2017 Pacific Coast Trip - Santa Barbara, California

Photo link:
https://goo.gl/photos/mguT2yCRPmG4sRDY9

Tuesday, April 18^th – Sunday, April 23^rd

Cachuma Lake County Park – Santa Barbara, California

The next destination of Santa Barbara brought us back to the west coast of California. We drove the back highways and stayed north of the Los Angeles area. The highways took us through a huge valley north of the Angeles National Forest, through the Santa Clarita area, then to the coast. Another amazing, scenic drive. At this point the coast runs east and west along Santa Barbara County. After driving through part of Santa Barbara, the highway headed over the Santa Ynez Mountains to Cachuma Lake. This huge lake is a Santa Barbara County Park. There were over 400 campsites, cabins and yurts.

The next day we headed down to the shore to check out the city and beaches. The drive was on a small mountain road, winding down along huge estates, vineyards and hillsides filled with tree groves. What a beautiful city! We noticed right away that this is a very upscale area. Palm Beach has nothing on this town. Also, we noticed that no buildings were higher than three stories! It was wonderful to not see high rise buildings anywhere.  The Spanish/Mediterranean architecture of almost all buildings was a nice touch. The beaches were beautiful and they are all dog friendly. There was a paved bike/walk trail all along the beach, which we rode one day. There were parks and cafes along the beachside also. There was an area on the west beach that rose up to craggy cliffs, it was a great view.

Offshore of Santa Barbara there are several islands, The Channel Islands National Park. There are ferries to a couple of the larger islands. These are all preserved, even fishing within a few miles of the shores is not allowed. It’s so strange to look out over the Pacific and see mountains! We also noticed the haze along the coast and the islands. We were told that this is due to smog from the California cities and even from across the ocean.

Another thing we noticed were the oil rigs offshore. These are now not operational, as they were shut down many years ago. The huge city marina there is home to a large commercial fishing fleet. The Steams Wharf is a huge pier where one can drive their vehicle. There are numerous shops and restaurants. We rode our bikes onto the wharf and saw amazing views back toward the city and mountains.

Another day we took the dogs down to Goleta Beach State Park, where we could let them run off leash. It was a gorgeous day and we all had a nice time.

At the lake found the Sweetwater Trail, a nice mountain biking/hiking trail along the lakeshore. It turned out to be a challenging, 2.5 mile trail with steep, rocky ascents and descents. This trail was our activity for two days. The views were amazing with mountains to the north and south. Kurt hiked a trail in the Santa Ynez Mountains, near the campground. The Tequepis Trail follows ridges up to the peak of Tower Mountain, where there were 360 degree views. He took some great photos up there.

We truly enjoyed the Santa Barbara area and the valley where we camped. It was one of the most gorgeous places we have been so far. It certainly is a great place to visit, but I don’t think I could live here. We thought taxes were high in Palm Beach County, everything is so expensive to live here. Again, we hated to leave so soon, but we were heading to see more of the coast. Next stop, Morro Bay.

2017 Pacific Coast Trip - Joshua Tree National Park

Photo link:

https://goo.gl/photos/cbMsBkAt7RqwYpKr7

Tuesday, April 11^th - Monday, April 17^th  

Twentynine Palms RV Resort – Twentynine Palms, California

Our next destination took us north and then eastward to Joshua Tree National Park. We had to drive on some interstates, but found back highways that were more interesting. This drive took us through more valleys surrounded by mountains. There were some very high mountains that still had snow on the peaks, among them San Jacinto Peak at 10,833’. The valley is surrounded by the San Bernardino National Forest. This area is definitely a desert environment.

As we approached the town of Twentynine Palms where we stayed at an RV resort, we began seeing Joshua Trees scattered throughout the desert. These trees are in the yucca family, but are unique to this area, which is actually part of the Mojave Desert. Even though the Joshua trees are one highlight of the park, the landscape is scattered with odd shaped, rounded edge boulders. These huge boulders create interesting hiking trails and some areas have primitive campsites among the rocks.

Joshua Tree National Park was definitely a hiking event. While there we hiked the Arch Rock Trail and Skull Rock Trail. These two trails consisted mostly of the large rounded boulder rocks and many wandering paths among them. We also hiked a loop trail called The Lost Horse Mine Trail, which went back up in a mountain area to a historic gold mine. This mine was one of the most productive gold mines in the area during the Gold Rush of California. My favorite hike was the Ryan Mountain Trail, where we hiked to the peak of the mountain and had incredible views of all the surrounding valleys. The Barker Dam Trail was a mile and a half loop that took us back to a lake that was created by a farmer named Barker when he built a dam. This was a very nice trail again meandering paths throughout the rocks.

