The short drive up to Oceanside was a good trial run for the road trip. First, we realized that we needed a much smaller tank for my pet turtle Hank to travel in. Hank is a little displeased with her downgraded stateroom (yes, Hank is a girl), but at least she’s not sloshing all over the place every time we hit the brakes. Next it turned out I needed two tires replaced. By the time we were finally ready to get on the road, we were a full 24 hours behind schedule. Time to reassess our travel itinerary.
Grand Canyon was quite a bit north from the most direct route eastbound, and it added on an extra day of driving to our plan. Now, a full day behind schedule, we decided to scrap the GC plan and head due east to Tucson, which required driving back down to San Diego. A whole day later, we were right back where we started from! But, we got on the road in good spirits.
What a great time it is taking a road trip with a fellow photographer! Anytime either of us wants to take a detour or make a stop for some pictures, the other agrees. This afternoon, we drove around downtown San Diego for some scenic photos and videos to kick off the blog. Tonight, we pulled over on the side of the road in the middle of the desert to shoot Saguaro cactus in the moonlight, which was fun until the Border Patrol pulled over to let us know the area was rife with “illegal aliens and dope smugglers” (their words). We finally pulled into Tucson around 11 pm. Tucson is a no-frills kind of town, but it’s a place to sleep and saved us a day of driving. Back on the road tomorrow morning…
