For four nights, we stayed in a lavish condo with David and Steph. The four of us checked out San Diego's beautiful Balboa Park, probably the finest public green space we've seen
The Botanical Building at Balboa Park.
Cool dragon thing.
Sculpture garden and the Museum of Man.
In the cactus garden.
That evening, we drove out to Children's Pool, a beach famous for its population of lounging seals and sea lions.
Children's Pool at sunset.
The next day, David and Steph drove us out to the Salton Sea. This giant salt lake used to support several fishing and resort communities all around its coast. However, historical flooding, rapidly increasing salinity, and the development of a massive industrial agriculture zone which depletes local water resources and introduces large quantities of fertilizer to the lake have brought economic collapse and abandonment to most of the local communities. We explored the towns around the Salton Sea all day, and saw some striking scenes.
Perched on salt crystals.
Dead tilapia and birds litter the shore, victims of increasing salinity.
Pelicans looking for a meal.
The heavy rime of salt from past floods.
A memorial.
The next morning we headed to the world-renowned San Diego Zoo. We certainly were not disappointed. It seems almost impossible to fit all of this expansive zoo into one day's exploration. We did our best to see it all.
Sunbathing flamingos.
A colobus monkey.
The elephant habitat, complete with ultra-modern simulated baobabs.
Meerkat keeping watch.
A siamang.
Last Sunday, we reluctantly left the sunshine and warmth of San Diego to begin our journey back eastward. After an extremely windy camping experience at Joshua Tree National Park (with not a Joshua Tree in sight; apparently they were all on the other side of the park) we drove to Phoenix. We rented a room in Arcosanti, an sustainability-minded urban development experiment founded in 1970.
Arcosanti panorama (courtesy of Wikipedia)
The next morning we drove to Tucson, spending the afternoon in Saguaro National Park. Hiking among the twisted towers of the cacti was a fantastic experience. We had no idea that saguaros were that tall.
Towering saguaro cacti.
Christy likes to imitate them.
Mean-looking spines.
A view of the forest.
Continuing our quick eastward progress (about 5 hours in the car each day so far) we drove into New Mexico the following evening. It got down to an absolutely ridiculous 1° F in Las Cruces that night, but we were warm and safe in the home of some generous CouchSurfing hosts. On Thursday, we entered the almost featureless expanse of western Texas and southern New Mexico. Fleeing the freezing wind, we took an elevator 700+ feet down into Carlsbad Caverns National Park, which naturally maintains temperatures in the 50s (toasty!) all year. The Big Room of the caverns was stunningly large and rich in fascinating formations.
Yesterday, we drove into San Antonio. We met up with Adrienne (remember her from way back at White Oak in North Carolina?), who is continuing her WWOOF adventure in southern Texas. Along with some of Adrienne's fellow WWOOFers, we explored San Antonio gorgeous Riverwalk area.
Today, we're headed to the the farthest east expanse of Texas. It has warmed up to near-normal temperatures, and we're in for some nice camping next to the Gulf. Talk to you soon!
San Antonio River Walk (also courtesy Wikipedia).
Today, we're headed to the the farthest east expanse of Texas. It has warmed up to near-normal temperatures, and we're in for some nice camping next to the Gulf. Talk to you soon!
