I felt badly not leaving a tip at the hotel. I intended to leave one every day, and in fact actually did, but came back each day only to find a clean room and the money sitting on the dresser. On the day we went to Mexico, we met the housekeeper, and she asked me if the money was a tip for her.
"Of course it is."
"Oh, thank you! But, don't leave it any more."
Huh? That was a first for me, and I still didn't quite get why, but I honored her request, and left our hotel tip-less our last day.
Breakfast at The Mission again and off to La Quinta in the Coachella Valley by way of The San Diego Zoo Safari Park. I keep catching myself referring to it as the Wild Animal Park, but I am a big girl and I can change. I will all it by it's right name. I will.
This place is even cooler than the zoo. The enclosures are huge and designed for herds and families of animals. They breed animals in the park in hopes of reintroducing them to the wild. The condor's home is here, and some rhino species as well as some other spectacular animals. My favorites were the gorillas and the giraffes. The giraffes were running in herds. I don't think I've ever seen that before in my life.
We left the park and took a scenic route to La Quinta. We drove through the rural towns of Ramona and Julian and through the Anza Borrego Desert State Park. As we were approaching the park, I told Emily about the last time I had visited the park and we hit a sand storm. Hum, imagine that. There is a sand storm today, out in the distance. We're driving away from it, so there should be no problem. Humm, it seems to be coming toward the road we're on, but not to worry, it's still a long way away. Wow, it seems to be speeding up. We'd better hurry so we can stay ahead of it. Oh My! We are not going fast enough. It's going to hit the road as we do! Foot to the Gas! Whew! We just cleared it. I felt like those people who film themselves getting caught in a tornado. I always assumed they were foolish to be there in the path of danger. I guess I can add myself to that fools list.
About 10 miles more lunar desert landscape in the wind and turn a corner. Oops. There's our friend the sand storm again. Only this time he was living on the road, and we had no choice but to dive right into it and through it for about 2 miles. It was eerie, but fortunately there was a car on the road ahead of us, lead dogging for us. A little nerve wracking, but passable.
Sand storms behind us, we headed for La Quinta. We would occasionally pass prospectors in double wides and dive bars, but ended up cozy in a golf course oasis. Dinner, visiting and jammies. What to do tomorrow?
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