The away team had been preparing for this trip for many months. Dan had his truck transported to San Diego in his 18 wheeler and then Greg Maiser and Kai drove it to Kai's house. The plan was to have Dan and Scott fly to San Diego, pick up the truck and then convoy to Yuma and from there to the trail head. As always, getting a set of 7 working adults to allign schedules is a challenge. At the last minute, I had to stay late at work to proof a deposition I gave in the previous week and part of a patent infringement lawsuit, so I was late arriving home. When I arrived, the team was at my house getting final preparations completed. During the work, we discovered that the lights on the trailer were not working, resulting in some last minute repairs. But, the skill of Kai and the team prevailed and we were finally ready to go.
In anticipation of the trip, I had bought a set of used 24x20 Goodyear Terra Tires to be used in the sand. These tires are huge. Compare them to Kai's 22x20 Continental tires at the right on the trailer. Neither set of tires are approved for highway service, so we had to trailer them and put them on in Yuma. This shot was taken in San Diego at a fuel stop before proceeding to Yuma. The box on the rear is wood that Dan brought from his farm in Indiana.
Below, Matt, Scott and Kai (L to R) are shooting the breeze while waiting for the fueling to be completed.
Kathleen had just completed a 3 week road trip for work, so getting prepared was a challenge. But, several late nights later, she was ready on schedule. Below, you can see she was filled with anticipation of the high dunes of the Altar. In addition to the smile, note the trick Cabela's safari shirt.
Happily, the trip to Yuma went off without a hitch. Yuma is about 150 miles east of San Diego on Interstate 8. There are 3 4,000 foot passes to cross to get there and a big final descent into the nearly sea-level desert. Plenty of places to get into trouble, but gladly, it was uneventful.
We spent the night at the Sans End RV park, just like last time. This was because the park did not hassle us about leaving equipment there. Indeed, they had a locked area where we could store things until our return. When we got to Yuma, it was late. We ate at a Jack in the Box and had to scour the town to find one that was still open. Once we got the Sans End, we just threw the futon pad on the ground and went to sleep.