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March 5, 2010, a Friday
Joshua Tree National Park (Jumbo Rock) to Lake Perris State Recreation Area, California, USA
— Photographed in Joshua Tree National Park one last time
I got up in plenty of time to catch our last sunrise in Joshua Tree National Park. I left in the Jeep by myself at 5:50.
I headed to the same trees that I photographed last night. The sky was clear, but there was some color on the eastern horizon. My favorite image of the morning was of a "Dr. Seuss" tree (left). The image was created from one RAW file processed twice to capture the detail in the bright sky and dark foreground.
I returned to the RV at 6:35 and worked up a blog entry. J stirred around 7:05 — she had gone back to sleep after I left this morning. I had my normal breakfast. Then we prepped the RV to move, hooked up the Jeep to tow just around the loop, and got underway at 8:09.
We headed out towards the Joshua Tree Entrance in the northwest part of the park, and exited the park at 8:42.
We went to the WalMart in Yucca Valley at 9:00 to pick up a few things. It was a regular WalMart, not a Super WalMart, and they had a large selection of Bertolli meals. We had our choice of Shrimp, Asparagus & Penne, Shrimp, Asparagus & Penne, or Shrimp, Asparagus & Penne. :)
We went to the McDonald's in Yucca Valley at 9:21 so J could get a Breakfast Burrito and Hash Browns to go. We started to leave and had to go back because they didn't give J her Hash Browns.
We went to the Von's (grocery store) in Yucca Valley at 9:40. I went in to help J shop, then returned to the RV and let J wander the aisles at leisure.
We stopped at a Star Market in Yucca Valley to fill up the Jeep at $2.899/gal. We got underway at 11:10.
There were lots of windmills near the junction of CA-62 and I-10.
We went to the Banning Stagecoach KOA (in Banning) at 12:00 to get propane, dump, and take on water. We got underway at 12:41.
We stopped at a bank in Beaumont so J could deposit a check, and they wouldn't take it because it wasn't dated. J returned to the RV, put a date on the check, and we went to another branch in town. They took the check — no questions asked.
We went by the Dowling Fruit Orchard store at I-10 and CA-60 where we had planned to spend the night. Because our GPS didn't know exactly where they were located, we ended up driving several miles down CA-60 before we could turn around to go back. We returned to the Dowling Fruit Orchard at 1:55 and found a place in the back to park the RV. J wasn't too excited about the location, so she went online to look for an alternative. We left around 3:00.
We went back east on I-10 and took CA-79 south then drove south on Gilman Springs Road to look for some BLM (Bureau of Land Management) land. We didn't see any potential boondocking spots, so we headed back up Gilman Springs Road towards CA-60. We pulled into an area covered with offroad tracks, and a Sheriff's deputy who was parked there said we were in an illegal riding area — so much for boondocking there. We continued up Gilman Springs Road, and stopped to unhook the Jeep before we were forced to get on CA-60 with no way to turn the RV and Jeep around while still connected. We drove separately back south on Gilman Springs Road a bit, then parked the RV and left in the Jeep. We stopped so J could call the local BLM office to get better directions, then we continued south on Gilman Springs Road. We took Sobobo Road, and went as far as the Sobobo Casino, a place that we could park overnight. Because we'll be having J's sister and family over on Sunday, and J didn't want to entertain them in the casino parking lot, we decided to go to Lake Perris State Recreation Area. We went back to get the RV, then went ...
To Lake Perris State Recreation Area at 5:15! We drove around the two campground loops that didn't have hookups, and most of them had nice shade trees — nice for tent camping, but not nice for getting solar-electric power in our RV. We settled on Site 1, and were leveled by 5:55.
We had dinner around 6:40 of Bertolli Shrimp, Asparagus & Penne and Texas Toast.