One day we drove back west towards Yucca Valley to ride some mountain bike trails that we had found online. The trails were very much a desert environment and were mostly sandy double tracks. I rode a couple of miles and then decided it wasn't worth it. Kurt headed on out to the more difficult single-track trails and was able to ride a couple more miles. As we have found in our travels, not all mountain biking trails are what they are said to be.

One day we drove south in the Park to the Keys View Point overlook, which provided an amazing view of the valley south of the park. The San Andreas Fault lies in this valley. The fault fissures are visible from the viewpoint. Also within this Valley are the towns of Palm Springs and Coachella, amount other smaller towns.

We really enjoyed our stay at this amazing desert National Park, but we were ready to move on back to the coast. Looking forward to her visit in the Santa Barbara area.

2017 Pacific Coast Trip - San Diego, California

Photo link:

https://goo.gl/photos/HJELeCjHhdhYTG737

Tuesday, April 4^th - Monday, April 10^th  

Mission Bay RV Park – San Diego, California

The drive to San Diego took us across the southernmost desert of California and then over mountains through the Cleveland National Forest. Wow, we had no idea there was a major mountain range to cross. There were several windmill farms in the valleys, along with growing communities with homes dotting the mountainsides and valleys. Again, we saw more new urban sprawl outside of a major city. The drive was through a different environment than we have seen before. As we descended the mountains and entered the urban areas, the population (housing) density was even more incredible. Houses on top of mesas, on sides of mountains and along the highway.  Finally, we arrived in Mission Bay, such a gorgeous area of San Diego.

We stayed a week at Mission Bay RV Park. This park was our choice due to the location (on Mission Bay waterfront) and the amenities. There was a walk path along the bay where we were able to walk our dogs with a waterfront view.

The first day we headed out for a drive around the area and to visit the Cabrillo National Monument. This monument honors the landing by Juan Cabrillo, being the first European to discover the west coast of America. We were so surprised to find an amazing peninsula with high elevation and rocky cliffs. This property is also occupied by the US Navy, with various naval institutions operating there. The views of San Diego are spectacular! On the Oceanside, there are whale viewing areas for the winter migrations. Anyone visiting this area should drive up there to see the beauty and views. We drove through many areas of San Diego heading back to Mission Bay.

Another day we headed north to the Carmel Valley (not to be confused with Carmel By the Sea near Monterey). This is a sprawling valley with many housing communities. Black Mountain Community Park is located there, which has a mountain bike trail system. We rode several miles and enjoyed the views from the trails. From there, we headed over to La Jolla, a community along the elevated, rocky coast. It is very upscale and is the location where Scripps Research institutions were founded. The coast was incredible with high rocky cliffs, tide pools, beaches and coves where seals and sea lions were hanging out. It was a beautiful day and we truly enjoyed walking along the shore.

We discovered there is a trolley (actually a train) public transportation, so we found a parking place near the station, which happened to be next to Old Town San Diego. First we walked through the historic area, viewing the buildings and learning about the founding of San Diego. We also had a great lunch from a taco stand, authentic Mexican tacos and salsa. After that we got back on the train and took it to San Ysidro at the Mexican border. Kurt just wanted to see the border and he saw that the traffic going into Mexico was miles long and was told that if we entered then the return could take up to a couple of hours waiting in line in immigration. Fortunately, we did not cross over to Mexico, I just was not excited about going into Tijuana. On the way back, we decided to get off the train in downtown San Diego.  We walked around checking out the area, what a nice clean city. We were impressed. Anyway, the train trip was long and we finally got back to our truck to return to camp. It was a long but fun day.

The next day we took our bikes down to Pacific Beach and rode the beach boardwalk from the north end down to the inlet at Mission Beach. It was a beautiful day and we had a lot of fun people watching. The beaches are so different here from those in south Florida. After returning to camp we took the dogs to Dog Beach, on the south side of the inlet at Mission Beach. This is an off-leash, dog designated beach. Our boys had so much fun running, sniffing and playing with any dog who wanted to play. It was one of the nicest beaches for dogs we have seen, other than our Jupiter Beach at home.

One afternoon we decided to take the dogs to a beachside area called Sunset Cliffs. This is on the south side of San Diego and has a walk path along the several miles. The dogs enjoyed the walk and we all had fun. Again, the coast line beaches are so amazing with the big waves, cliffs, rocky ledges and great views.

