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For our maiden voyage towing our car behind our new-to-us RV we opted to travel at night. Leaving Tucson for San Diego meant that we had to traverse the hot desert and over several mountain passes. Since Yuma was already in the 90s we left Tucson in the evening to avoid the heat. Another bonus of driving at that time of day is the greatly reduced traffic; in fact we left most of our fellow I-10 travelers when we turned onto I-8. Thankfully, we are familiar with this stretch of roadway, having driven it numerous times before, including when we first started RVing in July 2006.

Unfortunately, we weren’t as familiar with our RV and towing so there were some nagging concerns as we motored along. Did we hook-up the car correctly? Did I check the supplemental braking system? What kind of gas mileage do we get? How many gallons does our gas tank hold? Did we forget anything? As the miles rolled by we settled into a good rhythm and soon we were singing the chorus of “California, Here I Come” (the only part of the song that I know).

I don’t know when I first learned that song but I’ve sung it on every California bound trip since I was a little girl. Summer is usually when the beach beckons us “Zonies” and San Diego isn’t really all that far away. There’s a saying that if you want to see your Tucson friends in the summer, go to San Diego. This year Lance and I are getting a head start on all those summer visitors. And it isn’t just the beach that is calling us; we have several good friends in the area.

Danny, an old friend from Tucson lives in San Diego, Brendan lives in Oceanside (O-side, to the locals) and fellow RVers Karen and Rich are workcamping¹ at a county park in the area. Last time we were in San Diego we stayed less than a week so this time we’re planning on sticking around for awhile. Especially since there is so much to see and do.

When the Spanish founded San Diego in 1769 it became not only the first permanent European settlement in California but also on the West Coast. Of course the California coast had been claimed for Spain long before that. In 1542 Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo sailed by and mapped the coastline. In 1602 the area was named after St. Didacus de Alcala. San Diego, as he is known in Spanish, was awarded sainthood for his pious lifestyle, miraculous healings, and sweet smell. Apparently, San Diego’s demise was caused by a festering infection that—instead of reeking—gave off a pleasant odor. Creepy.

San Diego de Alcala was established with two main parts, the fort where the small garrison of soldiers lived and a mission of the same name. The presidio was founded by the military leader Gaspar de Portola while the mission was led by Franciscan Father Junípero Serra. Portola soon left the area but Serra remained in California and was eventually responsible for establishing a chain of 21 missions through the new territory. The early years of the mission were hard ones as the native people, the Kumeyaays, were not pleased with the arrival of the Spanish.

Somehow the small port town of San Diego survived the many attacks from the locals, transition to Mexican Independence, becoming part of the United States, multiple fires, and earthquakes to become the second largest city in California and the eighth largest in the entire country (as of the latest census). These days San Diego’s economy is reliant on defense, manufacturing, and tourism. That the defense industry is San Diego’s main money maker should come as no surprise when you consider that the city is the only major submarine and ship-building yard on the West Coast. The area supports sixteen military facilities representing three branches of the U.S. military: the Navy, the Coast Guard and the Marine Corps.

Our homebase for a couple weeks is Lake Jennings Regional Park in the appropriately named town of Lakeside—roughly 20 miles inland from the coast. It is just off I-8, although thankfully we can’t hear or see the busy road from our campsite. Lake Jennings is a drinking water reservoir for the San Diego area that was created in 1964 by damming Quail Canyon. The campground is in the rolling hills of the Santa Rosa Mountains on a bluff overlooking the three billion gallon lake. They claim it is excellent fishing down there, though the only ones we saw catching fish were osprey. They are so amazing to watch!

The bio-zone here is called chaparral, a corruption of a Spanish word meaning dwarf oak. Fittingly, the vegetation consists of small, bushy trees, grasses, and other herby plants. We are familiar with some of the plants as they are also present in the Sonoran Desert, but the scarcity of cacti is notable. We are here at a special time of year since it is spring; the grasses are green and the hillsides covered with large swaths of yellow flowers. Soon the grasses will turn brown, the flowers will wither, and all the animals will adopt a crepuscular lifestyle, avoiding the intense heat of the day.

Even though it is too cool for sunbathing or playing in the waves we are enjoying our time here in San Diego. Walking along the harbor, seafood for lunch, sushi for dinner, catching up with old friends, searching for tourmaline, hiking, and birdwatching—and that’s just the beginning of our adventures here. We’re looking forward to more fun times in California’s first city.

Photos: View our photographs from San Diego County.

Notes: We stayed at Lake Jennings in San Diego County from 03/23/08 to 04/04/08.

¹ Workcamping: volunteering a certain number of hours a week at a park or other location in exchange for a free hook-up. ↩