An Oasis in the Desert

Sunday, May 29th – Joshua Tree National Park – South to Dripping Springs State Park, California - Day 108

We relaxed in the morning. We gradually got packed up and out. Just as we were packing up, we saw this massive rectangular RV pass us pulling a jeep. It was a behemoth.

We headed towards Palm Springs. A swim shower and resupply was necessary. Palm Springs was a green oasis in the desert. It was a beautiful town with gorgeous roadside gardens. We did some shopping and decided to head to the pool. The pool was closing soon but we enjoyed every minute we could before we were kicked out. It was so nice, we decided to take our blanket to the park next door to hang out. We met a couple that was travelling for their daughter’s tennis tournament and they gave us watermelon. Delicious.

We were looking for campsites around San Diego. They were expensive. Dispersed camping was very far outside of the city. We found a regional park website; the Tijuana River Regional Park had plenty of availability, $25 and was 20 minutes from downtown San Diego. We left Palm Springs and drove across the Sao Jacinto mountains. A gas stop provided a $12 meat lovers pizza, add in leftover stew and a picnic table and we had dinner. We finished crossing the mountains.

At this point we phoned Tijuana River State Park and they informed us that there was no availability that night despite what their website says. We had no place to stay and pulled over to discuss our options. We decided that we would check out the nearest National Forest to find a pull out.

On our way, we dropped in at Dripping Springs State park. The host wasn’t available but there were several spots that weren’t occupied. A neighbour let us know that a site had been reserved all weekend, but no one had shown up. At his point it was 10pm on the Sunday of a long weekend, we figured we would chance it. We set-up and I spent some time with the neighbour chatting by the fire. No one showed up.

Comments

Mary in Malibu

Tuesday, June 7th - Angeles Mountains, Los Angeles to Santa Monica Mountains, Malibu, California - Day 117 It is great to welcome Mary back on the trip. The kids gave her a huge hug as we picked her up at the airport. They are all really excited to talk to someone other than their parents. We are all driving to our wedding on June 25th. Sixteen days until we need to be in Victoria, British Columbia. Our plan was to drive up the coast from Los Angeles, halfway to San Fran cut inland to Sequoia National Park and Kings Canyon National Park (which is close by) and then head north to Yosemite, before driving back down to Big Sur and then into San Francisco, potentially north east to Lake Tahoe and north to Redwoods National Park. It’s a busy schedule, we’ll see how it goes. On the way to pick up Mary we got a well-deserved oil change for the Santa Fe, courtesy of Valvoline. It was expensive but quick and easy. We were thinking of driving throu...

Sand Sledding on White Dunes - More Photos

Our Fake Anniversary

Wednesday, June 15th – Big Sur State Park, California - Day 124 We woke up and wished each other a happy 10th anniversary. We planned a special day. Mary was going to watch the kids and take them out for dinner, while Gen and I went to Nepenthe, a restaurant with the most beautiful view around. Neither of us remembered that our anniversary was the next day (until I started writing this blog post. Gen suggested that my cell phone was broken, she couldn’t believe it). The kids and I went to the nearby river and set-up to swim. It was a lovely swim with shallow parts for John and a deep part so I could get a swim in. Another mother and her children came by shortly after to hang out. The two boys were planning on catching crayfish and cooking them for dinner. Charlotte and Aisling jumped on board and soon they were all working on catching crayfish. Aisling caught one but then it dropped back into the water. Gen and Mary joined us, and we relaxed by the shady river. ...

Simnett Travels

Search This Blog