Birthday Adventures

Day 4: Calico, CA to Joshua Tree National Park on the way to San Diego, CA Mission Bay for Birthday celebrations!

I woke up, cozy in my car, as the wind continued to whip around us. Turned on the car to clear the caught breaths, and crawled out of my sleeping bag. It was 0430, & I was ready to go. Pushed the sleep stuff to the passenger seat, and off we rolled to embrace my birthday. 

First stop was to get gas, where we saw an orange lamborghini fueling up. What a sharp car. If I wasn't busy trying to get Jasper to do his business and keep myself from freezing, I would have taken a photo to share with my nephew's. Oh well. I did at least tell them I saw it, which kind of impressed them.

Once we were gassed up, we headed to the Mohave desert for the morning. I was hoping to be there for sunrise, but no luck...I forgot to figure in traffic. The drive out there was beautiful. We rode along old woman springs road, catching glimpses of the sunrise

changing the landscape as it rose, and reading signs about not entering if flooded, "don't drown." From this little tourist village of Joshua Tree, we entered the park, flashing our national parks pass, and receiving a map. 

I decided last night I was going to go through the park to the other side and catch the 10 towards San Diego. So, off we wandered to check out this amazing park with all its Dr Seuss like trees.

We held high hopes of seeing Sneetches living in peace and harmony. Unfortunately, none were to be found. Instead, we just marvelled at the amazingly different things throughout the park. 

Once we made it to I-10, we cruised towards San Diego looking for lunch along the way. I had made a hotel reservation for the night while in Joshua Tree National Park, and was excited to get in and shower. 

When I finally got to an easy spot to pull off and get lunch, I ended up with burger king for food. As I approached the burger king, I was greeted by a couple of large dinosaurs! 

Of course, I was excited because I love dinosaurs. I couldn't believe my luck. So, after scarfing down my food, Jasper & I explored the dinosaurs of Cabazon, CA. 

Back on the road, we went straight to the hotel in Mission Bay. Jasper was happy to be out of the car. We checked into the hotel, and then introduced Jasper to the ocean for the first time. He's not a big fan of salty drinking water! 

It was hot out, and so we only did a couple miles before returning to the hotel to prepare for dinner.

A nurse friend of mine is traveling and her new travel RN assignment started Monday in San Diego. So, when she was done with work, we headed to dinner at Covewood. It was amazing! A little pricey, but the food and drinks were wonderful. The location was on Mission Bay and we got a beautiful sunset as we sat on the patio.

They are super dog friendly as well! The ambience was wonderful only made better by the company of my friend. I couldn't think of a better way to spend my birthday. And to top it off, a nice comfy bed in a perfectly air conditioned room with a bed for me and one for Jasper. Happy Birthday to me!