Week ending Feb 26, 2015 Lake Cahuilla, Borrego Springs, Palm Springs Tram

Friday morning we delivered our truck to the GM dealer.  For some reason the 4 wheel drive option was misbehaving and the shake that seems to have developed a few months ago is getting worse. The courtesy driver delivered us back to the trailer and we spent the day waiting. By late afternoon the verdict was in. The 4 wheel drive is fine, but we do need new universal joints. The service manager suggested we do not drive much until we could get them replaced. They will order the parts first thing Monday morning and with some luck Tuesday they will arrive here, or maybe Wednesday. We are staying here until March 3rd, but have to move sites on Tuesday morning. Truck needed for that. So after we move we will deliver the truck back to the dealership and pick up a rental car until they get the truck repaired. Luckily we are in an area where all these conveniences are close to us.

Saturday was fishing derby day at the park. By 7:00 A.M. the fishermen had all arrived and got set up around the lake.

Fishing derby

Boats are not allowed on the lake so the fishing is all done from shore. After the  Team Canada vs Saskatchewan curling game we went for a walk around the lake. We could not believe the number of fairly large fish we could actually see from shore. One of the fishermen told us that they can catch fish up to 40 lbs in this lake. We then watched the last of the Alberta vs Saskatchewan game.

Sunday was a lazy day. Two curling games and the Daytona 500, the beginning of the Nascar season, As a result we didn't do much else. The weather had turned and although its warm, it was very windy. Our neighbours rugs were blowing around and as they were away we returned them to their sites and secured them under rocks. The weather was not conducive to hiking or doing much so we were happy to have the day taken up with curling and car racing.

Monday the wind had died down, but it was cool. A good time to add heat to the trailer by baking bread. The portable oven we bought before Christmas is a very handy addition to our kitchen. We had been told about a hike in the hills above the campground, so after lunch we headed off to see if we could find it. Although it was not very long it did give beautiful views of both the campground and the lake.

RV Park from Hill

We did get a call from the GM dealer telling us the required truck parts had been ordered, and should arrive on Tuesday morning.

Tuesday was moving day, 3 sites over. We couldn't move until the people in that site moved 2 sites over. The office here seems to have trouble organizing the comings and going to minimize people having to move. We did speak to the people who's site we were taking over and their take on the situation was that if we tried to have them stay in our new site (their old site) and we move to their new site, the people at the office would be all confused and we may all end up without sites. Shortly before noon we received a call from the GM dealer, our parts are here and they can install them tomorrow. After we got set up, had lunch and checked on-line about a rental car, we took the truck in to the truck hospital. They told us they could arrange a rental car at Enterprise car rental at a good price. The friendly courtesy driver of Friday took us over to Enterprise to make sure we got the dealer discount rate. No cars available, but they had large SUV's and Dodge Ram trucks. Since we are used to driving trucks they gave us a spiffy new 2015 Dodge Ram with only 841 miles on it.  We stopped on our way back to the trailer to pick up groceries.

Wednesday we took full advantage of having a new truck, and went on a road trip.  We drove down the west side of the  Salton Sea past Salton City then west up a valley to Ocotillo Wells, where we stopped at the Ocotillo Wells State Vehicle Recreation Area Visitor Center, to get some information on the area, and find about the dry camping.  We continued to Borrego Springs. Several of our neighbors in the County Park had carried on to camp near Borrego Springs.  At Borrego Springs, on Galleta Meadows Estate, there are over 100 prehistoric beast sculptures. These are based on the fossils found in the Anza-Borrego Desert. 

Aiolornis with prey

Scorpion with Grasshopper

Harlan's Ground Sloths

Serpent

On the return road to Salton City, we discovered that the north end of the Ocotillo Wells State Vehicle Recreation Area has interesting canyons just crying to be hiked in and free camping. 

Canyon

The free camping has bathrooms and garbage disposal stations. We checked out the area and discovered that the sites are level and the whole area is quite inviting. Since we have to leave our present digs on Tuesday we now have a new destination. We arrived back mid-afternoon, checked with the dealer to confirm the truck would be ready to pick up, and returned the rental truck and picked up our truck from the dealership. Nice to drive a new vehicle, but better to have our own familiar truck back.

