Archive for December, 2007
December 17, 2007 at 8:03 pm · Filed under Places to go
We went over the park map with a volunteer at the Visitor Center today, and I was amazed to discover how much of Anza-Borrego we’ve managed to explore in our five visits (some prior to owning the Airstream). But one place we’ve never gone to is Coyote Canyon, north of town.
After driving through a couple of miles of grapefruit groves, the paved county road abruptly ends and drops off a foot or so onto a sandy 4WD road. We bounced along five miles of washboard, sandy ditches, and two water crossings before ending up at Lower Willow, at the beginning of Coyote Canyon.
Here the road is gated from June 1 through August to allow the bighorn sheep to drink from the constantly-flowing river. Today the gate was open, leading to a short drive up the river and along a rocky jeep trail. There’s another six miles of trail ahead but we turned around here. It was getting fairly technical.
At its deepest the river was only about a foot deep, so our tires got washed but that’s all. Still, it’s always a pleasant surprise to find water flowing in the desert, especially in the dry winter. Further up, we were told later, one ranger got water in her engine at another crossing.
A couple of miles back we stopped at a place called Desert Gardens. There are no gardens here, just an interpretive sign and a couple of picnic tables. This area and north up the river were the year-round residences of five Indian families.
It seems a desolate spot but in fact everything they needed was here to be found, thanks to the river. We hiked a while and spotted a few things: a big-eared Desert Jackrabbit, some ocotillo with small red blooms, a few insects — things like that — but no tarantulas or bighorn sheep, which are what we were really looking for.
December 16, 2007 at 9:22 pm · Filed under Uncategorized
And then, absolutely nothing happened.
Early this morning, Tommy and Kathy packed it up for points north. They have an engagement in the area of Long Beach. Eleanor woke up with some coughing leftover from the cold, and the sky had a thin overcast which took away the warm sun, so it felt like a winter day for the first time.
This time of year there are few scheduled events in the park. There was one ranger talk scheduled for 2:00 pm, but nobody showed up except me (not even the ranger!). We went for a bike ride around the campground, took a couple of walks, and practiced ukulele all afternoon. Eleanor stayed in and worked on craft projects. In short, a quiet day.
That’s probably good. On Tuesday we are expecting a few Airstream folks to join us and things will probably get a lot busier. For them, I will provide a few tips for camping this week in Anza-Borrego Desert State Park.
- Eat Mexican food downtown. There are a couple of restaurants but we prefer the one right on main street. It’s inexpensive, good, and casual.
- Plan on at least one day on the backroads and offroad, if you can. That’s where the park gets really interesting. Even with a small car you can explore some of the “off-road” spots. Ask a ranger for tips and buy the $1 map in the Visitor Center.
- Catch some history. I know history is not everyone’s area of interest, but this place has geologic history (volcanoes, inland seas, etc), evolutionary history (mammoths and dinosaurs), and human history (Juan de Anza, Marshal South, Peg Leg Smith). It’s all interesting. I can specifically recommend the film on Marshal South in the Visitor Center. His “experiment” in living off the land with his family in Anza-Borrego back in the 1930s is fascinating story which deserves to be better known.
- Take an early hike. Early in the morning is when you’re likely to see the bighorn sheep in Palm Canyon, and by mid-day you can stop for lunch at a palm tree oasis. There are also petroglyphs to be found in a few places.
- Bring something to do in the long dark evenings. A book, a movie, a game, a telescope, a musical instrument, or a pile of firewood. While the stars are beautiful here, it’s also cold enough that you won’t be outside after dark without a hat and a warm jacket, or a good warm camp fire.
December 15, 2007 at 9:23 pm · Filed under Uncategorized
There are certain things which make Anza-Borrego a favorite place for us to visit. One is the weird dichotomy of civilized town and wild desert. In one there is knowledge and service, and in the other is the place where those things are needed if you are to understand what you are seeing and how to survive it.
