Camping in Holcomb Valley

This weekend Sharon, Luci and I camped for the first time in Holcomb Valley on the top of the San Bernardino mountains. Elevation 7,359 feet. At least according to my GPS unit. Plus or minus 30 feet...oops, the engineer tried to slip out. Sorry. The temperature was 70 degrees during the day and 42 degrees at night. It was great sleep'in weather! Luci and Sharon got cold.

I actually scoped this trip out and planned a little. Not characteristic of a Perceiver like myself. The website said, "No campfires". The signs all the way the up the mountain said, "No campfires". When we got to the campground they were selling five pieces of wood for $7...
But I got the last laugh! Across the dirt road in front of the campground, out in the forest, a huge Ponderosa pine tree had fallen. Sharon and I would hike over and she would load me up with all the wood I could carry and we'd hike back. We did this four times and ended up with a big pile of seasoned prime pine.

We made a fire when it got dark and boiled water for our freeze-dried entrees. Sharon had chicken with rice and veggies and I had wild rice and veggie pilaf. They are really good and we've eaten them many times. You can get them at any good outdoor outfitter for about $7. Sharon can only eat half of one. I, of course, can eat all of mine and her other half...

I made a nice fire in the morning and we cooked our bacon, eggs, and toast over it and boiled water for our coffee. Luci got the lion's share of the bacon and eggs. She even ate the toast. She was a cold little girl and hadn't slept well - Luci, not Sharon. Sharon was a cold big girl, hadn't slept well and spent the morning letting me know about it! Sharon says she's tired of bacon and eggs...

A Drive Up the Pacific Coast Highway

Luci the Wonder Dog

I had never been north of Solvang, CA before. Sharon has been to San Francisco many times. So recently we decided to drive up the coast to see what there was to be seen. We also took Luci with us.

We took State Route 395 north to the four corners then on west past Edwards Air Force Base on Route 58. Didn't see any shuttles but we did see some aliens. They were standing along side the road at Boron, CA. Must have escaped form EAFB. We stopped at a produce market in the middle of the desert and bought all kinds of fruit and nuts for the trip. Gave Luci a drink of water out of my Bear Grylls Crusader cup and went off and left it sitting in the parking lot. I really loved that cup...They had a petting zoo there and Luci liked the peacocks, goats, and chickens. Didn't try to eat anything fortunately.

Headed on west to Bakersfield then through the miles and miles of almonds and cotton fields to Morro Bay on the ocean. Luci got to get out here and ran up and down the beach with the other dogs stealing their balls and jumping on their owners. She doesn't like the water! Uh-Uh! Not a bit! She did get caught in a small rip tide and had to swim to safety.

Next we headed up the coast and saw elephant seals molting on the shore. They are huge! Bigger than I thought they'd be. We continued up the coast stopping many times until we got to Carmel. We sat on the white sands at the end of their main street and watched the sun set. Very nice. I had it in my mind that we'd find a place on a beach some where and spend the night. But noooooo! Sharon wanted to go home. Now it's dark and we're in Carmel, CA. Do you know how far that is from home? Seven hours! We got home at 8:30 a.m. the next morning. Sharon slept the whole way. I went to bed and woke up on Monday...

Camping in Joshua Tree National Park

Sharon and I have camped many times in JTNP and this year is no exception. Recently we camped there two weekends in a row. They couldn't have been different!

The first weekend was cold! Windy! But pleasant. It started out as just a day trip to the park but ended up as an overnighter at Jumble Rocks. Sharon slept in the truck with Luci the Wonder Dog and I slept out on a big flat rock. I only had two of those thin fleece blanks that women throw on their knees when the air conditioning is on full blast in the car. Or in my case just on. By 2 a.m. I was froze to death and climbed in the front seat of the truck. I don't know which was worse! Luci kept Sharon warm but the back seat put the mom in a bad mood for the rest of the weekend...imagine that. Sharon thought I was crazy sleeping on the rock especially since we had a five foot California king snake visit us earlier in the day. But the stars were brighter than you can imagine, complete with the Milky Way and satellites orbiting the planet. It was great 'til 2 a.m.

Did I mention the coyotes that awoke us at 5:30 a.m. They sing! They don't really howl. They sing. Luci didn't think it was too cool though! She said, "I don't have to go to the bathroom yet, I'm staying in the truck where there's no animals! Except for dad of course!"

The next weekend was pretty hot. Not for me but for a certain redhead I know. It only got up to 103. I don't know what her problem was... This time we went to camp, again at Jumble Rocks. This time we had the big tent with my extra wide cot for Sharon and two mattresses, pillows, sleeping bag, headlamp, Swiss Army knife (for the coyotes) and her candle lamp that melted all over my cot during the day. I slept on the bare tent floor with my backpack as a pillow. Yep, spoiled myself this time! Got down to 64 degrees during the night. It was great sleep'in weather!

The first morning we had bacon and eggs cooked over an open fire in my big 14" skillet. Everything tastes better when cooked on an open fire. Luci had eggs too but she prefers the bacon. We had a little bees with our breakfast too! The place is so hot and dry that the bees can find even the smallest amount of water. In this case it was our five gallon water jug. I'm talking thousands of bees! Never got bit all weekend. Although Luci tried to snatch one out of mid-air and paid the price.

Sharon planned a solo hike to Barker's dam this morning. I had to entertain Luci while she was gone because Luci's aren't allowed on the trails. Don't know why. There's so much coyote poop on the trails you can go from one end to the other by just stepping on the mesquite bean-filled piles of poop! Anyway, Luci and I went into town (a thirty mile drive) to get some more ice, a can of Alpo (which gave her the skitters) and a six pack of mini Pinot Noir.

Sharon hiked in the morning heat to the dam and saw about 25 big horn sheep hanging out at the water. She had her cameras and took some great pictures. She hiked back and had not used up her alloted two hours so she hiked another two point something miles to an old mill. When she got back to the truck she was out of water and hot! Red face, the whole works. We went back to camp but wasn't there long. I had to drive her around for three hours with the air conditioning on full blast to try and cool her off! She slept good that night and the temp dropped to about 60 degrees. Nice and cool in the morning. More bacon and eggs for me but Sharon didn't feel like eating. She just wanted to leave before it got too hot. She sat in the truck with the air on while I broke camp. Didn't help me a lick!

Next time I'm going have to put a swamp cooler in the tent...