Back In The Desert

Our coastal visit ended well, late Friday afternoon.  We did not get to take in all the sights that city offers but that is a good thing.  We'll return there in the years ahead.

Eastbound from San Diego

Following an early morning harbour walk - followed by a nice outdoor breakfast - we checked out of our hotel and headed east toward Highway 79 north and into Julian.  The north eastern wind could be felt once we entered the mountains.

A stunning viewpoint at about 4,000 feet, looking east towards the Salton Sea on Highway 79 north.

Hector and Diane had not visited Julian and it made for a perfect mid-drive stop on our route back to Palm Springs.  And it was near lunch time too.  There was very little traffic once we rolled off I-8 east and headed north on Highway 79.

Downtown Julian

While walking the streets, several vintage motorcyclists rolled in.  Before long, more vintage bikes were also rolling in.  And within a half hour or so, close to 100 of those vintage motorcycles were taking up all of the available parking in downtown Julian.  What a treat.  To see so many beautiful (and some less beautiful) old motorcycles sure peaked our interest.

One of the many lunch and pie spots in  town.

This quaint, historical little mountain town is a draw for many.  It has a surprisingly large number of boutique hotels and motels to accommodate tourists.  I doubt it had the volume of rooms for the 100 vintage motorcyclists but I am sure the restaurant owners were thrilled with the volume of business that group generated.

Vintage motorcyclists rolling in.

The black, 1940's vintage Indian motorcycle above is owned by a mid-30's fella from Idaho who's grandfather owned and rebuilt this beautiful ride.  What a beauty.

One rider told us about how the vintage motorcycle group organize a couple of rides every year.  Most riders trailer their rides to a central location where several day rides are organized.  This year, the group was centered in Borrego Springs.  

Borrego Springs Chamber and Visitor's Bureau | 800-559-5524

This 1940's Harley Davidson, with side car, carried a mid-80's motorcycle couple.  What a joy to chat them up!

Having chatted with a few riders, it became obvious that young and old participated in the organized rides.  We saw riders from all age groups.  So....there is hope for us motorcyclists to continue enjoying the sport for years to come after we witnessed several older riders - on equally older motorcycles - who were in their 70's and 80's.  And they were enjoying life with gusto! 

I could not confirm the age of this old motorcycle but is easily dates back to the 1930's.

This couple rode beautifully restored 1960's Harley Davidson motorcycles.

And this mid-80's couple, from Arizona, suffered a broken windshield caused by the strong winds they rode in.

Today's motorcycle windshields would not break in the wind.  Good thing the couple (photo above) were wearing shielded helmets when that piece of plexiglass broke off.  The fella's wife, riding in the sidecar,  told us that this old Harley Davidson was a former 1968 police motorcycle.  And they have owned it for better than 40 years.  It has a hand held gear shift with a left foot controlled clutch.  That would take some getting used to for us modern motorcyclists who have a left hand controlled clutch and left foot shifter.

We enjoyed a nice lunch in Julian before heading further north and back to our winter RV parks.

A stop at the Julian Pie Company also rewarded us with more vintage motorcycle riders.  Most of these motorcycles require a solid leg kick to start them....and some of them require several kicks to fire them up.

Rolling back into Palm Desert by mid-afternoon, Lucky and Trena were the first couple to be dropped off at their Outdoor RV Resorts park in Cathedral City.  From there, we drove to 1000 Palms where Hector and Diane were to retrieve their beautiful Portuguese Water dog, Chico to return to our RV park.  

Well, Art and Connie (the dog sitters during our San Diego getaway) along with Hector's sister, Roz and husband Stan had already planned dinner for us.  What a nice surprise that was.  Roz and Stan hosted and we enjoyed a fine outdoor dinner.  Hector and Roz's sister, Sharon who is visiting from Newfoundland, got to enjoy a nice visit together too.

L-R  Roz, Connie, Sharron, Diane, Jeanette

L-R  Art, Stan, Hector.

Yesterday (Saturday), Jeanette and Diane joined four other ladies for a shopping trip to Los Angeles.  They were up very early.  Jeanette did not bother to take the camera but when they returned from the trip, the were all smiles.

I, on the other hand, enjoyed a quiet day.  With several errands completed by 10:00 am, the awning and sun shade re-installed, and the barbecue and chairs set up once again, I followed some of the PGA golf on TV before getting in the shade of a low 90's outdoor temperature; relaxing on my outdoor recliner while listening to a nice variety of music from my iPod.

