Today was cooler, temperature of 75 degrees, very windy. And, of course, the wind was "head on" as we were driving. Our "gas mileage" today was very poor.
It took us longer than usual to prepare for departure this morning. We pulled out of Kofa Ko-op around noon, and by the time we refilled with diesel and took care of some other last minute chores we pulled out of Yuma about 12:45. We headed west on Interstate 8 into California. We stopped at Holtville to buy burritos for both lunch and dinner ( carne asada for lunch and machaca for supper ), and pan dulce at the panaderia in town.
After eating our burrito lunch in the trailer we headed north on Hwy. 115 then west on Hwy. 78 to Brawley. Northwest on Hwy. 86 then west again on Hwy. 78 through Ocotillo Wells to the town of Borrego Springs in Anza-Borrego Desert State Park. Well, I guess the town of Borrego Springs is technically not in the state park. There is a large tract of land "inside" the state park that isn't state park land. And the town is part of that non-state park land.
We found our way to the Visitor Center just a few miles west of Borrego Springs, arriving about 15 minutes before it closed. That was enough time to pick up a map of the state park and get directions to the "free camping" / boondock area on the east / other side of Borrego Springs. We drove over to "Peg Leg" boondocking area and got set up. We unhitched the truck from the trailer, took a look at the state park map, took Bo for a short walk, and watched the sun set. Bo puts weight on his broken toe but walks slowly and doesn't want to walk much. While Joanne prepared a salad and a Mexican rice mix to go along with the machaca burrito for supper I worked on the computer, doing today's accounting and journal entry.
Monday ; Joanne was ill today, suffering from an upper respiratory infection that she has felt coming on for a few days now. Many of the Kofa Ko-op residents have been inflicted with this upper respiratory "Kofa Krud" over the last few weeks. It put one of the older residents in the hospital. It's somewhat like a dry, deep, chest cold. Shortness of breath, dry coughing, chest congestion / restriction, and of course, general malaise and weakness.
This morning we headed over to the Visitor Center to plan our visit in Anza-Borrego Desert State Park. We took a long time to get there ! We were sidetracked by discovering the somewhat renowned field of metal art sculptures. Quite astonishing metal art pieces. All life size ! And before we finally did make it to the Visitor Center we drove into the state park campground to have a look around. We were planning to hitch up the trailer and take it to the state park campground tomorrow to dump the waste holding tanks and refill with fresh water for a fee of $8. We were anticipating spending more time here and did not want to pay $35 a night in the state park campground, preferring to boondock for free a few miles away. But ... by the end of the day we had decided that we will be leaving Anza-Borrego Desert State Park tomorrow.
We visited the Visitor Center, viewing a movie about the park, and walking around the desert plants hiking trail nearby. This is not a great year for desert plants. The major attraction of Anza-Borrego Desert State Park is wildflowers blooming in the spring. But not this year ! The winter was too dry. We returned to the trailer to have lunch. And a nap !
After a nap we ( including Bo ) headed west on Hwy. S22 looking for the turn off to Fonts Point. We found the turn off, then drove four very rough off road miles through Fonts Wash ( a dry arroyo ) to the scenic lookout at Fonts Point. We hiked a short distance to the overlooks and took photos. Bo is so "game", enthusiastically but slowly limping along on a hike. Good dog, Bo, well done ! His slow pace and endurance, and Joanne's were about the same today. We drove back through Fonts Wash to Hwy. S22 then continued east on Hwy. S22 until we exited the state park, having missed the turn off to Palm Slot Canyon we were looking for. We turned around and drove back into the state park, eventually finding the turn off ... such as it was ... into Palm Slot Canyon.
We descended very slowly down a steep, narrow, 4WD off road trail ... almost too narrow for a dually ... into Palm Slot Canyon. When the trail ended, we got out of the truck and hiked slowly into the slot canyon. When Bo and Joanne got tired we turned around, hiked back to the truck, and drove up and out of Palm Slot Canyon. On our way back to Peg Leg boondocking area we decided that we had seen enough of Anza-Borrego State Park for now and would leave tomorrow.
Today's activities stretched both Bo's and Joanne's endurance to their limits. And while Joanne's enthusiasm diminished proportionately to her endurance ... Bo's did not. HA HA HA ! What a dog !
