Monday 25th January
Up and on the road just after sunrise. Took highway 95 south towards Yuma and the California state border. To the east we passed Kofa National Wildlife Refuge, established in 1939 for the protection of the desert bighorn sheep and other native wildlife. Wilderness designation means the land is protected from mining, construction of permanent roads or structures.
To the west we passed the Yuma Proving Ground, a US army facility used for testing equipment.
Just before Yuma we came to the Gila River and an irrigated area of land and fields of crops.
In Yuma we picked up the I-8 and crossed the Colorado River into California. Following the Mexican border we headed for the city of Imperial. Here the terrain changed to arid sand desert and we saw signs to the Imperial Sand Dunes BLM Recreation Area.
As we moved west through Imperial Valley we passed through an agricultural region with irrigated crop farming.
At Plaster City we came across a different kind of crop, fields of solar panels…..and then back to desert and wind farms.
We started to climb through boulder strewn hills to over 3000 feet as we crossed the San Diego county line. Eventually reaching 4200 feet before gradually descending into San Diego through Cleveland National Forest.
We arrived at the KOA Chula Vista RV Park at lunch time.
Tuesday 26th January
Took Sandy to a local animal hospital to have her annual rabies vaccine. I found a hairdresser in Chula Vista to get a haircut and highlights done.
Wednesday 27th January
We had a meeting with John and Becky from Baja Winters this morning and met the rest of the group that we will be travelling with into Mexico on Friday. John and Becky gave a briefing on the journey and what to expect along the road. There will be twelve couples and RV’s/trailers making the journey and each couple introduced themselves and talked a little about their backgrounds. We are really looking forward to the trip, it’s going to be fun.
Thursday 28th January
We have been busy stocking up on food, changing money, doing laundry and generally getting ready for our journey into Baja. Our US phone will not work in Mexico and access to wifi will be patchy, therefore we have tried to catch up with everyone at home this week before we travel. Spoke to Tom this evening, he is back at the University of Louisiana in Monroe after the Christmas holiday visit home. One of the people in our group has a son who is a champion professional water skier and Tom obviously knows of him – small world.