Carpe Dory (2)

After three years, Highway 1 is finally open all the way from Carmel to San Simeon. Various landslides have cut off parts of the road, and driving it makes you see why. This is a world class drive, which is significantly less scary going north than south. They’ve done a good job putting guard rails in the exciting bits, but still, when you’re hundreds of feet above the ocean, and you’re on the outside of a turn where you can’t really see where the road is going, it can be intense. It’s much easier hugging the cliffs, but it is slow and twisty for a good thirty miles. I’d say it’s roughly equivalent to the “rollercoaster” on the north side between Jenner and Elk. Allow tons of time and don’t expect any services. The gas station at Gorda was selling premium for $9.99 and that is probably only because their display didn’t have any more spaces. I mean, someone somehow got $5/gallon gas to that location, and if you find yourself needing gas during that stretch, you’re going to pay anything. I can’t fault them for charging what they charge. Just come prepared and enjoy the marvel of this engineering masterpiece.

We passed by several slide zones, not knowing exactly which was which. They have put a lot of metal “hair netting” on the cliffs, clearly to try to prevent as much damage in the future. It’ll be an ongoing battle as the weather just keeps claiming more and more of the coastline. One thing is for sure: CalTrans workers have job security if they’re working this area.

Our site was premium and by the river, but the approach into the driveway went the wrong direction for the one way loop road. This meant that the back in turn was too tight for me coming at it from the right direction. I pulled a fancy maneuver and backed into another site with good room, then pulled out going the wrong way so that I could get into ours safely. I knew I’d be pointed the wrong way on departure, but that was not a problem. I had Richard walk ahead to try to intercept anyone coming who would get stuck by me, but no one came. No problem. I will say the campground loop roads are all very narrow and bumpy. I wouldn’t want to try to get a big rig through this campground.

I was tired after the drive up the coast, so I took a little nappy. Richard never gets tired, so he went up the Manuel Peak trail as far as the viewpoint, then came back down. He saw a bobcat and brought home a tick. EW! I had to pull the little bastard’s detached head out of Richard’s thigh. He said the trail was pretty overgrown, but he didn’t seem to have gotten hit by any Poison Oak. We sure saw lots of it though. The campers next to us did a little Easter egg hunt for their kids on Sunday, and we just watched as the kids enthusiastically dug around through the Poison Oak leaves, finding eggs. I figured, at that point it was too late to warn them, and they might not get rashes if they haven’t already been exposed a few times. Why ruin their fun by telling them?

For our last full day, we went up the Pfeiffer Falls trail and down the Valley View trail. Part of this loop was closed when we came before, and it was clear they had done a lot of work putting in steps and repairing a bridge. It’s a great trail and takes up to a nice little waterfall. The viewpoint for the Valley View trail is an out and back that is definitely worth it. From the end of the trail, you can see all the way out to the ocean. There were abundant irises all along the way.

We stopped when we got back down and took advantage of the fact that the lodge sells ice cream. We thoroughly enjoyed sitting inside with our little cones, while connected to fast wifi. We thought about maybe going to check out Nepenthe restaurant or drive up to Andrew Molera state park, but felt the park would be better appreciated with a full day, and Nepenthe better appreciated when it was not Easter weekend. For my part, I was content to sit in my chair, listen to the river, and try to finish the cat box. This gave Richard full permission to go fast walk the Buzzard’s Roost trail on the other side of the valley. He saw a king snake and lots of flowers, but I conquered joined rows! I love my new hobby.

We grilled a delicious Easter dinner of ribeye steaks and panzanella salad with bread toasted on the grill. OMG that was so damn good. I indulged in a blended margarita made in my little rechargeable Ninja blender. Perfect end to a perfect week.

We got an early start the next day, with Richard doing a fast hike up and around the falls and valley view loop. It’s always a good idea to make him do that, especially before a long car drive. We both took Monday off so we could do the drive back home when it was not a holiday. I don’t think there is anything I would change about this trip. Everything worked great. We’re going to be homebound until summer, but that is intentional. Richard needs to get a medical procedure taken care of and this will give him ample time to recover before having to lift big ramps and go crazy with biking or hiking. I do wonder how in the world he’s going to be able to slow down enough to actually recover. Meanwhile, I have a box full of yarn waiting for me when we get home, along with a beautiful blooming rhododendron I planted in the fall.

Total miles from Pismo: 119.3, 16.1 mpg, 4 hours 59 min with stop in SLO Costco. Site 181 riverside, no hookups. Site backs in the wrong way so I had to do a tricky maneuver to turn around in the one way loop. Otherwise nice site. No cell service except sometimes 1 bar for Verizon. Great wifi in Lodge. Not much solar. Fine free dump. Campground loop road is narrow and very bumpy.

Our next stop on the birthday week tour was just down the road at Pismo. We took a quick detour at the Costco in San Luis Obispo to fill with the least painfully expensive gas possible. And to get a hot dog and chocolate chip cookie. Also, we didn’t want to arrive at the campground before 2 because we remembered they are sticklers for no early check ins. Nailed that one and pulled up to the kiosk at exactly 2:00.

Here we took it easy and spent a lot of time relaxing. I made, took apart, and remade a crochet box for Momo the cat. I have now learned how to do joined rows, but I’m not good at it yet. The box turned out to be harder than I thought, but it’s fun to learn a new skill with every project. When we weren’t chilling, we were walking on the beach noticing cool little creatures who appear to be “Valella Valella” or “By-the-wind sailors.” I guess these little guys often show up on the shores in April, when the winds turn and they sail onto land from deeper waters. I have never seen them before, but they are a striking blue color, with clear little dorsal fin sails on top.

It was finally good enough weather that I got to cook outside. I made panko breadcrumb topped salmon, with scallion rice and garlic green beans. The sauce was a sweet chili mixture with just the right balance of sweet and salty. On our walk, we saw someone catch a huge frog and he asked us if we knew if it was big enough to eat. We certainly did not know anything about the edibility of wild frogs.

On the next day, we rode our bikes over to the Pismo Preserve where we hiked the nearly six mile Discovery Loop. These trails are so well signed, and all color coded to keep you from getting lost. The views of the coastline are well worth the bit of climbing and there were some nice wildflowers blooming. We had considered driving out to Carrizo Plains, but pictures online seemed to indicate it was nowhere near the bloom we saw three years ago. And in that case, it’s not really worth the two hour drive each way. On our way back, we rode through town and I got a scoop of mint chocolate cookie from Cowboy Cookies & Ice Cream. It was good, but nothing super special. We caught a nice sunset and I tried to take some artistic pictures.

We did manage to get in one long bike ride up to Huasna Valley. Instead of riding all the way through Grover Beach and Arroyo Grande, we drove it and parked after it stopped being so towny. It’s a nice ride with very few cars and pretty farmland.

It was still early in the day, so we decided to grab a late lunch/early dinner at Bee House Thai. We got the drunken noodles and panang curry. Fabulous and just the right level of spicy. There was enough to take for later too. We enjoyed one last sunset and that wrapped up our second stay of the week.

