Driving south out of Santa Barbara, I told Caroline to put down what she was doing and look out the window as, with only 20 minutes of ocean view out of the 8 hours of driving back to Arizona, she needed to be on the lookout for dolphins and whales. There must have been a whisper in my ear because, within minutes, we were pulling over to watch more than half a dozen dolphins swimming along the shoreline and surfing the waves. We did not fare as well in the whale-watching department but were thrilled to watch the dolphins and even the sea lion that showed up.

Then it was back on the road for a beautiful spring drive out of the greenery of Southern California and all the ugly traffic, but that’s the way it is over here.

Into the California desert as we pass through the Palm Springs area over to Blythe.

Back in Arizona, we catch a glimmer of the sunset before heading east once again into the darkness.