Driving the Pacific Coast Highway

After leaving San Diego, Grandpa Bill hitched a ride with us to drive to LA. We took the old highway along the beach and through a lot of towns up the coastline. The weather turned to rain, but we made the best of it and found a few places to check out. I like to find random spots on Google Maps that I've never heard of (and to annoy my wife), so we checked out this marker called Pirate Tower. It wasn't easy to find, so we ended up circling around through a couple of neighborhoods a few times. The trail entrance was basically between two people's houses and wasn't marked, and then it led to a staircase down to the beach where we had to make our way along the cliffs. We all almost got washed away by the sea and the rain, but we made it!

Found it!

Ye Pirates beware!

Got a little wet in the process.

After that, we hit the overly crowded beaches at Huntington Beach. We couldn't find anywhere to park or even walk through the neverending hordes of people all over this massive beach.

It's like looking for Waldo in that crowd, but we're over there somewhere.

It did have a pretty nice pier with a few gift shops. Have to buy souvenirs, of course.

Going Back to San Diego

Becky and I went to San Diego way back in the year 2005 (I think). It was right after we got married, so it was sometime around then. Either way, it's been a really long time. She's been back at least once with Paul, but it was my first time back in 15 years. We spent a little time at her grandma's house so the kids could hit the cold water of the swimming pool, then checked out the ocean at La Jolla, and went to another National Monument. The weather was pretty good most of the time and the boys had a blast hanging out at their great-grandma's house.

Just a little chilly by the pool!

Checked out the seals at the beach in La Jolla

The view's a little different at the Pacific side of things.

Pretty awesome views from this national monument that marks where the first Spanish explorers landed in California.

Nolan was excited!

Just Adam being Adam.

Glad we made the stop! Hopefully we'll make it back sooner!

Musical Cacti

After we made it into Arizona last month, we headed south to the border to hit one of the national monuments we missed the last time. Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument is apparently the only place in the United States where these Organ Pipe Cacti grow. I haven't seen a lot of organs with pipes, but apparently these cacti look like that, with a bunch of arms all stretching out of the same spot and growing pretty tall. Honestly there were a lot more of the Saguaro cacti here than Organ Pipes, but whatever. We took a long drive around a dirt road loop and stopped for a short hike into a canyon to see a rock arch. Me and the boys almost made it to the top of the mountain where the arch was, but a swarm of bees cut off the path and forced us to turn back. Nolan wanted to go off path and cut through the brush to get around them, but it seemed like the kind of place to get rattlesnaked or scorpioned, so we turned back, much to his dismay. Either way, it was a beautiful spring day to listen to the cacti play their music!

Needed some lunch before the hike...

Big ol' cactus.

That's the arch up there... that's where we're headed boys.

Don't touch the trees.

Through the sweeping landscape of the American Southwest!

A little Organ Pipe cacti... maybe they call it a Seedling?

Take my picture Dad, it'll be like "Second Day on Mars."

Up and up we go...

Didn't make it all the way, but the sun was still shining on a beautiful day...

Organ Mountains and Desert Peaks

Not to be confused with Oregon mountains, which are a long way from Texas. I didn't know Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks National Monument existed, but sure enough it does. It's only been a national monument since 2014, so it's younger than Nolan, but I'm guessing the mountains have been around longer than that. We had extra time and it was a perfect evening for a hike, so we made it to the park just before it closed and got to play around on the big rocks. The boys and I got into a few somewhat dangerous positions on the rocks, but that should be expected. We took a big loop around the park and otherwise enjoyed the perfect weather and sunset! Five stars, would recommend!

The path was all downhill from the start, which only means its uphill coming back.

They had excess energy for some reason... ran the whole way down.

Apparently a hermit used to live in this cave years ago until someone murdered him. Good heartwarming story!

A beautiful sunset over the New Mexico desert!