DECEMBER 08
USA -Arizona-Tucson
Monday
1st we
set off today and headed west for Why, a small town 
near the Mexican border. The route
through the Sonora Desert was superb, the desert plants were mainly
Saguaro, Cholla (Choya) and Palo Verde in large numbers. There is
no post office in Why, this meant a ten mile drive north to Ajo
to collect our mail. There we filled in the International Driving
License forms and posted them to the AA. We returned to Why, to
the Lone Coyote RV camp, with Wi-fi. Tuesday we drove south from
Why into the Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument where we visited the
Visitors Centre and Howard bought a book on
Cacti. We strolled along the paved trail seeing many Cacti and
then camped in order to tour the park tomorrow. Wednesday Howard had his
first drive since his bad back. His back passed the test
OK. Mervyn walked to the Visitors Centre. We asked about
the Ajo drive, the maximum length for vehicles is 25ft and were told
“definitely not recommended”. We did take the other drive and
stopped at the barrier, drug smugglers use that area and gun battles
can develop. We then went down to the Mexican border and
back. There were many, many Cacti, it was a very interesting
day. Thursday
we left the Park to travel north back to our camp in Why. Friday on our way through
Ajo we called at the post office not really expecting mail, there
wasn’t any. We carried on to Gila Bend going towards Yuma.
Saturday 6th was a fine sunny rest day using the net to try and solve a few minor problems. Sunday another rest day, cloudy and cooler. Monday we left Gila Bend for Yuma and arrived in time for lunch. We booked into the office, lunched and returned to the office to ask about a service for the van and also if we could move to the next site. We drove to the garage where they said be here
at 0715 tomorrow.
We returned to our new site settled in and relaxed. Tuesday up at 0530 to get
to the garage on time, the service proceeded satisfactorily and we left
at 1015. We had tea break and then we continued west to cross
into California and turned north to cross the North Algodones
Wilderness, part of the Imperial Sand Dunes Recreational Area. It
was just like the Sahara with a strong gusty wind which blew sand
across the road. We continued on to Niland and further on to the
Fountain of Youth Spa RV Resort. Wednesday our journey
continued in a north-westerly direction alongside the Salton Sea (Lake)
and then east to the junction for the Joshua Tree National Park.
We entered the Park and settled into the Cottonwoods Campsite in time
for lunch. Thursday
was a day spent in the camp. Mervyn went for a two hour walk to
Cottonwood Springs a
nd on to the Mastodon
Trail. In the afternoon Howard took a shorter walk towards
Cottonwood Springs. It was wonderful riding country. Friday started as a cloudy
day. We left the camp and drove north, we visited the sights on
the way. The Cholla Cactus Garden was magnificent. While at
tea break we were investigated by a park ranger and had to prove our
nationality and ownership of our British vehicle. We made camp in
Twenty Nine Palms in time for lunch. A full hook up great!
Saturday 13th was a very, very windy but sunny day (after 0900). We returned to the park and back to the Cactus Garden to try to improve on the previous day’s photos, with some success. We next took the road to the west exit seeing many Joshua Trees, we also detoured to Keys View to look down on the San Andreas Fault. When we exited the park we decided to return to Twenty Nine Palms to camp. We were in time to book a Swiss Steak dinner, preceded by the local school choir singing Christmas Carols and songs and followed by Country Music very good. Sunday we walked and rested. Mervyn made a Christmas Pudding. Monday we started out for Sky Valley. The first stop was for Howard to refill his prescription for high blood pressure tablets. The relief Pharmacist hadn’t arrived at the shop. At the next Pharmacy the Pharmacist recommended a check up by a Doctor, Howard also had other problems. We went back to Urgent Care where another tablet was added to the original ones and a third tablet for nausea prescribed. The nearest pharmacy was at Wal-mart. Howard left his prescriptions, bought a new battery for his watch, then tried to buy Christmas music (not carols) and finally he returned to the van for lunch, which we ate in the car park. After lunch we left, with the tablets, to continue, in snow, to where the road was closed at the top of a steep hill. We camped back in Twenty Nine Palms (again). On Tuesday a fine sunny day, we left to go to Sky Valley. There were no problems and we arrived in time for lunch in the café. We didn’t see any snow
on the road but in places it was piled up on
the roadside. Wednesday
it had rained heavily all night, but stopped when we were ready we set
off. We shopped at Albertsons, when we returned to the caravan
Howard spotted an oily fluid coming from under the front of the
vehicle.. We were sent on in the heavy rain from garages and RV
parks to find someone to check it out. We ended up in two foot of
water with the engine stopped. A police officer called across to
ask if we required a tow. With the answer “yes please” he phoned
for a tow truck, which arrived in half an hour. Mervyn waded
across and fixed the tow rope to the rear of the van. We were
hauled out backwards with Howard steering, without power, and the van
was front lifted by the rescuers to take us to their repair shop.
