When we finally got the truck back we made tracks for the Joshua Tree National Park where we were to meet up with Mona's Son and future Daughter-In-Law, Max and Diana, in a couple of days.
We like to stay in the Jumbo Rocks, a first come - first serve campground in Joshua Tree. We knew that if we got there around 11am that we would get a spot. When we pulled into the campground there was a sign reading "Don't proceed unless you have a reservation". WHAT? The park service decided to convert the campground into reservations only! We drove through the campground anyway and found all the sites with reserved signs but only about a third were occupied. We ran across a ranger who said that the small Ryan campground, just down the road, was still first come - first serve, so we hurried there and found a campsite, one of the last two or three available.
I drove through Jumbo Rocks a few days later and again at least a third of the campsites were vacant even though they were all reserved. The ranger there said it pretty much has been that way since they changed the campground to reservation only. Apparently a lot of folks reserve a site and then decide not to show up. It's too bad since before the campground was nearly always full. Maybe more people will start showing up or the Park Service will rethink things. For now, only two very small campgrounds in the park are first come-first serve. It's sad that so many campers, like us, were being turned away when so many camping spots were unoccupied.
Mona and I decided to hike up Ryan Mountain next to our campsite. It's a pretty strenuous hike but the view from the top make the effort worthwhile.
There's our trailer in the small Ryan Campground. It's a good thing that the little camera I use when hiking has a 30 times zoom lens. It takes the place of the $10,000+ zoom lens I would love to own for my "big" camera. Although I would never carry that type of lens while hiking.
Another day we hiked to the Fortynine Palms Oasis. There are signs at the trailhead warning folks to take lots of water. Seeing big palm trees and a spring after hiking in the desert was real treat. As we arrived back at the parking lot emergency vehicles were arriving. We were asked if we encountered anyone in distress about on the trail about a mile from the parking lot. We hadn't. One of the responders started running up the trail which I thought was interesting since he didn't carry anything with him except a radio. I didn't think he would be much help when he got there. Anyway, we didn't stick around to see what happened.
One of the things reasons for being in the area is to visit my brother and his partner who live in Palm Springs. I'll let you guess who is who.
The day before Max and Diana were to arrive in Joshua Tree, Mona got a call from Hawaii. Mona's 100 year old aunt, who we just celebrated with on her 100th birthday in January, was very ill and the prognosis was bad. Fortunately, Max and Diana live near LAX and could easily get Mona to the airport and a flight to Hawaii. We did get a couple of good hikes in before the three of them were off. Mona was with her aunt for a few days before she passed.
With Mona in Hawaii for the foreseeable future, I continued on alone to spend some time with my brother and sister-in-laws, Gary and Martha who were in Borrego Springs snowbirding.
Gary and Martha are very avid hikers which is a big reason why they chose Borrego Springs, along with the warm weather, to spend a good part of the winter in. We took a couple of good hikes including this one which required us to drive through a canyon to get to the trailhead.
After leaving Gary and Martha I went up to the Lake Havasu area. I originally thought I would get some kayaking in but it was a little too windy for me to feel comfortable paddling by myself. I spent one day on a long hike through the desert looking for Geocaches. Along the way I came across this troop of burrows. They were not happy that I had invaded their territory and made quite a ruckus at me being there.
An area I would like to explore more is around St George, Utah. I decided to spend a day and just look around while heading home.
I was at the entrance station to Snow Canyon State park when this lady rides up and asks what part of Washington State (I have Washington License on the trailer) I was from. I told her Seattle but spend most of my time now in Rose Lake, Idaho near Coeur d'Alene. She said she was from Sand Point Idaho and spends her winters in St George. I asked if she knew Mona. She does. Small world. She loves to road bike and hike which is why she was in the St George area. She said Mona and her will have to get together for some road biking when they both get home.
After St George I made tracks for home with a side trip to La Grande Oregon to the Outdoors RV Factory where our trailer is manufactured for some parts and a factory tour. I was very impressed at the attention to detail and just how sturdily built the trailer is. The tour confirmed my belief that the trailer was a good buy for the type of things we like to do.
So, that's it. The end of another Snowbirding adventure.
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