SoCal Livin (Southern California!)

 

Unfortunately, it has been many weeks since we have had consistant internet connection so today we will be posting 3 seperate blog posts.  It is amazing rereading and looking at pictures of our past adventures as we explore Baja Californa.  Below are our adventures in SoCal USA.

November 23^rd – Into the Furnace

Death Valley is known as the Driest, Lowest, and Hottest National Park, with temperatures going as high as 54 degrees in the summer.  Thankfully it is late November and if you’ve been keeping track of our recent descriptions of weather/temperature you’ll realize why we were hopeful this place would bring us some form of warmth.

We drove to Dante’s View and around Furnace Creek, it was definitely a dry area.  We then headed towards Badwater Basin, the lowest point in North America, 86 metres below sea level.  This means we have seen the highest point in North America, Denali Mountain, and the lowest.

We then walked down the salt flats within the Badwater Basin (named after the saltwater that one explorer’s donkey refused to drink from what was the only water source nearby) we thought we’d walk with no shoes or socks on, something that we were told to do in Korea. This salt had been walked on by who knows how many people and was probably the dirtiest salt we have encountered on a salt flat and maybe that should have been a sign. Anyways, we walked barefoot and were the only ones to do so and let us warn you, this salt did terrible things to Paul’s feet. There is a joke about someone asking a kid if their feet smell and the kid replies saying, “I don’t use my feet to smell I use my nose”, and for some reason this joke just made sense in that moment.

  

November 24^th – Out of the Pipe

We woke up outside Stovepipe Wells with the plan to visit the west side of Death Valley National Park.  We saw some old charcoal kilns and other beautiful viewpoints, but before we knew it we had left Death Valley, which was good timing as we had run out of food (including Rupert’s special vet prescribed food), water and propane.  The problem was today is American Thanksgiving and finding anything would be difficult.

We were able to find a place to find our propane pretty fast, and we were able to get water at the National Park, and with time flying we were rushing to the only grocery store that was open.  It was in the next town over and would be closing 3 minutes after we arrive.

We got there with 4 minutes to spare and frantically grabbed an odd resemblance of what we should have picked up before being reminded that the store was now closed.

We had to find somewhere to camp, and relatively fast as sunset was only 30 minutes away.  Kendra found a spot and we raced to the location, but were surprised to see a sea of travel trailers, motorhomes, off-road vehicles, and American and “Let’s Go Brandon” flags.  I guess people go camping on Thanksgiving long weekend in Southern California.  We did find a place near, yet far enough away, from the other campers, but it felt almost like we were in an RV park.  However, although the area clearly stated no fireworks, we got to watch each grouping of travel trailers shoot off, what appeared to be, competing firework displays.

 

November 25^th – Shopping

We knew what we wanted, we wanted a day where we find a campsite and stay there two nights and not drive or leave it.  But to do that we needed finish our grocery shopping trip and buy Rupert’s special dog food, hopefully without a repeat of what happened in Nome, AK.

We went to the local Walmart where it became very obvious that it was FRIDAY, Black Friday.

It was busy.  Not trample your kid, intimidate another person with your gun busy, as we had seen on TV news stations, but it was definitely pretty busy. 

After being closer to more people than we have been in a long time we started hunting for Rupert’s food.

We quickly learned that most people take black Friday off to give them a four day weekend, and most offices were closed.  This is an issue as we need to go to a Vet to purchase Rupert’s food.  It became easier to just phone every vet within a couple hours south of us as most were closed, and a couple that were open didn’t have the Hydrolyzed Protein food Rupert needs.

Finally, we did find one and they accepted Rupert’s prescription from our vet back home.  Unfortunately, Paul had to sign up to be a client at their vet before they would allow him to purchase the food.  Well even though we hadn’t heard of the State of British Columbia, and thought that Paul was joking about how Canada doesn’t use zip codes, we were able to get Rupert his special food.

After Paul decide where we were camping we made our way to our campsite and watched one of the most memorable sunsets on this trip, where the rocks, trees and hills were silhouetted perfectly as a sliver of the moon rose in the same frame.

 

November 26^th – A Proper day of Camping

We had a proper day of camping!  We ate and drank to much. 

Paul did do some preventative maintenance to the van and we wrote the blog, but in general it was a perfect day of camping, without the campfire due to extreme fire danger.

 

November 27- and another one!

After a calm relaxing and “free” day, we decided to have one more!

One thing we sometimes talk about is Rupert and often times when we message friends and family they all ask about Rupert, so since we’re not doing anything except listening to past episodes of The Debaters on CBC, here’s a Rupert update.

