The Gumbos have experienced many unexpected occurrences during their travels on their boat and in their RV but the last couple weeks take the cake! Bad weather, equipment failures and a big change in plans were features of this time period.
After leaving Barstow, the Gumbos headed to one of their favorite camping locations — Salt Creek Beach on the Salton Sea. This campsite is a dry camping (no hook-ups) spot right on the eastern shore of the Salton Sea. Typically, the weather is warm and dry and campers are treated to beautiful views over the sea toward the mountains to the west. But this year, when the Gumbos arrived, the sky was overcast and the mountains were not even visible.
And then the rain hit. And, boy, did it rain! The Gumbos can usually handle rain (they do live in the Northwest!) but this particular rain caused the campground, that was all dirt, to become one big pile of mud. The mud was so thick that the truck and RV were not able to be moved and Duwayne, who didn’t think to bring boots, had to wrap his feet in garbage bags to carry the Bean to a dry spot for her doodies.
Finally, after a couple days, the skies cleared and the views returned to normal.
It was during this time that the Gumbos decided to drastically change their plans. Since leaving home, Duwayne had been experiencing an odd tingling sensation on the right side of his head whenever he stood up or rolled over in bed. While not painful, the condition didn’t seem to be improving. After talking to an insurance nurse and his primary care physician, it was determined that he should head home for an evaluation. So, no Mexico this year!! Instead, the Gumbos would make the long slog back up I-5 toward home.
While still at the Salton Sea, the plan was for son Jherek and his fiance, Mayumi, to drive from Glendale to the Salton Sea for a visit. But, because it took numerous days for the campground to dry out enough to become passable, it was decided that the Gumbos would move to the Morongo Casino, just north of Palm Springs, and the Glendalers would meet Duwayne and Darla Jean there.
Jherek and Mayumi DID manage to visit and a delightful time was had visiting and catching up with their latest adventures.
The next day, the Gumbos traveled northwest towards the Bakersfield area, where they discovered a delightful campground called Kern River Campground.
This campground was absolutely beautiful and, because it was winter, there were very few campers around. The weather was wonderful and the Bean wore herself (and her owners) out chasing the hundreds of squirrels and trying to tease them out of there holes.
While at this campground, the Gumbos took advantage of their recently-purchased Starlink system to watch the early release of “Exhibiting Forgiveness” — premiering at the Sundance Film Festival. This is the first major motion picture for which Jherek has composed the soundtrack music.
The movie is fantastic and so is the music! Distribution has not yet been worked out but, once the movie is available, the Gumbos will let you know. A must watch!!
After a couple days at Kern River, the Gumbos traveled north to a Harvest Host site near Turlock, CA called The Burroughs Family Farms. This is a 4000 acre almond orchard and farm with lotsa sheep, cattle and mules living all around the designated camping area.
The Gumbos would have really enjoyed their stay here had it not been for a discovery that Duwayne made shortly after parking the rig. He noticed that the two tires on one side of the fifth wheel were almost touching each other! The last time he had seen this was when, on an earlier rig, the leaf spring u-bolts had broken, causing one axle to move closer to the other. After crawling under the rig, expecting to see the same problem, Duwayne was greeted with the following:
One of the brackets that attaches the leaf spring to the frame had totally broken loose and had managed to also crack the frame! This meant that the RV was not going ANYWHERE until a repair could be made.
When the property owners were informed that the Gumbos were (at least temporarily) stuck, one of them immediately drove over to check out the problem. Eddy brought his welding truck over, helped remove the broken part, cleaned up the rough metal edges and got ready to try to weld the part back on. That was when the bent and cracked frame was discovered. He decided this repair was “above his pay grade”.
So, the next morning, after spending some time combing the internet for mobile welders in the area, Duwayne managed to contact Sylva’s Mobile Welding, located about 90 minutes away. Willy, the owner, agreed to come out immediately and said he was sure he could solve the problem.
Sure enough, 90 minutes later, Willy arrived with tools, welding equipment and lots of spare metal to fabricate a repair.
After Willy spending 4 hours, and the Gumbos spending $500, the repair was complete and the rig could once again head north. What a relief!
With the rig repaired, the tanks still mostly full and plenty of food still on board, it was now time to head for home. Let’s hope the next week is a little less eventful!
The Gumbos Go! 