<\/a>Ahhh. back to my routine!\u00a0 This was a perfect night for staying at Walmart. \u00a0I had stuff to do until well after sunset, so really all I needed out of my overnight spot was a place to park and go to sleep. \u00a0AllStays (my camping app) said that all Walmarts in SD discourage camping\u00a0except<\/em>\u00a0this one at the far eastern edge of the city, off I-8 in Lakeside. By happy coincidence this is the direction I want to go, so I\u00a0drove 40 miles worth of freeways, and by the time I found it I was pretty much ready to crash.\u00a0All good, because getting to Walmart early means you just get to spend more time sitting in your van in the parking lot.<\/p>\n This really was a very pleasant Walmart. \u00a0Yelp turned up two likely breakfast places, but in the comments, one was run by a racist, so I backtracked about 6 miles to option two,\u00a0Janet’s Cafe<\/strong>. It was entirely adequate, nice even, so I was ready to head for the desert!<\/p>\n I-8 to\u00a0Sunrise Highway<\/strong>\u00a0and\u00a0Mount Laguna<\/strong>.\u00a0 To my surprise, there was a fair amount of snow up here. \u00a0The storm we experienced Tuesday night, that roiled the surf and stirred up the kelp at Dana Point seems to have dumped six or eight inches of new snow up here at 4500′.\u00a0 It was in the 50’s today but it still gets down to freezing at night, here in late February about 60 miles from the Mexican border.<\/p>\n Towards the north end of the mountains are the spectacular views to the east that one would expect from a road called\u00a0Sunrise Highway<\/em>.\u00a0 It was cool to stand at the overlook in the snow, looking over 60 or so miles of the\u00a0Anzo Borrego Desert<\/strong>, at the very road I’ll be driving in an hour or so.<\/p>\n My road runs into the eastern end of\u00a0Julian<\/strong>, where it turns east, thus missing the town. \u00a0I’ve always liked Julian, heck everybody likes Julian. \u00a0It has apple orchards! \u00a0It’s one of the few places to get fall colors in all of San Diego County. It’s a very nice little town.\u00a0 But I’ve already eaten and I don’t wish to browse antique stores today (or any day! :), so I will just take the right, down the\u00a0Banner Grade<\/strong>, from the Laguna Mountains to the low desert.<\/p>\n After the grade and 30 miles of the desert State Park, Route 79 takes me through the middle of\u00a0Ocotillo Wells OHV Area<\/strong>. This is miles of churned-up, abused desert on the left and normal looking desert behind a fence on the right.\u00a0 Eventually 79 is forced to take a turn south because the Salton Sea is dead ahead.\u00a0 I wished to check out the Sonny\u00a0Bono Wildlife Refuge<\/strong>\u00a0as long as I am circling the bottom of the Sea, but saw no sign for it. I followed 79 a little longer than I had to, because GasBuddy showed less expensive diesel in Brawley. \u00a0I got my diesel an had a little restorative stop at the McD’s across the street – fish sando and hot fudge sundae (my default McD’s order) – and a little air conditioning and wifi and\u00a0not staring at the road<\/em>\u00a0for a few minutes – ahhh.<\/p>\n WHUFU page for: Salton Sea State Recreation Area<\/a><\/b><\/p> \n On the east side of the lake, making for spectacular sunsets over the water every night. \r<\/p>\n Very quiet and beautiful and delightful. \r<\/p>\n The big north-south highway and train tracks are pretty close and carry big noisy trucks and trains respectively.<\/p>\n<\/p> <\/p><\/div> Then it was a straight shot up Route 111 to the\u00a0Salton Sea SRA<\/strong>, which turned out to be spectacular this particular day.\u00a0 I spent the last hour or so of my daylight looking at the birds and the water and the reflection of the sun on the water, and exploring the old marina. I am not a big fan of the glare from direct sunlight, so I particularly enjoyed that 40 minutes of excellent daylight you get when the sun disappears behind the mountains to the west but is still above the horizon line. \u00a0In the desert this is my absolute favorite time. \u00a0Ya don’t get that at the ocean :)<\/p>\n Slept well-ish.\u00a0 Something about the place and the time got me into that b-man party mode, so I\u00a0partied a little too hard\u00a0at the ole van.\u00a0 Not\u00a0waaay too hard\u00a0I am happy to say, but a little.\u00a0 So I fell asleep (passed out) at ten pm and woke up at two am.