Phoenix to San Diego on I-8 is a snoozer. With the exception of the odious dairy out in
the middle of the desert and a swarm of cops and border patrol people near
Yuma, not much was happening on this stretch of the trip. But San Diego brought back fond memories :
our kids were born here, living in shorts and t-shirts, delicious air with the
hint of orange blossom, desert flowers in spring and a dusting of snow on the
mountains in winter, and of course, the Pacific Ocean. Our friends, the Hostetlers live in Del Mar,
just a mile and a half from Torrey Pines State Park. Walkers and hikers in that reserve enjoy forest,
ocean scrub, bluffs and beach all in a 3 – 4 mile circuit and we made good use
of this wonderful resource while visiting.
We also enjoyed a morning at the wild animal park where the white (or is
it the black?) rhinoceros is being kept from extinction. Despite the advantage
of many things to do and see in the area, a person’s home needs to be a refuge
from all the hustle and bustle of urban life. Our hosts created such a refuge
with the most beautiful and interesting patio garden I’ve ever seen, an island
of calm and beauty between the freeways.
We skirted LA east of the mountains and headed north into the very dusty
San Joaquin Valley. Our destination is
one more look at Yosemite. After a night
in Oakhurst we entered the park at Wawona in the south and headed for the
valley. The last time Ruth and I were
there was when Nate was a baby. It’s as lovely as ever and this time of the
year including some fall colors, and not the least bit crowded. If the visit with the Hostetlers was the
punctuation on the relational part of this trip, the visit to Yosemite
punctuated the scenic part of the trip.
Fortunately Tioga Pass was still open so we exited through Tuolumne
Meadows to Lee Vining, and on up through Nevada to spend our last night on the
road in Winnemucca. We awoke this morning
to snow and were in snow for the next two hundred miles. By the time we reached Boise it was
rain. But again, by the time we reached
Cascade, you guessed it – snow! Time
find those skis…..
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