New Water Jugs

After a lovely visit to Joshua Tree National Park, we headed back towards Palm Springs. We were expecting some essential mail to be delivered to the post office there on Tuesday, so we had a couple of days to enjoy the area.

We stopped at Walmart for supplies. While we were there, we bought two six-gallon water containers, one for drinking water and one for regular. The containers would save us moving gallon jugs of water every time we stopped for the night.

Unfortunately, both containers did not fit on the cargo carrier. We had purchased an Igloo container and a generic one (the only other Igloo container was missing a piece). We quickly discovered that the generic container leaked when put on its side. We would have returned it immediately, but we didn’t want to lose the water already in it. We put the container upright on the cargo carrier and the Igloo container on the roof rack. Once we felt it was secure, we headed to the Salton Sea.

The Salton Sea

There were three areas available for free camping. We picked the one closest to the water. It was dark when we arrived, making it tricky to pick our spot for the night. In the morning, we discovered that we were only about a half-mile from the water. The Salton Sea was a beautiful shade of blue. Paragliders were flying around, and there were several campers parked between us and the water. We noticed a small tree in the spot next to where we had parked. We decided to look at the other two BLM areas nearby and then choose where to stay for the next couple of days.

The second spot was only a few miles away, across the main road we had come in. When we pulled in, we saw a sign declaring that, due to Covid, the area was now closed to camping. We next headed to the third spot, a little further away from the water. We drove up into the mountains. There were plenty of people on the public lands, mostly all-terrain vehicles enjoying the desert landscape. It thoroughly entertained me when I noticed a traffic light on top of a cliff. I couldn’t help but wonder what it was doing up there. When we arrived at the camping area, it also had a sign stating that it was closed to camping. Even if they had been open, we would have gone back to the one by the water. The other two were just big sand flats.

We headed back to our original campsite, hoping the spot with the tree would still be there when we returned. It was. The tree was big enough to provide us with some welcome shade.

While we sat in our nook, enjoying the faint breeze, a long-tailed brush lizard climbed up Chris’s leg. Chris is a big fan of herpetology, so he was thrilled with his visitor. The lizard climbed around Chris like he was a jungle gym for about 20 minutes before going on his way.

I took a walk down to the water. After leaving the campground, I walked through some foliage, then across the sand. As I got closer to the water, the sand took on a different look and feel. A dry, crispy, salty layer covered the softer, muckier sand underneath. As I walked across it, my shoes crunched through it to the bottom layer. I crossed a broad strip of what I thought were seashells. On closer inspection, they were barnacles. As I walked nearer to the water, the ground became mushy. I gave up on getting any closer when my shoes started sinking into the quicksand-like nastiness.

The sea had a foul odor. I was happy our campsite was not close enough to the water to smell it. There was plenty of birdlife by the water. I spent some time photographing and enjoying the birds as they hunted in the water. It was also interesting to watch the paragliders flying around.

A Change In The Weather

The next day was much colder and overcast. When I climbed out of the truck in the morning, even the birds looked cold. I took another walk down to the water.

With the dismal weather, the water looked foreboding. Instead of the beautiful blue, it was an inky grey, and the gentle lapping had turned into a more violent surf. The beach was desolate, except for one group of least sandpipers feeding on the shoreline. I spent some time watching them. They were entertaining as they scrambled around picking bugs out of the sand.

Our gentle breeze from the day before turned into a fierce wind, so we spent most of the afternoon in the truck. Chris noticed a red glow around the Reflectix. When he pulled it down to see what was going on, we found the most glorious fiery sunset I think I have ever seen.

A Travel Day

There were still clouds in the morning, but they were starting to break up, and the sun was shining through. Once again, the water returned to the gorgeous color we had seen before. We packed up and headed to Palm Springs. As we drove, we were able to see the beautiful scenery we had missed by traveling at night. The Salton Sea is enormous. We enjoyed seeing the date orchards along its shores.

We stopped for an oil change and returned the leaky water jug before going to the post office. Luckily, we had a tracking number because the clerk first said they didn’t have any mail for us. With the tracking number, she quickly found the letter, and we were able to continue our trip. We headed west towards Ventura County, where we had booked a couple of days at the Avocado Acres Apartment.

On the way, we discovered that the McRib was back at McDonald’s. The McRib is what it is. To us, it is a guilty pleasure. When they come out, we indulge in the yummy goodness. By the time we get tired of them, they are gone. What a fantastic marketing strategy they have in only offering it for a limited time. Not knowing when they will come back makes it extra exciting when we find them.

Our timing was right, allowing us to make it to our apartment before the afternoon Los Angeles traffic. The name fit the apartment, which was in an avocado orchard.

The Avocado Acres Apartment

I was thrilled to see the beautiful avocados hanging from the trees.  It was my first opportunity to see them as they grow. We heard a loud bang on the roof while we were there. I ran outside, hoping to find a fallen avocado, but didn’t find anything. I didn’t go into the orchard, as it was off-limits, but I did pick a few avocadoes from the tree next to the house. A week later, we enjoyed the delicious avocadoes.

For some reason, I confuse the dates and figs in my mind. After we visited the date farm, I was disappointed to realize they weren’t figs. The date’s flavor was terrific, but the texture was not appealing. I decided to make energy bars with them. My sister, who lives in the area, came by for a visit and was kind enough to bring her food processer. I worked on the bars while we visited.

Chris cooked up a tasty dinner for us. She ended up staying much longer than she had initially intended. I have only been able to see my sister once in the last fifteen or so years. The one time I did see her was a hectic evening. We didn’t have much time to spend together that night, so it was lovely to have a more relaxed visit. My only regret is that we didn’t think to take any pictures together, which is strange because I take photos all the time.

Later that night, when I pulled the fig bars out of the freezer, I was disappointed to find I had not processed them long enough. Other than a few pieces, they just crumbled. While the bars didn’t work out, their flavor was terrific, so I put the mixture in a bag, and we used it to flavor our oatmeal.

We took advantage of the apartment’s kitchen, preparing food and freezing water jugs for the next part of our trip. We use a Lifetime cooler for food storage while we are on the road. We have found that using frozen, gallon-sized water jugs is more effective at keeping the food cold than bags of ice. Our cooler has stayed cold with four frozen bottles for ten days before we start supplementing with ice.

After two days of luxury, with food prepped, ice jugs frozen, and fresh avocadoes in hand, we set out on the next leg of our adventure.