We've arrived in Fort Myers

This is a shot of our trunk this morning: even after two days on the road, there's still lots of room.  well at least there's more room than we usually have.

And this a shot of the rear seat, and more importantly, the space behind the rear seat where the roof usually hides when it's off.

This is how we travel: a cooler [purple], snack canyon [red shoebox] and an assortment of coats, fleeces, and a red blanket.

For the third time in a row, departure was around 8 am, and we arrived in Fort Myers shortly after noon. Today was grey, rainy, and fairly slow due to very heavy traffic.  Other than that, no issues, no worries.

Chris and Peter arrived before us and we were welcomed with hugs, laughter and a very happy Cragen.  Great way to start a holiday!

After a few trips from the car to our southern place, this is what the bed looked like...

As usual, Joan does a fantastic job of emptying luggage, and sucky bags.  Most things have found their place for the next three months already.  How fascinating is that?  Magic for sure.

There has been laundry of clothes and dishes, and a quick trip for bubbly for our nightcap...

Not to rub it in more that I have to, the weather is greyish, windy, and a damp 25ºC.  Nice way to end a good year.

Hope your new year is joyous, happy, and healthy.  Hoist one for us, and we'll do the same for you.

Harrisonburg to Baldwin Florida

Another early start, 8:00!  How cool is that?  Two days in a row?

We had lots of traffic most of the afternoon: many slow-ups for no apparent reason; been there before.  So why is it called a slow-up when we all slow down?  But I digress.

We saw the left over skiffs of the snow that fell overnight. By 9:00 or so, we started seeing hoar frost  on tree tops, then as we went higher, things got prettier and prettier.  Time for Joan to take pictures: all the pictures that follow.

Shot out the open window, the leftover snow and wonderful hoar frost.  Quite magical! 

This was the lightest traffic we saw all day.  Mind you, there may be more behind us...

Then as we went higher in the mountain range, we hit the fog that had been announced. I guess it's hard to see the car in my lane passing the guy on the right; trust me, they're there.  Fortunately, the fog dissipated quickly, and the traffic increased.

Here's that last shot, just as the fog was starting to lift.  Interesting drive.

The traffic kept building up, or some places have mid day traffic jams; either way, we probably drove at half the speed limit, in stop and go traffic for almost the whole afternoon, until we quit at 8:15pm.  After a few navigational detours, we found the last motel in the area.  This is something that happened last time we were out this way...  My bad.

Since we're already in Florida, we should have a fairly short day tomorrow. 

Stittsville to Harrisonburg Va.

Our crack of dawn departure was very nearly at the real crack of dawn, much closer than usual for us: 8:15 am!

The roads were clear of snow, still had salt that rose in the air like a fine deadly powder: hastening rust and all that other stuff.  Ugh.

The border crossing was busy, but pleasant enough, and we switched from KPH to MPH.

New York State had virtually no snow and the only thing out of the ordinary was looking at a Mennonite farmer tilling his field with a three horse [Belgian] plough.  Other than that, and a skiff of falling snow, nothing of great interest...

We had some road delays in Penn, Md, WVa, and VA.  No apparent reason for any of the delays, other than relatively heavy traffic.

We stopped shortly after 6:15 or so, at a Holiday Inn in Harrisonburg Va.  Getting to the hotel was awkward says 'he who ended up back on the interstate headed north', but we won't go there now will we...

There might be a light frost tonight, and possibly a little snow in the morning, but by and large, it looks like clear sailing from here on down.  I'll let you know...

Ready, Set, Go [tomorrow]

Those that follow our travels might remember that we usually buy an orchid or two 'down south' for us to enjoy during our winter.  Since many orchids have their own blooming time, it happens that some of the orchids we buy in bloom during the first three months of the year, keep blooming at the same time.  Ergo, we never see the blooms!

This little guy has bloomed every year since we bought it, but we've missed seeing the blooms for the last four years.  It surprised us this year by opening a few days before Christmas, and today, there are only a few buds left to open. Each bloom is smaller than a dime, but collectively, they make quite the show, don't you think?

They also have a fairly sweet but rich aroma in the morning: bonus!

We are planning to leave at the usual crack of dawn tomorrow. Here's what part of our staging area looks like before we pack the car.  

The blue items in the hall are our sucky bags.  These four bags contain almost all our clothes for three months!  ... and they go in the trunk.  

