We left on Friday for our next house sit in La Mesa, California…right outside of San Diego. On our drive to Arches National Park in Moab, Arizona we passed though some absolutley breathtaking scenery…our favorite being Glenwood Canyon….but Aspen and Beaver Creek and Copper and all those areas had a beauty all their own. There is a great looking bike path near Vail that went for miles and was pretty flat, considering. That has been added to our list of things for the future.

We got to Arches around 4pm and it was in the mid-90’s but so dry it was tolerable. We were happy to purchase our $10 Lifetime Senior National Park Pass there. We had no idea that Arches is 76,000 acres!! We spent about 4 hours then driving and hiking around and were hot and tired so added the rest of the park to our list.

Dinner at the Moab Brewery (good burger!) was followed by an overnight stay in Moab at an incredibly overpriced Days Inn (supply and demand!) Saturday we headed out fairly early and were gawking at all the amazing rock formations when we came across this:

So we had to stop and yes, by golly, there is a trinket shop inside the rock along with a 13 room house that was started almost 100 years ago. The place was so tacky but I loved it…a real piece of Americana…and it is yours for only $1.9 million!

The drive to Four Corners was through some pretty desolate Native American reservations. The Navajo obviously had better bargaining skills than the Ute because their land was alot more usable. Four Corners is where Colorado, Utah, New Mexico, and Arizona all meet. I was expecting a plaque in the sand but they have made a nice are for it….surrounded by “handmade” trinket shops. I bought the obligatory “Four Corners” necklace….but I could not make it for the $10 I spent on it!

A quick stop at the Tee Nos Cos Trading post rewarded us with some Indian Fry Bread.

Next stop was an overnight in Phoenix and a lovely Sunday brunch in Scottsdale. The days driving was unbelievable…I never knew southwest Arizona was such a wasteland….the only redeeming value was all the dust devils we could see in the distance. There were dozens and dozens of them. One, which was close to the road, actually sucked in some tumbleweeds and shot them 30 feet into the air!!

We arrived at our home for the week around 5pm and met Mike and Pam and their dogs, Barney and Maggie. Barney on the left looks like Milo from “The Mask” wearing the mask!

We also got to spend the day with a high school friend of Buzz’s whom he has not seen since high school. Jim and Linda showed us all the sights, La Jolla, seals, Mt Soledad Cross and Memorial, which made for a perfectly lovely day. Thanks so much, you two!

Wednesday we rode a path around Mission Bay at the suggestion of Jim and Linda. It was a beautiful ride with the wind and a not-so-tough ride against the wind. But the scenery was the reason for the ride….simply lovely. Next was Beer-vana …Green Flash Brewing, Ballast Point Brewing, and a little unknown one, Division 23.

Thursday, we took the slow route up the coast to Laguna Beach. We cruised through a couple of arts and crafts shows and then headed to the main event.

How do I explain the Pageant of the Masters? Their website explains it thusly:

“A ninety-minute stage show of “living pictures” – incredibly faithful art re-creations of classical and contemporary works with real people posing to look exactly like their counterparts in the original pieces. An outdoor amphitheater, professional orchestra, original score, live narration, intricate sets, sophisticated lighting, expert staff, and hundreds of dedicated volunteers have won recognition for the Pageant as the best presentation of its kind.”

We concur. It is fabulous. If you are ever near Laguna Beach in July or August, put this on your to-do list. This is our second time attending…the first time about 8 years ago and we had no idea what was in store for us. We loved it so much we vowed to come back and get better seats. So this was the year and it was so enjoyable. Even though we were in Row K, we still used binoculars to stare closely at the people in the “art” to catch them breathing or blinking. It is so amazing that some of them hold these very awkward positions, movement free, for 90 seconds or 2 minutes.

Friday was beach day at Mission Beach. Such a wonderful air temperature but the water temperature was still too chilly for my tastes.

Saturday was a trip to Tijuana. We drove about 20 minutes to a parking lot, picked up a shuttle bus and headed into Tijuana. The Mexican transit station was very nice, brand new, clean and modern. We started out on the Avenue Revolucion, the tourist street, and had a fabulous tableside Caesar Salad where the salad was born in the 1920’s. This street was littered with nice restaurants and lounges. When the traffic got too blocked up, the police closed one of the blocks so traffic would have to turn off. We saw this happen several times. We sat i the Dali 1040 lounge and had a drink and watched humanity go by.We ventured through a “street mall” and on the other side was the real Tijuana. Street preachers on every street corner using bullhorns to distribute their message. Police every block. Traffic and congestion of people. Then another street market yielded vendors all selling the same mass produced trinkets and we were treated to a Mexican folk dance show.  Throughout this market there were dozens of street musicians either performing for a table of diners, or looking for a group to hook up with to play. It was crazy. The ride back to the border was unremarkable though the border station was unimpressive and dirty and the first thing you see on American soil is a McDonald’s. There is a new transit station being built that was supposed to be open in July….we will see. On the way back, one of the American border guards asked how we liked Tijuana and I summed it up as follows: “It was loud!”

Today we strolled through Balboa Park and now we head back to Colorado…we leave for our big trip in 2 1/2 weeks…yikes. so much to do!!!