A photographic review-

 I was just thinking of all the variety I have seen in these past months and how much there is still to see. If I can get this blog to cooperate with photos which seems to be a challenge I am listing a bit of a gallery review of states... Can you believe all these things??? Most of them are labeled but I am doing it in batches... I think they are all labeled but this blog.. ay, this blog app....

      

  

Somis- North of LA December 6-9

 So good times were had by all.

I went up to see my sister for a few days who was recovering from a bit of pneumonia. It was there I caught my breath, enjoyed walking in her citrus orchard, playing with her 3 dogs and having a quiet visit with her, her husband, Danny, his mom and other Farm Inhabitants. It's a lovely spot. At the top of a hill you get a vista of the trees, beautiful sunsets, moonrises and breathe the lovely air. You can see how lovely the weather was!

We took a spin about town and she showed me the library in Camarillo, a delight and inspiration for libraries everywhere. It is clear that the community treasures its literature and literacy.

I came away laden with citrus and peace. Gina had a blast playing with the dogs, chasing jackrabbits and smelling so many new things. 

Check out this library- tiles on the floors and walls, sculptural pillars and cozy nooks!

San Diego! November 28-Dec.5

I cannot believe I haven't caught up in so long but it appears to be true. Mea Culpa. 

 I posted on  Facebook and Instagram but those are only blurbs so I will try to reconstruct what happened after leaving Utah. Even my written journal has taken a plunge. Road weary? perhaps. or distraction. 
 Coming into Needles, NV I began to get a picture of how exuberant the RV world was. There was no propane to be had in three tries so... I carried on. Lots of trailers were returning from their holiday week and there was more traffic than I had had in some time. Thank goodness once again for Google Maps.
 The road was flat and gray desert. I couldn't help but wonder how much nicer it would have been to see the desert in the spring. Perhaps someday.
 I had intended to stop in the campground at Joshua Tree National Park. Surprise, surprise, there was no room. Fine! I will get a nice hotel and sit in the desert sun. Three hotels later I found either they did not accept dogs or were full. WHAT WAS I THINKING??? I located a Motel 6 and they let dogs stay free. Pretty basic but Gina thought the smells around the area were grand. Perhaps rodents? I don't know, don't
care.  It was clean enough.
The following day saw a bit of a respite as I meandered a back way through some lovely valleys, seeing small farms, glider schools, a pie company(!) of course I stopped and picked up a pie, and other bucolic scenes.

 I came into my San Diego cousins' development. There was a bedroom for Gina and I, a place to park, neighborhood dogs to sniff and a very hospitable cousin to spend good time with. Actually two cousins, Sophie and Sherry Braheny from my mother's sister and quality cousins at that! I was spoiled and taken hither and thither. They scouted out a dog beach which Gina enjoyed. I got my toes painted for the holidays, went to a holiday parade at charming Ocean Beach. 

They had a picnic for me one day overlooking the ocean. You know, it's a nice way to spend winter....

Because Sophie is a grandmother I also got to spend some very enjoyable time with those grandkids and had a nice chat -or several with Sophie's daughter, Elise. We walked the pier, went to a farmer's market. Gina behaved admirably with the crowd there, mostly because others had brought their interesting dogs!

 It was a good visit. I got to see San Diego and was impressed with the waterside parks, the sense of culture, the quality of life. We went from the waterfront to the skyview in a lovely bar overlooking the city and topped that day with a good dinner.

We had brunch with friends one day and took a walk

by the stately and grandly decorated Claremont hotel. The following day they again took me to see the sights. We ended up at Balboa Park which has a number of museums and artisanal shops as well as being adjacent to the zoo and having lovely grounds. It was a great tour of a city I knew little about and I will come back for more. As it was, with all the non reservations I had I came early to Sophie's and stayed a few days later.

And she didn't mind- invited me back even! Now that's family.
Thanks Sophie, Sherry, Elise and the contributing cast of characters who made the week so special.  Here's a bit of a gallery-

Journey On!

 We wrapped up Utah with a couple of nice, or more spectacular than nice, views and visits. We were in

Zion National Park which of course was crowded and no dogs on trails so we drove the main thoroughfare a couple of times. I am glad I got my National Park Pass and we don't pay for as many times as we want to go in the parks. There was a nice dog friendly park in Springdale, the next town over for hiking so we did that a couple days and she seemed to enjoy. A little rushing river, a few doggie hellos.

Regrettably we had to stay at an RV Park (Nov. 22,23 check out on 24) but were plugged in so had plenty of heat and electricity for microwaves and such. Still not roughing it! I am thankful for my plug in heater which backs up the propane van one. (Which is also a pain to run out of- which we did and because of the crowds of RV folks there was none to be had in 3 stops) I am able to have coffee in the morning, heating up water in the microwave. 

Leaving Zion we really didn't have plans on where to go which is not good out West on a holiday. Happy Thanksgiving. We swung over to a ghost town I had heard about down a dusty gravel road. It was where Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid was filmed and was very western. Interesting how and where settlers came out here and what they did. Mostly planted fruit trees. When you think about that it is sort of amazing to cart little saplings on your

Gina looks for ghosts, or even mice.

wagon train. Lots of Mormon stories- some horrendous. 

I thought to head for the Valley of Fire in Nevada, thinking there wouldn't be anyone there- Wrong. Carry on- Another 10 miles to an RV park on Lake Meade which was nice and quiet. Saw a shadowy coyote in the campground. Gina got to see some dogs. She smelled the coyote but didn't know how exciting that was. Good.

The next day we continued into Nevada. I was struck by the change of the mountains character. It made me think of the character of each of the mountainy places. Arches was like a well trained choir of holy voices. Bryce was the singing of Angels, high and ethereal, Zion was a concert of sopranos, big and round and spectacular but the Nevada stretch I drove through was growly and ominous. Big dark round forbidding rocks. Sorta gave me the heeby-jeebies.

We were heading for the tiny town of Rachel on the Extraterrestial highway. On the way we passed a

lovely lake with golden cottonwood trees and willows. I saw a sign for camping so we stopped to check it out and got a superlative site right on the lake. There was no plug in but the batteries were enough. I also had a ready made salad so dinner was no problem. In the morning we walked halfway around the lake and saw the most wonderful birds- Tundra swans, ring necked ducks, Several kinds of grebes, great blue herons, coots, cinnamon teals, a harrier hawk that was searching for a duck breakfast, ..well, you get the idea... Lots of cool birds.

Rachel- Down a REALLY boring desert road near Area 51. Nothing there but the Ale'i Inn. So I had to see what that was about. Had a chili dog in this dive-y bar filled with tacky alien souvenirs. Good chili dog. Walked around a little bit but then decided to skip Area 51 and get outta town.

Woof! I am glad I did not plan to spend the night there! Back tracked out of there, heading towards California. Lots of driving!

Found a campsite at a place called Cottonwood Resort. Perhaps it used to be a resort but with Lake Meade being so dry most activities were caput. Houseboats all at moorings. No one on 'em that I could tell. But pretty enough. I was glad to have a 12V blanket as there was no electrical hookup but the bathrooms were still open. (These things are important)

Here are some other pictures that I couldn't get to cooperate in placement. There are some also on my FB page.