We look forward to a very special visit from family early next week....and are preparing for that.  More to come later.

Thanks for dropping by.

Coastal Road Trip - Day 3

Our third day on the road was our second day in San Diego. This city has much to offer and to take as much in as possible - and to satisfy differing tastes in activities - we split up into two groups: One group was keen on touring the USS Midway Aircraft Carrier + a harbour tour and the other group chose to visit Old Town, Balboa Park and the Seaport areas.

Another beautiful morning looking out in the San Diego harbour.

Early morning walk to our breakfast spot.

One of several boats displayed at the Maritime Museum on the waterfront.

Breakfast completed, Jeanette, Lucky and Trena headed for their planned tour of the Midway Aircraft Carrier Museum.  It sits anchored near the cruise ship terminal.

One can spend an entire day and not see everything this wartime carrier has to offer.

Diane, Hector and I headed for 'Old Town' San Diego.  It is the historic district that offers an old town market, shops, restaurants and museums.  We spent the better part of two hours touring this place.  And it was a worthy place to visit.  Established in 1821, this area has a rich Mexican/American history.

The original Cosmopolitan Hotel still stands.

Haunted home of an early baron who settled here.

The locals claim the home is haunted.  While visiting here, one little school girl was so spooked, her teacher had to escort her outdoors.  We witnessed several elementary school kids touring Old Town....and it was fun to see them engaged in learning about the early history here.

Original storefront like this exist and add to the character here.

Strong Mexican influence remains today.

What would an Old Town be without an authentic saloon?

Very, very early hand made wooden wheels

The livery stable in Old Town is where a lot of historical stuff is exhibited.  It's here that Hector and I spent a lot of time learning about early settlers, their trials and tribulations and the great sacrifices that were made to get here.  Travel was incredibly difficult in the early 1800's.

Beautiful stagecoach.

Another most interesting attraction is the very first graveyard in Old Town

Justice was often swift but not always fair.  But justice was meted out by juries and punishment was quick to follow.  The grave yard below is where Old Yankee Jim rests.  His story is written up and you can click on the photos below to get a better read of what led to his demise.  

Old Yankee Jim's resting place.

Click on the photo for a larger view....

Old Town sits on the original 101 highway.

The true story about the American cowboy.....  (Click for a larger screen)

Now....some of our RV blogging friends may want a little refresher on the origin of the American cowboy.  I photographed the above for their benefit.  I know that JB @ DogPound South  John & Brenda's Incredible Journey and Montana Mike (Janna's cowboy) Tin TeePee/Log Cabin will enjoy reading this bit of history.

The harbour cruise boat that toured Jeanette, Trena and Lucky

With Jeanette, Trena and Lucky touring the harbour by boat, Diane, Hector and I were walking our way around the area.  This is a very good 'walking' city.  And walk we did!   

The inner city marina sits next door to the massive convention centre.

Beautiful skyline

We were sitting in Seaport Village when a massive aircraft carrier cruised by.  I did not get the name but it was super large.

The carrier making its way to the naval port - site of the Pacific Naval fleet

By 5:15 pm, our harbour cruise trio returned to land and by all accounts, their day was a truly good one.

With stories to tell about the Midway and harbour tour, Jeanette, Trena and Lucky were our guides to their day.  We followed up with our stories as we made our way to a nice dinner spot along the harbour front.

Still smiling as Trena, Jeanette and Lucky walk the gang plank off the Admiral Hornblower.

Today is our planned return drive back to Palm Springs.  We will head east on I-8 to Highway 79 and.....well.....you will have to tune in for more tomorrow.......!

Thanks for dropping by.

Coastal Road Trip - Day 2

Our second day on this little road trip led us from Carlsbad to San Diego.  With so many stops in between, it took the better part of six hours before we checked in to our overnight accommodations.

A pretty neat place...

Following our Wednesday morning breakfast and coffees, we rolled out of here to points further south along the 101 coastal California highway.

Breakfast is enjoyed with a great view of the pounding surf

Several stops were made along the way.  And so many views were enjoyed.  The coast is a nice contrast to the desert views we enjoy back in the Palm Springs area.

Looking north towards Carlsbad.

Not having been here before, we knew that Hector would truly appreciate a stop at the famed Torrey Pines Golf Resort.  In fact, everyone enjoyed viewing the two golf courses along the sea. 

