Almond Orchards and Orange Groves

As we left Grandma’s on Wednesday, 2/27, we saw the aftermath of the nearly 8 inches of rain that had fallen in the last two days. In the valley some roads and vineyards were flooded.  Even more rain had fallen at higher elevations causing more serious flooding. We made it out of the valley and headed south without any problems.

The road out of St. Helena was partially flooded.

We saw several cars along the vineyard roads under water.  Ouch.

Our next stop was something new for us. We recently joined Harvest Hosts, an organization that allows you to stay overnight at participating wineries, farms, and museums free of charge. The catch, if you want to call it that, is that campers are expected to patronize the host’s business. Hmmmmm… pay $30 for a campsite or spend $30 and take home a bottle of wine, almonds, jam, etc. That’s a no brainer!  Most of the time it’s dry camping, but our first experience with the program was at Vista Ranch & Cellars in Merced, CA and it was deluxe. Vista put in water and 50-amp electrical hookups behind their tasting room.  We had a lovely view of the almond orchards in full bloom.  The tasting room and gift shop were fun, and it was no hardship to leave with a bottle of wine and a bag of goodies. We also got permission to walk Riley in the almond orchard and he enjoyed some off-leash playtime with Daddy. Overall an excellent introduction to Harvest Hosts that we hope to repeat soon! 

Our giant kitty playing with his teaser toy. 

The almond orchards were in full bloom.

So pretty and it smelled wonderful too!

Walking back to the RV - you can just see it parked at the end of the row.

The next day (2/28) we continued on to Bakersfield, CA for two nights at Orange Grove RV Park. Orange Grove lives up to its name – there are orange trees everywhere - between every site, all along the perimeter, and if that isn’t enough, there’s a whole grove out the back gate. Best of all, campers are encouraged to pick as many as they want. We stayed here last year but it was later in the season and we’d missed the oranges. This time we hit it just right and loaded up on amazing fresh picked oranges. We’ll be drinking fresh squeezed orange juice for a week!

Orange Grove RV Park lives up to its name!

We can pick as many as we want! Yum!!

Today's harvest of delicious tree ripened California oranges. 

Riley guards our booty.

We spent Friday hitting Costco, Home Depot, getting groceries, etc. That dang compartment door broke again, so Rog bought a whole new locking latch and installed it. Hopefully that will do the trick and there will be no more roadside duct tape dances.  Before leaving, we also took advantage of the free washing station at Orange Grove to get both the RV and the Acadia shiny clean.

Ok, I couldn't resist.  These monstrosities are at the campground entrance.
This is how NOT to prune a tree... any tree.   Only Dr. Seuss would be proud. 

On Saturday, 3/2, we swapped our full-hookup private RV park for a dry campsite situated a mile or so down a dusty dirt road. (Ask me again why we just washed the car and rig?? Lol.)  But I have to admit, Sawtooth Canyon BLM Campground was totally worth it.  It was so quiet - no traffic, no trains, and the night sky was spectacular. The campground was a find too. It’s well maintained, several of sites have ramadas with picnic tables, there’s a cute little playground, and pit toilets. And it's totally free!  It’s a favorite of rock climbers and we got to see some deranged folks defying death on the rock pinnacles. We were happy to hike up the hillside above the campground – great views and both feet still firmly on the ground. 😊

Walkies among the rock formations. 

I will totally pass. 

Finally found some Riley-sized bones! Lol. 

View of the campground from our hike up the hill.

Dusk on the trail.

Heading back to camp.

Evening light on the hills.

Ahhhhhh. Peace and quiet.

Our next stop in Desert Hot Springs was recommended by a couple we met at the Harvest Host site and saw again at Orange Grove. They raved about the hot mineral spring pools at Caliente Springs RV Resort. Since my good friend and happy hour accomplice, Elaine, was visiting the area just when we'd be passing through, I called to ask about reservations. Lucky us,  they were running a ½ price special on RV sites, so we booked a week!  Sounds like happy hour karma to me!

So we escaped the snow and survived the floods, guess what's coming next....