Day 11 - Farmers' Market & Bike Ride

We woke up to a perfectly clear, but cool (40 F) morning. After a leisurely breakfast and the CBS Sunday Morning Show, we drove into Encinitas to the farmers' market. Lots of good food to be had; we will definitely go back. Bought a soup and portobello mushroom sandwich for our lunch.

Drove up to Oceanside with our bikes, stopping in Carlsbad to get more of their great water. Went inland to the end of the San Luis Rey River bike trail. Rode about 15 miles round trip to the beach and back. Lou then rode back to the townhome afterward. Temps in the 50s and breezy, but a glorious day for us Minnesotans!

Day 10 - Beach Towns

We spent the day exploring the beach towns from Oceanside to Del Mar. First we drove south through Encinitas and stopped at a lovely place our friends Dick and Judy recommended. It was called the Self-Realization Fellowship. They have a lovely grounds overlooking the ocean, filled with interesting plants, koi ponds, and quiet places to sit and contemplate.

We continued on south to Del Mar and then headed back north. We stopped in Carlsbad to get a gallon of their famous refreshing mineral drinking water for 50 cents. Then we went on to the Oceanside harbor where I was yesterday on my bike. Had a snack and a mocha to share by the harbor.

At least it was a sunny afternoon. This morning was wet and cool. Heard on the news tonight that part of I-8 (which we drove in on Thursday) was closed today because of snow! It is supposed to snow down to about 1000' elevation tonight. I-8 gets as high as 4000' in places. A couple feet is expected in the higher elevations.

Went to the top of the bluff this evening to watch the sunset, but it was pretty cloudy by then.

Day 9 - California Dreamin'

We've had a nice day today - settling in, relaxing, and biking. The weather has turned out better than we thought it would be. We're supposed to be getting a winter storm, but it hasn't arrived yet. We went for a short beach walk this morning. It's 111 steps down the cliff to the beach.
I figured I should get out for a bike ride before the rain and had a great time. The sun came out and the temps were in the upper 50s. I rode about 24 miles from our townhome to Oceanside harbor and back. Lyn is getting ready to go for a longer walk on the beach now. Hopefully we'll have a nice sunset tonight.

Day 8 - Tucson to Encinitas

Finally we have arrived at our vacation rental in Encinitas. We had a great time with Jill and Ray. Went out for Mexican at their favorite restaurant. Had a really nice breakfast with them this morning, then loaded the car and left about 9 am.
Nothing much to see for a long ways except desert. Then we went through the final mountains and down to San Diego. Encinitas is about 25 miles north of downtown SD. Arrived about 4 pm.
The townhouse is really nice and roomy. The garage, however, is pretty full. We can just barely get our car into it. We didn't have time to go down to the beach yet, since we needed to get some groceries. Anyway, we're ready to relax and enjoy the southern CA climate and vibe.

Day 7 - Tucson

After a pre-breakfast of grapefruit from their tree, Jill and Ray took us out to Beyond Bread for brunch. This was about 150 yards from where Representative Giffords was shot a while back. There are no flowers left at the mall, but it was quite sobering to see the actual site.

Later we went up "A" mountain to get a good view of the valley. Then we went to see St. Xavier del Bac Mission. This is on a reservation near the SW part of the city. Quite an interesting place. Jill said that it is a much-photographed spot. We shared a piece of fry bread from a vendor on the plaza. Yum!

Ray drove us past the Pima Air Museum and then past an area where older Air Force planes are mothballed for future use. There are probably thousands of planes there that supposedly can be readied for use quickly. Ray said that they are often sold to third world countries.

Took the scenic route back to their home in NW Tucson for a late lunch and we are all relaxing for the rest of the afternoon. We'll be going out later to one of their favorite Mexican restaurants. Tomorrow morning we'll leave for the last drive to Encinitas.

Days 5 and 6 - City of Rocks S.P. to Tucson

Today we drove about 30 miles from Deming to City of Rocks State Park. Out in the middle of nowhere is this small state park with a huge jumble of very large boulders. The tent sites are scattered among the boulders. We drove around the park checking out the sites for a while and then picked one isolated at the far NE end of the park. No other campers in sight, just fields with cows and mountains beyond.

