It was a good trip, but I'm pretty worn out now! There was a big snowstorm in the Siskiyous when we left, so we cut over to the Oregon coast and worked our way (slowly) down that way. The coast highway was as deserted as it gets, but still slow going with all those hills and curves, towing the trailer. Pretty, though, and the weather wasn't bad except for a record rainstorm that dumped all over Eureka and us before we headed out east again.
After four days on the road, we spent two lovely days and one *very* chilly night at Joshua Tree National Park. A trailer snafu meant we had no heat, so we went to bed early, piled under sleeping bags and a variety of blankets, with not even our noses poking out. But the daytimes were wonderful. We got some hiking in and made friends with the young jackrabbit "assigned to" our campsite.
Joshua Tree Photos
Chloe on Big Mac Rock (photo by MJ)
Chloe in black and white (photo by MJ)
Mid-hike snack at Cottonwood Oasis
Momiji the Baby Jackrabbit
As evening approached on the second day, we started being uneasy about another chilly night, so we gave into impulse and packed up the trailer, then headed for lower ground. (The lowest campground at Joshua is at 3000 feet elevation.) We spent the night in a motel in north San Diego County, dropped off the trailer at the repair place, and then headed for my dad and Renee's. We had four days in San Diego, mostly spent visiting with family (I got to meet my nephew finally!) and enjoying the sunshine. We also toured a couple of museums (cars and aerospace), the SD Zoo, and Seaport Village (where I fell madly in love with the stunning paintings of Jia Lu but managed to resist buying my $40,000 favorite).
Then it was back on the road. My mom and Tom were belatedly starting their annual trip south, so we met up with them at Seven Feathers Casino in southern Oregon. It was a nice little interlude and another chance to use the trailer so I didn't feel like such an idiot for towing it all the way down. Tent trailers are not usually allowed at the RV park at the casino -- not posh enough for them, although I thought we held our own against a couple of the ratty RVs that were pulled in there -- but they made an exception for us. For those who meet their standards and are into that sort of thing, it's a pretty nice setup. Full hookups, heated pool, frequent shuttles to the casino, decent setting. We liked the ice cream sundaes at the casino restaurant, and MJ was pretty happy with the video arcade there, but mostly we were just pleased to have some visiting time with Grandma and Papa.
And now we're settling back into life at home. The weather has conveniently turned pretty here -- we missed the five inches of snow last week -- so it's not as sad as it sometimes is to be away from the sun zone. Now if it'll just stay this way!!
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