firemen7
Senior Member
This trip starts out with a twist. My aunt is celebrating her 80th birthday and my cousin wanted to have a surprise party for her in Tucson AZ on the second weekend in February.
We started planning this trip in December and asked the WtW family for suggestions on places to camp, points of interest and area to visit in the Tucson region.
The responses were great and I would like to thank you for your suggestions. A plan was made, a course was set, vacation days were scheduled and I thought it was cast. However in late January I needed to readjust the travel route due to a temporary illness and a scheduled visit that honey-bunch need to make in the San Diego area. Not to worry I’ll just plan a new route.
Honey-bunch made her trip to San Diego and I started out a week later. At first I thought I would head over the Sierras and down the backside through the desert, then I thought, I have never traveled down Hwy 1 from Monterey to Los Angeles ( A new course was set).
Tuesday morning after the chores were completed I set out to visit the Grand kids in Monterey thinking I would get out of there by 3:00 pm or so. This plan was quickly squashed by my granddaughter insisting that I spend at least one night with them.
The Adventure Starts:
Wednesday morning I rousted out of the house near 9:00 and started down the coast on Hwy 1, several vistas and single lane closers later I enjoyed lunch at San Simeon.
I headed back to Hwy 1 and remembered a post for a campground at Jalama Beach south of Vandenberg AFB. I made it there around 6:30 and set up camp.
Thursday morning I picked up camp, cleaned the area and enjoyed a short cold walk on the beach. Around 9:30 or so when I started to leave the campground the gate came down at the guard shack and I was informed that I had under paid the fees, much to my surprise when I reread the sign I had indeed under paid the fees.
Squared with the gate keeper I made it back to Hwy 1 and started down the coast again. What a beautiful drive from Monterey to Ventura.
Friday-Rain in So Cal? We loaded up and set out close to 9:00, stopped for propane, coffee and scones before hitting the interstate. Traveling through the rock-lay-den mountains between San Diego County and Imperial County is one of the most spectacular drives in Southern California as it transitions into the desert. The desert was clear with mild winds until we hit the Imperial Dunes where the sand was drifting across the highway in small waves.
We arrived at Picacho Peak State Park around 5:30 or so and set up camp for the evening.
Saturday, Clouds across the valley this morning and a slight chill in the air (44* F) with broken clouds. After coffee, breakfast and more coffee we broke down camp and headed into Tucson for a festive time with family and friends. I messed up the pictures of this event. Sorry.
Sunday we spent most of the day with family and attended one of the Rock and Mineral swap meets held in the Tucson area this weekend (made it out of there with only small purchases). We decided to head up to the Catalina State Park for our next stop and was fortunate to secure a spot in the overflow camp area. According to the Park Ranger the Park is almost constantly full this time of the year.
Monday we rousted at our usual time of 8:30 or so, ate breakfast, had coffee and went for a hike. We headed up the Canyon loop trail which is only about 2.5 miles or so with some of the most spectacular views in the area. The trail was an easy hike providing numerous Kodak moments, the weather was cool, cloudy with some light rain.
Noonish we decided to set out for Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument.
Tuesday morning started @ 8:30 with our standard routine. After breakfast we headed to the OPCNM trail loop that identified several of the different cactus, wildlife and terrain structures in the area. After our morning hike we tried the Solar showers that are provided by the NPS. CAUTION! The water is uncontrolled HOT Water and you can scald yourself if you are not careful. (honey-bunch says we were boiled in our birthday suits). No pictures were provided for this event. After lunch we headed up to the KOFA National Wildlife Refuge for the next two nights.
Wednesday, woke up in the KOFA National Wildlife Refuge (Thank you Generubin for the heads up) with this being the highlight of our adventure. I hiked to the top of a hill overlooking our campsite and captured some great photos looking to the east above McPherson wash in the Castle Dome Mountains.
After lunch and a rest (afternoon nap) honey-bunch and I enjoyed a walk up through the McPherson wash to check out some of the terrain and rock formations. This location will definitely be on our “lets visit this place again” list.
Thursday, another beautiful morning in the KOFA NWR, we stayed mostly in the McPherson wash region for the remainder of the morning and then set out for Quartzsite around noon to pick up a new solar panel for the FWC. Fair warning should be given to anyone who travels through this area, your vehicle will most likely sustain some pin striping from the brushy trails leading through the Castle Dome Mountain region. Did I already say we will be returning to this location again?