The shoes at the front, as well as the coat hangers and shoes, and all the boxes along the railing, go behind the back seat, just in front of the rear window.  Remember, we have a convertible, so the trunk is small, but there is storage behind the back seat where the top is stored when the car goes topless.

So what's left, you ask?  Two smallish suitcases, two computers, one camera bag, toiletries, and an assortment of stuff that didn't fit anywhere else.  

In the backseat will go winter coats, a cooler with sandwiches  drinks, and boiled eggs, the usual maps and hotel books, and our usual 'snack canyon' [a shoebox filled with sugar and calories,  yum].  I'll try to remember to make a photo of the stuffed car for later use.

All in all, we seem to have less than last year, but we've felt that way every year so far.  I'm sure something will have been forgotten, but I understand they have all kinds of stores just dying to help us out...   To be continued...

Nipigon to Sudbury, Ontario

The most disgusting, disappointing and disturbing sight ever: today I saw a snowplow on the highway!  Yes, a bonafide provincial snowplow!  ... On the TransCanada highway! That's way out of line; it just turned to August and the province is deploying snowplows. [well, one snowplow anyway].

Fortunately, not a single snowflake to be seen anywhere so it's probably just another government SNAFU.

Other than that, the day went well and I managed to speed through the province at a great rate.  If this continues, I should be home tomorrow [Saturday] which will make this my quickest trip across the country: five days.

Today's weather was interesting; when I started it was 15ºC, then it dropped to about 10ºC for most of the morning before rising to the mid 20º's for the afternoon.  The North shore of Lake Superior is still as rugged and beautiful as ever, however, while I'm in transit mode, it seems harder to find appropriate stopping points to make pictures...  ... plus, it's illegal to stop along the highway unless it's really an emergency.  So far, making photographs is not classified as an emergency...

It's supposed to rain tonight, and thunderstorms are expected in Ottawa tomorrow.  The car may get that Saskatchewan dust washed off sooner rather than later.  

Enjoy the long weekend!

Okotoks, Alberta to Nipigon, Ontario

The best plans laid and sometimes not the best: Nick had noticed my rear tires looked 'tired'.  Being older, wiser, and all that stuff, I thought they'd be good enough to get me home, after all, I bought them last Fall! After a Sunday drive with Nick and the boys, the rumbles from the rear tires, and Nick's continued concern, convinced me otherwise. 

So having lost the opportunity to have the tires replaced last week, I now had to get them done on Monday before leaving.  Funny how events conspire to take away all control that you might think you have over a situation.  The tires had to be ordered, delivery is usually next day but they  gave me an appointment for 3:30 that afternoon.

I won't mention the unpacking of the car, the moving back in much to the joy of the grandkids, their pets, and Colleen. The real day started when we all went out for a walk.  The boys on scooters, the dog on leash, Colleen and I struggling to keep up.  We had walked for quite a while when a hole in the walkway grabbed Eric's front wheel and sent him flying.  A very sore and weakened knee, some skin missing, and one sad young sprout.  We limped home, Jacob handling both scooters for a while, then pushing Eric-on-scooter the rest of the way home.  The rest of the day was relaxing while Eric ran water, ice, and ointment on his knee, trying to keep a stiff upper lip while still suffering in silence.  By the time I went for tires, the two boys were playing some kind of shootdem-up video game...

The less good news was that the tire shop insisted that the wheels be re-torqued after anywhere from 40 to 100 Kms.

On Tuesday morning, farewells were once more in order.  Strangely, there was little sadness since laughter prevailed: that's the way every parting should be, but I digress.

To put some mileage, I went back to Black Diamond, a nearby village with some neat sculptured wood seats and benches.  On the way, I stopped to shoot the famous Okotoks Eratic, a collection of large boulders that was transported there by glaciers, millions of years ago.  The interpretive signs in the picture, to the right of the path, give you some sense of proportion.  What's even more amazing to me, is that the left rock used to be flipped over and on top of the rock on the right! [imagine putting your hands under the rocks to close a sandwich...].  From all vistas, the two boulders fit together, and many smaller boulders nearby can also be fit to others like a giant 3D puzzle.  Quite the scene.

I thought I'd selected a picture of the carved benches, but obviously,  I had selected these two trees in the middle of a Canola or possibly mustard field.  They looked so out of place, and cast such a large shadow that I just had to shoot them.

