May 19 Leaving Needles –– The Best Motel
Mileage 36954
AC, a shower, and a pool. No remote for the TV – Terrible Hardship.
We started today at Needles and drove to Joshua Tree National Park where we learned about the Phainopepla (a bird) and now my new favorite word.
Saw lots of Joshua Trees and a magnificent panoramic view of the Coachella Valley which Deb and I rode through on last year’s HI-AYH San Diego ride. It was quite intimidating to see 75% of a 100-mile day from so far above it. It was a long ride.
Now that I have seen part of the Xmas ride from a car there is no way I will do it again. Bob keeps trying to drag partners along on this cheap, winter ride, and I did it once. ONCE is enough. The winds in these valleys are persistent and strong and probably always against a bicycle rider. Plus it is dismally brown. The desert may be subtle but not my preferred locale.
Have any of you ever been thru Wonder Valley? Subdivisions and streets and abandoned cabin/homes scattered throughout the desert between Joshua Park and 29 Palms. Not just a couple of abandoned dwellings in the desert—hundreds and probably thousands of them. Someone must of sold these lots sight unseen to the unsuspecting for their winter abodes.
We took a side road through most of the valley and then stopped at Valerie Jean’s Date Stand and loaded up on three kinds of dates ($11.00). Munching dates we spotted our first Foster’s Freeze stand and did a quick U—Turn to satisfy our (OK – It was my) craving for an ice cream treat at Foster’s. Yummm…….
The Salton Sea was next on the agenda. I had been by it many times, but I had never stopped to see it so we explored three of the "seaside resorts". We decided that they amount to 1950’s Ghost Towns. Sort of depressing. The main housing appears to be some type of old mobile home. Most of the seafront access is fenced off, and the former hopes and dreams of a lot of people are evident in the deserted, neglected, crumbling motels, resort buildings, and marinas.
Very sad place.
Why don’t they start a Southern California windsurfing mecca? Instead of $6K for a lot charge $55K. Anyone want in?
Tonight we’re camped at a remote campground in Anza-Borrego State Park near Borrego Springs. We’re next to a dried streambed, and since we’re on the edge of the campground we hope to spot some of the local wildlife. So far we’ve spotted two hummingbirds, a jackrabbit, and a lizard.
Bob cracked up. We had to pay for our campsite thru an automatic machine that took cash or credit cards. This is California at its best! It’s a balmy breeze here. We are protected from the majority of the desert bluster since we are crouched up against the base of the mountains.
It’s a wonderfully remote campsite. There are other people here, but we can’t see nor hear them so it seems like we’re the only two people in the campground. The sun’s gone down, but it’s still light, and there’s a good, warm breeze blowing. It’s warming up our martinis, but we don’t care.
It’s all very perfect.
May 20 Leaving Anza-Boreago State Park
Mileage 37318
At 6:06AM as we drove off down the desert road, I realized my life had significantly changed. Not only was it not a hardship to be up, awake and already on my first cup of coffee, but I was ready for the road. All those years when I struggled to get out of bed for work, and now I just wake up. The fact that we are usually asleep by 9:30 has nothing to do with it.
It’s really good for Deb to be up in time to see the sun greet the day. Our newspaper is the desert vista, and our alarm clock is the sun. Much better than the radio and The San Jose Mercury News.
Bob wanted to be at the summit gazing over the Salton Sea in the first morning light. We were there, but it was too hazy to see too many miles in the distance. Onward through the southern mountain valleys. We were going to have breakfast in Julian and wander about the stores, but they were all still closed.
Of course they were. It was 7:30AM when we got there. You don't sell many souvenirs or pieces of apple pie at 7:30AM. But it’s a good way to travel.
We headed north for Temecula. One of the beautiful roads on the Christmas San Diego rides goes through De Luz Canyon to Fallbrook, so we drove it. When we were there last Christmas there had recently been a fire. After last winter’s rainy deluge and this year’s moderate rainfall, this area has exploded in color with wildflowers. Not that I don’t like flowers or anything like that!!
So after this we headed for the coast. It was foggy. No beaching it in San Diego. Then we headed for my brother, Craig’s, house for a quicky visit. Two of his kids were doing a performance at Balboa Park, so Aunt Deb and Uncle Bob went along to listen to the band’s performance. The high school band is remarkably good, but we had to leave before the last number to go to the next performance of the Fern Street Circus where Leo, the youngest, is a member of the juggling troupe and Chadd, Craig’s oldest, is both a juggler and yo-yo man. These aren’t just normal yo-yo tricks—this is my nephew and he’s great. And Leo, at 11, is one concentrated and serious juggler. He juggles 5 balls or batons while balancing on a 3 foot diameter ball. I could not stand on the ball nor could I juggle, but both!! So the next morning Leo tells me he is working on a 7-ball routine. Can you see that many at once?
May 20 & 21
Stayed in San Diego at Craig’s
I went to visit Sandy, Craig’s ex-wife or soon-to-be ex. I got very depressed. Not many in my family stay married and I had hoped they would. They won’t and so all the memories of childhood returned. Mostly I was hoping that the kids would be OK and there won’t get to be too much miscommunications between the two adults.
So then I was grumpy and it was foggy and we were thinking of staying longer but decided to leave the next day. There are lots of things to do in San Diego, but we decided to leave.
My brother, Greg, and his wife were to arrive that evening. Once again the airlines conspired to ruin their day and ours. We began to become very worried that they had not gotten onto their flight and their home phone was off-hook when they called 3-4 hours late to say they had just arrived. No legs of their route were as planned, but they made it to SD. About 10:00 we picked them up. They were to have arrived at 5:00.
