Westward, Ho!

It was time to find the west coast. For sure, the east and south hadn’t been very kind to us.

The trip west from Louisiana to Texas was two long days of driving and one short night in a noisy truck stop.  It doesn’t take much to entertain me, so I enjoyed the driving days, looking at the mesas and boulder hills of Texas. We blew through El Paso as quickly as possible. We had not received any warnings this year about passing too close to the Mexican border, but we are not ones to take chances. Selling everything we owned and hitting the road notwithstanding.

We did take the time to stop at the Sonora Caverns in Texas, just off I-10. These caverns have unusual features, like the beautiful stalactites that hang from the ceiling of the cave like white Christmas trees.















Unlike in most caverns, gravity does not seem to be a major factor in the development of these limestone features. Very delicate growths seem to sprout every which way. The most amazing to us was the one that looked like the tail of a fish projecting from the wall.

Balmorhea State Park in western Texas that we stayed in had a large natural spring pool. The pool maintained a temperature of 23C (74F) no matter what the weather. Original thoughts had been that it would be a great place to swim when we got there. That was before the temperatures in southern Texas plunged to just over freezing. We did wander around the pool, testing the water with our fingers and watching the little minnows inside dart around. There was another young couple that had the same idea, but took it a step farther and wore their swimsuits to enjoy the warmth of the water. I don’t think the young lady lasted more than a couple of minutes. The fellow stayed a little longer, but did say that it was not worth the swim. Even with the minnows nibbling at his toes.

We wish we had been able to take more time in Tucson. It looked like a very interesting city from the interstate, but we were booked into an Arizona state park halfway between there and Phoenix and we were running late. As it was, we ended up parking in the dark, which is just not a best bet scenario. The planner of the family had been wise enough to reserve a pull-through site, which is relatively painless. Except that with no one at the gates when we arrived, we were unaware that there was no water at the campsite. They do have water available to fill your internal holding tanks before you get to your spot, but it is outside the camping area. Not willing to wait until the next day with no water, we pulled out, filled our tank, and then reparked. Something that would have been painful if we’d had to back in.

The next morning showed us what a beautiful area we had landed into. There were small, hiking friendly mountains on both sides of us, one of which had an unusual peak formation. Historic mention of this peak notes that it was a landmark used for early travellers crossing the desert.  As we were having a rest day after our long drive, I can happily tell you that we did not climb it.

 At first look, it seemed like there was no wildlife around the campground, but after I sat quietly at the picnic table for a few minutes, several different types of birds and a curious chipmunk came close by me looking for food. And so did a Junior Ranger, except instead of food she was looking for someone to fill in a survey. Drat. Even without phone service I can’t get away from these things.

At least it was getting warmer. As we headed towards the weekend Christmas shopping traffic of Los Angeles, the sun was shining and reflecting off the fancy luxury cars around us. We arrived at our destination at the edge of the Pacific Ocean before nightfall, and parked on pavement right beside the beach. 

Between the trailer parking and the sand there is a “multi-use trail”.  They certainly couldn’t label it anything else, because to be more specific would have taken three or four signs. The paved trail was used by bikers, sightseers, dog walkers, inline skaters, joggers, strollers, fishermen, family groups, teenage skateboarders, and surfers of all shapes and ages. The only stipulation was that nothing motorized was allowed. We took our own bicycles for a spin and never did find the southern end of this trail. We did find a beach volleyball park and a fishing pier, and watched a couple of hundred southern California surfers bobbing away in the waves.

Across the road from our beachfront parking lot is a state ecological reserve. The local community worked very hard to prevent new development of this area and to rehabilitate the damage done by previous “progress”. And judging by the amount of birds and evidence of wildlife, they did an excellent job. Unfortunately it is surrounded by busy roads, and almost impossible to access by foot. With the official sign of “No Ped Xing” facing us at our exit, our only options were to either walk a mile north to an intersection and then back down the other side, or to drive, crossing into their parking lot almost immediately after leaving our park. All in total of 0.5 KM. It made no sense to me, but drive we did. And then we walked around the reserve with dozens of other birdwatchers before driving back across the road.

Despite the traffic noise outside our door, we have enjoyed this beachfront camping. We love the people watching, the many activities, and we have friends nearby. But we have only one more beautiful pacific sunset left to watch before heading off to a new destination.

Now, it is “Northward, Ho!” for us.

W