Category: Southern States

Day 1 Southern States

We tried to drive away from camp this morning while still plugged in to their electricity. Fortunately Dave noticed before we did any damage. We really need to make a checklist and start using it.

We bought propane before leaving the Circle RV Resort. We may be south but we are still running our furnace every night  The park’s computers were down so they couldn’t process our credit card  Dave had to pay cash. Next stop is the Bank of WalMart.

We don’t use ATMs anymore. WalMart lets you get $100 cash back when you shop there and that’s been enough to keep us going between shopping trips. Pretty convenient.

Going east on I-8 I can see snow on a hill ahead of us. But there’s so much solar heat coming in our windows we are both in shirt sleeves.  

Someone else likes that solar heat, too. There’s a large bank of solar collectors on the side of the hill beside the road.

Remember Dave saying we aren’t going over any mountains today? Why are my ears popping?

We stopped at a viewpoint. That’s quite a valley for us to not be on a mountain.

There’s shattered glass on the pavement. Apparently a couple of drivers argued over whose turn it was to pull out next. I wonder if either think they won?

A little while later I saw a bumper laying on the side of the highway with the license plate still attached. Do you think it will be missed? Do you think someone else will claim it? If so, will the claimant report it or keep it for some nefarious purpose? OK, I read too many mysteries.

The windsocks on the bridge say we have a tailwind. Much better than a crosswind.

Sunrise Highway is on the west side of the hill. Shouldn’t it be on the east side?

We drove through a pass at 4055 feet. Not quite to snow level. Not really a pass, either, since that would mean we are in the mountains and we aren’t going into the mountains today; we are going through a valley between mountains, remember?

So, what’s this?

 

You know how groups of things have names: herd of cows, gaggle of geese, etc.? How about a tumble of rocks? There are piles and piles of rounded boulders alongside the road. It looks like some very large kid’s toys. Some of them look like they are stacked rather precariously. I wonder how many are named Balanced Rock?

When we see signs for “brake check area” and “runaway truck ramp ahead” we know we are coming to a big downgrade. This one is 6% for 7 miles. The truck speed limit is 35 miles an hour so it must have a lot of curves, too.

As we round those curves we are driving back and forth between Imperial County and San Diego County. I’m sure glad the counties are not responsible for maintaining this road. Can you imagine what a headache that could be?

I guess we are now out of those mountains we didn’t drive through since the elevation sign here says, “Sea Level”.

In El Centro, California, we stopped at a KFC to eat lunch and talk about future plans. I have a prescription to pick up at the WalMart here but then what? Our daughter called while we were still deciding and she and I talked long enough that we decided to not go anywhere except the local campground.

So we are now at Rio Bend RV Golf Resort in El Centro, Caifornia. We will be here two nights while we decide whether to go to an RV park in Yuma or Phoenix or Quartzsite (we have friends/family in all those places right now) or go boondocking on BLM land or what. One of the realities about moving all the time is that there are always many decisions to be made.

TTYL,

Linda

Turning the Corner

Those from up north need to be careful what they wish for.  Several people have mentioned missing having a white Christmas.  Yesterday it snowed in Malibu, California.  Malibu!

We spent the morning doing chores.  Dave installed the cable cover things he bought at Home Depot to cover the black cable runs up the wall behinds his side of the dinette.  And I did a bunch more research since we about to head in a new direction.  And I learned how to order prescription refills online to be picked up a a WalMart down the road.

Which is likely to be a problem in the future.  I have four prescriptions I take daily.  The WalMart website only listed one of them.  Fortunately it is the one I need now.  But I need them to figure out where the others are before I need to refill them as well.

Looking out my window here at San Elijo State Beach I see the camp host and rangers shoveling sand off the roads and parking pads.  The rain moved things around a bit.  I’m so glad we aren’t workcamping someplace where we are expected to shovel wet sand!

This park has recycling bins, which I approve of, and the money they get from that supports their Junior Ranger program, which I also approve of.  The more kids we get turned on to nature, the better off our earth will be.  I remember when our daughter was a Junior Ranger and she still cares more for the earth than most people her age.

We drove by a beach parking lot with an interesting problem.  The dunes that keep the ocean off the pavement are also keeping the rain on the pavement.  There are still plenty of parking spaces for the people who go to this beach on a December weekday, though.

The bus stop at the corner had a sign on it saying, “Bike Stop.”  Dave’s guess is that is where buses with bike racks stop so you can load your bike on board to move you further along your route.

So what do you think of “Dexter’s Deli: Health Food for Dogs and Cats”?  In my time as a pet owner that was known as Purina.

Part of the road was flooded.  We drove slowly though the water.  Some people never slowed at all. Apparently four-wheel drive makes you nuts.  It doesn’t waterproof your engines, people.

We stopped at REI in San Diego to buy some collapsible water jugs that have spigots so you can set them on your counter and use them instead of water from the fresh water tank. We also bought some other stuff while we were there. The checkout clerk asked me if I had used my 20% discount yet and she looked surprised when I said, “Yes.” She thanked me for being honest about it. What type of world have we become where honesty is a surprise.

We needed to turn onto Convoy Street. I kept calling it Caravan Street. That’s what a convoy is called in the RV world.

The leaves in San Diego are changing color. Looks like Minnesota in October. Does not look like Christmas. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. I don’t want snow.

In El Cajon, California, we stopped at Denny’s being careful not to run over the brown bag with the bottle in it standing in their parking lot. The staff there was amazing. One host/server, one cook, and one bus/dishwasher serving everyone cheerfully while joking with one another. The food was perfectly prepared. I would go there again. 

The staff was friendly at the Circle RV Resort in El Cajon, too. We stopped early enough to do some more chores. Dave caulked our leaky window and plugged in my Segway to charge it while I exchanged books. Then we both did more computer stuff. Alway, always more computer stuff.

TTYL,

Linda