After a 16 day hiatus, we are on the road again heading east and towards home. We had a wonderful visit in San Diego with daughters Deb and Amy. While there, we had the car completely checked out. Thankfully,  there was no damage from our mishap at Big Sur. Like everywhere in California, there was record breaking high temperatures and Virginia humidity. Because of the heat we stayed close to Deborah’s condo and the pool with a few trips to Home Depot to complete Deb’s “daddy do list” with some minor repairs. Instead of traveling to my favorite Stone Brewery in Escondido, 100 degrees, we went to Denny’s for chocolate milk shakes.

Peggy was willing to take the blame for the unusual heat and humidity, but she refused to take the blame when Hurricane Kay was forecast to come up from Baja California! (Hurricanes are rare in California.) Kay was downgraded to a tropical storm. We had 1 day of light rainfall, but much more is needed. At least there were no torrential downpours or flooding AND the temperatures dropped.

While we no longer have the Pacific Ocean on our right as we travel, the desert has its own unique beauty. I’m always surprised by the size of the boulders we pass on a section of Interstate 5. (The creek was aptly named Boulder Creek.) The shadows from the clouds create an interesting color contrast on the terrain below. I’m fascinated by the way the hills just seem to pop up out of no where. The temperatures were also a contrast from the beginning to the end of the day. At 7 a.m., we left San Diego under cloudy skies and cool temperatures. In the Laguna Mountains we turned on the car heater and by 11 a.m., crossing the AZ desert we were ready for the air conditioner!

We capped off the day with a wonderful dinner at our friends’ home. We had fun catching up on our lives and families for the past 2 years. We look forward to more visiting tomorrow, but for now we hear our bed calling us.

Interesting road name for the day: Bloody Basin Rd