San Diego- 1st time Rv'ing in the Golden State

SAN DIEGO

After leaving Flagstaff and overnighting in Phoenix, we headed out through the desert to our next stop, San Diego! I love San Diego.  I have been there many times in the past for work stuff but never had the chance to do some RV'ing there.  We started out California adventures here and planned 5 nights to do some family activities and see some old friends.  

One of the things you have to do in San Diego is the zoo! So Rory and I coughed up the insane ticket prices and took the family for a day of animal adventure.  There were many different attractions as you can imagine and the weather was just great for animal watching.  The zoo itself is very nice but I would have to say in terms of comparison the KC Zoo was just as good.  We saw the typical array of animals and the exhibits were pretty close up to the animals so the kids had lots of fun, learned many cool facts, and enjoyed the day together.  We saw hippos, elephants, giraffes, lots of different birds and giant tortoises!  

We visited La Jolla cove the following day.  After eating at a pretty crafty buger joint called "Burger Lounge" we took a walk and did the typical tourist thing.  The cove was just gorgeous and it was a really pleasant day with the weather.  We allowed the kids to play in the sand and gave them instructions not to get wet.  Guess what happened? Yep they got wet.  Here is a video of the cove if you have never seen it.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C27aU4Tyfv4

     We visited some old friends with our time there as well.  I got to see an old friend John Cressler.  John and I have been friends for around 10 years and met at a sushi joint in Wilmington.  He now lives out in San Diego and is married to a wonderful woman Odette and has a beautiful baby girl named Sienna.  It was a blessing to have them see the kids since John only never met Owen or Sophia.  We spent time together at our RV and it was a joy.

     Rory got to see an old friend as well. Trista Montero.  Trista has lived out here quite a while as well and is married to Brian and they have a little boy named Mattie.  Rory and Trista were pretty inseparable back in high school.  

Some of the other things we did were visiting Hotel Del Coronado and taking a stroll on the beach.  We drank some local brew. Enjoyed the awesome traffic.  Got our oil pan replaced at the Firestone because the guys in Phoenix changed the oil incorrectly.  We rode out bikes.  Enjoyed the hot tub and swimming pool.  Met a family travelling in a RV from Australia.  Saw some crazy house architecture and finally enjoyed the 75 degree weather.  I also busted my head open on the RV while hooking up the water hose.  All in all I would return to San Diego to RV again with the family.  We had a great time and it was a blast!

Flagstaff AZ------ GRAND CANYON!

Panorama of the Grand Canyon, stunning!

 Grand Canyon

Miss Sophia playing around.

There are those times in life when you see something to unique, so beautiful and different that you are left stunned in admiration! The Grand Canyon is one of those places.  I could sit and stare at the wonder of the creation of the Grand Canyon for days and never get bored.  What an absolute marvel.  This is one of those places that you deeply appreciate the creative nature and power of the Lord almighty.  This is the second time I have visited here, the last being in 2008.  This is the first time for Sophia and the other kids did not remember so it was special for them as well.  We took the whole day to drive on the South Rim of the canyon on roads that are normally blocked to public traffic.  Every stop was a stop of unique and intense reflection for me.  

If you ever have a chance to see the Grand Canyon, explore or hike in the over 1 mile depth of the place please do! It is an experience that you will never forget and something that you will appreciate forever.

another panorama of the south rim

Sedona AZ- Red River Canyon

Here are some photos of us taking a drive through Red River Canyon north of Sedona.  What a beautiful place!  This was part of our time in Flagstaff AZ.  We planned a day to go to a couple of educational places and took this drive going south from Flagstaff and returning home that evening.  We visited a Pueblo, old mining town and Montezuma's castle.  This was a dwelling built by indians in the side of a cliff!

Two weeks since last blog...... sorry family!

Albuquerque NM 

On my last post we had just left Amarillo and we were on our way to Albuquerque.  That was a little more than two weeks ago so I apologize.  While we were in Albuquerque we really had a great time at the science center called, Explora!  It was one of those places that you could stay all day and never realize the whole day has gone by.  The kids had a blast learning and playing and we had fun with some good down time.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F9iMkatbyj8

We also were able to go to an authentic Mexican grocery store that was playing music so loud you really had not choice but to dance!  Rory was laughed at for busting a move on isle 5 by the locals but I loved watching her shake it to the authentic music.

On another note we got gas for the van in Albuquerque and we paid $1.62 a gallon! Diesel was $2.25 a gallon and it was nice to fill the rig up on the cheap. We stayed 2 days in Albuquerque and moved on to Flagstaff AZ.

Ethan learning about X and Y axis at Explora!