village of the dark spring at the foot of the mountains

we left san diego around 10am and headed to our next destination, tucson.  drove through mountainous terrain and desert landscapes.  arrived at bill's just before dinner time.  we explored mount lemmon, dined on strawberry-rhubarb pie on the summit, watched the sunset from the peak, then headed back to the valley.  Shane and I went to the Biosphere located outside the city the next day.  That evening we went on top of a mountain to view the city at night.  Ventured to tubac for shopping, drove down to the us/mexico border in nogales, stopped at the desert diamond casino for some slots and dinner before heading back into tucson.  the next morning we'd be going back to cali, cali.

desert landscape

biosphere entance

rain forest sphere

view from "a" mountain

biosphere

biosphere structure

tubac

strawberry-rhubarb

mount lemmon apex

ascending mount lemmon

the adventure begins . . .

less than 12 hours before the flight, united cancels the first leg of the trip from south bend to chicago.  shane and i scrambled and our friend doug rose to the ocassion (thanks doug!) and got us to o'hare where we could catch the next flight from chicago to san diego.  i was immediately taken by the view of the city of san diego and thought to myself 'i like it here'. baggage claimed, rental car acquired, gps set, and text message sent to jen, who was graciously allowing us to stay at her humble abode while she stayed with friends. (thanks jen!). by the time i walked up the stairs to her 2nd floor condo, i was convinced that i would like it here.  the landscape, the architecture, the neighborhoods, the climate.  after settling in, meeting our host mulder the cat, shane and i set off to visit his great aunt dorothea (aunt dodo). it was a pleasant visit, aunt dodo was so adorable!  then we headed back to meet up with jen to go up into the mountains around juliet for pizza and blues.  The next day we met up with jen, heather, rey, and liam at the hash house a go go for an awesome breakfast, my cinnamon banana pancake was the size of a 9x11 cookie sheet! then headed over to the san diego zoo.  by now i am thinking to myself 'i could live here, i like it so much'. i can't say enough how incredible the zoo is, it is that incredible. pandas, giraffes, koalas, elephants, sake, dolphins, fun.  monday we drove over to visit aunt dodo again, went down to san ysidro and the us/mexico border, drove to la jolla, coronado, up to vista for dinner with adam and richard at a restaurant by the ocean in carlsbad.  the next day we went to the san diego wild animal park.  i loved it from the moment we pulled into the parking lot and hear the african music. by now i'm thinking 'i want to live here'.  afterward we went to ponce's, which had kick ass margaritas! in the morning we'd be heading out for our next stop.

panda

san diego zoo

camel

giraffe

warthog

jen's

margarita

san diego wild animal park

pancake



mulder

vacation all i ever wanted

vacation had to get away.  two weeks.  california.  arizona.  california.  cities, mountains, deserts.  animals, wildlife, people.  all this and more.  it was an incredible journey.  over the next few days i will be highlighting everything, it was that good a trip.  of course i had to get in some disney time too.  can't get me within 1,000+ miles of the happiest place on earth (florida, california, international) and expect me to ignore the calling.  uploading pictures from my digital camera (first trip since 2008 i actually used it) to enhance my entries.  tomorrow i shall begin editorializing.