20 Mar 2019 - Arrived Admiral Baker RV Park San Diego CA

20 Mar 2019

We pulled chocks at El Centro Naval Air Facility this morning at 0912 hrs and headed west on I-8 towards San Diego. We climbed the Cuyamaca Mountains through the Laguna Summit and the Tecate Divide but they were not too bad. We started below sea level and reached the Crestwood Summit at 4190 ft.  The diesel RAM said, "Is that all you got?" LOL

Picture is a bit fuzzy but the GPS is showing 4207 ft and the Crestwood Summit sign shows 4190 ft

It was really a scenic drive with varying landscapes.  

One of the largest solar farms I have ever seen.  

Solar panels for as far as you can see.

Some pretty barren land west of El Centro

Huge windmill farm on the leeward side of the mountain..   

Downslope winds (katabatic winds) can be ferocious. 
We experienced some very strong winds on our trip today but our RAM pickup
with dual rear wheels is very stable.

More windmills

We continue to climb

Interesting rock formations line the road

We really enjoyed the scenic drive

There are many water stations along the route in case your vehicle overheats

Piles of smoothed rocks.  Surely a water flow created these many years ago

Amazing scenery

Beautiful wild flowers lined our route as we started down the mountain. 
They have obviously had rain here

Wild flowers everywhere

Yellow flowers in the foreground, purple bushes in the background

El Capitan Reservoir on the north side of I-8 just before we arrived in San Diego.

So green here on the windward side of the mountains

We arrived at the Admiral Baker RV Park at 1122 hrs.  That was 106 miles in 2 hrs 10 mins.  Trailer speed here is 55 mph and pulling through the mountains slows us down a bit.  We did not stop between El Centro and San Diego.

We checked in quickly and they really were fantastic about trying to find us a spot that would be easier to access since we are so long.  We got an end spot and slipped right in there.  No neighbors to one side is nice.  Huge park area behind us with green grass so Liberty is happy!

Nice paved spots and this one has a paved patio

Parking lot on the other side so truck is parked close

We are surrounded by hills green with vegetation like we have not seen in a while!!

A look down the RV park drive

Golf course to the north

 

Lots of small shelter areas for campers to use

Odd looking tree trunk.  Unknown variety

Rear shot of our layout.

 

Liberty heading 'home'.

This afternoon we had a nice rain.  Came down pretty good for 45 minutes or so.  Then the sun came out but rain cooled the temps down, jacket weather.  I am still under the proverbial weather fighting a nasty cold and some back issues.  We are probably going to hang around here tomorrow then venture out for the remainder of our time here.  The list is long, there is a lot to see and do.