After a return to Okotoks and the required torquing of wheel nuts, I was finally on my way East, not even close to the crack of dawn...

I stayed the first night in Indian Head Saskatchewan; a little place with gas, food and lodging, as well as a restored stone round barn that I wanted to shoot so I'd have before and after shots.

I should add that it's a very small place, with one gas station, one very tired Motel that also had the only visible eatery in town.  Let's just say that the gas station was Ok....

The next morning, Wednesday, plans went amok again.  I found the barn all right, but now it was completely rebuilt and safe with the interior open at 10:00.  Another couple of hours to kill, but I did manage to see the interior which was worth seeing.  They did a great restoration / rebuilding of this historic structure, and this time it should last a long long time since it's now on a proper foundation.

It turns out that the barn design is unique, a silo in the middle surrounded by horse stalls.  That makes for efficient feeding and caring for the horses. There's even an accessible cupola on top so you can see for miles from 'up there'.

Wednesday night, I stayed with Michel, my nephew, and his son Pierre. After supper nearby, we walked a small bit of the gardens until the mosquitoes got the better of us. Once inside, we settled down for a long talk and shared thoughts on all manner of things. 

Michel gets up early, and Pierre not so much, so I walked the gardens to my hearts delight, regretting not having listened to the advice to wear long pants.  You guessed correctly, it was breakfast time for the mosquitoes.  The good thing is it was relatively easy to kill three or four at once.  The not so good thing is that there were always many more than four.  Again, I digress.

Heather and Michel love gardening and hostas: here's just one view within one of many gardens.

Now when you had a quick look, did you think that there was a pair of fountains coming through the pale yellow hosta?  I did, kind of neat.

Even though Heather and Michel both work in horticulture, they haven't lost their sense of humour: to whit, this little red wagon filled with succulents.

It's now Thursday night and I'm in Nipigon, Ontario.  The rest of the trip will be relatively easy with at least one more overnight stop.

I'm so lucky to have family 'out west' who are such welcoming hosts.  It's beautiful country: I hope you have friends and family out here too.

Miles City to Great Falls, Montana

I actually left Miles City earlier than usual: on the highway at 8:30!  It was already 24ºC and heading to 35ºC like yesterday.  But it is dry heat, as the locals call it.  That means it's supposed to be not as hot as humid heat.  The car didn't appreciate the distinction and engine/air-conditioning fans worked overtime to keep me comfy.

I took the road less travelled after I got to Billings for 'cheap' gas.  As it turns out, I couldn't make it from Miles City without adding $20 of gas at $3.61/gal.  When the gas warning light was solidly on with only 20 miles to go, I stopped in and filled up to $20 at $3.59/gal.  In Billings, I managed to fill at $3.54/gal, instead of the.07 cheaper gas that I had expected.  Oh well, a fill-up of around $50 US is still a lot cheaper than $75+ Cdn.

So here are a few shots I made today.  They only give a very small sample of the variety of terrain I drove today.  

The road less travelled ends up requiring more active driving, and since it's scenic, it required a lot of head movement; much like watching tennis.  Other than the 10 miles where the road was converted to rough dirt while it was being rebuilt, it was a perfect road for motorcycles and I met many.

After rolling hills, I can to more serious hills and valleys like this one.

Most of the day, there was a meandering creek along the road.  That's interesting because it's the only place where the cottonwoods would grow.  It turns out that these mountains have a fair bit of water, and the cottonwoods and other trees are the telltale signs of where the water is.  Neat.

Of course, while most gullies are dry, some water does flow in local rivers such as the Yellowstone river which this is.

This is a Yucca seed pod, now empty with the jet black seed scattered to the winds. Still neat though.

There were these yellow weeds off and on all day; here they seem to grow where the farmer's vehicles crushed other plants. Note the snow on the far mountains, even if I was in 30+ºC!

Of course, any red roof is cause for an emergency stop.  It's always better if you are alone on the road...

This picture fails to provide the scale involved: the river was a good 75 feet across, and the massive wall on the right was a good hundred feet tall and very 'in your face'.  Unfortunately, it looks kind of tame to me in the picture, but trust me, it was stunning to look at.

This is essentially made at the same place, just swinging to the right.

With luck, I should reach Okotoks tomorrow afternoon, a few days earlier than the usual drive westward.

