We reached the end of Route 10 in California

We started our journey west on Route 10 in Jacksonville, Florida and reached the "end of 10" when we arrived in Los Angeles.

What we are finding in our travels is that the National Parks are national treasures and they always exceed our expectations. It has become a goal for us to visit as many as we can.

Our first stop in California was Joshua Tree National Park. The Joshua Tree is a giant member of the lily family. It is a yucca plant and it is a good indicator that you are in the Mojave Desert.

Legend has it that the Morman pioneers named the tree after the biblical figure, Joshua, seeing the limbs as outstretched in supplication, guiding the travelers westward.

In the park were some very interesting rock formations, do you see them? We had a great time letting our imaginations go wild interpreting shapes.

Here is an Indian head --

We found an alligator, or to be geographically correct, a gila monster. If you double click on the picture, it should enlarge.

Here is a frog!

From here we headed to Palm Springs, which is a beautiful city surrounded by mountains and 'windmill farms'.

Next stop was San Diego. Went whale watching, but after 3 1/2 hours on the water we only witnessed some sea lions. (So Barb is still in quest of a great whale adventure - she didn't see them close enough in New England.)

While there we were able to take a tour of the Carrier USS Midway. Brought back the great Navy days where Bill spent three years on another carrier, the USS Essex. Seeing how Bill lived for four years was so interesting for Barb so it was a treat for both of us.

LA was the next California city we visited and decided a tour bus was the way to go. (California drivers are crazy.) (We watched two separate car/police chases within thirty minutes on TV.)It turned out to be an eight hour tour but the tour guide was so entertaining and knowledgeable it was well worth the time.

This is Venice Beach where we saw skate boarders, roller skaters, "muscle beach" and of course lots of surfers.



Above the Hollywood Bowl, we saw the Hollywood sign in the distance. ........ and the city at a different angle.



And then there were the Oscars. We were fortunate enough to be there the day before the big event. After checking out the crowded area in front of Grauman's Chinese Theater, we went next door to the Kodak Theater and searched for a way to get closer to the red carpet and the hoopla. We ended up walking on the red carpet up the grand staircase to the theater.

Next highlight was Rodeo Drive - we had thirty minutes to "shop" which was easily enough time to max out your credit card. We just walked and only recognized a few of the designer names. I guess I'm just a Kohl's and Target girl!!!! (The yellow store below is Phillipe Dijon's salon - you can't even go in without an appointment and to get an appointment you have to pay $900, non-refundable) (We did see him arrive in his yellow Ferrari and got a picture of him - only famous person we saw and we didn't have a clue who he was!!!!)

We did take a few pics of some stars' homes - in order are the homes of Richard Gere, Bill Cosby and Adam Sandler - then the former homes of Clark Gable and Frank Sinatra

A couple other interesting places we saw were Mel's Diner (seen in Grease and American Graffitti) and Santa Monica Pier (round building is where the carousel is - seen in "The Sting"

On Sunday we drove to Garden Grove to attend church at the Crystal Cathedral. Rev. Robert Schuller gave the sermon and Dr. Schuller interviewed John Tesh who did the music (finally a celebrity I recognized). The church service was excellent and the building quite spectacular but it was raining so we didn't have any sunlight shining through the glass. After the service we were able to have John Tesh sign his book and CD and take pictures.



It has been a very busy week and we hope you endured this long chapter in our journey. We're off to Las Vegas! Stay tuned!!!