Finally on the road!

Well, we’re on the road. We stayed up late packing and got most things ready for a final pack out. This morning while I took the oldest two to their once a week classes, Mike packed out the car carrier and watched the youngest two.

More hiccups as we got ready to leave. We were checking the sprinklers in the front yard and found one of the pipes had burst. A quick trip next door and our neighbor will manually water our front yard while we are gone. Our cat was following us around and meowing pitifully while we packed. I think she sensed we were leaving. Poor thing. Another set of neighbors will feed her and the fish while we are gone. All that for the price of heating the hot tub.

I’m really ready to be on the road. I’m ready to explore and learn. I’m ready to show our kids a significant portion of the United States. I am a little disgusted at the price of gas though. Arco is $3.19 for the cheap stuff in SoCal. Silliness, I’m telling you.

We started off going up and over the mountains east of San Diego. It’s a dry, arid area, with rock outcroppings significantly outnumbering the vegetation. With the recent rains, the ocotillo is just beginning to bloom, bright splashes of red at the end of seemingly lifeless sticks. We saw the windmill farm as we crossed the Tecate Divide to drop into the Imperial Valley. The green of the valley was in stark contrast to the sandy, drab of the surrounding Anza Borrego Desert. Continuing on our way, we passed through the sand dunes, and watched in amazement as countless 4 wheelers zipped up and down the forever shifting mountains.

Our first scheduled stop was in Yuma, Arizona at the Yuma Crossing State Historical Park. It’s located on the banks of the Colorado River. Unfortunately, we arrived at 5:10…they close at 5. Bummer! So I took a quick picture of the river and called it good. We had a pleasant surprise when we filled up the tank…gas was a mere $2.79 at the 76 station. Nice fuel taxes we have in California. Drive 2 hours to the middle of the desert and the price of gas drops 40 cents per gallon. Nice.

Our destination tonight is just north of Phoenix, AZ. It’s spring season for the baseball teams, and the San Diego Padres are out in Peoria, AZ where we will stay the night. Just a tidbit of trivia for you.

Ok, that’s it for today. It has been a long preparation for this trip, and I’m so glad it is finally underway!