Tag Archives: Ocotillo Wells VRA

3/17/2015 California-some business, some pleasure

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We met Chad and Crissy in Borrego Springs on Valentine’s Day weekend. Chad showed up with the tail end of a cold or flu bug, but was still up for 4-wheelin’ in the desert. We stayed at the Borrego Palm Canyon campground for the hookups—needed A/C set for the puppies that we left behind for the day and I did not want to run the generator the whole time we would be gone. We got our desert rides from Steve’s ATV rentals in Salton City, some Trail Boss and Trail Blazer 330’s, then headed out to the Ocotillo Wells Vehicular Recreation Area. We only rented them for 4-hours, but as I later found out I would recommend getting them for all day, there is a LOT of desert to cover. We had fun screaming through the washes, got to see the Pumpkin Patch (strange rock formations), and Chad just had to throw in some dramatic tension in the mix. Out in the middle of nowhere both he and I simultaneously dumped our ATV’s. I got mine back on it’s feet and looked over as Crissy was yelling, “Call 9-1-1!” Chad had keeled over, passed out. The temps were not uncomfortably hot that day, but we did begin the day reminding the kids to drink lots of water. Chad was out for about 30 seconds, the longest 30 seconds I ever experienced, as I tore at my cell phone trying to get helmet off, figure out what # to call, whether or not to start CPR, you know, the usual terror filled moment. He did regain consciousness, wearing an ear-to-ear mischievous grin and asking, “What’s going on?”. We force fed him water and he returned to normalcy. Lessons learned—flu bugs and dehydration are bad combos. (He later contacted his doctor and got the confirmation that flu bugs and dehydration are what got him.)

The wild bunch, getting ready to embark on a desert adventure.
Shooting down one of the washes…
The Pumpkin Patch
Jeanne showing off… 
Crissy showing her one-upmanship…
Chad feeling left out, B.D. (before the drama)

We returned to Jojoba Hills SKP park for a few more days to evaluate our pending membership as leaseholders. As it turned out, we got the call while we were there, offering a space for lease. The way Jojoba Hills works, you can either accept the lease or decline it. If declined, you maintain your place on the list, but enter a 30-day “limbo” period that you must wait out. After that, when another lease opens up, they call you a second time. You have the same options then. But, once you receive the 3rd call for a lease available, if you decline that 3rd time, you lose your space on the list and are put at the bottom, to start all over. We have been having some severe soul searching debates on whether we are ready to spend some substantial amount of time in one spot yet. Jojoba Hills really is a “resort” atmosphere and has beautiful surrounding scenery and facilities. But to justify the monthly $260-ish maintenance fees, we would need to stay there for several months out of the year to benefit from the money savings. We are just not that ready to settle down, our “happy feet” urge is just too strong right now. But we do have the luxury of maintaining a spot on the list until we do definitively decide.

Poolside at JoJo Hills. Terrible view, all that greenery, blue skies, sun blasting you in the face, and in February no less! 

It came time to start heading up to the northern part of California to visit more family. On our way we decided to stop off at the Coarsegold SKP park, check it out, and visit Yosemite National Park while we were at it. California is smack dab in the middle of a serious drought, so there was no snow to fight with in that part of the Sierras at this time in February. The Coarsegold SKP park was tucked into the mountains as you head up to Yosemite on Hwy. 41 out of Fresno. The park was laid out nicely, very hilly and similar layout style to Jojoba Hills, but very rustic-woodsy. We were about a half hour’s drive from the gate to Yosemite, then another half hour to Yosemite Village. I never would have thought I could be standing in the middle of Yosemite Village in the middle of February and not a speck of snow in sight. We could not make use of the many trails around the park because we had the dogs with us, so we relegated ourselves to sightseeing. I do have to say, both of us thought, impressive as Yosemite is, it was somewhat of a let down to our high expectations of what we thought it was. Not even a close comparison to something like Yellowstone NP.

Now, who would ever let a little thing like Half Dome come between them? (Look closely)
Yosemite NP, at last! Lifelong state resident and this first visit in 55 years…
Bridal Veil Falls
Upper and Lower Yosemite Falls
Half Dome
Home, at Coarsegold SKP park

After leaving Coarsegold, we headed to Sacramento for a short visit with my mother and sister & brother-in-law. We stayed at the Cal Expo RV lot which was a large parking lot with full hookups. $40 per night is the going rate here, too much for basically hookups only, no other amenities. But then there are not a lot of choices in these here parts for RV campgrounds, or even boondocking for that matter.

