Our stay in Orange County, CA was great (don't we say that every time?). One treat was that Orangeland Campground had citrus trees throughout the park. They even had fruit picker tools to borrow so we helped ourselves to some of the ripe oranges. Since they were too juicy to eat, we juiced them. We still have a dozen or so in the fridge. I had a great visit with Ellyn's longtime friend, Henry, who was her first boyfriend (at 15) and she's been dear friends with him now for 42 years! We went to Yom Kippur services at his Conservative Synagogue which were very, very nice for Kol Nidre and a bit more dull for YK morning. Ellyn got to also go out to lunch with Henry in Laguna Beach.
At Henry's suggestion, the two of us spent an afternoon on Balboa Island and taking the itsy-bitsy ferry to Laguna Beach. The ferry is similar to the Essex Ferry in CT. It was an incredibly beautiful day and it was great riding our bikes along the beach, walking on the pier. Another treat in Orange County was meeting up with our friends Marie and Dave for dinner. Also at the dinner was Dave's sister and partner (who we had met in WDW last Jan) as well as an IBM colleague of Ellyn's that she hadn't seen in years. It was a great dinner at the Disneyland Hotel's Steakhouse 55.
Next, we headed to San Diego where Geoff's Brother Wes and family live. It was great hanging out with them at their house. The youngest niece is now graduated from high school and the great-niece is now a very active and precocious 5 years old. An extra treat was that we saw the Navy's Blue Angels fly over the house as they were doing a nearby Air Show.
On Sunday, we had a great kayak paddle in Mission Bay nearby the RV park and in the afternoon, Wes, Pat and little Trinity came to join us in Mission Bay Park. It was a beautiful day. I have read that San Diego has the best weather in the world and our few days there seemed to bear that out. We also flew our kites but the wind was a bit variable so we didn't do that for long. 
Yesterday, we said good-bye to the Pacific and started driving east to Arizona. Our drive was great - not much traffic and we passed interesting views of rocky hills and valleys and then into the desert where we passed through blowing dust and saw a real tumbleweed tumbling. Geoff made an unannounced stop in Dateland, AZ to get a Date Shake. Ellyn was too full from eating pumpkin seeds in the RV. This morning we headed further east to leave the RV at BEAUTIFUL Gilbert Ray Campground near Saguaro National Park. Then, we drove about an hour more east in the car to go the INCREDIBLE Kartchner Cavern. We've been to 8 or maybe more
caverns around the country and this one was unique. It was discovered only 35 years about by two college students. They kept it a secret and finally told the landowners (the Kartchner Family) about it four years later. They decided that it should be made a State Park so it could be protected. It took a total of 14 years, after it was discovered, before it was made public, and then another 10 years until it was opened in 1999. The discoverers and the state did research on problems other caves had had to put as many protections in place to preserve the cave features and atmosphere such as dim lights and triple door chambers to maintain the humidity. The utmost care was taken in the building the wheelchair accessible pathway and entrance. So, as far as I could tell, there weren't any broken off stalagmites or stalactites and there were incredible "straws" (one 21 feet from floor to ceiling) and columns (one dubbed Kubla Khan is 60 ft tall!). The tour was a delight so kudos to the discoverers, the Kartchner family as well as the State of Arizona! 
Our plans for tomorrow are to tour the Saguaro National Park in the morning - maybe even get up for sunrise over the mountains. Then to drive some more towards Albuquerque where we plan to be on Thursday to go to the Balloon Fiesta over the weekend.
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