After dinner, I tried to go online, but the weak Verizon Wireless National Access signal kept dropping out every 10 seconds or so and I couldn't connect. :( Somehow J was able to connect through her stick. I downloaded the image I took this morning and downselected them in Capture One (C1). I processed one image for the blog, then went to bed early.
Joshua Tree Dawn
Joshua Tree National Park,
California, USA
California, USA
Canon EOS 1Ds Mk III, 100-400 (at 180mm),
1/10 sec, f8, ISO 100
1/10 sec, f8, ISO 100
I returned to the RV at 6:35 and worked up a blog entry. J stirred around 7:05 — she had gone back to sleep after I left this morning. I had my normal breakfast. Then we prepped the RV to move, hooked up the Jeep to tow just around the loop, and got underway at 8:09.
We headed out towards the Joshua Tree Entrance in the northwest part of the park, and exited the park at 8:42.
We went to the WalMart in Yucca Valley at 9:00 to pick up a few things. It was a regular WalMart, not a Super WalMart, and they had a large selection of Bertolli meals. We had our choice of Shrimp, Asparagus & Penne, Shrimp, Asparagus & Penne, or Shrimp, Asparagus & Penne. :)
We went to the McDonald's in Yucca Valley at 9:21 so J could get a Breakfast Burrito and Hash Browns to go. We started to leave and had to go back because they didn't give J her Hash Browns.
We went to the Von's (grocery store) in Yucca Valley at 9:40. I went in to help J shop, then returned to the RV and let J wander the aisles at leisure.
We stopped at a Star Market in Yucca Valley to fill up the Jeep at $2.899/gal. We got underway at 11:10.
There were lots of windmills near the junction of CA-62 and I-10.
We went to the Banning Stagecoach KOA (in Banning) at 12:00 to get propane, dump, and take on water. We got underway at 12:41.
We stopped at a bank in Beaumont so J could deposit a check, and they wouldn't take it because it wasn't dated. J returned to the RV, put a date on the check, and we went to another branch in town. They took the check — no questions asked.
We went by the Dowling Fruit Orchard store at I-10 and CA-60 where we had planned to spend the night. Because our GPS didn't know exactly where they were located, we ended up driving several miles down CA-60 before we could turn around to go back. We returned to the Dowling Fruit Orchard at 1:55 and found a place in the back to park the RV. J wasn't too excited about the location, so she went online to look for an alternative. We left around 3:00.
We went back east on I-10 and took CA-79 south then drove south on Gilman Springs Road to look for some BLM (Bureau of Land Management) land. We didn't see any potential boondocking spots, so we headed back up Gilman Springs Road towards CA-60. We pulled into an area covered with offroad tracks, and a Sheriff's deputy who was parked there said we were in an illegal riding area — so much for boondocking there. We continued up Gilman Springs Road, and stopped to unhook the Jeep before we were forced to get on CA-60 with no way to turn the RV and Jeep around while still connected. We drove separately back south on Gilman Springs Road a bit, then parked the RV and left in the Jeep. We stopped so J could call the local BLM office to get better directions, then we continued south on Gilman Springs Road. We took Sobobo Road, and went as far as the Sobobo Casino, a place that we could park overnight. Because we'll be having J's sister and family over on Sunday, and J didn't want to entertain them in the casino parking lot, we decided to go to Lake Perris State Recreation Area. We went back to get the RV, then went ...
To Lake Perris State Recreation Area at 5:15! We drove around the two campground loops that didn't have hookups, and most of them had nice shade trees — nice for tent camping, but not nice for getting solar-electric power in our RV. We settled on Site 1, and were leveled by 5:55.
We had dinner around 6:40 of Bertolli Shrimp, Asparagus & Penne and Texas Toast.
After dinner, I tried to go online, but the weak Verizon Wireless National Access signal kept dropping out every 10 seconds or so and I couldn't connect. :( Somehow J was able to connect through her stick. I downloaded the image I took this morning and downselected them in Capture One (C1). I processed one image for the blog, then went to bed early.