Desert Trip (Day 16)

We are still at the Beale AFB FAMCAMP; the adventure continues.

We didn't get any more snow overnight and awoke to clear skies and cold temperatures. Our plan was to do the laundry at the laundromat in the FAMCAMP then possibly drive up to town, see how the house was doing, and perhaps bring back a few needed things to the RV. We called our yard guy, who also does snow removal, to ask him to check out the neighborhood and see if he could even get there to clear the driveway. We left a message for him and tried to figure out what was going on in town.

To start, Caltrans had chain restrictions on Highway 20 from Penn Valley to Grass Valley apparently due to icy road conditions. That was not a good sign. The local radio stations also said most roads were icy and hazardous. The temperature in town was in the 20's and wasn't predicted get much warmer during the day. We did find out that the roads near the house had been plowed this morning but that left 5 ft high piles of snow on the sides of the roads. We decided not to attempt a trip to Nevada City today. We went to Yuba Ciy instead for a few things, then returned to the RV. The yard guy never called back so I called him again and discovered he had pneumonia. So, we called another snow removal guy to get on his list. We will see what tomorrow brings and go from there.

Desert Trip (Day 15)

Well, we should be home by now (Friday) but we are at the Beale AFB FAMCAMP where we may be for the next few days.

As expected, Nevada City and the surrounding Sierra area was hit by a major snow storm yesterday, last night, and today. It looks like about 2 ft of snow or more fell in the Grass Valley/Nevada City area and more is expected tonight. Power is out just about everywhere and the higher areas outside of town have been hit especially hard. We checked the PG&E outage line that confirmed power was out at our house, and that further information about when it may be back on won't be available until 3:00 PM on Sunday.

The Durango and possibly the truck (Judy lent it to a friend who was moving while we were gone) are snowed in at the house. We have our yard guy lined-up to clear the driveway, but he won't be able to do so until he can get to the house and it stops snowing. The power is out at Mom's and at Sharyn and Barry's house. Sharyn says there is at least two feet of snow there and the diveway is impassable. Mom is doing O.K. The caregiver is there and they have heat from the propane fireplace in the living room. We keep checking in, but there is not much we can do from here at the moment.

Weather conditions at Beale are good, although it is breezy and cold. The elevation here is about 600 ft., and the sun was out when we arrived. There are lot of clouds over the hills to the east and a few clouds to the west. The forecast is for another wave of rain and snow coming through overnight with lower snow levels. All things considered, we are probably as good as we can be until the weather clears in Nevada City, the power is back on, and the roads are plowed. The FAMCAMP is fine. This is the first time we have been here; there are full hook-ups, lots of room, grass and trees, two small lakes and mountain views. Base facilities are just down the road so everything we need is readily available.

The ride down from Lemoore was OK. We had some heavy rain and wind north of Fresno but it generally cleared out from Merced north to Beale. The one frustrating experience was the "Caltrans Moment" we experienced in Livingston. It took us 30 minutes of stop-and-go (mostly stop) to get around the town. The cause of the delay was a lane closure with several Caltrans trucks parked along side of the road. As we went by we noticed two people working in a culvert with four people supervising.

We will keep checking on conditions up the hill and try and get home as soon as we can.

Desert Trip (Day 14)

We left Borrego Springs about 8:30 AM after topping-off the propane in the RV at the resort before leaving. It was a long, uneventful drive under clear, but very windy conditions back up to I-10 at Indio then west through San Bernadino and up and over the Tehachapi mountains to Bakersfield. We then headed north on 99 to Visalia, then west to Lemoore NAS half way between I-5 and 99 near Hanford.

We are staying at the base FAMCAMP (RV park). There are few people here at the moment, and we have a pull-through site (we don't have to unhook the car) with full hook-ups. The cable TV is down at the moment, but that is almost a relief since we are still on vacation and so much of the news is bad. It was a long drive, but we are here under threatening skies and no rain yet.

