Desert Travels - San Diego Day Two

Today was supposed to be a day of relaxation, a day to settle in to our house, explore our neighborhood, and recover from jet lag. Instead we drove 150 miles to explore deserts and climb sand dunes. It was a wonderful adventure!

My day began quietly enough, although it started way too early. Christian woke up at 4am, ready to start the day. I tried in vain to convince him that it was still the middle of the night but eventually realized it was hopeless and plugged him into a movie on the kindle. That bought me a little time but all too soon Will and Jon were up too and sleep was impossible. 

Despite the early start our morning was very pleasant. The boys played Legos on the floor while I read a book, we enjoyed breakfast, listened to the waves, and even did a little school. As they were playing Legos quietly Will gave a happy little sigh and said, "I love this place." 

Jon cheerfully does school.

Jon's picture of his Lego outland flyer

James and Camille woke up around 8 and Christian was overjoyed to see Grandma. He had been wanting to see her for hours and if she hadn't locked her door (very wisely!) she would have been woken up much sooner. He spent every minute that he could with her for an hour after she got up. At one point Christian came out of Camille's bedroom, shut the door and solemnly announced, "I'm giving Grandma privacy." He paused with his hand on the door then said "OK, that's enough!" and marched back in. 

At some point while I was in the shower James and Will decided that what we should really do today was drive out to see the huge sand dunes where they had filmed scenes from Star Wars. We were all really excited about it and managed to leave the house pretty quickly. We did have a couple errands first and Will successfully convinced me that lightsabers were a necessary accessory for visiting Tatooine. It didn't really take a lot of persuasion, I love it when the boys pretend to be Jedi. On the drive over the boys were discussing which character we all were and Jon said that I should be Princess Leia. A minute later Christian asked, "Who are you Mommy? Oh, I know, you can be Chewbacca!" From princess to wookie... Oh, that was a blow to my vanity! 

Christian and Will engaged in a lightsaber battle

The drive out of San Diego was great. The mountains out here are so different! They were bare with only a few scrubs but with huge piles of rocks which looked as if they had just been thrown there. Farther on a couple of the huge mountains looked exactly like a pile of stones the boys would make at the beach. They were not beautiful but it was fascinating and compelling scenery. And throughout this barren landscape were houses, perched on the mountainsides, with obviously cultivated (or fake?) lawns. I am amazed that people first settled here, the land seems so harsh.

Will in front of the scrub covered mountains

Christian was so happy to see these mountains

James exploring, ever ready with his camera

The road to the dunes led through a National forest (can you have a forest without trees?) and we took a detour to see the sights on Mount Laguna. As we drove to the summit there were plenty of turn offs where we could admire the steep rocky mountains and the valleys far below us. Camille though was unimpressed, comparing them to our own familiar mountains. We teased her about being spoiled by New England's natural beauty and at the next stop she tried to be positive, "Well this is nice, a few little dead trees..." We laughed and laughed the rest of the way up the mountain.

Camille is enjoying this view

Me and James at the top of the mountain!

Jon's picture of the mountains

After we hit 5000 feet above sea level we began to see trees and grass and even some familiar fall colors. Mt Laguna seemed to be a popular destination for hikers and campers but we couldn't find signs to lead us to the summit. There was clearly a trail somewhere but we didn't know where it began. Finally though we hit upon a small service road that led us to some absolutely stunning views of the surrounding mountains. To our right the mountains were covered with trees and bushes, in front of us the greenery fell to just small scrub, and on our left the impressive desert mountains were completely bare. You could see a clear line where the desert began.

Can you see the line where the desert begins?

Mommy's boys.

Freitags

Christian being silly

We loved this view and did a little exploring. Christian wanted to climb down the steep cliffs into the desert below us but was pacified by the promise of the sand dunes in our future. Will was captivated by the desert mountains and swore he could see Mos Eisley in the distance. (My apologies to any readers unfamiliar with Star Wars, it was our constant reference today!) He was right, it was a perfect spot for that "wretched hive of scum and villainy".

Christian wants to explore the desert far below.
Can you see Mos Eisley in the distance?

The boys head down to the edge

Finally our hunger tore us away from the view and we drove a short way to the Pine House Cafe. It was a small place and while clearly popular I didn't have high hopes for the food. We seemed to rub the waitress the wrong way which was an added stress. But the food was excellent! Will declared that it was the best food he's ever had (high praise indeed!) and told us that when he was an adult he would bring his kids here when they came to San Diego. My burger too was fantastic and we all ate until we were ready to burst. 

Our hungry family ready for dinner

Before we hit the road again I had the boys use the restroom and while I was helping Christian I could hear Will singing happily in the Men's room. I came out to find two men waiting in line very amused. One said with a smile, "He's having too much fun in there" and they asked me, nicely, to hurry him along. I do love to hear Will sing and the whole thing made me laugh. 

By the time we were back on the main road it was starting to get late and we were worried about making it to the sand dunes in time. We did make it though, just a little before sunset. We found hundreds of people there, all with dune buggies and dirt bikes driving around on the dunes. I don't know if this was a daily thing or a special event but I was a little disappointed because it meant that we couldn't explore the dunes ourselves. We did find one dune though that was a little out of the way and high enough that we could see dune buggies before they arrived and, more importantly, they could see us.

Dune buggies racing on the sand

James and Camille on the watch for ATVs

Even little kids were driving them!

My little Jedis

James and Christian climb to the top of the dune

Sunset on the sand dunes

The sand dunes were amazing! They were so beautiful and wild, especially in the setting sun. Will and I both wanted to just wander, climbing from peak to peak and pretending we were exploring Tatooine. We did have a great place though for the boys to have a lightsaber fight. They were wonderful battles! Christian is a fierce fighter and doesn't pull his punches. After Jon got hit he took a break from battling and went to make sand angels. The boys thought the sand looked a good deal like snow.

Will on Tatooine!

Jonny

Christian shows off his lightsaber moves

Christian and Jon playing on the dunes

Never close your eyes in a lightsaber fight!

We stayed on the dune until the light began to get low. We were still wary of the dune buggies although they were avoiding us and didn't want to be out there when the visibility dropped. We were still able to admire the scenery though from the parking lot and it did look really cool to see the lights of the dune buggies flashing up and down the dunes.

Sky on fire 

Water... must... find... water!

Jon loved to wander

James on the top of a large sand dune

Our family

On the way home we stopped at a couple of stores, looking in vain for some more paper for Jon's camera. For an early Christmas present James gave Jon a little Polaroid camera that takes digital pictures and can also print small pictures. Jon loves it! It is really interesting to see what kind of things catch his eye. This morning he very carefully took a picture of a Lego ship he had built. Jon particularly loves the ability to print out pictures but the paper is impossible to find in stores.

Mommy and Will

Christian moves during a lightsaber battle

Before crossing the mountains to head back home we stopped for dinner at a nearby mall. The food court had some rides and Camille generously took the boys on one each. She spoils them! :-) Christian happily rode a little train around a small track, grinning and waving at me. Will and Jon each chose to use the bungee/trampoline and had a blast jumping up and down. Will was so cute jumping up and doing the Superman pose in mid air. And Jon was able to do some flips for the first time! The kids were very happy and tired as we piled into the car for the ride home.

Jon strikes his Jedi pose

Will in his Jedi pose.

Me and my boys on the dunes

The drive back was quick (comparatively) and uneventful and bedtime was easy since the kids just stumbled in the door and collapsed into bed. We may have done a bit too much on our first full day here but oh it was quite an adventure!

Tomorrow though we are going to have a relaxing day home. Really.

Goodnight!