Families flock to sand for Thanksgiving Day BY VICTOR MORALES, Staff Writer
Thursday, November 22, 2007 11:16 PM PST
JOSELITO VILLERO PHOTO
FOREGROUND: Riverside residents Mike and Josie Pompa said their family and several other close friends joined them for Thanksgiving Day at a campground near Glamis.
JOSELITO VILLERO PHOTO
Two-year-old Reed Holt of Riverside carries a helmet toward his mother Thursday while his family and several others spent Thanksgiving Day together in the desert near Glamis.
IMPERIAL SAND DUNES RECREATION AREA - Despite thousands of off-road enthusiasts whizzing by on motorized conveyors, looking and sounding like giant insects, the Imperial Sand Dunes seems sufficiently big and beautiful enough to provide a sense of tranquil leisure for Shauna Price.
The mental worry and emotional strain that often plague Thanksgiving family gatherings is oddly absent at Price’s camp, where 50 of her family members and friends arrived in a 20-car caravan Monday.
“When you are on the road, getting here you feel that stress. But once you get here it pretty much goes away,” said Price, 29 of Moreno Valley.
There is no timed agenda. The children are not running out of room to play. And nobody is concerned about making sure guests are comfortable and engaged.
The desert’s marvel, it seems, takes care of everyone’s needs.
“It’s about relaxation. It’s peaceful. Yeah, you have peace here,” said Mike Pompa, 38, of Riverside and a friend of the Prices.
It’s estimated by the Bureau of Land Management that 150,000 to 180,000 people will visit the dunes during this Thanksgiving weekend, typically the single busiest weekend of the year in the dunes, which is just 30 miles east of Brawley.
Enthusiasts come from all over the nation to what BLM officials agree is the international Mecca for the off-road sport.
But enthusiasts here are not forgoing Thanksgiving. And the children are not disheartened that they are not spending the holiday in their living room.
The Price family and friends plan to prepare three turkeys in a deep fryer fueled by a propane tank attached to their home on wheels, a $35,000 trailer.
“It’s easier, it’s better and it’s juicy. We fry it with peanut oil,” said Roz Jones, 35 of Moreno Valley.
At 2 p.m. “or so,” they planned to set up a table and have the traditional meal on top of Osborne Overlook underneath the blue sky and looking down on the rolling khaki dunes.
Fourteen-year-old Michael Thomas said he plans to eat and then get some “air” in his dirt bike.
At the Glamis Beach Store and Restaurant in Glamis Flats, manager Jeannie LeBlanc plans to serve 100 turkey dinners to those not equipped with a deep fryer.
The store sells T-shirts commemorating “Thanksgiving in Glamis.”
But for hundreds of personnel tasked with managing the dunes, Thanksgiving will most likely pass by them.
The BLM has deployed more than 100 law enforcement and emergency medical service personnel to the area.
Some are from out-of-state BLM field offices in Washington and Oregon who have driven days to come augment the force, said Michael Boxx, chief BLM ranger at the dunes.
Personnel from the Imperial County Sheriff’s Office, the National Park Service, U.S. Forest Service and the Border Patrol pitch in as well. And a team of physicians and nurses from El Centro Regional Medical Center stands ready.
The dunes can be chaotic. It can look like a lawless boomtown as enthusiasts crowd popular places and haphazardly maneuver through congested paths. Incidents related to alcohol use are common. And accidents can spoil an otherwise fabulous family retreat.
Steve Ellenburg is a paramedic with the National Park Service who has been coming to the dunes since 1995. He is assigned to Joshua Tree National Park and left seven children and his wife behind in Yucca Valley.
“As long as I’m working for the government and they will have me down here at the dunes, I will be here,” he said.
Turkey dinners and relaxation enjoyed by the enthusiasts may not be in store for law enforcement and emergency crews.
At any given time, 25 rangers are patrolling the dunes. During shift changes, that number can double.
Paramedics check their “rescue buggies” and monitor the dispatch center at the Cahuilla Ranger Station.
“The dunes are very fluid. One minute it can be slow and the next it can make a 180. Anything can happen,” Boxx said.
