Encinitas, CA

We headed south to visit with my dear friend Jessica. But the week did not go as we had hoped. I got sick. Had a nice visit with Jessica's doctor but too little time with Jessica.

We took advantage of two beach front state campgrounds. The first was in South Carlsbad and the second in Cardiff by the Sea. Great locations for beach activities. A bit pricey with few amenities, but what the heck, you are looking at the Pacific Ocean.

Encinitas is a funky little town. Philip and I hit up all the thrift shops looking for our New Year's Eve outfits and doing a bit of Christmas shopping until, wham...I got the flu+sinus infection+who knows what blues. I'll spare you the details and instead share the few images we have from this stop.











Jessica, thank you for the head massage. I had 24 headache-free hours. Aidan, thanks for be so well behaved. We shall return!

Merry Christmas to all of our family and friends. Philip and I park the van for a week and fly to Vermont for the holiday. Safe travels all!

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Manhattan Beach, CA

We had a delightful visit with our friend Marsha, who we met last year in Vietnam. Marsha has a wonderful house just blocks from the beach. We were so comfortable in her guest house we hoped she might adopt us.

Walks along the beach. Touring the town. Visiting the gorgeous Adamson House in Malibu. Christmas boat parade and party in Long Beach. A long bike ride along the coast through Hermosa Beach and Redondo Beach to Rancho Palos Verdes where we visited the glass Wayfarer's Chapel and Point Vincente Interpretive Center. Fireworks from the pier and Christmas lights' tour. Boy, we were busy.





















The weather was sunny and warm. Glorious! So glorious that we stayed an extra day (thanks Marsha). Philip and I biked to Venice Beach and we had a delicious meal with Marsha at Poncho's.




To top it all off, we went to the Getty Museum on our last day. If you haven't been to the Getty be sure to go when you have a chance. It's a place that you can visit many, many times and never see it all. Do visit it from the outside as well as inside the galleries. The buildings, the gardens and the views will grab you.







Our new friends...







Thank you Marsha! You are a top host. And, even though we like to recommend destinations, we won't give out your address. :) All you have to do is look at our smiles to know how much fun we were having all weekend. A truly great start to the holiday season.





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Red Rock Canyon State Park: East Kern, CA

Even life on the road requires mundane chores.




After washing all of our odorous bike clothes, we set off to a small desert park in hopes of finding some mountain biking trails.




We found some rideable roads, but nothing too exciting. The park is a good stopping point if you are traveling in the area. There are some hiking and equestrian trails and lots of off-road driving miles. Californians do seem to love driving through the backcountry. Perhaps the most unique feature of the park are the topless...




Ventilation is a plus, but if you linger you might get a sunburn!


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Death Valley National Park, CA

I must admit that I knew almost nothing about Death Valley before visiting the park. One more thing learned in grammar school now long forgotten. About all I knew was that it is hot, very hot, and flat. Even this turned out to be only somewhat correct.




The actual valley is flat but it is surrounded on all sides by starkly beautiful mountains rising over 11,000 feet. As you probably know, the lowest elevation in the United States is located in the park. Badwater Basin is 282 feet below sea level.




But did you know that it snows in the park? In the mountains of course, but even the valley in December experiences moderate temperatures (45-70F).




There is something for almost everyone in the park- geology, history, hiking, biking, and 4-wheeling. For us, it was road biking. The park is nearly empty in December and there are miles and miles of good pavement. Flat, rolling and back breaking mountain passes all there for your enjoyment.








Whatever your pleasure, do visit Death Valley. But maybe not in July or August when it truly is one of the hottest and driest places on earth.





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Pahrump, NV

Pahrump is a small town on the way to Death Valley just northwest of Las Vegas. It's population doubled (42,000) between 2000 and 2007, however since the slump in Vegas the growth has stopped. There was barely a soul out and about the morning we passed through.

We spent the night camping on...



Which we thought was appropriate!

We passed the betting and brothel opportunities but we did have breakfast at Mom's Diner, which claims to be the "Heart of Pahrump". Heart burn? No really it was good.



We stopped for coffee at Cafe C'est Si Bon in Shoshone.



And we got directions to a really cool hot springs in Tecopa (CA).



The area is called the mud lake because the bottom is deep and squishy. They are heavenly hot (112) with a truely earthly beauty. Warning it takes a while to get the mud off of your feet.

