Lake Cahuilla Veterans Regional Park

Lake Cahuilla Veterans Regional Park   This is part of the Riverside County Regional Park and Open-Space District. If you're looking for outdoor recreation activities in southern California this is a good place to start. (Cahuilla is pronounced "ka-WEE-a")

This picturesque park is older than most we stay in, but well maintained. The sites with utilities are spacious, and there is a range of price, so check the website for particulars. 

There is a spacious boon-docking area surrounded by a variety of desert trees, including palms. It offers a good view of the lake, so that may be of interest in addition to the sites with utilities. It's a nice little lake for fishing, perfect for young children, though anyone would enjoy it. The park offers other amenities too. 

There is a wading/swimming pool at the far end of the campground, with a playground nearby.  There are also game courts of various types, and beyond that area is a "Equestrian and group camping" area. That area is off in the distance behind the palm trees in the lower photo. 

The lake is alive with birds of various types at different times of the year. Right now pelicans and other shore birds are the primary population. There is no swimming currently due to an invasive mussel infestation problem, and fishing gear is inspected for that same reason.

The campground restrooms are clean, and adequate in size as most campers are self-contained. They have 2 coin operated showers. The structures are clean, though it needs a bit of paint and a few repairs here and there. The camp site spaces are large and each has a tree - eucalyptus in most cases, and they are kept pruned up so they don't interfere with the roofs of RV's.        
Depending on your needs, one of the best features is that this park is close in to many of the entertainment related activities that are held in the Coachella valley. We are here to visit family that lives nearby, as it seems many of our neighbors in the campground are here for the same reason. 
According to Wikipedia this lake is prehistoric in origin, and there's quite a geologic record of it's existence, including the changes over time. It was once large enough to extend southward into Mexico. 


 The hills surrounding the are beautiful to watch as the light changes. The deep erosion from thousands of years past create ever changing shadows, and the colors in the slopes change from lavender to deep blues, grays and browns as the sun and clouds shift throughout the day.

The park is named for the Cahuilla tribe. The Cahuilla language is of the Takic division of the Uto-Aztecan family of languages, the most well-established linguistic family of the Americas. The Cahuilla people were the first known residents of the Coachella Valley. In the 1700's the population is thought to have been about 15,000.
Though once considered the smallest Native American tribe in the entire (the tribe was once down to just eight people), the Augustine Band's population is still tiny, with only about 2,000 enrolled members in the various bands linked to at the bottom of the home page under "Tribal Links".           

We enjoyed out stay here very much. It's a quiet, relaxing place to enjoy walking, photography, fishing, or just cloud watching! Our next stop is the Anza Borrego desert! Here's an early morning view of the lake just as we are leaving.

New Mexico and Arizona stops

Our first two days on the road went well, but the skies started to darken with heavy clouds and the wind picked up, and we started keeping a close eye on the weather. Our next planned stop - Silver City, New Mexico. 

By Sunday afternoon we were settling ourselves in to a spacious pull-through site at the Rose Valley RV Ranch, in Silver City. Now, this place has character! and very few stickers for the dogs to get tangled up with! Spacious sites and rustic but effective farm/ranch themed landscaping provide a reasonable amount of privacy, and windbreaks, and considering the weather they were appreciated. 

There are also a well maintained dog/hiking trail and a couple of small dog parks. 

The trail has great views of the surrounding terraine and the vegitation is very attractive. Even though it's still winter the evergreed cactus and junipers provide a nice contrast to all the golden grasses. 

Our main purpose for being in Silver City is to take a close look at some RV models that we don't have access to at home, so that's first on the agenda in the morning.  Entertainment for the evening is the Superbowl! We're keeping an eye on the weather, as it's cold and windy now, but forcasts are calling for increasingly high winds and some snow. 

