A week in Catalina State Park

 

Our next stop was Catalina State Park, a new park because we've never been able to get a reservation before.

Even though we made reservations a year ahead we were only able to get a spot in the overflow lot.  (Though according to the camp hosts ours is one of the best sites in the whole campground.

Most of the sites are just lined up next to each other like in a parking lot but we were able to angle our trailers to block off a private spot with no views of the neighbours.

And the spot next to us was empty most of the week even though they had a permanent sign at the park entrance "campground full, no overflow." 

We put up the hummingbird feeder and had Costa's, Anna's and broadbilled hummingbirds (Bird of the Day!)visit us all week.

Our camphosts and their friends were accomplished old time musicians who would hold jam sessions with any musicians who showed up at the campsite. They even invited Leo to play his small pipes although he can't play very well with others. (Too loud, weird key).

We had just a short walk down the bridal trail to a spot full of typical desert birds.  Three kinds of towhees, rufous-winged sparrows, pyrrhuloxias, Gila and ladder-backed woodpeckers.

Rufous-winged sparrow

Picacho Peak

We spent 2 nights at Picacho Peak State Park. 

Leo, Mark and I hiked up to the peak.  

Intrepid Adventurers with peak in background

I stopped at the saddle and they kept going to the top so I was able just to sit for an hour and enjoy the scenery while they scrambled their way up to the top.

By the time they got back it was getting pretty hot and there's a steep climb for them back up the saddle before the final descent.  They were feeling it.

The conquering heroes

We were back down at noon because we were expecting guests.  Fellow choristers Dick and Pam Schut were visiting family in Phoenix and they dropped by to check out the park and have a visit. It was fun meeting Dick's 2 sisters and their spouses.

Patti meets cactus just her size

Lake Havasu State Park

It's a great drive fom Bakersfield to Lake Havasu. First you leave the Flats of the Central value and drive into the live oak filled foothills and up over Tehachapi Pass past the family ranch of labour hero Cesar Chavez (declared a national monument by Obama), then you pass a forest of windmills and descend into the Mojave desert, past the Joshua trees.  Then it's a few hundred miles of flat empty desert until you cross the Colorado River and suddenly you are in retiree paradise on blue Lake Havasu lined with palm trees and trailer parks and rv parks.

Suddenly it was shorts weather, 80F.  We could only get 1 night's reservation so we are on the road again tomorrow.

Lake Havasu State Park is a very well maintained campground; our site was immaculately raked and, at last, decently maintained bathrooms.  It's very much a retired crowd staying here.

Buenavista Aquatic Recreation Area

 

Feb 17

Another day another long drive another botched attempt at finding a campground.

When I realized it was Presidents' Day long weekend I tried to make reservations for the Kern River Campground east of Bakersfield while we were driving.  We arrived at the campground at 3 in the afternoon only to find that we'd made one reservation at Kern River and one at Buenavista Recreation Area, a 45 minute drive back the way we came. Kern River was full but Buenavista still had vacancies and the very helpful camp host helped us transfer our reservation.  In my defense the camphost did say this happens all the time.

All set up at Buenavista

Buenavista was a massive campsite.  They tried to set us up as close to each other as possible but it still involved a long  hike across a meadow.  The place was busy for the long weekend with big families in giant rvs.  Our neighbours across the way were blasting out the Mexican Fiesta movie but they quietened down at night.

Breaking out the gas firepit

The place was crawling with ground squirrels.

We spent an extra day here. Just walking along the shoreline, checking out the birds and the other campers.

The trees were busy with yellow-rumped warblers and lesser goldfinches.  White-crowned sparrows, grackles and lots of Mourning and Eurasiancollared Doves. But the Bird of the Day had to be the American coot.  There was a huge flock feeding on land.  As we approached by they all ran/flew into the lake.  When we returned they were back on land and again they ran and flew back into the lake,

A deceptively lonely looking coot

Yreka to Dos Reis County Park

 

Camping at Dos Reis County Park

Feb 15. It was raining in the morning. We got on the road early so we wouldn't be arriving at a campground at night.  Unfortunately Mount Shasta was shrouded in Cloud when we drove by.  Lake Shasta was reasonably full after last year's big snowfall.

I love driving through the northern part of the Central Valley.  You drive past flowering almond orchards and olive groves. Then you get to the flooded rice fields. We drove past big flocks of snow geese and egrets.  There was even a rogue flock of chickens feeding at the side of the freeway.

