On Friday, March 7th, it was time to challenge our fitness level and attack El Cajon Mountain (El Capitan) a 12 mile round trip strenuous hike with over 4300 feet of elevation gain. Located near Lakeside only about 30 minutes from Santee we arrived around 10am and parked at the trailhead parking lot and started up…
Mount Woodson, Poway CA
On Tuesday March 4th we headed up to beautiful Lake Poway Recreation Area that sits amid eucalyptus groves and Southern California chaparral to hike up Mt Woodson. The lake serves as a power supply for Poway residents, and since 1972 has also been one of Poway’s best recreation spots. The lake has 2.5 miles of shoreline…
Santa Ysabel Preserve and Julian CA
February 25, Tuesday, it is time to start training for our hike to Everest Base Camp. We cannot train for the altitude but we can start getting our legs ready, so we went to the Santa Ysabel Preserve https://repicjourney.com/?p=1274 just north of Julian, to do a 7 mile hike. We drove about an hour from Santee…
San Diego Marine Museum and the USS Midway
On Jan 31st, we boarded the USS Midway, picked up the self-guided audio tour to help us explore this floating city at sea. We went below to see the engine room, the ship’s jail and the crew’s sleeping quarters. Bob had to bend down to walk through the hallways, sailors must all be pretty short….
Eric’s MBA Graduation from University of San Francisco
We arrived in San Francisco on Friday, Dec 13th, in time for Eric’s Graduation Ceremony for his MBA from the University of San Francisco. The ceremony was held at the old St Ignatius church with it’s magnificant interior spaces. He worked very hard for 16 months to come to this moment on the stage with…
Trip Up Coastal Highway 1
Sunday, Dec 8th we left Palm Creek Resort in Casa Grande, Arizona at 7AM and headed for San Diego where we are setting down roots for 4 months, waiting for the arrival of our first grand baby. We went to visit Kevin and Ericka after we arrived spending the evening with them in Del Mar…
Phoenix AZ, Desert Botanical Garden
On Friday, Dec 6th we visited the Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix. It is huge and sits on 145 acres and has more than 50,000 plants in its collection. The Garden has five thematic trails that exhibit cactus and succulent species from around the world. It has been opened since 1939 and has an amazing…
Picacho Peak State Park
On December 5th we drove south to explore Picacho Peak State Park and climb the 1500 ft to the summit on the Hunter Trail. The 2 mile “Hunter Trail” is named in honor of Captain Sherod Hunter – Confederate States of America who lead Confederate forces against Union forces under the command of Captain William Calloway…
Asarco Open Pit Copper Mine
After leaving the Casa Grande Ruins we headed further East into the mountains towards Asarco’s Ray Mine; one of the largest open-pit copper mines in the world. We travelled on a gravel backcountry road through some spectacular desert terrain. Along the way we passed the Boulders, a large collection of massive sandstone rocks. This area…
Casa Grande Ruins National Monument
On Dec 3rd we left Palm Creek Resort and drove east 19 miles to the Casa Grande Ruins National Monument which preserves the remains of the largest known structure of the Ancestral Sonoran Desert People, the Great House. It was built in 1350, and stands four stories high and 60 feet long, with a platform…