Back home in Arizona

Once we left the air base it was all downhill from there and we were on the "return home" mode. The drive south on Highway 101 was beautiful, but traffic south of Los Angeles on I-405 toward San Diego was slo-mo all the way. We didn't get to San Diego until 5:30pm...and after eating at Sammy's Woodfired Pizza on 4th Street in the Gaslamp District there were no rooms left at the Navy base. That meant another day in a crowded van. Neither of us looked forward to that.

Neither did the dogs.

Getting out of San Diego the next morning was no small feat, either. I lost a good hour driving around, watching the sun rise and noticing how much naval activity there is along the coast. The city is definitely worth another visit. There's lots to see here.

I took I-8 east, climbing to an elevation of 4185' before descending to El Centro and gassing up at the Indian Casino/Travel stop, where an abandoned husky mix dog loitered near the building. Poor dog wouldn't come near me, and once the two dogs jumped out of the window to chase it away, it never came back for food I was willing to set out for it.

Now we were in the depths of the Mohave desert and temperatures soared 30 degrees, hitting triple digits by 10am. When we got to Yuma, AZ we stopped at the old territorial museum to wait out the rain, which cooled the van enough for the dogs for us to walk around the museum. Tucson was also getting hit hard by rain and we still saw the flooded desert hours later. At least our stopovers helped us avoid the flashfloods while driving.

Another quick meal at the Tucson In N' Out burger joint and we arrived at 7pm back home, with Kevin still at the back porch and the back yard grass high. The cantaloupe and cucumbers have sprouted. Sara's grave and the photinia on top of her are growing nicely.