The Germans discovered it in 1904 and they called it "San Diego" which in German means "whale's vagina"

man, it has been a crazy past few days. i realize now that this blog will come in handy not only so that i don't have to tell the same stories twenty million different times... but also so that i can remember what i did! this blog is as much for me as it is for you. this past week has kinda been a blur! so where did i leave off...? ah yes..

Saturday:

so after we left the coffee shop in el paso, we hit the road again heading towards phoenix. i knew that i really wanted to camp again tonight mainly because i didn't want to spend money on a motel. plus, i had just stopped at wal-mart and bought an additional sleeping pad to put under my sleeping bag, and i was intent on using it. when i saw signs for RockHound State Park, i decided that was our campsite for the night. the drive out to the park was beautiful, and my timing couldn't have been better. i ended up getting there right as the sun was starting to set, and i just pulled off to the side of the road and sat on the hood of my car with rotor as we watched it. if my eyes weren't so dry from the desert air, i might have shed a tear. ha. but really--it was so relaxing and peaceful. it also gave me a chance to journal and kinda reflect on things. 

so after the sunset, we drove the rest of the way to the campsite only to find out that you need a permit to camp there. i was sad. and not only sad, but really really tired.... so i knew we needed to find somewhere to sleep soon. we ended up finding two more campsites within the next couple hours, but i got a weird feeling about both of them... so i decided to keep on going. finally, at about 1 am (4 am for my body's internal clock since i was 3 hrs ahead), i gave up, pulled into a Dennys 24 hr restaurant, leaned back the seat and konked out. there was no way after looking for a campsite for 4 hours that i was going to pay $50 to sleep somewhere for probably less than 6 hrs. ESPECIALLY after i had just bought my extra sleeping pad.  see my logic??! so yes, ladies and gentlemen, i slept in my car. and i slept surprisingly well, actually.

Sunday:

the next morning, rotor and i went for a run in saguaro national park. rotor's a little fatty and a horrible running partner, by the way. after that, in dire need of bathing, i definitely drove up to a Motel 6, explained my situation and asked them if i could use a shower. i told merrilee (always use their first names. it makes the situation more personal. ha) that i would be out in ten minutes flat and so she opened and room and let me in . i was such a bum. but at least i was a clean one!

we made it to phoenix that afternoon and walked around a cute little town called scottsdale. i enjoyed some coffee at---yes---a local coffeeshop while i figured out where we would head next. after talking it over with rotor, we decided the grand canyon was the place to be so off we went. on the way, we stopped and saw montezuma's castle which was kinda cool. i dont think rotor cared too much for it; he was more focused on peeing on the tree below. once again, my timing was superb, as we made it to the grand canyon right as the sun was setting. it was so beautiful! i loved it. it's hard to take in that much beauty at once (that must be how people feel when they meet me for the first time! haha.. juuuuuust kidding!). thankfully, there was a free campsite about a mile outside the entrance, so me and rotey-roo "set up camp" and hit the hay. just for the record, people aren't lyin when they say it gets REALLY cold in the desert at night. i woke up in the middle of the night half frozen and put on like three more layers of clothes. even that and spooning with rotor didn't warm me up! 

Monday:

we spent most of monday driving. not because it's a terribly long drive but because i wasn't paying attention and missed a pretty crucial split... and didn't realize it until like 3 hours later when i figured i should have already come across it by then... so yeah. it was fun, though. i finished another audio book so i felt pretty accomplished. poor little rotor was panting even with the windows up and the AC cranked full blast. it was 115 degrees outside, according to my handy dandy in-car thermostat. after making it through the desert, we hit rush hour traffic so we pulled into a cute little place called riverside for a bit. i got a yummy watermelon smoothie at some place. i love watermelon. i could seriously eat an entire watermelon in one sitting. i think i might have done that before, actually... 

at about 9 pm we found a motel with the right price (after i said "your room's too expensive. thanks anyway" and he said "wait what if i give you 50% off?" and i said "really? that works."). even though it was a monday night, i decided to go out anyway because all i'd done was drive all day. i found out gas lamp was apparently the place to be after asking around. it's basically a few strips lined with bars/clubs/restaurants so i headed that way. luckily, there was no cover charge anywhere so i barhopped around, enjoying blues, rock and even some reggae. the reggae was my favorite. the lead singer even blew me a sweet kiss followed by a couple of even sweeter hip thrusts from the stage. overall, gas lamp was a pretty cool area. hopefully, i'll get to check it out again before i leave.

tuesday:

so i'm totally lovin this free breakfast thing we've got goin on at my hotel. and i've definitely taken full advantage of it. i came back to my room this morning with two homemade waffles, 6 mini boxes of cereal, 3 packets of oatmeal, 2 apples, 2 oranges, and 3 cups of orange juice.  i made multiple trips so as not to seem too obvious that i was about to create a breakfast famine for the rest of the guests. what? a girl's gotta eat! plus, i needed to restock for the rest of my trip... geez.

after breakfast, rotor and i hit up dog beach on coronado island. i'm pretty sure dog beaches are the coolest things ever. not only was it beautiful, but i was allowed to have my baby with me--and off his leash!! we even made a friend today! this guy sat his stuff down next to where me and roo were laying, and rotor's constant attempts to hump one his dogs eventually led us into conversation. though none of you will believe it, this guy is actually even MORE of a dog person than me! i couldn't believe it. we talked about our dogs for like 3 hours. rotor loved him--which was weird since rotor's usually pretty shy. after a long nap this afternoon, i headed out to pacific/mission beach and scoped out that area. it was a pretty cool place. so far, coronado is still my favorite, though. 

the verdict is out: i love san diego.