Emma started off the day with a special ranger program for kids only (no parents allowed), where she learned about tarantulas. Led by the ranger, she went looking for some but unfortunately there weren’t any to be found. Oddly enough, Emma is scared of little spiders but not of tarantulas. It has been repeatedly proposed that we keep one as a pet in the trailer, but I have vetoed this idea. I can imagine the day we pull in after towing, only to find a broken glass aquarium and no pet inside. It would be a long sleepless night waiting for the furry legs to show up in bed.
When Emma returned from her talk/walk, she was sporting a new Junior Ranger badge that looks like a six-pointed sheriff’s star, for having completed the state park workbook. I’ve lost count of how many she has earned. When we get to our new home base, Eleanor plans to mount them on a giant board of some type.
Seeing Anza-Borrego really requires four-wheel drive. The drive to Font’s Point, for example, involves deep sand and ruts, but it gives you a terrific perspective on the badlands section of the park, which otherwise you’ll never see. You can see some of the badlands in the background of the picture above.
After Font’s Point we decided to do a little more exploring. The Nissan is pretty nimble on these roads, for its size. The roads run from mild and passable by a car, to unbelievably difficult even for dune buggies and jeeps. We stuck to the moderate roads. The little descent above was probably the toughest thing we encountered and it wasn’t really hard at all.
Tommy and Kathy are leaving tomorrow so we passed on further exploration, to get back to camp before sunset for some more jamming. This time we begged Eleanor to join us as vocal accompaniment. She’s pretty good at the Hawaiian tunes and it helped a lot, so I’m hoping she’ll stay involved as I practice.
To cap off the session, Tommy had Eleanor and I perform a song without his help (“White Sandy Beach” by Willie Dan) and it actually went pretty well. At the end he gave us both big hugs and raved about how far my playing has progressed in two weeks. Tommy’s a good teacher and he knows how to encourage people. We’re still not ready for prime time, but maybe with some practice we’ll be ready for a private showing by summertime.
December 14, 2007 at 8:43 pm · Filed under Uncategorized
Am I a success at ukulele? Tommy says I’m doing well. I’ve learned a half dozen chords and can fumble into a few others. My strumming is coming along, although very basic. I can work my way through a few simple songs, and even sing along with myself.
But Eleanor got a report from a fellow camper that they changed sites today. Not knowing that Eleanor was complicit in our scheme to treat the campground to the sound of my practicing, they confessed to her that the ukulele music in the afternoon was bothering their cats.
Tommy and Rich work on a new routine to annoy cats
I spent the day from 7:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. working in the Airstream, but broke away as the sun was setting to join Tommy by his Airstream again. We both donned our Hawaiian shirts for the occasion. Part of the fun of playing ukulele is getting to dress up, wear a lei if you want, and sing silly songs. What other hobby gives you such opportunities?
Emma got into it too. That little soprano uke is just right for her. She’s holding it much more confidently now, and has learned two chords, C and F. That’s all she needs to play a very basic tune. I hope we can keep her interested long enough to learn a little about music, because this will be our homeschooling music lesson. Any instrument that holds her attention will do, and right now she likes the uke because she can do it with Tommy and me.
For all the scenic beauty around us, it’s tough practicing right now. We’ve been getting peak temperatures in the upper 60s, but things change fast in the afternoon. Our window of opportunity is small. By 5:30 it was into the 50s and my fingers were too cold to play anymore, even with a little campfire nearby. Last night the campground hit a low of 32, which is pretty much as cold as it gets here in normal conditions. (I know none of you in other parts of the country are crying for us since you’re probably experiencing much colder temperatures and even s–w.)
Bill checked in today via email. Apparently inspired by the blog, he has agreed to dust off his mandolin for a little bluegrass strumming. He’ll be here on Thursday. I have no idea how a ukulele and a mandolin played by two rank amateurs will sound, but I am sure of one thing: the cats won’t like it.
December 13, 2007 at 9:55 pm · Filed under Places to go
This morning we hated to leave our little boondocking spot in the desert. We would have stayed another night somewhere out there, but we had reservations for the Palm Canyon campground at Anza-Borrego Desert State Park and it’s one of our favorite spots. None of us wanted to miss a single day of it.
