We drove to the trailhead for the Palm Canyon hike and paid the $8 USD ($10.50 CAD) day use fee. A little pricey, but at least there were four of us.
It's only a 3 mile (5 km) return trip. There are supposed to be a lot of bighorn sheep in this park, but we couldn't spot any.
A gambles quail.
Helen, on the trail.
Mostly desert.
This was another one of the "oasis" hikes in the desert that brings you to an area where there is an underground spring. In this case, the spring actually comes out of the ground and carries on a little bit until it goes below ground again. And of course where there is water in the desert, there are palm trees!
Spring water in the desert. And, a few raindrops.
Where the spring comes out of the ground.
We didn't see any bighorn sheep, but we did spot this coyote!
Back to the car, and then back to the motorhome where we packed up and got on the road. We decided on a route through the mountains on a narrow two lane road. Fun to drive, but a little slow going at times. Still, it was worth it for the scenery.
Narrow road, but nice road surface.
Somebody had mentioned that Calfornia's roads weren't in very good shape, but so far that hasn't been our experience. Very good road surfaces that we've been on!
Sherman, on the road.
Soon, we were climbing out of the desert and into the forest.
We went up over 4,000 ft in altitude.
Onto the Interstate 8 highway for a while...downhill all the way!
Scenery along the way.
Stopped at a Walmart and did some stocking up a few miles before we arrived at Stan and Colleen's house in Lakeside. This is one of the couples that had been on the RV caravan with us in Mexico, and they had invited us to come and visit while we're in the area. They have a beautiful property overlooking Lakeside. And, nice to see that fellow Mexico RV caravaners John and Janice are here visiting at the same time!
John and Janice just bought new electric assist bicycles. What neat new toys!
I tried it out.
And so did Tony!
Sherman, happily parked up with a view!
Had a fun evening! Colleen and the girls made a delicious meal with pork ribs, salad, baked potatoes, and apple pie. Then sat around and socialized.
Today, we're headed in to San Diego to explore!
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A great deal for spring lawn and garden work at Amazon.com!
And in Canada, a whole bbunch of travel bags and accessories are marked down at Amazon.ca...
Looks great! have fun in San Diego!
ReplyDeleteThanks Karyn, it was a great day with some beautiful views along the way, both hiking and driving.
DeleteWe have had a great time in San Diego.
We have been looking for the elusive big horn sheep for years. I believe they are a myth :) Enjoy San Diego!
ReplyDeleteWe saw some big horn sheep in Yellowstone National Park last year on our way back home to Canada but unfortunately we couldn't seem to conjure any up for Helen and Tony to see on this trip. :-(
DeleteGreat campground your friends have...lol. Enjoy SD. It is a beautiful city.
ReplyDeleteI think this is has been one of our best "campgrounds" ever! :-)
DeleteWe are loving San Diego, and have had a blast here.
When we were at Agua Caliente Campground just south of Borrego Springs a few weeks ago, we spotted a heard of about 12 bighorns. We even got to watch them while soaking in the pool. Enjoy our hometown!
ReplyDeleteWow, that sounds like it would have been an amazing sight to have seen, especially seeing it right from the hots springs, you were so lucky! :-)
DeleteWhat a beautiful drive. You are doing a great job getting around So. Cal. and avoiding the craziness!
ReplyDeleteIt was a fantastic drive! Now we want to come back to the area and spend some more time up in the mountains there. It looked like there would have been a ton of hiking to do there and some amazing scenery.
DeleteThat is a fun slow drive over the mountain, we did it with the car, Nice to meet up with people for the night and enjoy the company.
ReplyDeleteWe had an electric bike/scooter (would hold 2 people) before we went full time, had a lot of fun with it for 3 years, but decided it was too heavy to carry all the time.
Enjoy San Diego, and interesting city and we loved the zoo there too.
We love drives like that and can't wait to go back and spend more time up there.
DeleteYes, it was a fun night and the next two nights were just as much fun. We have been having an amazing time here visiting and sightseeing.
What? A two-lane road in the U.S. without a shoulder? That just can't be, I thought that was only in poor countries like Mexico :)
ReplyDeleteLook at the photo again. There is a large shoulder. An entire car lane if needed.
DeleteHard to believe but there is Chris! :-)
DeleteRick, I think Chris was talking about the pictures of the roads that we took through the mountains before getting onto the I-8 which has the large shoulders. :-)
..I'm guessing you've never been to the Ozark Mountains in Arkansas... ;-)
DeleteI think Chris was being sarcastic! :-)
DeleteStunning parking spot
ReplyDeleteIt was fabulous and so were our hosts! :-)
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