“It’s always WHAT’s the dog doing, never HOW’s the dog doing.” -unknown

Rupert has adjusted to van life pretty smoothly. He is currently lounging in the van while Paul and I sit outside in the warmth and sunshine. Don’t worry the van is not hot, the door is open, the vent fan is going and he can willingly come and go from it. Sometimes we are convinced that he enjoys these” do nothing days” as much as we do because he sometimes wanders off and lounges around alone.  In these moments we are convinced he needed a break from us.

Rupert has not yet learned something we’ve been trying to teach him. We want him to understand that the front seats are great beds and he wouldn’t be kicked or pushed around on the front seat. Unfortunately, we weren’t forceful with this rule with it being cold and using Rupert as a foot warmer, but we are hoping as the temperature rises at night he will find his own bed out of our double sized bed.

Another challenge with Rupert and this trip is that National Parks in the USA only allow “Paws on Pavement”. This means that every time we have done a hike sway from a parking lot, Rupert has had the van to himself. We’ve learned some lessons about food storage while Rupert is left alone.  In Alaska when we kayaked around icebergs Rupert was feasting on 2.5 everything bagels (I think he was too full to finish off the last half bagel). At Black Canyon, we were gone into the gift shop, he helped himself to 3 tortillas. He also helped himself to half a pack of 20 tortillas in West Wendover, it may be his animal instincts, or maybe just him being part terrier but if he can find food her will eat it.  Rupert is fine on his own in the van and the weather has worked in our favour that we could leave him in it without worrying about rising temperatures. Another challenge with Rupert in the vehicle is that he watches for us to come back, this means less napping.  When we hiked to Inspiration Point in the Grand Tetons, Rupert spent the whole time looking out the window. The lady who stayed at her vehicle parked next to us let us know he just stared out waiting for us, no barking, no whimpering, not responding to her, just waiting for us and staring out the window.

Another good thing about travelling with Rupert is that he is really up for everything. We’ve always said he has serious FOMO (fear of missing out) so he is willing to do almost anything with us. When hiking we like to bring him along, but with his old age and arthritis we now make sure we bring his backpack.  Now we have seen some dogs with backpacks, being useful hikers carrying their own treats and filled treat bags, but Rupert’s backpack makes him the true prince he is.  We zip him in and carry him on our backs, so he can cross river without getting his paws wet, hike more than 6kms and he can get over large rocks and up steep and rocky trails.

Last update, which was mentioned above is related to Rupert’s actual food, not just the food he steals from us. After getting a prescription from his vet in Quesnel, we have been able to use the prescription to get his food, so he can be strong and ready for our next adventure.

 

November 28^th – Into the MEGACITY

There are two cities on this trip we are most hesitant to drive in, Las Angeles is the first of these cities, with the second being Mexico City.

We left our little mountain campsite and descended into the city known for traffic.  We did some laundry then headed towards some GTA V landmarks, specifically Santa Monica, the pier there and Venice Beach.  This may become a bit of a theme, just how well GTA V modeled Los Santos to resemble Las Angeles.  Paul never wanted to carjack someone more in his life.

Thankfully we didn’t need to drive during rush hour, but having to drive 110 km/h surrounded by 6 lanes of drivers was a little nerve racking; but we made it and found free parking.

Rupert and us wandered down the pier while people watching.  The pier was a little less impressive than we had in our minds, but worth a visit.  We then decided to walk down the beach to Venice beach.  Venice beach definitely had some sketchiness/griminess to it, but it was worth a stop.  However, we had decided we wouldn’t be “camping” anywhere near it. Muscle Beach at Venice Beach was a bit of a disappointment, it lacked muscles and people working out.

Thankfully, near where we parked was a neighbourhood with multimillion dollar houses with no rules stating we couldn’t park overnight so we decided to rub shoulders with some people far wealthier than us.  The most surprising aspect of this “camping spot” was the number of personal trainers working with their clients outside of their cars, it seemed the park we were close to, Goose Egg Park, was a hot spot for that sort of activity.

 

November 29^th – CALVIN!

We went into L.A. to pick up Paul’s friend Calvin from LAX. Lucky for us Santa Monica is somewhat close to LAX.

After a quick coffee we made our way to the airport, super nervous about how easy it would be to pick up Calvin.  Surprisingly it was super easy, probably because West Jet is the only airline that flies into LAX Terminal 2, so there weren’t many people picking travelers up at that terminal. 

Before we knew it we were driving down the interstate towards San Diego.  This is 2 hours of stressful boredom. Lots of cars, high speeds, nothing interesting to look at or do.  We hit the carpool lane and didn’t stop until we were in San Diego.  Our first stop was the trendy Mission Beach, which was fine.  There were restaurants and a beach, but at least we didn’t see why it would have garnered such a “trendy” reputation. 