Besides, we had made plans to meet Tommy and Kathy, our friends from the San Diego area. Tommy, as you might recall, has offered to teach me ukulele this weekend. I’ve been practicing chords in the evenings, in an attempt to be prepared for him.
Sometimes it’s nice to be recognizable by our Airstream. In January 2006 when we were at Anza-Borrego, Eleanor made friends with a ranger and promised to bring her maple syrup on our next visit. Last March when we returned, the ranger spotted Eleanor and said, “You promised to bring me maple syrup.” Eleanor reached into the back of the car and handed her a quart on the spot. (Yes, we used to travel with maple syrup. We are, after all, from Vermont.)
This time when we rolled in the ranger said, “Luhr, right? Your friends are already here and they’re going to save you a spot. Just go right in and let me know where you’ve parked later.” So we found Tommy and Kathy and got set up, and not long after Tommy was in the trailer trying out my new Kala tenor ukulele.
This evening Tommy made a fire and set up his gear. He came ready for serious jamming, with three ukes of his own (Martin soprano, Martin tenor, and a uke banjo with hubcap resonator), his music stand, two big binders of songs, plus a CD and some sheet music for me.
Those nights of practice paid off. He gave me some tips, taught me a few more chords, and it wasn’t long before we were playing songs together. I’m far from proficient (and not ready for public performances!) but it was a really great experience to go from bumbling and unable to play a song, to able to play a song while bumbling.
Tonight is the classic winter night in Anza-Borrego. The sky is crystal clear and the stars are glowing, the coyotes are yip-yipping off in the darkness, and there’s a sense of wonderful desert peace. We are so grateful to be here. I wish we could stay for a month.
December 12, 2007 at 6:28 pm · Filed under Roadtrips, Travel / lifestyle musings
I have this strange feeling of turning a corner today. It started when I woke up and realized that I no longer had a sore throat, and the sensation of having been pummeled by a samurai in the recent past was gone. Eleanor and Emma are not fully recovered yet, but I think we are finally getting past that little souvenir of our Hawaiian vacation.
We also got the Airstream washed at long last. The poor thing was starting to look downright abused. There is a 24-hour truck wash near the Spotlight 29 Casino, and although we had to wait nearly an hour, the job was finally done and the aluminum sparkles again. I had forgotten how good the wheels can look when they are shiny. They were lost in a cloud of brake dust smudged with wheel bearing grease.
After the truck wash we pulled the Airstream into the local Albertson’s for grocery restocking. Although there are groceries to be had in Borrego Springs, our next stop, the shopping is better elsewhere.
We picked up the mail at the Post Office in Indio, one box of Business Reply Mail from magazine subscribers, and another box of miscellaneous mail. Despite my best efforts we still get paper mail from various organizations that I don’t care to hear from. I am considering going to a service like Earth Class Mail to eliminate most of the paper before it reaches me. They will scan the envelope and let me simply check off for each piece whether I want it forwarded, recycled, or opened (and the interior pages scanned).
By the way, our last mail pickup will be next week:
Rich Luhr
General Delivery
Borrego Springs, CA 92004
Anything sent to that address must arrive by 12/19. After that, we’ll no longer be full-timers. We’ll be part-time travelers (insert heavy sigh here). We have a few trips planned for January and February, but for the most part we will be parked in Arizona until mid-March. Then we’ll get on the road again for perhaps six months.
So the sensation of turning a corner probably stems from all these “last” activities. Last mail call, last big grocery re-stock, last few nights “¦ The knowledge that our travels are ending, even temporarily, has begun to hang in our subconscious and our daily choices. We bought less at the grocery store because we only need food for another week. We washed the trailer so it will be clean when we store it in the carport. We are picking up things that we would otherwise leave behind; we know they are destined to be unloaded in the house.
But I will not dwell on that prospect. We are in one of our most favorite spots in the world and we have eight days to enjoy it. It was a beautiful drive along the western side of the Salton Sea from Palm Springs to Salton City, with the long blue sea and the reddish mountains framing it.
