Seems that with the little space we have in California, we are going to use our home in Phoenix as a dumping ground. Here we go, loading up the minivan (Oct 28). I have to say, minivans are the best!!!
Graham is trying to learn how to read the map. I just noticed Charlie's feet behind my seat. Stinky!!!
We arrived Saturday around 5pm and realized that we didn't have our key! Thankfully we were able to locate our spare. It would be funny if we had driven all that way and had to stay in a hotel room. Ha ha ha!!!
This is what happens when Bobby tries to clean up the dry leaves in the backyard. Perhaps he thought he was actually doing me a favor but in reality, it was actually more difficult trying to get that delicate ash off the rocks/fireplace. Charlie actually took this photo. It wasn't me, honey! :-P
Charlie also spotted this butterfly and his first thought was, "I need to get the camera!" Glad he was able to get a few photos of the butterfly:
Maybe he sees me taking photos constantly. Here is an interesting looking one - I can't seem to remember the name of this cactus now:
Love the different shades of color along the mountain ranges:
We decided to take a different route on the way home, along I-8 towards San Diego. At the end of it, I think we probably should have started our journey a lot earlier as we knew going into it, it would be longer.
Thank goodness for DVDs on these road trips! I have to say, both boys do quite well on these trips. And I'm not sure if you can see, but we have a whole bunch of things we are bringing back from Phoenix to California!
There's a section along I-8 (in AZ) with rows and rows and rows of solar panels. Amazing!
And just as you cross the border into California, it's sand dunes! Reminded us so much of Abu Dhabi:
Looks like so much fun on a dune buggy!!!
And then, we see a sign for Mountain Goat???!!
Amazing how quickly the landscape changes from sand to rocks. I had the boys look. Nope - no mountain goats!!!
As if solar panels were not enough, we are driving along wind mills now - very similar to those along I-10 although these were a lot closer to the road. So you can really see how MASSIVE these wind mills are:
Perhaps next time, we will need to check out this little brick place up on the hill. Almost looked like some sort of restaurant. Hmm... actually no, just reading up on the internet, it is called the Desert View Tower - a stone tower that was built from 1922 to 1928 as a roadside attraction. It stands at 3,000 ft in elevation, in the In-Ko-Pah Mountains. The internet is amazing! How did we do it before? Go to the library to find out that information???!
I digress. Another spot to check out next time too perhaps - a Hot Spring??!!
After many longs hours... civilization! Here is a glimpse of San Diego State University. Looks massive! I almost went to college here but ended up at Arizona State instead. I wonder what life would have been like instead. Probably wouldn't have met Bobby!
It was getting dark not long after driving by the college. Didn't make things any better when we got a little lost and almost ended up on The Queen Mary in Long Beach! I am reading this now where it says "The RMS Queen Mary is a retired ocean liner that sailed primarily on the North Atlantic Ocean from 1936 to 1967." And I am also learning that RMS stands for Royal Mail Ship, a designation which dates back to 1940. It is the ship prefix used for seagoing vessels that carry mail under contract to the British Royal Mail (from Wikipedia). Very interesting! There was an event going on in the ship so there was this massive queue, I mean line, going onto the ship. Thankfully there was a quick U-turn. Phew!
We finally find the correct way home, over this really high bridge with the port to the right.
What a long night. It took us almost 9 hours to get home!!! Well, we did stop for dinner and Graham almost fell asleep at the table. Definitely starting our road trip earlier in the morning next time!
We are down to 13 boxes in storage so perhaps there is a tiny light at the end of that tunnel. I am already putting more things aside in anticipation of another trip to Phoenix :-P
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