We love this campground and the site I got was great because it was off to the side and away from others. It’s a very city feel place, with a huge RV park right next door. In the fall you can sometimes see the Monarch Butterflies during their migration and that is right next to the campground. There are endless places to eat, including Old West Cinnamon Rolls and Surfside Donuts. Both are good, but not top of the list kind of places. Everything is touristy there, but if you go knowing that, you can enjoy the amenities and get in a good walk on the beach.

Total miles from Montana de Oro: 28.3 with Costco stop in San Luis Obispo, 15.2 mpg, 1 hour 30 min. Site 81, excellent site. No hookups. Great dump, great solar, great cell service.

Activism Afterward

Stay tuned for endorsements for candidates running for primaries. In California, the race for governor is full of drama. Stay up to date with your local chapters so you know who is actually running by the time the vote rolls around. Here’s a link for the CA Dems endorsements page. They have not yet made endorsements for all the positions, but the field is changing fast at this point.

Endorsements Look Up Tool

This was a camping outing for the record books. My birthday coincides simultaneously with good timing and bad timing. Good because it almost always lands during Spring Break. Bad because it always precedes tax season dangerously closely. This year, we pretended that taxes are not a thing and fully embraced all of the upsides. I think that is generally really good advice because we could not have had a better time. Originally, I had made reservations for Friday and Saturday at Pinnacles National Park, but then the No Kings rally got planned for that Saturday. I really want to do those if possible, and there was not going to be any rally near Pinnacles that we could have easily joined. So, I talked Richard into shifting things so that we could skip the first stop, but tag on a weekend stay at the other end of the week. It wasn’t easy, but eventually I was able to pick up a cancellation reservation for Pfeiffer Big Sur on Easter weekend and we took that Monday off. We loved having a later departure actually because it gave us Friday and Saturday to be more chill. We are rethinking our habitual practice of launching long trips on the afternoon of a work day.

It was a long and uneventful drive down 101 to arrive in blue skies and sunny weather. Having spent an unusually long time being sick over the past month, this was a most welcome sight. We were meeting friends for this stay, but arrived before they did. After getting set up, we headed out to the bluffs to get in a nice walk before dinner. After dinner, we joined up with our Alto friends Rich and Kathy around a nice campfire and got all caught up.

Monday marked my 60th birthday, and I really could not have asked for anything more. The main event was hiking the Point Buchon Trail, which is only open to the public Thurs-Mon. Richard speed walked out to the entry gate, while I drove the 2.5 miles to the parking area. This worked well and got his morning yayas out so that he could walk like a normal person with me. It’s four miles out to the end of the trail, with nothing but ocean views, seals, otters, and the occasional whale spout the whole way. We saw a snake at the start of the hike, the second snake spotted in the park. The seals were very entertaining, as they leaped out of the water together, heading fast to some seal event that required leaping.

For dinner, we met our friends in Los Osos at Wayward Baking. We’ve been there for their breakfast pastries, which are outstanding, but enjoyed their Monday Pizza even more. They only make pizzas on Mondays, so plan accordingly. And you have to order them ahead of time. And they run out. We were joined by our other Alto friend, Linda, and shared three specialty pizzas. We got a Hobb’s Pepperoni, with Calabrian Chili Honey which was really incredible. Rich and Kathy ordered two others and I can’t remember the combination of toppings. I know there was one with feta and things you wouldn’t normally expect to find on a pizza. But everything was delicious and the crust was thin and crispy and chewy. So good. For dessert, we all went back to the campground and enjoyed a spectacular selection of pies that Kathy picked up at the farmers market. She made it a real quest and went to two different bakeries in town, where she got intel on a “pie lady” who sold whole pies and slices. There was apple, a “limequat” custardy pie, and pecan; all delicious with amazing flavors and flakey crust. We shared a Rombauer around the fire and laughed until it was quiet time. What a wonderful day!

On Tuesday, Richard started his day by going up to the top of Valencia Peak, while I lounged in bed, showered, and enjoyed my new hobby: crocheting. I have now completed several “amigurumi” animals, but I am the most proud of a dragon I made for our daughter’s birthday present. His name is Java and he is super cute, with sparkly little puppy dog eyes. The scales down his back were hard, and I learned a couple of new stitches to make the points on his wings. The nice thing about this hobby is that it is very portable and well suited to camping. I just have a bag with yarn and needles and things that can go anywhere. I finished “Momo the Cat” while Richard was on his morning hike.

Later, we drove to San Luis Obispo to meet up with our friends. Our first stop was Michael’s because now I need yarn fixes. They happened to be having a big yarn sale, so this is my new joy. Following that, we went to SloDoCo, which had almost as impressive an array of doughnuts as Pinkbox in Las Vegas. We went with kind of normal flavors, lemon and chocolate cake, for comparison sake. The chocolate ranked high and Richard says it’s one of the best he’s had.

From there, we walked to the downtown area and just looked around. We met back up for dinner at a place called Gold Land BBQ. The meat was super tender and the onion rings were dark and crispy. We lost the battle of resisting the ice cream place next door – Nite Creamery. It was a tactical error, because we got intense coffee flavored ice cream which made sleeping difficult, but they do a flash freeze thing using some kind of nitrogen machine. It’s quite dramatic, so we weren’t going to pass that by. Then it was back to Dory for one more night.

I can definitely say that if one has the good fortune to turn 60, camping with friends is the way to do that. This birthday was so good, Richard is pre-jealous for his 60th birthday coming up in November. We have pretty much decided to just to an exact redo of this trip so he can have Wayward pizza on Monday. One thing I noticed for sure is that having a busy fingers hobby makes staying at campgrounds with no cell service a non issue. I used to get bored and antsy, but this seems to be the antidote for that. It keeps my brain and hands occupied and saves me from doomscrolling. I do end up with things I need to give away, but they’re pretty cute things and there appear to be infinite patterns out there for projects I can do. I now have my own little neck light, so I can point it at my hands and see stitches, plus I am now the proud owner of a yarn ball winder. I don’t know how I have made it this long without one, but now I have the ability to make super tight yarn cakes. Might even have to get a swift in case I get any hanks. You guys. This is a super fun world I have stumbled into.

Total miles: 244.3, 17.7 mpg, 5 hours 38 min. Site 38 no hookups. No cell, no dump, great solar. Wifi at the Spooner Ranch visitor center and good cell service out on the bluffs or up the trail to Valencia Peak.

Activism Afterward

Alert! The administration is in the process of effectively dismantling the US Forest Service. This will have a devastating impact on our natural lands. For extensive information on what is happening, as well as which outdoor companies are taking a stand against this, please visit the site put together by Alt National Park Service.

SAVE USFS: https://saveusfs.org

There are links on this page for how to take action and who to contact to voice your opinion.