We then headed to the neighbourhood of our Airbnb known as Ocean Beach, or locally as OB.  Paul and Calvin loved this neighbourhood, Kendra found it a little sketchy but definitely having a cool vibe too.  Regardless our Airbnb was a 2 minute walk to the beach and a 10 minute walk to bars and restaurants. 

We ended the day watching sunset from the beach and wandering around the core of OB and getting some BBQ for dinner.

 

November 30^th – Motorcycle Adventure

Paul and Calvin, almost yearly, will get together and do a motorcycle trip.  In the past they have done the Sunshine Coast and San Francisco, but this year they selected San Diego and today was the day for a long ride.

They had rented bikes from a ride share website, sort of like Airbnb, but for motorcycles.  Paul got a Triumph and Calvin got a Ducati.  They met up at the zoo then did the curviest bad ass roads they could find.  It was 325 km of AWESOME!!  For those curious, we drove from San Diego to Jamul to take Lyons Valley Rd to the Sunrise Hwy towards Mt Laguna to Julian.  From there we went to Borrego Springs through the beautiful and fun Montezuma Valley then back to San Diego for a night time drive through downtown. 10/10 would recommend and Paul fell in love with the Triumph, don’t be surprised if that is the next type of bike he purchases.

We ended the evening checking out OB’s farmers market for some delicious food and an ambience that couldn’t be beat.  OB is definitely a neighbourhood people need to experience, especially the Wednesday night farmer’s market!  It is full of Vanlifers selling their random stuff, crystals and plants, baked goods, and multiple ethnic food stands from East Africa to Thailand and everywhere in between.

 

December 1^st – Jumping the border

Calvin and Paul decided to check out Tijuana, they had learned they can drive to the border, park the van and walk across.  Kendra decided to have a personal day and hang out with Rupert.

The border to Mexico was only 25 minutes from our Airbnb, so within no time we had parked and started to walk towards the fortified border.  It was very easy to get into Mexico, we just kept walking, without ever hitting a line up right to the border guard, who asked us how long we would be in Mexico for, then waved us through.

We explored downtown Tijuana which got Paul excited to drive across the border and start out the Mexico chapter of our trip.  It

was colourful, “real” and cheap.  There was so much to look at and explore in Centro Tijuana and to eat street tacos, to die for and only 25 pesos!  We never felt unsafe and even played some pool where the local youth seemed to play pool.  It truly was an amazing day of exploring a location that felt so foreign to what we had been used to.  If you are in San Diego, it can not be easier to walk across the border.  The San Diego Tram system even goes right to it (wish I had known this before going so I could have saved $9).

Returning over the border was a bit more time consuming.  There is a long line and many checkpoint like spots.  Online said it was supposed to take almost 2 hours, but thankfully it only took 1.  Paul almost had to go into secondary as he started rambling about his trip and the border guard was getting more and more confused, but in the end, after many questions waved him through. When this was described to Kendra she thought Paul may have been questioned because he entered the US with a van and a wife 2.5 months ago, then left the US for 4 hours, and is returning with no van and no wife… but we will never know.

After returning to the Airbnb, we grabbed an uber and headed towards the Gaslamp district (or as Paul kept calling it, the Gaslight district).  This is the part of San Diego with restaurants where the main road becomes pedestrians only after a certain time.  We explored this area and got some decent food before taking another uber to Balboa Park.

The previous day, while Paul and Calvin where ridding their motorcycles they had seen a Balboa Park lit up in lights.  It looked awesome so we thought to check it out.  It was definitely an experience with a dress rehearsal of a concert I would not recommend attending.  The whole area was lit up in festive colours and the area itself was neat to experience with the museum and many buildings with strong Spanish architecture. 

After all the adventuring we returned to our Airbnb via an uber.  This evening’s three trips are probably the most time Kendra and I have spent in an uber and wow we had some interesting drivers.  The first was from Somalia where Paul asked if he was from the part that had unofficially succeeded, Somaliland.  He was not, in fact he seemed very anti-succession.  Whoops…  The second guy talked about crazy Texas drivers and how everyone in the USA is scared of California drivers.  He said they are unpredictable, but great drivers, while Texas are unpredictable and terrible.  The third one used to live in OB, the neighbourhood that we stayed in and told us all the history about the neighbourhood, including that Jewel, the singer got her start in a coffee shop there.

 

December 2^nd – Adios Calvin

Unfortunately, our time with Calvin had come to and end so we had to drive back to LAX to drop him off.  Thankfully he had an evening flight so we could spend the day in L.A.  However, it meant Paul would be driving during LA rush-hour. 

