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

KQ Ranch and Borrego Springs for flower blooming

We headed up to KQ Ranch RV Resort for the weekend.  We arrived late Friday afternoon to a cold wind and cloudy skies.

This secluded 5-star RV and camping resort is located just 40 miles east of San Diego. Only 4 miles south of Julian's charming downtown district, the resort has access to the Pacific Crest and California riding and hiking trails. This makes the secluded K.Q. Ranch located in San Diego County a perfect choice for all RV, equestrian, and nature enthusiasts.

Our intent was to head out Saturday morning to Borrego Springs and see if any flowers were blooming.  Saturday we rose to sunshine which turned into fog and wind.  We were hoping that the weather would change as we drove down the hill and it did.  It was breezy but the sun was out and it was nice.  We did see some blooming along the way.
We also stopped and checked out some the the local sculptures that are located along the road into Borrego Springs,

History is unfolding in a town already filled with its own unique historical milestones, Borrego Springs with the first placement of the Gomphotherium free standing art structures. These creatures lived in the area about 3 million years ago.
Dennis Avery, land owner of Galleta Meadows Estates in Borrego Springs envisioned the idea of adding 'free standing art' to his property with original steel welded sculptures created by 'Perris Jurassic Park' owner/artist/welder Ricardo Breceda based in Perris, California.

Enjoy the pictures and video.

Video

SAL Feb 2010 Trailer Trash Rally

This rally is held at San Antonio Lake north of Paso Robles, Ca.  We had been going to this rally for the last two years.  They have one in the spring and one in the fall, October.  We take the 101 highway thats goes along the coast the through some wine country.  This year the theme was "trailer trash prom"  I decided the best way for me to help was to watch from the sidelines.  I did manage to capture a little video and a couple of pictures.
Hope you enjoy.
Trailer Trash Prom night

QUARTZSITE, AZ. 2010

Vid of rain in Quartzsite

First let me say that this was our first trip to Quartzsite. I must say that seeing it for the first time Quartzsite in January is more of an "experience" than it is a place.


For those of you that have never been there, in January and sometimes longer this little town of about 3,000 turns into a swapmeet/rally/fair and more. It is the Sturgis of RV's. I have heard that numbers reach into the 100,000's. The surrounding area is Desert BLM land and cheap camping, no frills, just park in the desert.


Since this was our first trip we decided to stay in town at Rice Ranch campground with full hookups. Since the weather was iffy we are glad we did.


Karen, a friend from Fargo, ND had flown into California and joined us on this trip. She is also responsible for alot of the pictures and video in the slideshow.


We arrived about 9am in the rain on Thursday Jan 21st. We got checked in and setup and then the downpour started. Everything in the MH started up fine except for the water heater. We called the dealer back in CA and they suggested several things, none worked. So we went squishing off in the rain to find a repair man. Lots around, but we checked at the campground office to get a recommedation. After an hour standing in the rain it finally fired up. Condensation had built up. Once we got it dried out it was fine. We stayed in on Thursday watched a movie and played on the internet.


Friday we woke to a cloudy and breezy day, but dry. Off we went to check out the sites. Swapmeets all over the place. We started at the big tent where all the RV "stuff" you can't live without was located. Spent the day at various swapmeets, lot's of walking, there are food vendors all over the place so we had to check out some smoked turkey legs and we stopped and brought BBQ ribs and pulled pork and tri-tip for dinner. Yum!


Saturday, the weather was sunny and warmer, more walking and swapmeeting. We were invited to dinner at a friend of Karen's who winters in the area. Steak and baked potato, good stuff.


Sunday, time to pack up and head home. Nice day and sunshine on the way home. Snow on the hills in the Palm Springs area from all the storms.


I have to say we really enjoyed the weekend and we will probably be going back next year. Just seeing all the people and RV's from all over the country was cool. I like to people watch so I really enjoyed the weekend.

Hope you enjoy the pictures.

Valley of Fire day trip

Valley of Fire State Park is located only six miles from Lake Mead and 55 miles northeast of Las Vegas via Interstate 15 and on exit 75. Valley of Fire is Nevada's oldest and largest state park, dedicated 1935. The valley derives its name from the red sandstone formations and the stark beauty of the Mojave Desert. Ancient trees and early man are represented throughout the park by areas of petrified wood and 3,000 year-old Indian petroglyph.

The road through the park is only about 23 miles long, but there is lots to look at in those miles. It took us most of the day to see everything. The pictures taken give you and idea of the formations throughout the park.

Death Valley day trip

The first of our two day trips took us to Death Valley. I had really never seen much of the area. Needless to say there is lots more than just desert to see. We traveled from Pahrump to Scotty's Castle. Lots of landscape to see and the pictures will say it alot better than I can explain it. The day stayed mostly cloudly and cool. Enjoy the slideshow. I think the landscape is just awesome in the area we covered.