Our last day there we decided to go to the world renowned San Diego Zoo. We don’t normally go to zoos, but this was the San Diego Zoo! And we didn’t know if we would ever make it back out here someday. It was worth the price and we spent most of the day there observing the wonderful animal habitats and looking at species we had never seen before.  Our favorite exhibit was the meerkats! A few years ago we watched a series on NatGeo called Meerkat Manor, so we were already biased about this sweet little animals.

We were sad to leave San Diego, but again, California is a big state and there is still so much to see! On to Joshua Tree National Park.

2017 Pacific Coast Trip - Yuma, Arizona

Photo link:

https://goo.gl/photos/j96UN1gYANbqBbg26

Thursday, March 30^th - Tuesday, April 3^rd 

Riverfront RV Park - Yuma, Arizona

As a stopover heading toward California, we stayed in Yuma for five days. Yuma is located at the extreme southwest corner of Arizona where the state borders California just north of the Mexican border. We were very surprised to see that this is such a huge city, spread out for miles around the desert area and the green Colorado River valley. The area was desert environment and very flat. The only mountains were very distant. We saw extensive agriculture within the valley and were surprised to find out that winter lettuce is one of their largest crops, along with wheat, alfalfa and melons. Because of the climate, agriculture is a year round business. The development of a major irrigation system drawing water from the Colorado River, the valley is very fertile and productive. Also, the city is full of RV parks, since many north westerners spend their winters in Yuma.

Yuma also has a very large military presence. The military installations include the Marine Corp Air Station and the U.S. Army Yuma Proving Grounds. Because of this, we observed many aircraft flying around the area, from fighter jets to large bombers and helicopters.

We quickly found out that there are not many outdoor adventures around the area. We did find a mountain bike park in the desert, but after riding just a few miles, it was a big disappointment. So most of our days there were spent exploring the town. The city has many bicycle trails and green parks. One day we rode our bikes on a trail that passed right by the RV park. We were able to ride into town, explore some historical parks and see the Colorado Crossing location. The historic Yuma Territorial Prison is now a State Park and part of the Yuma Crossing National Heritage Area. The Colorado Crossing is historic as most frontier explorers and settlers passed through here heading to California. At that time the Colorado was a huge rushing river and the crossing was dangerous. Many settlers had to leave many of their belongings in Yuma, since it was difficult to carry them all across the river in their covered wagons. Because of this, there are many antiquities remaining in the area.

The fortunate (or unfortunate) event was that our grey water tank valve broke while we were in the park. Kurt spent a whole day working on this and was able to get the parts at a nearby RV parts store (fortunately for all the RV’s in Yuma) and was able to replace the valves for all the tanks. This was a nasty job to do, but he saved a few hundred dollars by not having a repairman come out and fix it. Now he can add RV plumbing to his retirement resume J …

We were very ready to move on to California and enjoy the great weather and beautiful landscapes. On to San Diego!

2017 Pacific Coast Trip – Tucson, Arizona

Photo link:

https://goo.gl/photos/kHUQbZas5WsJuFs9A

Thursday, March 23^rd  – Wednesday, March 29^th

Catalina State Park – Tucson, Arizona

The drive from New Mexico to Arizona was spectacular, as we chose to drive highway 60, a back road mountain drive. After spending a night at the Walmart parking lot in Show Low, Arizona, we woke up to a very cold morning and snow falling. Wow, we knew it was cold, but snow in March? However, Show Low is at a high altitude of 6345’. The scenic drive from Show Low to Globe, Arizona was one of the most beautiful and surprising drives we have ever taken. We passed over high altitude mountains, through a few passes and two major canyons. The first view to take our breath away was Corduroy Canyon, with multi-colored reds and browns along the canyon walls. Further along the road we passed through the Salt River Canyon, which was even bigger and longer. At a rest stop down in the canyon, we were able to view the river up close. This area was used for white water rafting and kayaking. We watched a few paddlers receiving training for an upcoming white water trip. After a few hours, the road wound out of the mountains and down into the Tucson Valley. We finally arrived at Catalina State Park, at the base of the Catalina foothills. We stayed at this park back in 2014 when were in Tucson. We love it there!

While there, we hiked some amazing trails in the park. The longest, most challenging trail is the Romero Canyon trail, which I hiked by myself, while Kurt mountain biked at the Golder Ranch. Kurt hiked Romero Canyon on the next day. Another day, I hiked my favorite trail, Montrose Pools, a smaller canyon with a creek flowing down through the canyon with multiple small waterfalls and water pools. The hike was challenging with steep climbs, rock scrambling and trying to follow the trail among the rocks and water. It was very enjoyable on a beautiful day in the mountains.