Next it was on to Chico to visit Jeanne’s mother and her brothers in Anderson. We had a nice visit;  Jeanne’s brother Dave put on a great tri-tip BBQ spread at his house (he is an extraordinary chef). We stayed at the Almond Tree RV Park in Chico, we had stayed there about a year ago. Like everything else, their rates went up, now $40 per night. But, they do have a pool/spa area, bath/showers, and a small store in the office. Not many choices for RV camping here, neither.

Our final business to take care of in California was our return visit to Santa Rosa. We stayed there a couple of weeks for miscellaneous appointments, family visit (daughter and her family), and to terminate our P.O.D.S. account. When we began full timing 2 1/2 years ago, we sold most everything and placed the remainder in a POD for storage and eventual delivery to wherever we were going to land. After reconsideration, we decided the $173 per month we were paying for the storage was just not worth it. We divvied up the big ticket items between Chad and Jenn, sold a few items on Craig’s List, then moved the very few must-have items to a small (5×5) storage facility. Chad and Crissy came up to get their stuff and we had a nice mini-family reunion. The only bummer was that we stayed very busy during this visit and that cut into quality time with the grandson Max. But, we did manage to have a good time with him with what little time we had.

Trying to make Max throw up on the go karts at Scandia
Say, “Bye-bye” to the POD.

All good things must come to an end, so it was time to hit the road again, get back to our “recreational wandering”. With our one year’s worth of warranty getting near expiration on the MH, and another short laundry list of things to get fixed, we are “racing” back to Red Bay, Alabama to beat the summer heat. Onward and upward…

1/7/2015 The Desert in the wintertime…

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Merry Christmas everybody and Happy New Years to y’all while we’re at it. We had a very good time having Christmas at Chad and Crissy’s house in Atascadero. Jenn and Max came and spent the holiday with us. Chad had quite a collection of toys which kept us non-stop busy with the Gladiator (Max). From remote controlled drone flyers to remote controlled ATV fighters to high capacity NERF shotguns…Max was a kid in a toy store. I was a bit peeved that I was unable to fully enjoy this family time because I had picked up a nasty head cold, but I tried my best.

Good ol’ Rock-em Sock-em Robots. The past lives on…

To work off the awesome BBQ rib dinner Chad put on, they took us to the Bishop Peak Natural Area, a sort of donated-to-the-county mountain park with hiking trails. This was a several hour endeavor and a medium strenuous level which got a bit frustrating with Max because he wanted to be carried the whole time. It turned into quite a workout and the view at the “top of the world” was spectacular. Jenn suffered a minor mishap while carrying Max during the downhill return, she fell and smacked her elbow pretty good. No broken bones though, just a lot of pain and minor swelling.

What’s left of the XMAS cookie tray leads to…
…this serious warning sign!
The wild bunch getting ready to hike to the “Top of the World”.
Well, at least Max started out under his own power…
Max, Uncle Bubba, and Oma monkeying in a tree.
Oops, didn’t take Max long to con a ride.
Hooray for us!
“Look, Ma, no hands!”
One of the few times WE conned Max into running on his own power.
Max and his Mom at the Top of the World.
Chad peeks over the top rock at us.
View from the Top…

We also made a trip to Avila Beach and a stop at the farmer’s market/petting zoo on the way. Max got to feed the animals (I think his mom had more fun doing that) and then he JUST HAD to have pizza for lunch, so we stopped at a pizza place in Avila Beach.

“Don’t feed him your fingers, Max!”
“Do I look guilty or what?”
Jenn had more fun feeding critters than Max!
At the pier in Avila Beach.
The coastline at Avila Beach.
Strolling the pier.
Merry Christmas everyone! From the farmer’s market… 

Again, all good things must come to an end, so it was “See ya later” to the family and back to “Jo Jo” Hills to pack up and prep for our next adventure. This is the only draw back to full-timing… WE MISS OUR KIDS and their families. Good thing someone invented Facetime.

True boondocking. That was next on our agenda. We decided to head out to the Anza-Borrego Desert State Park which surrounds Borrego Springs. We had pre-scouted the area previously, taking the Jeep over the Montezuma Valley pass. That was an extremely steep and long mountain road and I was concerned about taking the bus over it. Thankfully, we spoke with one of our Jo Jo Hills neighbors and he mentioned an easier way for the motorhome, taking the Yaqui Pass off Hwy. 78 off Road S2. We took Yaqui Pass-it was still a bit steep and narrow but a lot shorter than Montezuma Valley…much easier travel. We found a common area for boondockers in the Clark Dry Lake area between Rockhouse Trail and mile marker 27 on Road S22. I use the term “boondockers” loosely here. My version of true boondocking is somewhere in the sticks with nobody around. Here, the boondockers were thicker than flies, some non-groups parked on top of each other. There must have been at least 50 rigs in about a half square mile area. 

