1/8 River Island SP, Parker, AZ

I don't know how I ever missed this lovely campground!  I tell people I have been everywhere, and I do spend a lot of time looking for campgrounds that I might like, but I think what I did with this one is overlook it because it is on the Arizona side of the Colorado River.  It is a few miles down from Lake Havasu, and I have stayed at the state park there and another state park not too far north from here, but this is my first time here.  

Unfortunately, I had reservations for only three days here, and I cannot extend it right now, but I will definitely be back another time. 

What is impressive about this state park is that it is surrounded by steep hills on three sides and on the Colorado River on the fourth side, so the area is gorgeous!!  I do not swim or kayak, or even hike much anymore, so I love a place with good campsites and lots of things to look at. 

 

This is a relatively small state park with only about 40 campsites, but they are well spread apart and on Asphalt.  Electrical hookups looked fairly new as well. Here are two photos of my rig on my campsite.

My site is only about 400-500' from the river overlook and beach.  And the weather while i was here had highs in the lower 70s and sunshine!!

This is a sharp bend in the Colorado River and the water seemed clear and cold. 

Looking upstream.

The small beach.

And the large boat ramp.

There are a couple of trails, one to Buckskin State Park, which is not too far away. 

Another view of the campground.

A mountain/high hill just south of the campground.  You may not be able to see it, but there is a tiny bench on top about in the middle. 

I was told there was a trail up to this bench, and it was not too hard of a hike, but I passed it by.  Wish they had a chair lift up to it for us seniors.

Place has been pretty full, which is understandable considering how pretty this area is and how the river is perfect for kayaking right here at this bend.  

Onward to my next stop tomorrow!

1/6 Drive to Parker Strip along Colorado River

I usually write mainly about campgrounds and places I have been, but I thought this drive from Tehachapi, California to the area along the Colorado River south of Lake Havasu known as the Parker Strip was worth posting about.  (The Parker Strip is a strip of land along the Colorado River from the Parker Dam to the town of Parker, AZ.   It is a busy recreational area with boating, fishing, and swimming enjoyed along the river.)

There is an awful lot of "empty" desert on this 300 mile drive, but it also has some interesting and beautiful scenic areas.  Best part, however, is that the temperature at my destination has been hanging around 70 degrees, while most of the country has been having serious winter storms and freezing weather.  I spent most of December in northern California, and even there, it had highs in the 50s or 60s and lows at night in low 40s.  This morning when I left Tehachapi, which is a town at about 4,500', it was only 37 degrees!  I REALLY have been looking forward to warmer weather!

The second best part of this drive is that there is not a lot of traffic along I-40 for most of this route, so it is easier to relax just a bit while driving my15,000 lb vehicle!!  I did stop for some groceries in Barstow, California, and a gas fill-up when I reached Needles, just before crossing the Colorado into Arizona.  

Nice, boring drive with mountains in the distance.

 

 

After a long drive, I finally reached the Colorado River!

 

 

 

Third best part of this trip is that gas is at least $2 per gallon cheaper than it is in California.  I filled up my 55 gallon tank and was amazed at the total price.  I also filled up with propane, which I need for heating, cooking, and hot water. The cold temperatures have meant my tank has been going down fast!  

Unfortunately, I still had another 50 miles to drive after arriving at this crossing of the Colorado.

The route along the Parker Strip is on the Arizona side of the river and has some amazing mountains.

I made it to my campground just before sunset.  I'm staying in a very nice state park for the next three nights, so will be posting about it soon.  Very pretty place!

1/4 Hidden View Campground on Hensley Lake, near Raymond, CA

The holidays and family visits are over, so I am back on the road and beginning to blog again.  I am headed south and then east to warmer places in Nevada, Arizona, and New Mexico over the next three months, so will try to post more regularly.  

This is one of my favorite campground.  Not much to do here, other than walking and doing some kayaking if you have your own equipment--no rentals here.  The important thing to me is that it is scenic and almost always mostly empty.  During the four days I spent here, there were only about 4-8 other camper units, and most were spread out, so the place was very quiet.  