I’m slipping into a bad habit of increasingly extending the time between camping trips and writing them up. I’m giving myself grace because the world is ending, but still, I run the risk of forgetting important ice cream or donut based information. So, this post will capture our trip to HMB from Feb 27-March 1, and I want to write up a super fun chocolate tour we did in San Francisco, even though that was technically not a camping weekend. I want to remember where we went and I’m hoping the information will prove useful to anyone wanting a fun way to spend Valentine’s Day in SF.

Our first stop on any visit to Half Moon Bay is to walk from the campground to Taqueria Tres Amigos. We don’t always have dinner there, but this time we did, and it was delightful. Really though, our primary target on the excursion is their churros. Man, they are so good. Piping hot, crispy on the outside, gooey on the inside, covered in sugar.

We often do a bike ride to Pescadero from this campground, but we changed plans because a friend of mine was pondering a free stay at the Ritz-Carlton and we wanted to check it out. It’s a gorgeous trail walk, almost completely flat, that clocks in at a little over three and a half miles each way. If you’re riding a bike, you need to be careful about this one section that goes steeply down to the beach and then climbs back up via steps carved into the dirt bank. There is a way to go around this, but we saw bikers arrive at the dip and turn back.

Along the way, we stopped for a bite to eat and spotted a pod of dolphins right off the coast! The water was a deep cleansing blue, and a heron posed for us as we went by. I sent pictures of the Ritz to my friend, but alas, her dedication to work overruled hanging out on the patio, sipping very expensive beverages, and watching the ocean.

Since the original plan had us riding through Pescadero, we decided instead to drive there for dinner. We chose Duarte’s, Tavern which I haven’t been to in a long time. This spot was a favorite for fifth grade teachers during camp week, since the outdoor camp was just up the road in Loma Mar. I’ve gone down a few times, so I knew to order the off menu “Half and Half” soup. This is a combination cream of artichoke and cream of green chile, and it’s perfection in a bowl. I paired that with onion rings and it comes with fresh crusty sourdough bread. It’s a historic business, dating back to 1894. The bar is original and the cream of artichoke soup was one of its early draws to the locals. It has survived fires and floods and hasn’t missed a beat. Well worth a trip.

Moving backwards in time, we had a really rough February. We all got sick with the horrible virus that has been making the rounds. We were all either down for the count, or fighting it with DayQuil and Afrin for four weeks solid. I did one round of antibiotics for a sinus infection, and our daughter did a round for an ear infection. When Valentine’s weekend, a four day weekend coinciding with President’s Day, came around, we would have been challenged to keep the reservation I made in Pfeiffer Big Sur. Add to that a mostly rainy weekend forecast, and we pulled the plug.

We did have one day of no rain, and that was on Valentine’s Day. We decided to rescue the weekend by going into San Francisco to do a Self Guided Walking San Francisco Chocolate Tour. This is something I googled that pulled up a write up from 2015, but only one of the businesses listed is no longer there, or at least we couldn’t find it (Charles Chocolates). This day was an absolute blast!

We started with lunch at El Matate to have the mole. I’m writing about this over a month later and my mouth is watering just thinking of the chicken. OMG. It is so damn good.

Following that, we walked down to 24th Street, where there are all kinds of fun things to see and do. This is the Mission District, which is known for its latin culture and colorful murals. We stopped at Dynamo Donuts which has a wide selection of unique flavors. We were so impressed with the gluten free offerings, we got a Valentine’s box to bring home to our daughter.

From there, we walked around for a while, just taking in the scene. There was a giant street party going on for several blocks in an area known as Lovers Lane. I’m a native Californian and had never explored this area before. They had musicians and booths and all manner of street fair offerings. I’ll tell ya, I got choked up. With all of the horrific news and human cruelty splashed across the internet, it was deeply moving to be in a proud latin community, dancing, singing, filled with pride and joy.

We left 24th and headed back north until we arrived at Dandelion Chocolate. This place is a working factory and you can reserve tours to watch the chocolate making process unfold. We were too late to book that, but we enjoyed little bite sized tastes of all of the varieties as we waited in line to get their famous hot chocolate. I got the Mission Hot Chocolate, which is kicked up a notch using cinnamon and passilla chile. Wow, this was rich and delicious, with an extra bam! This may be the best hot chocolate ever in the history of the world. Richard said I needed to go on and on about the hot chocolate because it was that good. I agree, it was probably the best hot chocolate I’ve ever had. Or can remember. But honestly, my memory is not what is once was, so all I can say is that it was extremely good hot chocolate.

We looked at the very fancy desserts next door at Craftsman and Wolves, but were content to look, not buy. Their delicacies look too pretty to eat, but they sure are works of edible art.

Finally, heading slowly back towards the 16th and Mission BART station, we stopped at Bi-Rite Creamery for ice cream. The Bi-Rite Market is just across the street and we, just like a lot of people I guess, got confused. They seemed very used to pointing ice cream expeditioners across the street to the building aptly described as “mint chip green.” I did have the mint chip and I do remember it being very very good.

Before ending the day, we walked by the mission this whole neighborhood is named for. We were too late in the day to want to pay the entry fee, so we’ll save that for another time. It’s pretty from the outside and my feet were tired after walking nearly seven miles. Because it was so much fun, I really wanted to capture this walking tour on the blog.

One last thing by way of an update: I have taken up crochet! I’ve been looking for some kind of portable hobby for a long time. For those who may remember my declaration that I was going to be a photo scanner…. well, I’m not. But am a crocheter now, or at least I have actually completed three cute animals and am working on a fourth. This keeps me from scrolling all the horrible news and should be something I can take on the road.

That’s a big update after a long posting gap. We do have plans Spring Break and we’re excited. In the meantime, I hope anyone reading this is safe and well. Life is a lot right now. As promised, I am still going to post links below for resources that I find helpful as my way of doing whatever I can to resist and push back. Besides that, finding and celebrating joy remains imperative. I just think of how powerful that street scene in the Mission was. In spite of all of the horror, it meant a lot to be surrounded by people defiantly and conspicuously choosing joy.

Total miles: 51.6, 15.8, 2 hours 33 min (accident on freeway). Site 5 hookups. Did not use $10 dump, but it’s good. Excellent cell service, plenty of solar from any site.

Activism Afterward

Here are a couple of writers who are keeping me…. well, not sane I guess. They are keeping me informed, and doing so in a way that does not paralyze me with fear. I appreciate them, so I’m sharing links.

Amanda Nelson, Amanda’s Mild Takes: https://amandasmildtakes.substack.com/

Rich Laguna, Ohh That’s Rich: https://substack.com/@ohhthatsrich

Jay Kuo, The Status Kuo: https://statuskuo.substack.com/

It’s taking me longer and longer to write these posts because it’s hard to write about the mundane in times of terror. I understand not allowing the horrors of the world take away one’s joy, but when my own government is taking innocent lives, traumatizing children, pushing us to the brink every single day, well, maintaining a camping blog feels … surreal.

Nevertheless, small bursts of positivity do not lose their importance in the face of great evil. And to be sure, these are times of monsters and great evil. Right now, I’m going to use this blog in two ways. First, in recapping what was a very joyful long weekend in a beautiful part of California, I’m going to try to calm my nervous system a little. Maybe this little virtual walk in wine country will be of some use to you, maybe it won’t. That’s ok.