Nevada City and the whole foothill region is being hit with a major snowstorm at the moment (snow to 1,000 ft and maybe a foot or more at our house - just under 3,000 ft). Our plan for tomorrow is to drive to Beale AFB FAMCAMP ( about 30 minutes away from Nevada City but in the valley) and stay there until we can safely get home. The Green Machine is very low to the ground and does not have 4-wheel drive, so the roads have to be plowed for us to make it up the mountain. We might have to leave the RV at Beale for awhile until we get get the snow cleared from the RV parking spot at mom's. We should be at Beale tomorrow afternoon and we'll see what the situation in N.C. is when we get there.

Desert Trip (Day 13)

We started off the day today with a dip in one of the hot tubs by the pool. The water is from the resort's mineral spring wells. The water was a comfortable 104 degrees and we enjoyed soaking while enjoying the desert morning sunshine. We then headed for town to visit a few places we either missed or wanted to visit again.

Our first stop was getting a picture of another metal sculpture - this one is of Captain Juan Bautista DeAnaza, the Spanish explorer who passed through the area on his journey of exploration from Mexico to San Francisco in 1775.



We then visited an outdoor garden of cactus plants and Mexican pottery and metal artworks. there were several pigs there, but Judy already had one of them (purchased in New Orleans during Mardi Gras last year).

We then went to the local mall for a few things that we missed the other day. Pat bought a desert hat for our upcoming safari tour this afternoon and Judy bought a grapefruit knife to cut up all the grapefruit we bought yesterday.

We had lunch at Carmelita's, a local Mexican restaurant; again, very good food. I think its probably impossible to get bad Mexican food down here.

At 12 noon we went to California Overland, a local business that operates back country tours around and in Anza-Borrego Desert State Park. Rich, our tour guide, had commuted 2 hours from center city San Diego to drive us around. He knows a great deal about the park - its geology, history, present-day Park issues and the local area in general.

We rode around the desert in the jeep pictured - it was a brisk and bouncy ride, to say the least. (After we got back to the RV, Pat told me that the gas guage in the jeep had read "empty" for the whole trip. I'm glad I didn't know that at the time.)

We drove out of town on SR22 towards the Salton Sea, but turned left at Rockhouse Road toward Clark Dry Lake. This has never actually been a lake, but is a sink where the rainwater drains off of the surrounding mountains. Rich discussed the scientific and military history of this desolate-looking but beautiful area. It is a perfect spot for stargazing on overnight campouts. (California Overland does those also, as well as overnight programs for school children.)

We drove out of the lake bed back on the main road, then turned right toward Font's Point, a spectacular scenic viewpoint. It was named for the Franciscan Father who accompanied De Anza on his journey through the area in 1775. We bumped over sandy roads which were actually "washes" or drainage ditches in the desert.

A Smoke Tree - hardy desert native.

Ocotillo plants, full of spines, but not actually cactuses.

The view from Font's Point, 1,000' straight down with no guard rails. This area is known locally as the Borrego Badlands. Much of the soil in this area was washed here by the Colorado River from the Grand Canyon a long time ago.

We break camp in the morning and hope to get on the road by 8:00 AM, arriving at Lemoore NAS about 3:00 PM.

Desert Trip (Day 12)

We started the day with another trip to the Anza-Borrego Desert State Park visitors center. We decided to take a hike in the park this morning and wanted to discuss the various hike options with the visitor center docents. We also wanted to get a few more wildflower pictures as well as a picture of the decorative door handles on the award-winning visitor center doors. The handles represent the park's namesake (Borrego), the endangered Peninsular Big Horn Sheep. They live on the slopes above the desert floor, are very shy, and only come down to lower elevations in search of water.

