Up, up, up through Banning pass. Pretty steep and LOTS of wind. Kent was happy to say that we actually passed a couple trucks along the way. We hit a little traffic as we neared LA but nothing he couldn’t handle. We got to our next home by around noon and spent the rest of the day around camp and recovering! We are at Castaic lake County Park on a pretty little lake. It is fairly quiet and there is a resident Osprey that we saw as we took a stroll. We haven’t decided yet whether we will put the boat in the water. It is still a little cool but is supposed to make it into the 70s in the next day or so.

We drove around San Jacinto on a great switchback filled road with wonderful vistas. A National Forest Lake Hemet was quiet and still and surrounded with pine and oak on snow covered ground. This is a place one needs to come back to even though that would involve 50 miles of twisty drive. Then there was Idlywild. All along the streets there are carved bear, big and small. We strolled the shops for a short while (it was cold!) then we stopped into a local bakery/restaurant claiming “old world” and “natural/organic” . Image sauerkraut and potato soup served with cream and herbs. Then fresh strudel: apple and mango-pineapple-cream cheese. We had to try them both. The organic coffee was sooooo smooth. Good time. The views and yummy eats were a great way to close our time in this desert valley.

We are up against the feet of four 10,0000 ft+ mountains. They are all snow covered as far down as 5000ft and most had 3” or more of new snow last night.

Today sounded like it ought to be an easy day after several days of the traffic on I-5 in San Diego. It was only 103 miles inland and camp was to be below 1000 ft. elevation. But, after we left Del Mar and the Interstates we started climbing. Then we came to a sign “RV’s over 40 ft Prohibited and not recommended for trucks with trailers over 30 ft.” So what does that mean for a 33 ft RV pulling a 29 ft trailer? Apparently what it means you are going to be seeing your own tail lights on some of the switchbacks. After we climbed through that stretch of road we came upon another sign that repeated the prohibition but it was just past our turn-off, no problem. Then, later we came to another set of signs and another turn. Still no problem. Then we came to the HILL. We dropped 3,000+ ft of elevation in the last 10 miles getting to the campground that is indeed around 700 ft elevation. 10 miles of switchbacks and road marked at 8% downgrade. It took some patience (mine and other drivers) and a few mils off the brake linings to get down. Second gear was not sufficient to hold back the rig without braking a lot and I even resorted to First for a while on the curliest/steepest part. Thankfully our next destination is just down another 900 feet or so in elevation and about 15 miles west of here. Should be a breeze. If you questioned the math, give yourself a pat on the back for attentive reading. Yes, the next stop is at elevation -227 ft (below sea level).

Just as we are getting ready to leave, this campground is shaping up. The contractors are gone and they are loading up the last of the equipment and the traffic barriers today. We can see the river and the far bank and some pretty nice homes. Much nicer than to date. I guess we will leave it on our “try it again list” for next time we pass through.

Pretty good. The fish was lightly breaded and fried and the soft taco had cabbage and a wonderful fresh salsa. The veggie taco was a little stranger, portabella, pablano peppers and fresh sliced guacamole all with a creamy sort of chipotle souse. Quite tasty. They had four salsas to pick from to add as you like; cilantro-ish, chipotle, mild tomato, and a spicy hot tomato based one. Tried them all with chips. The chipotle was my favorite. Overall a good first foray into “California” cuisine.

Still no whales! Bummers. We spent a day at Torre Pines state recreation area. It is on a bluff along the shore so we were high over the waves with great views. Wild flowers are coming into bloom so that adds splashes of color among the pines. We did see a pod of dolphin not far off shore. They and the brown pelicans gave us fun things to watch as we peered through binoculars in search of a whale spout. We got a little sun and had a chance to walk beach a while. The last trail we took ended at the base of red/pink cliffs and a beach stroll back to the car. There were many round stones on the beach that the wave action moved around. It created patterns in the brown and black sand grains. The more rocks, the more intricate the patterns. It is sort of like a kaleidoscope in that it is ever changing.

A whole day at the San Diego Zoo and that is really not enough time to experience everything. Our feet were sure tired though. We walked pretty much all day from 9AM til after 4:30PM. Their Pandas on loan were out for us to see. They were chilled out, lounging and noshing on bamboo. We stopped by first thing in the morning and again shortly before we left and he hadn’t moved from his position right in the center of his bamboo pile. This park has an enormous number of rare birds from rain forest habitats around the world. We saw a lot that we had never seen before. One was an amazing big eagle, a harpy Eagle from the Andes. He has tussled grey head feathers and swivels his head a lot like an owl is pretty bizarre looking. He weighs 22 lbs but is fast too. He can catch monkeys as they swing through the jungle canopy. He was cool to see but nice to have a fence between us. There was a 6 week old Hippo, cute-homely. Environments are all done well. We had a great time.

We strolled the boardwalk at Mission Beach. It is early spring break season so lots of guys trying to look cool (one playing an electronic string bass) on the balconies and lots of girls trying to look uninterested strolling the beach. We were there pretty early so I am sure they got it all figured out before the night was over. We watched the sunset and just chilled out. There are some beautiful condos along there. Some have outdoor fireplaces and big screen TVs that retracts into the retaining wall. Pretty snazzy. Not a bad place to hang for break, if you have $5-600 a night to spend on it. It was coolish so not a lot of surfers/boarders but we saw a couple kites, many dogs, lots of bicycles and just walkers. It is a nice way to spend the evening. Kent got to see a little eye candy….a very well toned rollerblading young lady in a black bikini. She turned quite a few heads as she repeatedly skated up and down the boardwalk.