As off road enthusiasts, we all know that we spend a lot of money on our hobbies. The cost to get started in motorcycles and ATVs can be substantial. New or used quads and bikes can cost from several hundred dollars to many thousands. Other folks that are riding sand cars, dune buggies and rails are spending from tens to hundreds of thousands of dollars to get started. I've seen sand rails out in Glamis that cost more than my first San Diego house 14 years ago.

The Imperial Sand Dune Recreation Area (ISDRA), is a large desert area in south west California that has a couple of "gateway" communities nearby. Brawley and El Centro are probably the most notable. The Imperial Valley Press Online recently had an article that told of some $45,000,000.00 being spent over Thanksgiving weekend in these gateway cities near Glamis and Gordon's Well. For a small community, that can have incredible impact on the entire year.

Add to that the other weekends that may not bring in 150,000 people, and you've still got (I'm guessing) between 10 and 15 million per week coming in. That period lasts for about 4 months or so, depending on the weather.

It was estimated that each family spent roughly $1,200.00 over the weekend in the gateway cities. I think it's fair to say that these small communities, while obviously not dependent on duners, might want to treat said duners a fair amount of hospitality for their contributions to the community. Something I've found to be very pronounced in most of my trips through there. There are of course a few places that I won't visit any more because the clerks were rude and didn't seem to want my money, but they're few and far between. Most retailers there know the value of the valley's non-resident off road community, and treat them as such.