Rachel Lake Mn to Miles City, Montana

I had a great visit with Jan: we talked about everything, actually did solve a few global issues [but that's another story], and managed to hit the road before noon, not quite the usual crack of dawn.

Interestingly enough, due to road closings, you have to head off in the wrong direction to reach the Interstate 94 from Jan's.  Surprisingly, Carmen immediately fell into step, and the world unfolded as it should. Isn't it nice when electronics sometimes do  what you want to do.

Driving west from Minnesota is much like driving through Manitoba and Saskatchewan, but without the floods they are currently having.  The roads were good [I-94] and the traffic was sparse.  While it was cool in Minnesota, the day ended up at 33ºC [92ºF] in Miles City, Montana where I'm spending the night.  

Jan suggested I get gas in Fargo North Dakota where gas was expected to be $3.47/gal.  The signage for gas stations was abysmal and I was already in West Fargo when I asked Carmen where the gas was.  I was only a bit more than a mile beyond a Costco station, so I turned back and went for it.  Glad I did, their gas was $3.33/gal, and they had a SanDisk Extreme Plus, 32 Gig sdhc card with a read speed of up to 80 MB/sec for only $39.99.  They gave me a further $5.00 off at the cash because I was good looking, so the whole deal cost me all of $37.59 with taxes.  ... and that's a good deal!   Besides, I had to go into the store to use the washroom.

The drive was quite pleasant, a few cars going from 3 to 5 mph over the speed limit, and I ended up arriving here about a half hour early. I'm planning to head to Billings Montana for another refill of affordable gas, then I'll head northward towards Okotoks via a bunch of 'scenic' roads, just next to Waterton and Glacier international parks.  I'm hoping to slow down and make a few pictures...

We'll see.

Sault Sainte Marie, MI to Brainerd Minnesota

Before I start, here's a picture of the Studebaker sign at the restaurant where I ate last night...

All in all, it is pretty tacky, but the memorabilia inside was pretty good, and the food very comfortable and tasty.

Today was an earlier crack of dawn that usual since the day looked like it was going to be stormy.  As it turns out, the rain stopped shortly after I got on the highway, but the heavy winds, contrary winds of course, continued off and on most of the day.

The south shore of Lake Superior, the north shore if you live in Minnesota [but that's another story], is lush and green forest with very few actual views of the lake!  The road is back from the lake, and the vegetation close enough to the road, that lake vistas are far and few.  There were a half dozen beautiful crescent beaches that made up for it.

I hope to visit Jan at Rachel Lake and she suggested a route that included Brainerd to avoid road closures, construction, and other hazards of travel.  Let's just say that this is the road less travelled.  There were many miles of very little traffic, the speed limit was 55 MPH or lower, and I managed to cruise with the speed demons at nearly 60 MPH most of the day.  Carmen Garmin seemed to be somewhat out of sorts today since she kept delaying my arrival time as I kept going faster than the expected speeds.  Yesterday I managed to shave off more than an hour from the ETA, while today, I was almost an hour later than expected.  Carmen managed the time change [Central Time], and everything seemed alright but the ETA was just getting longer all day.  Had I speeded more than most, I'd still be getting here...

I found a steak house nearby that is part of a local chain called: Grizzly's Wood Fired Grill.  Very well cooked and great tasting steak, but I have it on good authority that I should have tried the stuffed mushrooms...  Oh well, maybe next time.

It's raining lightly outside right now, so maybe tomorrow will be a sunny and easy day: I have less than a two hour drive.  I've gathered that rain has been on the menu since Jan came back from Florida: now that's depressing.

We'll just wait and see what tomorrow brings.

Stittsville to Sault Sainte Marie, Michigan

A quick but un-eventful day.  Actual departure was around 9:30, before Sunday church for most, and there was little or no traffic with sunshine and contrary winds all the way to North Bay.  I even had the top down.

After North Bay, I got 'cheap' gas at $1.399/litre [could have paid as high as $1.499!] and closed the top.  Weather went from about 24ºC when I left home and started dropping: by the time I got to Sudbury, it had cooled to 18ºC and stayed that way until now [state of Michigan, USA].

No waiting at the border, but people going to Canada had a line-up that went well onto the bridge and seemed to be moving at a snail's pace.

