California or Bust!

Monday, February 11, 2013

We looked out the windows this morning and darned if the bad weather hadn't caught up with us again! The skies were overcast and it began to rain. We checked the weather radar and it appeared to be a small area. Driving north would take us out of it. Breaking camp was easy! With no hookups we just got into our seats and left our boondocking site.

Our first stretch of road took us into the town of Parker on the Colorado River. This is a mecca for “snowbirds”, people who go south for the winter months. There were numerous campsites lining both the Arizona and the California banks of the river. The river is not very wide here and any area that wasn't too steep to built on or camp on was filled. The topography in this area is very rugged and beautiful, but not conducive for building. Amazingly there is a very green golf course that has been squeezed into whatever areas they could find between the ridges and canyons on both sides of the highway. We made a stop for groceries at a WalMart and it was mobbed! We were younger than the majority of customers. Our cashier said that it is always busy and has been getting busier in the last few years.

We continued to follow the river up to Lake Havasu City. The dammed up river has created a large lake and a well established community with all the amenities. The London Bridge was dismantled and rebuilt here. We saw a stone bridge, but were not sure if it was the one. We finally crossed the Colorado River into California and San Bernardino County. After living over two years in Pasadena around 1990 and only going back for a visit once, it was nostalgic to remember that we were once Californians.

A visit at the BLM office in Needles to get more information about the desert parks, two stretches of interstate highway, a quick jog through Nevada and back into California, two desolate stretches to connect them, and many changes in elevation and fascinating geology, finally brought us to Baker, CA, the jumping off point for Death Valley. At this point we realized that we were going to run out of daylight before we got to the park. We discovered there are three RV parks at a place called Tecopa Hot Springs. It was a fifty mile drive across the desolate desert on the way to the national park. We arrived in the middle of nowhere at dusk and walked into the office for the Tecopa Hot Springs Resort. A retired couple greeted us, very ordinary and friendly. After talking to us about the sites available she pointed out the building with the hot springs across the parking lot. She said, “The hot springs are only used in the nude. But, the men have their own side and the women theirs. If you want to rent a private bath it costs $20, but since you are camping here, you get the discounted rate of $10.” Okay... Greg and I are not hot tub people to begin with, and neither of us is inclined to want to soak with naked strangers of our own gender or not. Of course, maybe after you soak with them they are no longer strangers.

The next surprise was when we found out that we could get an electric hookup, but there was no potable water in the whole valley. We checked and found we had about a third of a tank of water left after boondocking the night before. Usually we fill our water tank as we leave a campsite so we have it to use until we hook up to water at the next site. We bought two jugs of water from the store, and conserved our tanks for flushing and hand washing.

It was back to Battlestar Gallactica for entertainment tonight since we have no cellphone reception on either phone, therefore no WIFI either. We didn't even try our TV antenna for local stations! We crossed into Pacific Time when we entered California, so we are really confused now. It is a three hour time difference from the east coast.

Tomorrow we head up the road to Death Valley National Park for several days. This is a place I have wanted to see my whole life, so one more national park to cross off my bucket list!