Time to do some tourist things in this area, so Thursday morning after breakfast at IHOP, a stop at the Palm Springs library to use the internet, and then at Albertsons for sandwiches, we went to the Palm Springs Tramway. We enjoyed lunch on a park bench in the sun overlooking the forest at the top of the tramway. It was beautiful amongst the alpine forest at 8,516 feet at the top of the tramway, but at 45F, a lot cooler than the valley, at about 85F.  We completed a short, but steep walk and truly enjoyed being in the forest setting.   There are many trails here, but they are icy as the snow melts during the day, and refreezes each night.

View of Palm Springs from Tram Station

Pines behind the Tram Station

On our way back to the trailer we stopped at T-Mobile to pick up a wi-fi device that had been recommended to us. We are hoping we no longer have to rely on campground wi-fi while in the USA.

Week ending Feb 19, 2015 Joshua Tree, Lake Cahuilla County Park

Friday after a trip to Burger King in Indio to post the blog we stopped to pick up some new locks and a length of chain, to secure our solar panels while we are away, picked up some groceries and then headed to Red Robin for John's favorite hamburger and Joan's favorite beer.  We then thought we should check out the RV park at Lake Cahuilla County Park at La Quinta. The park looked just fine for us, next to a pretty little lake, lots of wide open spaces to get the satellite aligned. They did not have a full service site available in the reservable area, but we could take our chances as they have 3 sites that they do not reserve. They did however have a pull through site with only power and water in a separate area of the park. We decided perfect, we would take that one. So Tuesday,Feb 17th, we will move to La Quinta. The brochure said the price was 160.00 weekly. When we paid they charged us 90.00, wow what a deal for this part of the world. It turns out we are in the equestrian group camping area, all individual sites, in fact larger sites than the individual camping area, so a real deal in our mind. The BLM area we are in is less than an hour away, so we got back to the trailer mid-afternoon, in time to move the solar panels out of the shade.

Happy Valentines Day. Saturday morning we watched all sorts of campers leave the BLM area, strange because this is a long weekend.  We then walked into Joshua Tree National Park to do the Bajada Nature Trail.  There were lots of signs on this trail describing the flora.  We managed to get a shot of a horned lizard, we think.  It sure blends in with its background.

We walked back to the trailer realigned the panels and decided today was our day off. The temp outside is hot.  By 1:00 P.M. the first draw of the Scotties Tournament of Hearts is on, so Joan has her entertainment for the next week. John has been keeping an eye on the solar, moving it as needed to keep the panels charging the battery in the most effective manner. Shortly after lunch our solar controller gave us a message we had never seen before "FUL", i.e. fully charged.  Wow, we are hoping to be able to watch curling this evening without running the generator. The blue sky, with a nice hot sun and being here to align the panels as the sun moves across the sky seems help the charging a lot. 

Sunday morning after watching many of our neighbours pack up their tents and depart we headed back into the park. Our target was what we believed was a short interpretive trail to see Lost Palm Oasis starting from Cottonwood Springs, which is a very lush spot. It turned out to be a 3.5 mile trek each way with considerable elevation gain so we opted for 2.4 mile loop to Mastodon Mine.  The first stop on the trail was a fan palm oasis at Cottonwood Springs which is situated on a crack in the earths crust.  Geological faults crisscross this park. When groundwater hits a fault plane, it rises to the surface and creates conditions for an oasis.



The hike took us to the top of a ridge, giving us good views into the next valley,



then past the old Mastodon Mine site.  This mine was established in the 1930's, and is one of about 300 mines that were in the Joshua Tree Park area.  

We then headed back to the trailer to enjoy the warm sunny afternoon as well as more of the Scotties Tournament of Hearts.

Monday was exploration day. We drove to Desert Center and then headed north to Eagle mountain. As it turns out the places we intended to explore could not be accessed, but we did find an amazing solar power system, the Desert Sunlight solar project. We stopped at the visitor center, but it was closed. We took some pictures before noticing the sign "no cameras or cell phones"  We then drove by Lake Tamarisk Golf Resort. We had looked online at the RV park as a possible place to stay, but discovered it was not in a convenient location to visit Joshua Tree National Park. We then stopped at Chiriaco Summit, where we visited the General Patton Museum.