Hopefully it won't be raining much tomorrow and I'm hoping to avoid the flooding further north in Manitoba.  We'll see.  

To be continued...

HOME !

The crack of dawn was probably a record: 8 am!

The weather maps told us that yesterday's trip would have been almost impossible if it had been driven today.  The maps also threatened nasties for today, and I suspect that's why we left with some urgency.

While it stayed below freezing all day, the threatened rain / snow did not happen until we had left the area; lucky or what.

Customs was a breeze, and we arrived home at 12:30, after finishing our peanut butter and jam sandwiches shortly after the border.

We started seeing snow in the forests, then the hedgerows, then the fields as we drove in NY to get closer to the border.  By the time we got home, the old snow was nearly up to the windowsills.  Tomorrow should be colder, but then we get back to more reasonable temperatures, above freezing during the day, below freezing at night.  Perfect for harvesting maple syrup.

After the car was unpacked, Joan found her way to the barn where she had to convince Frankie that she was a very good friend, likely bringing gifs of carrots, and mints.  But that's another story.

We eliminated the chaff from the mountain of mail, emptied the luggage and many shoeboxes, and figuring out where the light switches are.  All in all, it's been a great adventure, and now we'll try to stay on the warm side of the glass, and enjoy the winter scenery.

And there will be laundry...

Bristol VA to Binghamton NY

Yet another crack of dawn near 9am, what is the world coming to.  Actually, it's fairly easy to guess why we left 'early', there's bad weather brewing up north and we'd like to beat it home.

As it turns out, the road we just took would make for a difficult trip tomorrow, so we're doing very well so far.  

Ahead may lie some wet weather, but it will be above freezing until we get to Syracuse, and the rest of the way home is under 5 hours, so we should be good to go.

Today was cold, just a few degrees above or below freezing all day.  Tomorrow should be considerably warmer, a few degrees above freezing most of the way: that's good enough for me.

Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland and Pennsylvania were all very well behaved today, and we managed to tag along with the usual suspects who drove faster than the rest.  Rolling hills, horse fences, some grand estates, and hilly vistas were all the order of the day.  

We re-listened to the Vinyl Café cd's that Kathleen gave us.  As  usual, even the second time around, they have great moments of hilarity. With peanut butter and jam sandwiches for lunch, the occasional chocolate snack, and supper at Ruby Tuesday's, the day was complete.

If the weather lets us, we should be home tomorrow! 

Defuniak Springs FL to Bristol VA

There was a big mistake, someone was not thinking right, and the crack of dawn was actually before 8:30, yes, you read that correctly.

We had pretty dense fog surrounding us for two hours and a bit, then it rained for a few hours more: nothing serious, just enough to get some of the dirt and pollen off the car.  Unfortunately, the roof dried while we were on the interstates, so it's really saggy and sloppy looking.  A good dry warm day in the sun should set that right: maybe by the end of April...

We took a few star roads and secondary roads to get out of Florida and that scenery is quite wonderful: rolling hills, many estate like houses behind white picked or brick fences with the occasional horse or two to distract the navigator.  Spring is behind San Diego's, and most of the southwest, but it really is colourful to see the trees break out in leaves or flower.  Some white, pink, red, and the usual young spring greens.  What a show, unfortunately, no pictures so you'll have to make this drive yourself to experience the magic.

The sun came out, as did the Interstates, and temperatures and speed limits went up significantly.  From a start of 12ºC to a high of about 25ºC and now it's about 5ºC and could well freeze overnight. That's not a gradual easing back into winter.  Shorts and sandals were not appropriate at all.  The Interstate speeds also went up to a sustained 70MPH, where the fast group was hovering around 80 / 85MPH, even when the speed limit went down to the usual 55MPH.  There were police around, usually giving tickets [not to the policeman's ball either].  Our group seemed to fare well and we made good distance.

Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee all showed up in the rear-view mirror.  We just entered Virginia and we're staying for the night at exit 7: Bristol VA.  Bristol has a great choice of eateries: Ruby Tuesday's, Red Lobster, Outback Steakhouse, Perkins, Ruby Tuesday's and the usual suspects.  Did I mention Ruby Tuesdays?  That's where we ended up: a really very good salad bar [from me that's very high praise] and good food, service and ambiance.

All in all, the day unfolded as it should; it was interesting, we made good progress, and we ended with a good meal.  Hope your day was similar, or better. 