We left the vehicle in their hands and were taken to a Super 8 Motel
for the night. A local Mexican restaurant provided
dinner. Thursday
we made an early start back to the repairers and found the van still
idle. They eventually started the van but had to leave it running
for an hour to remove the water from the exhaust pipe. When we
moved Howard again spotted the leaking liquid, diagnosed as
diesel. The fuel filter was tightened, we eventually left
at 1200 and had an uneventful drive to Oceanside where we settled into
the camp. Friday
we called at the post office to collect our mail. Nothing.
A phone call to FMCA revealed nothing sent. We requested a
forwarding to Julian Post Office. The journey to Julian was
uneventful except it was over four thousand feet and in nine
inches of snow. The camp was well outside Julian and on a side
road, we changed the plan. A phone call to FMCA soon altered the
destination of our mail to Jamul ten miles outside San Diego. We
arrived at 1500, the office was closed and we picked a site.
Howard paid later.
Saturday 20th we relaxed on a pleasant site in the sun, while we waited for our post. Sunday we changed the water filter, then we used the 120V heater to dry out the electrics on the water filter, we had forgotten to cut off the water to the filter. One of the 120V sockets didn’t work, the other did. It took ten min to sort it out. Monday our move took us into El Cajon, a suburb of San Diego. We went Christmas shopping for food in Albertsons, to Best Buy to have a correction to Howard’s lap top, no charge, and to Borders to order a book. Then we drove on to camp in a nice camp. Tuesday washing and relaxing. Wednesday back to Jamul to collect some mail, our International Driving Permits had arrived but not the vehicle passport for Mexico. More waiting!! Thursday Christmas day dawned overcast and raining. It rained heavily all day and one of the windows over Mervyn’s bunk leaked. Friday we moved back to El Cajon, phoned a RV repair man who arrived at 1500, “looked” at the problem, and said it wasn’t the window leaking. No charge.
Saturday 27th we left the camp on a fine sunny day, shopped, and drove through Jamul to camp in the County Country Park, just north of the Mexican border. Sunday, Monday and Tuesday three days spent in the Country Park, a very pleasant location. Wednesday we set off to the Post office in Jamul to see if our post had arrived. It hadn’t. We drove to the Mexican border to arrange our insurance for Mexico, and obtained some Mexican currency. El Cajon was the next stop. Howard’s book had not arrived, and Best Buy did not have the electrical equipment as stated on their web site. We returned to the same camp in El Cajon to stop for the night.
near the Mexican border. The route
through the Sonora Desert was superb, the desert plants were mainly
Saguaro, Cholla (Choya) and Palo Verde in large numbers. There is
no post office in Why, this meant a ten mile drive north to Ajo
to collect our mail. There we filled in the International Driving
License forms and posted them to the AA. We returned to Why, to
the Lone Coyote RV camp, with Wi-fi. Tuesday we drove south from
Why into the Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument where we visited the Visitors Centre and Howard bought a book on
Cacti. We strolled along the paved trail seeing many Cacti and
then camped in order to tour the park tomorrow. Wednesday Howard had his
first drive since his bad back. His back passed the test
OK. Mervyn walked to the Visitors Centre. We asked about
the Ajo drive, the maximum length for vehicles is 25ft and were told
“definitely not recommended”. We did take the other drive and
stopped at the barrier, drug smugglers use that area and gun battles
can develop. We then went down to the Mexican border and
back. There were many, many Cacti, it was a very interesting
day. Thursday
we left the Park to travel north back to our camp in Why. Friday on our way through
Ajo we called at the post office not really expecting mail, there
wasn’t any. We carried on to Gila Bend going towards Yuma.Saturday 6th was a fine sunny rest day using the net to try and solve a few minor problems. Sunday another rest day, cloudy and cooler. Monday we left Gila Bend for Yuma and arrived in time for lunch. We booked into the office, lunched and returned to the office to ask about a service for the van and also if we could move to the next site. We drove to the garage where they said be here
at 0715 tomorrow.
We returned to our new site settled in and relaxed. Tuesday up at 0530 to get
to the garage on time, the service proceeded satisfactorily and we left
at 1015. We had tea break and then we continued west to cross
into California and turned north to cross the North Algodones
Wilderness, part of the Imperial Sand Dunes Recreational Area. It
was just like the Sahara with a strong gusty wind which blew sand
across the road. We continued on to Niland and further on to the
Fountain of Youth Spa RV Resort. Wednesday our journey
continued in a north-westerly direction alongside the Salton Sea (Lake)
and then east to the junction for the Joshua Tree National Park.
