naval Air Station RV Park at Lemoore, CA. While on active duty I had been stationed there for 4 years. Our traveling friends had a daughter living close by in Hanford, CA.
After spending 2 weeks at Lemoore we had reservations at the Admiral Baker Naval Recreation Facility at San Diego, CA. During the move to San Diego our adventure began. Being windy on our departure day we called the CHP to inquire about wind conditions on I5 at the “Grape Vine” area. Truckers, busses and RV trailers were not permitted to travel the Grape Vine and the condition was expected to last 24 hours. We mapped out another route taking us to Bakersfield & Riverside and on down to San Diego. High winds but we could maintain 55 MPH all the way.
On the way it started raining (In southern CA in the winter time???). We got into our sites at Admiral Baker and the rain continued and kept-up, on and off for the next 2 weeks. Flooding and mud slides were all around us so we decided to leave. We figured going up over the mountains and down into the desert area of southern CA using I8 we would get rid of the rain.
It was right in the middle of snowbird season and finding a long term (2 months) parking site was going to be hard to do. We called all the areas we were passing thru and found nothing. In desperation we decided to call El Centro. It’s nearly closed down in the winter months and the RV park there has more population than the base and is normally completely full all winter. But, unknown to us, it had also been raining constantly there. They had a couple sites for us in a FHU overflow section. The sites backed-up to a ball field. We had 30 amps with another 15 amps available with an extension cord. The base had a smallish commissary, Navy Exchange, and movie theater. Right across the street from our sites was an 8 lane bowling alley, golf driving range and the main mess hall which allowed RV patrons with ID cards to eat there without reservations except on holidays. (And it rained).
El Centro is the winter home of the Naval Flight Demonstration Team, the Blue Angles. On our week two they showed-up and sleeping-in after 8 AM was out of the question from then on, except on rainy days.
El Centro is not equipped to handle large amounts of rainfall. By week four all of the parking lots were full of water. Large tank trucks with vacuum hoses were contracted to collect the water and dump it into the canals. We decided it was time to hunt for another place to park. We drove over to Yuma and started hunting. It had also rained a lot there and some of the snow birds had moved to higher ground and we found 2 sites side by side in a seniors RV park. Very good location and very affordable. We spent the rest of our winter there. A couple years later we spent the whole winter with them, that’s another story.
El Centro Main Gate Area.
http://www.irv2.com/photopost/showfull.php?photo=12630
Our overflow parking area.
http://www.irv2.com/photopost/showfull.php?photo=12628
You can see a little of the ball field in the background.
http://www.irv2.com/photopost/showfull.php?photo=12627
Blue Angles on their flight line.
http://www.irv2.com/photopost/showfull.php?photo=12629
Our parking site at NAS Lemoore.
http://www.irv2.com/photopost/showfull.php?photo=12582
Our Parking sites at Admiral Baker.
http://www.irv2.com/photopost/showfull.php?photo=12615
What the rain did to the deserts around the El Centro/Yuma areas.
http://www.irv2.com/photopost/showfull.php?photo=15329
Our final parking site that winter at Yuma, AZ. From there we would split-up with us heading down the border roads to Corpus Christi and Our friends hearing north to Peoria, IL.
http://www.irv2.com/photopost/showfull.php?photo=15051
