Indio and Palm Springs

We arrived at the Outdoor Resorts in Indio which, for my Port St Lucie friends, was a sister property of ours. The resort was set up just like ours with the exception of the Spanish style buildings. it certainly felt familiar in a surreal way!

It was recommended that Lee and I should experience the Palm Springs Aerial Tram since our time in Indio was limited and I am glad we did!

This attraction is the largest rotating aerial tramway in the world ascending 2 1/2 miles up rising to an elevation of 8500 feet above the desert floor to the top of Mount San Jacinto. This California State Park offers hiking, observation decks, a museum, and restaurants. The views were just amazing....the temperature at this height dropped to 40+ degrees compared to the 79 degrees below!

Lee had made dinner reservations at their Peaks Restaurant where we dined on fabulous food overlooking this incredible vista!

The San Diego Zoo

One of the highlights is the San Diego Zoo celebrating its 100th anniversary!

It houses over 3700 animals of more than 650 species and subspecies. This zoo was a pioneer in the concept of open-air, cageless exhibits that recreate natural animal habitats. It is one of the few zoos in the world that houses and successfully breeds the giant panda which was of extreme interest to me. Pandas sleep about 22 hours a day so it was not easy to get a good picture of them!

Animals, just like children, never make it easy to photograph them.....in addition, most of the animals were sleeping except the monkeys who were very animated. We saw as many animals, fish, and some insects (yuck) as possible. These are the pictures I was able to take...enjoy!

San Diego

Well we finally made it to California....our first stop..San Diego. We are staying at a really nice resort called the Chula Vista RV Resort and Marina...great views of the marina! Our first adventure was spent in the Gaslamp Quarter which is a historical neighborhood in downtown San Diego boasting of numerous restaurants and shops...the blend of the Victorian and Art Deco architecture along side newer buildings was visually beautiful.

San Diego is also home to the Padres baseball team and their stadium was located in the heart of the downtown.

It was such a beautiful day for walking that we strolled along the Martin Luther King Promenade by the harbor to visit Seaport Village which is a waterfront complex of reataurants and shops....it, indeed, felt like a little village with a town square...we were lucky to have been there to experience "Salsa Sunday"....there was music and dancing....people sitting on outdoor furniture or by the fountains...what fun!

From Seaport Village, you could see the North Island Naval Base across the bay...we even saw the Midway in the distance.

What a fabulous day!

Big Bend National Park

If you ever wanted to go back in time, say 17 million years ago, this would be the place...it is one of mother nature's prized possessions...an area untouched....land that has been created by volcanos, volcanic eruptions, wind, rain, and any other thing that Mother Nature could throw at it!

It is desolate yet inspiring...so quiet that you could actually feel a part of the landscape! The variety of cactus was amazing.

We traveled for the most part by jeep but were able to stop along the way for some short trails and overlooks...one of the trails that interested Lee was the one that brought him to the Rio Grande. The river at this point was only 15 feet wide.. at one section, the river carved through the immense rock wall on the Mexican side. The immensely high rock wall on the Mexican side was like a fortress!

After a long day of exploring, we went to dinner at a restaurant recommended by Lee's sister called the Starlight Theater Bar and Grill in the ghost town in Terlingua outside of Lajitas. The Starlight used to be a movie theater in the 1930's...it was a very quaint setting and we enjoyed our burgers and, of course, margaritas!

Heading to Big Bend National Park

Driving through Texas was quite interesting...first we were surrounded by very green flat land boasting of ranches and farms...then we hit desert with rolling hills and rock formations.

Can you say "Close Encounters of the Third Kind!" We saw quite a few border patrol vehicles. We even had to stop for a couple of inspections since we were traveling so close to the Rio Grande.

We arrived at our campground where we met a rally group from The RV Forum...they invited us to join them for a fish fry dinner consisting of catfish caught and prepared by the rally's hosts Larry and Henry and wives.

Those are the kinds of things that happen when you "RV"! You meet so many wonderful people. The sight surrounding us at our campsite was spectacular.

We are so looking forward to exploring Big Bend tomorrow!