Second, I’m going to post some resources at the bottom, like links to organizations that help people resist. In reading content providers who talk about how to manage political anxiety, the first thing they say is to get involved in some way. It doesn’t have to be big, but it needs to be something. Something doable, something you can commit to, and something that is sustainable. I have my own personal commitments for ways I can push back against the regime. I can’t just pretend that everything is normal, and maybe some of these resources will be useful to you. Maybe they won’t. That’s ok too.

But here we go on the happy weekend part. This was a nice three day weekend to honor the memory and work of Martin Luther King Jr. Now is a good time to be reminded of his message, and this weekend gifted us with nice weather so we could really enjoy it. We have learned over the years that the correct thing to do in Napa Valley is to reserve a tour and wine tasting somewhere. This time, we chose Beringer Vineyards. But that was not until the afternoon, so we had time Saturday to get on our bikes and ride the Vine Trail.

The trail runs all the way from St. Helena to Calistoga and is paved most of the way. It takes you through vineyards and keeps you off Highway 29, which is a safer and more pleasant way to ride Napa. There are wineries along the way where you can get tastings. Sadly, gone are the days of free tastings. I understand that was not financially sustainable, but it sure was fun back in the day! Most places offer tastings of three or four wines at varying price points, and many welcome walk ins.

We grabbed lunch at the open market in Calistoga. There were a couple of options and we went with the wood fire pizza oven on a trailer, and that was delicious. Only $15 for a hot 8″ pizza made to order. The market also had tamales for sale, and down the road was a popular BBQ place. I was happy with our choices, and we turned around and rode the trail back to St. Helena.

As we got into town, there was a lone protester holding up an ICE OUT sign, eliciting a lot of supportive honks. I love you, lone protester guy. There is power in the big crowds, but sometimes seeing one person out there, speaking out, makes just as much of an impact. Never underestimate your power to make an impact.

We walked around a little and got gelato at a new place: Roman Holiday. It seems to be themed on the the 1953 movie of the same name, starring Audrey Hepburn. We had the 70% dark chocolate and it was delish.

We arrived at Beringer with enough time to stroll the gardens and peek inside the Rhine House. This majestic estate was built in 1884 and is adorned with stained glass windows and detailed wooden moulding all throughout. It is a beautiful house, surrounded by manicured gardens and an outdoor seating area where you can order wines by the glass.

We took the 30 minute tour through the limestone caves where they have fermented their wine in oak barrels for over a century. They still use the original gravity system to move wine through the fermentation stages. Our tour guide was animated and delivered a fun experience. He invited us, well me, since Richard doesn’t drink, to look for undertones of pear, cherry, cranberry, etc., with each different wine. I swear, I can never actually taste those things really. If you say there’s a blackberry finish, I’ll say sure. But I tried to guess what fruit he was going to say ahead of time and never got it. I think it’s just as well I don’t have refined pallet though. I mostly drink really cheap stuff and am perfectly happy doing so. Better not to be aware of the subtleties of taste too much, I figure.Having had a delightful experience, we rode away with one of us being happily tipsy. Good to be on a bike, and no, I did not crash into anybody. We got back to Dory and enjoyed a tasty Blue Apron dinner, followed by a movie on the projector. Perfect day.

On Sunday, we had the whole day, or so we thought, to do a hike up to Coyote Peak. There is a lovely trail that follows Ritchey Creek up the valley, and then cuts uphill to the high point at Coyote Peak. There are a couple of ways you can make a loop out of it, but the river crossing on the outer loop was a little too exciting for our blood. California is now officially out of drought and the creek is running strong. With a little less water, I’m sure it would be easy to get across. No worries though. Richard is getting good at invoking Multiple Plans Marvin so he can be flexible with unexpected things. The climb up from the valley is sustained and steep in places, but it’s a nice trail. Up close to the peak, it gets narrow and there is a short section where the trail goes along exposed rough rock. It’s short and returns to dirt after maybe twenty feet. The views are largely obscured by trees, but you can make out the valley below and see all the way to the Silverado Trail on the other side.

We sat for a while at the top, trying to peer through the trees and identify wineries, when I got a call from the state park. That was weird, so I answered. The ranger was politely inquiring as to our pack up plans, since check out time had just passed. I was confused. We had another night reserved so we could go home Monday. I vaguely remembered that there were two consecutive reservations, and I thought maybe that was the hiccup. But the ranger said someone else had the site reserved for Sunday night. Hmm. I checked my email to find the confirmations. I was confused again and had to check what the date was. Ah. I saw what happened there. I must have made the first reservation for Friday and Saturday, as usual. Then later, when I realized it was a three day weekend, I must have gone back to pick up the third night. But instead of reserving Sunday, I had the date of Monday on my brain and reserved that by mistake. The ranger was ever so kind and said there was an open site she could move us into. I explained we were at the top of Coyote Peak and it would take us a while to get back down and pack up, but she said that was no problem at all. So we started down the trail.

Now normally, something unexpected like this could have really thrown us. This was definitely not the plan. But really, it was no big deal and we were able to pack up and move sites in less than thirty minutes. Richard did a great job rolling with it, and I did a great job not feeling bad or defensive about my error. We both did a great job not taking on any imagined anger on the part of the people waiting for us to get out. They could have taken the open site, and really, we were out of there just a half hour past check in time anyway. So we were able to enjoy the whole hike, and relax the rest of the afternoon.

Getting home is easy peasy from Napa and only around a two hour drive. There is no dump in this park, so we always just wait to dump at home. There are endless wineries to choose from for tastings or tours. So far, Castello di Amoroso stands out as the most unique tour experience. But the limestone caves and beautiful Rhine House of Beringer are well worth the price of the tour. You can’t go wrong in Napa.

See below, following the picture gallery, for resources and links of organizations where you can get involved and fight to save our democracy.

Total miles: 63, 2 hours 17 min, 17.6 mpg. Site 20, then 12. No hookups, no dump. Better cell service than I remember. Could get 1-2 bars of 5g from either site. Site 20 has some solar, but 12 is in deep shade.

With daily atrocities being committed by the US government, it is no longer a matter of “talking politics” to say that we are at a pivotal moment in our history. If you follow Heather Cox Richardson, which you should, she has made the call that yes, we have officially arrived at fascism in the United States. The powers of the state are being used against the people to terrorize us into submitting to the will of a lawless dictator. That dictator also happens to be mentally unstable. Many guardrails have failed to protect us from this moment. The damage done is being felt worldwide, but within our borders, our people are being murdered. The time for neutrality has passed. I have made no secret of where I stand. What I will do from now on is include some link, or article, or content provider, to highlight and link with each post. You may well already be aware of these resources, but at least I won’t feel like I’m ignoring the shitstorm all around me by saying nothing.

