kyotesue

Day 2 through 6 Wandering the desert

Saturday March 21
Route: south on I-5 to 138, hwy 14 to hwy 18
Photos are here at Picasa, Mo and the MoHo in the Desert

Digital Desert Mojave is a really great website for the Mojave Desert. If you plan on traveling there, it’s worth perusing at length. It is filled with detailed information about the landscape, rock formations, and documents the flow of bloom in the desert. After reading about the Antelope Valley Poppy Preserve and the promise of gorgeous displays, Mo decided to go there. It was a bit early in the season, but the photos show it can be lovely in spite of fewer flowers in full bloom. Another site along the way is Mormon Rocks, worth a stop and a look if you have the time.

Mo continued on to the southern entrance of Joshua Tree National Park. Arriving late on a Saturday afternoon meant that she was really lucky to get the very last campsite available in the Cottonwood Campground, and it took a bit of jockeying to fit the MoHo into that space, even at only 26 feet. When we got this rig, we were thinking that we wanted to be long enough to be comfortable, yet short enough for tight NP spaces.
On Sunday morning the weather was perfect for a day exploring Joshua Tree, enjoying the cholla and ocotillo gardens, and all the amazing granite formations. The park has several routes in and out, and Mo had to exit and then go back in on Hwy 62 to get to the Blackrock CG which is large with many available spaces on this spring Sunday evening. These camps have water only, so it isn’t exactly dry camping, but almost. The JOTR website is filled with information about routes, ecology, camping, and hiking information.

Monday morning Mo left the park, following historic route 66 a few miles before going north on Amboy road to Amboy, then north again to Kelso in the Mojave National Preserve. At Kelso there is a nice visitor center in the historic Depot, but Mo thought that perhaps the preserve wasn’t very old since there wasn’t a great deal of interpretive information in the area other than the depot. After a day of wandering, taking lots of flower photos, and enjoying the desert, Mo camped at the Sunrise Rock Roadside CG in the Preserve. It was again dry camping, with no water, but the hiking area was wonderful and Abby enjoyed the views as well.

Leaving the Preserve on Tuesday morning, Mo traveled north into Death Valley. The flower show was still minimal this far north, so she went on to Tecopa, checking out the hot springs and campground for future reference, and visiting the Dumont Dunes ATV site. After some more wandering,she headed for the Flying J at Barstow, hoping to repeat her boondocking experince from the previous Sunday. Once there, however, she was overwhelmed with the noise and huge number of trucks at this major desert crossroads, and decided instead to head for Kramer Junction at the intersection of 395 and 58. There is a huge solar generating station here that you can see for miles. After settling in for a pleasant evening at a great little wayside with other rv’rs, she discovered to her dismay that a sewage plant was nearby and little whiffs from the fragrant ponds made it less than pleasant.

On Wednesday, the 25th, with just one more day until our scheduled meeting, Mo headed back north on 395 to Inyokern to check out the active ghost town of Randsburg. There were many old buildings in use by small businesses making an attempt at survival in the tourist trade. Back south to Red Rock Canyon State Park and CG where the cliffs are lovely for hiking and climbing through the rocks and canyons.

Day 1 Wildflower journeys

Freedom. That is what it is all about. Springtime in California, snow in Oregon, a motorhome waiting in the driveway, and time. In the beginning of the trip, however, it was Mo who traveled alone. Unbound by the work world, she decided that it was time to find the wildflowers. we made plans for a long weekend, arranging to meet in Kernville, but before then, Mo traveled unfettered by schedules, free to wander the desert in search of the best wildflower shows, to find somewhere to park at night, to wake when she felt like it and wander off to another field of color the next day. That is what this RV’ing life is all about.
Friday March 20
Route: south on J-59, south on 99, south to I-5
The familiar bumpy route south of J-59 to Modesto gets tiresome, and it seems that no matter where we go, we follow this road. Abby hates the bumps as much as we do, but the poppy show was at its height all through the foothills on this route. Yellow fiddleneck was also prolific, and while fairly common, it still makes for a lovely show.

South to I-5 and once more rewarded with a sea of blue lupine stretching all the way from the interstate east to the foothills south of Bakersfield. It’s smart to find a place to “be” before too late in the afternoon and around 4pm the Flying J on the Grapevine at Frazier Park was a perfect place to boondock. Mo said that when she went to sleep after watching a lovely sunset, she was basically alone in the big lot. Morning found her surrounded by 5 other motorhomes who also knew about the great free parking on this major route to and from LA. When in need for a quick and easy night stop, if the truck noise isn’t too bothersome, it’s worth finding a Flying J.

