From Bob M
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:
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:
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:
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.
California