Why the California lemons? See if you can find the lightly sour notes in this narrative :-)

From Phoenix I drove to Yuma, right on the AZ and CA border, and got lost for a little while. My GPS didn't recognize the address (which included "8 1/2 Avenue"), so I thought I'd got to 8th Avenue and look nearby -- but that took me way the wrong way, and then I got stubborn (who me?) and ended up almost in Mexico before I admitted defeat and called the campground for directions. But it was one of the "lost" trips that was interesting and not at all dangerous - and just cost me a little gasoline. I only stayed one night and can't for the life of me remember much about the place (as I write this a week later).

The next stop was another Thousand Trails park called Oakzanita. I only took one photo: the view from the laundry room. Those three days were restful, to put it politely. It was cold and wet and I did a lot of reading and some webwork (at least the WiFi was strong) and worked some jigsaw puzzles and took a few hikes (but I forgot the camera on one and then the batteries were dead on the second, so no photos). It was interesting to see the after-effects of the fires. I hadn't paid enough attention to realize that they'd gotten this far south.

And then it was three days at YATT (Yet Another Thousand Trails) - see, *now* that membership is starting to pay off! This one was called Pio Pico and was lower in altitude (so warmer) and close to San Diego, so I enjoyed it a lot more. On Friday I walked on Coronado Beach and then danced with an strong and enthusiastic group of maybe 50 dancers - and for the second time on this trip, I didn't know anyone. But several of those folks plan to dance at Fiddling Frog in Pasadena, so I'll see them again. The band was Pick of the Lizard (cute, eh?) and Martha Wild was calling. I noticed a extra mandolin player in the corner whose name turned out to be Given (yes, Given). As we were talking, North Carolina was mentioned, and he asked why I hadn't come to the Carolina Chocolate Drops' concert. Ack! How did I not know that they were in San Diego?? Argh. I hate missed opportunities...

On Saturday I was going to go to the zoo... until I found out it cost $35, and I just couldn't see paying that much, especially when I remembered that the little zoo at the Sonora Museum was depressing. Now I wish I'd gone, having read more about it and learning that they do as good a job as anyone can to make good lives for their critters. Oh well.

On Sunday I drove up the road to the Wilderness Lakes Thousand Trails. Well, it's not in the Wilderness and I haven't found the lake yet... but there is a cattle lot next door that makes me not want to be outdoors at all. I guess I'll find a day trip for tomorrow and then get on up the road :-)

And ta da, I am now caught up with my web page (temporarily :-)