FOUR TEEN already!

Couldn't sleep. It's not the wiggeling No3 I'm sharing a double bed with in our incredible Tucson estate (thank you, stranger! We never got to meet you but you must be one heck of a generous guy!). Nor is it the heat I try to thwart by waving with kitchen door, opening screened windows (Arizona mosquitos are mean!) and NOT touching the aircondition (last time I obviously turned on the de-humidifyer - know the swamp-feeling? There you go...). It's actually worries. We are pretty close to the Mexican boarder and whatever stupid war over drugs and weapons is going on over there, affects the security on this side of the boarder too. News are not reassuring either (its gotten worse, since we're back). So I have no idea wich road to take to California. San Diego is the destination we're heading to and we have a wonderful opportunity for accomodation there, so we want to stay south.

Which means also: No Route 66 (would have meant driving north to Flagstaff, staying somewhere overnight and then continue), no parks (kids, you HAVE to do those with your buddies one day!), no adventurous lets-see-where-in-the-desert-we-sleep-t'nite...But ME being a mother of Three Teenagers, having succeeded in getting them safe and sound 'til here so far, I want to have a little bit of the cake. Early morning I'm sure: Route 8 it is, leading pretty close along the mexican boarder all the way to San Diego. Some 500 miles, should be possible in one day without racing. No side sightseeing though.

You know, what comes next: Wake-up-The-Three-Teenagers-shower-brush-teeth-get-packed-can't-find-this-and-that-take-off-sheets-collect-towells-dump-those-at-friends-house-have-breakfast-pack-car (thats new!) and all in slightly two hours only! Wow, I'm impressed. Saying goodbye is not so hard this time, the friends we visited, will fly home to switzerland too in two weeks time. ME getting directions how to get to the Highway and off we go.

Get gas. HE is worried we could end up somewhere in the desert without gas, water (the car is packed with water) and food, let alone no internet. And to be honest: For ME it's the first time, driving that distance in a deserted country. I really don't have the slightest clue what I'm getting us into. So we fill up the tank, funny, that the guy in the gas stations wants money first, but I have no idea how big this tank is, we can get the gas first and THEN pay.

We cross almost the whole 2 million people city of Tucson to get to the Highway 10 direction Phoenix and then turn left to San Diego. Up to Phoenix road is busy, but easy, not too many cars travelling tody. But as soon as we hit Highway 8 to San Diego its like we are the only ones driving west. We stay on a multiple lane Highway but the feeling is this:

Roads seem to go on for ever. We realize we're driving towards mountains. Temperature keeps changing, it was under 80 on HW 8, now the more we drive west the hotter it gets. Looking at the map ME decide that we drive until Yuma. The scenerie is fascinating. Miles of cacti turn into miles of nothing and then miles of lemon trees. Another distracting view: Those freight trains. We try to count the containers, but its impossible, we give up by 70, 80, 90. Those trains have hundreds of containers. How long can a train like that get?

And there are almost always TWO containers on top of each other. The longest train I learn was 500 wagons long.....

There is a stop ahead obviously and driving closer a familiar feeling winds its way up my stomach. Have you ever driven the transit roads between West-Germany and West-Berlin BEFORE the wall came down? You know exactly that you did not do anything wrong but those guys with guns and weapons and uniforms made you absolutely nervous? These wave us through, ME and The Three Teenagers do not look suspiscious I guess! Today we will experience more of those check points, we get used to it.

Yuma looks like a prospering place. Lots of constructions, new roads, new houses, huge shopping centers. We take an exit to - yeah, sure, absolutely not creative, but it had to be the closest, you know...- MC. ME sensing that The Three Teenagers are a little uncomfortable driving this way. They tell eachother stories about stolen cars by using the radio of an iPhone, forgotten kids in Highway Restaurants and so on. And they want to eat seated at a window to be able to watch the car. At least they start to feel some responsibility for our things, thats the good part about it!

We continue through the heat that is here unbearable, but not before filling up the car - you never know.... We go from Sea level and even below that up to over 4000 feet and back down again in some two to three hours driving. The mountains of the Peninsula Range down here look funny, like Pebbles was playing with pebbelstones for ever! Sanddunes, the biggest in whole California (we are still hundreds of miles away from the Pacific Ocean..) dascinate ME beach bum. HE dozes off in the back seat, misses this sign and I'm glad, its too hot and I'm not in the mood. I want to see glittering ocean now, feel seabreeze, smell salty water. Definately too hot to climb up this guy too. Sorry to disappoint you....no sightseeing at all, but everybody is eager to get to San Diego today. Stay tuned......