" If it wasn't for us duners, Brawley and Westmoreland would be a ghost town with closed businesses. "
jrs10zr2 wrote on Nov 25, 2007 9:39 PM:
" I'd also like to add... I have more respect and love for nature when in the dunes than I could ever have driving a Prius with leather seats. "
jrs10zr2 wrote on Nov 25, 2007 9:33 PM:
" As ollabukat35 said --QUOTE" people with nothing better to do but burn money!! "/QUOTE--
These people have nothing better to do than to spend time with their families and friends... I've seen more Moms, Dads, Uncles, Aunts, Nephews, Nieces, Grandparents, Inlaws, Cousins and so on out in the sand dunes having a better bonding experience in one weekend than many families will have in a lifetime.
I go to the dunes every few weekends during the cooler months. I was one of the "people clogging the freeways" today with my truck and toyhauler. I and 99 percent of the recreationalists in the dunes are law abiding, and clean up after ourselves.
I go to the dunes because I love to have a place to recreate with my friends and family. I don't enjoy needlepoint, but I don't say that its a complete waste of thread. The most majestic moments I have experienced in nature have been enjoyed while sitting on the side of a tall dune that I drove my sandrail to. This is after years of hiking and horseback riding as a Cub/Boy Scout for 12 years.
"
JDMeister wrote on Nov 25, 2007 5:23 PM:
" The Outlet Mall on the 10 freeway has more traffic than should be allowed, and they just burn money there... Perhaps a fee to shop should be started, and another just to park there... Then all the revenue could be siphoned off for administrative salaries, and then we will have parity with the sand dunes..
Kiss my grits.. "
Sandy Priapism wrote on Nov 25, 2007 4:50 PM:
" The dunes are the perfect place for the off roaders to play. They pay 90.00 for a season pass and most of that money is spent elsewhere. "
E-Chick wrote on Nov 25, 2007 4:50 PM:
" I am shocked at the first 3 comments. "Those people" (as chv1967 put it) pay TAXES for those roads, WORK their tails off so they can spend time with their FAMILY & FRIENDS in a hobby that brings $$$$$$$ to EL CENTRO, BRAWLEY & other nearby areas, participate i dune clean-ups, and PAY a weekly user FEE of $25.00 or seasonally of $90.00 for the permit(even though these PUBLIC lands are already Federally funded). Most of the permit fees go toward administrative costs. After that, the remaining fees pay for law enforcement, labor and equipment, emergency medical services, labor and supplies, maintenance of the roads and facilities, trash collection, outhouse cleaning and pumping, the construction of future camping pads and toilets. You can check this and other FAQS at: http://www.blm.gov/ca/st/en/fo/elcentro/recreation/ohvs/isdra.html. A small temporary "city" of 100,000+ people on any given major holiday, I bet that you'd find that the statistics show LESS crime and arrests, and fewer injuries than at, say, a major stadium venue such as a NFL game. Sadly, a FEW bad people from years ago have set the reputation for what is mainly a family oriented, nature loving, safe and clean sport. "
matt86m wrote on Nov 25, 2007 3:26 PM:
" " If the county Really wanted to get a new radio system for the SO, and improve on the roads, they could easily get these people to pay for all of it. Just charge them a fee for use out there. That would help offset the cost of reigning in the lawless attitude out there too. CDJ "
We do pay a fee to be out there! It does go towards their services, trash, bathrooms etc.
And most of all,,, the very large majority of dunners are NOT lawless. Like most things thats what get the attention. "
CDJ wrote on Nov 24, 2007 5:32 PM:
" If the county Really wanted to get a new radio system for the SO, and improve on the roads, they could easily get these people to pay for all of it. Just charge them a fee for use out there. That would help offset the cost of reigning in the lawless attitude out there too. CDJ "
chevr1967 wrote on Nov 24, 2007 3:57 PM:
" those people clogged all the freeways from los angeles up to the valley...annoying "
ollabukat35 wrote on Nov 24, 2007 8:59 AM:
" people with nothing better to do but burn money!! "
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Eric90242 wrote on Nov 25, 2007 10:22 PM: