Jerry finally got the car into the mechanic today to get the power steering thing fixed. We have a praise from that… he thought the whole power steering unit was going to have to be replaced, but it was only the hose! What a blessing, we ended up spending $330 less than we thought we were going to have to.
After he was done at the mechanic’s, he came back home and picked me up. He told me we were going to get the car washed and then who knows what after that. I love an adventure in the car. We just start driving, never knowing where we will end up.
Today we headed south on Hwy. 94. He turned on a street that when I was in my teen years, all the girls said “you don’t want to go out on that street at night. It is scary!” All the boys loved to go there.
I love the horse properties that have the white rail fences around them. They look so country.
Yes, this street is desolate when you get past the homes. Yes, I went out there one night when I was young, ….with a boy. I didn’t know that was where he was heading until we were there. It was dark. It was creepy. I made him turn around and get back into civilization really fast. No stopping and turning off the engine for even a second. I think under his macho attitude that he was happy I made him go back to town.
Every town probably has their scary country lane story. You know, the one where the boy and girl are making out in the car on a dark and windy night. Something happens to make the boy get out and see what’s up. The girl is left sitting in the car. The boy doesn’t return for a looooonnnnnngggggg time. Sometime during the night the girl begins to hear scratching on the car window. She is too afraid to get out of the car and spends a terrifying night in the car. Alone. When the morning light comes, she sees…….
No one ever finishes the story and says what she sees. But everybody with their eyes wide, soaks in this story and with a knowing nod and gulp says “Oh my!”
This particular scary country lane also supposedly had an insane asylum at the very end of the long, dark dirt road and people who went to the end of the lane, well….
-- they – never – came – back……..
Jerry and I always laugh over how the same stories were around when he was a teenager, 11 years before me.
After we got back on the main highway, we turned onto another two lane highway with a sign that read “9 miles to Otay Lakes”.
This is an RV campground called Thousand Trails. I love trees, especially when they have distinct characteristics of their own. God’s handiwork can be seen wherever you look in this beautiful world He made.
The history of San Diego is long and rich. We have so many interesting historical sites and as we visit them, I will share them with you in pictures and words here on this blog.
Most of San Diego county was divided into 29 rancheros in the early 1800s. A good many of the cities in the county got their names from the ranches that were originally on that land. Up until even the 1940s, a lot of the land was still owned by ranches. Huge ranches and small ranches.
Some of the ranches spread as far as the eye could see. I have such a vivid imagination. I love envisioning what things looked like from days gone past. Even if what I am trying to imagine took place only 40 years ago.
Here’s a glimpse of the backwaters of Otay Lake. Can you see it? See the white object in the center of the picture? The water is just below that.
In 1769, Father Junipero Serra (1713 – 1784) supposedly spent his first night in upper California near Otay Mesa. Father Serra is known as the founder of California, establishing 21 missions from San Diego to Sanoma (near San Francisco). These 600 miles are known as El Camino Real, which is Spanish for the Royal Road (also known as The King’s Highway).
After the Mexican Revolution in 1810, retired soldiers wanted to own land in this area and they complained that the missions owned all the good lands. The new Spanish government secularized the lands and Maria Magdalena Eustudillo became the owner of the 6,677 acres known as Otay Ranch.
Lots of people ride their bikes along this road. I wish I had that kind of energy! There is just something almost romantic about riding a bike on a two-lane scenic highway….. except with all the bends in the road and the narrow lane in some places, I had to keep reminding Jerry to go slow around the areas we could not see ahead of us. I would hate to run over someone.
When I was younger, I loved riding on the back of a motorcycle. Oh, to feel the wind in your hair (I wore a helmet, honest) and to feel like you were this close to nature was fun. I loved leaning into the curves on the road. It was like you were one with the world outside the confines of a car.
In the 1850s, after California became part of the United States, all land owners had to prove their claims. Many of them went bankrupt by the 1870s because they had to sell their cows and other property to pay for the legal fees in proving their ownership.
Otay Lakes is a 78 acre county park.
You can take your boat out on the lake and fish.
Or you can fish on land from the side of the lake.
Here is a neat webpage that tells all about the lake and has some really spectacular pictures:
http://www.miriameaglemon.com/San%20Diego%20Bird%20Pages/Sites/Otay%20Lakes.htm
There’s a picnic area with a playground and a horseshoe court, and a pretty hiking trail.
Aviation pioneer John J. Montgomery, made the world’s first controlled flight on August 28, 1883 in a fixed wing glider here in Otay Mesa. He flew 600 feet from the top of a hill.
Otay Mesa borders another city in San Diego County called Chula Vista. We saw this sign while we were stopped at a left turn light.
I loved it!
We found this wonderful outdoor mall on the old Otay Ranch. Another day we will go back to visit it and I will take more pictures. I had to take a picture of this store, though. Oh, just think about all the yummy treasures inside!
On towards the coast we drove, and stopped at Imperial Beach, known as the most southwesterly city in the continental United States. It is the host of the U.S. Open Sand Castle Building Contest each July. The Imperial Beach Pier opened November 23, 1963, the day after President John F. Kennedy was assassinated. The pier extends 1491 feet into 20 feet deep water. At the end of it is a small cafe you can eat at. (It is that dome shape at the end of the pier in the picture above).
After driving around Imperial Beach we drove up the strand to Coronado Island, home of the famous Hotel Del Coronado (mentioned elsewhere in this blog).
I love Coronado Island. Some of the homes there are stunning mansions. Others, like this one, are just as gorgeous. I love the architecture of old homes. They have so much more character than the cookie cutter homes of the second of half the 1900s.
Another day we will revisit Coronado Island and I will post many pictures then. I did take tomorrow’s church picture for this blog on the island. I am always keeping my eyes open for beautiful churches to post with the hymns on Sunday.
What did you do for your Saturday?
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