\u00a0 So I trundled over to the bathroom\u00a0– there is\u00a0running water at the Sonny Bono SRA! – under the awesome 2 am\u00a0waning gibbous<\/em>\u00a0moon, brushed my teeth, trundled back, went back to sleep and slept very well till 8:30-ish. \u00a0… upon reflection, my new theory of poor sleeping is the tilt of the van. We were quite level at Campland and San Elijo, not so much at the Walmart and Salton. \u00a0I will monitor this\u00a0in the\u00a0future.<\/p>\n I’m sure the perfect weather had a lot to do with it, but gosh, what a great place!\u00a0 It seemed to be populated with like-minded people, everybody quiet and minding their own business … oh!\u00a0 I get it.\u00a0 There were no kids!\u00a0 And nobody under 45 come to think of it :)\u00a0 Anyway, you could appreciate the desolate quiet beauty … when there wasn’t an 80 car freight train rumbling 1\/4 mile away or a clot of semis on Route 111, which is even closer than the railway.\u00a0 Also, for some reason (the railroad?\u00a0 the highway?) I got really good phone reception there – which with my Personal Hotspot meant good wifi at camp!<\/p>\n Visit at the ranger station, learn some Salton Sea lore from the movie. I finally tear myself away from that perfect setting about 12:30.\u00a0 Head\u00a0over the romantic sounding Box Canyon Road<\/strong>\u00a0through the mildly dramatic\u00a0Chocolate Mountains<\/strong>. I should add for your orientation, that last night and right now I am about 30 or so miles south and east of the\u00a0Coachella<\/strong>\u00a0music festival site.\u00a0 The Salton Sea is in the same giant valley as Coachella, and Palm Springs and Palm Desert and Desert Hot Springs,. \u00a0It is a really big valley.<\/p>\n Breakfast at\u00a0Chiciara Summit<\/strong>. \u00a0It turns out that the entire panoply of services at that lonely freeway interchange was founded by a single family and owned by them for 100 years! It’s a little enclave onto itself. \u00a0The story and the place probably have a seamy underside of exploitation, but I really enjoyed my brief visit. \u00a0Probably because it was the only breakfast place in 80 miles!<\/p>\n So I am well-fed and caffienated when I get to\u00a0Joshua Tree<\/strong>, \u00a0Because I spent so much of this excellent day at Salton Sea there is not a lot of daylight left. \u00a0So I powered past the popular Joshua Tree stops. \u00a0No\u00a0Cholla Gardens<\/strong>, no\u00a0Ocotillo Grove<\/strong>, been there, done that. \u00a0I always really, really enjoy this drive from I-10 to the heart of Joshua Tree, stops or no stops.<\/p>\n WHUFU page for: Jumbo Rocks Campground<\/a><\/b><\/p> \n Sites sprinkled around giant rocks. Nice little 1.7 mile loop trail. Beautiful, restful place, even when crowded.<\/p>\n<\/p> <\/p>tonight<\/b>: \n This time I am pre-bloom, so the park and the campground are pretty deserted and quiet and winter rates are still in effect.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>Camp at\u00a0Jumbo Rocks<\/strong>\u00a0again! \u00a0I tricked myself, I mis-remembered the name of my last campground here, so I went to Jumbo thinking it was new. \u00a0No problem though, it was very uncrowded this time so I had my pick of spots, and generally made it work even better this time.\u00a0 Great spot, #17. \u00a0I did the sunset, pre-moonrise hike around the\u00a0Skull Rock<\/strong>\u00a0circuit. \u00a0We are past full moon, so the is the first night with that awkward ever-lengthening gap between the sun setting and the moon rising. \u00a0I took my flashlight and even had to use it twice!<\/p>\n It’s such a different scene here a month\u00a0before<\/em>\u00a0flower season!\u00a0 Quiet and deserted, just the way I like it!\u00a0 Again today, I don’t stop for many of the sites. I need my coffee and I’ve seen the sites, so I just head on to the town of\u00a0Joshua Tree<\/strong>.<\/p>\n I am really attracted to the town of Joshua Tree.\u00a0 I think because it’s so darned cute coming in from the backside, from the park. \u00a0I think that just blasting down\u00a0Twentynine Palms Highway<\/strong>\u00a0it probably doesn’t look like much.\u00a0Also, there’s the Visitors Center\/wifi cafe combo in town.\u00a0 I like the cafe, I like the wifi, and I like the info center being right there – a win win win!<\/p>\n I got diesel at a nasty little gas station right outside the big Marine installation right north of\u00a0Twentynine Palms<\/strong>.\u00a0 In the middle of the frigging Mojave desert and no windshield squeegees??!!! \u00a0Really?\u00a0 You suck.<\/p>\n Then it’s me and my bug-encrusted\u00a0windshield\u00a0doing the the quite long and very desolate run up to Tecopa.