Week 10: Santa Barbara to Palm Springs

Santa Barbara Zoo!  We parked our RV in the zoo lot, taking up four spaces.  Luckily it was a weekday and no one gave us a hard time about having a giant vehicle.  We took a self tour as a family, then I met up with the Mammal Curator and Assistant Curator of Birds for a behind-the-scenes look.  Many thanks to Rachel for our penguin encounter, and Michele for a last minute tour of the gorilla area and giraffe barn!  

The Santa Barbara Zoo is beautiful and they have a nice assortment of animals.  The otter family was really active, the birds in the mixed species aviary were easy to spot, the lions have a view of the giraffes (though that didn’t keep the lions from their favorite activity - sleeping), the baby golden lion tamarin was popping his head out of planter bucket being cute, and the two silverback gorillas were avoiding each other nicely.  There is a great playground for kids and a train that leaves every half hour.  The raptor exhibit is massive and I somehow missed out on an elevated walkway that takes visitors  around the back edge with a view of the lake on the other side.  I was thoroughly impressed and ready for another visit sometime soon.

We were feeling energetic and stupid so we decided to head south at 3:30 in the afternoon, putting us in LA Traffic at 5:30 on a Friday night.  It was stop and go but we made it through and got one of the last RV sites at San Clemente State Beach.  Apparently we need to start reserving ahead on the weekends.  That became even more clear the next morning when we had to go through a lottery to get a spot at the same campground for Saturday night.  We got lucky, sparing our friends the embarrassment of parking in their driveway.

We spent Saturday morning at the beach.  Eric brought over an extra surfboard and wetsuit, so Brian rose to the challenge and tested the surf.  Lukas and I dabbled in the shallow waves and threw around a frisbee.  The beach was long with white sand and the sun was bright.  We were definitely in Southern California.

Saturday night we had friends over to the “house”.  We bought food to grill and then made them grill it.  As two recovering vegetarians, we have now eaten some meat, but not really cooked it.  Eric made a killer fire, Brie seasoned the hamburger patties, Matt got the corn going and Audrey made sure we flipped the fish.  It was definitely a team dinner.  I can’t believe we still had room in our bellies for s’mores!  Also fun to watch the rest of the campsites full of people having similarly huge grill-ups.  

By Sunday we were ready to leave the crowds behind and headed out toward the desert.  As we headed East the terrain grew progressively rockier.  It was a spectacular sight to hit the top of a ridge and see the Colorado Valley down below with the Salton Sea shimmering in the distance.

Anza-Borrego National Park is shaped like a circle with a bite taken out of the middle.  Brian found the perfect RV park in the donut hole, leading us to an oasis of calm.  The Springs at Borrego has a 9-hole golf course, a salt water pool, hot mineral baths, and a stocked fish pond with grilling sites on the beach.  The park is mostly empty, extremely quiet, over the top beautiful, and costs less than most of the places we’ve stayed so far.  It is the tail end of wildflower season, but many of the cactuses, bushes and trees are still in bloom.  Brian played a lot of golf and I had a killer massage.  Lukas spent most of his time in the pool or the putting green.  This was the relaxing interlude we all needed.

 

After a couple days at the “oasis” we headed back out through the desert and around the Salton Sea.  The Salton Sea was created in 1905 when the Colorado River overflowed its banks and poured into the towns lying 227 feet below sea level.  In the 1950s it was thought that the Salton Sea would be the next big tourist destination and development sprung up on its banks.  However, the influx of water has been diverted over the years and the lake has gotten increasingly saltier.  The area is now mostly devoid of human life, but the birds love it.  Fish die-offs are common and the shores of the sea are covered in barnacles and dessicated fish.  

I was pretty fascinated by the history and the wildlife, so we drove around the entire sea.  On the way we stopped in at Slab City, an unincorporated area where in the wintertime you can find RVs by the hundreds parking for free on old military slabs.  The entrance to Slab City is Salvation Mountain, a thirty foot high sculpture that you can explore on foot.  Leonard, the artist, has spent most of his life created and re-creating this masterpiece, all focused on redemption from God.  Unfortunately we found Leonard very ill and it is likely there will be no further painting in his future.  I’m sure his legacy will live on for decades.

Slab City was fairly deserted, but there was a stage for live music and a few permanent mobile homes scattered here and there.  We moved on to Bombay Beach, what was supposed to be the epicenter of the tourism industry for the Salton Sea.  We found our way through a downed fence to the beach, past salt-encrusted ruins of homes and power lines.  Dead fish and other debris littered the shore.  The water was murky, the color of coffee, and very thick.  The silence was deafening.

A little further down the road we found a state park with RV sites.  There was a family there, the father out in the water fishing.  Birds were everywhere: the most impressive being the white pelican as it soared over the water.  The scene was beautiful, hot, and filled with flies.  The family left and we had the entire park to ourselves.  Once again, the quiet was eerie.  At some point during the night the wind picked up and we could hear a faint lapping of waves on shore.  The smell of sulphur came with the wind as the waters were stirred.  I rose at dawn for the birdwatching - more pelicans, egrets, and so many others that without binoculars or a guide I can not name.  An amazing place, but somewhere you don’t want to stay too long.


On the way to Joshua Tree we stopped for date shakes.  More heat, more desert.  We spent the day traversing Joshua Tree park from the South the West, through Colorado desert to the higher elevation Mojave Desert.  There is a distinct shift in habitat as you shift from one desert to the next: ocotillos and sand give way to Joshua Trees and ground cover.  

We stayed in Indian Cove campground, one of the two campgrounds in the park that have spots large enough for Class C RVs.  It turned out that our neighbor was a young family from Sacramento who were camping for a week with their 1.5 year old.  They kindly invited us to join them for a morning of rock climbing, and even let me borrow some gear and have a go at the climb.


Mid-day we left Joshua Tree and headed for Palm Springs.  I booked a spot at an owner based RV community, filled mostly with retirees.  The Outdoor RV Resort has a full size golf course and a 9-hole course, six pools, and 1,200 RV spots.  It seemed an appropriate place to stay when trying to get a feel for the local culture.  The desert heat was really getting to us, so we spent time in the pool and actually fired up the air conditioning in the rig.  Next week we need to get the hell out of the desert.

RV PARK RATINGS

San Clemente State Beach: C+

  Full hookups, no shade, lots of trash, very crowded, some spots overlook ocean, beach access

The Springs at Borrega: A+

  Well maintained, quiet, salt water pool, hot mineral tubs, massage available, golf course, store, grills available next to pond

Salton Sea State Recreation Area, Mecca Beach: A

  Great birdwatching, clean beach, shade trees, picnic tables, very quiet, dead fish

Joshua Tree National Park, Indian Cove Campground: B

  No water available, spots small and not level, rock climbing at site, rattlesnakes

Outdoor RV Resort, Palm Springs: B

  Golf, pools, retirees, store and coffee shop closed for the summer (April-October)