They'll be coming round the mountain...

Catalina Spa RV Resort

WARNING LOTS OF PHOTOS OF GORGEOUS SCENERY!

One of the things we love about this area is the mountain views. Our most dominant mountain here is Mt San Jacinto, which has had a snow cap since we got here. We always see the same face, so we decided it would be great to take a look at the other side. It also means that we could go and check out Idyllwild Thousand Trails Preserve. So, food and liquids packed, Timmy loaded in we set off.

This is the route we took (anti-clockwise). So west on I-10 to Banning then up, around and down on #74 to Palm Desert.

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What an incredible drive! Highly recommended! The views of Mt San Gorgonio, The valleys and rocks as well as San Jacinto from the back were nothing short of amazing.

Lots of wind turbines in the valley.

Pretty soon we were climbing. Lovely how green the  mountainsides are after all the rain.

On the way up the views of Mount San Gorgonio and the valley below were outstanding. We stopped at a few spots along the way to take photos.

I think that is Big Bear in the far distance

We were soon into Alpine vegetation and we started seeing a bit of snow here and there

We eventually got to the entrance to Idyllwild Resort

Welcome bear

Snow plow piles from the last fall a couple of weeks ago.

Big 5th wheel on a seasonal site. I think he was there since last summer.

The pool

Still lots of snow

We went through the little Alpine town of Idyllwild and stopped at a viewpoint for our lunch. Then carried on down RTE 74 toward Palm Desert. WOW! what a road! After about 10 miles of fairly level driving we got to section beyond Pinyon Pines and it was steep, narrow with sharp curves and switchbacks. Amazing how fast some of the locals travel. They must have been frustrated with us!

San Jacinto peak to the right of the antenna and Tahquitz Rock to the left

Starting to get interesting

Just in case you haven't seen enough rocks

The road just falls away from the road

Lovely desert scenery

Breathe in!

View from a Scenic Vista point. Palm Desert below

There is the road curling around down there

I think that is the Salton sea over there

Rugged hillsides

Another narrow cut 

Be careful going around the corners

Down, down, down

Greenery

 And a couple of pano shots. Click on them to see the full panorama.

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Picking grapefruit, an inch of rain and snow on the mountains

Palm Springs RV Resort

Palm Desert, California

In the park there are many grapefruit trees that have the remains of this last years harvest. The Gatehouse has picker that is available for loan to collect delicious fruit. Michael was able to get some pink grapefruit for my breakfasts.

Learning how to use the picker

Almost got one

There they are, right at the top

Ahh! got one!

A LOT of rain fell over the San Diego area and we got the overflow. An inch of rain in our area overnight. This morning we had the evidence in lots of puddles and snow on the nearby mountains. There are still a lot of clouds pouring over the mountains but I am confident that once those clouds clear we will have a spectacular view of the mountain peaks.

We spent a quiet day at home sitting in the warm sunshine reading our books and generally chilling out.  

Lots of RVs coming in today because the rain in the west has flooded several parks. Travellers have been redirected here. We are now almost full. 

That is Mt San Jacinto peaking out at the top.

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