We had intended to stay in Silver City for two nights but Monday morning we reviewed the updated forcasts and decided an early departure was a good idea. We made a quick trip to Lowry's RV sales and toured several models we were interested in then headed back to camp, packed up quickly and headed down the hill. We were attempting to get to I-10, but when we arrived at the intersection at Lordsburg we learned that a large section of I-10 had been closed all the way to Willcox in AZ due to high winds, blowing sand and multiple accidents. We had passed two ambulances on our way to Lordsburg, so apparently there were several injuries. Traffic was being redirected to hwy. 70, which took us back through Lordsburg, through narrow streets in the older town. 

Cutting around on the narrow roads took us on an interesting trek along with more long-haul trucks than you can imagine. We don't realize how many there are on the roads until they all get gathered up, waiting for the roads to open. Since we left Silver City a day early we didn't have reservations anywhere else, but the Trail Master always has a backup planned,"just in case".  We were running pretty late, but tried for a last minute spot in Roper Lake State Park, where we had reservations for the following night. No such luck, the car right in front of us grabbed the last vacancy. So, we turned around, went back to town and managed to get a night at the Graham County fairgrounds in Safford, AZ. We had the very last space in their RV area. Most fairgrounds rent facilities for RVs as the people who show horses and other livestock usually like to stay overnight so they can care for the animals. There wasn't a lot of livestock in residence at the time, just a few horses being boarded, but the dogs enjoyed sniffing out previous occupants and walking along the stalls and race track.

The surrounding hills and storm clouds were beautiful, and they were dusted with snow by morning. We were grateful to have survived the wind with no accidents. The fairgrounds was only a few miles away from our next reservation, Roper Lake State Park. 

Tuesday - We arrived at Roper Lake State Park mid-day. The sites are fairly large with natural vegetation between spaces to help privacy and to encourage wild life.

The weather was cold, but setting is so pretty we were sorry to have to close the door, as it blocked our view of the snowy mountains in the distance.  Wait! didn't we make a storm window for the screen door? There is was, the large sheets of plexiglass were safely stored behind the sofa. We hadn't used it for so long we'd almost forgotten it, and how to install it, but it only took a screwdriver and a few minutes. Now, no cold wind and lots of light along with a great view! After getting settled in we headed back into Safford for our Valentine's Day dinner at Casa Mañana, highly recommended by the park staff. 

The park is centered on a nice little lake and is noted for fishing and birdwatching, but the many hiking trails are an outstanding feature too. There are short trails in and around the rv area, and other more challenging trails that take hikers to the mesa top and out into open desert. 

The chilly temperatures and high winds continued, but the area is beautiul, so we made the decission to cancel the reservations we made at another park for two following nights and stay at Roper Lake. The decision did require us to move to another site, but that's not a problem. Once that was done the dogs and I took off to explore one of the longer trails, up Mariah Mesa. The views are amazing, and so was the wind blowing down from the snowy peaks in the distance. By the halfway point my eyes were watering so much from the wind I could hardly see where I was going. It was worth it though, and the trails are beautifully maintained and lined with small boulders of a variety of native stone. 

There are also signs along the way identifying several of the more common shrubs and trees, and information sign at the top of the mesa with information about the views.  We tried out another branch of the trail the next day, and thankfully the wind had settled down, and the temperature warmed up. For those who are interested in the native desert vegitation, the attention given to the plantings in the camping areas and along the trails is to be appreciated. The cactus and native trees are all carefully groomed and the grounds are immaculate. 

This is a beautiful park, offering fishing, birding, hiking, great photography opportunities, and swimming during most seasons. The sites are generous and many connect to the hiking trails, the restrooms are very nice, and there are covered shelters for picnicking near the water for day use groups to enjoy. 

View from the top of Mariah Mesa

You can view the rest of the photos in the The Arizona and New Mexico album. here

Tailgate Training Camp 2015

The big question at camp this year was,”So, how many years have we been doing this?”
The answer is probably) 13 – maybe 14. We’ll have to dig through photos at home to be absolutely sure. We’ve been meeting in this same campground since 2005. . . so ten years there alone. That’s a pretty good record for a casually organized group event!

