La Jolla ( La Hoya)

Today we did a bit of exploring.  Weird things are still happening.  Adam really wants a bike, so we thought we'd go to some garage sales, we pulled up a few that were posted on Craigs list yesterday......nothing there, doors closed up tight....hmmm.

Next, we decided to go to a Bohemian market in San Diego, I heard it on the news but nothing there.

Last on our list for today was to visit the tide pools that we were at during our last visit to San Diego several years ago, they seemed to have vanished as well...BUT we found some other great pools as well as awesome waves at La Jolla Cove!  I have never seen such huge waves and would not want to be caught in them.  We found a few neat shells and some sea glass.

We also drove by the Del Mar race track which is where Figment raced before he was retired!  His race name was Gadabout!

Well...I'm glad to be alive, how about you?  Yesterday we took a side trip to Palm Desert and Palm Springs.  What a wild ride, I felt like I was on a roller coaster without brakes.  I'm not so sure I like the Ortega Mountains.  Up down and around tight little turns with drop offs on the side, one wrong move would send you over the side and to certain bodily harm.  Wouldn't be so bad, but the people behind us didn't think the speed limit signs were necessarily meant to be obeyed.  Whew.  Anyway, I have some new photos for your enjoyment.

Breaking news:  People are WEIRD

Ok, so some lady pulled up into the drive of the camper next to us.  She got out, went into the showers and appeared again about an hour later.  While she was gone the park people came out, inspected her car, talked to the camper guy and put something on her car.

Now...this lady opened her truck, dumped a bunch of junk into it, then opened the passenger door.  After a few minutes went to the drivers side and pulled the inside of her door, that's right, the inside of her door out from the backseat, really.  Next she throws a ton of stuff into the back seat, hops into her seat and changes her shoes.  She then starts her car, which by the way, has a very flat tire and proceeds to put on mascara over and over and over....she opens her door again, this inside falls out, she grabs the inside of the door and holds it to the outside a while trying to shut her door.

WHAT?  This woman is weird, but she's gone, after squealing her tires and going the wrong direction....this lady is trouble but she did offer us a bit of hilarity.

Hello From California

That's right, we finally made it! The weather is nice and balmy here which is a nice change, yesterday we hit 85 and it was lovely, today it was in the 70's....not too shabby!

It does feel good to be out of Las Vegas, that crazy place. We toured several more hotels the day we left Vegas, and really fell in love with being in Paris and Greece among a few other countries! The desserts in Paris looked lovely...what a cheap way to go over seas!!!

Let's see, we spent the night in a ghost town, how creepy is that? It actually was pretty neat, it was a regional campground. When we woke up N and A went hiking, they called me from a mountain top...I couldn't see them so then they had me climb a 'mountain' to see them, well I couldn't. On my way back down the mountain I crashed and landed smack onto my butt and it about knocked the breath out of me.....so now my tailbone and back really hurt....dumb.

We then toured the ghost town graveyard and the town itself. We went into an old silver mine, it was pretty neat.

Now we're at San Clemente State Beach getting settled in. There is a cliff between us and the ocean as well as a train track. The waves are huge and it's been fun watching the surfers.

Buddy is happy, he got furminated today and a new toy, he lost a toy somewhere along the route, probably at the ghost town!

Alrighty then, time to go cook up some burgers and then off to the laundromat, life on the road isn't always so glamorous.

Our hotel side trip!

Las Vegas Strip

Somewhere between here and there

Campground cliff

Cliff between our camper and the beach

The Shadow Mountains

The ceiling of one of the Ghost Town Shops

Hello from Sin City

Yup...that's right, we're in Las Vegas.  Adam says that this place is corrupt...I tend to think he's correct!  So here's the scoop to keep you in the loop (can you tell I'm tired?)

Yesterday we were tooling along in Utah...wow...that state was kind of long due to very little human interaction along the freeway....well, until we came upon this great little town called St. George.  You see, Reyna spotted a Down East Basics store, that's right, it's a store she's done reviews for, and there aren't many around.  So the good man actually back-tracked and let us shop while he had the tires looked at.

Good or bad, I don't know, but we were told our trailer tires could blow at any time and that we needed to get the trailer looked at ASAP.  Hmmm.....on we drove to Las Vegas, took the trailer in and left it at a shop.  Well not quite that fast.  First I had to scramble and stash a bunch of clothing and necessaries into crazy little bags for a hotel stay.  At that point we had no idea how long it would take to get fixed.  Next on the agenda was finding a hotel that would take a pooch.

We called on our old favorite standby, the Stay Bridge Suites...they have the best breakfasts!  Dogs...well they like them, but taking a big ole Golden Retriever into a nice hotel does tend to make quite a scene! ...and, $75 for a dog?  He lived like a king and determined that the bathroom was his kennel!  He really was good.

