February 7 - February 23 -- Thousand Trails Palm Springs & Thousand Trails Pio Pico Campgrounds
Written By: Wendy Ptolemy
Photos By: Scott Ptolemy
After rainy Arizona, we were looking forward to sunny southern California. Our kids were still becoming used to the long travel days in between campgrounds, and we had an almost 6 hour drive ahead of us. We left early knowing that it would be a long difficult day, and our kids did not prove us wrong! At one point Caroline was screaming and losing her mind about how she wanted a mitten. I did not have a mitten with me, so our conversation went something like this:
Caroline: "I WANT A MITTEN!!!"
Me: "A mitten? Really? Why? It’s 70 degrees outside. I don’t have your mittens now."
Caroline: "NO! A MITTEN!"
Me: "Hmmm…I not sure what you want..."
…after 30 minutes of screaming for a “mitten,” Scott says, "Do you want a mint?"
Caroline: "YES! A mitten!!"
Me: "Oh! A mint! Say, ‘mint!’"
Caroline: "MITTEN."
At least it gave Scott and I a good laugh, and Caroline stopped screaming for a few minutes after I gave her a mint.
We had heard from other fellow travelers that the Thousand Trails Palm Springs Campground is a notoriously tight campground lined with palm trees that make turning and parking next to impossible with a big RV. At Thousand Trials campgrounds, you are not assigned a specific site. Upon arrival you simply drive around and see what's available, first come first serve style. We knew that driving around Thousand Trails Palm Springs was next to torture. Luckily we had been invited to a Facebook group chat that was organized by The Republic of Nomads. These groups exist for most of the Thousand Trails campgrounds and help families who travel fulltime to connect while on the road. On our drive in, we sent a message to the group about open sites, and we were met with an instant flurry of responses about one site that was open and next to a group of 5 other families that also all had 4 year-olds. Phew, we knew which site was our destination. When we arrived, we were greeted by 3 families who snatched up our kids to play so that we could focus on getting parked. Three men who appeared to be the self appointed parking directors of the campground came out to help Scott navigate the narrow space between the palm trees. Scott expertly navigated the narrow space, and we were then invited to an outdoor movie that night at our neighbor's site. We had briefly met a few of the families in passing at the Xscaper's Bash event a few week prior, but we didn't really know any of these people who instantly made us feel like family. It was an amazingly comforting feeling to not have to try to work our way into a group, but just to be welcomed from the start without any questions asked except for the ages of our children. Luckily we had the right answer: FOUR and two.
Our time at Palm Springs was almost like an event with all the families around that we quickly became friends. The Facebook group chat was constantly going off with invitations for play dates and group hiking trips to trails in the area. Parker and I thrived off of the energy and constant stimulation. I pulled out a sensory bin for Parker and Caroline one afternoon, and all the other 4 year-olds slowly emerged. Before I knew it we had 6 other 4-year old's in our site. Apparently sensory bins are like magnets for 4 year-olds. The Teacher Wendy in me was overjoyed with our impromptu preschool that we had just opened up for the afternoon.
Our Palm Springs pizza party was how we had envisioned all our pizza parties would go when we were dreaming up our plans to make pizzas across the country. We sent out a group chat with the date and time, and everyone was so excited that several families offered to bring sides and tables to add to the community. It was a sunny afternoon in the upper 60s. Perfect day for a 50 Pies party. Scott cranked out 24 pizzas, and I prepared 12 mini date pies. Dates are widely grown in southern California, and we like to try to incorporate local ingredients whenever we can. Slowly people started showing up. We vaguely recognized some faces of people that we had seen at Bash, but did not have a chance to actually meet. Other people met people that they had interacted with on social media, but they were now actually able to meet in person. The pizza party ended up lasting hours longer than we had originally planned. The kids played pirates and knights, dug in the dirt, turn boxes into pirate ships, and ran around until their hearts were content to sit and play quietly together as the evening came to a close. It took a while for Scott to make all 24 pizzas, and his feet were aching at the end of the night, but we had no shortage of mouths to feed and all that was left were pizza crusts that kids had strewn about. New friends were made, old friends reconnected, and we were went to bed with a renewed sense of purpose and excitement for future 50 pies parties.