After Quartzsite we headed West for our humble abode in the Central Valley of California.
Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed our little adventure.
Bud
We started planning this trip in December and asked the WtW family for suggestions on places to camp, points of interest and area to visit in the Tucson region.
The responses were great and I would like to thank you for your suggestions. A plan was made, a course was set, vacation days were scheduled and I thought it was cast. However in late January I needed to readjust the travel route due to a temporary illness and a scheduled visit that honey-bunch need to make in the San Diego area. Not to worry I’ll just plan a new route.
Honey-bunch made her trip to San Diego and I started out a week later. At first I thought I would head over the Sierras and down the backside through the desert, then I thought, I have never traveled down Hwy 1 from Monterey to Los Angeles ( A new course was set).
Tuesday morning after the chores were completed I set out to visit the Grand kids in Monterey thinking I would get out of there by 3:00 pm or so. This plan was quickly squashed by my granddaughter insisting that I spend at least one night with them.
The Adventure Starts:
Wednesday morning I rousted out of the house near 9:00 and started down the coast on Hwy 1, several vistas and single lane closers later I enjoyed lunch at San Simeon.
I headed back to Hwy 1 and remembered a post for a campground at Jalama Beach south of Vandenberg AFB. I made it there around 6:30 and set up camp.
Thursday morning I picked up camp, cleaned the area and enjoyed a short cold walk on the beach. Around 9:30 or so when I started to leave the campground the gate came down at the guard shack and I was informed that I had under paid the fees, much to my surprise when I reread the sign I had indeed under paid the fees.
Squared with the gate keeper I made it back to Hwy 1 and started down the coast again. What a beautiful drive from Monterey to Ventura.
Friday-Rain in So Cal? We loaded up and set out close to 9:00, stopped for propane, coffee and scones before hitting the interstate. Traveling through the rock-lay-den mountains between San Diego County and Imperial County is one of the most spectacular drives in Southern California as it transitions into the desert. The desert was clear with mild winds until we hit the Imperial Dunes where the sand was drifting across the highway in small waves.
We arrived at Picacho Peak State Park around 5:30 or so and set up camp for the evening.
Saturday, Clouds across the valley this morning and a slight chill in the air (44* F) with broken clouds. After coffee, breakfast and more coffee we broke down camp and headed into Tucson for a festive time with family and friends. I messed up the pictures of this event. Sorry.
Sunday we spent most of the day with family and attended one of the Rock and Mineral swap meets held in the Tucson area this weekend (made it out of there with only small purchases). We decided to head up to the Catalina State Park for our next stop and was fortunate to secure a spot in the overflow camp area. According to the Park Ranger the Park is almost constantly full this time of the year.
Monday we rousted at our usual time of 8:30 or so, ate breakfast, had coffee and went for a hike. We headed up the Canyon loop trail which is only about 2.5 miles or so with some of the most spectacular views in the area. The trail was an easy hike providing numerous Kodak moments, the weather was cool, cloudy with some light rain.
Noonish we decided to set out for Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument.
Tuesday morning started @ 8:30 with our standard routine. After breakfast we headed to the OPCNM trail loop that identified several of the different cactus, wildlife and terrain structures in the area. After our morning hike we tried the Solar showers that are provided by the NPS. CAUTION! The water is uncontrolled HOT Water and you can scald yourself if you are not careful. (honey-bunch says we were boiled in our birthday suits). No pictures were provided for this event. After lunch we headed up to the KOFA National Wildlife Refuge for the next two nights.
Wednesday, woke up in the KOFA National Wildlife Refuge (Thank you Generubin for the heads up) with this being the highlight of our adventure. I hiked to the top of a hill overlooking our campsite and captured some great photos looking to the east above McPherson wash in the Castle Dome Mountains.
After lunch and a rest (afternoon nap) honey-bunch and I enjoyed a walk up through the McPherson wash to check out some of the terrain and rock formations. This location will definitely be on our “lets visit this place again” list.
Thursday, another beautiful morning in the KOFA NWR, we stayed mostly in the McPherson wash region for the remainder of the morning and then set out for Quartzsite around noon to pick up a new solar panel for the FWC. Fair warning should be given to anyone who travels through this area, your vehicle will most likely sustain some pin striping from the brushy trails leading through the Castle Dome Mountain region. Did I already say we will be returning to this location again?
After Quartzsite we headed West for our humble abode in the Central Valley of California.
Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed our little adventure.
Bud
