Friday March 4 - San Diego day 4 Wrapping things up in San Diego and getting ready to head North tomorrow up the California Coast. Decided to go to the far south of the California Coastline and drive it back to San Diego to check out that part. Went down the I-5 to the Imperial Beach/Coronado Ave exit and went West to the beach. It was a nice beach with a big fishing pier on it and had some nice waves. It is supposed to have at one time been the premier surfing beach for California but at least today the waves weren't that big. Drove North up the beach road until it fed into Palm Ave at which point I made a "u" turn onto 75 , Silver Strand Blvd, and headed North on it ... read more

March 02 San Diego Today went down to the cruise ship terminal on Harbor Drive to take a ship out to see the whales. From my motel Mission Valley Resort on Hotel Circle South I went in on I-8 till it ended and went on Nimitz Blvd to Harbor Drive and went South (left) on Harbor Drive to where the ships take off from as well as the main information center for San Diego. This is the scenic route as it goes along the harbor. It also goes by the airport but don't let the signs throw you as it goes by the airport not into it. The cruise takes 3 1/2 hours. There is metered parking in a lot next to the information center but there is a maximum of 3 hours there so I ... read more

19 Feb - Santa Elena Canyon After stopping at the store at Castolon and looking around a bit I asked the clerk there how the shortcut from Santa Elena Canyon to Maverick Junction on Old Maverick Road was. He informed me that it was a "washboard dirt road", meaning rough and it takes an hour and a half to drive the 13 miles. So I decided that after visiting the canyon I would drive back out on the Ross Maxwell Scenic Drive that I had came in on to Santa Elena Junction and then West to Terlingua. So I drove over to Santa Elena Canyon trail. When I got there I put 2 bottles of water in my backpack inside one of those plastic insulated bags you buy at Wal-Mart for a dollar or so and ... read more

Feb 18 -Boquillas Canyon - Chisos Basin The afternoon of the 17th February at the Rio Grande Village Campground had been in the 90's. Too hot for me. So I had decided I was going to spend the next day or days at the Chisos Basin Campground in the center of the park at 5401 feet. I figured I would go hike the trail into Boquillas Canyon and then go to the hot springs. Then over to the Chisos Basin campground to get out of the heat for the evening and night. I went to the Rio Grande village Laundromat and sat on the bench, plugged in and sent out some emails. Then I drove over to the Canyon and hiked in and back out in the heat and then was in no mood for another ... read more

Feb 17 Sanderson-Marathon-Big Bend National Park- Rio Grande Village Headed west out of Sanderson in the morning planning on stopping at Marathon to visit the "Post Pool" on the way. It is where some springs came up and flowed into a natural pond and of course it became a campground for Indians, and a post for Calvary etc. It is a very nice clear pool of water and there is a picnic area and what appears to be a platform for dancing. Also there is a sign that says camping by permit but I don't know who you see to get a permit. To get to the park if going west on Hwy 90 go past the exit for Hwy 385 south to Big Bend and go into Marathon and turn left (south) onto Avenue D ... read more