The kids swam for about 3 hours this morning, I think everyone thought we were loony, but it was 75 and sunny and the hot tub was a balmy 104 degrees!

I got ahead of myself.  Of course we had to visit the strip, the kids had their jaws open...and did you know that Michael Jackson is alive?  Saw him.  Elvis...don't know where he is.  Anyway, after roaming around and picking our jaws up off the sidewalk we finally decided on a place to eat....a buffet called MORE, now that says it all doesn't it?  It was 9:00 pm, we were starving but when we left we all felt pretty awful!

So that's the last day and a half in a nut shell.  I do have photos, but the camera is locked in the truck and I really don't feel like going out there, maybe tomorrow I'll download the photos for your entertainment!

...Just a note for my good brother and Ali, no...we're not at a Wal-Mart tonight, but we did venture out to find one for some groceries!  And sis...Vegas has changed since we were here to visit bro....bigger and crazier, and I still haven't gambled a penny and don't intend to, can't wait to get out of here!

Tomorrow I'm taking Reyna to Caesar's Palace to see the beauty of it, she loves to take her photos, then we're off to California.  Found a couple of Ghost Towns to visit, who knows, maybe I"ll meet some long forgotten relatives!

~Catch ya later!

Greetings from Utah!

Ice in the CO Rockies

Utah

Utah

Utah Sunset

Well, we're in Utah now, actually almost out of Utah!  We skipped the night in the Condo, we have a few dates available later in the year, maybe we'll go back then, the kids really want to explore the mountains!

Everything has gone pretty well today, we took a ton of photos.  The other side of Colorado is so different, and once we got into Utah the mountains were very different, more cliffs and red stone instead of the rugged look!  Now we're a tiny town called Salina's spending the night next to a Burger King...the dollar menu is great when you can't keep food in the camper due to freezing problems!

So, we drove for about 3 hrs today without seeing any sign of life besides the other vehicles on the highway and those were few and far between, very desolate.  The exits were for ranches, not cities!  We saw one human on a horse herding sheep and no homes.  We also saw a big herd of Elk on the mountain side at sunset and that's about all I know today!

Oh...I've knit 2 washcloths and 1/5th of an afghan so far while driving! 

Good-Bye Nebraska

Proof that we're in Colorado!

Whew....we made it alive!  After seeing several semi's that had collided and ended up in the ditch we're glad we weren't in the middle of it all!

Oh....here's today's blooper!  We spent last night in a Wal Mart parking lot wedged between two semi's hoping they'd break the wind!  Buddy went outside with N this morning, suddenly N popped his head in the camper yelling that Buddy was gone.  You never saw 3 people get dressed so fast!  N found him near the Wal Mart entrance door, who knows what he was thinking but when I called him he ran back faster than lightening and got into some pretty big trouble.

Now, we're in the Mtns!  Finally.  Of all things we're staying in the Best Western parking lot and they let us use their pool, oh my, the hot tub was heavenly!

Oh...and this is the best part of this day, we are very close the the Keystone Condo....yup, it's not being used, the owner that has it this week said we can stay there tomorrow night...we are so excited, hot shower, a real bathroom, beds!  The kids are really excited, they don't really remember the condo, so tomorrow is a fun day in the mtns, and even better....now it's supposed to be in the 60's when we hit Utah!

On the Road!

We finally left this past weekend! 

Day #1

We hit the road around 10 am....Buddy was very excited to come along, but once we hit the road he wasn't sure what happened to his little life!

We didn't come across anything too exciting, just a few oddities such as:
-Turkeys attacking a squirrel in a field of corn
-We were getting bad gas mileage, we stopped and found that there were acorns in the truck's air filter
-Stopped in Iowa and went to turn on the heat...hmmm squirrel made a nest in the furnace


WHAT'S WITH THE SQUIRRELS???

Other encounters and happenings.....

Bad storm, we saw a semi burned in the highway, the road was closed and traffic backed up for miles, thank goodness we were westbound, but we pulled off early and slept in between semi's at Casey's station!

Day #2

On the road again......whoohoo life is not a beach when pulling a camper on roads that don't get snowplowed.  We were hearing closures on the radio, couldn't figure out why because there was only a few inches of snow.  Quickly figured out why when we drove through Iowa and half of Nebraska being seeing a Snowplow.  Then what was the snowplow doing?  Plowing the side of the road, not using sand or salt....very interesting to see how other people live!

So we're driving driving away, oops, gas tank is on empty...took an exit in no mans land...thank goodness for a fuel tank in the back of the truck!  Windy, cold, Buddy came out for a stretch, poor pooch wanted to go right back into his kennel in the back of the truck!  He's getting a bit spoiled sleeping in the camper here with us.  Buddy is training Nathan well, he looks at him with his big sad puppy eyes and Nathan throws him a treat!  They're bonding!

MMmmm, pizza's done, catch you later!  I'll download photos when we get more organized!