As BB King sang:
‘Just this morning, we took a big long look around.
We’ve lived it up and loved it up and done it in this town.
Life goes on. Looks like it's time for moving on.
3 months in Mesa and it’s time to get on our way - we’ve got places to go, things to see, people to meet. We’re out of here. We’ve enjoyed out time here just chillin’ out. But we also enjoy being on the move and heading out on the road. If we didn’t, we’d find our perfect place, buy a house and settle down.
Yesterday we celebrated Gary’s birthday. Can you guess - he’s 69. Those cupcakes might look mighty good but they were terribly dry and the frosting which the lable said was cream cheese frosting tasted like cardboard. Ah, well, the thought is what counts and - check out the gifts on the counter: 3 (count them - 3) bags of spice drops. I would have bought more but the store is out.
Our original plan was to drive to Organ Pipe National Monument for 4 nights and then on to San Diego arriving on the 6th. But, I went to bed with my iPad and checked the weather forecast which was for 2 nice days followed by 4 days of rain. Hmmm. Do we want to spend 2 nice days and one rainy day in Organ Pipe without hook-ups and then drive in 2 days of rain to San Diego? Some couples have romantic pillow talk - tonight our pillow talk was a schedule change. Hey, can’t be romantic all the time. In the morning I called our campground in San Diego and we could get in on the 2nd.
We said our good-byes to our neighbors (who also live in Iowa and almost on our way home - we might even stop in to see them there) hitched up and drove out of the gate. Just like Christmas, the highway is empty - ah, that’s what we planned.
We stopped at a Flying J in Yuma to buy propane and diesel. It was a cooler winter than usual in Arizona and we used more propane than we usually do. But, we shouldn’t have been alarmed since we still had lots left. Darn gauges. Our goal for the night was El Centro in central California near the Mexico border. We crossed into California and noticed how many people were taking advantage of the long New Years weekend and were out with their RV’s and toys on the sand dunes along both sides of the highway.
What entertainment. Up and down the sand dunes, racing each other to see who could get up to the top first. 5 little dots on the dunes spitting out sand as they clawed their way to the top.
We cruised by just as the shadows played on the dunes.
But, the desert has so many looks as we passed by.
We circled into a rest stop, stopped to watch the action and then headed on. We reached the El Centro about 4:30 after a nice drive through the desert in California. We pulled into the Walmart parking lot and I ran inside to ask if we could park overnight. Oh - a long line at the Service Counter but I had a nice conversation with two young women as we all waited.
A SUV with a small teardrop trailer parked right in front of us. The car was packed high, there was a big storage bin on top of the car and the license plate said Maine. I wonder if they were moving to California. Two 20-somethings - who actually slept in their car over night. Ah, youth.
On our way about 8:30 in the morning and through the mountains to San Diego. We’ve always like this drive through the rock strewn canyon. It’s a long, uphill climb and there are radiator water tanks at intervals on the side. In the summer, this can be brutally hot.
The interstate winds through a long, slow, uphill canyon surrounded by rocks and boulders.
Beautiful drive winding our way up through the canyon to the summit.
Then back down into the traffic of San Diego. Oh, my.
We got in about 11:00 and set up.
In the afternoon, we walked along Pacific Beach. Ah, the ocean again. We haven’t seen it since we left Maine last August. The wind is strong and cool and most people we see are bundled up. Down jackets, hats, mittens. Look at this family sitting on top of the sand berm. Note how they are all bundled up. Then - note that none of them are even looking at the ocean. Not a one of them - they are all looking at their phones. Here they are on vacation, sitting down at the ocean and all of their eyes are on their phones.
No comments:
Post a Comment