Day 35-36 Anzo Borrego Desert Park, Borrigo Springs, California
Day 35
We woke up to cold rain outside. I did not have raingear so I made one for the upper body, one for shorts and one for a hat out of small garbage bags. Raingear goes on the shopping list. I should have listened to Gina and did it last night. My hands almost froze trying to hook everything up. We finally got on the road at 10:00 and had a 5+ hour drive ahead.
We drove through Phoenix on I-10 in the middle of a downpour. The interstate was under construction and in some spots I lost the lines separating each lane and would find myself straddling two lanes in complete bumper to bumper traffic; Very nerve racking and I was really thankful when we exited the City and traffic calmed. Once outside of Phoenix we stopped at a Starbucks and Walmart and endured yet another horrible grocery shopping experienuce. I-10 continued west with only two lanes and more Semi’s on it than cars. Every time they pass the trailer gets pushed around – you have to stay on high alert.
Once over the California border I had a choice: stay on I-10 or take State Road 78 down around the Sultan Sea. I called the park and they told me to stay on I-10 but I was tired of the trucks and decided on 78. It was a 2+ hour drive down a two lane road with hardly any traffic that went up and down and around some crazy desert hills. If we broke down we would be spending the night out there on that road as there was no cell phone coverage. We went from too much traffic and craziness to complete isolation. Amazing how one road can be so different from another. The drive down 78 was very unique, unlike anything we had seen before. In particular, the North Algodones Dunes Wilderness Area was wild, it consisted of massive sands dunes, with zero vegetation, that ran as far as you could see in all directions. We might as well have been in the Sahara Desert.
The weather never broke and for most of the day we drove through the rain finally arriving around 4:00. The Anzo Borrego Desert Wilderness was huge and very beautiful. Definitely nicer than I had expected, but unfortunately, the park ranger informed us that no dogs are allowed on any trails because of too many snakes and other animals. Looks like the California rules are already starting to kick in. Gina made Chicken and Gravy with butternut squash in the Instapot. We called Debbie, Nana and Poppie, and Lily to touch base and were in bed by 9:00. The quietness and darkness of this campsite rivaled City of Rocks.
Day 36
We had yogurt for breakfast and took a walk with the dogs over to the visitor center. This was about a ½ mile walk through the desert and the only path the dogs were allowed on. The walk could not have been more pleasant. It snowed during the night in the upper mountains surrounding us but the morning warmed up nice and quick; the day was absolutely gorgeous. The visitor center was the nicest and most informed one of all the parks we have been too. In second was Oliver Lee. There were exhibits about the desert, movies about the desert, shopping for desert stuff, etc etc. There were a lot of people and most were not campers, most likely from the coast, escaping the madness in search of wildflowers. We learned that the desert in Anzo blooms around this time of year, but the actual date varies depending upon temperature and rainfall. The full bloom is expected in the middle of March. We were here the end of February and it was just starting to show a little.
When we got back to the RV we called jack to check in then moved the trailer to another site – only two spots down: this was our 7th day in a row of moving the trailer. After a quick set up we headed into Borrego Springs, the local town, and had lunch at Kelsie’s Kitchen, hit the local grocery store called Center Market and picked up a skirt steak. We had brought our bikes and headed out of town towards two suggested bike rides: Arroyo Salada and/or Inspiration Wash. We drove about 8 miles out of town and once again were in the middle of the desert – there were no landmarks of any kind. We passed a small turnout and noticed a small stick with “Inspiration Wash” on it. We pulled off but the path was mucky so we decided to move on. After another couple miles we saw another stick with “Arroyo Salada”. We turned off down a dirt path and drove by some RV’s boondocking. We found a place to stop the truck, unloaded our bikes and started to ride, downhill. After a mile and a half we were in the middle of nowhere – nothing, just us on a dirt road in the desert still going at a good clip downhill. Gina started to worry about how far we had to ride back uphill to get out so we turned and got out. The whole ride was supposed to be 3 miles in to a Palm Oasis in the middle of the desert and 3 miles back out – we actually went about half way. Once out, we decided to drive the truck to the Oasis. We got about a half mile further than the bikes but the road started getting too sandy and soft. Once again: What if we can’t get out? A three point turn without getting stuck and we bounced all the way out.
On the way back we noticed RV’s scattered all throughout the desert like they just turned off the road and drove out into the middle of the cactus. That is some true boondocking. There were also cars parked alongside the road and people trudging through the desert with cameras taking pictures of any desert flowers that were blooming. It was a strange site, but apparently gets even crazier when the full bloom goes off.
Back in town, we picked up some propane and gassed up the truck for our Pacific Ocean trek tomorrow. The dogs were happy to see us when we got back and took them for a nice long walk around the park, I grilled up the skirt steak tostada Gina had prepared for dinner. Afterward Gina tried to watch a movie but halfway through the wi-fi quit. I did some blog posting but before going to bed we went out and looked at the stars – the sky was beautiful and alive with stars– this is something we quite frankly have not seen a lot of because of the We wanted to stay out longer and gaze but it was very cold. In fact, in the middle of the night Gina asked me turn on the heater for fear of the dogs freezing.