The California and Arizona Deserts areas were used by the US Army for training before they went overseas to North Africa in WW II. We picked up a cold drink and then it was back to the trailer to watch more Tournament of Hearts.

Tuesday was moving day, so time to head to Lake Cahuilla County Park at La Quinta as we mentioned above. It is less than an hour away from the BLM site , so after sitting around in the morning sunshine we got everything together and finally about lunch time moved.  The lake looks beautiful, but there is no swimming allowed.

Wednesday, after paying for a second week here,  we were off to the library to do some internet surfing, check email, get fresh veg`s. Not a very busy day as the women`s curling is getting quite interesting.

Thursday after visiting with our neighbours we went for a walk along the lake shore.



We checked the wi-fi at the office. It isn't great, but it does exist. Of course they don't even advertise its presence, so we suspect they don`t want people using it much. Walking up to the office we saw the big horn sheep that we have been seeing signs about. They really do exist. 



We also saw pelicans and a heron on the lake. There is a fishing derby at the lake this weekend and in preparation for this event there is no fishing allowed right now. I guess the pelicans and herons didn`t get that memo.

Week ending Feb 12, 2015 Mecca, Joshua Tree National Park

Friday morning after loading up on fresh fruit and vegetables at the local, in the RV park, farmers market, we took advantage of one of the hiking trails that are maintained by the RV park.  We managed to get a photo of a hummingbird resting in a tree.  The rest of the day we spent doing research for future campgrounds and lazing around enjoying the beautiful weather.



Saturday we drove up Box Canyon Road to the BLM land near the south entrance of Joshua Tree National Park to see if we could park the trailer there while we visit Joshua Tree. We then retraced our steps, stopping at the Meccacopia trail head. The whole hike is 11 miles one way, so we decided to go the 2 miles to where it meets the Little Box Canyon Trail and then turn around. It was a good hike, lots of interesting hills with large quartzite veins running through them. The only other people we saw were 4 dirt bikers and a couple with a jeep parked off the trail taking their two dogs for a walk. Hiking doesn't seem to be an activity that many people do on this trail.  The information at the trail head had a description of desert tortoises, but we didn't see any of them.  After having lunch we drove into the small town of Mecca, to find an ice cream treat.  We stopped at a couple of places and finally found a little grocery store that had ice cream treats that met our requirements.

On Sunday our first stop was Mecca Beach campground in the Salton Sea State Park. We spoke to one of the campground hosts who avoids Kelowna's winter by hosting at the park. He gave us useful information about the park, so after our time at Joshua Tree National Park we may head back to Mecca Beach. He also told us that the snow covered peak we could see at the far north end of the valley is Big Bear. The last time we were at Big Bear it was early November and we were hiking in the snow, so seeing the snow up there wasn't a big shock to us. Our next stop was Painted Canyon to do hike.  This hike is much more popular, with many vehicles parked at the trail head, which is the end of the road. What an intriguing area.  After walking for a few hundred yards up a fairly broad area, we came across an arrow made of rocks, pointing sideways to the canyon wall.  This part of the hike is intended for people with knees that bend. After climbing up a few rocks, which are definitely not standard stair height, we gave up and walked up the canyon to where it meets the side trail.  At this point, there were several metal ladders to help get down off the ledge, because the rock faces where about 10 feet high at that point.  Some things are just a young persons game.



On our way back to the RV park we stopped at the AM/PM truck stop near Mecca for diesel, a few gallons of gas for the generator and some frosties. Nothing like a cool drink when the temperature is 29 C.  Back to the trailer now to watch the provincial men's curling finals.



Monday afternoon we went to check Red Hill Marina county park on Salton Sea. It had been suggested as a future place to stays. We decided it was not acceptable.  We then went to check out "Slab City". This "city" is 2015's answer to the hippy communes of the 60's. This area has no rules, everyone does their own thing. All the advertising regarding this place recommends going with an open mind.  Someone has built an interesting monument named Salvation Mountain. 



Tuesday was moving day. We got up, John made breakfast, we took our time getting packed up as our destination was only an hour away. We want to do some hiking in Joshua Tree National Park, but the campgrounds in the park are 25.00 a night with no service, and only suitable for trailers up to 22 feet long, so we parked in the BLM area outside the park gate with no services at all, but free.  By lunch time we were all set up, satellite aligned and solar panels set out. Although we are having a windy day, it is warm and a perfect day to sit out in the sun and do nothing.

