San Diego with the Bleakleys - 9th April

After a bad night's sleep for me (not used to sharing a bed!) Holly made us a lovely breakfast of asparagus omelettes, avocado and fruit salad. We made up sandwiches and stuff for packed lunches, then hung around the house for a while.

Tim and Holly's bedroom where Scott and I stayed.

Tim and Holly's bathroom and wardrobe area is about as big as half our upstairs at home!

The living room where the older girls slept.

The Bleakley's had had a notice saying they needed to weed their front garden or receive a fine, so Tim decided to get on with some weeding. Lucy, Abi and I did a photo shoot!

Tom and Sam on Sam's bedroom balcony.

Some time after 10.30am, Scott and I decided we'd better get started without the Bleakleys or we wouldn't see much of San Diego. We took Abi and Sam with us, and headed for La Jolla beach, arranging to meet up with the Bleakleys there. 

Scott reversing down the very steep drive, trying to scare us!

Driving through Ramona.

It was quite busy near La Jolla, but we found parking, walked along the sea front, and settled on a bench to watch the wild life. Gorgeous weather again!!

A seal Mum and baby!

There were loads of fabulous huge pelicans.

We then walked a bit further along, went down to a little beach and the kids paddled for a while. Lovely watching them playing together.

After a while the rest of the Bleakleys caught up with us.

Lucy and Abi adding their names inside a little cave.

After a while on the beach we carried on walking around the sea front, just taking in the sights.

Holly and the kids spent a bit of time exploring a cavern. 

Humming bird!

We spent a couple of hours at La Jolla, before our car parking time ran out, then we headed back to the cars and had our packed lunches. We then followed the Bleakleys to Balboa Park, driving past Mission Beach with its famous wooden roller coaster, then through the city.

Before the holiday Scott had asked me to decide where I wanted to go in San Diego, and I'd searched for places that looked nice on Pinterest! One place that cropped up time and again, which I thought looked beautiful was Balboa Park. We weren't sure quite what to expect there, and knew that some parts of it were really expensive. The Bleakleys weren't all that enthusiastic, plus it was a fair drive away, so I was really relieved when it turned out to be simply wonderful - we had a great time there wandering round, and soaking in the varied and beautiful architecture.

The place is 1200 acres of gardens, museums, theatres, and includes San Diego Zoo (though we didn't want to go to the zoo.)

It was free to wander around, and we started in the Spanish Village, where I was delighted to find the coloured paving stones I'd first seen on Pinterest!

Love them!

Walking deeper into the park.

The Bleakleys and the kids were slower than Scott and I, so we'd got a bit ahead. It was lovely seeing them all from a distance, happily looking around!

It really was beautiful! I was so happy!

Harry had another big nose bleed, so we got napkins from a nearby restaurant, and made him a nose plug while we were at this bit!

Harry adored the Bleakey's puppy, Max. He walked it for quite a while (with his nose plug still in!)

Our lovely kids!

After seeing all the main places, we stopped by a fountain for a paddle in the hot evening sunshine. Perfect!

After ages, we dragged ourselves and the kids away, and back to the car park, then headed for San Diego's Old Town.

We parked in the car park of the Mormon Battalion Historic Site building, where we took a few pictures outside, then walked down through the Old Town Historic Park.

We ended up at the Fiesta De Reyes - a kind of Mexican garden surrounded by shops and restaurants. It was great! After quite a bit of discussion before the holiday, we'd decided not to cross the border and visit Mexico, so this was the next best thing!

We had dinner in one of the nearby restaurants... delicious!

After dinner we had another wander round Fiesta de Reyes just as it was getting dark. It was great!! Tried on sombreros and looked at all the Mexican nic-nacks. The atmosphere was great, with live music, and lanterns everywhere.

We then wandered back to the cars. Tim was really eager for us to go to the Mormon Battalion museum, though everyone was getting a bit tired by then, and we still needed to pack up everything ready for an early start the next morning. When we got there though, Tim spoke with the missionaries running it, and they said we could just go in and skip the exhibits and do the activity bits!

One of the sister missionaries took our photo, and emailed us a copy.

I hadn't realised how large a part of the settling of San Diego the Mormons played.

The boys panning for gold!

The girls doing some washing!

We then climbed the tower and enjoyed looking out over Old Town for a bit.

At some point Scott and I had mentioned that we hadn't managed to find a frozen yogurt place in America yet, so we all decided to stop off for some on the way back to the Bleakleys. Holly knew a place near San Diego University where she works part time. (She works at the uni not the yogurt shop!) We ended up having to park quite a way from the shop, but it was great! We took over the place, and the frozen yogurt was gorgeous!

As we finally drove home, we passed by the beautiful San Diego Temple.

What a day! We just packed so much in (not bad going, with eleven kids and a dog!), and it was brilliant being with the Bleakleys. San Diego seems a great place, and there's loads more we could have seen.
Back at the Beakleys we packed all our stuff, and sorted out our much reduced hand luggage - just two rucksacks between us, my camera, laptop, and a couple of plastic bags!
The kids got to bed sometime after 10pm, and we didn't stay up too late. My back which had been bothering me for a couple of days was really starting to hurt, and I wanted to get as good a night as possible.

