Up Country

After a day at the beach, we decided we needed to see what was up in the mountains - the San Bernadinos. So we headed north from Riverside and took the Waterman Canyon Road as it climbed from an elevation of 1200' and wound its way around and up the canyon finally topping out at 7200'. When we left, it was a partly cloudy day and the temperature was in the 60s. We could see clouds ahead obscuring the tops of the hills. We stopped several times to see the mega city of Los Angeles spread out at our feet.
The higher we went the more it became foggy - an icy fog that rimed the trees and make the branches and needles a work of art. There were piles of snow at the roadsides because of a snowfall 5 days before. A stop at Lake Arrowhead Village and a short drive around a neighborhood, showed us that this was indeed an enclave of the rich - lovely chalets clinging to hillsides and driveways dotted with Mercedes and Lexus SUVs.
We continued the "Rim of the World" drive and the ice fog dissipated and the skies became crystal clear which made the contrast with the ice coated trees starkly beautiful. The next stop was Big Bear Lake - a playground of middle-class folk. Downhome kind of cottages and a nice village complete with McDonalds! There are several ski runs nearby which were just opening because of the recent snowfall.
About noon, we made our way back down to the valley and spent the next few hours driving the RV toward Arizona. We got to Quartzsite by nightfall and stayed on some free land near the expressway as we boondocked for the night. As some of you may know, Quartzsite has a year round population of about 2500 - it is a dry desert place with not much to offer BUT it is a warm and a free place to spend the winter for LOTS of RVers. In January, they say that there is close to 250,000 people dry camping in the desert on BLM (Burearu of Land Management) land!! Just pull up to cactus you like and set up your solar panels and wind generator. There are lots of hills and back country to explore in your jeep. We have met people there on a past visit who had found gold bits up in the hills. Tomorrow, we will get to our winter destination - Mesa, Arizona.