As we leave our friendly spot in Surprise Arizona to see some new sites in the Golden State the weather was very nice with temps in the upper 70's. The plan was to spend about two and a half weeks taking a casual drive to the coast and enjoying some beach time while exploring some towns that we previously had missed.
We started out on schedule with our first stop in Indio CA where we spent our first night at the Elks #1643 a favorite for us being a perfect spot half way between our digs in Surprise and the coast by way of interstate 10.
We heard many concerns about the strong Sana Ana winds that were kicking up and making driving difficult along I-10 not to mention making the wild fires very unpredictable. So we decided to take a more southern route to the coast away from the winds and fires. This is a much more "INTERESTING" route with switch backs up a much steeper road...some 3,800 ft. out of another favorite town of ours Borrego Springs.
Looking back to Borrego Springs at 2,800 feet
After staying at the Pechanga Resort and Casino "another favorite" in Temecula about 1,000 ft. above sea level we started our decent to the coast on our way to Oceanside.
We noticed the wind was picking up with 4ft. high tumbleweeds bouncing along the road, but didn't think much about it. At this point we should have turned around and gone back to the casino...But Hey...what do we know about Sana-Ana winds and wild fires...WELL NOW A LOT MORE!!!
At one time they feared the fire could go to the ocean...
At places the fire scorched both sides of the road...
While we traveled south/west on highway 15 and 78 we saw a small amount of smoke a little ways in the distance...getting bigger as we got closer with flames dancing around in the wind. At that point fire crews had not arrived on scene but as we traveled towards the coast we started hearing of a new very aggressive fire that they named the Lilac Fire...which we witnessed the beginning of.
This fire ran us out of the Elks #1561 in Ocean Side at 1am...not because of fire but the over whelming amount of smoke and ash...felling unlucky to be in that situation...but being very lucky to be able to move out of Harms Way! This fire scorched over 4,500 acres, destroyed more than 150 homes and killed 54 race horses at a training facility which we remember driving past only hours before.
Driving north along the coast we stopped on a side road in Huntington Beach, another town that we were very familiar with and it was smoke free, but no places to stay so we decided to travel further north...past some of the places we wanted to see and past places we had reservations at...all covered with smoke from the 2nd. largest fire in California's history The Thomas Fire and at this writing only 40% contained.
What a difference a day makes at the pond behind our RV
We ended up in a quaint little town on the coast called Oceano at Elks #2504 within walking distance to Pismo State Beach and the Oceano Dunes State Vehicular Recreation Area...which means you can drive and camp right on the beach. For two days the weather was beautiful and we were planning to take the jeep for a ride on the beach when we woke to more smoky skies from the Thomas Fire which had grown to over 240,000 acres.
There were a few spots along the way to enjoy the ocean
but not many!
So we were off again, still ahead of schedule to Atascadero and another Elks Lodge #2733 a little further north and inland which had some killer Bar-B-Q and clear air.
Then we actually got to a place that was on our schedule to watch our nephew Brad test and practice running his car, a 2008 Mustang GT at Buttonwillow Raceway Park near Bakersfield and far away Sana-Ana winds fires and smoke...except from hot tires.
His Pit Crew checking tire presser after each run...
Brad has transformed his every day driver into this Full Race Machine. As much dedication as it took to change this car now will be used to learn to race faster and faster at every track he goes to...tweaking his car as he tweaks his ability to race it.
In these track sessions Brad wasn't racing against the other 20 something cars on the track at the same time but working on improving his all over speed and handling of his car...of course passing is part of learning and so are spinouts.
Lots of exotic cars...some with taped on numbers...which were every day drivers took there turn on the track that weekend like Porsche, Audi, BMW, Mercedes, Ferrari, Lamborghini, McLaren among others...Well this is California...
All in all it wasn't the best time to visit The Golden State because of all the wild fires but we took on a new respect for what people go through living here and the thousands of dedicated firefighters that spend hundreds of hours fighting these massive fires.
We want to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a Healthy New Year!
LIVE
LAUGH
LOVE
SanTony
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