In this post, I’ll be recapping our first 10 days on the road. It has so far been what we were hoping and planning for these last few, cold dark, winter months in Portland. It hasn’t been all sunshine and palm trees, but the rewards have exceeded the challenges so far.

We started out from Portland on a cold, rainy, leap day, February 29th, rdestination somewhere in California. It rained pretty much the entire way through Oregon down the I5 with some snow flurries at the higher elevations. We were lucky though because had we left a day or two later, the Siskiyou pass between Oregon and California would have been closed due to a major storm that came through the area dumping feet of snow in some places. For us though, pretty much as soon as we crossed the border, the rain stopped and the sun came out. Welcome to California.

Our goal was to drive until it got dark and that took us to Chico. It was a bit off of the freeway and a slight detour, but we drove by the turn for Lassen National Park, which we had never heard of and wouldn’t have learned about had we not taken this little road less traveled. Chico also happens to be the only place in the world where you can get a Bun Burger. And, Bun Burger happens to be right across the street from the YoYo museum, which was unfortunately closed.

From Chico, we made our way to Escondido where we had camping reservations at Dixon Lake Park. We drove through the endless almond orchards and farms of the Central Valley and sat for at least an hour in the infamous LA traffic. When we arrived a bit after dark into Escondido we were a little worried because it didn’t seem to be getting any less suburban as we got closer to the park. However, the park is up over a little hill from the main thoroughfare and once you are in it, it’s fairly secluded and quiet with nice scenery. There was a very nice ranger who met us there, gave us our paperwork, and directions to our campsite.

We woke up to rain at Dixon Lake. We made coffee and had granola with yogurt in the camper. We were meeting up with some family in San Marcos, which is only a few miles away, so no choice but to put the top down wet and dry it out later. We had a nice visit with family including lunch at Tip Top Meats in Carlsbad, which had an amazing Reuben, and a quick jaunt to the beach. We spent our second night at Dixon Lake, which included more rain, and then headed toward Anza Borrego State Desert Park on Sunday 3/3.

We headed up and over the mountains on Highway 76. The weather continued to be wet and it actually kind of reminded me of the mountains of Costa Rica a bit. Very tropical feeling. Palm trees and citrus orchards all around. Things started drying out as we dropped down into the town of Borrego Springs. Borrego Springs is a small desert community with a couple gas stations, some hotels, a grocery store. It’s real claim to fame though are the giant metal statues all around the outskirts. There are elephants, cats, giant sloths, a huge scorpion, and the best of all, a dragon. Among many other things. We topped up our gas tank, spent some time looking at the statues, and then headed out to find where would stay for the week. From prior research we had set our sites on the Fish Creek Wash area of the park.

We drove in a couple hours with a stop at the Wind Caves for a hike. The name is a bit of a misnomer. The “caves” are really just some interesting rock formations. Still worth the short hike though. There are some very nice views of the wash and the surrounding landscape from the trail.

We settled on a site a few miles from the trail next to a Smoke Tree, with great mountain views and a Desert Lily in close proximity. We visited that Lily every day and on one occasion Jocelyn saw a hummingbird fully immersed in one of the flowers. The wildflower bloom was just getting into full swing with Desert Sunflower, Desert Chicory, Browneyes, and Desert Sand Verbena.

Our very first night we had our first experience of the Desert Wind. Sometime in the middle of the night, the wind picked up and started shaking the whole truck. It was loud and intense. The weather app said we were getting 40 mile per hour gusts. Luckily I remembered I had packed earplugs for just this situation as well as noisy neighbors if we ended up in a campground. They really made all the difference and we were able to get some pretty good sleep with those installed.

Over the rest of the week, we settled into our little slice of the desert. We were really out there, with only a handful of 4x4s and a couple of guys on bikes going by the whole week. We woke with the sun, watched the sunrise over the hills, made our food, worked, took short walks and little bike rides in the surrounding hills and washes, and closed out each night with stargazing. This is an official “Dark Sky Park” and the night sky really is spectacular with clear views of the Milky Way. On Thursday night we actually got a soaking rain that made puddles in our awning and everything. For a place that only gets six inches of rain a year, it had to be a pretty big part of that total. The smell after the rain here is hard to describe. Earthy and pungent, like the soil is waking up and coming to life. We noticed a new flower after the rain, a legume we identified as Salton Milkvetch.

We both work for great companies that have 36 hour weeks, so Fridays are half days. We took the afternoon to explore further up one of the washes we had gone a ways on previously. It started out in more open desert and then slowly narrowed into a canyon of vertical, rippling sandstone. In nooks and crannies there were pockets of a magnificent purple Aster and the little white Browneyes. It seems like the canyon would keep going forever, but it did eventually come to an end after about 3 miles. We had some fun hollering and listening to our voices echo off the canyon walls before heading back the way we came.

We broke camp on Saturday, my birthday, and headed a bit further down Fish Creek wash to a place called Sandstone Canyon for a bike ride. As the name implies, this is a steep sandstone canyon with a sandy trail running up it. The trail is wide enough for a vehicle and we did see a few 4x4s going in and out. The sandy bits were slow going on the bikes at points, but so worth it. Being on the bike puts you so much more in the environment. We noticed lizards and bird we probably would have missed in the truck. We saw a new flower, Arizona Lupine and more of the magnificent purple Aster. It was about two miles up the road until it ended and only foot traffic was allowed beyond. We kept going on foot exploring side canyons for a few more miles. There were Desert Lilacs alive with honey bees and hummingbirds and mesquite tucked in shaded corners. We headed back the way we came, got back in the truck and drove back out Fish Creek Wash to civilization.

We headed up and out of the desert and into the mountains to the little town of Julian where we had reserved a room for the night. The temperature dropped quickly and by the time we stopped, the shorts, t-shirt, and sandles I was wearing were definitely the wrong attire. After long, hot showers, we headed across the street for a cheeseburger; A great end to a great birthday. The next morning, we headed to the Julian Cafe and Bakery where I indulged in their famous apple pie with melted cheddar cheese on top for breakfast. From there we are headed to Joshua Tree where we’ll be spending the week with an old friend.