Locomotoring

For most people, a camping trip is common place. Not for us. We are city people, having grown up and lived most of our lives in metropolitan areas. We know how to visit museums and eat at restaurants. We appreciate books and movies. We can even attend festivals – jazz, coffee. When it comes to life skills, it is summarized by our ability to hike a few miles and our ability to cook up a meal anywhere. Have we changed a car tire or pooped in the wild? No sir, but theoretically speaking, we knew how to. With that in our back pocket, we decided to go camping.

Most people camp in summers – the days are long and nights are warm. But we love the deserts. There is something romantic about deserts that no other place captures for us. Our last desert trip was Joshua Tree. And compared to that trip, we had Antarctic ready winter gear. This Thanksgiving, we decided to camp at Tamarisk Grove in Anza Borrego with a camping head start in Cuyama Badlands.

We set off on Saturday morning. The Volvo loaded full of IKEA Samla boxes, each separated by function – food, sleeping, sanitation and so forth. There were a few tense moments when we realized that the car was jam packed. Had we overpacked? But once we were off on the road, we noticed the plus – there was no rattling.

The driving to our first site was routine California driving, picturesque. I was anxiously worrying about the short days. We arrived in time to set up camp, just about. We were glad to have upgraded the sleeping pad from a one inch backpacking one to a four inch car camping one. By the time we were done setting up, it was 5 pm. Shortly after, coyotes started howling, the evening got cold rapidly and stars filled up the sky. We had chosen the site via Hipcamp, it was the “Draw Camp in the Far West”, hosted by Songdog Ranch. The site offered sweet potable water and pit toilet. The particular campsite was up on a mesa, which allowed for fantastic views and cold wind.

Next day, i.e., on Sunday, I had planned on checking out the Carrizo Plain National Monument. It wasn’t too far from the mesa, at least as the crow flies. The Carrizo Plain would be a sight to behold during the wildflower season. However, it is California’s own African Serengeti and as such, well worth a visit anytime. About 10 miles on the Soda Lake road, an off-script adventure began – we got a flat tire. A call to the AAA confirmed that they were at least 90 minutes away. So we changed the tire – thank you, YouTube academy, and hobbled back to our site after adjusting temporary spare tire pressure at Taft. During these anxiety filled hours, we realized that all of our Volvo’s tires were old. They hadn’t rolled around much, thanks to the pandemic years, but they were weather beaten and fragile all the same. Between the Songdog father and daughter, Jim and Jen, we de-risked the possibility of getting stuck in a potential mudhole on the mesa if and when it rained. They let us park the car at their ranch and gave us a ride to and fro on their buggy. Early on Monday, we packed camp in a hurry, before the morning shower began, and made our way to Bakersfield for a set of new tires.

When in Bakersfield, it would have been a sin to not go to Panjabi Dhaba. They got written up in New York Times in 2019, but they have been famous since long before. Tawa roti and pakoda kadhi was lunch. The off-script adventure, in addition to broader LA area Chakka Jaam also meant that we had to stop at Temecula. Setting up camp at Tamarisk Grove late in the evening wasn’t an option. We were both glad of a warm bed and a hot shower at the Hampton Inn.

On Tuesday, we left Temecula early to get to our campsite in Anza Borrego via a quick detour to the visitor center. The visitor centers at these parks are often full of wonderful curiosities such as hyper local t-shirts and books. We armed ourselves with a couple of t-shirts – one adorned with an ocotillo and another with a bighorn sheep. From the Borrego Springs grocery store, we picked up drinking water before heading out to the campsite. Over the next two days, we experienced a routine desert adventure. The days were warm and the evenings crept up quickly. Not surprisingly, it was warm inside the cabin. The site offered hot water shower too. The campsite itself is at the intersection of two roads, and instead of howling coyotes, there was traffic coming and going. And of course, there was mezcal and Haldiram’s bhujia!

We drove back up on the day of Thanksgiving, a thankfully uneventful drive.

They say that travel broadens your mind. On our way to New Cuyama, we drove past the town of Taft. Here in Taft, we saw hundreds of oil pumps in operation. The county, Kern county, once produced more oil than any single county in USA. Really, right in our backyard! Today, they are transitioning to carbon sequestering. Here is a link to an article “Inside a California oil town’s divisive plan to survive the energy transition”. The town is in-between transition now, the pumps are still in motion. Imagine a desert landscape with hundreds of colorful drinking birds, nodding up and down, up and down.