Day 10, March 12, 2023, Sunday.  Tucson, AZ (275 miles)

Our legs held up pretty good given the prior day’s hikes but we welcomed a travel day. Well Friday we gained an hour entering the Mountain Time zone. Today when we woke up we lost an hour due to springing forward with daylight savings time in New Mexico.  I should not have bothered changing the clocks at all since we gained the lost hour upon entering Arizona (because they don’t observe daylight savings time). So I changed the clocks back again! We arrived at our friend MaryEllen Beardsley’s house in Tucson and plugged into her 50 amp outlet.  She also had a few of her friends visiting from Alaska. We had a feast on her back patio with seasoned shrimp on the charcoal barbie, ceasar salad, cauliflower, bread and homemade apple crisp. We had a great visit and discussed her trip to New Zealand and Australia which are places on our itinerary for maybe next year. She loaned us several of her travel guides for the area. 

Day 11, March 13, 2023, Monday.  Scottsdale, AZ (140 miles)

After a morning visit with MaryEllen, we departed.  We arrived at cousins Rosemary and Ron’s home, pulled into their driveway between the two saguaro cactus and plugged into their 50 amp outlet. Cousin Rosemary was suffering from a stomach bug so we kept our distance and visited my aunt Nanci (my dad’s sister) in Phoenix.  We had a great visit and spent most of the afternoon with her.  I even learned a few new facts about my ancestors. Dinner in the coach and a working evening.

Day 12, March 14, 2023, Tuesday.  Scottsdale, AZ 

With my cousin’s WiFi working well, Rosemary was able to attend her dulcimer class in the morning. We spent the afternoon with my cousins Hunter and Joanie which included a short drive to Fountain Hills which has a fountain in the middle of a lake that every hour on the hour spouts an incredibly high blast of water.  Dinner with all cousins at Jalapeno Inferno Mexican restaurant.

Day 13, March 15, 2023, Wednesday.  BLM Pilot Knob, CA (220 miles)

We awoke to rain in the Arizona desert! We hit the road and drove about an hour before we had the rain behind us. We arrived at the US Bureau of Land Management Pilot Knob Long Term Visitor Area (no facilities) which is about 10 miles east of Yuma, AZ, just across the border with CA. This is a large open area bordered by mountains. We have stayed here before as it is halfway between the cousins in Scottsdale and Aaron in San Diego. We drove the car to Yuma for some groceries. Dinner in the coach and a quiet evening without internet.

Day 14, March 16, 2023, Thursday.  San Diego, CA (151 miles)

An easy drive all along Interstate 8 with elevations ranging from 45 feet below sea level to a mountain divide of 4,181 feet above with an fast and exciting 6 degree downhill slope. We arrived at San Diego RV Resort about 12:25pm only to find the office closed until 1:00. We finally got to a site and set up fully only to discover no power to the coach.  Our hard wired surge protector indicated an “open ground” and would not let power through. So we ran the generator until the maintenance man came but could not fix the problem.  The campground claimed it was 50/50 that it was our equipment that was the problem. We finally got a new upgraded site at about 5:30 and had no power problems at all at the new site.  We met Aaron for dinner at Shan Xi Magic Kitchen, a Western Chinese restaurant, and had a great meal including a couple of hand pulled noodle dishes. Dessert was at Ann’s Dry Cleaning which despite its name is an excellent gelato place serving delicious and unusual flavor combinations. We had the vanilla almond cherry and ate outside in 52 degree weather. Afterward, a quick walk was not successful in trying to warm up.

Day 15, March 17, 2023, Friday.  San Diego, CA

After some shopping errands in the morning, we met up with Aaron for some afternoon mountain hiking.  But first, bubble teas at Camellia Road Tea Bar.  Then off to Mission Trails along the San Diego River.  San Diego has had an unusual amount of rain recently so the river was flowing very fast and much more than usual. There is a dam across the river built in the early 1800's which one can walk atop partway. The trail was wet in spots but passable with several crosses of the river. The ultimate spot was an over look of the dam. Beautiful weather and a beautiful spot.  Dinner was take out from Menya Ultra Ramen.

Day 16, March 18, 2023, Saturday.  San Diego

Began the day at the downtown Little Italy farmers' market. We bought some goodies including a fruit called ice cream bean also known as guaba which grows on a tall tropical tree in the legume family.  They look like pickles but are said to taste like vanilla ice cream. We shall see. The afternoon was spent walking around Balboa Park.  A little late afternoon grocery shopping to stock up for our trip tomorrow to Death Valley Nat. Park where we will be off the grid and nowhere to eat except on the coach. We walked to dinner from Aaron’s to Shank & Bone, a Vietnamese restaurant. Rosemary says it’s the best Vietnamese food she has ever had. No disagreements.