February 27, 2012
Day 2: Waiting out a storm at Viejas Indian reservation
Today I stayed put at the Viejas Indian Reservation. The weather was overcast, cold and windy all day.
At lunchtime I took the free shuttle from the RV park to the casino. With a coupon the lunch buffet cost only $5. Best meal deal of the tour.
I walked around the huge casino. It takes 10 minutes to walk briskly from one end to the other. The casino looks new and the architecture is striking on the inside, but it's just a big windowless box on the outside. The casino has several restaurants and bars, and I was surprised that it has no hotel. The shuttle driver told me that they plan to build a large hotel next year.
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I walked across the road to the outlet mall. It also has tasteful architecture, with several pedestrian plazas. Parking is out of sight from the pedestrian areas. The outlet mall has a huge outdoor performance space. Like the casino, the architecture is upscale and modern yet definitely "Indian". The outlet mall was deserted, though. Probably built about the same time as the 2008 financial crash.
The morning had some drizzle but the rain didn't start until 2 PM. The rain continued all night. The temperature dropped into the 30's. Close to freezing, so the snow level is not far above my campsite.
I'm well rested after sitting around all day. My original plan for the next day's ride was to go only 30 miles to the campground at Cuyamaca Rancho State Park at 5000 feet elevation. The campground is likely to have deep snow, but after a day of rest I think I can make it all the way to the Palm Canyon campground at Anza Borrego Desert State Park. It's on the dry side of the mountains at only 1000 feet elevation.
The evening was quite boring, laying down or sitting in my tiny tent while it rained nonstop outside. Most of this tour will be in deserts, so I should have very little rain for the remainder of the tour.
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