After our time with Mom and Dad, we were driving back from the San Diego Airport and decided we’d go on a hike up in the mountains that separate the city from our home in the Valley. The landscape is still a desert, but the hills are covered with interesting boulders. A bit of sleuthing turned up some hikes in the vicinity of Jacumba, so we pulled off the interstate and looked for them.
We couldn’t find the trails! I guess they’re out there somewhere, but the desert is trackless and all looks the same. After driving down increasingly sketchy dusty roads, we figured we’d just get out and make our own trail. The area is all federal land, so we weren’t trespassing or anything. We chose the highest peak in the distance and decided to climb to the top.
Of course it always looks easier from far away. Without a trail, we had to pick our way through countless prickly bushes, barrel cacti, and the ubiquitous cholla.
Even though it’s February, the sun was scorching. It was in the 80s, with no shade and nothing but dust and dry sharp plants poking at us. We reached the hill and started up. Again, it was more difficult than it seemed.
But we scrambled to the summit and surveyed the desert all around.
I still don’t know where the trail is (or if there even is one) but it was a good time nonetheless.
When Mom and Dad were visiting last week, we went through the Balboa Park Botanical Building. The plants were quite pretty, and I started snapping pictures. I was interested in the patterns and symmetry of the leaves. Here are a few that I liked:
Even the roof of the garden had a fascinating look:
Outside, as we continued through Balboa Park, I saw a few other cool architectural features. This one struck me:
We’ve been on our mission for nine months now, and our many trips out to San Diego have helped us find a lot of interesting things to see. When Mom and Dad started talking about coming out to visit us, we were excited and immediately started planning dates and things to do.
After we picked them up at the airport, we headed up the coast to Ocean Beach, where we all enjoyed amazing Hodad’s burgers.
Then we walked along the shoreline, enjoying the setting sun and all the… err, interesting people who hang out in Ocean Beach.
The following day we’d planned a few things in the city. We started at Cabrillo National Monument, which has a wonderful view of the bay and parts of the city. Unfortunately the fog hadn’t burned off yet, so there were thick layers of white clouds covering all of it.
Nonetheless, it was a beautiful sunny day and we spent some time down at the ocean walking around the tidepools.
Then we headed over to Balboa Park, one of our favorite areas to wander. The buildings and architecture are all really interesting.
Some of my photos will be the subject of another post. We had a grand time at the park.
The next day, it was time for some hiking. We’d heard good things about Annie’s Canyon, an area on the edge of the city featuring some trails and a slot canyon. Away we went! The slot canyon definitely delivered: it was super narrow.
Then we thought we’d check in on La Jolla, which is known for its coves and seals. In a minor miracle, we found a good parking spot right near the beach. We watched the seals for a bit, although they all pretty much look like big inert lumps of blubber.
I love the ocean, though, and it’s always great to hear the crash of the surf.
Mom and Dad were only visiting for a few days, and they wanted to see the Imperial Valley as well. So we headed east from San Diego on the hundred-mile drive to our home. Along the way we stopped at the Desert View Tower, which is a rickety old stone-and-wood structure high atop some rocks overlooking the freeway. We’ve seen it every time we drive past, and thought it would be fun to stop.
It lived up to its name– indeed, there was a view of the desert.
Other than that, it was basically a flea market inhabited by two grizzled old men (one was the owner, the other his friend visiting from Canada). But now we can say we’ve been there.
There isn’t much to do in the Valley, but of course Salvation Mountain is a famous spot. We drove out there and enjoyed the sight of a hundred thousand gallons of colorful paint.
We also dropped by the Pioneer Museum, and enjoyed meals at a few local restaurants.
Betwixt all the driving and sightseeing, we had a wonderful opportunity to just hang out and chat. It’s always good to spend time together. Thanks for making the trip, Mom and Dad!
When we were first married, Pepper’s family would have reunions every year. Her parents, siblings, and all their kids would get together in mid-July… often somewhere in Idaho or Utah, which was close to most of them. I remember it being sort of overwhelming at first, when there were sixty or more people who I didn’t really know. Learning names was a challenge, as was figuring out who belonged to who. Of course as the years passed I figured out the names and relationships.
