Thanksgiving in California

I can never leave for a road trip promptly at sunrise.  I find delaying tactics like cleaning, and this time I tidied up the kitchen, which desperately needed it. I finally drove off from town at 1:30pm Tuesday after stopping to get beer and rib bones for the dogs at Fry's in Sierra Vista.   All four dogs were walked briefly in the morning. The drive was uneventful.

I spent the first night at the free dry campsite behind the General Patton museum at Chiriaco Pass, 30 miles east of Indio, CA off I-10. I discovered this free campsite the last time I drove though, on my roadtrip earlier this summer.  I wasn't tired when I pulled over, but there is nothing affordable or free going westward.  Once past Indio, traffic congests and driving becomes stressful.  At least stopping here at the free site allowed me to rest for the bigger drive in the morning.

There were several camper vans already parked, with the vehicles spread out for privacy.   The campsite manager had solar lights around several small pine trees around his camper. Dark, with just the light of a waning gibbous moon, I took the dogs on a short walk on the dirt trails going north.   I didn't want to go too far away from the town's lights as I didn't want to meet any nocturnal predators out hunting. There wasn't much ambient light and the only light I had was the small light on my smart phone.  We only walked up to the water tank and back down to the back of the museum where many World War II tanks are resting.  The dogs got several local dogs excited with a short barkfest but no harm was done. We got .8 miles in.

I slept here for the night and got up at 4am to repeat another walk down the dirt road, this time walking 1.6 miles before taking off for the long road trip.   The trails are on the far east side of Joshua Tree National Park. By early Wednesday there was already a lot of traffic westbound on I-10 and then I-210 as I got near San Bernadino.  There were several slo-gos but I was moving.

Weather was cool as I drove across the Los Padres National Forest.   At a rest stop near Lebec I let the dogs walk with me on a maintenance trail that I thought would take us up a small hill.  The hill was on private land and protected by a rusty barbed wire.  The cool marine layer added the morning's coolness, with a slight aroma of soot and later cow manure as I entered the vast valley of farm fields and dairy farms.

At least the cooler weather this time made this more tolerable for the dogs, who suffered earlier this summer in the heat when I drove through.  It never got above 62F.  The hills were looking parched, just like they looked earlier this year.  I didn't see any green grass until I got north of Los Banos.

Traffic became congested as I reached central California and Los Banos.  My estimated time on Google Maps kept getting postponed due to traffic accidents.  By the time I got on I-680 in the North Day, I had passed three accidents, with one serious one near Tracy.  Traffic crawled along, I was getting restless and my radiator was stressing out.  Frustrated that I missed the Ygnacio Road exit near Walnut Creek, where an open space park would allow me to walk the dogs off leash, I pulled on CA24 west, then Pleasant Hill Road to continue driving north and parallel to congested I-680.  It was here that I found a parking area for the East Briones Regional Park, a part of the East Bay Park District.  There was no parking fee and dogs were allowed.  Walking these hills was a godsend and a great way to give the dogs and me some much-needed stress relief.

The East Briones park is nestled in an oppulent neighborhood of hillside homes and solar roofs.  Several other dog walkers were starting with me, so I followed them.  I had grabbed a map but had no idea of what I would find.  What I did find were pleasant views of the surrounding towns, lush green grass and mature California Live Oaks hugging steep slopes, the Sacramento River glistening in the afternoon sun, and Mount Diablo, the tallest hill in the area, reaching high in the east.  Mount Diablo's trails are off limit to dogs since it's part of the state park system, and no dogs are allowed on state park trails in California.

I hiked most of the Lafayette Ridge trail, a switchback and in parts muddy trail.  I turned around when I reached a small summit as the trails continue for several more hills. Other dogs were off leash so I let my dogs run off-leash as well.  They met a nine-month-old white Lab who was excited to get out.  I tried to keep my distance from the other dogs.  Only later did I read online that not all trails are open to dogs.  The Lafayette Ridge trail is on the east side of the park, but there are other entrances to this park that are off limits to the dogs.  I would come back to this place again with more time to explore!

I could have hiked some more, but I didn't want to keep Eric waiting.  I found an auto parts store where I picked up some radiator fluid, showered at the base gym and by 8pm Eric and I met at Mountain Mike's Pizza off N Texas Street in Fairfield, a gourmet pizza chain with stores in both California and Nevada.  It was very tasty pizza but also pricey pizza.  After dinner we departed, as Eric had other friends to visit.  I took the dogs on one more 1.5-mile loop around the base's duck pond and fitness trail.  That made our total miles hiked to over six miles; not bad for a long road trip.