Huntington Beach

We traveled 12 miles north to Huntington Beach, parked at Bolsa Chica State Beach. It is an asphalt parking lot wide enough for two rows of campers, Pacific Coast Highway on one side, the sand and surf on the other side. Not fancy but the ocean is wonderful. Yesterday was so windy it whipped my hair into a froth, much less wind today. Along the sand is a bike/walk trail that goes for miles. Today we biked into the town of Huntington Beach to look around, buy a newpaper, mail our taxes. We biked back and spent the afternoon sitting on the beach watching the waves.

 Yesterday Robin and Group joined us for dinner at Ruby's, a 50's style dinner located at the end of the Huntington Beach pier. Fun Food and spectacular ocean view.



Sunday

Sunday, April 10th....

We all went to Robin's church. A mega church, the campus is amazing, large buildings, huge sanctuary. Very enjoyable, modern service.  Marinerschurch.org 

We had a lovely lunch at an Irish Pub, then spent the afternoon relaxing at the campground and chatting. We are parked waterfront on the Newport Back Bay lagoon, very nice. Kids fed the ducks and climbed the trees. The weather is gorgeous, not too hot, not too cold.


This morning we'll hit Trader Joe's to replenish the wine and snack supply, then we move north a short way to camp at Huntington Beach on the ocean.

CALIFORNIA!



 

Now in sunny California at Newport Beach. Wow, lots of traffic and people, soon as we crossed the border into CA we noticed a difference. So great to be with Robin and grandkids. 









Robin, Olivia, John

 Saturday night Robin's boyfriend John took us to the Angel's baseball game in Anaheim. We rode the train to the stadium. The event was so entertaining and fun! The giveaway was ski beanies, kept us warm on a chilly night! John brought bags of food, we feasted and drank beer.

Robin, Nick & Olivia spent the night in the coach, a slumber party!






On the train

 



Lake Havasu

We left the Grand Canyon....7000' elevation, 40 degrees, and  230 miles later arrived at Lake Havasu, 575' elevation and 85 degrees. What a change! Shorts! No blanket on the bed!



London Bridge



Lake Havasu City is here because an enterprising man, Robert McCulloch, bought the land and needed a tourist attraction. Voila! The London Bridge, brought brick by brick from England.  It worked! Lovely area, thriving city, lots of boats. golakehavasu.com

Very windy here. We rode the ferry across the lake to a casino...only wanted the water view. Delightful ride on the lake. Tomorrow starts Pacific Offshore power boat racing on the lake...Jack loves the engine sounds and  beauty of the boats.

Next stop...Newport Beach to be with daughter, Robin, and grandkids, Nick & Olivia.

More Grand Canyon

Yesterday was cold here at the Grand Canyon...when we were viewing the sights it was in the 40's. No problem, it was bright sun and we had jackets and gloves. Impossible to get good pics with my cell phone that show the awesome beauty of the Canyon.
 We are impressed with the National Park system here at the Grand Canyon....very clean, user friendly, good signage, well maintained. Jack has a Golden Age Card so we get in free! Last night we went to a view point to watch the sunset with 200 of our new friends, way more people here than I would expect for early April.


Hermit's Rest, last stop on Rim Trail



Today we continued our tour of every Vista Point along the shuttle bus route, every view different and astounding. We walked between several view points on a paved trail along the rim. Big change in the weather, now in the 60's and we carried our jackets. Jack got "viewed out" and he's ready to move on down the road.

Grand Canyon

Entered AZ, it was windy, windy, windy. Our fuel mileage went from 9.7 to 6.5 mpg. We spent the night near Winslow, a lovely desert themed park on a site with a panoramic view of the desert, mountains and sunset....it was like a postcard. The coach was rocking from the wind, easily 40 mph.

Heading north on Hwy 64 to the Grand Canyon, Jack visited the Planes of Fame museum.There were about 30 restored aircraft; U.S., German and Russian.  Most of them still airworthy.  planesoffame.org

We started our GC Adventure with an IMAX film. Lucky for me it was a flat screen, not the dome that gives me motion sickness. It was gorgeous and entertaining. Then we went to the Vistors Center to gather info. We went to Angel Camp Village to catch a ranger talk on Condors. Very well done.
Finally a pic of the two of us taken by a kind tourist. I was surprised to see so many tourist being it is only April, can't imagine height of summer. The shuttle busses do a good job of people moving. Two more days to explore other GC areas.

Albuquerque

We arrived here around noon on March 30.  Very windy here. Beautiful area, a valley bordered by the Sandia Mountains. Clear blue skies and brilliant sunshine.

First item of sightseeing was the Concrete Cowboy which I found on a nifty website,  RoadsideAmerica.com Full of oddities along the road. I had to get a pic! It is only the top half of the cowboys body, don't know where the rest of him is.


Next was a visit to J&R Vintage Auto Museum, of course..... located in Rio Rancho about 10 miles north of town. More that 60 restored vintage cars and trucks, really well done. We learned about the Great American Race  from a 17 time participant. Living history. Even I enjoyed it! jrvintageautos.com





March 31, Thursday

Today we visited the outstanding Albuquerque Museum of Art and History.  My favorite part was a  Conquistador & horse in full armor with a description of each part. In front is a wonderful sculpture garden...that is me being part of the sculpture.
The museum offers a docent-led walking tour of Old Town, a highlight for us.... very well done. We asked a local for the best Mexican food in Old Town. We ate so much homemade tamale and guacamole we couldn't
 eat dinner that night. Yummy!



The day's sightseeing ended with a visit to the Hot Air Balloon Museum. Albuquerque is the hot air balloon capital of the world with a world famous Balloon Fiesta every October. We learned everything you'd ever want to know about ballooning!




April 1st, Friday

Today was Jack's day....he visited the Unser Racing Museum while I sat outside and read the newspaper. The Unser Family's racing started with racing up Pike's Peak in home built race cars, all different. Then on to bigger and better things such as Sprint cars and Indy cars where they won many championships. Many of these championship cars are on display. Beautiful! All the Unser racers were crazy gear-heads and would race anything that came along.  unserracingmuseum.com 

We ended our Albuquerque visit with the Best of ABQ Trolley tour. I know, we should take the tour on the first day, but April 1st was the first day of their tour season. Lots of fun and laughs, guides were great!


In the morning on to the Grand Canyon.....