First, I highly recommend finding your local Indivisible chapter if you haven’t done so already. This organization operates nationally to direct people to events, campaigns, and resources. The local chapters drive the grassroots activities. So many people are out there doing the hard work every single day. There are teams of people protecting our immigrant neighbors with food delivery, legal help, medical services, and more. And there are the people who go out multiple times a week on Visibility Brigades, to hold signs on overpasses. There are writers composing letters to the editor, social media and website authors, and there are in person protests happening multiple days every single week. It is not only about networking to hook up with your local chapter; it is also incredibly comforting to be in community with people who are just as upset about what is happening as I am. There is every kind of opportunity to get involved through the Indivisible website. From there, you can get to protests organized by 50501 or postcarding or phone banking campaigns organized by Commit To Democracy. Links below. Check em out if you haven’t already!

Indivisible: https://www.mobilize.us/indivisible/

Commit To Democracy: https://www.commit2democracy.com/

50501: https://www.fiftyfifty.one/

The trip home went from a three day jump to two, so that we could avoid as much weather as possible. When you’re talking about covering 500+ miles, you have to look at weather reports for multiple places if you are trying to game things. What we were seeing across the board was a break from the storms on Friday. I knew I wanted to position us so that we could get over the Tehachapi pass on that day. So Barstow, here we come on Thursday.

We woke to heavy rain and it wasn’t looking like it was going to let up for a while. Since the trek to Barstow would only take 3-4 hours, we could wait out the deluge for a while. As long as the roads didn’t close on us, it would be best to let the strongest part of the system move through. So we hung out until around 11, watching old episodes of “thirtysomething” on the iPad to pass the time. By the way, that was a really good show. We used to watch it in our twenties, but I can appreciate it more now. Very well written stuff.

We emerged from Dory to hitch up when it was only a light drizzle, as did all the other campers in the campground. I wanted to take surface streets rather than the interstate, for as long as possible because I really hate driving highways in weather. Except for a five mile stint on 10, I mostly got my wish. There was a period of dense fog and low visibility up through Morongo Valley on highway 62, but it paled in comparison to the fog on 247 all the way to Lucerne Valley. The only thing that kept me from panicking was that everyone collectively agreed to go super slow. I was very grateful for that. I just kept tail lights of the RV ahead of me in sight, and the person following me kept their headlights just in view. I don’t know what the visibility distance was there, but it was dangerous.

Thankfully, the fog finally lifted and we made it all the way to Barstow before sunset. We definitely ruled out the idea of staying in Sawtooth Canyon. It is all unpaved out there and would have been muddy at best. No, for times like these, KOAs are great. There are hookups and the sites are level enough usually that you don’t need to unhitch. This would offer us an easy morning departure. I didn’t want to commit to driving the whole 400 miles back home the next day, but that would mean I could take advantage of the Friday break in weather and be free from rain or wind driving the whole way. Appealing.

There’s not much to do in the way of exercise around the KOA, so Richard just walked to the ghost town and back. That got him a good six miles and he also got to witness a very nice sunset on the way. We walked together to Penny’s Diner for dinner, and that was great.

We were rolling around 8am the next morning, and would have left earlier except it was foggy. It burned off more or less by 8 and wasn’t too bad leaving Barstow. By the time we hit the pass, there were blue skies overhead. Challenge #1 accomplished. The more I drove, the more I wanted to push through because it was so much nicer not driving in weather. We passed by Harris Ranch and kept going. Then we passed San Luis Reservoir. At that point, we were committed to getting home.

It was around seven and a half hours and over 400 miles in the car that day. That’s not my favorite way to travel, but we earned two weekend days to relax at home before going back to work, and we got to bask in being inside and not towing while the rain came down all weekend. We were happy to see the cat too.

Great winter break. We got to do some familiar stuff, try some new stuff, and catch up with a very dear friend. We learned things along the way which should serve us well in the future. Meanwhile, the west coast got a good dousing. That is good news for the reservoirs and bodes well for a super bloom in the spring. It was not so great for all the people who got flooded, or impacted by mudslides. Extreme weather is the new normal, but we’re thankful for all we got to do and see.

Total miles from Lake Cahuilla: 144.7, 3 hours 58 min, 15.9 mpg. Site 66 hookups. Good cell. Walking distance to Penny’s. Level enough to not unhitch.

Much of this post concerns our ongoing struggles with Plan A Alex. To understand Plan A Alex, you have to understand the “Unthinkables” (now called “UnthinkaBots”), a curriculum created by Michelle Garcia Winner and Pamela Crooke, PhD, which teaches young children, especially those on the Autism Spectrum, about Social Thinking using self regulation strategies personified by a variety of characters. To teach social thinking, it is important to understand when our brains are getting stuck and be able to identify the ways our thinking patterns are interfering with our ability to self regulate and think flexibly. Characters like “Rock Brain,” “Worry Wall,” “Topic Twistermeister,” can get into our brains sometimes and make us get stuck, like with doing things one way, or focusing on worry, or jumping around topics, just to name a few. Each Unthinkable has its own characteristics, or Bot powers, and it is helpful to know their particular qualities so we can use specific strategies to defeat them. There are specific “Thinkables” who pair with their counterparts, and they allow our brains to self regulate and navigate away from getting stuck. Like, “Focus Tron” helps you stay on task and defeats “Brain Eater,” or “T-Flex” helps you flex your thinking and defeats “Rock Brain” when you are being too rigid. Get it? I’ve used the curriculum a lot over the years and I have found it to be extremely helpful. Oftentimes, students like to come up with their own original Unthinkable and Thinkable pairs to help them understand a specific way their brains are getting stuck.

One of the things that inevitably happens when Richard and I are on long trips is we unwind and analyze the whys and hows of when things don’t go so well. That way, we get a little better at traveling every time we go out. Something we have been identifying as an area of frequent stress is Richard’s tendency to get stuck on things like completing the whole hike, no matter how difficult, or worrying about getting a site in a first come first serve campground. We were thinking it was about exercise, or fear of the unknown, and those are factors for sure, but what we thought about this trip was the tendency to get fixated on following through with Plan A, even if Plans B-Z are equally acceptable.

This is where Plan A Alex comes in, and he appeared center stage on the move from Cottonwood to Hidden Valley in Joshua Tree. We knew already that moving to a non reservable campground would trigger both of us, so we had a couple of vague backup plans at the ready. When we arrived at Hidden Valley, it was packed with rock climbing campers. No way would we be getting an open site. In addition, the campsites are very small and very tippy; not great for trailers. There are one or two sites that could have worked for Dory, but honestly, it was so packed with people, we would have not liked it. Also, it was so cold and windy, I would have been kind of bummed if we had found a site. But after taking a super slo-mo lap through the very tight loop, I could tell Richard was glitching. There was another loop we could have tried, but I did not want to drag Dory through any more. Instead, I drove a little ways down the road and pulled over where she was safe. I sent Richard out on foot to go back and verify there were no sites. This was strategic, in that I knew it would help him to walk, and I didn’t want there to be lingering doubts over whether we coulda woulda been able to stay there. Sure enough, he came back reporting it was crazy packed and way too snug.

