4 Cities in 4 Days

We have done a lot of driving these past four days to see and do as much as possible and so far we are enjoying the southwest.  Four days ago we drove to Fortuna, just outside of Yuma in the foothills.  We stumbled upon a range operated by the Marine Corps Air Station in Yuma.  We stayed on the trail and did not venture too far off as it felt like we were in prime rattlesnake country.  Every time you looked from one area to another the skies changed in colour and it was hard to choose what to look at; the foothills to the east or the sunset to the west. 

 

 The entrance to the range

 

Another reason why we kept to the trail

Loving the trees

The trail

There were many dried up creek beds

More trail

Cactus at sunset - how much more Arizona can you get

I really loved this old tree, so much character

 

The following day we were on the road again, this time back to Phoenix, but before we continued our journey we had to stop off at the Painted Rock Petroglyph Site.  It was off the highway and after a narrow paved road we ended up onto a dusty dirt road.  It was a mere $2.00/vehicle to enter the park and I personally think they should raise it to $5.00.  It was well laid out with many signs explaining who and what each petroglyph meant.  

Entrance to the site

Most of these rocks had some kind of carving on them

So very cool

We were told by another visitor to be very careful as there are many rattlesnakes there.

We didn't see any but we did see a few lizards scampering in between the rocks

Me!

We noticed many dried river/creek beds

The landscape was peppered with tall cactus

While driving we noticed many fields that had white flowers on them.  We thought maybe cotton as it is one of the crops grown down here.  Sure enough it was many, many plants of cotton.

So much cotton

 

The reason we were heading back to Phoenix is that we had purchased season opener tickets for the Winnipeg Jets, our home NHL team.  We were just behind the Jets' bench and we were surrounded by Jets' fans.  At one point you would think we were in Winnipeg and not Phoenix. It was a great game and we won 6-2 which made it more sweeter.  We got back to Yuma around 1am and had our alarms set for 7am to hit the road again...this time California!

Our view

There was some Winnipegers sitting beside us and they kindly took our picture

At the game

Opening faceoff

Our awesome goalie

 

Yesterday, our third day on the road and a new city - San Diego California.  The drive was about 2.5 hours and was amazing.  We went through desert, sand dunes and mountains - all great but I am so glad that I wasn't driving.

Just before driving through the mountains we saw many wind farms

Sand dunes with road warnings of dust

 

Since our room was not ready when we arrived we decided to head straight to the USS Midway Museum located at Navy Pier in San Diego.  We spent about 3 hours on board this aircraft carrier, we even had some lunch.  The USS Midway was the longest-serving aircraft carrier of the 20th century, from 1945 to 1992.  At the end of our tour we came across a navy prisoner of war.  I wish I could remember his name but we was very informative and freely spoke about being a prisoner of war for a year and half.  After hearing his stories we thanked him for his service and continued on.

The entrance to the museum

So many planes to see inside and out

What a view from the top

After the museum we headed back to the hotel to check in and off again we were, this time to La Jolla beach for sunset.  This is the first time for me to see the California coastline and I am in love.  We walked the beach area and in true Denise fashion I fell into a tide pool.  I was up to my bum in water and no I was not wearing shorts.  I saved my Nikon by using my elbow to break my fall, not really the best choice as I am suffering a bit today.  Because I landed on my feet into the pool I also inured the ball of my foot, it's swollen and sore today and hurts more than my elbow.  I didn't scream but the lady beside me sure did.  Main thing is that the camera is good and I will mend.  The following are from La Jolla beach.

 

 

Last night I was in bed late and up way too early this morning as we were off to Bonsall, California. Why Bonsall you ask?  Well we had a special afternoon date with some awesome people and dogs at the California GSP Rescue.  As mentioned before I became Facebook friends with some members of the GSP page and today we were going to meet some of them.  It was a warm wonderful afternoon and both Craig and I got our GSP fix to last us until we pick up ours at the end of our trip.  I fell in love over and over with these dogs and could of taken all of them home.  Each had their own personality but all shared many traits of the GSP.  We didn't want to leave our friends but all of us had to head home and for us it was back to La Jolla for sunset. I would like to thank Teri and John for inviting us to the rescue and to Mary for driving down to meet up with us.  I would of never thought in my wildest dreams that we would actually connect in person with some of these member...so glad that we did.

The gang from the California GSP Rescue

We share a love of this breed and it was awesome to meet them in person

John, Mary, Teri, myself and Craig.

These dogs had a blast chasing each other - you would never know that the dog chasing

was hit by a car and recently had surgery to fix a badly broken leg

Large tubs to cool off in

One of my favorite dogs that were up for adoption, Elvis

He is partially blind and has a great personality and of course cute!

My all time favorite of the day, John & Teri's dog Forrest.

He has to use a wheel chair as his back legs don't work as well any more

So many dogs having a blast at this great facility

This is what a tired GSP looks like

So much fun = a tired GSP

 

We made it back to La Jolla for sunset and also found some seals resting on the beach.  We have seals up north but seeing these guys this close was pretty cool.

La Jolla

Having a great stretch

Cute little seal pup

 

Waves were much larger today than yesterday.

 

Tomorrow we head to the San Diego Zoo Safari Park.  We were undecided if we should go to this park or the Zoo.  After talking to Teri and Mary they suggest that the  Safari Park is the best. It's going to be another long fun day tomorrow as after the park we will be heading back to Yuma so I better hit the hay.

 

Talk soon!