Williams Arizona to San Diego - 8th April

We had the long drive (about 7 hours) from Williams to San Diego today. We had breakfast at the hotel, though it was packed - we took our breakfast to a foyer area and ate on a settee. We weren't in any huge hurry, I edited photos and put them on Facebook and showered while Scott and the kids watched some Police programme.
The scenery at Williams from our hotel!

Scott packing up the car once again!

It was a bit nippy in the morning - 53 degrees.
We filled up with petrol, then headed off. Lucy took this picture at the petrol station where there was the biggest American flag we've seen!

Williams is the town that the film 'Cars' is loosely based on!

Driving on Route 66!

The car was still feeling pretty organised - all the water bottles filled up, and everyone knowing what they're doing. 

On the drive we realised we were all a bit bashed up! I had some impressive bruises on my legs and a sore back, Scott had hurt his left shoulder, right thigh and left Achilles, and the kids had various bumps, scrapes, bruises and dried skin! Everyone was quite happy though.

I spent some time searching through radio stations to find some Country and Western music to match the scenery (quite typical by now - long straight roads, mountains in the background, and desert or dry grass and little shrubs), and I found a good one: '103.3 Route 66 Old Time Oldies Radio Station'! Last time Scott and I had been doing a long drive through American desert we came across the 'Beer is Good, God is Great' song, and this time we heard the lyrics 'When I think of all the crap I learnt at school...'!! Country music is funny!

After a while we turned off the main road and drove on a smaller one (the 95) which carried on in a straight line for literally miles, through the Mojave Desert. After a bit we stopped at the side of the road, and took a couple of pictures. At some point we crossed back into California.

The long road through the Mojave carried on...

and on...

Gradually the scenery changed a bit and became greener as it touched the Colorado River. We saw lots of little tracks leading from the road in the direction of the river, with an assortment of mail boxes at the roadside.

We think we stopped off at the town of Blythe for a late lunch, at a Carl's Junior. The towns out here all seemed a bit dead - just long straight roads with billboards for fast food places, and nothing much telling them apart.

The long drive continued, passing some palm tree farms.

The further we drove, the warmer it got!

As we got nearer to San Diego we drove through the Anza-Borrego Desert State Park.

At one point, we stopped off, and went for a little walk (or run, in the case of Scott and the kids!) up a hill.

Lucy fell back and walked with me, and I told her there were all sorts of wildcats and snakes out here. I was totally making it up, but then I spotted these tracks (near Scott's foot print).

That totally freaked Lucy out and she decided she did NOT want to be on our little walk any more!! We were quite a way from the car though, so she had to carry on with me, so that she wouldn't be on her own! I said I'd carry a rock to protect her.

The boys making their way back to the car, which you can just about see. It was pretty wonderful, vast scenery, with absolutely no one around.

Me with my rock to save Lucy!

In some places, the sand was really soft and we kind of fell though it into lots of joined up shallow holes. I told Lucy they were snake nests, just to cheer her up! The boys quite enjoyed it.

Driving into Burrego Springs, in Anza-Burrego Desert State Park, there was lovely evening sunshine, and it was nice seeing the little community, all green and well kept after the desert.

We had to laugh at the parking spaces around the roundabout!! Apparently this roundabout is called Christmas Circle.

We then drove up into the mountains. Crazy to see the massive plain below, which we had just driven across. The mountains went on for quite a way. Very quiet, and with their own almost moonscapey atmosphere. I just can't get over loving the vastness of America.

As we got nearer to San Diego, the scenery gradually became more green, till some bits started looking like Derbyshire!

At last (after diving through Julian, famous for its pies) we reached Ramona, where our friends the Bleakleys live. They moved from England in summer 2013, and we couldn't wait to see them again!
We knew they would be at church for youth night, but stopped by their house first to see if they were already back. Their neighbourhood is lovely - up in the hills. We couldn't quite believe this was their home now!!

We drove the few miles to their chapel, and Young Women's was still going on. Lucy poked her head round the door, and we could just hear this ENORMOUS scream, and Abi came running out and threw her arms round Lucy. I was so happy to see them together again! Imogen and Holly followed Abi out, then Sam came from Scouts.

Abi noticing that Jack has grown a bit since she last saw him!

Imogen, Abi and Lucy.

Harry getting a hug too whether he liked it or not!

The kids (Abi I should say!) were so excited and making so much noise that it was a bit embarrassing!! More than anything though, it was just good to see everyone together!
We then headed back to the Bleakleys (met their new puppy, Max) and a little while later Tim came home too. We had some snacks, then got beds sorted out for everyone. Jack had one of the little girl's rooms, Tom and Harry had lilos in Sam's room, Lucy and the older girls (including Imogen's German exchange student, Amelia) slept in the living room, and Scott and I were given Tim and Holly's room, while they had the older girls' room. The Bleakley's house is fantastic! Really big!
Then we just stayed up chatting and catching up with everything!
The Bleakleys seem really happy in San Diego, and everything has worked out really well for them. It was like we hadn't been apart really, but strange that they have this whole new life instead now!