With that established, we continued the long drive through Joshua Tree, aiming for the campground on the other side of the park; Black Rock Canyon. Joshua Tree is a huge park, so driving all the way through from Cottonwood meant driving over sixty miles. Arriving there, we also verified there were no sites available. At that point, we were on our phones, looking at reservation apps like AllStays. We had previously tossed around the idea of staying near Palm Springs, and we were successful at finding a place in the vicinity that seemed ok. We called and made the reservations over the phone for the next three nights. With that solved, we went back to the town of Yucca Valley to get groceries and then headed back down to Palm Springs. We noted that the line to get into the park through the Yucca Valley entrance was at least a mile long. Had Plan A succeeded, we would have left the park to get groceries, only to face an hour long wait to get back in.

That was a long day of staying flexible! The result was, I think, far preferable to Plan A because it was easily twenty degrees warmer down in the valley, and we got a decent site in a decent county park, with hookups and cell service. Like, had I known both options ahead of time, I would have voted for 60s over 40s without thinking too much, nor caring too much what the campground looked like. What helped navigate the day a whole lot was being aware of how each of us was processing the shifting expectations. Plan A Alex was using all his powers, but Multiple Plan Marvin was invented to keep him at bay. Multiple Plan Marvin helps you by giving you lots of options and reminds you that most of them can be just as good. We arrived at the county park campground with time to spare before sunset and Richard went on a partial hike (he didn’t even need to do the whole green line) right out of the campground. He took his headlamp and navigated the trail very well, even after sunset. That night hike would never have come up as a Plan A, but he really enjoyed it.

The other fun part about where we landed was that it is in the town of La Quinta. You see, every night before going to bed, we put our coffee packets out for the next morning. We use a little plastic basket and set them on the table. For years, we have called this action “La Quinta” because it looks like something you would find in a nice mid range hotel where they set up little hospitality packets and put them in a basket for you. We never ask, “Did you put the coffee packets out?” Instead, we say, “Can you do La Quinta?” or “Have you done La Quinta?” So now, we got to do La Quinta in La Quinta.

We had pretty good weather the next day, so we drove to Palm Springs to check it out. Parking in a downtown garage, we got the bikes out and rode to Indian Canyons to see Palm Canyon. There is a $12 per person entry fee to get in, but once inside, there are three canyon areas and lots of trails to explore. We were interested in seeing the big palm oasis at the top of the valley. This grove boasts the world’s largest stand of California Fan Palm trees, numbering over 3,000 trees. I believe it. The grove just keeps going on and on. It is definitely worth seeing. We took a loop trail up through the forest floor, and a return along the canyon ridges with sweeping views of the whole valley. That is a great trail.

In the afternoon, we rode back to town and decided to walk up and down the main drag and check out places to get a treat. That we did, with a stop at Brandini Toffee where they were passing out generous samples of their toffee popcorn. Yum that was good! But also rather expensive. We went a few stores down to the Ben & Jerry’s. The person at the counter sold me on Marshmallow Sky, which is a blue colored base with chunks of chocolate chip and chocolate cookie dough. We noted both places for dessert potential and went and got pizza slices at Bill’s Pizza. Their crust is buttery and delicious and their slices huge. Great dinner for not too much money. Ben & Jerry’s won for dessert and we drove back to Dory after a great day.

The next day, Richard showed me the trail he found, which goes from the county park at Lake Cahuilla to the next valley over, called the Cove. Along the way, you pass a little horse statue, which Richard says is nicely lit at night, using the tiniest little solar lantern. It’s a nice six mile out and back desert hike with mountain views and lots of Ocotillo dotting the hillsides. We got back just under the start of the rainy period, catching sight of a Bald Eagle hanging out in the campground trees. After that, it was time to stay inside and be thankful for hookups so we could run our little space heater.

Instagram Irma tugged at me a little with the idea of driving back to Anza Borrego to look again at the winter wildflower bloom on Henderson Canyon Road and see if I could find a Desert Lily. But once it started raining, Weather Wimp Wanda had no trouble convincing me I didn’t want to get stuck in any flash floods. As it turns out, there was lots of flooding in Anza Borrego, so that was a good call. Desert Lillies can be photographed by other people and enjoyed by me without putting myself in crazy situations.

We kept our eyes on the weather, calculating when we wanted to start tracking back home. Some serious downpours were heading our way, so it was a game of stop and go to find the breaks and make a dash. We were happy to hunker down where we were. It may not have been where we set out to be, but Plan A Alex can take a seat for this round because we had a great time.

Total miles from Cottonwood (with 100 mile loop through Joshua Tree): 125.9, 6 hours 38 min, 18.7 mpg. Site 57 hookups. Ok free dump, but with low curb. One side has gap in curb where you can lay a dump hose. Opening is small. No potable water at dump, so fill in site. Excellent cell for both.

Traveling can be psychologically fascinating sometimes. It can be frustrating sometimes too, but if you figure out how to unravel the glitches, you can uncover some deep stuff. I mean, at one point during this stay, I was figuring out the evolutionary benefits of the drive to acquire living room furniture while Richard was out speed hiking a loop trail in order to satisfy his drive to complete planned tasks because he’s got some toes on the Autism spectrum. I’ll get into how this leads to inventing our own “Thinkables” and “Unthinkables” in the next blog post, but we are currently doing really well working together to plan activities, knowing our own particular triggers and how they play off each other.

We had a big glitch on the first full day in this park. Getting there from Anza Borrego worked well though. Last time, Richard planned to bike up Box Canyon to the campground, but I hadn’t realized that by dawdling in the morning, I was feeding his anxiety about whether he would be able to successfully complete that plan. It built for him, silently in his head, until he had a panic attack. I was blissfully looking at landscaping designs on my phone, completely unaware until it was too late. This time, we knew what to do to prevent all of that. We left plenty early, I reassured him I was ok by stopping along the way to let him pass, and he had a really enjoyable ride. He said it was the first time in a long time he had been able to let go and just vibe on what he was experiencing in the moment. Successful execution of a plan!

The next day, we had a loose plan to do a nine mile hike out to the Lost Palms Oasis. I was looking forward to spending time with him and figured a long hike like that would be plenty for his activity needs. Then he suggested he could start the day by doing a three mile loop on his own before we set out together, and that set me off. It took us all day to uncover what happened there and we did not do the long hike. We did do the three mile loop together though, after we’d pushed through the defensiveness and were ready to let our guards down.

In a nutshell, I have some baked in land mines regarding feeling physically inadequate. I’m pretty sure growing up hiking with my dad laid a lot of that programming down. I’ve worked really hard to improve my health and hiking stamina, but I cannot possibly keep up with Richard. So there are booby traps there if I feel that what I can do is simply not enough. Meanwhile, Richard has a very hard time being flexible about “Plan A” once it has been set. He worries whenever it seems like something might impede his ability to finish the plan and he basically goes full throttle until the mission is complete. He was actually trying to make it so that he could chill the hell out on the long hike with me by completing a shorter one first so he could get that “Plan A” box checked. But I read it as “nine miles at a slow pace is not enough.” Then boom, we’re both defensive and not communicating well.