Lastly, I leave you with a question. Can anyone dispute that this is the tallest ice cream stand as claimed by the owners?



Remember to get outside and have some fun everyday.

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Yuma, AZ (Again)

Visited with Russ and Marie to celebrate Russ's 80th Birthday!




We went to Mexico for a quick trip to the dentist and pharmacy. And dollar tacos! Your $ still goes a long way here.




We decorated the house inside and out for the holidays.







We went to see the new Harry Potter movie, which Philip and I liked a lot. Did you?

We also tried out one of the Foothills' growing number of food carts.



...Shakes.

So far the carts cannot compare to those in Portland, but it's fun to see people creating their own style and small businesses.

Next stop, Death Valley. "All the advantages of hell without the inconveniences." Hmmm.

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Anza Borrego State Park

Anza Borrego is a gem. So beautiful! The park is located less than two hours east of San Diego. We stayed at the Palm Canyon State Park Campground, which is conveniently located close to town. If you want a full service campground, this is a great choice. They do offer tent camping too. The town of Borrego Springs has basic services only- lots of Mexican food, a small grocery store, a hardware store and a general store. The best place to grab some food is Calico's, a wonderful cafe with a little of everything. There are several golf courses is the area too. I guess they were built when Borrego Springs thought it could compete with Palm Desert.




The park is especially popular for jeep travel on the many miles of sandy roads. Unfortunately that means that hikers and bikers are competing for the same turf as motorized vehicles. There are a few trails exclusively for hiking and horseback riding, but there is no single track for bikes. However, the park tends to be very quiet except for holidays. Biking is best after some rain or with specialized equipment. Here's Philip navigating some deep sand.




We stayed five nights and only needed to drive our van once to get to a trailhead. We biked to the trails, to town and even to dinner at night. The road biking is good with several options including a 10 mile climb for weekend warriors.

This was our second trip to Borrego and I know we will return. Here are a few of the sites:













What?!! Giant sloths??




Nearby in Ocotillo Wells, there is a vehicular recreation park. The dust cloud generated by all the bikes and buggies can be seen for a few miles. Lots of boys at play, and a few girls too.




Just to give you an idea of how undeveloped this area is, I've included a picture of the airport.


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One Thousand Miles

One thousand miles, five nights, two friends, a rainbow and SNOW! We started our southward migration on Wednesday winding our way from the redwoods to the vineyards of Napa Valley. The grapes were all harvested and vines were glowing red and gold with fall leaves. We spent the night in Calistoga, a cozy little town away from some of the Napa bustle. Our short stay included dinner at Jole- which we give top honors for the wood-fired oven baked bread, excellent service and coconut cream pie.




The next day we found our way to Annadel State Park in Santa Rosa. We enjoyed the park's challenging mountain bike trails. I managed to get through the afternoon with only a few bloody scrapes. In Santa Rosa, we visited with our friends Ken and Kelo. We met Ken and Kelo on our Vietnam bike tour last year. Their home sits in the hills outside the city. A beautiful setting with lots of wildlife. We were hoping to see a mountain lion chasing down a pig, but everything was quite tame during our stay. Thank you, K & K, for the warm welcome, wonderful dinner and fun conversation. We were thinking of listing your guest house on Trip Advisor.




The next day, We lingered longer in the area spending the afternoon in Healdsburg- a lovely little hamlet north of Santa Rosa where a troll-sized cottage home goes for $650,000. I guess we won't be moving there!












That evening we spent the night in a truck stop near Lodi. Everyone had pulled off the highway because of heavy rain. It had been a long day and we slept through the storm. Our apologies to all of our other friends and family in NorCal. We will visit you next time.

From Lodi, we drove all the way to Palm Springs arriving past dark. We climbed into the Santa Rosa mountains camping for the night in the national forest. We were blessed with a rainbow early the next morning. However, shortly afterwards, our plan to drive further into the mountains was stymied by the winter storm that started dumping snow!




The snow and high winding droves us back down to the valley and eventually to the Salton Sea.







We discovered that almost no one goes to the Salton Sea except almost all the white pelicans that live in the US. It's not your typical sea, nor is the beach very appealing. But it was a nice venue from which to gaze at the snow covered peaks that we had fled.



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