Because we are going to be dry camping in Quartzsite (without any amenities), before leaving Pismo we topped up our LP Gas. This will be our source for running the fridge, for cooking, the hot water tank, and should we need heat, the furnace. After our LP gas fill, we still needed to hook up Jeep.
By 11AM we were under way for the 240 mile trip, traveling south along Route 101.
From Santa Maria all the way through to Glendale we drove along the dotted scenic route on the map, which today was partly obscured in the mist and occasional light rain. You could still see the outlines of the rolling hills, and everything looked lush and green.As we turned south, the ocean sprang into view and under today's grey sky it looked a khaki green. Large waves rolled in one after the other depositing a wide swath of foam along the shore.
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| view of the Pacific, and the El Camino Real mission bells that mark Route 101 |
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| Route 101, a black ribbon between the ocean and the mountains |
Driving through the Los Angeles outskirts was a stop-and-go ordeal, and today being Martin Luther King Day, the traffic was lighter than usual. We agreed that living here and driving the highways on a daily basis must not be pleasant. It seemed to take forever.About 40 miles from our destination, the "jacks down" alarm sounded its high-pitched scream. It has sounded previously, typically within the first hour of driving. After activating the "store" button, the alarm would stop and we always continued on without further incidence.
Today, however, the darned alarm would not go off. It was a pretty miserable drive for the next 30 minutes, stuck in 5 lanes of slow traffic, with nowhere to pull over to investigate the ear-splitting screech. Just before entering on to Route 60, we saw a golf course parking lot and pulled in to see what was going on with the left rear jack. As if it was not enough dealing with the screaming jacks down alarm, our GPS was now alerting us that we were violating an RV weight restriction in this area. Michael checked that there was fluid in the HWH system, and then investigated what was going on with the left rear jack. He extended the two back jacks, cleaned them off, retracted them, and all worked fine.
Alarm off, jacks stored, we made our way back to the on ramp to Route 60 and 24 miles later, pulled in to Riverside's county park, Rancho Jurupa. The Leggs stayed here earlier and based on Janet's recommendation, we decided to come here too. It's a pretty park with a small fishing lake and the RV sites are large, paved and level with full hookups. We were happy to get a pull-through site and we have internet.
Tomorrow we complete the remaining 196 miles to Quartzsite. Before we leave, we will prepare for our stay in the desert: we need to fill the fresh water tank and dump the waste tanks so they are completely empty. This will be our first experience dry camping in the middle of nowhere. We have heard so much about Quartzsite and what a popular destination it is for RV-ers. We will be joining our Alpine group. Apparently there are 50 Alpines that have signed up with a few extra joining us. There will also be many other RV groups gathering during this week which coincides with the Quartzsite Sports, Vacation and RV Show. Since there will likely be no internet access, and it may be a while before I am able to share with you what the fuss is all about, here is a link you may find interesting should you wish to check out how we will be spending some of our time next week: http://www.quartzsitervshow.com/