At the end of the day, we were back working together and we reset to do the long hike plan the next day. He needed me to help with the executive functioning piece around what time he would need to leave and be back in order for us to leave with enough time to hike the long hike at my pace. It all sounded achievable, and we set ourselves up for the best chances for success.

This is a beautiful hike, with a nice reward at the end. It is long, to be sure. We took issue with some of the mile markers because they did not seem to align with what our watches were saying in terms of mileage. We paid super close attention to the numbers on the way back, and actually, the posted signs are not too far off. Maybe the 2.5 miles to the oasis sign is under, but only by like .3 or .4 miles. We were all ready to be Karens and complain to management, but we can stand down. One thing to know is that AllTrails and Guru Maps show the trail continuing past the “Welcome to the Lost Palms Oasis” sign. I don’t think those are sanctioned trails, and so the mileage markers will not reflect going all the way down to the canyon floor. That added another half mile or so. Not a huge deal, but good to factor into calculations.

That was a great day! It felt satisfying not only because it was a big hike to tick off, but also because of the couples therapy work we had to do to make it happy for both of us. The trail is dotted with some wildflowers and offers incredible views of the Salton Sea on some of the high points. Some of it is wash walking, and some of it is along steep and narrow rocky ridges. It was well signed (despite our complaining) and easy to follow. The final unsanctioned scramble down to the floor is not any of that. It is tricky and hard to follow the best informal path, but did not present a scramble I could not do. We didn’t stay long because it was awfully windy and cold that day, but we got our bragging rights and earned our trophies.

As Joshua Tree campgrounds go, this one is the most chill. It is a far drive from the central part of the park, but there is no line of cars or kiosk to get through. There are far fewer people down at the south entrance and it generally feels like a more relaxing place to stay than any of the campgrounds in the middle. It is also a lot lower, so temperatures will be ten degrees lower there than at Jumbo Rocks. This is particularly good to know in the winter. We watched with awe as a bike tourer set up in the site next to us, just sleeping on the cold cold ground and stripping naked for any to see as he was gearing up in the morning. Meanwhile, we ran the heater while sipping lattes, and waiting for the water heater to finish so I could take a hot shower. Every time we return to a place, we get a little better at it. This was a good therapeutic stay.

Total miles from Anza Borrego: 81.5, 3 hours 45 min with sagging, 15.7 mpg. Site A16. Great back in site. Prefer this over pull along sites on outside of loops. Some are very short, but this one fit us just fine. No cell service for either. No wifi anywhere. Good solar, but it’s winter, so ran generator on night 3. Good dump with potable water.

This is a Christmas tradition we really love. When we are super lucky, we get to enjoy our stay with a Canadian Christmas present, on special delivery, all the way from Quebec. His name is Francois, and we got to spend Christmas with him in the desert. The other tradition we love is to rent fat tire e-bikes from iBikeBorrego. All of these things made for a fabulous stay. 

The timing of our arrival could not have been more perfect. The entire west coast got hit with a historic atmospheric river and many towns experienced significant damage. It was not a good idea to travel on Christmas and we were safely ensconced in our campground when it got some mild rain from the monster system. I was curious whether getting a little bit of moisture would result in catastrophic flash flooding, but really nothing happened. It was an excellent place to be.

We got there in perfect time to check in, having made only one stop to get gas and a personal pizza, split two ways at the $5 Pizza Place. It was $8.99. We had a couple of glorious days of sun and T-shirt temperatures and we appreciated that fully. Richard walked down to the Borrego Springs Center Market for a good walk and a few groceries while I set Dory up in her Christmas attire. I was delighted by a Roadrunner passing right through the site. Meep meep! Dinner that night was pancakes, sausage, and eggs on the grill. 

The next day Richard headed out on a long hike up Hellhole Canyon. I have done that hike before and remembered that getting to the palm oasis and waterfall involved relentless rock scrambling. The rest of the hike traverses a wide wash, climbing steadily uphill until you get cut off by the fallen boulders. I wasn’t especially interested in that one, so Richard got to do his fast pace morning cardio while I showered and leisurely got ready to start the day. He was successful at locating not only the palm oasis, but also the nonexistent waterfall. I drove over to the trailhead parking area to save him from the return trip back to the campground and met him a little ways up the trail. 

From there, we drove over to do The Slot. Along the way, I spotted the new additions to the Ricardo Breceda desert sculptures: a roadrunner and a rattlesnake. These sculptures appear all over the desert in Borrego Springs. There are two main areas where you can find them and these new ones are located on the south side, just off of Borrego Springs Road. There are various displays out there, with Velociraptors, horses, giant eagles, and elephants. Super cool to see new ones.

The Slot is a fun hike through a narrow slot canyon. You have to drive about four miles off road to get to the trailhead, but any car can do it. As you walk slowly downhill through the canyon, the walls rise and close in on you until you have to turn sideways in some places to squeeze through. There was only one place I remember where you have to get down a rocky step of a couple of feet. The rest was easy hiking. Eventually, the walls open back up and you can keep going along the wash for miles. We stopped when we saw the road named The Drop Off descending sharply into the valley floor. Last time we were here, we got to watch a car slipping and sliding and smoking its way desperately back up that slide. It made it, but ooh boy I would not would have wanted to be a passenger or the driver on that adventure. On our way back to the campground, we stopped at a gallery downtown to see how much a small velociraptor statue would be and I chickened out. Too rich for my blood to get a quirky backyard ornament. I also had no real way of getting one home in the car. The velociraptor search continues. 

On December 23rd, we got our bikes delivered! We knew the rain would be coming in soon, but we rolled the dice and headed out toward Coyote Canyon, hoping it wouldn’t be too bad. The Weather app made, and revised, all kinds of predictions for the day. As it turned out, we got rained on for about two hours in the middle of the day. We were well on our way out to Henderson Canyon to look at wildflowers when the rain started becoming more than a drizzle. We found shelter in a thatched roof fruit stand and ate our lunch very very slowly until the rain finally stopped. While we waited, we were fascinated by watching the air patterns play with a stream of thick, billowing smoke, coming off of a brush burn from a nearby farm. At times, the smoke layer would be pushed downward into a distinctive horizontal ribbon. Then suddenly, it seemed as though a pressure system lifted, and all of the smoke dispersed into the sky. We were entertained, but mostly we were dry.

Coyote Canyon was an absolute blast. I remembered my sand biking tips from last time (thanks blog!) and worked that throttle like a pro. The rain disappears instantly when it hits sandy washes and we saw no evidence of any water on the road. The sand was nice and packed down, making the riding smoother, but there were some wash boardy sections and some rocky sections. Going across one of the wash boards knocked a screw loose from my bike’s fender. As there was no hope of finding it, I stole a screw from the unused bike cage and made a note to apologize to Ed. We cleared the first water crossing with no problem and made it to the second crossing this time. There, we bailed because the water was pretty dauntingly deep. We’d had an excellent time and rode all the way back to Dory for nappy time.

