Charlie's RV Travelogue - February 2006

My wife is a journaler; I'm not. She is diligently writing into three different journals; mine is still blank. This travelogue is my attempt at electronically journaling our RV travels, not only to help me remember, but also for anyone interested in following our adventure.

Feb 27: Rain in the desert

Storm clouds are compressed into dark masses as they pass over the desert mountains.

Since our arrival in the desert, today was the third rainy day. Each time the storm clouds rolled in, we have heard stories of flash floods. Today's clouds were expected to produce rain after dusk. Until then, we planned to hike the Palm Canyon trail near the Anza-Borrego State Park campground.

We got a late start today, and by the time we arrived at the visitor center, the clouds were getting dark over the mountains. The trail is mostly in a desert wash (creek) at the foot of mountains—not a good place to be during a flash flood.

To be on the safe side, I stopped in to talk to the rangers about the potential for flash floods along the trail. They thought the rain would hold off until sunset, but suggested we keep to the alternate trail, which is at a slightly higher elevation. We followed the ranger's advice, even though it added a half mile to the 3 mile round trip.

The ranger's story of a recent flash flood that produced a sixteen foot wall of water and debree were fresh in our minds. As we hiked, we frequently scanned the clouds over the mountain peaks, looking for any signs of rain. To make sure that we made it back in daylight, we set a turnaround time. We reached this time about two thirds of the way to the palm oasis. From here, the trail followed a straight section of the stream, and we were able to see the palm grove upstream. It was impressive enough that we made a plan to come back another day and hike all the way to the oasis. For now, daylight was running out and we felt the first raindrops on our skin. We turned back.

Hikers have been reporting recent sightings of bighorn sheep in the area. During our hike, we regularly scanned the nerby slopes and ridges for signs sheep, but they remained hidden from us.

Feb 24: Stuck in the sand on the way to the mud caves

Charlie is trying to get the truck unstuck.

Our list of sights to see today had several items, ending with the mud caves near Agua Caliente County Park. As we approached the turn-off from S2 to the caves, we decided to make it our first stop because it would take the longest.

We turned onto the dirt road toward Desert Spring (and the caves). After a couple of hundred yards, we saw a sign warning about soft sand ahead. Not wanting to risk it, we decided to turn around. Unfortunately, during the turn, the front of the truck went off the hard-packed sand and into the soft shoulder. It was stuck! Fortunately, we found two off-roaders willing to pull us out. They refused my offer of beer money and suggested a letter to the Good Sam Club instead.

Here is the letter I sent for publication in the Highways magazine:

Good People Everywhere

We have been fulltimers since July 2004, and it is always a pleasure to find good people everywhere we travel, many of them Good Sam members.

During our recent visit to the Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, I managed to get our two wheel drive truck stuck in soft sand on the edge of a dirt road. We tried everything we could think of, but the result was the same—the spinning rear wheels sank deeper in sand. We decided to get help before our F-550 sank to the chassis.

A Jeep leaving the area gave us a ride to the Agua Caliente RV park (he was not set up to pull us out). The tow truck company was unwilling to send a large truck out on the sandy road and their smaller units were unavailable for hours.

The rangers allowed us to walk through the RV park to see if we could find someone with a four wheel drive truck who was willing to help us. This is when we met Skip Slavkin (Good Sam member), his wife Barbie, and their travel companions John and Barbara Marnell. They had just come back from off-roading in Mexico with their Jeep and Dodge.

John and Skip went back with me to the truck and pulled it out in no time. Barbara and Barbie graciously invited my wife and our baby to wait with them at their campsite. After the truck was out of the sand, we had an enjoyable conversation and got to know each other a little bit.

I wanted to thank all four of them for being such Good Samaritans, to help out complete strangers so willingly. We now have four new friends in southern California.

Charlie Kerekes
Livingston, TX

Feb 22: San Diego Zoo

A lesser flamingo spreads her wings

One of the reasons we chose to stay in the Anza-Borrego desert was its proximity to San Diego. Today was the day to visit the famous San Diego Zoo.

The drive was about 75 miles through curvy mountain roads, almost all the way. With the baby, it took us about two hours to get there. On the way, we saw some of the San Diego suburbs from the highway—very nice houses on steep hillsides. I can see why so many people like to live here.