\u00a0 This is the third time I’ve done it, and each time it kinda wears me out, but the stuff at both ends is cool, and there’s never any traffic (except crossing I-15 at Baker) and the vastness is pretty damn vast.\u00a0 This is a coolish and extremely clear day, so it’s pretty sweet except for the glare of the sun. \u00a0One of those “makes you realize how small you are in the scheme of things” kind of experiences.<\/p>\n Twentynine Palms, due east, then due north on\u00a0Amboy Road<\/strong>, over the pass and through the huge playa with the giant chlorine mine, over the next pass to crossing under I-40 into the\u00a0Mojave National Preserve<\/strong>, which is really desolate.\u00a0 I stop again at the train station at\u00a0Kelso<\/strong>\u00a0because it’s so cool and I love it.\u00a0 This used to be a big deal train station in World War 2. \u00a0The building is preserved beautifully, and I find it very restful and pleasant to hang here for a while.\u00a0 Then onward through the north half of the preserve to cross I-15 at\u00a0Baker<\/strong>.\u00a0\u00a0 I get a gyro and greek salad from that divey Greek place in Baker.\u00a0 I kind of don’t like the place, but it’s such a novelty to have a big, booming Greek place in the middle of the Mojave desert that I always fall for it, and hate myself later.\u00a0 Well … it wasn’t so bad this time, I ordered to go, and ordered relatively healthy for a change. \u00a0The salad and gyro were pretty good, but $12.75.<\/p>\n WHUFU page for: Tecopa Hot Springs<\/a><\/b><\/p> \n Odd place. Separate bathhouses for men and women, nudity required. Camping is available in glorified parking lot across the road overlooking the settlement pond. \r<\/p>\n No potable water, must drive a couple of miles for that. Really interesting salt flats area at the edge of town. In the last couple of years a pair of restaurants have opened. And breweries!\r<\/p>\n \r<\/p>\n <\/p>\n<\/p> <\/p>tonight<\/b>: \n visited on the long way back from San Diego on the way to Arizona. Very hot, very windy tonight. Day was awful, night is wonderful. Almost nobody here.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>It’s another hour of really interesting desert terrain to Tecopa. \u00a0Tecopa is at the edge of a kind of natural sump area, alkaline flats and contrary to the usual flat playa look, alkaline hills. The check-in person at the hot springs is a little off from normal, as they usually are here. \u00a0It’s always a different person, but they’re always …. odd. \u00a0The people out here are true desert rats. \u00a0Not quite creepy, but strange.<\/p>\n I’m here early in the day. \u00a0The odd fellow did set me\u00a0up with the best site in the big blank parking lot that passes for an RV park here. \u00a0I demolished the Greek salad and took a little nap. \u00a0Then I assembled my bike (for the one and only time on this trip) and had a delightful little cruise down the road to soak up the sunset in the alkaline flats.<\/p>\n Then a long soak with the guys and I’m ready for bed.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Ahhh. back to my routine!\u00a0 This was a perfect night for staying at Walmart. \u00a0I had stuff to do until well after sunset, so really all I needed out of my overnight spot was a place to park and go … Continued<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-337","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-1302sandiego"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.whufu.com\/wpwhu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/337","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.whufu.com\/wpwhu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.whufu.com\/wpwhu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.whufu.com\/wpwhu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.whufu.com\/wpwhu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=337"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.whufu.com\/wpwhu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/337\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.whufu.com\/wpwhu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=337"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.whufu.com\/wpwhu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=337"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.whufu.com\/wpwhu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=337"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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<\/a>Wednesday<\/a><\/h3>
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