Grayton Beach

Grayton Beach really has one of the finest beaches we've ever stepped on.  This is a beach with no shells, seaweed, flotsam or jetsam, and few people.  It does have wonderful sand dunes, aquamarine water, and the very finest white sand between your toes that actually squeaks.  Squeaky sand has to be experienced to be appreciated: it's wonderful.

So this is one of our first views of the state park beach and dunes.  Few people, great weather, white sand, lovely aquamarine water, what's not to like?

Joan and Jan had to 'test the waters', and eventually the water got them wet: that's what water does...

We decided to have lunch at the Red Bar, a favourite bar in Grayton, very near the beach.  With spring break and all, the chances of finding parking was about zip, and the possibility of getting into the restaurant without a long wait was about nada.

We drove there anyway, Joan turned on her well known 'Parking Karma' and we found the nearest possible parking spot.  As we parked, two tables in front of us left: bingo!  We were in!

Here are the girls just in front of the car: will anyone ever doubt Joan's parking karma?

Great lunch at a restaurant that still has the identical menu that they had when we first volunteered at the nearby State Park about 15 years ago.  Mahi mahi sandwich with a mimosa for Joan, without mimosa for Jan and with a beer for Paul. Why would you change the menu when you've had a decade of people waiting to get in?

The girls then walked the half mile back to the State Park where Jan was camping, while I drove to the Park beach to pick them up. Then we had a walk down memory lane: the park's dune walk where I made this picture of the dunes and yellow pines that make a beautiful hammock.

Hope you've enjoyed our walks down memory lane with Jan, we all loved our 8 years in this area and find many of today's adventures  worth sharing.

Tomorrow, we head back home...

Defuniak Springs [near Grayton Beach]

Nothing much to report yesterday, so we had an early night in Baton Rouge Louisiana  and got off to an early crack of dawn departure of 8:45!  Amazing or what. Well, maybe not so much, read on.

We settled into our Choice Hotels chain motel, the Econo Lodge.  Choice Motels affinity program has a stay two nights, get one free program right now, so we [I] inquired, got the proverbial, 'some conditions apply', got left on hold, and generally got royally pissed off, so lets move on.  Besides, that's really not what is quite amazing; read on.

We drove down to Grayton Beach State Park and found Jan, waiting for us while casually reading a book. Girly squeals and welcome hugs happened and the laughing began.  We always laugh a lot when with Jan.  Eventually, we went to the Seagrove Market and each ordered a grilled grouper sandwich with fries.  That went down fast and we laughed while reminiscing about the many adventures we've shared over the years.  As it turned out, we've probably had enough weird things happen to write a book, but that's another story.

We planned to show up in Grayton tomorrow and drove back the 45 minutes to our motel in darkness.

Surprise! One couldn't expect this in a million years, maybe even longer! 

As we drove up to the motel, police and firemen were everywhere and we could not get to the motel.  We parked nearby and walked across some grass to reach the office.  It was obvious something was terribly wrong: many fire trucks were on both sides of the motel, ambulance and rescue vehicles were on the road nearby, and the acrid smell of smoke was everywhere.

The guy we met said the rear of the motel was burnt and the back section was not usable, otherwise, we could stay the night. The first picture shows the worst of the fire where a few rooms are completely gone, walls and all [I think].  The second picture shows a larger view of the damage: note the metal roof is completely melted at the end of the building, and all units had water and 'access' damage [broken doors].  The last picture is the other side of the motel: it too has a vaporized roof at the back, and the volunteer firemen are just collecting things before leaving.

We still have electricity, hot and cold water, internet access and permission to stay.  Unfortunately, we also have a fairly strong smell of fire, but it's bearable.  We'll likely try to find alternative sleeping arrangements for the next two days, we'll see.

Lesson: don't leave computers, passports and your last change of underwear in the motel when you go out...

Deming NM to Fredericksburg TX

Again, a 9am crack of dawn.  Two in a row, who would have thunk?

Unfortunately, no pictures, and not much to tell.  It was about a 500 mile day, many flat miles at 80 mph [I love that!], brisk winds up the tailpipe [good for gas mileage!] and basically a pleasant fast drive through a pretty blah arid desert like moonscape with a few mountains, quite a few windmills to generate electricity, and very little traffic.  Every transit should be this quick and easy.

