March 11, Looking East

We decided to turn the land ship from her southern bearing to due east to start the second of the four legged tour of the nation. Before we left San Diego we went to impressive Balboa Park with its beautiful grounds and buildings. No, we didn’t go into the world renowned zoo. Instead we sat and watched the local outside zoo animals in their natural habitat in the way of a postpartum exercise class. A dozen women with child bearing strollers doing deep knee bends in front of their children. Then the trainer calling out to follow her to the Big Fountain and off they went jogging while pushing their strollers. Us old guys tagged along because it was the only show this early in the morning. We caught up with the female human mothers stepping up on the fountain rim then back down again and again then switching lead legs while their offspring sat content in their wheeled chariots in a parking lot like row. We wanted to feed them but there were signs discouraging such behavior.
But the open road called us so we left San Diego after four days in the military focused city. We joined Interstate 8 at its conception with the sun in our eyes movin’ east. We were to follow I-8 until Interstate 10 in central Arizona drops south consumes it.
An hour outside of the big city we stopped for a couple of hours in Alpine where Bob spent his life as a firefighter. We found his old house that he and Martha lived in until
14 years ago. Unlike many of the houses down the creek bed it was not burned in the massive fire that swept through the area a few years back. I laughed as Bob and his old neighbor, Errol, relived some of the community’s adventures.
That night we slept in a small county park many miles off the roar of I-8 and for the first time in our journey had no cell / internet reception. It was nice. It was quiet EXCEPT for the tree removal crew two campsites down falling and chipping a large tree. Finally at 4:30 silence was our companion.