Our first stop was the Griffith Observatory, which seemed smaller than GTA V had made it out to be, then drove down some very windy narrow residential streets that went up a mountain, which reminded Paul of driving in GTA V and always crashing on the roads.  We then made some stops to get the typical picture with the Hollywood signs, before we drove down Mulholland Drive looking for celebrities. By some miracle we found cheap parking where an 8 foot high minivan could park just off Hollywood Boulevard so we jumped out the van and walked to the Chinese Theatre as well as other key places to watch interactions of people with the performers and scammers.  Next was a drive down Sunset Blvd, then down Rodeo Dr (in rush-hour).  It sure was, something, to see people wearing more expensive things on their person then the cost of the van we sleep in. 

Our final stop before dropping Calvin off at LAX was SpaceX to see one of the rockets they had sent to space.  It was a great way to end the trip.

After dropping Calvin off we returned to Santa Monica to sleep/stealth camp in the same multimillion dollar neighbourhood.

 

December 3^rd – Escape from LA

With Calvin gone it was time to check off the final two things we wanted to do in the US; Joshua Tree National Park and Slab City.

We woke up and left LA via the Interstate.  We wanted to leave as quickly as possible so we could take a few days off in Joshua Tree.  We only stopped a couple times, once at Costco the next at the National Park Visitor Information Centre, before we got to a free campsite on the BLM land and set up camp for a few nights.

December 4^th – Selfcare Sunday

Today we, without discussing it, decided to celebrate how far we have already come. We decided to go to Walmart where we marvelled at the $10.96 1.75 Liter bottle of Gin and $5.46 bottles of wine (both purchased).  We then decided to save $30 by giving Paul a haircut (while drinking the wine), it’s pretty short but he keeps telling himself it’ll be perfect in Mexico, gave Kendra a trim and Rupert a face trim. The rest of the night was board games, more drinks and a couple of movies.

 

December 5^th – Recovery

For the first time, in a long time, Paul woke up with a hangover. Kendra decided to have a do nothing day, so we did some cleaning and organizing of our longer term storage in the van and then did pretty much nothing.

 

December 6^th – Mexico Ready

It was freezing last night; it must have been at least -1.  We woke up cold, which means we woke up early.  Instead of whining (okay, we may have whined a bit) we brewed some coffee and drove to Joshua Tree National Park.  Because it was early there were no problems finding parking at the trailheads of the “must do” things in Joshua Tree.  By 1 pm we had over 10,000 steps and tons of pictures of Joshua Trees, one of which was the tallest Joshua Tree in the Park.  Our favourite was the Cholla Cactus Garden full of cacti that could be defined as “cute”.  They may have been too cute as they required warning signs to be installed with pliers telling people the hazards of touching them.

With us having completed the plan of the day by the early afternoon we decided to get a few tomorrow tasks done in the communities just outside of Palm Springs.  Somehow we were able to do everything we needed done tomorrow today.  By 5pm we had done an oil change, got the van looked at to make sure it is Mexico ready, and purchased our vehicle insurance for Mexico.  Paul rewarded our efficiency with a night of Gin in the desert while Kendra stuck to wine.

December 7^th – Slab City

We woke up early again, probably because we had gone to bed pretty early, and made our way to the last thing we wanted to see in the USA, Slab City.

The city, which is supposed to be the last city of freedom was an experience!  Although we loved Salvation Mountain and East Jesus it is amazing to see what a community can look like when there aren’t any services (no water, electric, sewage, garbage, etc.). After driving around, we had a growing sense of feeling uneasy and after checking out the hot spring; our feelings of Slab City are definitely mixed. We highly recommend you check it out for yourself if you are in the area because it is such a unique place with interesting people living there.

These mixed feelings continued to our campsite, a spot on the Salton Sea.  On one hand it was an absolutely beautiful view with sand made of sea shells and volcano cones nearby but on the other hand it smelled very bad and isn’t much of a sea, more like an agricultural run off puddle/slough that is the size of a sea.  We enjoyed the views and warm sunshine, but continued to question how a beautiful place like this becomes so polluted.

December 8^th – Mexico Set

Today is our last full day in the USA!!!  We prioritized using cash, especially our coins as wanted to make sure we weren’t left with pounds of coins for laundry that we can’t use.  We have around $15 in quarters of Canadian money that we have no idea what to do with.

We did laundry, even though we didn’t really need to.  We picked up a few things that we didn’t know if we would see again after crossing the border (like miniature glass and ceramic decorative Christmas trees from Target…if you know…you know, if not a quick google search may humour you as much as we were humoured) and found the last campsite we would have in the USA.  We are so excited, nervous, scared, happy, overwhelmed, and so many more emotions all rolled into one to cross into Mexico tomorrow.