On To Southern California

Hi all friends,

I'm happy to say that on Sunday I was able to fix the problem with the leaking diesel fuel back in Wellton, AZ. YEAH! Miracles never cease! So on Monday we left Wellton and drove thru the desert dunes and Yuma, AZ, then up, over, and across snow capped mountains then down into San Diego, CA. We stuck to the plan and pulled into the Mission Bay RV Resort.

I drove the first leg of the trip which took us through several amazing areas, the first being the extreme southwestern desert of Arizona. Near Yuma we crossed the Colorado River into California. We were checked out by Border Control again, then we passed thru the bewildering Glamis Dunes section of the Algodones Wilderness Dunes. It was amazing to drive thru this area. The closest and only thing I've ever seen similar, albeit on a much smaller scale, were the sand dunes on the way into Provincetown, MA. Then we encountered the Jacumba Wilderness running directly along side the Mexican border of Baja California.

When Anne took over the driving we climbed into the elevations of several mountain passes and Indian Reservations in the Anza-Borrego Desert State Park. I enjoyed this much more than Anne could because she was litterally unable to safely take her eyes off of the road. With up and down grades between 6 and 10% I broke out the vehicle manual and read up on how we could take advantage of the 'tow mode' and 'manual shifting capabilities' of the Allision transmission in the GMC. There were 'vehicle water' stops all along the way too, no doubt more popular during the hot summer.

There was plenty of snow cover in the elevations, but coming back down from there the mountains turned green and we passed thru the heavily populated and beautiful hilly surburban San Diego towns like Alpine, El Cajon, and La Mesa, finally making it safely into San Diego.

About 30 miles ourside San Diego though the camera battery died. Unfortunately, I didn't have the car charger in the vehicle with us and there was no 'pulling over' for it on this Hwy 8 freeway.

We came to San Diego to visit with a dear friend of mine from Rollins College, 37 years ago. We spent one evening with her and a long lunch hour the next day. My friend was pleased that someone would visit after so many years, and it was great to see her again. She treated us to some good local, healthy treats.

There is a fantastic dog park in San Diego on Fiesta Island. We spent a few sessions out there with Dixie, along with hundreds of other folks and their dogs. This was beautiful acreage right on Mission Bay, and Dixie enjoyed running free.

The Mission Bay RV Park was also very scenic, providing walking opportunities around the Bay, especially beautiful during the evenings. The properties on the water there were unreal. Fishermen on the shore were taking Halibuy and Sea Bass and it was fun to watch.

One reservation I have about California since getting here again is with the freeways and the driving. I'm about to embark on a bumper sticker campaign I might call 'DRIVE FRIENDLY !!'. It's a term that I saw written on the 'Welcome to Texas' sign, and I liked it. Folks don't drive friendly here, rather they seem like they only want to get ahead of everyone else on the road. Scary.

Anne's had some trouble sleeping lately what with the diet we've been enjoying as of late. So, we stopped into 'Healthy Back' and picked up an additional 'wedge' to help keep her at a more appropriate angle when she sleeps. It helped as she had a good nights sleep last night.

With a cloudy forecast for today (Thursday) we packed up and left San Diego (in the sun, DUH) for Lake Elsinore, CA. It was a short trip of about 80 miles. The traffic was heavy for the first half hour. We are now in 'Lake Park' for at least the next 3 nights. It's a nice park on the lake and seems like a very nice rural area in the hills. Lake Elsinore is the largest natural freshwater lake in Southern California and is set against the Ortega Mountains of western Riverside county.

We hear the weather hasn't been nice in northern California lately, so I'm hoping we'll be happy to stay in Southern CA for a good long time. After Lake Elsinore we're thinking we may move on to Lompoc, CA, back on the coast just north of LA. Sseems we've had sunny weather for the past several weeks, so there's no hurry to head north if it's not going to be nice.

While here in Lake Elsinore I'm also hoping to get in a visit with my cousin Karen in San Clemente, about 40 miles away. I haven't seen her for 35-40 years. We spoke yesterday but she's having to travel to a surfing event this weekend and won't be home until late Sunday night, so, we'll have to see if we can make a visit happen. Not sure at this point.