Golden Gate Bridge

Spent the afternoon hiking and picnicking in the shadow of the Golden Gate Bridge. It was an unusually warm and clear day in Sausalito and we took advantage of what will most likely be the last warm and clear day for a while. The weather forecast called for rain and possibly even some snow along our route over the next 3 days.

We hiked up to Yates Battery and explored the old concrete artillery bunkers that guarded the bay from enemy attacks during WWII. Cool stuff, but everything was welded shut so all we could do was walk around on top of the ramparts and imagine what it would be like to operate those six 3" cannons that once served as the explosive deterrent to the Red scourge of Communisim!

I'm so glad socialism has prevailed.

J

Ovo

We had a blast at the Cirque do Soliel show!!

The boys loved it and Paula said she was almost in tears a couple of times at how amazing the performers were. You're not allowed to take any photos during the show, so I borrowed a couple from the internet.

This was a very good day.

J

Santa Monica Pier

Just a quick post since I'm a couple days behind. We drove up to the Santa Monica Pier on Saturday to play for a few hours while we waited for the Cirque du Soliel show to start. We all had fun, ate bad food and played some carnival games. I remember being here back in the '80's when it was just a run down derelict pier and the old carousel was boarded up and falling to pieces. Much nicer now.

J

Fun at TN

We had a really nice time visiting Tierra Nueva. The boys thoroughly enjoyed playing with friends and being in a familiar place for a few days. They were right back to running with their tribe as if they'd never been gone. We were a bit worried they wouldn't want to leave, but it is amazing how agreeable they've been this whole trip. They have enjoyed everywhere we've gone and don't seem at all worried about where we're going or what we're going to do next.

It is funny to realize that this is our life - all of it - here on the road. We have no particular need to go or be anywhere and are free to go wherever. We are getting used to the freedom of it, and this little camper of ours feels like home.

P

Carlsbad Campgrounds

We've had a fun couple of days of actual camping in our new r-pod.

Our campsite at Carlsbad is right off the ocean and the views and sounds of the waves are beautiful. It's been a little cold and today it's been threatening rain so we're pulling up early and heading over to our friends in Oceanside to camp in front of their house for the night. It's no fun camping at the beach in SoCal in the rain. Every campground I've ever been at here is a mix of dirt, dust and ashes. Add a little water and you have sticky black goop.

We're planning to spend the night camping at the beach in Dana Point tomorrow and then on to Santa Monica Thursday for the Cirque du Soleil show on the pier.

J

Quartzsite and all points west

Just passing through.

The best part of Quartzsite is seeing it disappear in your rear view mirror. Well to be fair, that's if your under the age of 65 and you're traveling with 2 small children. For the blue-haired desert dweller, it's probably paradise.

Later that day we side-triped over to Indio to relive one of Paula and my favorite day trips of all time. Shield's Date Farm. It's been about 15 years since we were there last. I saw it on Huel Howser's "California Gold" and dragged her out into the desert to show her the "Romance and Sex Life of the Date" movie. Aside from putting her in the mood it has made a date lover out of her ever since. Ezzy and Levon we're not as impressed with the movie, or the date shakes.

Indio has really grown over the last 15 years. It's like palm springs now. Really crazy. The last time we went to Shields we were the only people there and it had a little ice cream counter with one person making shakes. Today there were at least 75 people crammed in there buying all kinds of snacks, treats, t-shirts, gifts... everything. It was unbelievable!

San Diego here we come!

J

Yellow Horse Trading Post

We're running from the snow storm that's dropping over a foot of the white stuff on Colorado. We escaped just in time. Spent the last night in an RV resort just outside of Santa Fe NM and drove out from under some really nasty looking snow clouds.

We stopped this afternoon at Yellow Horse trading post just a few miles West of Gallup NM. I think we're actually in Arizona now. Hard to tell....

Anyway, I've always wanted to stop at this place. I past it back in 1982 the first time I drove across the country and I've always wondered what I had missed. Some mysteries are better left unsolved. We bought some stuff anyway and had fun. Levon really likes his little wooden tomahawk.

Later that day the storm caught up to us in Flagstaff where we white-knuckled it down the 17 towards Phoenix in a heavy snow blizzard. Phoenix was clear and sunny and we spent the night at a "seniors only" RV park. No matter how hard I tried I couldn't convince the very nice lady at the desk that I had just turned 65 last week.

J