Pastel Day Photo Challenge

Digital Traveler is hosting a Pastel Day Photo Challenge on Feb.1st.  These  photos  are my contribution.    Hope you enjoy them. 

Check out other photos  or join the fun yourself.       Dawn    

 Digital Traveler: Pastels Day Photo Challenge Judging Criteria

San Diego

  We finally are in San Diego.   The drive in itself was an experience for us,  being flat-landers our entire life.   There were many truck grades and long pulls upward.  Bob and I and the coach handled them all well.  We traveled on I-8 and soon came up to the Imperial Dunes Recreatation Area.  Pure white sand dunes with four wheelers going every which way.  Fun to watch.   

Does any one remember "Chips" TV show years ago?  Well we saw them on the highway and  also lots of Border Patrol cars cruising along.  

Within a few miles from the sand dunes we came across a very healthy farm crop.  The soil was dark and rich looking, and it was being picked.  

 At 11AM we were below sea level and shortly after that we were at an elevation of 4190 feet.   There were many signs warning of gusty winds, but we were not bother by any of them.   At the very top of the mountain in Alpine, there is the "Golden Acorn Casino", which we visited later.  

Today, Sunday we took a tour around the city of San Diego.  We are staying 15 minutes away.  We were gone all day as there was a lot to see.    

 One of the first things we saw was the Star of India ship and the Midway Aircraft with a history that spans the end of WWII and Desert Storm in which more than 225,000 Americans took part in.   The Star of India is a magnificent ship and is the world's oldest active ship, 1863. Next we came across the "Butcher Boy", the oldest yacht in San Diego,  a gaff-rigged centerboard sloop.  This sloop was rediscovered by the Maritime Museum in 1971 and restored her to her original appearance.  She celebrated her 100th birthday by sailing in the San Diego Bay.  

Next we drove over the San Diego/ Coronado Bay Bridge.  This has a spectacular view from the top.  The bridge is two and a half miles long.  It has  headroom of 200  feet, so that the tallest ships can pass beneath it.   This $50 million bridge was built in 1967.     

 For some reason or another I can't put in any pictures.   I might be because of the slow connect I am working with our cell phone.  

Low battery, gotta go.

We Are Outter Here

  We finally left Spectrac Suspension Center on Wednesday.  After all this time we felt like family.  The young manager, Bill, gave Bob a hug and said if we ever needed a place to stay, just give him a call.  Nice kid, drives a Harley, good sense of humor, the kind you would like to have as a son. They did a great job with our coach and would recommend they to anyone needing this type of work done in the East Valley.  Bob says it handles better than ever.

  Anyway we are now in Yuma AZ. and tomorrow we will be leaving here for San Diego.  Today we went to Algodones and I had my teeth cleaned and picked up a few medical supplies.  Algodones is quite a place.  The Quechan Indian Tribe have dibs on the parking lot before you cross over.  At three bucks a car, they do alright.  The American seniors swarm this little town to buy legal drugs for whatever ails them, for a reasonable price and the Mexicans are racking it in.   Drugs aren't the only things you can purchase, but if you go there, use the Purple Pharmacy.   Bob  bought me some yummy Kahlua chocolates, my surprise for being a good girl at the dentist!  LOL  All along the sidewalks are shops  selling colorful clothing, leather goods, jewery, and a cantina.The music is playing and the marguerites are flowing.   When you read this how can you not think this must be a wild town with cheap drugs, booze and loud music.    No wonder I like it there!  Ha. Now if you just want to look better you can get a hair cut, face lift, or new glasses.  What more can you ask for?  

will be our first visit to California and might be our last.   Diesel on the line of AZ./Ca.  is priced at $2.61  a gallon, but in California it is $3.05  a gallon.  Campgrounds run  $50 a night and upwards. I think to live in California, one must have a lot of money or at least a good job.  What  will we do there?   I'll keep you posted.  

9 Nights Here

Tuesday, Still here, but leaving tomorrow for Yuma AZ.   We are planning on staying there for three days and if everthing on the coach is running well, we will take  a few days and go down to San Diego.    Maybe I will be able to download a picture of this shop tomorrow night.  I know you must be thinking of something beautiful, to keep us here so long.   This cell phone connection is sooooo slow.     Have a good one.

Still here

Monday   8th day here.    They have said we will be out of here tomorrow by 10AM.  Hope so.    Happy dance all around the shop tonight.  Sort of a private party for two after they lock us in tonight.