We also mountain biked at Tucson Mountain Park, on some great desert trails. After biking, we stopped at the Saguaro National Park Visitor Center. The Saguaro (sa-WAH-ro) cactus are unique to southern Arizona in the Sonoran Desert. This time the Saguaro were not yet in bloom, too early in the season. In 2014 when we were here, they were in full bloom with gorgeous white flowers on the very tops of the cactus arms.

On our last day there, we went back to the Golder Ranch trails. The weather was perfect for riding; sunny and a little chilly. We both rode trails that we enjoyed. At one point, I took a wrong turn and ended up in a field where cattle were grazing. No problem, until I realized I was not on the right trail, turned around and on the way back, a young black cow was standing right in the middle of the trail facing me. We had a standoff for a few minutes before he decided to move along off the trail.  Whew! I didn’t want to stand out there much longer, it was a little nerve racking. Anyway, I got back on track and really had fun on the rest of the ride.

Now it was time to continue westward. The next stop will be in Yuma, Arizona where we have never been.

2017 - Pacific Coast Trip - New Mexico

2017 Pacific Coast Trip  - Elephant Butte Lake, New Mexico

Photo link:

https://goo.gl/photos/aM19J9gdxTmszTV66

Friday, March 10^th  – Tuesday, March 13^th  

Elephant Butte State Park, New Mexico

After spending an overnight stop in El Paso Texas (in a parking lot of Sam’s Club), we headed north into New Mexico. Our plans changed slightly and we ended up camping at Elephant Butte State Park, near the town of Truth or Consequences. This park lies on the west bank of the reservoir along the Rio Grande River, where it flows south through New Mexico. What a delight to find such a nice state park with a wonderful campground overlooking the lake. We stayed there three days and totally enjoyed it. If we would have known how nice it was, we would have booked more nights and moved our scheduled days out. I remember when as a child we lived in El Paso and our parents took us to Elephant Butte for a vacation, but my memories are a little fuzzy.

The park has several miles of hiking/biking trails, through a desert environment. The trails were well used and maintained. We biked several miles on the Lakeside Trail, the Dam Trail and also the shorter Luchini Trail. The weather was perfect, highs in the 70’s and sunny. The views of the lake were spectacular and the moon rise/sunsets were even better. There were a couple of sand bars where you could drive out onto. Some people even had their RVs and camped out there. On a couple of afternoons, we drove the truck down on the sandbar and let the dogs run off leash, while we snacked and enjoyed happy hour. It was so relaxing and fun. When we come back to New Mexico someday, we will certainly stay there for more days.

2017 Pacific Coast Trip – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Photo link:

https://goo.gl/photos/b1YSFePgaWdjeYDR6

Tuesday, March 14^th  – Tuesday, March 21^st  

Coronado Village, Albuquerque, New Mexico

After our enjoyable time at Elephant Butte, we headed north to Albuquerque, where my nieces and their families live. We scheduled eight nights there and stayed in a really nice RV/Mobile home community. This was a great find, as it was a well maintained community with great amenities and a convenient location.

The first couple of days we spend mountain biking in the Sandia Foothills, at Elena Gallego Park (part of the Albuquerque Open Spaces recreation areas.) What a great location for hiking, biking and picnicking. The mountain biking trails were extensive, with all levels of abilities (novice to advanced riders). To top it all off, the views and surrounding mountains were so amazing.  One day Kurt rode with my nephew, Jim, and they went to trails on the east side of Sandia Mountain. These trails were more advanced and challenging. Kurt was so happy to ride with another guy that enjoys riding these types of trails.

My niece, Erin, is a lobbyist at the New Mexico Legislature. She introduced a bill to create the Teresa Muffolletto Brain Aneurysm Awareness Day of March 19^th, the day my sister Terrie passed away last year from a ruptured brain aneurysm. Some of the family was able to travel up to Santa Fe to sit as guests for the House vote. The bill passed unanimously, a good day for a tribute to Teresa. It was a great honor.

On Sunday, March 19^th, the whole family gathered together to go to Bandelier National Monument, one of my sister Terrie’s favorite places for hiking and viewing ancient Indian dwelling ruins. This day was the one year anniversary of her passing, so we hiked there in her memory and knew her spirit was with us. It was great to be with the family and spend this special time together. Bandelier is in the mountains near Los Alamos (where the Los Alamos National Laboratory is located). On the way out, we stopped by White Rock Overlook. This is in the small town of White Rock and is part of a city park. My father, Bruce, loved this place so much that he always stayed up there when he came to New Mexico. After his passing, my sisters spread his ashes off the overlook cliff which was his wish and very fitting for his love of the area. We went out to the overlook to enjoy the views and a special place.

