Summer Vacation 2009 - Day Two

Driving from Las Cruces to San Diego today...it was a very long drive. Not much happening along the way.

In AZ we saw 4 speeding camera setups. I knew this was coming after the infiltration of red-light cameras. Here's how it works - the AZ DPS uses small SUV's that have a camera array/light setup on top that is parked on the side of the freeway....keep in mind these were parked in the middle of nowhere, a couple were even in construction zones (speeding fines doubled). I am guessing these will generate ten times more revenue than what a red-light camera would and, these things are mobile so, you don't ever know where they will be. I am happy to report that I don't expect to receive a picture of the Odyssey from the AZ DPS.

In tuscon we stopped my favorite hamburger joint of all-time - In and Out. This is just straight up burger greatness.

In and Out - World's Greatest Hamburger
Tuscon, AZ

As always, this place is jam packed with a
continuous line to the door. It was about
99 degrees in Tuscon and there were
people eating on outside tables because
there were none inside. Dianna and the girls
snagged an indoor table while I ordered.

There are only 3 burgers here because my 4-year old
hates hamburgers. We stopped at the Chick-fil-a next
door for her meal.

As we crossed over into California I saw a lot of my government money at waste (think I blogged about this last year). A large part of the border fence is up in California. If you want stop the main flow of illegal aliens from entering the US all the government has to do is heavily fine the companies that hire them. That project could even pay for itself, at first anyways. Back to vacation....

Finally arrived in SD at 630 pacific time. The Hilton property we are at is on the harbor....we have a one bedroom suite with a balcony that faces the water....this lodging is free using Hilton Honors points.

The girls wanted a simple meal so we opted for some pizza we have had before - Pizza Nova. Not only does this place great pizza but they also have the best salad, ever.

Here's the view from our table @ Pizza Nova

After eating we just went back to the hotel and crashed. Tomorrow it's the SD Zoo and then to Del Mar to see California's best thoroughbreds race.

Summer Vacation 2009 - Day One

First blog update in ages.....I really should make some time for writing here more often. OK....so, we decided to do Southern California for our family summer vacation, again. Why? Because we loved last year's trip. The itinerary is mostly the same but, with some different stops on the road to and from Tx to Ca. We left the house a little before 9am and were making good time until I had an unplanned conversation with the Tx DPS. My speed was not too bad but it did get me pulled over. I got really lucky to get off with a warning. The officer was actually very polite, considering it was the last day of the month and, you know, the whole quota deal. Our first tourist stop was Roswell, NM. Several years ago I got very interested in the Roswell story. Even with a completely open mind I quickly came to the obvious conclusion that nothing from outer space landed there. We killed about 45 minutes going through the UFO Museum and a couple of UFO gift shops. Dianna and I had some good laughs and the girls were completely bored.

An obvious Roswell photo opp.

Even Coca-Cola is pushing the alien.
Looks like Coke wants to let you know
that aliens get buff drinking some Coke.

Next stop was Ruidoso. This is the only mountain area I had not visited in New Mexico. It probably ranks after the Taos area but, definitely before Cloudcroft. I had previously read about Monjeau Lookout Tower and the views from atop of the mountain. I also read some disclaimers about the 5 mile steep, dirt road to get to the top. Well, with some anxiety from the girls we made it to the top pushing the limits of a Honda Odyssey. I don't think this qualifies as a hike since we only traveled about 200 yards on foot with an elevation change of about 50 feet. This dirt road excursion was well worth it but, unfortunately we cut the visit at the top short since a thunderstorm was moving in on us.

Here's a link using my iPhone 3GS video the first time.

Next time I will definitely take video in landscape mode.

View from Monjeau toward Ski Apache

View from Monjeau toward the looming storm

Local Ruidoso flora

If you look closely you can actually see
the rain dropping from the sky.
White Sands Missile Range

Taken "free-handed," through the driver's side
window, traveling 75 mph near White Sands, NM

We ended the day with a stay in Las Cruces, NM. Next stop is photo shoot of some very cool boulder formations in Texas Canyon, AZ