On the morning of the 16th, Jeff, Ann, Eric (7 weeks old), Jym, Alina, and Ana are ready to take on Sea World in San Diego.

In one of the many scheduled shows, the dolphins share the spotlight with pilot whales. Another show that shouldn't be missed is the "free flight" bird show in which falcons dive from a balloon into the arena at speeds in excess of 120 mph.

There are also many exhibits around the park that give you close-up views of different animals. These include puffins, manatees, sharks, penguins, rays, flamingos, and Clydesdales (don't ask).

I think this big guy was trying to entice us to come in and play.

In the killer whale show, the trainer takes Shamu out for a little spin around the pool.

Shamu gets even by playing a little game of 'trainer toss'. Look close and you can see John the trainer being launched (pretty gracefully too).

Later on, we saw a 4-D 'pirate' flick with some impressive 3-D effects. The fourth D was when they sprayed water on the audience to emphasize a point.

After hanging out with the kids for another day, we started heading east, but not before making a stop up the coast at the Quilt-in-a-Day Shop. We wandered through this dangerous environment without buying anything (blaming the limited storage capacity of the loaded bikes).

As we traveled east along highway 78, we did the equivalent of a double-take (U turn in the middle of the road while exclaiming 'did you see that?'). As it happened, the cafe and motorcycle museum that this old BMW and sign were advertising was closed with no hours posted. Too bad, but they did have our attention for a while.

We got to Joshua Tree National Park that evening and set up camp before the sun set - no crowded campground here!

The next morning, we started wandering through the park. This is an example of a desert wash. It floods a couple of times a year and can wash tons of sand and gravel down from the surrounding mountains. These washes are named - my favorite being 'Fried Liver Wash'.

The most common cactus in the Cholla Cactus Garden nature trail is the Teddy Bear Cholla (Choy-ya) Cactus. The needles are barbed and detach readily - don't push!

The Park's namesake tree (actually a member of the lily family) is the Joshua Tree (named by Mormon immigrants). They exist in the Mohave desert area of the park (above 3,000' elevation). The Colorado desert area is too low and hot to support them. The park spans the area where the two deserts meet.

Behind Ann is a Joshua Tree forest. This is about as dense as the rainfall will support. Definitely not classified as a jungle.

Then it was off to Arizona and Lake Havasu City. The state campgrounds were full, so we got a lesson in sardine camping. This particular facility caters to beer guzzling, speed boat fanatics who don't seem to understand camping etiquette.

This is THE London Bridge that was reconstructed here in 1971. It was built on dry land, then a channel was dredged and an island created. And yes, we did drive across it (several times).

After establishing a KOA Kabin in Kingman, AZ as our next home, we went to the Hoover Dam. We have been here before, but it is always an impressive destination. This is however, the first time we've come in from the Arizona side.

Wedging a dam between the walls of the Black Canyon of the Colorado River was an amazing feat. It took 4 years (1931-35) to build the dam and the first power was generated in '36. The last generator was installed in 1961.

We took the 'hard-hat tour' through the innards and workings of the dam. One of the first stops was the Arizona side generator building with it's eight generators (one of which was being worked on with some of it's pieces and parts on the floor).

We were led to the next level down which is the chamber between the generators and the water turbines. These turbines are each driven by a 13 foot diameter pipe of water with a 550' head. The water is moving at about 120 mph when it hits the blades of the turbine.

This is one of the many hallways/corridors that honeycomb the dam. The center of the design in the floor (between the two doors) marks the state line between Nevada and Arizona. The corridors vary from inlaid marble to rough hewn rock to concrete.

We are on the Arizona powerhouse side looking across the canyon to the Nevada bypass outlets. The openings are 8 1/2 feet in diameter, and when opened fully, the water shoots across the canyon to the opposite wall before dropping down to the river.

Still on the Arizona side, looking up at the 'dry' side of the dam. Although the dam is only 45 feet thick at the top, it is more than 600 feet thick at the base and you are seeing about 500 feet of height from the power house to the top of the dam.

We are in one of the many 'collection' tunnels where water seepage through the concrete is allowed to collect and drain through a system of pipes, channels and tunnels. This seepage amounts to about 9,000 gallons per minute!

This picture of downstream was taken through one of four air vents in the face of the dam. The tunnel to these vents are six feet in diameter and they terminate in a set of louvers that are barely visible (in the shadow below the center tower) on the face of the dam two pictures back.

Back in Kingman, in the museum, we found this centennial quilt among displays of Hualapai Indian exhibits and Andy Devine memorabilia (a Kingman Native).

On the way from Kingman to Flagstaff, along Route 66, we came across the Grand Canyon Caverns. It is a fairly unique cave system in that it is a 'dry' cave. This means that no water enters the caves and all growth of formations has halted (it is a dead cave). It is an incredibly old cave system and was formed before the continents split apart (345 million years ago). This is an example of 'popcorn' calcium carbonate deposits.

Further east along Historic Route 66, we're wondering where the 'kicks' are (if you miss the reference, you're too young). This section is pretty desolate and lonely.

By the time we got to Flagstaff, we had discovered that Ann didn't have a rear brake! This is one of those things that isn't supposed to happen to a BMW! After a lot of searching and calling, the closest warranty repair shop is 150 miles away, and can't look at the bike for 3 days! Oh well, let's catch up on computer stuff.

Having gotten bored with that in short order, we rented a car and drove down to Sedona.

Although the Chapel of the Holy Cross is fairly small inside, the setting certainly infects one with a sense of awe. The view looking out is just as breathtaking.

As we wander around looking at the sites from this point or that road, we often take an inviting trail through the brush (mostly to see why the trail is there in the first place). Sometimes we are rewarded with a great view or different vegetation, but other times, it turns out to be the way to the local tire dump.

Back in Flagstaff, we went up to the Lowell Observatory. It is the largest private research observatory in the world and some great discoveries were made here. This is the 24 inch refractor made by Alvan Clark for Percival Lowell for $20,000 in 1896. It was used with a spectrograph to establish early evidence of an expanding universe.

Here is the 13 inch refractor used to take photographs (on glass plates) of large areas of the sky. This is how it was used to discover 'Planet X' (now named Pluto after a public naming contest was held). Photographs taken of the same part of the sky several days apart are compared in a blink comparator to see if anything moved.

After taking the freeway down to Phoenix (the closest place that does warranty work on BMWs, we had to get around on one bike while the other was in the shop. Neither of us are good passengers, but a large amount of flexibility is called for on a trip like this.

While waiting for the servicing to get done, we went to the Hall of Flame, the largest fire fighting museum in the world. This is a hand drawn pumper from London and was operated by up to 50 people. Many of the early pieces are from Europe with a few from Japan and South America.

This is a 1904, horse drawn, steam pumper. Now, which lever does what???

This ladder vehicle was originally horse drawn. Later, a piston motor was added to replace the horses. It is one of the earliest motorized pieces.

This ladder/rescue engine also carried a canvas 'net' to catch people. This practice didn't last too long (people kept missing or landing on the men holding the net).

Now that Ann's brakes are fixed and both bikes have had their 6,000 mile service done, we are hanging out in Phoenix over the Memorial Day weekend. After the amateur tourists go home, we will head back up to the Grand Canyon by way of Prescott and Oak Creek Canyon before heading east again.