We're Still Here

Saturday  night and we are still in the repair shop in Gilbert, AZ.   Monday morning we will be here one week.  Everyday we anticapate leaving before noon, ya right.   There are still working on what is called a bell crank.   Thet did put on two new tires the other day at a cost of $250 each and guess what , today one of them was flat!  This is how it has been going. 

  I am  using our cell phone to get this entry in.  It's slow going, I telling you.  

 Tomorrow is Bob's birthday.        Happy birthday sweetheart.

Out In The Cold

  Sorry I have not put in an entry in the last few days.  Here's my story, and yes I'm sticking to it.  We had an appointment to take our coach in to a front end specialist this past Monday, the 16th.  The problem is as we traveled along, Bob being a leg man, noticed  my upper leg bouncing, "not a lot" he says. Ya right, well how does that make me feel, having bouncing leg fat.  

 Anyway, come to find out  we need a new bell crank (controls the steering), tie rod ends, sway bar work, two new tires that were worn inside because of these other problems.  Yikes.  So here it is Thursday night and we are still here at the repair shop.  Everyone goes home and five  and lock us in.  Not really, we have a key to get out when we want to. Every night  we are told the part will be in and "we'll have you fixed up by noon."  

 Maggie, our half an ear cat,  has a new found  tolerance to the  noisy environment.  Some of you might not remember that we just got Maggie before Christmas from the Humane Society.   So she had never been in the coach when we were on the road.  She was not a happy camper when she heard the engine start and she does not appreciate our traveling home.  She came out from hiding four hours after we stopped.  We will make a traveling cat out of her yet.

  When and if we ever leave here, we are taking a trip down to San Diego to see the famous San Diego Zoo.  We also want to dip our toes in the Pacific ocean, which we have never seen either.  I'm sure we will find something else to explore once we ever get there. 

  Good night friends, we'll stay in touch. 

 PS   Update.  The part is in but guess what, it's the wrong part.    

Island Sunset

    I had a nice surprise last night.  I received a note from Steve's digicams- Digital Photo of the Day, telling me that my  photo had been selected as photo of the day for Sunday  Jan 15 th.  

The photo that I entered was one I took at the Otter Banks in North  Carolina.  From Cape Hatteras, we had taken the  ferry ( about 40 minutes) to Ocracoke Island.  This was another first for me, as I had never been on a vehicle carring ferry.  

Ocracoke Island is where Blackbeard once roamed, is a popular place for beach vacations.  It gets pretty busy on weekends but durning the week it's the perfect getaway.  

Now if you want a few things to do there's outstanding fishing, great little specialty shops, restaurants gallore, a birdwatchers paradise, shelling, and a four-wheel drive on the beach. And there is always a nap on the beach.  

 What you will not find on the Island is a movie house, stripmall or fast food.   If you get the chance to visit Ocracoke Island do it.  It is a must-see, providing a step back in time to a fishing village of yesterday.  We'll be going back again.  

 Here is the link to Steve's Digital Picture of the Day.  If you look at it after today, Sunday the 15th, you will have to scroll down to the calendar and click on the 15th.  

  Steve's Digicams - Digital Photo of the Day  

What Goes Around, Comes Around

    Did you all read about that guy in New Mexico who found a mouse in his house.  So he decides to throw it in a pile of burning leaves he has going in his yard.   Now get this. the poor blazing mouse ran back to the man's house and set it on fire. The flames spread up and throughout the house.    No one was hurt inside, but the home and everthing in it was destroyed.  

The Kindness of Strangers

    

   Carol,  from   http://journals.aol.com/carolhehe/GypsyPaths  sent me this.  I would like to share it with you all.   

 Lets fill this ladies mailbox.       Dawn    

 

Click here: THE KINDNESS OF STRANGERS

The New Year Begins

Well I don"t know about you , but I'm glad to take down the Christmas decorations and look forward to a new year,  I'm guaranteed to have money in my pocket, because I put out my jar of money!   Unlike" bosoxblue6993w" who had his jar stolen!    Now  who would steal from him?  I think he was kidding with me, his lost, can't say I didn't give advance warning.   

                                                         I read my hometown newspaper online today, "The Salem News."  It seems that Beverly had First Night and it was a huge success.  It seems that they had an enthusiastic crowd, an extraordinary colorful parade, a Christmas card snowfall and 300 beach balls.  The beach ball connection is that Beverly is on the ocean.  Beverly does not have a Tiffany ball like New York City, but the count down to the new year was just as exciting.  At exactly midnight, a giant beach ball, labeled 2006 was flung from the roof of the local bank, followed by 300 smaller beach balls, of every color, red, blue, yellow, falling with the snow.