We took one day for just our family and went out to the Indian Canyon to do the Andreas Canyon hike loop. It was a spectacularly beautiful hike. The hike was through an oasis that was along a gorgeous creek lined with native California Fan Palm Trees, also known as the Washingtonia Filifera. It is the only native palm tree in California, and it has a bushy trunk with palms that would sometimes go all the way down to the ground. The trail wound around the creek, crossed it and then climbed up over a ridge on the other side that provided views of the mountains and houses that had been built into the sides of the mountain. It was a short 2-mile hike rich with different landscapes that was perfect to keep both of our kids entertained enough to keep hiking.
Another afternoon, a group of the moms organized a moms’ outing, and we all carpooled to a nearby hot springs. We brought appetizers and beverages and spent the whole afternoon soaking the hot springs, sipping our drinks, and swapping stories and tips of what it is like being a mom on the road living this crazy lifestyle. It was amazingly rejuvenating for me to have a kid free afternoon with 8 other like minded moms.
We had plans to go to Joshua Tree National Park while we were at Palm Springs since it was less than an hour drive away. Unfortunately the morning we had planned to go, Parker and I woke up with horrible stomach aches and started throwing up. No Joshua Tree for us that day. We were only in Palm Springs for 1 week, and with my work schedule we did not have another opportunity to go. We were crushed to miss out on the iconic national park. As we were packing up the night before we left, we started talking about options for how we could possibly make Joshua Tree work. We knew that some of the new friends we had met at our pizza party had just left to go boondock at the southern entrance of Joshua Tree. (For those of you that are unfamiliar with RV culture, “boondock” means to go somewhere with your rig without any electrical, water or sewage hook ups. It is often on land managed by the BLM -Bureau of Land Management- or national forest land). We messaged them asking if they would be alright with some visitors for a few days. They immediately responded by sending a pin of their exact location, and we made a 10:30pm decision to boondock the next two nights. When we arrived the next day, our kids were overjoyed to see each other and they spent the next several hours playing and exploring the surrounding desert around our campsite.
That evening, we headed into the park and drove 10 minutes to go to the visitor center to make plans for the next day. The park ranger told us about a 2.5 mile hike, Mastodon Peak Loop, that was just down the road that would be good for kids. It was currently 3:30, and sunset was at 5:23. Could we finish the hike before sunset? Sure, why not, let's give a shot! We hustled to the trailhead, strapped Caroline in the backpack and started telling Parker an enthralling story about pirates to keep him motivated to continue hiking. We kept a solid pace and made it to the top of a rocky peak that boosted amazing sunset desert views of large boulders that seemed to be haphazardly strew about the desert. We took in the beauty, snapped a few photos and kept hiking to try to beat sunset. A little while later, a glance down at our watches told us that the sun would set in 2 minutes, and a trail marker told us that we had 1/2 mile left. There was no way that we would finish before sun set, but we made a game out of running to find the next cool rock, and we at least made it to the truck before dark. We were completely enamored with our first introduction to the beauty and unique landscape of Joshua Tree. The kids went to bed quickly that night, worn out from the hike and playing with friends. After kiddo bedtime we had a fire with our new friends and we all ended up chatting until well past midnight. Scott and I were once again amazed at how we were able to deeply connect with another family in a short amount of time.
We spent the next day fully exploring Joshua Tree. At recommendation of the ranger the day before, we drove past the cholla cactus garden and did not let our kids out. The cactus are known to "jump" and attach to people if you go near them, and with our two overly active kids, we did not want to take any chances to have to pull barbed cacti needles out of their limbs. We drove out to Keys View, which provided a breathtaking view of the Coachella Valley with the Santa Rosa Mountains in the distance and the Salton Sea down below. We explored Skull Rock, which pirate Parker was thrilled to see. Instead of hiking on a marked trail, we opted to let our kids explore the large rocks and boulders surrounding Skull Rock. We all spent over an hour climbing to the tops of boulders to get a different view, looking for caves tucked into corners of boulders, and standing at the base of Joshua Trees to soak in the beauty of these distinctive and rare plants that reminded us of tree in the Lorax. When we had our fill of exploration, we headed back to our campsite and let the kids run free in our small patch of desert for one more evening with their new friends. We could get used to this lifestyle, I thought as I watched the sunset over the mountains and heard yelps of joy among the kids digging in the sand and laughter coming from a joke that was just told by our new friends.