Wednesday remained windy. We were able to get a radio station from San Diego and it warned of the Santa Ana winds. The winds we experienced were much less than those on the coast, but still a tad annoying. We headed into Joshua Tree National Park.  What an interesting area. The south area of the park has many hills that are made of loose stones. 



Our first stop was Cholla Cactus Garden, a short but interesting walk through a dense cactus area.  




Then we passed from the south area of the park, which is in the Colorado Desert, a section of the Sonoran desert, into the north area of the park, which is in the Mojave Desert,  a few thousand feet higher than the Colorado Desert area.   We carried on through the park, going through the area where Joshua trees grow,



to the town of 29 Palms to get diesel, since the National Park has no food or fuel, just interesting landscape. 



We had to pick up our weekly park pass when we left the park at the north entrance, because the Cottonwood Visitor Center in the south area couldn't sell us a pass at the time we stopped.  We then returned to the park to check out  Hidden Valley. What a spectacular area. The one mile walk took us a lot longer than we expected because we keep stopping to admire than great granite rocks. All the rocks here are the result of volcanic eruptions.  They are very different than the rocks in the south part of the park.



We then headed back to the trailer well past time to move our solar panels. In fact by the time we got back the panels were in the shade. Not too effective, but they had been in the sun most of the day, so put about half the energy into the battery of a day when we can turn the panels every few hours. 

Thursday back to the park. Our first stop was a three mile hike, with 1000 feet elevation gain, to the top of Ryan Mountain at 5400 feet.  This is fairly strenuous climb.  The first two thirds of the trail is quite steep, with many areas having steps carved out of the rock to make the route possible.  The 360 degree view at the top gave us spectacular views of the valleys and rock formations as well as Big Bear with it snow capped peak. 






After lunch back at the truck, we went to Keys View. This was also to the top of a mountain, but a drive all the way. From the viewpoint we could see Indio, the Salton Sea and Palm Springs.



On our way back to the trailer we stopped at Hall of Horrors, a short walk through a popular rock climbing area, then Skull Rock

and Arch Rock areas.


Again by the time we got back to the trailer the solar panels were in the shade of the trailer again. In the future we will try to park the trailer with the nose facing anywhere except north since the batteries that the panels are connected to are in the cabinet under the front of the trailer.

Week ending Feb 5, 2015 Quartzite to Niland

Friday morning after checking out of our hotel our destination was Imperial Date Gardens, according to their add the best of the best Medjool dates available. It had rained overnight (more rain in the desert???) so the roads out to the date farm were covered in mud. The mud really was thanks to the farmers working in the fields dragging wet mud onto the roads.  Greta took us on a convoluted route, but we did eventually get to the date farm.  We picked up a package of dates as well as a package of black liquorish. The dates are very tasty, well worth the trip. Of course the truck is covered in mud, so we eventually will have to find a car wash.  Our next stop was the History of the World in Granite at the Official Center of the World. HistoryinGranite.org. Felicity, a little town built for the purpose of showing the history of the world, painted on granite blocks. There also is a little pyramid built that supposedly marks the Center of the World. The theory here is that anywhere can be the center of the world if it is based on a fairy tale, which this is. Someone had a vivid imagination, and was able to get the county government to officially approve the Official Center of the World at this location.



Another piece of history on display was a section of the old stairs from the Eiffel tower. Apparently the French gov't replaced the stairs on the Eiffel as they had deteriorated and were unsafe. Felicity has one section on display.

We then headed north in California up highway 78 to Blythe. We stopped at Albertson's in Blythe to pick up some veg's and wine. We had checked and the Blythe Albertson was one of the few places we could purchase Black Box Shiraz.  We got back to the trailer to discover that our trailer batteries were dead (we kind of knew this before we left). We had put our solar panels safely away while we were on vacation. We picked up a couple of  gallons of gas, in preparation for firing up the generator.  Always good to have a back-up plan.  Within an hour batteries were happy, but we ran the generator for a few hours so John could watch Friday night wrestling and Joan could watch something else at the same time.

Saturday morning was cool and cloudy. Our solar panels, although not producing enormous amounts of power are generating a small charge and the batteries are happy. We visited with our neighbours from BC and then went for a walk for about an hour through the desert. The places to walk here are endless.  Saturday evening we watched the Junior girls Canadian curling finals.