Day 8 Home and thoughts on cruising

Actually, what I discovered on this trip is that what I love most about cruising, is, well, actually, cruising. Being on a top deck watching the seas and the skies and feeling that huge ship moving beneath me is an incredible rush, and in the entire 7 days I never tired of it. Lots of good things about a cruise, but that movement on the sea is the best part.

The daily posts listed below have some photos in them, but here is the link to all the photos from the cruise.

http://picasaweb.google.com/kyotesue/EasternCaribbean09#

Day 7 Some thoughts on Princess

Our last day of the cruise was spent at sea, with time to relax in deck chairs, and enjoy the lovely gentle seas. Time to think a bit.

Mo has been on 5 cruises, and this was my 4th. Two previous trips were with Royal Caribbean and one 4 day cruise with Holland America. It is sometimes difficult to compare something like a cruise, and I think every experience is individual. For what it is worth, in most ways we were impressed with Princess. The cabin was excellent, and our steward did a great job. We knew there wouldn’t be cute little animals, but chocolates and a turned down bed were fine, and if I had to choose, I would pick the huge closet over fancy towel animals.

The Anytime Dining option has some glitches, but still is a great way to go if you aren’t traveling with a big group of people that you know. The food on Princess was fine and the service was excellent in our experience, but there wasn’t quite the fabulous fancy thing that you expect on a cruise. We didn’t opt for any of the extra charge restaurants, but that shouldn’t be the only way to get great food on a cruise. Talking with a friend about this, we think it may not just be the difference between cruise lines, but an overall difference in cruise food in general.

The spa was wonderful, and my experience on this ship better than others. There are 4 pools, lots of places to hang out, and not very many children or young adult people on this trip. It was pretty quiet, actually, not a party ship at all. It seemed very classy, and mature, unlike the rock climbing wave riding midnight party glitz of the Royal Caribbean. I would still like to someday experience one of those big ships like the Independence of the Seas, but in all, Princess compared very favorably to past cruise experiences.

The only other problem seemed to be the very short times in port. Often, another ship would be in port when we arrived and there after we left. We heard tales of 12 hour port stays, and the 6 or 7 hours that we had in our ports was a real detriment to actually enjoying them. I’m not quite sure why it worked out this way, but might pay closer attention to port stays when planning another cruise. My choice won’t necessarily depend on the company, but on the ports, the price, and the dates.

Day 6 Grand Turk and swimming with rays

You tube video swimming with rays

Our last port day on the cruise, Grand Turk was a surprise. We didn’t have enough time to explore the island since again, we signed up for an excursion. This one was by default, since it was the only snorkel trip still available, and included petting sting rays. Hmmm. We weren’t too sure of that one, but really wanted to see more fish, so thought that maybe an excursion was the way to do that. After all, we even brought our own shiny new snorkel gear for this trip!

As we boarded the excursion boat, it began to dawn on me that we were going to actually snorkel in deep water, no walking in slowly from the beach, this was going to be a jump off the boat kind of thing. Gibbs Cay is just a spit of sand in view of the island, but we weren’t any where near either one when the cool snorkel dudes stopped the boat and showed us how to jump down the ladders.

At first it was a bit daunting, but with the inflatable snorkel vests and the warm water it was just fine. I loved it. The reef was lovely, and there were some fish, but still nothing like we saw in Hawaii. It was hard sometimes to keep track of locations, and once I felt trapped in an area with reef all around me and no way over it, but I found my way back eventually. A great experience.

We all got back in the boat and headed for the beach on Gibbs Cay. Our guide warned us to stay calm when the rays swam around our legs, told us they liked people and were extremely friendly. It was an experience, to say the least. We would all be looking at him holding this huge thing, when suddenly more would sidle up behind us and suddenly you would feel them around your legs. Strange, and yes, difficult to stay calm and not get a bit freaky. All in all, a great experience though, even after he did admit that yes, these were the same sting rays that had killed the croc hunter. Hmmm. I watched that stinger whip around a few times and wondered if this was really where I wanted to be, but now that it’s over, I’m really glad we did it. it.