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14.10.2003: San Diego - Lake Jennings
Got up at 7-45 am, showered and had breakfast. Helen went to phone Lake Jennings camp to see if there was space. We had to leave Kumeyaay camp as they are closed Tuesdays and Wednesdays - and we had to make sure we left by 10am! We left at 9-45 am and Helen drove again. The first stop was back to the supermarket we went to yesterday as the bacon was out of date! Then we drove to the Social Security office. For our driving licenses we need to get a social security number. As foreigners we will not be given one as we are not allowed to work or to claim any benefit. But we still have to apply so that the social security office can inform the DMV that we have actually been there to get a number!!! What a ridiculous system!!! So we waited for 1 hour 15 minutes to go through the ludicrous red tape so that we can get a driving license.
Then we drove to an outdoor shop to buy a gas lighter as we keep burning our fingers using a cigarette lighter to light the gas rings. We also bought a carabiner to help us haul the kayak onto the roof - that's if we ever use the kayak in the first place! Then we went to a library to use the internet for an hour. Next stop was a mattress shop as the mattresses in Winnie are a bit too soft. We got directions to a camper van place who gave us more directions to another place! We couldn`t be bothered any more so we drove up to Lake Jennings camp which is North East of San Diego, and got a superb site overlooking the lake. It`s a partial hook- up which is water and electricity and the first time we`ve been to a hook-up camp site.
We turned the fridge onto electric, got the table and chairs out and enjoyed the view. We got the computer out to do the accounts seeing as we now had electricity and then started work on the digital diary and web site. We made ourselves pasta with Gorgonzola cheese and went to bed at 10-30pm.
15.10.2003: Lake Jennings
Got up to another bright and sunny day. After breakfast we went for a walk around Lake Jennings. There is only a trail along a small part of the lake shore but it was enough for nearly a 2 hour walk and it was really too hot to be out in the sun! The campsite is so peaceful with a lovely view that we decided to extend for another night. When we got back to Winnie he was providing us with some welcome shade along one side so we got the table and chairs out. Kirsten started work on the website and I made us a fruit salad. Within just a few seconds of cutting up some melon she got surrounded with bees and had to move inside to finish off the salad. We had to eat it inside aswell and it wasn`t until the next day that we realised we were parked right next to a "bee" tree! We have no idea what kind of tree it is but it is full of busily, buzzing bees! We`re obviously only interesting when there`s fruit salad around. The honey is staying in the fridge!
We successfully managed to attach the hose to the water supply so that we have running water without using our tanks. Slowly but surely we`re getting used to this camping lark! Kirsten spent the whole day writing the digital diary in German whilst Helen was chief cook and bottle washer. On the menu today - baked potatoes in our electric oven and Polish sausages. (We have now tried sausages twice and failed miserably!)
It was a nice relaxing day enjoying the peaceful view.
16.10.2003: Lake Jennings
Kirsten had a shower this morning - from trying to fill up our water tank!!! We didn`t turn the water off fast enough! Then came the first casualty - Helen was tidying up and a splinter from the wooden storage racks went right under her index fingernail! Ouch!
Kirsten made cinnamon rolls to bake in our oven whilst Helen sat and wrote the English version of the website for hours and hours. By 4pm we had coffee and cakes! In between writing on the computer we went for a walk around the campsite to get a bit of exercise and to watch the sunset. After Kirsten had done some more work on the website it was already midnight and way past our bedtime!
17.10.2003: Lake Jennings - Anza Borrego Desert Park
We had cinnamon rolls for breakfast, Helen wrote up the last day and Kirsten downloaded everything on to CD. We did the washing up and our waste water tank was getting really smelly (not surprising in all this heat!). So after unhooking ourselves - we don`t want to drive off still attached to the campsites electricity and water supply! - we set off on our next adventure ... the first time we had used a dump station! It was also Kirsten`s first attempt at driving. Believe it or not, but the campsite survived and the dump station is still intact!!!
We drove into Lakeside to get some propane gas and pulled up in the wrong forecourt! We should have been next door! A man came out to us as we were trying to do an 8 point turn in the yard (somehow he must have known we were new to this "motorhome in America" lark!) and asked why we didn`t just reverse back out into the road! His forehead was lit up by a typical male chauvinist neon light sign "Women drivers HA!" Little did he know that every driver needs someone to stand behind Winnie and direct because there is no rear view mirror, only side mirrors. You can`t see anything that is directly behind unless its wider than Winnie. Reversing into the road means one of us has to go into the road to direct the other.
Anyway, the same man couldn`t understand why on Earth we wanted to drive to Joshua Tree National Park when the Grand Canyon was far better. All in all, we`re really glad we didn`t take ANY of his advice. But at least we managed to get propane and we also bought connector pipe for the water hose to make it easier to fill up with water. (We found out 5 days later that it doesn`t work!) Then we went to the library to download the CD onto the website - Kirsten crashed the computer!! The website will have to wait until we can find a way to transfer all the data from our CD.
By the time we finally set off to drive to Joshua Tree it was already 12-45pm. At 2-30pm we`d only managed 40 miles along a hilly, windy road and stopped off at a little place called Julian for lunch. Helen ordered a chicken taco and asked if it came along with a side salad. The answer was no, so she ordered a side salad with it. As it happened, the taco did come with a side salad and now she also had a monstrous salad to go with it that was big enough to feed 500 rabbits! One day we`ll get used to America!
Then we bought some phone cards and annoyed the cashier because we wanted to read all the small print before buying! Obviously not the done thing here. She turned to a Mexican customer behind us and told him that we were very slow!! (She didn`t think we could understand her!)
At 3-30pm we set off again and knew that we weren`t going to get to Joshua Tree at this rate, so we decided to see if there was a campsite at Anza Borrego Desert Park. We were going to drive through there anyway. We drove to the visitor centre and found out (from a German employee!) that we could free camp as long as we didn`t park up on one of the trails or on private land. So we drove off and at 6pm found a tarmac layby where we stayed for the night. We were in a flash flood area and were parked right where the floods would run, so we just hoped it wouldn`t rain!
We got our chairs out and sat watching the sunset and then gazed at the stars and the Milky Way for ages. Wonderful! It was really peaceful - just a few cars driving by now and then. Neither of us were hungry - it`s too hot to eat (yes, I know ... it`s desert!) We had a quick wash and went to bed but it was too hot to sleep.