Why is this place not more busy? Probably mostly because the lake level in the past has been very low, so boating and swimming has not been very good in the past.  When I first started coming here about 11 years ago, the Corps of Engineers had drained the reservoir to repair the outtake tower. Right after that, California had that big drought, so for a few years it was just a puddle.  It is also quite a ways off the 99 freeway that goes north and south on the east side of the California southern valley. 

However, for me it was perfect, as I don't boat, fish, swim, or kayak, and I like a quiet place.  Here are some photos of the drive to the campground and some of the campsites.  There is about a 20 mile drive from CA99 to Hensley Lake, passing a lot of nut and fruit tree plantations on the way.  As you get closer into the foothills of the Sierras, however, it becomes more hilly and rocky, so most of the land is just pasture for cattle.  

As you can see, not much traffic.

A glimpse of snow-covered mountains in the distance.

Grasslands are intermingled with scrub and a few trees.  It is hot here in the summer, by the way. 

My campsite.  About half of the sites here have electric and a few have water.  The rest are mainly for tents, but nearly all have great views.

I had this site for one day when I first arrived, but then switched to Site 31, which was more level and less of a chance of rolling down a steep incline if my brakes failed.  I did put a couple of my wheel chocks out, just in case.  Made me sleep better.  The covered picnic table was down a set of stairs, but directly in front of the site was a very steep slope, and those tiny cement bumpers would not have stopped much of anything from rolling downhill.

I don't know why these exposed rocks were so smooth.  I don't think the glaciers came this far south, but these rocks were certainly very old and very dense. 

The lake is slowly filling after the recent rains, but it is still only 20% of what they call "full pool."  It was 75% of full pool last summer so the rangers said the campground was a lot busier. 

There are three boat launch ramps around this lake.  The biggest one, on the campground side of the lake is sticking out of the water, so the few boaters have to use the one shown here across the lake.

You can see where the water should be if the lake were full.  Interesting houses on the slope also.

A view of the mountains in the distance.

My rig is on the top level on the left, but you can see how curvy the road is with two rigs on a lower level. 

This site is a bit dull, but it is very long.  It would be hard to put your slides out in this site, however.

Recent rains have caused the grass to get green in several areas around the campground.

My last view of the distant Sierras as I drive out.

 

 

12/18 Weird "Smoke" on Highway I-5, "The Grapevine" section of Interstate

Interstate highway I-5 heads north through a scenic mountain area between the town of Santa Clarita, which is northwest of Los Angeles, and the small town of Grapevine, California.  In fact, that stretch of highway is often called "The Grapevine" and has a reputation for being a bit scary to drive because of the curves and the steepness as it goes over Tejon Pass at a bit over 4,000 feet. 

My day today started out in sunny and reasonably warm San Diego.  As I was driving down the part of the highway after the Tejon Pass and just before the mountains gave way to the flatlands of the California Central Valley, I saw some strange-looking smoke in the distance.   

Since I was stuck a few years on a more southerly section of I-5 by a forest fire, I was a little concerned when I saw the "smoke" in the distance.  I grabbed my camera out of my front console and took a series of photos out of my front window as I was driving.  This did not look good, especially since there are no side roads in this section of highway to use to escape as I did from the previous forest fire highway backup and closure.

 

 

The closer I got, the more smoke I saw.  Not good. 

 

 

At this point, the road and sky is completely covered with smoke.  

 

 

Not getting any better, but I could see the valley in the distance. 

 

 

Almost out of the mountains.

 

 

Whew!  As I got into the valley, I realized that what I thought was smoke, was just weather.  Obviously, the valley and parts south of the Grapevine were just having a cloudy, potentially rainy day! 

 

 

Nice to just see clouds instead of a big fire that could have blocked the highway!  However, I will miss the sunshine and warm weather of southern California that I have enjoyed for the past two weeks. 

 Note: I will be visiting with family for the next few days, so will most likely not be posting until after the first of 2025.  Happy Holidays and New Year to all my readers!