Sunny San Diego

In case you didn't know, you just can't go to an airport and hop a flight to Yuma. First you have to go somewhere else and then you get a 2 - 3 hour drive as a bonus. Last year we flew to Phoenix. It was fun flying over a bit of the Grand Canyon, but the drive was long, one boring tumbleweed after another. The only highlight was the "Don't Pick Up Hitchhikers" sign as you pass the Federal Prison. So this year we decided to come the other direction from San Diego.



The drive was much more interesting. On the way back we drove past thousands of parked RVs enjoying the annual gathering of ATVs kicking up the dust of the dunes. We were really impressed by the very rocky hills that we had to pass through. Dave is the adventurous guy who will climb any rock to get a better photo.



Welcome to the Pacific Ocean. Even though I live on the west coast, I rarely see the ocean. It's just comforting to know its there and that I could drive to it in a couple of hours from my home. It was a sunny day on a sandy beach (Washington beaches are mostly rocks, not a surface you would want to throw a towel onto), a great end to a long drive.



The locals were pretty friendly. This young pelican let me get very close before he took off in flight. I got a picture of his take off, but decapitated his poor head.



We walked out on a long pier to get this photo looking back to San Diego. Dave, Margaret & Paul look good in the sunshine! (OK, they do look a bit pale, but it has been months since they have seen the sun) But don't get too used to it because in a few hours we are heading back to the rain.



I just had to take this nostalgic picture. Remember in the 1990s a before when you would take friends to the airport and you could actually walk them to the gate, wave and watch them leave? I flew a few weeks after the rules changed & I found the gate to be a very quiet and lonely place. No one waiting anxiously for a plane to arrive, or giving those last good bye hugs right before the plane's final boarding. The gate area had become painfully quiet and very sad. So when Dave, Margaret & Paul's plane left a half hour before mine, I just had to take this picture and pretend it was the good old days.