February 16 - 21 - Portland, Oregon

Interstate 84, eastbound from Portland, OR, is a scenic highway going through the Columbia River Gorge and Mount Hood National Forest recreational area. The Columbia River`s gorge spans over 100 miles and on one side of the river gorge is the state of Washington, the other side is the state of Oregon. Mountains, forest, waterfalls, damns, fishing, hiking, rafting, golfing, lots of state parks, and phenonmal camping. This area has a ton of activities to do amidst of lush scenic landscapes. The terrain made us feel like we were getting closer to home. and is very very scenic. It deserves another visit, in the summertime, sometime down the road for us to explore it more.

February 8 - 16, 2010 - Driving up the California Coast

Driving inland up the coast Southern California to Northen California was a new travelling adventure for us and allowed us to see a variety of lanscapes. The Sacaremento area is ambundant to growing grapes, we were surprised to see the volumes of vineyards we drove past. As well, the area is a large producer of fruits and vegetables, Doyle is a big fruit and vegetable growing producer in this area. It was a shame for us, because we realized that we were driving through through this growing belt too early, it was only just spring, just the start of the growing season. We were a little sad, because we both agreed that it would have been way cooler to see this landscape in the summer. Northern California was beautiful, snow peaked mountains. and green pine trees.  Mount Shasta stands out from all the rest, she can be seen from two different states, California and Oregon. Such a beautiful mountain, she hypnotizes you with her size and her beauty.

February 7, 2010 - Pebble Beach - Monterey, California

17 Mile drive through Pebble Beach was spectacular!

February 3, 2010 - Jalama Beach, California

Jalama Beach is located on the Pacific coastline 140 miles west of Los Angeles. Our camp site was on the beach where we could walk for miles and miles with no one else in sight. 10' waves crashing the shoreline, blue ocean for as far as you can see and the cool, windy ocean air made our stay here tranquil and invigorating. A little piece of heaven.

January 29, 2010 - La Quinta, California

La Quinta, is located in the beautiful desert valley of Palm Springs, elevation only at 40 ft, it is nestled in the Santa Rosa & San Jacinto Mountains, and beside Johusa Tree National Park. This pristine area covers 272,000 acres of wildnerness from desert to pine forest.  This area grows 95% of the United States palm dates and magnificient palm tree orchards are abundant. Citrus, melons, berries, and vegetables are also grown in this region. The area is an oasis to desert resorts, championship golf courses, polo and tennis clubs, and arts and music festivals. The area offers fantastic scenic beauty with gorgeous moutains, and a colorful setting of flowers, trees, green grass and palm trees which all are landcaped impecably. A very gorgeous and unique place.

January 24, 2010 - Algodones, Mexico

January 21, 2010 - Ajo, AZ

Ajo, a small town situated in southern Arizona, 30 miles from the mexican border, where we visited Paul`s relatives. A fairly large copper mine once thrived in this town between the early 1900`s to 1985. We were very surprised to see a large fleet of border patrol  SUV vehicles, helicopters, ATV`s as well as checkstops. Scouring the vast desert for illegal alliens and drug smuggling, which is a very common occurrence in this area. The agent at a checkstop had told us they had just caught 40 illegal alliens in the desert and 2 Jordainian`s, he had also said that a large amount of drugs are smuggled in this region.