After setting up our camp we drove out of the park a few miles to buy some firewood and then drove up to the observation point. From there you could see 30+ miles in every direction. Back at camp, I got ready for a bike ride and went out for about 13 miles. Lyn hiked around the park.

We had another beautiful evening with some of the best star gazing we've had in a long time. Supposedly this park is known for its dark night skies. We enjoyed that while huddling around the campfire to stay warm.

It was a cold night and we wore a lot of clothes in our sleeping bags. In the morning, I noticed that some water had leaked out of our water jug and was frozen on the top of the tablecloth! After some hot coffee, a little breakfast, sunlight, and breaking camp activities we were finally warm.

Drove to Tucson by way of Bisbee and Tombstone. We had lunch in Bisbee at the Bisbee Grill, which was OK. Bisbee was kind of a surprise. It's a quaint old mountain mining town which has become a tourist destination.

Arrived at our friends Jill and Ray's home in Tucson in the late afternoon. Sat around catching up for a while and had a wonderful dinner that Jill had prepared. More conversation and a little TV watching and we were ready to call it a night.

Day 4 - Roswell, NM to Deming, NM

Well, we had an uneventful night in Roswell. We did find one alien, but she seemed pretty harmless...

We drove basically west from Roswell and pretty soon we found ourselves in the historic town of Lincoln, NM. See photos of the old church and the Torreon, basically a tiny fort. We were told that Billy the Kid escaped from Lincoln after killing two sherrifs. Also, a former governor of NM wrote "Ben Hur" while living there.

We thought we'd be camping tonight, but that didn't work out. We stopped at Caballo Lake State Park, but it's been very windy today and the camping area is pretty open and not really all that interesting. So we decided to make some more progress to the west. We went on to Deming, NM and found a motel room for the night. The wind is supposed to lighten up tonight and we will go to City of Rocks State Park tomorrow and stay until Tuesday morning. Hope to get on the bikes again tomorrow.

As I mentioned it was very windy today and mostly in our face. Gas mileage was the worst of the trip. I hope that gets better. Think tailwinds....Today we played "Tumbleweed Alert!" It's a real fun game. I picked some tumbleweed out of the grill of the car this evening.

Saw our first roadrunner today. Oh, and I forgot to mention that we saw an armadillo at the park in OK. I didn't know their tails were so long. Never saw a live one before...

Day 3 - Hinton, OK to Rosswell, NM

We woke up to another foggy morning and broke camp. Then we took the bikes for a ride to the far end of the canyon and back. It was only about 2.3 miles, but it felt great to get on the bikes again after the snowy, cold winter in MN.

Drove west in the fog for a couple hours and finally crossed into the Texas panhandle. Texas BBQ anyone?

Highlights of driving across the Texas panhandle? Dodging dead skunks and smelling feed lots. Highlights of eastern New Mexico? Long stretches of nothing except the occasional tumbleweed. We’re staying in a Hampton Inn tonight in Rosswell, NM. We plan to camp the next two nights somewhere in SW New Mexico or SE Arizona. Still need to figure that out.

Day 2 - Kansas City MO to Hinton OK

Yesterday we left the Kansas City area and drove to a beautiful little park outside Hinton, OK. It's called Red Rock Canyon State Park. The entrance is right on the edge of town and is pretty non-descript. But once you pass the ranger station the road drops away quickly! You drive down about 100-150 feet and then the road levels out in the base of the canyon and you're surrounded by red canyon walls. A lot of people come here for rock climbing and rappelling, but it was not crowded at all. We had our little campground all to ourselves until the scouts showed up at about 9 pm. We had a wonderful evening with a full moon rising over the cliff behind our tent.

Day 1 of our trip to San Diego

We started our trip today with the car all loaded down with goodies. We have the Rocketbox on the roof with our camping gear and the bike rack on the rear of the car with our two bikes. We had a head wind today, so we kept the speed at 60 to try to get decent mileage. Hopefully we can go a bit faster tomorrow.

We're in Kansas City now at the Hampton Inn. Had a great dinner at Carrabo's Italian Grill. Yum! Tomorrow it's off to OK City or further. Still haven't decided for sure. Westward ho!