We knew we were starting out the weekend a little behind the 8 ball with having both of our quads not running at their peak performance. Joel started out with spending around 2 hours putting a new starter on our smaller quad…but that still didn’t help with the quiet that ensued every time we turned the motor over. A little more research and we discovered it was a simple $7 solenoid. So, deciding to leave that quad at home, we then made hasty preparations to finish our packing and get on the road. We were still unsure about what the performance of our other quad would be, as it kept stalling after idling for a short while. We were realizing the difficulty in our busy schedules which kept us from starting the quads in the summer and ensuring we had some basic maintenance check-ups on it in the down season.
Got the camera? Check. Filled the water tank on the trailer? Check. Ready for a quick getaway and fun in the desert? Check.
We are always awestruck at the changing landscape as we drive out to the desert. Starting out in our suburb and quickly changing to the backcountry areas of San Diego county, passing cows in open fields, climbing in elevation with the vast mountain ranges spanning the horizon, to then dropping down to the desert floor. Our only complaint amongst the beautiful drive out is that our cell service is always terrible the entire way! We like to video chat when we are driving our two separate vehicles and it just ends up with us getting about two sentences in until it tries to re-establish a connection again.
As we near our usual base camp area (Holmes Camp in Ocotillo Wells), the excitement starts coursing through us as we see other trailers dotted across the vast landscape, flags and dust both flying in the desert wind. Pulling into Holmes camp and seeing everyone out riding, chatting and laughing outside their camps and trailers all grouped together in familial circles…ahhh, this was the reminder of what desert season is all about.
After getting our camp all situated before a beautiful sunset, we decided to wait on dinner and just had a quick snack of guac and chips because we wanted to get out and do some night riding! This is where our adventures and mishaps began. The quad was quickly up and running with Joel driving it and I would follow behind in the Jeep. I must admit, without a light bar on the Jeep, I felt like I was driving in thick San Francisco fog while I was behind the dust that the quad was kicking up in front of me. Add that to the ever-growing list of future Jeep upgrades! The quad stalled once, came back to life and we continued on our way. Stalled again, and this time, it was a no go. Each time that we go out, we are better prepared for the variety of issues that come up when offroading. So, we weren’t too worried about getting back to camp, as we had tow straps and some handy flashing lights to attach to the back of the quad. What we weren’t prepared for was a patch of super deep sand that the Jeep struggled through while towing the quad. Joel had taken over driving the Jeep since I didn’t know the way back and I steered the quad. After some spinning tires going nowhere, we took the floor mats out and put them behind the tires as Joel backed up. Meanwhile, I was sitting on the quad a little ways back from the Jeep, but not quite far enough away for the wave of sand that came cascading down next to me. I look back and laugh, envisioning that if it was happening in slow motion, you would have seen me look like I was dabbing as I quickly put my arm up out of instinct to block the sand (even though I was wearing a helmet and goggles). The majority of the sand narrowly missed me. Getting back to camp was finally uneventful and we enjoyed the bright pops of color in the sky from a camp sending off fireworks nearby.
It was now 8 o’clock and we remembered that we hadn’t eaten any dinner yet, so I get started with my plan for baked ravioli. “Hey babe…the stove isn’t turning on…is the propane on?” I asked Joel. “Yeah, it’s turned on, but….the tanks are empty.” Oh boy. The valves were open and we think, unfortunately, that someone tampered with our tanks when our trailer was sitting in our driveway. As is common with travelling and camping out in the desert especially, is that you learn to be very adaptable and flexible to the changing circumstances, and this wasn’t any different. At least we had our generator with us, so it was microwaved chicken fried steaks and carrot sticks that would be our dinner for the night! We sat down to a cozy campfire, our modified dinner, and hot cocoa and ice cream. We ended our evening star gazing and practicing taking some long exposure photos of the starry night with our camera and tripod.
Next day, new struggles, but, to save this from being too lengthy, our trip ended quicker than we anticipated. I made a silly move lifting something that was far too heavy for me and pulled something in my back (very weird sound in my back when it happened!) and had to lay down immediately and rest. We packed up and drove home…me with a frozen ravioli package on my back as an ice pack!
We continued our new tradition of being in the desert on Halloween weekend, and, you win some, you lose some. I wouldn’t call our trip a loss though, we have memories to carry with us and lessons learned.
Happy trails to you all and many more adventures to share around the campfire!