This year several camp regulars were joined by our long-time friends Mike and Nina and their two beautiful German Shepherds, making a total of ten humans and 6 dogs . We had five breeds represented and they all got along beautifully.

stories around the campfire

We had a great time – telling stories and eating, mostly, and the dogs played and talked about who knows what. Those of us who are into needlework stitched to our hearts content while we caught up on everyone’s family doings, travels, plans for the rest of the year, and the like.  Two of the men went fishing up at Walton lake and caught their limit of trout both days. Not bad for a few hours out in the beautiful weather we had.


The creek that runs through the campground was lower than usual this year, but it was still running, which Shiner enjoyed on our afternoon saunter. She loves splashing around while she looks for something to chase.

We’ve been meeting at Ochoco Forest Camp (group camp) for so long it feels like home. One thing that wasn’t so homey this time was the rodent onslaught.

By the second day several folks had nests already established under their engine hoods, and at least two ended up with rodents in their RVs. Everyone opened up their hoods and hoped the extra exposure would discourage further nesting.

 It did seem a little strange to be surrounded by all the vehicles, hoods up, like camping in a car lot, but hey, whatever works!

As far as we know we escaped the attack, but we are looking into rodent repellant anyway. They’re always a problem around our shed at home, so if we can find a repellant that is effective we’ll use it in both situations. We are planning to experiment with a packet of Shake-away under the hood of the truck. We’ll report if we feel it’s worth fussing with. The ingredients (peppermint, rosemary, and cedar oil) seem harmless enough to use around pets.

After 4 days of relaxing at camp it’s time to hit the road again.

Next stop, La Pine State Park, so we can replenish supplies and do laundry.

Santa Rosa Lake State Park, New Mexico

Sunday - June 2

Short drive today – we had to plan time to visit the Billy the Kid museum at Ft. Sumner, and the Bosque Redondo Memorial.

The Billy the Kid Museum is of the old school type - show cases of some pretty interesting bits of history, a multi-panel painting that pretty well covers all aspects of the famous bad boy's story, and a decent gift shop. It's worth the small entry fee for sure.



 Just outside the museum is the Fort Sumner cemetery where Billy and several other historic folks are buried. Billy's tombstone was stolen and hidden away for several years, but was finally retrieved and is now back where it belongs, and well protected by iron bars. It's strapped down, as well as being behind the bars, so thieves would have to be really determined.


An entirely different story is told at the Bosque Redondo Memorial. The memorial is situated on the site where thousands of Navajo and Mescalaro Apache were held as prisoners from 1863 to 1868 after a forced march of 450 miles. This is not a part of our western history that is known to many people.


After thousands of the captives died due to starvation and harsh conditions the Navajo were held captive for several years, and then finally received recognition as a sovereign nation and were allowed to return home. The memorial, actually a museum, does an excellent job of telling their story. There are displays of historic material and some very impressive murals. The video that is shown in the museum theater is very informative and definitely worth watching.

Down the road just a short piece we spent the night at Santa Rosa Lake State Park. The lake (reservoir) is quite low, so no swimming for Shiner. The campsite has two loops. One has services, we chose the one without. It had fewer occupants, and offered good access to open area to take Shiner for a nice long walk.

The area is a bit higher, and greener, than our previous stop, but very dry nonetheless.

That condition was temporarily remedied about 7:30 P.M. when a loud and very wet thunderstorm blew in. It blew around the chairs we had stored on the picnic table, rattled the doors and sent rain pounding into the windows. Thunder and lightening boomed and flashed, but we're used to that from home.

We just cozied up and watched the lightening while listening to some of our favorite music, then admired the after-the-storm rainbows. Not a bad way to spend the evening.

 

Oasis State Park, New Mexico

Friday and Saturday - May 31 and June 1- Oasis State Park, New Mexico.

Well named, but a very small oasis this is, in the form of a fishing pond that probably originated during gravel mining operations many ago. It’s now rimmed with large red sandstone blocks that provide a secure shore for local fishermen, quite a treat in the middle of such a desert environment.

