San Diego - Day 2

Last time Daryl was in San Diego about 10 years ago, they were building the aircraft carrier area and so he wanted to visited the USS Midway Museum now it is completed.

 

Commissioned in 1945, the USS Midway cost $90 million dollars to build and was the largest ship in the world for a decade. 

 

The flight deck was enormous with several different kinds of aircraft on it.  The bridge below was the one we crossed yesterday to go over to Coronado - has fantastic views of the bay.

 

 

 

Look out Tom......

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next we wander around the ship and find the seafood market so had to get a bite to eat......then walk over to the tall ships in the harbour, many of which have been in the movies, such as Pirates of the Caribbean.

 

Then it is a stroll...a long stroll....up to Little Italy to find that camera shop, which as luck would have it, just happened to have the lens we were looking for - great! 

Then we take another drive up to Balboa Park to try and catch the museums but by the time we got there they were closing.  We were late because as we were driving along, I kept smelling burning rubber, next thing there is smoke coming up from the dash  ..."we're on fire"!  Daryl pulls over into a car park and switches off the motor which stops the smoke.  After some detection work, he finds the fuse for the fan had shorted & burnt!  A quick detachment and we are on our way again - again this is why we love old cars!.........Never a dull moment.

 
               

 

             Back home to the camp for a BBQ and to watch the sunset go down.

Oh and Daryl re-wired the fan so we are all go again.



San Diego - Day 1

As we drove out of camp Daryl thought he spotted a kiwi flag so on the way back in we detour and have a closer look - sure enough the NZ flag is hanging off the mirror and we find a pair of kiwi's having a wine.  We stop for a yarn and find they are doing the same as us having just spent two years in Europe.   

Meet Don & Val Megget from Kaiapoi, near Christchurch.

A lovely couple and it was nice to catch up with some more kiwis and swap stories about our travel experiences together.  They will be back next year so who knows we just might meet them again on the road somewhere.
 

Next morning was another beautiful day in perfect temperatures.......  we head over to Old Town for a look around. 

Nice setting but priced for the tourists as you can imagine and we had seen most things before for a lot less $$.  Relaxing just to wander around and enjoy the atmosphere though.

Next we hopped on the trolley which does 11 stops around San Diego and was a great way to see the place without having to drive, navigate and find parking! 

We went past the harbour stop and hopped off at Seaport for a look around the shops and walked around the bay where we had a very fattening but yummy Ben & Jerry ice cream....


The water police checking out Daryl.......hmmm
no seriously the cops had some guy bailed up just down from us and that was the back up in the water.

Lots of restaurants and cafes with fantastic views like this one - such gorgeous weather, what more could you want.


Back on the bus we pass the convention centre & the Horton plaza before hopping off again at the Gaslamp Quarter.

Another cool area to check out and we also found a Hard Rock to add to Daryl's collection of guitars, so that was handy.

Back on the trolley and we go past the next few stops, Hilton Bayfront, Coronado Ferry, Coronado McP's, Balboa Park/Zoo and Little Italy before returning to Old Town.   

Crossing the bridge over to Coronado

 

Old villas and the Coronado Hotel below - some of the original old buildings here.

 

Navy fleet boats as we cross back to San Diego from Coronado

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Balboa Park - there was a free concert playing at the 40 pipe organ.  The architecture is beautiful and the setting in the park lovely.

 

 

We have another look around Old Town as we had not covered a third of it this morning before hopping on the trolley but it is now 5pm and the trolleys are on their last round so we needed to be back where the car was parked.

We decide to head back down to Little Italy for dinner as we both love Italian as this is supposed to be the biggest Little Italy.  Our memory of how we came back on the trolley proved to be a little sketchy so after a couple of loops around the blocks we finally made it back there....

As we stroll around we see a camera shop that was closed but decide to come back tomorrow to look for a lens and we check out the restaurants, selecting a nice one for dinner.

 

 



 

Yuma to San Diego

The RV park in Yuma was relaxing and quiet so we tossed up about staying another day but decided to push on in the end.

As we leave Yuma there are miles of sand dunes and we can see the fence along the Mexican border for miles also. 

Border fence

The mountains before San Diego are steep and desolate with plenty of these signs along the way.  Fortunately it was a bit cooler also as we had the heat fan on and windows down to keep the temperature lower as we made the steep climb over.

The desert scenes we cross over... and down into San Diego - the temperature is just right, beautiful sunshine and a lovely place to visit so we book in for 3 nights.

 

Tucson - Yuma

We stay in Tucson for four nights in the end and were able to catch up with Tony and some of his mates again which was great.  We had lunch with the guys and then cruised around to Steve's house, then later Tony's.

Daryl has managed to sort out the coupe (we have indicators that work) and the trailer, which now has new tyres and a spare!

It was nice to stop for a few days and catch up with friends but we are aware of the need to get home now and this has somewhat mixed emotions.

Old aeroplane parking..........guess they have to go somewhere.
 

Finally we decide we have to keep going and choose to head along the 8 to Yuma as we have not been through this way yet.  We had intended to get some dental work done but the timing just isn't working out now.  I phoned a RV park in the morning which had good reviews despite a low rating in the guide, we decide to try this place so headed there.

Solar power plant along the way

When we arrived in Yuma we headed to the park but the area became worse and worse - the park turned out to be in a not very nice location surrounded by trailer parks and rough housing - we kept going and tried another one.....  the next one turned out to be a car park that we couldn't fit in so after paying and going in, we went back to the gate and got a refund!  Third time lucky and by this time we are getting sick of driving the RV & trailer around...... we try Araby RV and this turned out to be very quiet, very nice and had a great relaxing feeling - just what we needed by this time.  We virtually had the place to ourselves, so had a long soak in the pool which they joke about putting ice cubes in so people can get in it in summer - it could have done with a few more cubes as it was still warm (over 102F today).

Las Cruces to Tucson

Think we have been here before..............   Dejavu

 

So here we are again travelling across the 10 to Tucson - just as well we like Tucson as we seem to keep ending up here and this time it has been a full circle, having picked up the coupe here before setting off.  We have driven right across America from top to bottom, dipping our toes into Canada twice on this trip and a whole lot in between.

We head for Lazydays in Tucson again as we know the place well and we know our way around Tucson now. 



After settling in we head to a shopping centre over the other side of town but never quite make it.  It is over 100F today and the car starts playing up, eventually breaking down - luckily we were able to pull over into a church car park.

The next two hours are spent with Daryl pulling out the fuel pump again, and again, and again.......and just as we are giving up, Tony rings us and we confess we have broken down and he arranges to come and rescue us.  I now know how the fuel pump works (an important bit of information for any girl to know...Tui).  So we put it back together again and give it one last try......of course it starts and is running fine!  We quickly ring Tony and cancel the tow truck and arrange to met him at his work.

 

By that time it was well after 5pm and we set off back to the shops to get want we needed and then headed home - to stuffed to cook and it is already 7.30pm, so we try out the restaurant in the RV park - very nice.

 

Sunset at camp