Cuyamaca Rancho State Park

My first proper travel diary from the good ole US of A! Wheeee! Today I drove from San Diego up to Indio, which is fairly close to Joshua Tree National Park, which I shall enter tomorrow. For most of the day I've driven on largely two-lane state routes, through a very scenic state park, the Cuyamaca Rancho. It was a very purdy area with lots of cozy groves and lakes and fields, and some stunning vistas out across the Vallecito Mountains and the Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, which is a huge stretch of desert going all the way east to the Salton Sea.

The 4-lane road going along the Salton Sea and all the surrounding area up to the foothills, lie below sea level and the temperatures are still quite warm here. As I drove through the desert I saw tons of people out playing with motorbikes or ATVs in the sand.

Black & White pic from the Park.


Same area.


A little further north. It was a very peaceful drive. Not much traffic and people seemed relaxed and smiling.


In many places it looked like the forest had spouted gray hairs. It was a wise old forest, that's for sure.


This was the view from a lookout point just south of the little town of Julian. A few minutes after this was taken I was driving on the road you can just make out cutting across the desert through the center-right of the pic.


It was so pretty up there.


And in the far, far distance you can just imagine the Salton Sea.