It was a little frustrating finding the zoo. Even with a good map, we got in the wrong lane in heavy traffic and were forced to turn down another road. We were amazed that, despite the fame of this zoo, we saw absolutely no signs to lead tourists in the right direction, until we were almost there. In Dallas, you start seeing signs for the zoo on the Interstate from miles away.

The zoo was enjoyable and the weather was perfect. The landscaping was very well done. However, neither one of us were overwhelmed by the displays. Don't get me wrong—they were very nice and the animal selection was above average, but we were expecting extraordinary. We found this zoo on par with those in other major cities, such as the Fort Worth Zoo. Another thing I found frustrating was how few animals were in open displays. Most were behind dense cages, which made it very difficult to take good pictures.

OK, enough complaining! In the end, I am glad we saw it and I still think the zoo is a top destination when in San Diego. My favorite animal displays: the giraffes, the various hogs (especially the red river hog), the large number of flamingos, and the koalas.

Feb 17: Cool Canyon

Cool Canyon in Shelter Valley, CA

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In our back yard are several small mountains, about a mile outside the back fence. Landra found an article describing Cool Canyon between two of these mountains. Apparently this canyon does not have an official name, but the locals found it so interesting that they named it Cool.

Shortly after noon we packed a day pack, put the baby in the front carrier, and passed through the opening in the back fence to check out this canyon for ourselves. On the other side of the fence is the state park. From there, the trail took us directly to the canyon's mouth.

The canyon is home to the typical desert flora. The canyon walls and interesting rock outcroppings made this a very scenic hike. After about a half mile into the canyon, large boulders had to be climbed to continue. Having the baby with us, we decided that was a bit much and turned back.

In Cool Canyon we saw three agave plants blooming with yellow flowers. The agave, also known as the century plant, lives about 100 years and blooms only once; seeing several blooming in one area is rare.

We took our time looking at interesting rocks and plants. By the time we reached the campground fence line, the long shadows of the mountains overtook us and the warm day turned chilly. This has been a very satisfying day.

Feb 15: Back on the Internet from the RV

As I have mentioned earlier, no cell phone signals reach the Stagecoach Trails RV Resort. We have been diving four miles down the road to make calls and use our T-Mobil internet card. Today, the phone company finally came out to turn on the phone line.

In our previous McKinney home, we have been using Copper.net as our dial-up ISP, so I checked to see if they had a local number. Sure enough, they had a Julian access number. Their price is still $10 per month without a contract, which fit our temporary need perfectly.

As the technician was hooking up the phone line, he told me that we are so far from the switching station that we'll be lucky to get a 25 kbps connection. We were't quite so lucky—most of our connections so far have been at 21.6 kbps! But, a slow Internet connection at home is better that diriving four miles for a slow connection. I now feel complete.

Feb 12: Our first hike in the Anza-Borrego Desert State Park

Landra, Baby and Charlie at the end of the Panoramic Lookout Trail. Below is the desert floor, surrounded on three sides by mountains.

Today was our first hike in the state park itself. Baby has considerably shortened our hikes and slowed our pace, but has not kept us from seeing the great outdoors.

Me carrying a backpack and Landra carrying the baby in a harness, we started out on the shortest trail from the visitor center. A paved sidewalk took us from the visitor center to the mid section of the campground 0.6 miles away. The sidewalk ends in the campground by three California fan palms and a drinking fountain. From there we took the 0.5 mile long Panoramic Lookout Trail. It led us through the flat desert landscape for a short distance, then up on the nearby hill.

Switchbacks on the trail were pretty mild and the summit had a very nice view of the desert, RV park, and Borrego Springs. By our standards, this trail is very easy. We were surprised how tired we felt by the time we reached the summit. It has been several months since our previous hike; less sleep and carrying an infant also added to our fatigue. It was a beautiful day in the upper seventies, though it felt hotter with the sun bearing down on us. Landra kept Baby in the shade by draping a large handkerchief over him—a dew rag left over from our scooter days.

Looking down at the RV park from the Panoramic Lookout.

If you plan to hike in this area and don't mind the extra 0.6 mile walk, park at the visitor center for free and walk to the trailheads in the campground. If you would rather walk less, drive into the campground and pay the $6 day use fee per vehicle.

After the hike, we walked through the campground to take a quick look around. It has a few advantages over the one we are staying at: it has cell phone coverage, a more scenic backdrop, and shopping available in town. The only RV rate we saw posted was the $29 daily rate. One concern here is the potential for flash floods, coming off the nearby mountains.

Feb 11: The horses have arrived

One of the horses at Stagecoach Trails RV Resort.

