Mar 16, 2010

SPRING TIME IN THE WEST

Saturday we left Lake Pleasant for a short 3 hour drive to Quartzsite.  We dry camped in the free 14 day BLM area just east of Q.  We went into town and did a big load of laundry and picked up a few things at the produce market and hardware store.  What a difference a couple of months make. Compared to January, when we were last here, it is practically a ghost town now.

Sunday morning we continued our trip west.  Our destination was Borrego Springs, California,  25 miles west of the Salton Sea.  We arrived late afternoon and soon settled on a place to dry camp.  Our nearest neighbors were 300 yards away.

This chunk of desert is supposedly private land owned by a developer.  But apparently he has long since disappeared and no one seems to care if you camp here.  Since we could see at least 20 other rigs we figured we were OK.  It didn't take long to set up camp and it was soon time for wine and cheese.

We discovered that Mollie shares something in common with her friend Linda.  Mollie doesn't like goat cheese either.  I don't get it.  There is nothing like goat cheese spread on a cracker with a little fig jam on top.

Monday morning we went to the state park and visitors center.  We picked up some local maps and info.  This area is known for it's wild flowers in the spring.  But with all the cold weather the flowers are not here yet.  We decided to take a little drive to Julian, about 25 miles away.  We heard a rumor that there are several little bakeries known for their pie.  Of course we found one.

I won't show you our lunch, but I will tell you half a sandwich and a piece of apple pie with cheddar cheese is a pretty good lunch.

This morning we decided to move on.  The flowers just weren't there and with no phone, or internet service, we decided to pack up.  That's one thing we like about this way of traveling.  If we aren't crazy about where we are, we can always move.  We made a short hour and half drive to another of the Escapees Parks.  This one is called Jojoba Hills SKP Resort.

We have been here before and really enjoyed it.  It didn't take long for them to find us an RV spot and we got settled in.  We will be here long enough to have mail sent and take care of a little business. And since there is a Verizon tower on the hill above the park, our cell phone and wireless card work great.  The weather is beautiful, and the flowers are out.

They describe the climate here as a Mediterranean type climate with warm days, cool evenings, low humidity in the summertime and a mild winter season.  We are about an hour and a half from Los Angeles and sit at about 2000 feet above sea level. All in all a very nice place to spend a little time.

Until later.