The park has provided picnic tables, some with shades, and benches too. The pond is home to several types of bass and catfish and a wide variety of birds. You can pick up a bird watcher’s checklist at the park office. Though I didn't get very many checked off, I can say I heard several varieties. They love to hide in the trees and chip and sing in the evenings and early mornings. Cotton tails and jack rabbits abound within the park, and poor Shiner found it very frustrating that she wasn't allowed to chase them.

The campground offers several spaces  with services for RVs, and another area for tents or other rustic campers. Some of those would also accommodate a small RV. You'll find a good breakdown of the types of camping facilities here. The restrooms have showers, and the park is neat and well maintained overall. 

Oasis makes a good base camp while exploring the local attractions. There are several museums and  other points of interest in the two closest towns, Portales and Clovis. We divided our time between the Blackwater Draw museum, near Portalis, and the Blackwater Draw archeological site.  

You’d never guess it now, to look at the arid environment, but about 14,000 years ago this valley was a lush meadow, with lakes and running streams, and plenty of food for the herds of mastodons that ranged here, as well as the earl humans that hunted them. They know that because researchers have retrieved the bones of many of them, of all ages, some with spear points imbedded in their ribs, so obviously there were humans here at the time too. In fact, the terms “Clovis” and “Folsom” as descriptors for the ages of stone point (arrowheads) and other cultural artifacts originated with research done in this area, near the towns of Clovis and Folsom.   

The Blackwater Draw museum presents the findings of the human side of the research as well as a bit about the mastodons and other animals that lived in the area at the time.

excavation in progress

The archeological site has a covered display of an in-progress excavation of bone beds. It explains the layers of sedimentation and how the positioning of bones as they are found can be interpreted to learn a lot about what happened those many thousands of years ago. Interesting stuff!

We did a bit of basic shopping in town in the afternoon then went back to camp to enjoy the scenery. Steve spent a bit of time helping our neighbor work on his coach hydraulic jacks. . . his idea of afternoon entertainment. Shiner and I took a walk outside the park fence, where interestingly enough there was not a single bunny to chase. Those little devils are smarter than I thought! We found a dry lake bed with the remnants of what was probably a small market or concession stand that needed investigating, she thought. She had a great time exploring, but didn't scare up a single thing to chase until we were back in the park, and she was on a leash by then. Too frustrating!  

On the road again!! 2013 travel season

Greetings from the road! Finally!!

Apologies for the delay in getting things updated here. We've had little to no internet service or cell phone reception since leaving home, and we've also had trouble with the broadband card. It keeps changing settings on it's own, and with little reception anyway, it's been a real battle.

This summer our travels will be taking us through Four Corners country and we have no idea how good service will be there, or even if we’ll have it, so updates will probably continue to be sporadic.

May 30 - Thursday - We were up early and out the gate before 9, pretty early for us, especially on the first day out! We planned a fairly lengthy drive this first day, as it takes us two days just to get out of the state we didn’t want to dawdle too much.  First night’s stop,  Lake Colorado City State Park, near Colorado City, between Midland and Abilene, west of Forth Worth. The town has special significance for us, as Steve’s parents had their first date at a movie theater here. No, we didn’t hunt up the theater, but it was fun to think about the times they spent in the area. 

As with most lakes in the Permian Basin lately, the water level  is quite low which changes the personality of the park considerably. We didn't plan on fishing or boating, so it didn't bother us much.

The campsites are spacious, surrounded by dense stands of prickly pear and mesquite.  Most sites have a permanent shade over the table, and some have a tree or two.

There are faint trails that would probably lead down to the shore, if the water were high enough to meet the shoreline! Shiner and I did go exploring  in the area adjacent to our site.

She had great fun checking under every cactus for lizards and other fauna, and she only ended up with one spine in her muzzle!

The sloping sandstone cliff had faint trails, from human and critter travel I would guess, that wandered through the patches of cactus and brush. Here and there a few wildflowers bravely nodded in the breeze. It’s a pretty area, best enjoyed when it’s not too hot or windy…. And this part of Texas is known for wind I’m afraid. That would explain the huge windmill farms we passed. Wind energy is one of the booming industries in this part of the state.