Pointing out the #16 hole on the South Torrey Pines course.

The weather was perfect for golf but only Hector and I would have been able to play a round. Our fellow travelers are not golfers.  That said, coffees were enjoyed before we drove off further south.

A beautiful and sunny Wednesday morning at Torrey Pines.

Our next stop was in one of the most beautiful small coastal cities in southern California.  La Jolla is just so stunningly attractive.  We hung out there for quite some time.

It was Trena's wish to spend some time at the famed Hotel on Coronado Island, across from San Diego harbour.  We arrived to enjoyed a lovely outdoor lunch on the beautiful terrace that overlooks the Pacific Ocean.  We could not have asked for a more picture perfect day.

The grand dame of wood framed hotels; the Hotel on Coronado Island

The view from our wind protected seats on the veranda at the Hotel Coronado.

By mid-afternoon, we headed over the bridge back into San Diego to register at our hotel.

Downtown San Diego - photo taken while crossing the bridge from Coronado Island.

After checking in, we walked the harbour front. There are several tourists attractions there; including the famous USS Midway naval carrier.   Making our way east into the city  core led us to a quaint little Italian restaurant in the famed 'Little Italy'.  And the restaurant choices were numerous. And we heard no complaints from anyone in our group. 

Nice area

Little Italy in  San Diego's downtown core is highly recommended.

We'll report on our Thursday activities in the next blog.  With great weather, it seems fitting that our activities will involve plenty of outdoor fun.

Thanks for dropping by.

Coastal Road Trip - Day 1

We're on a three day coastal road trip - 'sans (without) motorcycles'.  We're three couples, in one vehicle, on a journey away from the desert.

Mt San Jacinto - early Tuesday morning.

To those RVers who winter in the Palm Springs area, the photo above is not new to anyone who looked at Mt San Jacinto or Mt San Gorgonio on Tuesday morning.  The recent rains dropped some major snows at elevations of 4,000 feet, plus.

Early morning fire at our resort. 

We did smell smoke early on Tuesday morning and we did hear the numerous fire trucks approaching our RV resort.  And sure as can be, the fire must have been major for four fire and rescue trucks to appear. We witnessed the action on our drive out from Caliente' Springs Resort.

We don't know the extent of damage that was done to the resort facilities but a friend emailed to tell us that the story made the local Palms Springs TV news.  I guess we'll learn more upon our return this Friday.

The view up Highway 74 over the Santa Rosa Mountains

We opted to drive rather than ride on this trip.  Good thing too.  The snow level was as low as 4,000 feet and we saw plenty of it while heading south and west to Anza, Warner Springs and Santa Ysabel.

A mid-morning coffee break at the Julian Pie Company in Santa Ysabel...

Our first day plan was to meander through the mountain highways as we slowly made our way to Oceanside and our overnight stop in Carlsbad.   It was a picture perfect day.  The sun was out, the winds were down, and with outdoor temperatures that hovered between 43 and 64 degrees (on the truck dash) we cruised with little traffic.  A most pleasant day!

At Oceanside.

Familiar to many who have traveled here, the Oceanside pier - with Ruby's dinner at the far end - is a must see place.  And we did just that.  The walk along the pier required a light jacket to ward off the ocean breeze.

Pleasant but cool day.

Catching a glimpse of hardy surfers and swimmers

A nice couple who saw us taking photos offered to take the group shot below on our way to Ruby's for lunch.

L-R   Jeanette, me, Diane, Hector, Lucky and Trena

Jeanette captured this photo from the 2nd floor of Ruby's diner, looking east back to shore.

We walked to the lunch place and back; taking in the sites and sounds of the shoreline birds, the tourists and  the locals who were dropping their lures in the hopes of catching fish.

This pelican made a bee line for my head just as I took the photo.

Not sure it was charging at me, I ducked only to watch the pelican land right between me and a fisherman.  I guess it was hoping for some lunch.  And maybe, just maybe it got some food from this generous fella. (photo below)

Other than the very few surfers and swimmers, the beaches were quiet.

By mid-afternoon, we had reached our overnight spot in Carlsbad, registered and enjoyed a late afternoon sunset gathering on the second level deck overlooking the Pacific Ocean.

We found a quaint and satisfying dinner spot last evening.  That followed a nice walk around the central core in Carlsbad.

Our destination today will see us driving the Pacific Ocean shorelines and main streets of the small towns and cities as we make our way into San Diego.

Thanks for dropping by.