South Carlsbad SB

We just returned from a weekend at the beach, South Carlsbad SB.  It was a perfect weekend.  I don't think we saw a cloud all weekend.  The campground is located on the bluffs overlooking the beach.  Some of the campsites are large enough that it is not unusual to see two RV's parked in one site.  The campground allows three vehicles per site.

We spent the weekend doing absolutely nothing.  Robin did cook up a Dutch Oven pork chops and potatoes dish that was very tasty.  Otherwise it was sitting around the campfire in the evening and during the day a couple of dog walks and napping in the chair.

I have posted a couple of pictures hope you enjoy them.

Yucaipa County Park & Oak Glen

We took off early from work on Friday and headed out to check out the apple picking as it is the season. 
We picked a campground we hadn't stayed at before, The Yucaipa Regional Park has a small campground of under 50 sites with full hookups.  It turned out to be a great little campground.  Lots of space between the campsites and lots of green grass. The site pads and patio area are paved.  We will definitely be going back there again.
The Oak Glen area has lots of apple farms and shops and stores that sell everything and anything containing apples.  It was a little cloudy with a few sprinkles on the way up to the campground.  Saturday turned out to be a nice day. 
We took a drive up to the Oak Glen area and so did everyone else it seems.  This time of the year you can go pick you own apples from one or many of the apple farms in the area.  We decided to support the local labor force and bought them already picked.  We stopped at several of the shops and stores in the area.  We also stopped at a local fresh produce stand and stocked up the next week.  Good thing we didn't have much in the RV frig.

Grand Canyon Sept 2010

We took a couple of extra days for Labor Day weekend and headed for the Grand Canyon for a couple of days.  The weather was beautiful, low 80's and lots of sunshine.  We drove the 500 miles in one day with both of us doing some driving.

We stayed at the Trailer Village Campground right inside the park.  It was very close to the South Rim which was great.  The campground had full hookups with cable TV.  The cell service was great also.

I don't think there is a way to describe the Grand Canyon to do it justice.  You just have to see it to believe the scoop of that "Big Ditch".  We took a drive down the Desert View Drive to the tower overlooking the canyon. 

We also stopped at the Tusayan Museum and ruins.

We did a little tour of the Bright Angel Lodge and surroundings, the lodge is on the rims edge.

We didn't get to see a close up of the Condor's that live in the canyon, though we did see a couple of them riding some of the wind currents in the distance.

Our trip home was two days and we stopped in Needles overnight at the Riverview RV Resort on the Colorado River.  We had a site facing the river.  Great site, but it was hot and humid, so unless you were in the water you pretty much stayed in your air conditioned coach.  The next morning we were up and outa there headed home.

Grand Canyon

Dogs in river

Hope you enjoy the pictures.

Hwy 395 & Lake Tahoe Trip-July 2010

We took a week and drove up Hwy 395 to Lake Tahoe.  Our first stop was an overnight at the Boulder Creek RV Resort three miles south of Lone Pine.  Mt Whitney could be seen in the distance.  The weather was a little warm, I think about 103 degrees.  Needless to say we ran the AC all night, good thing it works well.  We took a short drive through the Alabama Hills outside of Lone Pine.  This area was used to make alot of western movies.
Movies made in Lone Pine
We then made our way up to Mt Whitney.  Much cooler up there, about 80 degrees, big difference.  There is really a sharp contrast in landscape from Lone Pine to Mt Whitney...the highest point in the contiguous United States.

The next day we were on our way to Crowley Lake for the night.  Robin's family did alot of camping in this area when she was growing up.  Convict Lake, Owens Valley are all in this area, which is where they did lots of camping and fishing.  We toured the area for the day.

Day Three we headed out continuing up the 395, one of the stops was Mono Lake. The Mono Lake Story.  We also drove by Topez Lake, Topaz lake is feed by the famous West Walker river, well known for it's great fishing from the last Saturday of April through the last day of October. We stopped for lunch at Walker Burger in Walker, noted for it's root beer freezes, I can attest they are pretty good.  Our stop this night was the Carson Valley RV Resort and Casino in Minden, NV, we went and enjoyed a nice dinner and a little gambling, very little.  Needless to say, I didn't get rich.

The next day we headed into South Lake Tahoe, spending three nights at the Tahoe Valley Campground.  We spent a couple of days visiting with Robin's relatives, as they had rented a house on the lake.  We also took a trip around the lake.  We had a good visit and really enjoyed our time there.

Friday we packed up and headed for home with an overnight stop in Bakersfield RV Resort.  We usually stay there whenever we are coming from that direction.  Saturday we headed over the hill and home.

We had a great time and really enjoyed seeing the sights and visiting with everyone.

Every campground we stayed, I would recommend to anyone traveling the area.
Hope you enjoy the pictures

Kings Canyon, Sequoia NP

Kings Canyon National Park preserves a huge unspoiled and beautiful area of the central Sierra Nevada mountains, containing several deep glaciated canyons, countless lakes, pools, meadows and waterfalls, and over 20 peaks that exceed 13,000 feet. The park also shelters six groves of giant sequoia trees, found near the southern boundary which is shared with Sequoia National Park; the two are administered as one unit, and have similar scenery except that Sequoia has more of the huge trees.

This was a weekend of viewing nature at it's best. The canyon was blooming with colors and the creeks and rivers were high with water. This is an amazing place. We were "WOWED".

Hope you enjoy and pictures and video.

Kings Canyon Vid

Silent Valley RV Resort, April, 2010

Silent Valley is an exclusive private recreational vehicle resort located in the San Jacinto Mountains between Banning and Idyllwild. We are at an elevation of 3500 feet, and the weather is generally mild throughout the year. Our location is only two hours from San Diego, Los Angeles and Orange County.

This was our third visit to this campground, we always enjoy it, I don't know why we don't go more. It is still considered off season so the campground wasn't very full. It fact you could park just about anywhere you wanted to. We had a nice quiet weekend. We even went to their on site resturant for dinner Friday and Saturday.

Saturday we decided to take a drive up to Idllywild, about 6000 ft. We could see the snow on the peaks as we drove up to the campground on Friday.

Idyllwild is nestled in the San Jacinto mountains. Set among tall pines, sweet smelling cedars and Legendary rocks. The town has kept its "small town" atmosphere. Locally owned shops and restaurants are all you will find here. Come and experience the peace and quiet of Idyllwild.

We had a good time playing in the snow and enjoying the sunny day. Another great weekend of camping.
Hope you enjoy the pictures.

Easter weekend @ Santee Lakes, Santee, Ca

Easter weekend started on Good Friday for us, so we took advantage of the three day weekend and headed out to do a little local camping.
We spent three days and two night at Santee Lakes near San Diego, this was our second visit. We had a campsite on the lake, number six I think.
Santee Lakes Recreation Preserve is convenient adventure on 190 acres and seven lakes nestled in the foothills just 20 minutes from San Diego.
It is a very nice campground around two of the lakes on site. The lake side sites are great, good size and right next to the water. The main part of the campground in some areas are kind of cramped and not as nice.
The wifi is good and Verizon has good cell service.

We spent most of the weekend just sitting and watching the ducks swim by and people fishing, didn't see anyone catch anything.
The weather was okay, comfortable in the morning early afternoon and evening. It the middle of the afternoon the wind would come up and get a little chilly.
I have posted a few duck pictures, hope you enjoy.

Also a short vid.
Wildlife on lake