On to San Diego - Monday, April 20

Slept in a bit at Sue and Bill’s, then packed up the van and slipped away, headed toward San Diego via the Sultan Sea and Julian. We had texted Derek and Kaitlin, friends of Sally’s sister, Wendy, yesterday after Sally thought she recognized them at the bottom of Mt. San Jacinto while waiting for Dave and I.  They were just south of Julian, and were expecting to be in town today.  Our plan was to rendezvous with them, take them to lunch and then deliver them back to the PCT, about 15 miles east of town.

We made a quick stop for pops before entering highway 10 east.  We exited 10 onto hwy 86, cruising next to the Salton Sea, a huge salt water body.  It was a thriving vacation spot, so I was told, until the fish in the lake died off. Now the area is run down.
We passed many, many agricultural fields growing Palm Trees, fruits and nuts.  We turned onto hyw 78, continuing our desert drive.  The Ocotillo were not quite in bloom, but many flowers were.  We stopped for some pictures.

The PCT intersects the road at Scissors Crossing.  We passed by about noon, expecting to see a few PCT hikers. We were prepared to give lifts to Julian, but saw no one.  We continued on to Juian and went straight to the Sheriff’s office to visit Jackie, the trail angel that opened the bathroom and conference room for us last year.  We found her sitting at her desk.  She looked up and Sally asked her, “Is there some place we can get some water?”  She started to point out the drinking fountain as she had last year, then recognized us, let out a squeal of recognition and scurried from her desk and through the side door to give us a hug.  We talked for an hour and found her to be as kind, engaging and thoughtful as we remembered.  Turns out she is retiring this December 31st.  Her and Irene are moving to Wisconsin as soon as they sell their desert place outside Julian. We mentioned that no one was leaving water for the PCT  hikers at Scissor’s Crossing anymore. She declared she would enjoy taking over that responsibility and would look into it.

We left Jackie and drove around the block, parking up the street from Mom’s Place, where free pies and drinks are given to PCT hikers.  We looked inside for Derek and Kaitlin. Their most recent text said they were grocery shopping but we thought we might check the pie place.  We found them in the corner grocery store, resupplying for the next leg of their hike.  Via text, Wendy agreed to buy their resupply and lunch.  With grocery bags in hand, we headed back to Mom’s for lunch. 

Both Derek and Kaitlin looked great and were really enjoying the hike.  Scissor’s is at mile 77, yet neither were sore nor had blisters.  

After lunch, we drove them back to Scissor’s Crossing. Kaitlin was a bit nervous about getting back on the trail, but Derek’s enthusiasm soon had her smiling and ready to go. They each were carrying 6 liters of water for the dry stretch ahead.

Sally and I again headed west on 78, Oceanside north of San Diego our goal.  We arrived after dark and sought out a place to park the van for the night.  I had called the Walmart in Oceanside about sleeping in their lot, but they said they did not allow overnight parking and directed us to a Superstore just a few miles away.  We pulled into the proffered Walmart, drew the curtains and settled in, about 8:30.  I stayed up to type the blog while Sally fell asleep on the bed.  About 10:30 pm someone knocked on our door.  I parted the curtains to see a cute hispanic girl in a security uniform looking uneasily at me.  She told me we could not camp for the night at this Walmart and that we should leave before the next guard came on duty as he was mean.  I asked where we could sleep for the night.  She said the next Walmart east did not have security guards and we could sleep there.  I pulled back the curtains so I could drive and quickly traversed town to the next Walmart.

We parked, drew the shades and soon fell asleep, half expecting another knock on our windows; but it never came.  We slept through the night and awoke to overcast skies.