Author: Easin' Along

Helen and I arrived in Southern California (the westernmost point on our trip) to meet up with all of our kids and grandkids. We’re very grateful for this time together–especially so since our South Carolina children flew out to join us and see their cousins home for the first time. We’re having a wonderful reunion and visiting some outstanding and very interesting local attractions.  We can’t wait to share all of this with our readers, but that will have to wait awhile because Easin’ Along is going to take a few more days off.

We’re halfway through our journey and have much to show and tell. Please come back!

I’m an old Army guy and am proud of everything about my branch of the service. Nevertheless, when it comes to campgrounds, the Navy maintains some of the best in the country.  Helen and I have stayed at a few awesome campgrounds on the east coast, like Great Pond in deep woods Maine, and the excellent facility near the quaint village of Solomon’s Island, Maryland on the Chesapeake Bay. Both are outstanding but, when we arrived at Fiddler’s Cove, adjacent to Coronado Beach in San Diego, we agreed that this facility might top them both.

On previous trips, several campers we talked with raved about Fiddler’s Cove, so I got the booking information from MilitaryLiving.com and patiently waited for the day the reservation window opened. I was afraid that a reservation was out of the question, but on the first day I was eligible to apply, I made the call and, much to my surprise, got the exact dates I requested. I had rather be lucky than good.

While camping at El Centro, we met a couple familiar with Fiddler’s Cove who suggested we drive to San Diego from the south through Imperial Beach rather than drive from the north and deal with all of the traffic.  The suggestion proved very helpful. We encountered only light traffic and made it to the campground in the early afternoon. Check-in was an efficient process, and we could barely contain ourselves when we learned that our campsite was right on the water with a view as good as any we have ever had.

Helen and I have visited San Diego twice in recent years and love it here.  The climate is perfect, and the area is so beautiful. When our son first moved to California, we drove down for some sightseeing and a trip to San Diego’s famous zoo.  Two years ago, we visited again and stayed at a Navy Lodge cabana on Coronado Beach with our grandchildren.  Those visits were delightful, and we feel like we covered the city well, so we decided to take it easy on this visit. Up until now, we have stayed pretty busy hiking and sightseeing but, with a campsite like this and a view like no other, we were ready to sit by the water and do little else.

After a few days of rest, we drove over the bridge to Coronado Island to visit the famous Coronado Hotel and have dinner at a nearby pub. We arrived late on a Friday afternoon, and the area around the hotel was abuzz with activity.  Parking was a challenge, so we parked several blocks away and got our exercise by walking to the hotel, passing by some charming homes and flower gardens along the way.

Coronado Hotel has an elegant feel to it with heavy wood trim on the walls and staircases. The hotel is no small place and took us more than a few minutes to walk through it and out to the pool and courtyard. A reception for the American Pipe Coating Association was getting underway beside the pool. I didn’t recognize any of the participants. We stopped at the bar for an adult beverage then walked to the Coronado Brewing Company for dinner. Helen had an order of delicious fish tacos. I don’t remember what I ordered, but I’m sure it was good.

We returned to Fiddler’s Cove at sunset and sat stunned while the sun disappeared over the Marina. I have posted a picture, but it barely captures the real scene. A large crowd of campers gathered along the shore to take in the spectacle.

On our last day at Fiddler’s Cove, we watched the sailboat races taking place in the bay just beyond the Marina. The winds were perfect for the event and sailboats of every size, and stripe took advantage of the stiff breeze to determine the fastest boat in the harbor.  Since I’m not a sailor, I didn’t fully appreciate their efforts in negotiating what appeared to be demanding conditions, but those sailors gave us an afternoon of outstanding entertainment.

We’ll continue on our Lucy Does the Desert tour and return to the desert in another week or so, but we certainly enjoyed this visit to San Diego. As evidenced by this shorter than usual post, we were not overwhelmed with activity but, we had just what we were looking for…a little vacation within a vacation just sittin’ by the shore. Retirement is the best gig going and we’re Easin’ Along.