One day, Kurt and I drove down to Old Town Albuquerque, where Kurt had never visited. It is the historic area of the city and is well preserved. There are many historic buildings, shops and restaurants there. We had a great Mexican food lunch. We walked around the plaza and looked at some of the shops. It was a beautiful day to walk around the town.

On our last day, I planned a family picnic day at Elena Gallegos Park in the Sandia Foothills. While there the family could hike, bike or relax in a great park. We had a nice day, grilled hamburgers and hot dogs, relaxed and had fun. Kurt and Jim rode the mountain bike trails and enjoyed them. I left that day with heavy heart knowing that it will be at least a year before I can visit my family there again. These nieces and their children are special to me, as the descendants of my sister Terrie.

On our way out of New Mexico, we decided to take the back mountain roads toward Arizona. We were able to visit the Very Large Array (VLA) National Radio Astronomy Observatory, in a remote area of western New Mexico. This laboratory consists of 27 radio antennas in a Y-shaped configuration on the Plains of San Agustin fifty miles west of Socorro, New Mexico. We drove back into this remote scientific lab to see the amazing instruments that collect radio frequencies from around the universe and convert them to visible images that we have all seen in science shows. Kurt was so excited to see this, he always wanted to visit there.

After a long day of driving we finally made it into Arizona. Stay tuned for the updates on our Arizona adventures.

2017 Pacific Coast Trip - Big Bend National Park

Photo link:

https://goo.gl/photos/FdZ9EXzt7HnkgGzz6

Saturday, March 4^th – Thursday, March 9^th

Rio Grande Village RV Campground

The drive to Big Bend National Park required a one night stopover in Ft. Stockton, Texas. From there the drive was 150 miles south into the park that exists along the Mexican border. As we drove south, the amazing mountains of Big Bend came into view and finally we arrived at the Rio Grande Village, where the RV campground and another non-hookup campground are located. This area is right along the Rio Grande and the Mexican border. There was a Visitor Center, well stocked camp store, fuel (including diesel), and good Wi-Fi access. The views were stunning from any location in the park. Our hikes included the Boquillas Canyon trail along the Rio Grande, the Rio Grande Overlook/Hot Springs trail, the Window Trail in the Chisos Mountains, the Rio Grande Nature Trail on the east side of the campgrounds, and Kurt hiked the 12 mile South Rim Trail around the Chisos Mountains. The day that Kurt did this hike, I stayed back at camp with the dogs; early that morning a huge wind blew through the valley, ultimately ended up as a dust storm. All day long there were sustained winds of about 40 mph, gusting up to 60mph. The park is so vast that the wind wasn’t even noticed in the Chisos Mountains.

We also drove the beautiful scenic drive on the western side of the park to historic areas with remains of settlers’ ranches and an old store, which is now a Visitors Center. The Santa Elena Canyon was also on the westernmost side of the park. On one exploratory drive, we went back into the historic hot springs along the Rio Grande, where there were remains of a resort from the 1800’s. There was a bath house over the hot springs, now the walls are gone and visitors to the park can soak in the hot, mineral waters there.

One day we decided to “cross the border” and visit the village of Boquillas del Carmen. We easily went through Mexican customs/immigration using our passports. Upon returning, the U.S. immigration was just as easy. They used an electronic system where we inserted our passports, a phone call came in from an agent in El Paso and using cameras asked a few questions, then we were allowed back in the good old USA. However, we did have a fun time in the village, had a very good Mexican lunch and tequila/beer. Most of the villagers make a living selling their hand-made crafts to the tourists. Without tourism there, the little village could not exist. The people were very friendly and welcomed tourism. On our last day there, we were able to get Kurt on the Rio Grande River, he was just wanting to kayak that river so much. We drove down a 30 mile gravel road to the put-in, then he paddled back to a boat ramp that was near the campground and I picked him up there.

Wow, all I can say is this is the most amazing, vast desert wilderness we have seen. So many different eco-systems, terrain and mountain geology. We are so glad we didn’t drive by Big Bend this time. It was a wonderful surprise, not at all what we expected. We highly recommend our friends and family to visit there (they even have a lodge for non-campers), but stay at least six days. There is so much to see and do.

Next, we are headed into New Mexico to visit some places we’ve never been and spend some time with my family in Albuquerque.