Going to California

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First on our list of things to see was the World’s Largest Fountain in Fountain Hills, a suburb of Phoenix. It is located in the middle of a large pond and shoots a large stream of water over 600 feet into the air. While driving to find it, we got a little lost… how can you not find a 600’ fountain in the flat desert landscape of Phoenix? Then we saw it. Ahead in the distance, well above the rooftops of the surrounding neighborhoods, was a giant stream of water. It was by far the oddest thing we’ve seen this whole trip. Apparently the fountain is on a schedule -- on for 10 minutes, off for 10 minutes. Luckily, we happened on it while it was on. The pond and fountain were part of a beautiful park, complete with ducks and cactus gardens. We couldn’t believe we were the only people there, but maybe the locals were bored with this phenomenon? Either way, it was a truly impressive sight. We spent some time sitting on a park bench, staring at this thing, trying to make sense of it when it shut off. We waited awhile, hoping to see it during a full cycle. Then somewhere, we could hear water starting, and strained to see any sign of the fountain…the next thing we knew, we were in a cycle of our own. The park sprinklers were starting up, and we were stuck in the middle. We were so focused on the fountain, we were confused as to where this water was coming from. By the time we figured it out, we were soaked, our cameras were wet and we were laughing at ourselves and at the idea that we really got the full fountain experience.

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From there, we were on our way to California. Along the way, we stopped by a local hotel that we had read about in one of our travel books – The Space Lodge. A Best Western had modeled one of their hotels to resemble an alien spaceship, complete with flashing lights and a well-stocked gift shop. We took some photos, then continued on our way. Crossing into California was an interesting driving experience. We went through the mountains, miles of white sand dunes, a border patrol checkpoint, and finally we made it to San Diego. We were staying with Jessie’s aunt and uncle, who (despite the fact that they were doing some home improvements) were happy to have us. We went out to a great Mexican dinner, spent some time catching up with family and then hit the sack. It’d been a long day, and we had more driving to do tomorrow.