We entered the Park and settled into the Cottonwoods Campsite in time
for lunch. Thursday
was a day spent in the camp. Mervyn went for a two hour walk to
Cottonwood Springs and on to the Mastodon
Trail. In the afternoon Howard took a shorter walk towards
Cottonwood Springs. It was wonderful riding country. Friday started as a cloudy
day. We left the camp and drove north, we visited the sights on
the way. The Cholla Cactus Garden was magnificent. While at
tea break we were investigated by a park ranger and had to prove our
nationality and ownership of our British vehicle. We made camp in
Twenty Nine Palms in time for lunch. A full hook up great!Saturday 13th was a very, very windy but sunny day (after 0900). We returned to the park and back to the Cactus Garden to try to improve on the previous day’s photos, with some success. We next took the road to the west exit seeing many Joshua Trees, we also detoured to Keys View to look down on the San Andreas Fault. When we exited the park we decided to return to Twenty Nine Palms to camp. We were in time to book a Swiss Steak dinner, preceded by the local school choir singing Christmas Carols and songs and followed by Country Music very good. Sunday we walked and rested. Mervyn made a Christmas Pudding. Monday we started out for Sky Valley. The first stop was for Howard to refill his prescription for high blood pressure tablets. The relief Pharmacist hadn’t arrived at the shop. At the next Pharmacy the Pharmacist recommended a check up by a Doctor, Howard also had other problems. We went back to Urgent Care where another tablet was added to the original ones and a third tablet for nausea prescribed. The nearest pharmacy was at Wal-mart. Howard left his prescriptions, bought a new battery for his watch, then tried to buy Christmas music (not carols) and finally he returned to the van for lunch, which we ate in the car park. After lunch we left, with the tablets, to continue, in snow, to where the road was closed at the top of a steep hill. We camped back in Twenty Nine Palms (again). On Tuesday a fine sunny day, we left to go to Sky Valley. There were no problems and we arrived in time for lunch in the café. We didn’t see any snow
on the road but in places it was piled up on
the roadside. Wednesday
it had rained heavily all night, but stopped when we were ready we set
off. We shopped at Albertsons, when we returned to the caravan
Howard spotted an oily fluid coming from under the front of the
vehicle.. We were sent on in the heavy rain from garages and RV
parks to find someone to check it out. We ended up in two foot of
water with the engine stopped. A police officer called across to
ask if we required a tow. With the answer “yes please” he phoned
for a tow truck, which arrived in half an hour. Mervyn waded
across and fixed the tow rope to the rear of the van. We were
hauled out backwards with Howard steering, without power, and the van
was front lifted by the rescuers to take us to their repair shop.
We left the vehicle in their hands and were taken to a Super 8 Motel
for the night. A local Mexican restaurant provided
dinner. Thursday
we made an early start back to the repairers and found the van still
idle. They eventually started the van but had to leave it running
for an hour to remove the water from the exhaust pipe. When we
moved Howard again spotted the leaking liquid, diagnosed as
diesel. The fuel filter was tightened, we eventually left
at 1200 and had an uneventful drive to Oceanside where we settled into
the camp. Friday
we called at the post office to collect our mail. Nothing.
A phone call to FMCA revealed nothing sent. We requested a
forwarding to Julian Post Office. The journey to Julian was
uneventful except it was over four thousand feet and in nine
inches of snow. The camp was well outside Julian and on a side
road, we changed the plan. A phone call to FMCA soon altered the
destination of our mail to Jamul ten miles outside San Diego. We
arrived at 1500, the office was closed and we picked a site.
Howard paid later.Saturday 20th we relaxed on a pleasant site in the sun, while we waited for our post. Sunday we changed the water filter, then we used the 120V heater to dry out the electrics on the water filter, we had forgotten to cut off the water to the filter. One of the 120V sockets didn’t work, the other did. It took ten min to sort it out. Monday our move took us into El Cajon, a suburb of San Diego. We went Christmas shopping for food in Albertsons, to Best Buy to have a correction to Howard’s lap top, no charge, and to Borders to order a book. Then we drove on to camp in a nice camp. Tuesday washing and relaxing. Wednesday back to Jamul to collect some mail, our International Driving Permits had arrived but not the vehicle passport for Mexico. More waiting!! Thursday Christmas day dawned overcast and raining. It rained heavily all day and one of the windows over Mervyn’s bunk leaked. Friday we moved back to El Cajon, phoned a RV repair man who arrived at 1500, “looked” at the problem, and said it wasn’t the window leaking. No charge.
Saturday 27th we left the camp on a fine sunny day, shopped, and drove through Jamul to camp in the County Country Park, just north of the Mexican border. Sunday, Monday and Tuesday three days spent in the Country Park, a very pleasant location. Wednesday we set off to the Post office in Jamul to see if our post had arrived. It hadn’t. We drove to the Mexican border to arrange our insurance for Mexico, and obtained some Mexican currency. El Cajon was the next stop. Howard’s book had not arrived, and Best Buy did not have the electrical equipment as stated on their web site. We returned to the same camp in El Cajon to stop for the night.
USA California-El Cajon