Our Canadian Christmas present came by a little while later and we were so happy to see him again. He has been on the road for a couple of weeks on vacation and showed us pictures of some stunning off road camping spots, all across the southwest. He’s got a super sweet Safari Condo van, and he really puts those through their paces. We caught up and enjoyed blended margaritas together until it was time to call it a night.

Christmas Eve day brought the most rain of our stay. Richard and I got in a quick hike up to the Palm Canyon Oasis before it became significant. There were all kinds of signs at the trailhead warning us about both too much heat, and too much water. I was kind of concerned about being in a narrow canyon in the event of a flash flood, but there were plenty of places you could get up onto high ground if that had occurred. The storm also turned out to be a nothing burger where we were, so the worry was unnecessary. We tried to coax Francois along, but he was busy spending the day chilling and catching up on sleep after a long time on the road. We made it all the way up and back to the mouth of the canyon before the rain started. After dinner, we hung out with Francois in his van and I learned a wealth of information about Gin & Tonics.

Finally on Christmas Day, the sun came back out. We took advantage of it by doing a repeat visit to Coyote Canyon, this time with Francois. We showed him the flowers, and the desert sculptures, and took the very same route up the road to the second water crossing. There was no real difference in the condition of the road following the rains. One place had a little water to get through that wasn’t there before, but there was no evidence of flash flooding. We shared turkey hot dogs and stuffing on the grill, because we are classy people and wanted to impress him with our haute cuisine. He, having worked as a sous chef before his job at Safari Condo, brought a delicious orzo salad. We laughed, talked about cat ownership, and told tales over a bottle of Rombauer. He had an early morning ahead of him and many miles to cover, so we said a fond farewell and look forward to the next time we get to hang with our Canadian family member. Sure do love that guy!

I really love this place. The distinctive scent of Creosote, especially after a rain, is so tied to my sensory memory that it always makes me happy to be there. Something about the colors of the rocky mountains against the sunset sky brings me joy the way few other places do. I think we could do the same activities over and over again and not get tired of it. Christmas is an excellent time to visit, especially if temperatures at home are in the down jacket zone. We were legit hot for a while there. Weather reports showed it raining for a week nonstop at home, so we lucked out big time with only a minor blip in an otherwise blue sky Christmas. I feel bad for the communities that really got hit. That was a bad storm and you just never know where the weather is going bring destruction. This Christmas, we are especially grateful for our dear friends and communities, near and far. Merry Christmas!

Total mies from Owl Canyon: 203.7, 5 hours 19 min, 16.3 mpg. Site 31 full hookups. Excellent cell service. Free dump, but it has a low curb. Dump in site was better and didn’t require long hose. Bike rental: Ed Whipple with iBikeBorrego. Great guy and great ebikes!

Well hmm. We come away from this stay with mixed feelings about the campground. On the one hand, it is very beautiful and peaceful and remote. It’s a five mile drive on an unpaved road to get there, but the road is not too bad. It’s wash boardy for sure, and will shake the flocking off your holiday tree. We also found two screws on the floor that had come loose from the underside of the microwave cabinet, plus the Fantastic Fan remote had fallen down and now something is ratting inside. But otherwise, there was no unfixable damage, so it’s definitely doable for Dory.

There was one place in the road, just before the sites, that had a nasty crack in the middle. We were just able to scoot past it by keeping as far left as possible. If the rains have opened that up any farther, it would present a significant barrier to entry or exit. There were hardly any other campers, so we selected a site that had a nice view and seemed to be nosing into the wind.

We were in high spirits and headed out to the Owl Canyon trail right after getting settled in. We’ve done that trail before and I was eager to take a look at the rocks that stopped me last time. As hikes go, it’s a scenic walk up a rocky wash, where there is a short little side trip through a cave on your right, about a mile up the trail. The colors of the rocky cliffs are pretty and there was no one else on the trail.

Sure enough, we found the spot where I noped out before, and cutting to the chase, noped out harder this time. We had been thinking maybe Richard could offer his knee to get me up a tall smooth chute, but looking at it again made us both realize that would never work. First off, it’s way too high for a knee assist to help. Second, the base of it was full of water this time. The approach Richard took on the left was still too risky for my blood. I simply don’t trust that my feet wouldn’t slip, or that my hands would have the strength to hold onto the rock if they did. It would be a big enough fall that some part of my body would definitely hurt, and after trying again and again to get up the courage to cross over, I realized there was really nothing in this for me to push myself through it. The trail on the other side just gets worse with scrambling. And even if it didn’t, I wouldn’t enjoy it because I’d be fixated on how I was going to get back down. 

I reminded Richard that “overcoming challenges” is not one of my core values, but as it is one of his, he was welcome to keep going while I stayed behind and had a snack. He went on ahead, determined to get to the end of the “green line,” meaning, the route on AllTrails marking the full length of the trail. 

We learned a couple of things from this experience, none of which work in favor of staying at that campground again. First, I now know how to use satellite texting. I just got a new phone with this feature, so part of my time was spent trying to figure out how to turn it on and use it. When there is no cell service, both of our phones can now connect to satellites to send messages to each other, like to say we’re not lost and are not injured, even though we’ve been gone for forty five minutes. For, you know, example.

Next, if Richard has been sitting in a car for five hours, things are not good, just as a default state. He’s like a Border Collie who has to run all day long or he chews up the furniture. Once you let him out of the car, he’s going to have a very hard time slowing down. And if he has in mind a particular trail he wants to do, he means all of it. Whatever the green line says is what he’s going to do, regardless of what obstacles stand in the way. This means I’d better be damn careful if I try to do something with him. Better idea is to just let him go blow off steam at his crazy ass pace while I stay behind and entertain myself. When there’s no cell service, that’s a little harder for me, but still better than feeling like dead weight being pulled along by a sled dog.

Because of all of this, the Owl Canyon Campground might not be a great choice for us after a long drive. The only other trail on the menu is over seven miles along the Rainbow Basin, and if arriving later in the afternoon, would be impossible to do before dark. We could always make it a two night stay, but that still leaves the question of: how to you run the Collie when you get there? Really, the only viable option is for me to walk about two miles until the first impasse and then walk down without him so I’m not waiting there with no service for about an hour, worrying he’s in trouble.

Otherwise, the campground is really nice, so this is all kind of a shame. There is just enough cell service from the campground to do most things. If I had waited in the campground, he could satellite text me his status. I could always stay in Dory and do things. Or I can take up knitting. It was worth it at least to figure all of this out and know how it could be done better in the future. This, plus Calico and the KOA, give us three options when stopping in Barstow. The one that’s left to explore is the Sawtooth Canyon BLM. Options for Barstow are good to have, since this is always a good stopping point when traveling to the deserts. One more travel day and no rain so far.

Total miles from Harris Ranch: 237.7, 5 hours 17 min. Site 29. No reservations. $6 per night. No water, no dump, no electricity. Road was dodgy in one place and is probably worse now, after the storms.