And Everything Else…
Jeff and I wake up to no electricity. Our co-host, Tom, greets us with an explanation. A car swerved off Thousand Palms Canyon Road, in front of the Preserve, and knocked over a utility pole. No one was injured, luckily.
Okay, but not… The temperature is going to rise to over 100 degrees today!
Luckily, our RV generator, which we are supposed to run for 30 minutes every month (and we don’t) still kicks on. For the next 9 hours we rely on it to keep us cool. Tom relies on his generator as well.
Our other set of co-hosts, Ken, Rebecca, and their daughter Megan live in a trailer RV about a half mile south of us on Thousand Palms Canyon Road. Unfortunately they do not have a backup generator. Fortunately, their power was restored by 10 AM because the power company could reroute the transfer of electricity to their power source.
But Tom and Jeff and I aren’t so lucky. A new electric pole has to be installed in order for us to get back on the grid.
Around 3 o’clock in the afternoon we notice a lot of equipment arriving and activity happening along the road. Jeff and I take the parking lot trail to investigate and take pictures.
A brand new utility pole is being hoisted up. The connecting pole’s wires reach across Thousand Palms Canyon Road. Apparently we are connected to this broken power line.
(But hey, I’m not complaining! We are in the middle of the desert and we have full RV hookup, WiFi, and an on-site washing machine and dryer… one of three spots reserved for Preserve Volunteer Hosts.) And since we have a motor home and Tom has one too, we both have built in generators to supply all of our electrical needs.
It’s fun to watch…
The guys above wave down at us as they wait for the new pole to be positioned correctly.
This disconnected loop of wire runs across the street to the next utility pole. The new wires are ready to be attached at the top.
Lots of big equipment… each truck has one worker wearing a mask, I might add.
Notice the pole equipped with a new set of electrical connectors. Did they build that and add it to the pole today? I am going to guess, yes… I mean how many ready-to-connect poles are needed on a daily basis?
The crashed pole splintered at the base.
The Imperial Irrigation District (IID) is the public agency that provides water and energy service to the Coachella Valley south to the border of Mexico.
iid.com
Now the wires get attached.
Tom watches the trucks leave and we quickly check to see if the electric meter is running. Nope… ?
We find out through Ginny, the Preserve Manager, that it will take another 45 minutes until the power returns. I guess someone somewhere has to pull a switch.
By 5:00 we are back on the grid! Ah, the beautiful buzz of electric energy…
Meanwhile, we can only speculate on what happened for a car to crash into and wipe out a power line…
Driving too fast? Cars, trucks, motorcycles speed through the curves of Thousand Palms Canyon Road all the time. Impatient drivers cross the double yellow line and pass 2 or 3 cars at a time before heading back to their lane.
Texting while driving on a curve?
Drinking and driving? …as in hot coffee… We did notice a takeout cup of coffee lying in the road.
We’ll never know. What’s surprising, however, is that there aren’t more accidents on this stretch of road between Ramon/Washington and Dillon.
google maps
wandering gypsy Laurel 