The Deserts

Anza Borrego and Joshua Tree

This country is HUGE!  Everything is on grand scale, wide-angle and maximum contrast! In the last couple of weeks we have baked in the desert lowland and frozen at 7000 feet in desert highland. We have wound our way through beautiful oak filled canyons and traversed hundreds of miles through stark desert moonscapes.  Small desert towns string themselves out along the highway – dusty, dry and temporary looking - contrasting with oasis towns like Palm Springs – a golfing resort surrounded by date palms. And while on the road to Julian, a small town and home of apple pie – we drove through snow on the side of the road.

After leaving San Diego we headed for the Anza-Borrego desert park -  it was hot, arid and seemingly lifeless when we pulled into the township of Borrego Springs. We made our first free-camp a little way out of town (boondocking it’s called here and we have become very adept at it!) and next morning took a short hike in the burning sun – at 9.00 am, you move slowly in this heat.  It was a real eye-opener for us to see how much animal life and vegetation there is in these arid conditions. We moved on to Joshua Tree National Park – even hotter, even more dramatic vegetation and truly fantastic rock formations.  A Joshua tree is not really a tree, but a species of yucca which can grow to over 12 m. These strange ‘trees’ and huge pillow-like rock formations well and truly made up for the lack of wild flowers – apparently it has been too dry this year to produce many.  We are becoming very good at recognising the desert vegetation and can reel off names like Pinyon Pine, Juniper, Mormon Tea and Buffalo Berry. Our wildlife count is becoming impressive too – lizards, chipmunks, squirrels, jackrabbits, road-runners, deer, big-horn sheep – and our masterpiece – a huge elk staring us down in the middle of the road at night near Grand Canyon – he would have  ended our trip had he chosen to bolt in our direction!

A very welcome break from desert heat was our stay in Prescott with Kim and Don Green who run an organisation called Harvest Hosts, which we joined before leaving home. Kim and Don live in a beautiful location, high in the hills above Prescott – a town with a population of about 40,000. They were very welcoming and we spent two enjoyable days swapping travellers’ tales by night and exploring Prescott by day. It was great to be able to draw upon their knowledge of the US and make some revisions to our planned route – there is nothing like little a local knowledge.

Another treat on the way to Grand Canyon was the town of Sedona – a tourist town – but one which fitted perfectly into its rocky environment. Low adobe-style buildings and muted desert colours combined to give a common architectural theme. Oak Creek Canyon (just as it sounds) provided us with a delightful camping spot.

 And so we are nearly at Grand Canyon!!!


Old Prescott bar - during a major fire in the1800's, locals dragged the bar outside and continued drinking!




Our first free camp - Borrego Springs




Desert landscape + jackrabbit!



Colleen and the Joshua trees

We did find a few wildflowers

A Sedona local - note the spurs and pistol!!

San Diego

San Diego

Well here we are in the good ole US of A.  The flight was uneventful and even the Los Angles customs formalities went quickly and smoothly.  The hotel bus picked us up and whisked us to the hotel.  The room, though basic, was just fine.  We wandered through the surrounding streets in search of food and found we were in a Latino area. We were pretty much the only Europeans to be seen.  However the people were friendly and helpful.  These guys have suffered in the economic downturn and are still doing it hard. 

Monday morning we picked up the motor home from Cruise America.  It’s about the same size as our one at home but with three times the horse-power and the steering wheel on the wrong side! We ventured straight onto the motorway heading south for San Diego.  Five lanes going our way, five going the other, and all on the wrong side of the road.  Speed limit 65 mph - actual speed somewhat higher.  Didn’t hit anything and nothing hit us; phew.



To the surprise of all we arrived safely at the campground in De Anza cove, which is in the middle of a little community of baches – five star location with three star housing. There are biking trails branching out in all directions and it is easy to get almost anywhere by bike. The beaches are long and white and gorgeous with cycle trails and boardwalks all along them and around the myriad of little bays.

 

The campgrounds and RVs are well set up with water, power and sewer connections for every site.  Ours is the smallest RV in the campground and is dwarfed by the other bus-sized units all around us, however it is ideal for two tourists; we can park it in a normal car park and it is roomy enough inside for two.  The kitchen is a logistical challenge, but after a week we have learned to cope.  

 San Diego is home to the Pacific fleet.  When we took the ferry across the harbour to Coronado we spotted two aircraft carriers and at least ten other ships of varying shapes and sizes up and down the harbour. The enormous cost of these things is beyond imagination.  You can’t drive far without coming across an army, navy or air force base.

We spent a couple of days setting ourselves up for the rest of the trip; food, bikes and bits and pieces and the rest of the time sight seeing. 

  

Our sightseeing pretty much goes like this; day 1- San Diego Zoo; a huge area well laid out with lots of trees and vegetation  - stand out animals were the polar bear and a very active orang-utan – apparently they even have a kiwi. 

  

Day 2- biking for miles along the boardwalk by the northern beach - too cold for swimming.  Day 3 -visit to the Midway, an aircraft carrier recently retired from the US fleet.  Day 4 - visit to the old-town by bike; historic old town centre.  Day 5 – ferry to Coronado.

We have loved San Diego and are really starting to relax. It is a very liveable city, but two things have stood out - the condition of the roads (State coffers are empty) and the number of homeless who wander the downtown area - sleeping wherever they can and begging for food. Actually three things - American drivers are so polite!

Tomorrow we head out into the desert (Anza-Borrego) on our way to Grand Canyon.  If we are lucky the desert will be in flower.

Apologies if this blog is not up to scratch - we are grappling with the technology!

 



Cycling round the bays



Tiny kitchen - only room for one cook





 

Where's dinner?

 

We are always the smallest van!





 

New bike! Campsite across the bay

  

San Diego old town