Our boondock site in Borrego Springs at Clark Dry Lake bed.
Our desert neighbors…

There are quite a lot of activities/sights within the Anza-Borrego Desert State Park. We only planned to stay about a week (which is what we actually stayed as it turned out), depending on the status of our gray and black tanks (this being our first actual boondocking experience excluding overnight stopovers), so we only experienced a fraction of the sights and sounds of what the park offered. First stop was the park Visitor Center for all the info we could get on the park. The booklet they give out has some crude maps with general locations of points of interest, and as we discovered during our stay, the state of California gets an “F” for signage as far as those points of interest are concerned.

The wind caves was our first exploration here. They are outside of Ocotillo Wells off Split Mountain Rd. on Fish Creek Wash. The teeny-tiny sign that points out the trailhead to the wind caves is easy to pass by without seeing, as we did. But we guess-timated the right area and ended up hiking up the back side of the steep shale mountain to the caves. Very cool formations and very dismaying to find piggy people had found their way  up and left their mark on this natural wonder (graffiti). @$$holes who do this should be shot on sight and left for wildlife consumption. This hike was about a 2 mile round trip. The drive into Fish Creek Wash was pretty scenic as well.

The wind caves at Anza-Borrego Desert State Park.
Someone built a fire inside this cave.
Jeanne after conquering the ugly climb straight uphill. Notice evidence of graffiti at left, # & %@!!!
4-wheel master Jeanne feeling her oats in canyons on way to wind caves. 
Scenic canyon to drive through.
Walk through cave.
More graffiti on caves. No respect… 

Fonts Point was also pretty spectacular, particularly at sunset. This is an area about 4 miles off Road S22 and evokes thoughts of the Grand Canyon. The viewing area has no guard rails, just a steep drop off into the abyss. And the majestic beauty of the rock formations is awe inspiring.

Sunset at Fonts Point. Nice view of the full moon rising in the east. 
More of the sunset over the canyons.
Backside color changes during sunset.
Dramatic skies over the Borrego Sink.

Around the town of Borrego Springs there are 2 separate areas of a property called Galleta Meadows. These are private open area properties that are open to the public. The owner allowed a local artist out of Temecula, Ricardo Breceda, to create sculptures and display them scattered about the properties. The most popular one is of the serpent. We tracked down most of the art, it gave Jeanne more opportunity to display her 4-wheelin’ mojo in the Jeep. No captions necessary, art is art…

Just prior to entering Borrego Springs on Montezuma Valley Rd. we found the trail for Hellhole Canyon/Maidenhair Falls. This is a 6 mile round tripper through thick Ocotillo and Cholla cacti to a small canyon with several oases, one of which contains a waterfall area. We loaded up the camelbacks/back packs and set out up the canyon. This hike was strenuous at times, a lot of large rock climbing/shin busting involved. Unfortunately, upon arrival to the falls we found them but a drip off the maidenhair ferns (yeah, California is still in the grips of a severe drought). But it was a very nice hike anyway…

They take their warnings seriously, signage over grave sites. 
Looking through one of the oases toward the valley.
Maidenhair Falls, not much falling.

While here in the desert we drove on in to the Salton City/Salton Sea area, about 20 miles from our campsite. There outside of Salton City is the Ocotillo Wells Vehicular Recreation Area. Holy Dust Cloud, Batman! Evidently, the 1st week of the new year is the busy time here. In this VRA folks cram their rigs on top of each other while they boondock camp and operate their ATV’s, dirt bikes, and any other make of offroad vehicle through the desert and desert canyons. It was VERY packed, and not my idea of wanting to ATV in an offroad version of the L.A. freeway system at quitting time! (Later, on our way out of California and during the work week, this VRA was pretty much a ghost town, much more preferable for an enjoyable off road experience).

One of the canyons leading from Ocotillo Wells State Vehicular Recreation Area, note campers in far distance behind Jeanne.
One of the ATV canyons.

Our time boondocking in the desert came to an end after 7 days. We left heading into Salton City on Road S22. I have one major note of caution for other bus drivers on this road.  Once past the Ocotillo Wells Vehicular Recreation area, still on S22, the road itself is not bad…until you come within about 3-4 miles of Salton City. There, you NEED to slow way down, the road suddenly includes many major dips that will easily scramble the contents of your rig. If you think you are slowed down enough, you need to slow down MORE!  The contents of my closet got tossed to the closet floor, all items, without exception!  

From the desert we headed into Pahrump, NV, for a return stay at the SKP park there, Pair-a-Dice, for thorough cleansing, restocking, and preparation to meet Jeanne’s mom and her boyfriend, Yvonne and Gary, at Death Valley for some more boondocking time at Furnace Creek. Until then…