We headed out the next day to meet up with one of Scott’s college roommates for a night in Ocotillo Wells. It is another boon docking spot that off-roading enthusiasts flock to on the weekends. We were there on a Friday night, and it was packed with people on their off-vehicles all evening. Scott hadn’t seen his old roommate in over 5 years, so it was great for them to catch up and reminisce about their glory days in college. It was a quick stop, but well worth the detour to be able to connect again with good friends. After we said good bye, we made our way to Thousand Trials Pio Pico Campground near San Diego. During the drive, the scenery changed from dry dusty desert with cacti to lush green mountains. I could fell my skin soaking up the moisture in the air, and I was overwhelmed with joy that our campsite had grass instead of dirt or sand. It was tired of constantly swepping dust off our floor and counters and having to vacuum dirt out of the kids’ bed everyday.
Several of our friends that were at Palm Springs were also heading to Pio Pico around the same time, including our friends that we had just boondocked with at Joshua Tree, so San Diego ended up being another whirlwind of activity. We were also within 30 minutes of downtown San Diego, and it was my birthday weekend, so we had to see and do all the fun things! On a beautiful warm and sunny day, we headed out to La Jolla beach to meet up with some friends from Wenatchee that had moved to San Diego a few years ago. We hadn’t seen them in over 2 years, and they hadn’t even met Caroline yet. We spent a relaxing day with them on the beach, soaking up the sun and catching up. That evening Scott surprised me with my birthday present - a one night stay in a hotel in downtown San Diego and a ticket to go see Chicago! When I went to check in at the hotel, I told the person at the desk that I travel full-time with two toddlers and this was my birthday present to have one night away. “Wow, you sound like you need an upgrade to a suite,” he said to me. I graciously accepted the upgrade and found myself on the second to the top floor in a giant room that was twice the size of my home on wheels. Chicago was amazing and my 6th row seat made it even more enjoyable so that I could actually see the expressions on the actors’ faces. I reveled in the time to myself and spent the next morning slowly eating my breakfast in peace while reading my book.
We took advantage our close proximity to San Diego and our reciprocal museum membership the next two days. We went to the Museum of Natural History and the Fleet Science Center that were both free with our reciprocal membership. Both museums offered a wide range of activities for the kids to explore and learning opportunities for Scott and I. One of the highlights of the natural history museum was the reptile room that had a variety of snakes, lizards, spiders, and other reptiles from the desert. A couple of snakes were extremely active that made it all the more exciting to watch the snake’s tongue lick the glass. Caroline loved watching the snake and tried to imitate it and lick the glass as well, which was promptly redirected. The highlight of the science museum was the giant ball pit. Parker especially loved sinking down in the balls and then trying to kick and swim his way to the top of the balls. He thought it was hilarious and had full belly laughs the entire time we were in the pit.
While we were in San Diego, it was my birthday. I wasn’t exactly sure what my birthday on the road would look like, but I had tried to keep my expectations low, assuming that we would just have a quiet evening with just the four of us. Amazingly though, the was a small pack of us that just happened to all have roughly the same travel plans and had been traveling around with for the past month. Scott sent out a message in the campground group chat to propose a potluck dinner with everyone to celebrate my birthday. Everyone answered with enthusiasm and potluck plans were made. Four other families met us in the campground’s clubhouse, and we shared a meal complete with wide spread of delicious foods, kids running around screaming, lots of laughs, and birthday candles. It was a perfect birthday celebration with new friends, and my heart could not have been happier that evening as I went to bed one year older and only slightly wiser.
After downtown San Diego was explored and the birthday celebrations were over, we only had two days left at Pio Pico, and we desperately needed some down time. We rested up, cleaned, ran errands and got some work done. We even managed to squeeze in one last hike at the campground with our friends. When we told Parker morning we were leaving that we were going to an event to meet new friends, his response was, “Why? We already have friends here!” He couldn’t be more right, but we didn’t know that we would meet this amazing group and that it would be hard to leave them all. We signed up for the West Coast Fulltime Families Reunion months ago before we met any road friends. So, we said our goodbyes, and grabbed some sourdough started from our friend so that we could carry them with us on our travels. We left our new road family with parting words of, “We’ll see you down the road!” We have quickly realized how small the full time travel community is, so we knew those words were true, and that we would see them again.