Several of the horses enjoyed a sand bath after a long day of riding in the desert.

Horse trailers started arriving Thursday evening. By Friday evening Stagecoach Trails RV Resort was buzzing with equestrian activities: trailers being unloaded, horses being fed, and people getting in short rides before dark.

This evening we passed by several corrals while walking the dog. One group of horses recently returned from a ride and were hosed down by their owners. As we watched and chatted with one of the owners, three of them got down on the ground for a sand bath. The owner wasn't too concerned about her clean horses getting dirty—she said that the desert sand falls off easily, once their hair dries.

These horse owners seem to be a jolly bunch. Most of them arrived in groups and had roaring campfires every night. Many of the trails in the state park allow horses. I have seen at least two openings in the RV park fence, leading to various trails into the desert. We are not horse owners, but this area seems to be an ideal place to ride them. Just across the road from the park, on the North Pinion Mountains, is the California Riding and Hiking Trail.

So far we have been exploring the desert landscape in the RV park and have made one trip to Jualian. This weekend will be our first hike in the state park.

Feb 7: Stagecoach Trails RV Resort in the desert

View of Stagecoach Trails RV Resort and the surrounding mountains

More photos »

Some of our family live in northern latitudes where many RV parks don't open until April. Getting there too early meant having to stay too far or in parks without full hookup. So, we decided to spend an extra month on the West Coast. We chose the Stagecoach Trails RV Resort from where to see sights in the Anza-Borrego desert and San Diego.

Stagecoach Trails has a Julian address, but it is located in the small community of Shelter Valley, about 16 miles from Julian. It is a city of less than 400 population, not marked on any of my maps.

This was our first experience in a desert. I used to imagine a desert as a vast expanse of nothing but golden sand. Surprisingly, this desert has quite a bit of vegetation, primarily composed of the following: ocotillo, several variety of cholla cacti, creosote bushes, agave, and palo verde trees. All of the vegetation is low, growing in soil composed of loose sand and rock. It sounds desolate, but we found it beautiful in its own way.

This RV park caters to horse riders and their horses. As such, several areas of horse pens are located throughout the park. We do not have horses but enjoy watching them. I'm not sure how many RV slots the park has, but it is very large. The spaces vary in size, most of them larger than what you find in typical RV parks. Within the park boundary are sections of wildly growing desert vegetation. The numerous dirt roads on the property provide plenty of space to walk the dog.

Granite Mountain (5,633') has a dusting of snow after an evening of light rain.

Stagecoach Trails lies in Earthquake Valley. The nearest cell phone signal is at the 78 and S2 intersection, 4 miles away. In the park the only options for phone calls are the pay phones or having your own line installed. Since we are staying a month, we ordered a phone line to our trailer; it will take SBC a week to install it. Until then, we make the 4 mile drive down the road to make calls, usually joined by several others on the shoulder—it looks like a conference call.

The park literally borders the Anza-Borrego Desert State Park. A section of the back fence has an opening to a trail which leads into the state park, directly into Cool Canyon 0.8 miles away. If you like hiking, there seems to be no end to the foot and horse trails around here.

Feb 4: Arrived in the Los Angeles area

After a full year in the Rogue Valley, we have finally vacated Oregon on February 3-rd. We caught a mild day to cross the Siskiyou Pass on the Oregon/California border. This turned out to be a very narrow window because on the 4-th snow was expected again in the mountains.

We are staying at the Pomona/Fairlpex KOA for a couple of nights to visit friends and family in Los Angeles suburbs. The Pomona KOA is an old park, built decades ago when RV's were much smaller. Today's big rigs will find this park very tight to maneuver. We followed their advice on the best way to enter our slot, but were unable to make the turn because of a tree. We had to loop around to squeeze into the narrow and short slot from the other end. Other than the tightness, we have no complaints about this park. It is well maintained and has the nicest dog walk I have seen in any RV park. Not only one, but two other dog walks near the back.

The problem with any park in or near major cities is the traffic. As soon as we reached the outer limits of the L.A. highway system, traffic slowed to a crawl, and this on a Saturday afternoon. No sooner than we arrived, we received the "welcome to L.A." wave with the middle finger, by a man whom we delayed a few seconds while merging into solid traffic. Oh, how I missed the big city!

The warm Pomona weather was a welcome change from the rain of Oregon. It felt so good walking among palm trees, wearing shorts and flip-flops.