fall in California

Another leaf fell.  That makes 3 or 4 in the last month. 

hates California, it's cold and it's damp...

This is the view from the top of the street, a block or two from our house--always dramatic-looking.

The sunset over the Pacific. There are only a few people on the beach.  It's quite chilly, more so as soon as the sun isn't shining.

trees

Nov. 2nd, 12 pm. Here's the view from our front walk. It looks like a brontosaurus should be munching on the palm tree in the back. I wonder how long it takes to get used to this.

the Pacific

Nov. 1st, 5:18 pm. Here we are at the Pacific Ocean. We stopped somewhere in North San Diego to pick up the keys to our new apartment, then headed for Oceanside and the Pacific. Shells weren't as easy to find--here are two worn smooth by the sea, and a beach pebble. Odometer--47,178.2
It has been quite a day driving--through desert, up and down mountains, to the California freeways, and now here to a little town by the ocean.

California!

Nov. 1st, 2:30 pm. We have been driving up and down mountains for hours. We stopped here in Pine Valley, California, because we weren't sure where the next gas station would be. The truck had been climbing the mountains with some difficulty, but with more gas in the tank it didn't mind the hills. The scenery is wonderful--California needs more places to pull over and look at the mountains, safely. We saw an elk, just standing by the side of the road. Watch for them after the elk crossing signs.
My daughter saw her saguaro--in fact, an entire park full of them. We passed through a couple of Indian reservations, and also through a California border checkpoint. California hasn't forgotten that it was once a republic, and stops cars at the border, to ask if they contain agricultural products. We were stopped another time near the border with Mexico, although we weren't crossing into Mexico. I don't know what that checkpoint was for.