San Diego – A Great City

I arrived late in San Diego on the previous evening, so I didn’t get an opportunity to see the city before it got dark. I hadn’t planned on staying here, but I had ridden many more miles than I had expected in the previous two days, so I now had a spare day and I decided to spend it in this city, seeing what it had to offer. I am really glad that I did.

The view of San Diego across the water....

Named after Saint Didacus, San Diego has a population of 1.4 million and is in the top 10 of largest cities in the US. Unlike its near neighbour Los Angeles, the city feels very safe and was judged to be the 5th best place to live in the US by Money magazine.

At the heart of the city is the Gaslamp area, a small area dating back to 1867 that now houses restaurants, bars, night life and small shops, mainly centred and Fifth Avenue.

This Dublin Square Irish pub in the Gaslamp....

A fire escape on an old building. I love the shapes and shadows here....

A mural showing John Lennon in the centre, what I think is Jim Morrison on the right, but I am not sure who the woman is on the left. Janis Joplin perhaps? If it is, then maybe this is a mural depicting singers that died young, but I am not sure....

Next to the Gaslamp area is Petco Park, home of the San Diego Padres baseball team....

Across the San Diego Bay is an island called Coronado which is connected to the main part of the city by an impressive bridge. I went to see the Hotel Del Coronado, a famous resort hotel built in 1888....

My cousin Dean is a golf course expert, so I had to get a picture of the Coronado Municipal Golf Course. Looks good, eh Dean?.....

Along the waterfront in San Diego is the Maritime Museum. This is HMS Surprise, a replica of the 18th century Royal Navy frigate Rose....

This is Anne, who works for the museum. She was originally from the UK. she would quickly slit your gizzard if you didn’t enter the museum....

I decided to visit USS Midway, an aircraft carrier moored at the waterfront. Next to the ship is a small park which contains a couple of interesting things, the first of which is a monument to the famous American comedian and entertainer, Bob Hope. The statue was in the shade, so I took a picture with a silhouette in mind. His profile is very recognisable....

One of Bob Hopes great attributes was he often went overseas during wars and entertained the US troops. The monument reflects exactly that – he is entertaining a group of soldiers.....

Nearby is a huge statue of a Navy man kissing a woman....

The USS Midway is named after what is probably the most famous American sea fight, the Battle of Midway....

Looking down at the flight deck....

The bridge.....

The display of aircraft on the flight deck is very impressive and ex-servicemen are there to explain everything you ever wanted to know, and more, about the planes, take-offs and landings, plus a lot about life on board such a huge ship....

The flags on the ships superstructure were very colourful and apparently spell “Gobble Gobble”, the significance of which escaped me....

The sun was beginning to set as I left the USS Midway. I caught the last rays hitting these trees....

I walked back through the Gaslamp area and tried to take a few night shots. I changed the ISO setting on my camera to “very high”, a decision I came to regret the next day!

I was happy with a few of the pictures I took....

Overall, I thought San Diego was a fantastic city. I could easily live there!

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Joshua Tree and the Mexico Border

The Joshua Tree was named by Mormon Settlers who were reminded by the trees shape of a tale in the Bible of Joshua shaping his hands skyward in prayer.

On day 142, I went to the Joshua Tree National Park, not knowing what to expect. Sure, I knew I would see some Joshua Tree’s but I had no idea what the setting would be, or what else might be there. As it turned out, the Joshua Tree’s were not the main attraction, as there are many interesting and competing things to see.

The park is huge and comprises 794,000 acres, with parts being in an enormous valley.

The Joshua Trees are to be found mainly in the northern part of the park....

There are however many other interesting plant species that I have never seen before.

I liked the way the sun light was catching the needles of this cactus....

Mohave Yucca....

Another very prickly cactus....

The shape of the rocks attracted my attention. It wasn’t until later that they reminded me of the Adidas logo....

My absolute favourite plant species was the Cholla Catus. These strange shaped plant look as if they come from another planet. They are also called Jumping Cholla as if you brush against them, they will attach themselves to you. I loved the shapes they made in an area of the park called the Cholla Cactus Garden....

I thought this was another cactus, but it isn’t. This is an Ocotillo, a thorny deciduous plant which can grow and drop its leaves up to five times a year, depending on rainfall....

The rocks in the park were odd, in that they just sat there, seemingly out of place in the desert environment. I read later they were forced up from underground by volcanic activity. In a molten state, this granite like rock was pushed up from deep underground and was pushed through the overlying rock. It can into contact with groundwater where it cracked and over time, weathering has made the cracks deeper and wider, and formed the rock into the angular shapes seem today. In some places the rock has split into boulders which look as if they have just been dumped into a pile....

While I didn’t stop for a look around, I rode through Palm Desert which seemed like a very up-market place to live. The houses were large, with very well tended lawns and gardens. Long streets lined with immaculate palm trees were abundant. I saw shops with all the up-scale fashion brands. Palm Desert is a wealthy city for sure.

Just south of Palm Desert the “Pines to Palms” highway rises steeply on a wonderfully twisty and fast windy road.

This is looking down on the road....

The view back to Palm Desert shows large green areas – indicating the lush planted areas that money can buy in the desert....

Just a few miles further south and I found rows of post boxes, just crying out to be photographed....

In the Cuyamaca Rancho State Park, I crossed the 21,000 mile point of my tour. I of course stopped for the now customary photograph....

I stopped to look at these trees, no doubt killed by the rising water....

I pressed on south and reached the town of Campo, where the road passes very close to the border with Mexico. I looked up the hill I was riding close to and realised I was looking at the border fence....

I was now headed wet following close to the border and heading towards the Pacific Ocean. This road is obviously used a lot by illegal immigrants and I rounded one bend and there was a border patrol checkpoint. The odd thing was this checkpoint is on a road that runs alongside, not across the border. All vehicles are stopped and you are asked to show your passport or other ID. After chatting with the guard about my tour a long line of cars had formed behind us, he trusted that I was English and not Mexican, said he didn’t need to see my passport, shook my hand and sent me on my way, wishing me well. Nice guy.

As I rode away from the checkpoint, I remembered the song “I want to live in America” and I was singing the one of two lines from the song that I knew, over and over again. I was pretty sure this song was about Mexicans wanting to live in America, but later checking on the internet, it turns out I was wrong, as it relates to Puerto Rico. The song is from the musical West Side Story and even if I got the country wrong, the sentiment is the same....



I stopped at Imperial Beach – the closest point on the Pacific to the Mexican Border. I had travelled from the top right hand corner of the USA to the bottom left hand corner. I stopped and looked at the coastline as it turned from being in the USA into Mexico and reflected on what different lifestyles the people have either side of a fence.

In the picture below the buildings beyond the people on the beach are in Mexico....

I had ridden a long way today, 323 miles in total. Nearly all of these were on quiet, 2 lane twisty roads. I was very tired indeed and enjoyed just sitting on the beach for a while.

I got back on the bike and found myself in the strange position of riding north!

Later that afternoon I stopped for the night in a great city – San Diego.

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