Okay, I'll back up a bit...first thing when we arrived in the US was a stop at the Costco in El Centro just north of the Mexicali border crossing. One cannot bring any produce or meat into the US from Mexico so our stocks were absolutely depleted. Picked up some salad kits that we'd been craving (it's impossible to find decent lettuce in MX) and wine (another thing that's hard to come by and expensive in MX). Good old Costco - delicious California chardonnay, $6.99 for a 1.5 litre! And 1.75 litres of Canadian whiskey for $9.99! It's almost criminal.
Our next stop was the BLM (Bureau of Land Management) office in Yuma to get maps and info on free and low-fee camping in the area. We opted to get a 14-day pass for $40 that would allow us to stay at any of 4 developed campgrounds in the southern Colorado River region. There are lots of completely free camping areas - we even saw many campers in the scrub off the highway - but we thought it would be worth it to be in a nicer spot with some water for kayaking/swimming and access to basic amenities (they have potable water stations, showers, flush toilets and dump stations here).
The Imperial Dam Recreation Area is a huge tract in the desert on the west side of the Colorado River, so technically is in California. It features two decent sized lakes created by the damming of the river, creating an oasis with palm trees, bull rushes, and many birds. It is the end of the RV season, but there are still hundreds of campers here, many in large units that have probably spent the entire winter here - it's $180 for a full year pass. There are no specific camping "spots" - you just park wherever you like.
We've found a beautiful secluded spot in the middle of several hills and ridges, so no one can see our campsite. There are endless hiking and running trails going off in all directions from where we are sitting. We can take the truck to several beach areas during the day - Coco had her first experience swimming in fresh water yesterday!
The best thing about the privacy is that we don't have to worry about the leash rules. Dogs here are supposed to be on-leash at all times. It seems a bit silly in the middle of the desert, but also I guess I can understand the rule...some dogs tend to bolt off (as Zephyr used to do), or forage at other campsites, or rush up on other pets. They have to make the rules consistent for everyone. But Coco is so good...she never strays far from us and wouldn't dare approach strange people or dogs without us there. So it's much nicer for all of us to be in a place we don't have to worry about rule-sticklers preaching at us or tattling to camp hosts.
On that note, our plans for Utah in April have altered since we have Coco. Dogs aren't allowed on the hiking trails in any of the national parks - all the famous ones like Arches, Zion, and Bryce Canyon. It doesn't seem right to go to a place where we would to have to keep her penned up in the trailer all day while we hike, especially with her being a puppy and needing exercise and attention. Maybe when she's older and likes to sleep all day long...that's a different story. So we've investigated state parks and BLM lands that allow dogs everywhere (on leash, of course) that we'll check out. Our experience here so far is that there are so few people on the trails that we can let her off the leash while we hike. She can go close to an hour now with us on fairly challenging paths. And in some ways it will be nicer to visit places that are less crowded and more under-the-radar.
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