February 12th, Van Horn, Texas. We left the San Francisco Bay Area on 1 February, driving to Los Angeles using mainly Highway 1 to give our senses a treat. We had a lovely night in Morro Bay, although TwoBaby (our cat) had to spend the night in the van since all the Morro Bay motels seem to believe that "cat not pet".

We arrived in LA the next day, staying first with Donald and Sarah, and then moving over to Tom and Cynthia's for the next five days. And finally it was time to leave!

Our first journey was short: Pasadena to the Salton Sea, where we camped (primitive) at Bombay Beach, and had drinks at the Ski Inn. TwoBaby was petrified of the smells (intense) and bird sounds, as he and I sat at the shore, doing our Sudokus.

On Friday we continued on to Arizona, camping at Picacho Peak State Park, which is just off I-8, south of Phoenix. This is a fantastic park, with showers to rival any motel. The views! We drank a bottle of champagne, which meant Barbara wasn't awake for DVD watching. Tommy checked out the TV, which functioned and actually received a few stations.

On Saturday we drove a lot longer than we had intended, and ended up in Rockhound State Park, which is south of Deming, off I-10, in New Mexico. This park encourages its visitors to go rock hunting and take away up to 15 pounds of rocks (semi-precious type). There were quite a few folks with picks and heavy-looking bags, so it must be worth it. The Park Ranger here is very knowledgeable and attentive.

On Sunday, February 11th, we drove to Van Horn, Texas via I-10, which has an 80 mph speed limit in Texas; Tommy was ecstatic. We detoured through El Paso, along the Rio Grande, thinking that it would be picturesque and we would easily find a taco for lunch. Nope, no such luck; this area is ugly.

In the last three days, we have seen Border Patrols everywhere, and have been through two checkpoints. The patrols, and where they are (40 to 50 miles from the border, along fairly desolate stretches of the interstate) were a big surprise to us. We don't remember them from previous journeys along the border (but those journeys were long, long ago, so times do change).

Today we are going down to Big Bend National Park for a few days. Tommy was there with Wilson so many years ago. Skip remembers this park as one of his favorites. We are off to the store to get provisions.