leaving Tucson (thank goodness!)

Today is our last day in Arizona, and we expect to be back in Texas (barely) by this evening sometime. We'll drive through the Saguaro National Park this morning, then head east toward New Mexico, where we have a couple of activities planned. I'll write about those later.

Yesterday, we spent the morning and early afternoon in San Diego. We went to Old Town San Diego, a state park that has reproduced the center of the original town, and wandered around for a few hours. The opportunity to walk and get some fresh air was refreshing after so much cold weather for our trip, and we had the opportunity to stretch our legs finally. We stopped at a little Mexican bakery and bought a couple of churros to munch on, the only substantial food we ate until our New Years Eve dinner mentioned in the last entry.

Then we returned to Ocean Beach and walked along the surf again. There were only a few surfers at noontime, and for the most part, they sat along the shore and watched the waves. We walked along the water, took some pictures, and watched the seagulls, then left reluctantly. I think the Pacific managed to singlehandedly improve C's impression of California, following the unnerving traffic we had experienced a couple of nights before as we went through the outskirts of L.A.

Then it was a straight shot to Tucson on I-8. "Straight" is a bit of a misnomer, though -- the interstate was full of mountain stretches that were curvy and dizzying with switchbacks, and we didn't arrive in Tucson until around 9pm.

After a long day like that, a restful New Year's Eve was definitely the best plan.