This morning we departed Peg Leg boondocking area and drove into the town of Borrego Springs to refill with diesel. YIKES ! ! ! Diesel was $4.79 a gallon at the cheapest of the three stations in town. Some of the fuel prices in town exceeded $5 a gallon ! We left town westbound on Hwy. S-22. It was a very long and steep climb over the mountains. Lanoire is not a "spring chicken" any more at 188,000 km., and pulling Harvey up and over the mountains on that long and steep a grade was hard on the transmission. I could smell the hot AT fluid, not a good sign ! I'm a bit paranoid because hauling 12,000 pound Harvey over those kinds of steep, long grades cost me two transmissions on Dee-Dee, our previous truck. Once over the mountains we were out of Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, and out of the desert for the first time since early November.
We turned northwest on Hwy. 79, passing the renowned Palomar Observatory, heading for Jojoba Hills SKP Park at Aguanga. The last time we were there, more than five years ago, I vowed never to return. However, today I succumbed to the temptation of convenience. We planned to spend two days in their unserviced camping area, get caught up on some Internet work, dump our holding tanks, refill our fresh water, and let Joanne rest for a couple of days. She's quite sick. However ... I regretted my choice.
I should have "stuck to my guns" of five years ago. When we were checking in at Jojoba Hills we were advised that in addition to the $5 per night charge to use their unserviced camping area ... very reasonable ... there was an additional $5 charge to use their dump station and six bucks a day to use their Wi-Fi ! GOODBYE !
We headed north on the very winding and steep Hwy. R3 to Hemet where we checked into the luxurious Golden Village Palms RV Resort for a week. Joanne can rest and recuperate. We can both overdose on TV ( over 150 channels on the park's cable TV ).
I can get a lot of work done online using free Wi-Fi. All of which we did for the rest of the day after checking in and getting set up at Golden Village Palms.
Wednesday ; WOO-HOO ... bought tickets today to see Doobie Brothers in Laughlin, Nevada in 2½ weeks.
Joanne very sick. Spent most of the day in bed. Almost as demanding as the damn cat. HA HA HA ! I picked a beautiful, large pink rose from a rose bush on an empty RV site a few sites over from us, and put it on Joanne's bedside, in a collapsible plastic vase that I bought recently. Works well, great for an RV.
I did a bit of outdoor work today, and a lot of desk work. We took Bo a few times to the small but very nice dog park at the end of our street in this very large RV park. Bo's broken toe continues to heal well. He limps a bit, and walks slowly on pavement. Sorry, Bo, our days of sandy desert are over for this year.
I cooked supper. We watched Survivor. First episode we've seen of this season.
Thursday ; The weather here in Southern California is lovely, a bit cooler than Yuma. Well, Joanne was a little less ill today, but not much. Hope she's better soon. Hope I don't catch her ailment ! We went out to run some shopping errands this afternoon. And we took Bo to the little dog park at the end of our street. I'm trying to get Joanne outdoors for fresh air and exercise.
I cooked supper again tonight. Pollock ! Terrible ! I have been sorely disappointed in the quality of fish we have bought this winter in Yuma. You would think that being reasonably close to both the Pacific Ocean and the Sea of Cortez / Gulf of California that Yuma stores would have reasonably good fish. Not so !
Watched Doc Martin on PBS tonight. HA HA HA ! Another addictive British irony / "dry humour" series.
Late each evening I have been taking advantage of excellent Wi-Fi here at Golden Village Palms to do some Similkameen Day Tours marketing.
Friday ; Oh boy, we just got to watch a rerun of last Sunday's episode of Celebrity Apprentice which we missed. I guess when you have over 150 channels you can find reruns of just about anything and everything.
The weather here in Southern California continues to be wonderful. And today was another restful day. I am hoping that a week of taking it easy will allow Joanne to recuperate from the terrible cold like illness she has. She was a bit better today.
This morning I had a long phone chat with my sister. Her husband's recuperation from prostate cancer surgery continues well. Way to go, Bud ! Congratulations on following in your father's footsteps of confronting and beating cancer ! BRAVO !
This afternoon we took Bo for a drivey to Hemet's dog park. He's been there before. He was a bit less enthusiastic about visiting the dog park than we expected him to be. It seems that his toe is still pretty sore, and being in an urban / concrete environment hurts enough to dampen his enthusiasm.
Is "Good Friday", two days before Easter, no longer considered a special day / holiday ?
Saturday ; Great ! ! ! A day dedicated to squabbling and disliking one another !
DSK
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