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.