Sacramento traffic was busy but straightforward.  At Lodi we turned off for Westgate Landing Regional Park.  Recent I-Overlander reviews give it a bad rating due to miserable camp host, terrible washrooms and a ridiculous reservation system but we had fond memories of camping here in 2020 and walking the dikes along the Mokelumne River.

We arrived at the park at 2 pm.  There was no sign of the miserable camp host except a NO TRESPASSING sign on the fence around his rv.  Very confusing signage, but it did say no entry without a reservation.  And the access to the campsites was roped off with a locked chain.

We managed to get turned around and drove off toward another regional park 30 minutes South.  Dos Reis Park on the San Jouquin River has the same ridiculous reservation system and confusing signage but it has a friendly camphost and that made all the difference.  Also they didn't lock access to the sites.  The host showed up as I was trying to make reservations online and suggested we phone the parks department.  

People, I don't think you can travel to the US  by the seat of your pants anymore.  Most Walmarts won't let you park overnight, and campsites  don't take cash, you need reservations. Fortunately, I checked tomorrow's camp spot and was able to reserve the last 2 sites. It's President's Day Weekend and I should have known better.  Last year we got caught at Lake Havasu thinking we could camp in the overflow parking but even that was full. We ended up parking in the desert after dark.

Luckily we have reservations from here on.

Anyway,  the sun was out, it was warm.  I was in my shirtsleeves.  We walked along the dyke and saw a great horned owl, a great egret, 

house finches, goldfinches, a great horned owl and the bird of the day,  scrub jays. We sat outside in our lawn chairs till dark!

The washrooms, however, are dismal.  There is just one toilet with a stained lid for the whole park.  The showers were locked from 10:30 to 6 pm so I can't report on their condition. They charged us $35 plus $10 admin fee for one night. Plus $1 for a dog.

Happy Valentines Day

 

So much better today.  The engine light keeps coming on after we gas up but the truck is running fine.

Traffic was reasonable all day as there's no big cities.  There was heavy rain for much of the day and we worried about snow in the Siskiyou Pass just before the California border.  But the pass was bare and wet. They didn't stop us at the fruit inspection station. We arrived at the first rest stop in California at 4 pm in daylight. The sun came out. We parked here for the night.  It's a really nice rest stop tucked down along the Klamath River.  We had a nice walk before dark.

In the past its been really busy overnight with big trucks coming and going, but this year we slept really well.  In the morning though there were lots of trucks parked next to us.

Crazy Day

 Feb 13.  Hope to Champoeg State Park, Or.

Crazy day.  Our first job over the border was to get cell phone service.  There was a long lineup at the At&t store.  It took us 2 hours. Once we got to the front of the line the service was quick.

Traffic was nuts through Seattle as usual, and it doesn't stop till you're past Tacoma. Then a brief respite till we hit Portland during rush hour.  We didn't make it to the campground before dark and had to navigate down narrow country roads to reach the park. In the dark we overshot our turnoff and had to back up to make our turn.  When we arrived in the dark the campsite was full, except for the 2 handicapped sites.  There was a sign saying no camping unless it was unoccupied after 7 pm.  There was a number to call for reservations but a couple walking by said they got no answer.  So we set up.

Patty said she felt guilty taking up a handicapped site.  And I said, there's no handicapped person going to show up in the dark to camp here.  How I was to run my words!

At 11 pm we got a knock on the door.  Hello, you're camped in my spot.  Of course it was a handicapped person showing up in the dark to camp!  We felt terrible. But Areta turned out to be the loveliest person.  She didn't want us to move but she had to plug her wheelchair in so she wedged her car up next to us so she could plug in.

In the morning we offered to pay her for the site but she wouldn't hear of it.  She did let us pay the $7 they charge for an extra car.  

Too hectic for photo taking!

We're on the Road

Feb 12

We're on the road.

We left home at 10 am. After a snow less winter, it snowed the last few days. Roads were bare till Lac la Hache then it got a bit slushy. No fun to drive in but once we got past Clinton all was well. Until the engine light came on in our pickup. Our plan was to camp out in Costco in Abbotsford, but a check of the I-Overlander app showed that you can't park overnight there anymore. I called the nearby Walmart and they were fine but we decided instead to stop in Hope and buy a diagnostic tool for the engine light. 

We camped at the Hope Campsite run by the local Band and Leo and Mark head off to the auto parts store.  The salesperson told them it was probably just the gas tank cap not put on properly.  That turned out to be the error code so they reset it and we were good to go.

It was a really nice Campsite right on the Fraser River with views of snow dusted mountains.  Nice clean washrooms.