May 22 Left San Diego
I called Sandy to say we were leaving, and I would not be able to go to the Gem Show with her and Ariel on Sunday. I had wanted to see them both some more, but we wanted to leave SD. Bob and I stopped to see the rose gardens at Balboa Park. We missed the first bloom. They were almost into a second bloom. They take remarkable care of this park.
Then we went to the Natural History Museum to see the Diamond Show. If anyone is going to SD this summer, you should see this exhibit. It went into history and explanation of diamonds as well as had an amazing display of jewelry and dioramas explaining the discovery and recovery of the gems. It was much better than we thought it would be.
We headed for the border. There is an oak-studded canyon crossing the mountains. Really pretty, so I made Bob stop at 2:00 today. No riding in Vinnie until dusk settles.
We were quite amazed at the countryside. Being so close to the Mexican border we thought it would be dry, rocky desert, but it turned out to be quite lush. There are many trees and small streams.
We ended up at a pretty little county park called Morena Lake at about elevation 3000-foot elevation. It is great, except there is too much of a breeze. We hope it warms up soon, but not as much as Needles.
The lake turned out to be a great place to stop. There were a lot of people, but it’s a weekend, and the lake is apparently a popular fishing lake in the area. We took a few walks and generally enjoyed camping beside the lake.
3000 feet of altitude can be deceptive. We had to get up in the middle of the night and put on additional blankets and turn on the heater. It was COLD! Remember that this is May in southern Southern California. We are experiencing all sorts of temperature extremes. It certainly adds too the adventure.
May 23 Leaving Morena Lake
Mileage 37604
Deb decided to ride six miles back to the highway while I cleaned up the van and got ready to leave. Tough ride. It was all downhill. But she probably has a different view of the ride…
There were 2 baby inclines.
As we began the drive out of California, the weather and the countryside became more like we expected. The terrain became more rugged, and it got a little warmer. Lots of bunnies, a coyote, many different birds, vast herds of Border Patrol vehicles... and I mean VAST herds of them! Every car or truck was a Border Patrol vehicle. A few of them had even caught small groups of the elusive Brown-Breasted Mexican Wetback. Our tax dollars at work.
Bob, is that politically correct?
Finally! Finally after 11 days we left California. I thought it would never happen. We entered Arizona in Yuma and headed north to visit Deb’s Uncle Ted and Aunt Louise.
The Arizona desert between Yuma and Prescott is pretty monotonous. There are many small towns and about a zillion RVs and RV parks catering to the seasonal (Winter) visitors. Lots of sagebrush and juniper. But Deb did see her first Roadrunner that wasn’t in a cartoon.
We arrived at Ted’s around 3:00PM. What a great host! He gave us a tour of the property and has a wonderful treasure house of great stories. We went out for some delicious Chinese Food and then saw Ted’s videos of his recent Alaska trip.
May 24
Today Ted gave us a tour of Prescott. Ted is a one-man Chamber of Commerce for Prescott, AZ. The man loves where he lives, and is an A-One tour guide. Deb and I ran errands in the PM and then had a terrible turkey dinner. Louise, toss out that recipe! Ted’s grandson, Brian was visiting, and we also met Saki, their neighbor.
Louise didn’t cook that bird, I did, but it was still awful. It turns out it was a recipe that had never been prepared before. Let me tell you, I won’t prepare it ever again.
May 25 Left Prescott heading for Grand Canyon
Mileage 37969
It’s a pretty morning—good temp with a few light fluffy clouds. We have decided to do a straight shot to GC because we will be heading back to Prescott this weekend (the Holiday happens to be Louise’s 78th birthday). So we are making good time, but Bob is hungry, so we stop and pull off to the side of the ride for some cereal.
Once finished with grub, guess what? Vinnie won’t start. No juice! None at all, not even a starter click click. We check fuses; we look for broken wires; we put him in and out of gear, but no juice. So we get out the cell phone after first hooking up the GPS to find out where we are. This works cool. We know right where we are and can use the Topo program to plot a map to tell tow truck how far to come to get us.
Bob is not a happy camper at this minute. He says we don’t have towing, but what choice is there. The truck that comes has no diagnostic equipment. We are hoping it is not the alternator since this little town of Ashfork, the Flagstone Capital of Arizona, is not likely to have one. They say it is the battery and are replacing it now.
I will not hear the end of this for a while. Bob had wanted to replace the battery before we left, and I didn’t want to since it had an adequate charge. Now we are really going to get charged!
Debbie, Debbie, Debbie……*sigh* Girls! They just don’t understand complex automotive equipment. Before we left on our adventure, I strongly suggested that we buy a new battery so we wouldn’t have to worry about it on our trip, but NO! "We didn’t need one." The one we had was perfectly fine. Right. The sucker failed. And rather than pay $38 at Costco, we paid $128 for the same battery in the middle of the Arizona desert.
But it’s not all bad. For this simple oversight on Deb’s part, I get a $90 Bob Credit for food or fun things I may need along the way. It’s only fair.
So we head on for GC (Grand Canyon). Checked into our campsite and pulled out the old bicycles. We went for an invigorating 3-mile ride. A good portion of it we walked around the Rim, then Bob got lost, but he found me again. Back to home—Vinnie.
Lost? I wasn’t lost. I was out exploring the countryside around the Grand Canyon. I’m just happy I found Deb when I did, or she might still be out there, lost and alone.
We’re in our campsite now, and dinner is on the grill. Tonight I had a 2oz. Martini that I was sipping while I typed our journal. Deb had a "sip" and it was gone! She gulps like a drunken sailor. I sip like a gentleman.
After dinner we realized that one of the things-to-do in GC is to watch the sunset. We quickly packed up everything and high-tailed it for the rim. We were late, but it was a good walk anyway. It’s fun to walk after dinner.