Posts tagged ‘Lilly’

Jan 2

Nearing the End

Sadly, today is our last day in the desert – tomorrow we are departing this lovely place we’ve come to like a lot. We have an appointment early Saturday morning in Los Banos, some 430 miles to the north. In order to break the drive into more manageable chunks, we’ve decided to begin the trek in the morning. My guess is we’ll drive at least half way, perhaps a bit more … there is no rush, so the day will end whenever it feels right doing so.

In an attempt to squeeze one last gasp of fun into our time here today, we wandered into the eastern portion of the park to checkout the Vista del Malpais area.

Access road

The road in from the highway follows the desert floor along a series of short washouts before approaching serious steep descents into a wash section. We drove into the modest wash sections, but decided not to push our luck with the more serious off-road sections. Unlike the recreational off-roading commonplace to the area, we need the truck to pull our home … getting stuck or risking damage is simply out of the question.

End of the drive, we hike from here.

No matter, we hiked into the canyon floor with Lilly.

Lilly loves to climb

As you make your way into the more pronounced sections of the wash floor, the sand is quite thick and the walls become more and more vertical around you. From what I could tell, it would be quite accessible hiking in the bad-land off-shoots anywhere along the way.

Washouts eroding the valley walls

Desert flora eventually succumbs to erosion as well

Desert flora eventually succumb to erosion as well

The place is very cool and I definitely would have loved to have a more capable 4×4 vehicle to use for deeper exploration. Maybe some day.

The view from above the washouts

Kelly and me enjoying the views and warm weather

Once we returned back to camp, a few departure preparations were completed before Kelly and I had dinner with Tim & Amanda one final time.

Making time for my weekly haircut

We drank some champagne (which was originally intended for New Year’s Eve but never consumed) and a potluck style array of eats. It’s been great spending some extended time with and getting to know more about the Watsons – they are both good eggs for sure. A super casual evening in the company of really nice people.

Jan 1

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Wandering With the Watsons

California’s largest desert park

Yesterday Kelly and I arrived to Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, our destination for a few days until we continue the crawl back towards Half Moon Bay. We continue to dry camp, this time alongside fellow Airstreamers – Tim, Amanda, and Phineas … aka WatsonsWander. They arrived a few days before us and scouted out a very nice spot – spacious, with only a few other RV’s scattered across a vast landscape. The site is California’s larger desert park – exceeding 900 acres. Generous with the rules, there is no time limit to stay, and at free, the price is definitely right.

Basically, it is perfect.

Our mobile homes, just down the path

A closer look at the picture above

Tim and Amanda joined Kelly and me last night for dinner and great conversation. This afternoon, the four us (plus Lilly & Phineas) ventured to the Calcite Mine Trail, a remote area about 10 east of our campsite. The trail is pretty cool – a diverse network of slot canyons easily traveled, less some spots requiring a bit of bouldering/scrambling. There is also an abandoned access road which, as evidenced by the number of Jeeps we saw, is now a popular 4×4 off-roading destination.

Approaching the trails – Lilly and Phineas leading the way

This area is prone to flash flooding, our trail today included. Over what I can only assume to be hundreds, if not thousands of years, the rushing water flows have carved an Alice in Wonderland like maze through these slots, which are significantly taller than they are wide. I’ve never seen anything like them before.

Slots

More slots

After a while we ascended the canyon in search of the mining remnants, but never did find the site. However, the views from high above were fabulous.

The climb starts with some scrambling

Up, up, up

Cactus perched near the top

Eventually, we completed the loop satisfied with the hike, but a bit bummed we missed out on the mining remains.

On the way home, Lilly enjoyed a post-hike treat in the car.

Enjoying a post hike treat

Dec 29

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In Search Of Relaxation and Improved Showers

Home for the next two nights

Following a hearty breakfast with Gene and Sandy, Kelly and I begun what will be a week-long crawl back towards home base in Half Moon Bay. This past week with Kelly parents and their respective spouses was great and we both are definitely glad we made the long drive this way.

One upside of this lengthy journey is that our location now affords ample opportunity to visit places new to us and even better – not overrun with hustle and bustle one will find elsewhere. In fact, based largely on the glowing reviews of our pals over at WeaselMouth, we’ve gone out of our way to be out of the way … stopping for two days at the BLM campground Painted Rock Petroglyph.

Our destination today is only about 100 miles southwest of the hustle and bustle metropolis wherein we awoke this morning, but the area lies squarely in the midst of nowhere – just about perfect for our wants at the moment. If you ever decide to visit the area, you’ll know you’re getting close once you pass the Space Age Lodge in Gila Bend, AZ … about 11 miles away.

Hotels rooms are out of this world

Our campground is nothing more than a huge chunk of land – probably a few hundred acres in size and offers no amenities, less a picnic table and fire pit. For many with RV’s this types of dry camping is not appealing, but for Kelly and me (and a few others here), these primitive campsites are just what we need to recharge – both mentally and physically. Of course it helps that our Airstream is pretty self-contained, equipped with just about all the necessities to make for a more than comfortable stay.

Site #6

Once we were set-up, we took a little walk – nothing major, but enough for Lilly to stretch her legs a bit and poke her nose into endless holes in hopes that she might come across a critter or two along the way. (she came away empty-handed)

Lilly, waiting for me

Upon returning, I had a simple modification to complete — replacing the shower head. I continually hear high praise for the Oxygenics BodySpa shower head and its magical abilities to deliver a quality shower with stingy water usage, so I figured this week in the desert would make for a fitting field test.

Our new shower weapon of choice

Swapping out the previous unit with this new one is about as easy a task as one could expect. As per my usual ~~cheap~~ frugal self, I opted to save $10 bucks and went with white, not polished, so the new head unit doesn’t match the non-replaced hosing and bracket, but I really don’t care about the fashion of it all. Rather, I’m far more interested in the water flow – something I’ll test tomorrow.

Function over fashion

Once the “work” was complete for today, I set my attention towards more interesting matters – like watching the sunset in this beautiful area … Mother Nature’s Fantastic theatre in the sky.

Another fabulous desert sunset

Dec 25

Busted On Christmas

Unlike many Christmas mornings of my youth, I had no difficulty sleeping in late today. And, despite the oddity of Christmas in desert devoid of snow, I managed to have a fine day with Kelly, her mom (Barb) and Barb’s husband (Steve).

Once I managed to pull myself from the cozy confines of a warm bed, I regrouped with Kelly and Lilly for the first of two visits to the local dog park. Per usual, Lilly wasted no time focusing her attentions to the various smells of the fence-line. Who knows what she was seeking today, but she housed no interests in paying fetch, her preoccupation with the fence superseding all other activities.

Lilly, following her nose

Once we were back from the park, Kelly and I wandered over to spend the day with Barb & Steve. Kelly prepared a fabulous dinner for everyone. Traditionally, the holidays are generally a good time to consume lots of sweets in between proper meals, and as I was a guest in another person’s home, I did my best to to uphold tradition. To do otherwise would have simply been rude.

The chef at work

Following lunch, everyone was feeling a bit heavy in the waistline, and as such, it was decided that a post-meal walk would be in good order. Being it is Christmas, we opted to ‘gift’ Lilly a return visit to the dog park, a decision which she found to be quite ideal.

Under the guise of photographing Lilly, I began snapping a few pictures of Barb and Steve. At various times today I suggested we take pause to capture group picture, only to be thwarted with bogus delay tactics at each attempt. Unwilling to depart empty-handed, I tried my best to stealthily snap a few pictures.

I got busted in the process.