Although we have been out a number of times since Distant Drums in September 2020, actually an entire year of trips, I am just returning to memorializing them. A short recap, in 2021 we went to Borrego Springs, camped at Camp Pendelton Marine Base with friends Randy and Judy, and went out a number of times with the Breezy Elks camping group, hitting some favorite spots, like Lone Pine and Golden Palms Resort in Hemet. During all of that I retired in September of 2021 (finally!)
Now, to the trip in question, Anzo Borrego State Park. The trip was originally scheduled for Borrego Springs Resort, on January 3-8, but Randy Larson was able to obtain spots at Anzo Borrego State Park and we added a couple of more friends to make it a party! Just before Christmas both Randy and Judy came down with COVID and they backed out as well as two other rigs, leaving just Tom and me to go it alone! Since we are super used to camping alone, and usually meet really nice people we loaded up the trailer, added our brand-new e-bikes and hit the road.
I was a little apprehensive about the whole trip as I really love going to Borrego Springs, and the luxury of it all. But being a little adventurous never hurt anyone right? As I have probably mentioned, the road to Borrego Springs takes us on Highway S22 off the 10 freeway. When you travel on it in Imperial County and prior to it becoming San Diego County, the road is so rough and bumpy we have affectionately named it “Guacamole Road”. This name came up one time when we had avocados in the trailer, and I thought they might turn into guacamole before we got to our destination. Tom was driving slowly to minimize the bumping on the e-bikes and a vehicle was right on our bumper, flashing his headlights. Since it was a one-way road, and he couldn’t pass Tom was a bit annoyed as he couldn’t pull over anyway. Finally, the guy pulls up next to us (on the wrong side of the road) and motions for us to pull over. Tom does pull over and the guy tells Tom that he noticed our bike rack break when we hit a particularly rough portion of the road! Did I mention we had BRAND NEW e-bikes?
We went to the back of the trailer, and sure enough we were dragging Tom’s brand-new bike. I thought we both might cry! Steven, the good Samaritan, stuck around and helped Tom get the bike into the trailer. The portion of the bike rack that held my bike was fine and Tom made sure it was secure. Meanwhile I put the dining table down and secured Tom’s bike as best I could. We didn’t have far to go, and the bike really couldn’t roll anywhere.
We checked into Anzo-Borrego State Campground around 3:40 and it was already getting cold. We unhooked and got the bike out of the trailer so I could get the inside set up. When Tom hooked up the water, he realized that there was no pressure, and we didn’t have any water in our freshwater tank! Tom returned to the front office, and they told him they would let maintenance know, but they were all gone for the day so someone would be by in the morning. When Tom was gone, I was setting up the inside of the trailer when the carbon monoxide alarm starts blaring! I opened the door, reset the alarm and opened some windows. I checked the stove and noticed that one of the burners had shaken loose and was no longer connected to the stove. When Tom came back, we took the stove apart, tightened the burner and while we were at it noticed the reason why the electronic ignition hadn’t been working for a while, there were some loose wires! Oi! What a day, so now the only problem left is how do we have dinner with no water? No problem, just follow these easy steps:
- Pour two cocktails – Martini for Tom / Whiskey for me
- Drink the cocktails
- Pour two more cocktails
- Heat up the chili that I brought for lunches and eat in paper bowls with disposable spoons
See? I’m a problem-solver!
The next morning Tom worked with first the Camp Host but was told that maintenance would come by, but she didn’t know when because there are 6 maintenance workers for the entire Anzo Borrego State Park. In the meantime, Tom spoke to our neighbor and ran a hose from his water spigot to our freshwater tank and filled it up. As soon as that was completed, the maintenance guy comes by and tells tom the backflow device he had on the spigot was conflicting with Tom’s pressure gauge, so he told Tom to go ahead and remove the backflow device. By 10:00 we had city water flowing and a full freshwater tank!
We decided to take a drive into town, because Tom needed a different quick connect for the hose, while there we ate lunch at Carlees, which we have seen when in Borrego Springs previously, but had never stopped. The food was great as were the drinks! A campfire that night and a little stargazing finished off the first full day, although at this point, I felt like we had been gone a week!
On Wednesday, we set off to look at the desert sculptures. We have been to Borrego three times and still had not seen them all. Our original plan was to drive to a place where we could see some and then take the bikes on the dirt roads to get up close. That, of course, did not happen, however we saw some amazing sculptures! We also took a walk to the visitor center, a little over 1/2 mile from the campground. There is a really nice, paved walkway with informational markers along the way. We walked around a little more at the visitor center and then walked back. We had another lovely campfire that Wednesday night and topped it off with a movie!
Thursday was amazing! We decided to take the hike that runs from the campground to an oasis up in the hills. The hike was not too strenuous, with only a little climbing over rocks, which is not my strong point, but with Tom’s help I’m improving. The most amazing thing about the hike were the bighorn sheep grazing right by the path. They were so close, when I went around a curve I could have reached out and touched one of them. I have never been so close to a wild animal that wasn’t in a zoo. Do I sound like a complete city girl? Well, I am! The oasis was amazing with rushing water in the middle of the desert. We were not able to get all the way to it because the trail was closed due to some vandalism, apparently someone set fire to some of the palm trees! It was amazingly cooler at the oasis then on the bottom part of the hike and the sound of the rushing water was beautiful.
Friday was a restful day; we took a drive to explore the area a little more and hung around camp. The week had gone so quickly I was amazed that we were starting to think about heading home.
We packed up and headed home on Saturday, stopping in Wildomar to visit some friends who had recently moved there. By the time we got home, and the trailer backed into the yard it was dark, so we just went out to dinner!
I would love to return to Anza Borrego State Park, and I have to admit that I enjoyed it more than the fancy Borrego Springs Resort, but don’t let that out, people might think I like roughing it!
Check out the photos of our trip below.
Tom and Patti's RV Adventure 