Sorry but that doesn't make for very good reading.  We had finished the trivia book Kathleen and Phillip gave us for Christmas, and we weren't quite ready for a spoken book just yet [saving for the trip north], so we just drove, Joan napped a little, and the day ended after a good meal nearby. All the while, it was sunny and 31ºC!

Fredericksburg is actually quite a nice place; it's a german community with a great Main Street, check it out here.  Enjoy.

San Diego to Deming NM

The crack of dawn happened at 9 this morning, almost a record but not quite.

Leaving San Diego after a month and a half was very difficult; Kathleen and Phillip are great hosts, San Diego really is the place to be, and we left our little delivery package behind.  I can't say the Joan's allergies disappeared by the time we reached the Interstate, and I'm not sure that sudden improvement is likely; we'll see.

The weather was great all day: from about 15ºC when we left, mid to high 20s in the mountains, and up to 33ºC when we reached the 'prairies' beyond the mountains.  The mountains are awesome, from sea level we rose to 4100', back down to about 2000' and back up to 4100' before finally dropping to about 200' below sea level.  I think we're at about 4500' here in Deming.

The plants along the way are all examples of drought resistant plants, and spring colours are starting. Everything that was not irrigated was bone dry, and dusty.  We saw dozens of 'dust devils' mini-twisters that picked dusty soil and twisted it up to a few hundred feet at times.  At times, the dust made driving vision quite limited. I can imagine that the road signs warning of the possibility of no vision could be quite accurate.  Fortunately, the blowing sand did not last long in spite of the fact they happened over a hundred mile stretch or so.  The sand clouds were  kind of spectacular in the rear view mirror where they had the sun behind them.  Sorry, no pictures; you'll just have to drive here yourself.

Heavy winds were also a factor along Interstate 8, in the valleys between mountains, and in the flat areas after the mountains.  We were both very pleased that we weren't haulage a trailer! The good part of heading east is that the gas prices have fallen from $3.89 to $3.29 here.  Here's looking forward to even lower prices.

Anza Borrego National Park

We drove out to the Anza Borrego desert on Friday. It was an interesting drive through hilly terrain, then suddenly, big hills to descend and we were in the lowlands where the desert is.  

We left San Diego where the temperatures were around 20ºC, and over the mountains where the temperatures were nearer to 11ºC, then on to the desert where it was over 25ºC.

This was our first view of the desert: the green areas on the left in the next two pictures is the town of Borrego Springs.

From our vantage point, here's a view of a large and heavy truck negotiating the steep hill.

Down in the valley, where Borrego Springs is, we drove a few miles extra to see this wonderful metal sculpture of a dragon.  Scary dragon at that!

The desert has many cactus and other drought tolerant plants.  Hope you enjoy their pictures.

At the gate of one of the local communities, I found this cactus with a humungous bloom, about 6" or so.

And of course, Pally.  

We've been packing to leave on Monday, tomorrow, and Pally set to go...

Today we all went to Encinitas where we had lunch at a totally organic restaurant, with no genetically modified foods at all: the wait was way too long, the food: well worth the wait.

On our way back to San Diego, we took the coastal route.  Interestingly enough, the scent of the ocean was overpowered by the smell of sunblock.  Weird or what?

Balboa Park

Balboa Park was initially built for the 1915 exhibition. The park is full of wonderful ornate buildings and wonderful gardens. This is a very large flower, about 6" wide, just outside the building for photographs clubs.

One of the original areas has been turned over to the local artists who have turned it into a great avenue.  This is the backside of the artists stores.

This next shot is a butterfly in waiting...

The above picture was made just outside the Balboa Park conservatory, a very large slat house with many beautiful mature plants.  This visit they had a great selection of orchids, of which many were cymbidiums.

Other plants were equally interesting, even without flowers...

Some of the outside plants also created good scenes.

Here's Joan, enjoying the scenery, mainly the next formal garden.

These archways are everywhere in Balboa Park.  Most times, it's difficult to make pictures without people.  Sometimes, they're the best ones...

Balboa Park also has an excellent cactus and succulent garden; here's a bench to contemplate the gorgeous flowers.

These are ice-flowers, every last one more vivid than the previous one.

And here are a few cactus, doing well in an urban environment.

Some trees are drought tolerant; this ones blooms beautifully at this time of year.  Enjoy!