Sunday was back to real desert weather, hot and sunny. We have been looking at a derelict building across the highway and thinking we should check it out. Sunday morning seemed like a good time to head out in that direction. We walked up a hill behind the building and then walked down to the buildings. They were interesting.  One was built out of cinder blocks and trimmed with quartz,  the older one was  built out of rocks. 

There was no indication as to the original use of the buildings or why they would have been erected on BLM land (perhaps pre-BLM).  The walk took us a little more than 2 hours, but it was interesting and we discovered other areas that peaked our interest for future exploration. After lunch we went into Quartzite to the flea market area to look for some things we decided we needed.  Everything needed by rv'ers is available here. We got some batteries for the radio, a little collapsible table for our BBQ, a BBQ lighter and a few other necessities. This is an interesting place to shop, but you have to be discriminating. Tonight while John watched the Super Bowl, Joan watched the Junior boys Canadian curling finals. This is one of the reasons we have 2 TV's.

Monday we cleaned up, lots to do after being parked for 2 weeks, had coffee at Burger King, so we could use the WI-Fi and determine our direction of travel for the next week or two.  In the afternoon, while chatting with the neighbours, we noticed the Goodyear Blimp float by.   We understood that it had not been allowed at the Superbowl in Phoenix, so we were surprised to see it in the area.

Tuesday morning we moved to Fountain of Youth Spa RV Park at Niland, near the Salton Sea in California.  On the way there, we saw a cairn marking a pre-Columbian native trail through the hills.   Once we came through the hills at Glamis, we went across the Algodones Dunes, a sand dune structure, which stretches about 40 miles from the Mexico border north into California.  We stopped at an outlook on top of the dunes, and discovered that it was also a 14 day limit free camping site as well.  We'll have to return on another trip and spend some time in the area.   



We carried on north through the Imperial Valley, another large green leaf vegetable and dairy farming area.   The RV Park is located at the foot of a range of hills above the Salton Sea.  The Salton Sea is one of the world's largest inland seas and, based on some research we did, we think is the third lowest point on earth at -227 below sea level. Salton Sea was re-created in 1905 when high spring flooding on the Colorado River crashed the canal gates leading into the developing Imperial Valley.  For the next 18 months the entire volume of the Colorado River rushed downward into the Salton Trough.  By the time engineers were finally able to stop the breaching water in 1907, the Salton Sea had been born at 45 miles long and 20 miles wide – equaling about 130 miles of shoreline.  Salton Sea State Recreation Area covers 14 miles of the northeastern shore and has long been a popular site for campers, boaters and anglers.  Increasing salinity in the Salton Sea basin has limited the number of types of fish that can be found there, and most fish currently caught are Talapia.  Varner Harbor within the SRA provides easy access to the sea for boating and water skiing.  Kayakers, campers, birdwatchers, photographers and hikers can enjoy the site's many recreation opportunities.

Wednesday was laundry day. John was busy taking care of recycling, garbage and a few other things in the trailer. While Joan was waiting for the laundry to do its things see noticed a young lady leaving the pool. The gal looked familiar, she then looked at the man with her and it was Rupert Emerson and his daughter. We had met them for lunch at the RV show in Quartzite.  When we left them in Quartzite neither of us had specific destinations in mind, so it was quite a surprise to both end up at the same RV park. After lunch Rupert and Helen came by and we went for a walk through the park. This park had over 800 sites, so a walk around the park does take some time.

Thursday was shopping day, as there is no decent grocery stores nearby, we drove Brawley to make a bank stop and get groceries at Walmart. On our way to Brawley we stopped at Sonny Bono Salton Sea National Wildlife Refuge. Where do the snow geese from Alberta spend their winters?  At the Salton Sea. We went on an interesting walk to a hill at the seashore. We saw many birds and had great views of this shallow inland sea.   There is a small hill near the park called Obsidian Hill, and we saw several chunks of obsidian along the pathway in the Refuge.   Near the refuge we drove past many GeoThermal Power Generating Stations, which you can see in the background from the Refuge.

On our way back from loading up on staples at Walmart we stopped at Calipatria to view the worlds tallest flag pole, whose top is at sea level.