After talking to a very knowledgeable park volunteer, we decided to take the Palm Canyon Trail hike. The trail starts from the state park campground near the visitor center and is a sand trail over occasionally rocky ground at the base of the mountains at the west and northern sides of Borrego Springs. The trail is a one and one-half mile out-and-back trail that rises about a 1,000 ft into the hills. We took our time, frequently stopping to take pictures and admire the scenery. It took us about an hour to get half-way out where we decided to turn around. It was perfect desert hiking weather with the temperature in the mid 60"s. We had plenty of water which is very important, even if the temperature is not too hot.

The serenity of the hike was interrupted by a medical emergency further up the trail (actually about as far out as you can get on the trail). We were told a hiker either broke his leg or had some other kind of leg/foot injury and could not walk out. As we were leaving the trail head, local firetrucks and ambulances arrived accompanied by a ranger who appeared to be a senior state park ranger. After some discussion,we heard them say it looked like an air evacuation mission. Sure enough, as we headed up the trail, we heard a helicopter coming up the canyon. It was a San Diego Sheriff's Department helicopter. Another smaller helicopter soon followed. They both flew up and down the canyon for awhile and eventually went back to the trail head. They never did land and we were told when we got back the injured hiker was hoisted into the helicopter assisted by a paramedic who was lowered to the ground. We saw the injured man when we returned to the trailhead. He was sitting in his car and talking to a park ranger and several other people. Apparently his injury wasn't too serious, but I hope he has good health insurance. I am sure the air evacuation mission was very expensive and he will probably be billed for the accident response.

The hike was excellent and just about the right length for today. We saw a lot of interesting things and even followed a seasonal stream along the trail, crossing it along the way. We also saw a lot of interesting geological rock formations as well as an old Indian grinding rock and stone grinding tools (morteros).

After the hike, we went to lunch at the Red Ocotillo (a.k.a The Krazy Coyote Saloon and Grill). The restaurant is located at a resort near the visitor's center called The Palms at Indian Head. The resort is at the site of the first lodging facility in Borrego Springs (Old Hoberg Resort). It was originally built in 1947 and was apparently a favorite getaway for many movie stars in the 1950's. It has had its ups-and-downs over the years; the new owners are currently trying to make a go of it in a tough economic environment. The food was excellent and we had an enjoyable lunch on the shaded patio near the pool.

After lunch we wanted to see one of the local tourist attractions - "Sky Art". These are metal sculptures of prehistoric animals that used to used to inhabit the valley. They are scattered all over town and were commissioned by an apparently very rich benefactor (Dennis Avery) who has a winter home in town and who who purchased the property where they are standing in the 1990's. He commissioned a Mexican artist (Ricardo Breceda) to create the sculptures and there are now probably several dozen of them. It also looks like the project has expanded to include historical people and themes (e. g. DeAnza, farm workers, etc.). Sky Art is probably something you wouldn't drive over here just to see, but while here, why not?

Our next stop was the Roadrunner Tree farm, a date and cactus garden just northeast of town. The place is a world class cactus and succulent nursery with more cactus desert plants that we have ever seen in one place . They supply a lot of the desert plants used by landscapers in places like Palm Springs and Las Vegas. They also had a small retail store where we bought dates and grapefruits (three kinds) all picked this morning. A very interesting place to visit.

Before returning to the RV we visted the Anza-Borrego Desert Natural History Association Nature Center and Gift Shop in town. The association was instrumental in raising funds to establish the visitor's center in the state park and is currently involved in a wide variety of natural history activities in the local area. The gift shop was very nice and has a wide variety of fiction and non=fiction books and associated desert material available for sale.

We are planning to take a 2-hour desert jeep tour with a local outfitter tomorrow up into the higher elevations of the park. It should be an interesting adventure.

We are leaving on Thursday morning and heading home. Thursday night we plan to stay at Lemoore NAS in Hanford (near Fresno), then head to Nevada City on Friday. Right now however, it looks like a major snowstorm will be in progress on Friday, so our plan is to park the RV at the Beale AFB FAMCAMP (RV Park) at least on Friday night and until we can park it at home.