CA (11-2001)

	One of the major attractions for us in southern California was Joshua Tree National Park. These are Joshua trees. Not a cactus and not a tree the Joshua tree is most closely related to the lily! They can reach an enormous size.
	The first trail we hiked at Joshua Tree was the Mastodon Peak trail. Here is a section of the trail with a palm tree growing nearby. We had always thought of the palm tree as a tropical tree, but given the right conditions they thrive in the desert.
	The second hike we did was Ryan Mt. The hiking book said the elevation gain was 700' but the GPS said it was actually 1100'. This is a view from the summit.
	Ryan Mt. trail on the way down. The trail here curves to the right so it looks like Karen is standing right on the edge of the mountain. One step in the wrong direction and it's a long way down!
	Rock mountain on the other side of a valley cut into Ryan Mt. They don't show up very well in this picture but we could see people rock climbing near the trees in the middle.
	Further down the Ryan Mt. trail heading down. As this picture shows we're definately in the desert here!
	The third trail we hiked was the Skull Rock nature trail. This is a Juniper pine with berries. Juniper berries are used to make gin.
	Shields dates in Indio. Indio is the "Date Capital of the Nation." We learned that there are many different kinds of dates including Blondes, Brunetts, Deglet Noors, and Medjools.
	South of Indio is the Salton Sea, one of the world's largest inland bodies of saltwater. It's 35 miles by 15 miles and is saltier than the Pacific Ocean. Also interesting is that it was just formed in 1905 by flood waters from the Colorado River. And elevation in the area is about 200' BELOW sea level.
	Passing under the Coronado Bay bridge in San Diego harbor on a boat tour we took. The center span sections are designed to float. This feature would allow the Navy to move the sections out of the way to allow the fleet continued access to the ocean.
	One of the many Navy ships in San Diego harbor, the USS Nimitz.
	The front of this building in downtown San Diego was designed to look like a champaign glass. If you zoom in on it you can even see that several of the windows have been accented to look like champaign bubbles.
	Trolley to Tijuana. San Diego has a very good public transportation system. The main trolley lines are fed by many bus lines. One of the bus lines had a stop right in our RV park.
	You can get pretty much any prescription drug you want very cheaply in Tijuana including Cipro, the antibiotic now being prescribed for Anthrax.
	Line heading back into the USA. We had walked over to Mexico. There were a couple of other people walking over along with us. We walked right in without even being asked any questions by the one Mexican authority at the crossing point. Walking back to the USA we were joined by hundreds of other people and the security was very tight.
	We saw this guy from the bridge where we took the picture of the traffic heading into the USA. All we could figure was that he must have been a pot smuggler. HAHAHA!!!