January 3, 2019 - Imperial Sand Dunes to Oxbow Recreation Area, CA Day 4 Cross Country Bike Ride

This was our camping area on BLM land near the Ranger Station in the Imperial Sand Dunes. There was one other trailer parked some distance away so we had a quiet night. The sky was clear and we could see thousands of stars.After a long day yesterday, Tobey and Tyler decided they were going to shorten their day to about 50 miles today. We drove back the 10 miles to their starting point at the intersection of CA Hwy 78 and County Road S33. Sunny skies and warmer temperatures prevailed with little wind when they started off this morning.They passed more agricultural areas for the first ten miles or so - an orange grove to the left and what looked like red lettuce on the right.We had a much better view of the dunes today. There was a stop at the Osborn Lookout and I found the guys already there. Tyler had his drone out and was flying over the area. The group on the side-by-sides (ATVs) were really fascinated by the drone. They came up and asked lots of questions and chatted with us for a while. Great conversation starter! Tyler has some great video from the drone flying over the dunes, but we don’t have enough cell service to upload it until we are back to Arizona. I will add the video later because it is really amazing!!!In the distance we noticed smoke plumes. We wondered if it was a power plant, but later, they were much larger. We hope it wasn’t another wildfire!After a break, it was time to get moving again. They enjoyed the wide shoulder for a while, before it basically disappeared all together.I worried about them all afternoon as they continued on Highway 78. The road had lots of curves, no shoulder, and a lot of traffic. We made a point to check in every 10 miles to make sure they were okay.I was usually able to follow where they were using location sharing on Google maps, except when we were out of cell service areas. I met them here at an Immigration/border checkpoint area. Funny thing is, there is no border here. We never left the US! I didn’t have to show any identification, but they asked if there was anyone else in the RV with me. Very strange. They did have a wide parking area and I waited for the guys there.They rode another 12 miles to the Oxbow Recreation area turnoff, ending about 4:30 pm. After loading the bikes, we drove on to Blythe. We did a load of laundry and showers before they took me out to dinner tonight for my birthday. We will sleep overnight here in Blythe. In the morning we go back to our stopping point so they can begin again.Today’s ride was 54 miles through lots of rolling hills, but did have about 1000’ elevation gain.