Imperial Dam LTVA-New Places, New Faces

We left the Kofa National Wildlife refuge last Sunday, and headed for a new place for us. LTVA stands for Long Term Visitor Area, and they are run and maintained by the BLM. There are several in this area, in both Arizona and California. We have never stayed in one before, mostly because it seems like everyone else does. We made an exception this time for a couple of reasons. First, this place is about 30 minutes from Algodones, Mexico where our dentist is, and we need to get in this year. Second, it was a whole new area and we figured we might as well check it out. LTVA’s provide water, dump station, and garbage facilities which is kinda nice too, although you do have to pay $40 for a two week stay. Or $160 for the whole winter season. An Instagram friend was staying here, and they had good things to say about the area.

At first, it was like pulling into an RV park. There are 650 registered campers here on the 3000 acres. When we registered, I asked the nice BLM host were we could go and be kind of away from people. He directed us to a specific area, and it IS less crowded than some other areas. We looked for RV’s with solar panels, because that always means quite neighbors, and we got pretty lucky. Of all the rigs around us, only one motorhome runs a generator in the morning, and then again in the evening.

The view out our back window.

And the neighbors on one side. There are more RV’s on the other side, about the same distance away.

We learned that this area has been an LTVA for more than 20 years, and “Back in the Day” this place was packed with an average of 3000 campers. Back then people stayed the whole winter, and you can see how some of the older RVrs have “their” spots, and friends that they come back to every year. Rving has changed over the years, and their is a much younger crowd full timing now. Seeing different places, rather than being in one spot for the whole winter is more the norm now.

I figured with all these RV’s here, there had to be hummingbirds. We joke that they know to look for the big square things, rather than flowers out here in the desert. Lots of RV’s have feeders out, so I got mine out too. Within a day I had a Costa’s pair, and then this guy showed up.

He is a Rufous hummingbird, and a new one for me. They are aggressive and chase everyone else away from the feeder.

I love the coloring he has, such a handsome guy. Sadly, I only saw him for a couple of days so I’m really glad I got photos.

But with him gone, the Costa’s pair is back.

The little female is quite the acrobat.

This…..this is the shot I have been wanting to get.

Behind us is a huge wash, and then a mountain. This has been great for walking out the door and going for a nice hike. We are also in a HMA, Herd Management Area, for wild burros. The other night these two young males came charging up the hill behind the RV, then promptly ran back down and into the wash. I grabbed my camera, and ran out the door. They were not so sure about me, and snorted and stomped their feet. These guys are clearly wilder than most burros I see.

They settled down after they realized I was keeping my distance, and I wasn’t going to harass them.

This series of shots is the burro facing me, shaking his head. Their big floppy ears are hilarious.

We’ve actually liked being here more than we thought we would. I have met up with my Instagram friend, Ane from The Dog is Driving, and taken the dogs to the small lake that is nearby. We have done some driving, exploring and hiking, and we are having perfect weather. We can’t see the dentist until March 9th though, so we will probably leave here in a week, then come back.

Just proves yet again, that you never know what you’ll find, until you go looking.