Once at Salton City, we turned west onto S-22, which leads to Borrego Springs, and I commented to Eleanor that from here on in we’d probably see a lot of great boondocking sites. Just seconds after I said that, we spotted a nice open area with a scattering of picnic shelters and absolutely not a soul around. [Edit: This was a few miles east of the Arroyo Salado Primitive Campground, somewhere in the state OHV area.] We turned off the pavement onto the hard packed desert floor and bumped our way over to the site you see in the photo. It’s the kind of spot that I live for: secluded, quiet, scenic, and still a bit wild. There are no roads, only a few tracks left by ATVs and trucks. We’ll spend a night here and then move to Borrego Springs for a week.
December 11, 2007 at 10:00 pm · Filed under FAQs, Mobile technology
We have been only partially successful at avoiding Emma’s cold. Eleanor has a mild congestion, and I have a sore throat. Nobody feels 100% but at least we are mostly functional. But because we are dragging ourselves along and the days are so short at this time of year, it seems almost impossible to get anything done before sunset.
This morning we meandered out of our campsite on the shore of the Colorado River in Needles, and puttered further along Rt 95 in the desert, eventually merging with I-10 south of Joshua Tree National Park. We had no fixed destination in mind. Along the way, we tried entering Joshua Tree from the south side, but the only campground in the park (Cottonwood, 4000 ft. elevation) was cold and windy and lonely. The ranger station was closed for staff training, there were no evening ranger programs within 30 miles, and I couldn’t blog or do any work up there since there was no cellular service. If we’d planned a couple of days in advance we might have stayed, but for an impulsive visit it didn’t make sense. We decided to skip Joshua Tree in favor of the warmer air down in the Palm Springs area.
I think the virus is affecting our decisions. With a rhinovirus in your system, you want warmth and comfort food. You want plenty of hot water and early bedtime. You want a movie or a book in bed. You don’t want to go rock-hopping at 4000 ft. in a cold breeze 40 miles from the nearest pharmacy. Our adventuresome instincts have been blunted by the influence of a microscopic nuisance.
However, this is an opportunity to talk about ways to avoid microscopic nuisances. (You’ll admire the smoothness of this segue in a moment.) Last week at REI I bought a Steripen, which is a little hand-held ultraviolet light that renders harmless all bugs that might be in your drinking water. You press a button, dip the light into the water, and in about 90 seconds it has scrambled the DNA of 99.999% of the viruses, bacteria, and protozoa in the water. Voila! Safe drinking water.
UV devices like this are commonly built in to household water treatment systems, but this portable version is ideal for an RV’er. It runs on 4 AA batteries and it weighs less than a pound. I bought it after a lot of research into ways to get safe water when traveling in Mexico. Filters can get out the “chunky” stuff like metals, chemicals, protozoa, and bacteria (down to about .9 microns), but they can miss some bacteria and all the viruses. (For example, hepatitis can be caused by contaminated water.)
So-called “purifiers” can knock out the viruses but they generally do that by introducing chemicals like iodine or chlorine. I like my water to contain only water. So I chose a two-step approach: fill the fresh water tank with well-filtered water, then treat it with the Steripen for drinking purposes.
We use the Camco CX90 ceramic in-line filter on our fresh water hose whenever we fill the tank or are connecting to city water. This ensures the water in our tank and fixtures is not contaminated by sediment, etc., and it also improves the taste.
The system works. Las Vegas water tastes horrible, but with the CX90 and the charcoal filter built-in to our Moen kitchen faucet, it was passable. I’m planning to use the Steripen when we go to Mexico next, and here in the USA it is also useful for those times when we are boondocking and need to make safe drinking water from the fresh water holding tank.
Tonight the blog comes to you from the parking lot at the Spotlight 29 Casino in Coachella CA, right at the noisy intersection of I-10 and 86. We’re here with eight other RVs, laying low until sunrise, when we can get back on the road down toward the Salton Sea.
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