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One of the things you said you would be interested in doing is some | |||
camping in the desert, so here's a place you can go. The link below is to | |||
the MapQuest page for this place. It's very near a small "hole in the | |||
road" called Amboy: | |||
= | http://www.mapquest.com/maps/map.adp?formtype=address&country=CA&popflag=0&latitude=&longitude=&name=&phone=&level=&addtohistory=&cat=&address=&city=Amboy&state=CA&zipcode | ||
[http://www. | The best route to get there is down I-5 to Oceanside, then east across Hwy | ||
78 to I-15, then north on I-15 to I-215 which will rejoin I-15 bypassing a | |||
lot of the metro areas, continue north on I-15 to I-40 at Barstow, then | |||
East on I-40 to Ludlow, where you'll leave the interstate and pick up old | |||
Route 66 continuing east past Amboy. Just past Amboy you'll be looking | |||
for a side road coming in from the right (south) called Saltus Rd. Turn | |||
right and follow it to just before you cross the railroad tracks. No more | |||
than 50 ft. before the railroad crossing if I recall correctly you'll be | |||
able to turn left onto a dirt access road. Now the going get's tricky. I | |||
don't know what you're driving but I used to drive a Honda CRX and never | |||
had any trouble as long as I kept my speed up a little going into the | |||
sandy spots. You will come to a place where the road goes down into a | |||
wash, descending maybe 8 to 10 ft below the level of the RR tracks. There | |||
are two or three nice level places to set up a tent there. I usually set | |||
my tent up right next to the railroad tracks on the west side of the wash, | |||
but you may want to be across the road to the north to get a little | |||
further away from the tracks. They're fairly busy tracks and the traffic | |||
stays pretty heavy right through the night. | |||
I recommend taking plenty of water with you. On the off chance that you | |||
should get stuck in the sand you ARE close enough to both Amboy and to the | |||
Saltus salt mining operation to walk to either of them as long as you can | |||
stay hydrated. | |||
Ok, on to other sights. Anza-Borrego Desert State park East of San Diego | |||
is a good place to camp if you want to camp in an actual Campground and | |||
the Palm Canyon trail is a really nice Hike. Here's the link: | |||
[6]http://www.desertusa.com/anza_borrego/du_abp_camp.html | |||
There is a great campground for mountain camping. It's at 9,900 ft. but | |||
it's not on the map and a little difficult to find. If you were coming | |||
back from Amboy on your way down I-15, just a little below the summit of | |||
Cajon Pass is Hwy 138. Get off there and go west to Hwy 2, then south | |||
toward Wrightwood. Go through Wrightwood to Big Pines. Here's the | |||
mapquest link: | |||
http://www.mapquest.com/maps/map.adp?formtype=address&country=CA&popflag=0&latitude=&longitude=&name=&phone=&level=&addtohistory=&cat=&address=&city=Wrightwood&state=CA&zipcode | |||
Just beyond Big Pines the road forks. I can't remember if it's an actual | |||
fork or a "T in from one side or the other. You're following signs for | |||
Mt. Baeden-Powell, but you'll be turning off before you get there. When | |||
the road comes to what at least appears to be a summit there is a gated | |||
road "T"-ing in from the left. The gates stand open except in the | |||
winter. Turn left and you're on the right road. I believe the campground | |||
is a good 20 minute drive back off the main road and there you will have | |||
to branch off the road you're on to the left but there will be a sign. I | |||
can't recall the name of the campground but I'm pretty sure the sign has | |||
the word camp in it. | |||
OK, now about San Diego itself. Things you definitely want to see are | |||
Balboa Park, the San Diego Zoo and Seaport Village. Seaport Village is a | |||
shopping stop. All of these are right down in the heart of San Diego and | |||
all are reasonably well marked. | |||
If you have time, I also recommend Scripps Aquarium, Sea World and Mt. | |||
Palomar. Also, if you're interested in historic things, the Mission San | |||
Juan Capistrano, where the swallows return every year by the thousands is | |||
very close to San Clemente. If you're interested in riding a HUGE Tram | |||
car, drive out to Palm Springs and take the Tram ride up Mt. San Jacinto. | |||
There's a Restaurant/Bar at the top and a 30 degree Fahrenheit temperature | |||
difference between the base and the summit. | |||
If you have any interest in taking a Glider ride let me know by return | |||
e-mail and I'll tell you how to get out to Sky Sailing where I learned to | |||
fly gliders. | |||