We departed Lake Havasu, AZ after a very delightful and relaxing few days before leaving Arizona until we visit Page and the Grand Canyon in a couple of weeks. In our mind, the next destination was San Diego but, to stay within my driving limit of four hours, we needed an interim stopover. We chose Palm Oasis RV Park located on the Naval Air Station in El Centro, CA, about 15 miles north of the Mexican border.

Our reservations were for only two nights. Therefore, we looked at this stop as “downtime” and a chance to do laundry, catch up on email and phone calls, and do some maintenance on Lucy.  Besides, we knew nothing about the area and had no plans. On the way there, Helen, as she usually does, did some digging on the internet to see if there are any exciting sightseeing opportunities.

She learned that El Centro is in the middle of California’s Imperial Valley where farms covering thousands of acres have produced a significant portion of the nation’s fruit and vegetables since the 1930s.  When dams along the Colorado River made irrigation possible, farms flourished, and the previously impoverished Imperial Valley inhabitants suddenly had a means of making a substantial income. We decided to drive through the Valley and pay a visit to the nearby Salton Sea instead of doing laundry.

Checking into the Palm Oasis RV Park was smooth and efficient, but the weather was something else. The wind kicked up to 50-mile gusts, and Lucy rocked to them all night.  The next day, the winds subsided, but the temperatures approached 100 degrees. We ignored the temperatures and drove into the Imperial Valley and the Sonny Bono Wildlife Refuge, named for the singer and former Congressman from Southern California.

Along the highway, fields of crops of every variety stretched as far as the eye could see. We spotted corn, onions, sugar beets, wheat, dates, and cabbage. Everywhere we looked, fields of green filled our view. I had heard of the Imperial Valley but thought it was somewhere between Los Angeles and San Francisco, not in the desert region of the state. I was impressed.

We visited the Sonny Bono Wildlife Refuge but saw no wildlife, only some pretty flowers. After a short hike in the 100-degree heat, we thought we might be better off driving to the Salton Sea, a body of water created in 1905 when the Colorado River broke through a poorly constructed dam and filled the Salton Basin over the next two years. We did not know that the Salton Sea, is now considered toxic and that evaporation has caused the salinity to rise significantly.

I later learned that the sea was a tourist hotspot in the 1950s and ’60s, but now is abandoned.  We could not find an access road to the shores but did venture down a trail we thought would lead us there, only to find an abandoned trailer park. This picture shows that perhaps better days for the Salton Sea have passed.

Driving back to El Centro, Helen decided that she had to have a “Date Shake,” a milkshake flavored with fresh dates.  We pulled into the only Date Shake spot mentioned on Trip Advisor. Helen got a shake while I sampled a variety of dates. All were good, and I ended up with two containers. I haven’t had dates since I was a child and my mother always had a box of Dromedary Dates on hand at Christmas. While there we saw signs advertising the annual El Centro Town Festival.  We love Festivals.

Although things were getting underway when we arrived in the town center, parking was tight. We found a spot behind the corner filling station and walked toward the music. Vendor booths lined two streets, and a band was tuning their instruments. The vendors primarily offered local produce, but there was the usual assortment of makeup dealers, jewelry vendors, and baked goods. We purchased some beautiful vegetables then passed by a stand offering pies.  I had to have an apple/peach. One pie went home with us.

The next day promised more 50-mile winds and 100 degree plus temperatures. I was ready for San Diego but glad that we had the opportunity to learn about an essential region of the country.  A note for our Military Living readers—Palm Oasis is a very nice campground with full hookups and offers a variety of recreational opportunities.  El Centro is the winter training site for the Blue Angels, the Navy’s precision flying team, and the full-time RVers told us that the training flights are almost as good as an air show. I’m sorry we missed them.

That’s about it from the Imperial Valley. Thanks so much for joining us. We’re Easin’ Along to San Diego.