The family has grown a lot, and now our nieces and nephews have their own adult kids, so it’s hard to get everyone together for a reunion. It’s shifted to every other year, and we meet up with whoever can make it. It’s still great fun to see the crowd and catch up a bit.
Two years ago, we all agreed to have the reunion in Arizona instead of Idaho, and in February instead of July. It would make for an interesting change. And through sheer coincidence (or was it providence?) we ended up serving a mission in California, a short four-hour drive away. So we were able to attend.
Most of the siblings were there, as well as a few of their kids. Since February in Arizona has great weather, we were able to do all sorts of things outdoors. We had a desert hike…
Pepper had a really cute hiking companion: our grand-niece Eve.
A few of “the guys” snuck out one night for some burgers.
I also managed to pop over to Potbelly, one of my top three favorite sandwich shops.
With around fifty people, there was always something going on. At times that meant fitting a nap in between activities.
I really enjoyed spending time with a gaggle of my grand-nieces:
We were so grateful that the reunion happened when we could attend, and it was awesome to see everyone for a weekend.
We drove through Yuma today on our way to Phoenix, and our good friends Gary and Susie happened to be in town from Bigfork. Naturally we had to meet them for lunch!
We haven’t seen them since we left for our mission, so we had a lot of catching up to do. We were at our table for almost three hours. It was awesome.
Afterward we stepped outside for a group photo and found a big fork (get it?) right on Main Street. It seemed fitting.
Although it’s a two-hour drive to San Diego (and back), we always enjoy spending time at our monthly mission zone conferences. In addition to lessons and inspiring messages, it’s an opportunity to see old friends who are no longer serving in the Valley with us.
Since we’re in “the big city”, it’s also an opportunity to get lunch at some of our favorite restaurants. We joined the newest senior missionary couple at our favorite sandwich shop, Cheba Hut!
We really love taking the missionaries out to lunch. Every transfer, as some leave and others arrive, we want to get to know the new ones and make them feel welcome in the Valley. (Plus it’s an excuse to go out to a restaurant, which I always enjoy.)
Here are our latest lunch buddies…
Whew! That’s a lot of eating out in ties and skirts…
As usual, this latest group of missionaries wanted to head out to the Imperial Sand Dunes. Although we don’t always go (having been there many times already), today seemed like a good opportunity. Off we went, piling into the mission vans and driving an hour north.
They always love time in the nice warm sand.
We posed for a group shot… quite a few of us!
Afterward, we decided to clean the vans and get rid of all the sand. We stopped at a local car wash and went to work. Not surprisingly, sand was everywhere. Some of it had to be vacuumed out of hair…
Back in June, when we were new to the area, we bought some cacti at a local show. We set two of them outside in the hot sun, and after a day one of them was practically burned to death. We’d been told (by a cactus expert at the show!) that a lot of sun and heat would be good, but apparently they’d grown up pampered or something. We promptly brought them indoors and attempted to nurture them back to life in a cooler environment, with more water.
Anyway, fast forward to today, when the succulent finally expired and the burned one gave up another lobe (of five original lobes, only one remained). We decided it was time to buy some new cacti.
In the back left is the solo-lobe one that didn’t like the heat. At front right is the other “original” prickly, which seems to be thriving. The other two are new, and we’ll see how they do. We hope to take all of them back to Montana as reminders of our mission in the desert.
Our friend Michelle is a geologist, and she has an amazing rock collection. I’ve always enjoyed rocks and gems, and fancied myself a bit of a collector when I was a kid (although my collection was generally just pretty stones I found on the ground). Today she showed me a sample of iron pyrite, popularly known as “fool’s gold”.
This isn’t an ordinary sample, though. It includes two massive cubic crystals, which is really unusual… and probably won’t really fool anyone into thinking it’s gold. Typical deposits of iron pyrite have thousands of crystals like this, but much much smaller and crowded together, making them at least a little more believable as gold.
